Chapter 13 Shocked by the good news

The spring of 1977 came very early. The number of tourists on the Bund in Shanghai has gradually increased.Ba Jin was really bored staying at home, and sometimes he would quietly leave Wukang Road alone, and come to the Huangpu River unobtrusively in the evening, looking across the river at the yellow river, flowing leisurely to the east.He found that there were more freighters on the river than in previous years, and he hadn't been to the river to see the evening scenery for more than ten years. Now he seems to be a traveler from another life. Although there are so many young people around him who come to visit the river in the evening of spring, most of them don't know him.Ba Jin's white hair and melancholy face make it impossible for all the men and women who pass by him to connect this slightly hunchbacked old man with Ba Jin, a great writer who was once a smash hit in Chinese literary circles. .Middle-aged people over the age of forty don't know him anymore. Although they were influenced by Ba Jin's works, such as "Fog" and "Electricity" when they were young, Ba Jin has always been a writer who doesn't want to show his face.Even those who watched the movie "Heroes and Daughters" adapted from Ba Jin's novel on the eve of the "Cultural Revolution" would not have thought that the old man who was walking quietly among the crowd of tourists by the river was the original author of the popular movie. !

Ba Jin is indeed a bit old. However, his mood is much better than two years ago.He no longer falls into a melancholy and reflective environment all day long, staring blankly at the framed photo of Xiao Shan in front of the writing desk.Ba Jin began to step out of the gloomy fog that had shrouded his head for almost ten years.In the past ten years, Ba Jin seemed to have had a terrible nightmare. He almost forgot that he used to be a writer who used pen as a means of survival.In the past ten or so years, almost all of the published publications on the mainland have been editorials and stereotyped essays. Except for the eight model operas and a few rare books, no one has seen any ideological and artistic works. literature.The reason why Ba Jin's mood became better was not only because his work had gradually changed a little. After leaving the batting dormitory of Fengxian Cadre School, he no longer saw the dreadful big-character posters overwhelming when he returned to Shanghai.The stormy political movement finally came to its end, followed by a news that surprised Ba Jin: Jiang Qing and the four people who attacked him in Shanghai, Wang Hongwen, Zhang Chunqiao, and Yao Wenyuan, died overnight in Zhongnanhai, Beijing. Became the turtle in the urn!

When Ba Jin heard the good news, he couldn't believe his ears!At that time, he was attending a weekly political study in the publishing house, and happened to meet a former Party member leader of the Writers Association in the corridor.The man whispered something in Ba Jin's ear: "Jiang Qing was arrested by Hua Guofeng!" At that time, Ba Jin was taken aback. He couldn't connect her who kept her promise with the rumors she had just heard.Ba Jin was skeptical, and wanted to turn back and ask the leader for details, but found that the person walked away with a face full of joy.Ba Jin, who had been restricted in his actions for many years, had no choice but to give up when he saw this.Because he knew that in this crowded environment, he shouldn't inquire about such extremely sensitive information.

Ba Jin went back to the meeting room upstairs.He was still sitting in his seat silently, and the surprise in his heart could not be shown on his face. This was a habit Ba Jin had developed after 1966.He sat there without saying a word. Since he arrived at Fengxian Cadre School, whenever he participated in such a meeting that mainly read newspapers, Ba Jin always kept silent.Sometimes others would make eloquent remarks there, and Ba Jin would sit alone in an unobtrusive corner.There was no expression on his face, and now Ba Jin could no longer control the excitement and excitement in his heart.He knew that the leader of the Writers Association would never blow such wind to him for no reason, but would Jiang Qing really be arrested?Could this be another baseless gossip?He knew that since the "Cultural Revolution", this kind of news from the people has been coming from time to time.Especially after the Tiananmen Square student movement in memory of Premier Zhou in Beijing, the political rumors of cursing Jiang Qing, Zhang Chunqiao and others have not disappeared.Could it be true this time?How good would it be if the exhilarating event of the fall of 1971 happened again? !

Ba Jin was 72 years old this year.Although the good news came later, Ba Jin was still very happy.After all, his situation now is much better than when Xiao Shan was alive.That autumn, Ba Jin did not have the freedom to write, but he spent half a year in a small English-style building, quietly copying his previous translation of "Virgin Land" with a pen.The purpose of Ba Jin's doing this is to hope that his hands will not be unable to write because he has not held a pen for many years.Ba Jin has already seen a faint dawn, and he knows that one day he will be allowed to enter the literary world again.In this way, he later decided to translate the Herzen multi-volume "My Past and Thoughts", which he had translated partly as early as the 1930s.

