Chapter 67 27. Farewell to suburban labor (1)

In the winter of 1961, I wrote two new poems, one is "Birds": "No, I can't live without the wings of birds/I can't fly without the courage/I can't live without the call of the sky/Otherwise, how desolate life is " The other song is "Palace Lantern", "A little bit of dark red palace lantern/Like the beautiful eyes of the city/Look at me, I will also look at you/My heart is as warm as dry wine" The situation has loosened up a bit, and the situation (on the surface) has improved, at least for the people.My mood has become a little warmer, the three red flags are still held high, but the fighting spirit is a little bit calmer, the intellectuals and some relatively pragmatic cadres can't believe it but are still full of fantasy, maybe they can finally Do something?

In the spring of 1962, I was working in Sanlezhuang Datian. I received a letter of invitation from People’s Literature Publishing House. Editor Zhang Mulan, lover of critic Xu Juemin, asked to meet me.Of course, this letter was sent by Yang Shu's lover Wei Junyi (the then editor-in-chief of People's Literature Publishing House).Indeed, apart from the warmth of my lover supporting me, I have always had "noble people" to help me.My experience, my personality, and my so-called "talent" make me seldom in a state of despair.During the whole anti-rightist campaign, the editor-in-chief Zhang and deputy editor-in-chief She of China Youth Daily also cared about me, and their many conversations helped me get through such a difficult time.I still remember Comrade She Shiguang's famous saying: "No matter what the situation is or what happens, there must be no dissatisfaction with the party. Dissatisfaction is like a seed. It will take root and grow until it is out of control." The communists criticized it and were soon rehabilitated.

The letter from the People's Literature Publishing House may have prompted the Youth League Committee to consider the future of us people.Soon, we were transferred back to the city first, and an investigation team was organized to Fangshan, Yanqing and other places to investigate the situation of youth life, entertainment, study, marriage and other aspects.Chenjiatai, Daciluo, these mountains and fields covered with walnuts, apricots, pears, and dates are similar to Zhaitanggou, but the accents of people's speech are different.We came here under the leadership of Comrade Wang Hu. We not only held symposiums, sorted out materials, but also participated in real labor, planting sweet potato seedlings and thinning millet seedlings.This experience helped me write short stories with .The former was published in "People's Literature" and the latter in "Beijing Literature".Comrade Wang Hu was the lover of Comrade Wang Jiayu (later the executive vice president of the Central Party School), and there was a little trouble at this time.Although the stage of Sanlezhuang has entered the later stage of our devolution through labor reform, the scale is getting smaller and smaller, but from time to time people add to it, and the reasons are diverse.Among them was a middle-level cadre, although he came, he still put on airs, and said that he had seen the nature and ugly face of the bourgeoisie from the fighting of the people in our original No. 8 class.

After the summer vacation, I was assigned to teach Chinese at Beijing Normal University. In this way, four years of manual labor life hastily ended.I think, loud thunder, little rain, anticlimactic, hasty retreat, is the law of development of many things in the universe, including political movements and literary works.Think about those of us who struggled against the rightists, criticized and reformed, reborn and so on, how earth-shattering, fiery and thunderous our speeches were; as a result, we did some farm work, bought some non-staple food, held random meetings to criticize and criticize, and said a lot of condescending nonsense , One, two, three, the gang broke up before the whistle was blown.

As I said, I am still sunny after four years of working life.Although during this period of time, I often chanted Xue Baochai's poem about the fragrance: "Jiaoshou is still in the morning and the evening is in the evening, and my heart is tormented day after year", and before I became a rightist, I just couldn't understand the pain of this poem. Thinking back on my trek in the Sangyu Mountains, I saw a load of stone valleys with overlapping and steep peaks, and one of Sanlezhuang was boundless, but I felt broad-minded again.What is the grace of nature and the crampedness of human affairs!Who can't return to nature and care about gains and losses in honor and disgrace!No surprises, it sounds nice, but how difficult it is to do,

Once on vacation, the "revolutionary cadres" took the bus from the military pay to Yanchi, and then took the train from Yanchi to Mentougou.But all the people with hats chose to get up at 3:00 a.m. and travel 18 kilometers on the mountain road at night to get to Yanchi Railway Station.Some people even asked what it means to do so.I don't know exactly what it means, maybe, one is that we people should suffer more and exercise more.One is that people of the same level walk together, but it will be easier. What's more, walking in the mountains, beside the turbulence, and among the trees, shrubs and flowers in the early morning is how open and happy it is.There are not many opportunities to walk the mountain road at night like this in my life.

I also laughed a lot at the hot scene of carrying water up the mountain in a stone ditch.A few days after afforestation in the rainy season, water needs to be replenished in time.The rugged mountain road, which is usually difficult to climb with bare hands, is galloped up with two buckets of water, and it becomes a big competition without an explicit competition.In order to take a shortcut, they even found a new path instead of taking the existing path, walking among the weeds and rocks, jumping, jumping, slipping, and slipping, like yellow sheep and wild deer.I usually go to places that are bound to slip with empty hands, but after applying weight, my feet take root, as stable as Mount Tai, and my steps are solid, one step at a time.Also check for water retention.One man was accused of being a new trend in the "class struggle" because he threw too much water and ended up with only two and a half barrels left.The postures of the water bearers were varied, some were bent into eight bends and were ridiculed by everyone, and some were arrogant, like gold medal winners—no one appreciated or praised them.Some talked and laughed, some panted like cows, some gritted their teeth, and were called "fucking dogs", and some worked hard, and I said cheap words while working hard: "I bear the burden, and the weight is on the ground." If there is, if there is nothing..." Laogai never forgets the cowhide, and labor is the first element of a happy life. Since Marx said so, it is naturally true.But when going down the mountain, because of rushing down, there was a lot of chattering, and all the barrels were beeping, and they slipped out to the well, and no one knew how they ran down.