Chapter 8 Chapter VII

1. A cabbage In the middle of the night, Gao Dashan was suddenly awakened by the ringing of the phone. Gao Dashan grabbed the phone and asked, "Who? I'm Gao Dashan!" On the other end of the phone was Li Mantun's crying. He told him: "Commander, something has happened! The driver, Ban Ding, died on the way back from pulling cabbage..." Gao Dashan was shocked and said: "What's going on, tell me quickly!" Li Mantun said: "Squad Leader Ding was very weak when he set off, but he had to go to complete the task. He was even more worried about sending someone else for such a long distance. When he came back, it was late at night and the mountain road was not easy to walk. I don't think he can do it. Let him have a rest, but he said that the cabbage must be brought back before dawn, and the head of the group is waiting for us at home. We happened to hit a bend, and a local truck was coming, and it was about to hit us, and it was a close call. At this time, Squad Leader Ding turned the direction outwards, braked quickly, and dodged, the car also braked, but one wheel was hanging in the air. Squad Leader Ding got out of the car and pushed it with his shoulder to let the co-driver reverse the car, and his foot slipped , fell off a cliff..."

At dawn, Gao Dashan was waiting there early. As soon as the truck transporting Squad Leader Ding stopped, Gao Dashan rushed over, carried the body of the martyr on his shoulders, and walked towards the mourning hall ahead. The cart of cabbage pulled back by Squad Leader Ding was parked at the entrance of the cafeteria. Li Mantun asked Gao Dashan: "Commander, what should we do with this cart of cabbage?" Gao Dashan felt uncomfortable, looked at the sky and said: "Let's dry it first, don't rush to eat. This is what Squad Leader Ding sacrificed his life for..." Turned around and left.

Qiuying came home from the outside, and as soon as she entered the door, she discovered that something had happened to Gao Quan. Gao Quan lay listlessly on the ground. "Gao Quan! Gao Quan! What's the matter with you? My child, what's the matter with you?" She picked up Gao Quan and looked at him, but Gao Quan didn't respond at all.She touched his forehead and immediately panicked.She found that Gao Quan had a fever!She took the high position on her shoulders and ran to the clinic. Gao Quan was suffering from starvation. As soon as he woke up, he yelled to Qiuying, "Mom, I'm hungry!"

Qiuying returned home with high authority on her back, but she couldn't find anything to eat.At night, Gao Quan on the bed fell into a coma again. Qiuying stood in the room in a daze, not knowing where to find food for Gao Quan, and finally went to the canteen of the regiment headquarters. She thought of the pile of cabbages she had just pulled back. The pile of cabbage was drying in front of the cafeteria. The person guarding the vegetables is the monitor of the cooking team. He sat beside the cabbage. From a distance, he found Qiuying coming. He seemed to know what she was doing. He covered his face with a newspaper and pretended to fall asleep. up.

When Qiuying approached the pile of cabbage, in order not to disturb Qiuying, the cooking squad leader snored under the newspaper. Qiuying walked up to Bai Cai hesitantly, but she didn't dare to move.She looked at the cooking squad leader and whispered: "Big brother! Big brother!" The snoring of the cooking squad leader became louder and louder. Qiuying raised her voice and shouted again: "Big brother! Big brother! There is really nothing to eat at home. I want to borrow a cabbage from you to cook for Gao Quan, is that okay?" The cooking squad leader still snores himself, but he ignores her.

Qiuying said: "If you don't give Gao Quan something to eat, the child may die!" The snoring of the cooking squad leader is still ringing.Qiuying felt embarrassed for a while. She said: "Brother, you have to wake up... If you don't wake up, I can't care about so much... I have to take a cabbage from you today...I have it!" The light in Qiuying's eyes became more and more frightening. She quietly picked up a cabbage and stuffed it into her large blouse, then turned and ran away. It was only when Qiuying's footsteps ceased to be heard that the cooking squad leader took down the newspaper.