Ba Jin didn't like to listen to those cacophonous discussions anymore.He hated wasting precious time in this small meeting room. The newspapers could have been read by people, but since then, reading newspapers has become an important part of the meeting.He was a little annoyed, thinking that if he had left so much time to himself, he might have translated another section of Herzen's work. He remembered that in September 1971, he was working in the school.One day, he discovered that some party members in the company headquarters, especially those in the "Worker Propaganda Team", were mysteriously participating in various secret meetings.After the party members attended the meeting, when they came back, everyone had a nervous look on their faces.Ba Jin didn't dare to ask those party members who were quietly whispering their ears, but he had already faintly felt from the abnormal expressions on the faces of the party members of the company department that something important had happened.Later, in the bathroom, he met an old friend who used to work in the Writers Association, and he quietly revealed the information to him: "Lin Biao fell to his death!"

"Ah?..." Ba Jin was as surprised as he was when he heard the news that Jiang Qing was arrested by Hua Guofeng just now.At that time he could not put Lin Biao and Mao Zedong against each other.Because just inside and outside their dry school, there are huge tall portraits of Lin Biao everywhere.How could it be possible for such a deputy commander-in-chief holding Chairman Mao's quotations in his hand to fall into the sand one day?Later, as gossip like this spread more and more in the cadre school, the "Worker Propaganda Team" began to "hunt down the rumours."Since Lin Biao had just died in Undur Khan, the central government was limited to conveying it within the party.As for the "black line figures of the 1930s" who have been reformed in the cadre school, they are still strictly blocked.Therefore, this pursuit of rumors caused panic among the people. It was not until the central government's document on Lin Biao's defection was publicly disseminated among the people of the whole country that Ba Jin was freed from his nervous state of mind.Now that Jiang Qing was arrested and said, could it be true?

Ba Jin walked out of the publishing house with a nervous mood. He suddenly found that the sky in Shanghai became extraordinarily blue, and the sun became brighter than before.Even though it was late autumn, Ba Jin found that there were girls in gorgeous costumes everywhere on the road.The faces of all the girls were filled with spring-like joy. Men, women, and children seemed to be celebrating a festival. In the bustling crowd, Ba Jin was bumped and pushed by excited people from time to time. He didn't know what happened today. What a happy event.For ten years, most of what he saw in Shanghai were figures with their eyes closed, but what happened today?Both men and women seem to be rejuvenated, whether they know each other or not, they will take the initiative to say a few words when they meet each other, and old man Ba ​​Jin is a little surprised by this.

When he passed by a seafood store, he found that there were many people buying seafood.The old man even came forward, and he found that those people scrambling to buy the crabs in the basin.And it must be "three males and one female", and then use a thin wicker to string the four crabs together.When it was Ba Jin's turn, he was no exception. He bought the same four crabs, and then went back to No. 13 Wukang Road happily. "Father, there's a big happy event!" Ba Jingang entered the house, only to find his son greeted him excitedly, took the crab in his hand, and asked, "Could it be that your old man knew that the 'Gang of Four' was smashed?" Yet?"

"What, 'Gang of Four'?" It was the first time in Ba Jin's life that he heard the title of "Gang of Four".He looked up into the building and found that the two younger sisters had also come out of their respective rooms, and they both had smiles on their faces.For the first time, this small building, which has been silent since Xiao Shan's death, has an exciting atmosphere of joy.Ba Jin was immediately excited when he saw it. The youngest son said to him excitedly: "It's the 'Gang of Four', Jiang Qing, Yao Wenyuan, Zhang Chunqiao and Wang Hongwen, these four bastards have been arrested in Beijing! This is really God's retribution!"

