Chapter 13 6. From Worshiping the God of Wealth to Redness of Thought (1)

At that time, there were two theaters closest to my home when watching movies. One was the current Victory Cinema, which was named Jianguo Xitang after 1945.What was it called earlier, I don't remember.The other one has always been called the Red Chamber Cinema, and later it mainly screened documentaries.Every time after watching a movie, we cross the road from Xisi to the north into Shuaifu Hutong or Baozi Hutong, and then go west to our house.For me when I was a child, these two alleys were too long, and it was quite tiring to walk.I often complain, why is it such a long road, when can this alley be cut off.

Once, walking wearily on this long alley, I suddenly found a wallet with a small amount of money in it.The chance encounter excited the family, hoping to pick up the wallet every time they walked there.Even when gossiping, he kept saying that whenever he stumbled, it would be nice to pick up a golden dipper.At that time, prices were soaring day by day, and rich people used things like gold bars to store value or negotiate prices.Renting a house is priced in bags of "foreign noodles".We have never seen gold bars, but we often hear such sayings in life.Later, in junior high school, I read the idiom of "waiting for a rabbit to stand on the sidelines", and I thought this idiom was not an exaggeration.In a life of insecurity and scarcity, it is really possible to find a ready-made rabbit even after thinking about it day and night.

The poor must pay homage to the God of Wealth. On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month in the lunar calendar, hawkers shouting "Send it to the God of Wealth" will be sent to every family. A piece of poor-quality straw paper, with a picture of Marshal Zhao Gong .Once at home, I just bought this statue that brought hope, and there was a knock on the door. I was about to say "no more", but I was immediately warned by an adult. Say "please pass!" When adults were playing mahjong with neighbors, my sister and I kowtowed to the God of Wealth.No matter how I kowtow, my impression is that the scores of my mother and aunt's playing cards are mostly negative.

After Japan surrendered, reselling silver dollars became popular again. The west entrance of our alley is a small market along Beigouyan (later named Zhao Dengyu Road). .Many people in ragged gowns peddled and bought silver dollars by saying "buy two sell two".Our family, who was so poor that we were crazy, tried several times, and I also learned to recognize "Yuan Datou" and so on.Strange to say, my impression is that as long as our family buys silver dollars, the price of silver dollars will definitely drop, and as long as we sell silver dollars, the price of silver dollars will definitely rise sharply.

How all this lowliness, all this disgrace, all this pettyness and baseness is swept away by the revolution.No more thinking about finding your wallet while walking, no more praying for your mother to win at cards, no more dreaming of getting rich by tossing silver dollars.All the wishes about living a humble life without suffering, and the wishes about breaking out one day, all have their sustenance because of the idea of ​​the existence of revolution. He Ping is different from Comrade Li Xin. He is enthusiastic, ideal, frank and full of vitality.He spared no effort to educate me and my good classmate, Qin Xueru, a son of a farmer in Changping. I once said that He Ping's home was a family party school for the two of us.Ai Siqi's "Popular Philosophy" made me suddenly understand, and it is always beneficial.Hua Gang's "Outline of the History of Social Development" made me participate in the secrets and rules of heaven, the five modes of production, and the inevitable laws of history. Who can violate them?who can changeAs soon as I read this book, I immediately feel that justice is in my chest and the truth is in my hands.The small series of social science books in Xinzhi Bookstore by Du Min and others made me see all the major events in the world.Mao Zedong's "On New Democracy" made me realize that the revolutionary principles are clear and concise, and I have a well-thought-out plan.Huang Yanpei's "Return from Yan'an" filled my heart with hope and support for the revolution.The Soviet novels "Love in a Lonely Village" (written by Kadayev, formerly known as "I am the Son of the Working People"), (written by Vasilievlevskaya), and "Wife" (written by Kadayev) are all Make my heart yearn for it.Especially "How Steel Was Tempered" translated by Shui Fu, which is the bible of youth revolution: "The most precious thing for a man is life, and there is only one life for a man..." Immediately, I remembered it and recited it, which made my blood boil .Zhukhlai and Paul Korchagin are my idols, and I also love Tonya very much.

He Ping also took me to Chaohua Bookstore on North Xinhua Street, saying that it was a progressive bookstore.There, I saw the "Times 3 Daily" published by "Times Publishing House" operated in the name of Sushang.Later, I went to it many times. It is estimated that the bookstore has been closed by the old Peking authorities. The doors and windows are closed, and it looks like it will be closed forever. Among the "redification" books that He Ping gave me was a picture album "Protection of Children in the Soviet Union", which should be a promotional material issued by the Soviet Union for Foreign Cultural Association. It was the socialist revolution that emphasized the liberation of women and initiated the construction of nurseries and kindergartens on a large scale.When I was young, I regarded the nursery school as an invention and advocacy of the Soviet Union.

The other book is called "A Journey to the Soviet Union" and was written by the British "Fabian Socialists".They highly praised the achievements of the Soviet Union after the October Revolution, but they also raised questions about what they said was the restrictions on freedom of speech in the Soviet Union, which made me quite confused. When I visited the UK on an official basis in 1987, I spoke to Fisher, the culture secretary in the British Labor shadow cabinet, about my boyhood readings of British Fabian socialists.Everything is like this, there is no meaningless reading and acting, "it's not that we don't report, it's not time yet."

More than a year later, He Ping graduated from middle school and got a job. His underground job was changed from middle school to "professional youth". Comrade Li Guang, member of the Middle School Work Committee, contacted us.In underground terms, the two "progressive relationships" between me and Qin Xueru (because we had no organizational identity at the time) were led by Li Guang—the name he told us at the time was "Liu Feng" and "lead". "Leading" refers to the guidance of the subordinates by the superiors with the single-line connection of the underground party.