The cooking squad leader's eyes were already moist. At this time, Li Mantun came out and said, "Who was talking here just now?" The cooking squad leader was stunned for a moment, and then said: "No. No one! I am talking to myself." Li Mantun looked at the cabbage pile, then turned and left. Just that cabbage, Gao Quan on the bed, slowly came back to life. But Qiuying never finished cutting that cabbage, she kept half of it, wrapped it in a newspaper and hid it. Gao Dashan didn't know Gao Quan was ill until two days later.When he got home, Gao Quan was still lying on the bed.

He said: "Gao Quan, Dad is not at home these days, how are you doing?" As soon as Gao Quan opened his mouth, he told Gao Dashan, "Mom gave us cabbage." When Gao Dashan heard this, he was startled. He thought, the grain store could not supply it. Where did she get the cabbage? When Qiuying came back, he drank her all at once. He said to Qiuying: "Let me ask you, have you given cabbage to your child?" Qiuying said: "What kind of cabbage, I don't know!" Of course Qiuying didn't dare to tell the truth. Gao Dashan said: "You are lying! You are dishonest! Tell me! Where did you get the cabbage?"

Qiuying suddenly became angry like a lioness, and said, "What cabbage? I said that if I don't know, I don't know!" Gao Dashan also said angrily: "You still don't admit it, you!" As soon as he turned around, he took out the half cabbage that Qiuying had collected. "Qiuying, what is this? Isn't this cabbage? Where did you get it?" Qiuying didn't care about him, she said: "You don't care where I got it, I stole it!" "You stole it?" "Yes, I stole it! I stole it from the cabbage pile at the entrance of the cafeteria! I wanted to steal it, so I stole it! What do you want?"

Gao Dashan slapped Qiuying on the face suddenly. Gao Dashan said: "You, you, you dare to steal that pile of cabbage? Do you know how it came from? For this cabbage, Squad Leader Ding, what a good boy, he sacrificed himself at a young age, do you know? Their parents raised their children so big and died like this. Do they feel distressed? This cart of cabbage was sacrificed by Squad Leader Ding, and no one wanted to eat it. How dare you steal it back and eat it yourself before the soldiers on guard at the forward position even took a bite? You are so daring! You are not a good person! You have a problem! I will punish you!"