"Ah?" Ba Jin was stunned in front of the door, he couldn't believe what his son said was true.However, the old man had to believe that everything that happened in front of him was a fact that he could not doubt.From the first time he heard the rumor of Jiang Qing's arrest at the publishing house in the morning, to the scene where he met the jubilant people on the way home, it all proved a living fact: the four people who troubled him for nearly ten years are now on their way to death. The home they deserved!In particular, Zhang Chunqiao and Yao Wenyuan, the two villains, when Ba Jin was in misfortune, they always used the special status of "Cultural Revolution officials" in Shanghai and Beijing to issue orders many times, and even wanted to put him to death soon.Today, they and Jiang Qing have become prisoners of the party and the people. For Ba Jin, this great event is even happier than when he first heard the news of Lin Biao's death in the cadre school!Ba Jin handed the four crabs to his son, and stood alone in the sunlight in front of the door, his lips trembling with excitement, and said: "Retribution, what a retribution!..." The streets of Shanghai are bustling again.Of course, those happy crowds who formed Yangko teams on the street were no longer the official parades organized to celebrate the "Supreme Instruction" during the rampant "Gang of Four" in the past. action.This was a boiling scene that Ba Jin had never seen before.The victory over Japanese fascism and the liberation of Shanghai in 1949, in this big Shanghai known as the ten-mile foreign field, there were also scenes of joy, singing and dancing, but the Yangko at that time was not as cheerful and colorful as it is today!After Ba Jin felt the joy in the world, he once wrote the following words: "They are pressing on my head like a big rock, and I can't breathe.... The future of China and its people is very bright. The problem is also easy to solve.  …” Ba Jin walked among the crowd bathed in the sunset glow by the Huangpu River, his snow-white hair was particularly eye-catching. In the autumn of 1976, Ba Jin truly emerged from the shadow of the "Gang of Four". He felt that he had been living in a cold corner for the past ten years.Not only was he deprived of the right to write, but even his freedom to write a letter to his friends was restricted during these ten years.It was not that someone ordered him not to write letters to his friends, but that Ba Jin saw the horror of the "Cultural Revolution" and "literary prison".Of course, at that time, most of Ba Jin's old friends were afraid to write to him.Most of the friends I met in the literary world in the 1930s and 1940s passed away.Most of his friends in the literary world in the 1950s are now in the same difficult situation as him.What impressed Ba Jin the most was that he received a letter from Shen Congwen from Beijing at the most difficult time.He remembered that when Xiao Shan was seriously ill, he was still undergoing "reform" at Fengxian Cadre School.One day, when he returned home from Fengxian to visit his sick wife, he heard a letter from Shen Congwen.After seeing Shen's letter, he immediately burst into tears. Ba Jin was so moved.For so many years, he and all his friends have been separated in two places, it is like life and death!Shen Congwen dared to take the initiative to write a letter of greetings to him at this time, obviously he had to take a certain risk. However, Ba Jin dared not reply to Shen Congwen.It wasn't that he had nothing to say, but that he was worried that writing a letter would cause trouble for him and Shen Congwen.Because Ba Jin and his friends never tell lies, but if he wrote the truth in the letter, if the letter falls into the hands of others, then the friend will definitely be implicated.So Ba Jin had no choice but to keep what he wanted to tell Shen Congwen in his heart. Now Ba Jin started writing letters again.Of course, Ba Jin still had lingering fears at that time, and even if he wrote and sent a letter occasionally, he had to be more careful.This is because although the "Gang of Four" has been crushed, its problems have not yet been truly resolved. In 1973, the Shanghai Writers Association's own conclusion still left a big tail.This so-called conclusion composed of false words still makes the old man breathless. After all, though, Ba Jin is starting to emerge from the shadows.He began to write letters to his daughter who was working in Hangzhou. The letters between father and daughter were the starting point for Ba Jin to restore his freedom of communication.Soon, he will be able to reply letters to some old friends, and letters from readers who used to admire and pay attention to him will also be sent to the quiet courtyard on Wukang Road from time to time.How much does Ba Jin want to turn the words in his heart into the typeface he likes?Ba Jin, who has been pouring out his heart to readers with his own pen for decades, even though he worked in Shanghai Publishing House at that time, he still could not publish a single word in official newspapers and periodicals. After the corner, the reason why you still can't really stretch your arms? One day in October, Ba Jin, who had never been on the street easily for many years, let alone going to crowded