Qiuying covered her painful face, looked at Gao Dashan in surprise, and ran out crying. That night, Shang Shouzhi, Li Mantun, and their wives couldn't find Qiuying anywhere.No one knows where she went. Shang Shouzhi's wife immediately became angry. She said: "As the director of the family committee, I want to uphold justice for our lesbians! Comrade Gao Dashan, as the head of the regiment, beats people with his hands. This is the style of a warlord! It's a new society. He dares to do this! We have already agreed that Comrade Gao Dashan must conduct a review at the general family meeting for what happened today, and apologize to Comrade Qiuying in public, otherwise it will not work!" Li Mantun said: "Why don't you just ask someone to do a review, you'd better get Qiuying back first, okay?" Mrs. Shang said: "We can help him find him, but Gao Dashan must also do a self-criticism!" Shang Shouzhi suddenly saw it, and said to his wife: "Hey, I said, is the man already in your hands? If the man is found, we don't have to stand here in a hurry, and the head of the team asked us to go to a meeting !" Mrs. Shang pondered for a while, and said, "You're pretty smart. Okay, let's go to the meeting. By the way, let Gao Dashan know that our family committee will have a meeting the night after tomorrow and ask him to do a review!" 2. Production self-help Gao Dashan took the half cabbage, turned around and came to the meeting room of the regiment headquarters, and announced two things: The first one is Gao Dashan’s lax discipline of his family and children, which led to the bad behavior of his family stealing public cabbage in front of the cafeteria. He first made a deep self-criticism, prepared to make compensation, and demanded severe punishment for himself. The second thing is that he will announce at the military assembly that Comrade Zhao Daliang, the cooking squad leader of the canteen of the government office, will be confinement for three days , because as a soldier, he was able to let an unarmed man, a woman, steal a cabbage from under his nose in broad daylight.He said that from a military point of view, this is dereliction of duty, a serious dereliction of duty! But Qiuying didn't forgive him, and neither did his two children. They didn't move the box of lunch he sent back to them the next day.Gao Dashan said: "Hey, why don't you eat this meal!" Qiuying ignored him. Gao Min and Gao Quan only looked at their mother, and lowered their heads to drink the wild vegetable soup that their mother made for them. Gao Dashan said: "Hey, why don't you talk! What does this mean! Is this still my home? Do you regard me as an imperialist reactionary? Why are you ignoring me?" Gao Min and Gao Quan put down their bowls and chopsticks, and Qiuying told them to go to sleep in her room. When Qiuying walked into the kitchen, she was stopped by Gao Dashan.He said, "Qiuying, stop for me!" Qiuying suddenly learned to calm down.She said: "People are calling me Lao Qiu now, so you should be more polite and call me Lao Qiu!" Gao Dashan said: "I ask you, why do you ignore me and don't let the children eat this meal?" Qiuying said: "Gao Dashan, you don't need to be so angry at me, and you don't need to look at me like this! Since you slapped me yesterday, you are you and I am me. Comrade Gao Dashan, You are the head of the frontier defense regiment, a great hero, Chairman Mao knows you, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu even drank with you; our mother and I are ordinary people, from now on we will not violate the river, you eat your food, we eat ours! You don't have to bring food home every day to make a show, I just want to see if I can raise them up without a man, and if my children don't have a father, can I survive myself!" Gao Dashan's eyes widened, and he didn't know how to speak. Qiuying said: "Gao Dashan, since I have said it, I will finish it, and you don't plan to let me serve you anymore. I have been your wife for so many years, cooking and washing clothes, giving birth to children and housekeeping. You are a horse, I just found out yesterday that I am not as good as a cabbage in your heart! From now on, you are not my man, and I am not your wife. I still have to live here. There is no other way. You are the head of the regiment. If you can find a room for our three children somewhere to shelter us from the wind and rain, we will move out and we won’t bother you anymore. !" Gao Dashan said: "Qiuying, what are you talking about!" Qiuying said: "I've finished talking. We didn't touch your meal. It was left all afternoon and it was cold. I'm not your wife anymore, so I can't make it hot for you. If you want hot food, you can do it yourself." , if you are too lazy to move, eat something cold!" After she finished speaking, she went into the kitchen. At night, Qiuying stopped sleeping on the same bed with Gao Dashan. She carried her bedroll from the bedroom to the hut where the sundries were stored, and fell asleep by herself.Gao Dashan stood at the door to stop her, but Qiuying yelled, "Get out of the way!" Gao Dashan was startled and had to get out of the way. Gao Dashan looked at his watch, it was already eleven o'clock at night. He had no choice but to walk into Gao Min and Gao Quan's room and look at the sleeping children. Gao Quan fell asleep, still pursing his lips. Gao Dashan sat for a long time, and then quietly, he groped into the utility room where Qiuying lived. Qiuying fell asleep face-in, with one leg exposed. He subconsciously stretched out his finger to press on the leg, and a deep crater appeared on Qiuying's leg, and it took a long time for him to return to its original shape. Qiuying remained motionless. Gao Dashan sat down with shame on his face, and said in a low voice, "Qiuying, sister, it's my fault. Squad leader Ding sacrificed for that cart of cabbage. Cabbage, my heart will be on fire! Qiuying, good girl, when I brought you home, I originally wanted you to live a good life with my brother for the rest of my life, so that I don’t have to eat wild vegetables and