places, had the courage to go to Xiangyang Park on Huaihai Road to read big-character posters one night.This is because he heard that there were many big-character posters there, and some information related to the arrest of Jiang Qing and other "Gang of Four" was first copied by some people on the big-character posters and made public there.It was the first time for Ba Jin to read other people's big-character posters. In the past, the big-character posters he saw in the Writers' Association were about him. Now he was proud, blended into the bustling crowd, and squeezed forward quietly. He found that the place was really crowded with people. .People like him who are eager to learn about the inside story of the "Gang of Four" smashed with excitement, turned out to be more than he thought.Ba Jin found that everyone's face was full of excitement, because Ye Jianying's speech was publicly posted there.This old man has truthfully disclosed to the masses the inside story of how Hua Guofeng arrested Jiang Qing and the other four!What a delight! The environment is changing quietly.Although Ba Jin's problem has not yet been finally resolved, he has begun to show up in a small area.The Shanghai People's Publishing House, where Ba Jin worked, began to allow Ba Jin to attend or participate in some social activities, and also allowed him to express his opinions and talk at the symposium as an "ordinary citizen".The people around him began to give the old man a pleasant smile. The embarrassing situation of meeting him in the corridor and refusing to say hello to him was never seen again.More and more people found that the old man Ba ​​Jin gradually showed his innate kind smile after going through heavy wind and rain.Some people also began to revisit the history of Ba Jin and his works that are still shining with immortal brilliance even in the wind and frost.It was only then that everyone discovered that the "Cultural Revolution" that had ended was nothing more than an incredible nightmare for everyone, including those rebels who had once become prominent figures in the catastrophe! February 1977, for Ba Jin, a writer who lived in a small courtyard with two magnolia trees, meant the beginning of the second spring of his life.The bright spring sun streamed in through the shutters into his downstairs living room.Old man Ba ​​Jin could finally return to the second floor to write.He found that several rooms that were sealed when the house was raided in the autumn of 1966 were finally unsealed one by one.Especially the bedroom where his beloved wife Xiao Shan used to live, Ba Jin went in and cleaned it himself.The bed there was covered with thick dust, and he cleaned it carefully one by one, and then put a vase on the small cabinet in front of the bed.A bouquet of snow-white flowers was planted in the bottle, which was Xiao Shan's favorite white magnolia.The faint fragrance soon permeated the whole room, and Ba Jin felt much better. After all, it was spring, and the bright sunshine finally dispelled the boundless haze and projected into the place where Xiao Shan lived.This is what Ba Jin is most grateful for.He really wanted to start writing right away and write something to his deceased wife as a memorial to her.However, even though Ba Jin had a lot to say to Xiao Shan, he felt that this idea was a little unrealistic at the time.All newspapers and periodicals in Shanghai still do not have a place for Ba Jin to publicly publish a manuscript commemorating his deceased wife.Hugh wants to publish such an article, even if he wants to write some prose, essay or novel expressing emotion, it is still impossible.Thinking of Xiao Shan's illness and death when the darkness covered the earth, Ba Jin felt sad again, with tears in his eyes. After all, Ba Jin got out of the woods.The warm current outside the window is like an unstoppable spring breeze in Ba Jin's eyes, blowing into his small building very tenaciously. One day in May, the postman brought him a white envelope.After dismantling it, I found out that it was an unfamiliar name: Xu Kailei! It turned out that he was the editor of the supplement of a major Shanghai newspaper. At that time, Ba Jin had not seen such a letter for ten years. A well-known writer who is galloping in the literary world has invited a manuscript!For Ba Jin, who has been gradually forgotten by the world, this incident is undoubtedly a great surprise! "Ah, the world has finally not forgotten me!" Ba Jin read Xu Kailei's ordinary letter of invitation for manuscripts several times.When he first became famous in the 1930s, letters of solicitation from Xu Kailai poured in for a period of time, and Ba Jin was not surprised at that time.In the 1950s, such short letters full of editorial enthusiasm became even more numerous, but today, in the eyes of Ba Jin, who had just woken up from his dream, Xu Kailei suddenly sent him such a letter after smashing the "Gang of Four" The short letter is undoubtedly exciting news.It heralds the recovery of the frozen land, and it also proves that Ba Jin has not been forgotten by the world. The old man was very excited.There is nothing happier than seeing an invitation letter for an old man who takes writing as his life's work.He was very happy that day. Ba Jin paid special attention to Xu Kailei's request for a manuscript. He hadn't written a manuscript for a long time, and he was thinking about it from morning till night.Sometimes he felt that writing manuscripts seemed to have happened in the last century. Later, when he really wanted to write manuscripts, he didn't know what kind of article he should write for the supplement of "Wen Wei Po".In the past ten years, Ba Jin has worked in the cadre school and cleaned in the Writers Association. He has done all kinds of dirty work.Calluses were also worn out on the hands.Just neglected to write the manuscript.Of course, it's not that Ba Jin hasn't written during this period, and writing is endlessly writing inspections.When he decided to write an article at the request of Xu Kailei, he felt confused again, and couldn't find the creative inspiration and emotional impulse when he wrote the article. In this way, Ba Jin thought for two days in his small building.In the end, he decided to use it as the title of the manuscript.But when he really wanted to start writing, he suddenly felt his eyes were blank again, and he tore up and wrote again after torn up.Ba Jin found that he had no way to write, and Fu's mind was almost full of words and sentences from the "Cultural Revolution".The language at that time had become clichés, and my personal writing style had long since been submerged in the simple literary vocabulary of the ultra-left trend of thought.Fortunately, Ba Jin still has his innate literary talent deep in his mind, so he tried his best to make his works have a little bit of Ba Jin's style.As he writes, Ba Jin forgets everything around him. He is used to treating readers with sincerity and kindness.So he put all his thoughts into the pen and left them on his lined manuscript paper. Shanghai "Wen Wei Po" soon published Ba Jin's article. Although this is an article with more than a thousand characters, it is Ba Jin's work after all.After all, Ba Jin, who has been silent for more than ten years, is writing the article!In this way, the sensational effect produced is extraordinary.So many readers have discovered an unexpected surprise from the corner of "Wen Wei Po": Ba Jin is still alive! After a turbulent time, the average reader cannot understand the current situation of many writers in China.Especially Ba Jin, who has written novels, does not know his good or bad fortune in the past ten years.Even some people in the literary circle who were very familiar with Ba Jin in the past could not know whether Ba Jin survived today after the "Cultural Revolution" because of the lack of communication between the north and the south.Now readers have seen him again from Shanghai's influential "Wen Wei Po"! "Thank you, thank you readers for remembering me!" The readers wrote to Ba Jin one after another while they were telling each other.Since I don't know Ba Jin's address, these letters were forwarded through Wen Wei Po.In Beijing and Sichuan, Ba Jin’s hometown, some old friends who had longed for Ba Jin’s news were looking for Ba Jin’s whereabouts. Now that they saw the publication, they knew that the old man was safe and sound in the turmoil. It began to spread the good news that Ba Jin was still alive.Ba Jin began to receive letters from readers who were forwarded by Wen Wei Po.Most of them were middle-aged readers, and they wrote to Ba Jin, who survived the catastrophe, to congratulate him on his birth, and at the same time congratulated Ba Jin on his life after the catastrophe.After reading the letters from readers from all over the world, the old man had tears of gratitude in his eyes.He found that readers had not forgotten him. What made Ba Jin especially happy was that He Qifang, a person in Beijing's literary and art circles, and others wrote a letter. They only learned about Ba Jin's current situation after reading it.Ye Shengtao also wrote a special poem for Ba Jin, wishing him peace from afar.This is what the old writer improvised after reading Ba Jin: Recite Junwen, don't count articles, and have a close relationship, fifty years. I may not often meet and talk about it in normal times, and I am saddened by the ten-year agreement. This spring's Wenhui Magazine Shuhan, the knowledge and the ignorance are passed on orally. The swaying vigor is as strong as in the past, what is the bee swarming in the king. Du Yun is still strong in ancient and modern times, watching the new system springing up like a spring. After reading the congratulatory letters and poems from Ye Shengtao and friends from all over the country, Ba Jin was filled with mixed feelings.On June 11 of that year, the article "The Second Liberation" written by Ba Jin was published in Shanghai's "Liberation Daily".In the golden autumn and October, "Shanghai Literature" resumed publication. In the reissue issue, Ba Jin published his first short story "Comrade Yang Lin" after the "Cultural Revolution".In the winter, Ba Jin delivered a written speech titled "Eliminate Evil" at a symposium held by the editorial department of "People's Daily".It was also in December of this year that Sha Ting, an old Sichuan writer, made a special trip from Chengdu to the banks of the Huangpu River, walked into his apartment on Wukang Road, and reunited with his old friend Ba Jin after a long absence. With tears.