starve, but I didn’t expect that I would still starve you It's..." Qiuying remained motionless. Gao Dashan stood up: "But you have to believe in our country and our party. This is not the old society anymore. This is a natural disaster and a mistake in work. I heard that Chairman Mao has done a self-criticism. Such days will pass of!" Qiuying remained motionless. Gao Dashan was upset again, and he said, "Qiuying, I have said a lot, and I have also made a review for those old women in your family committee. Why don't you even say a word!" Qiuying still ignored him cruelly.Gao Dashan stood for a while, then walked out resentfully.Back in the kitchen, he opened the closet and looked at the half-basket of vegetable roots inside. Tears welled up in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and slammed the basket to the ground. Turning around, Gao Dashan smashed open the door of the political commissar's house with his fist.He said: "Political commissar, don't sleep! Get up and have a meeting!" The political commissar said nervously: "Is there a problem?" Gao Dashan looked at him and said loudly: "There is a problem!" Turning around, he knocked on Shang Shouzhi and The door of Li Mantun's house.Rolled them out of bed one by one into the conference room of the regiment headquarters. Gao Dashan’s voice was very painful, and he said: “Comrades, according to incomplete statistics, the whole regiment has fainted forty-three soldiers on the training ground recently! Swelling! As the head of this regiment, I didn’t pay enough attention to this matter in the past, and I didn’t take effective measures. For this, I would like to apologize to the entire regiment, all the wives and children!” He bowed deeply. Gao Dashan said: "Comrades, even on the battlefields of the War of Liberation and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, we have never suffered such a severe famine! I can't sleep because of this! Comrades, who are we? We are men, are we An invincible army of heroes, but we can't even feed our own children and wives, what kind of men are we! Some people will say, this is a nationwide matter, but this is said It’s useless at all! We can’t go on like this! If we go on like this, we’ll just sit and wait for death! Our duty is to guard the border, but we don’t have enough to eat, so how can we defend the border? I propose that the military training activities of the whole regiment be temporarily suspended, starting tomorrow , we want the whole regiment to mobilize, carry out production and self-help, and concentrate on making food! Agree with my proposal, raise your hand!" He raised his hand.Everyone looked at each other, and no one raised their hands immediately. The political commissar said: "Old Gao, I'm afraid you should ask Commander Lu for instructions to stop the large-scale military training of the whole regiment!" Gao Dashan said: "I will not accept the order of the king outside! I am the secretary of the party committee of the third regiment. I proposed this matter, and I will bear the responsibility!" Shang Shouzhi was the first to raise his hand and said, "I second the proposal!" Li Mantun raised his hand and said, "I also second the proposal!" Slowly, almost everyone, including the political commissar, raised their hands. Gao Dashan said: "Okay, it was unanimously approved. But if someone needs to sacrifice for this matter, he can only sacrifice me! Let's talk about it first, and I am responsible for this resolution! Well, now everyone thinks about it. If there is a way to make the whole group full, tell them all!" In the end, everyone agreed to use a tunnel in Yao Debao to grow mushrooms. Wu Liang, who has become the battalion commander, also got a pair of Angora short-haired rabbits from the home of a squad leader under his subordinates, and prepared to give birth to breed and save himself by giving birth. 4. Wang Daan's last letter Not long after Wang Daan came down, someone sent news to Gao Dashan that Commander Lu of the garrison area was going to be the chief of staff in the military area.As soon as Commander Lu left, the position of commander of the garrison area became vacant.I heard that the superiors will choose between Gao Dashan and Chen Gang. Gao Dashan burst out laughing when he found out. Shang Shouzhi didn't understand why he was laughing.Gao Dashan told him: "You said that he, Chen Gang, can also be a commander? He can't! He is not as good as me in fighting! If he really takes over, it must be me!" Shang Shouzhi said: "Regimental Commander, don't underestimate the enemy. The second regiment's big training and competition are also very popular, compared with you!" Gao Dashan said: "No, compared with me, he, Chen Gang, is no good! Just look at it, if the garrison area really wants to change commanders, it must be me, Gao Dashan!" The news seemed to grow wings, and it reached Qiuying's ears in the blink of an eye.When eating at night, Qiuying saw Gao Dashan beaming, so she asked.She said, "Old Gao, there are rumors outside that you are going to be the commander of the garrison area. Is it true or not?" Gao Dashan said: "Fake! Gossip!" Qiuying didn't believe it, she said, "Hmph, you haven't told me the truth once!" Qiuying told Gao Dashan that it would be great if they became commanders, and they could go back to Dongliao.She said: "I'm really thinking about the land in front of our house. Besides, the schools there are better than here. No matter how you say it, it's a city!" Gao Dashan only ate his own food, ignored her, and slowly hummed a song while drinking. The whole family was secretly surprised. Qiuying thought, there must be something good going on, and she would know even if he didn't tell her. The wind from Dafengkou really came as soon as it was said.A strong wind of magnitude seven or eight suddenly blew up at night. Gao Dashan couldn't tell if he was concerned about Wang Daan's safety. accident. Wu Liang led the messengers and appeared at the post overnight. But the problem still lies with Wang Daan.He fell off a cliff in order to pick herbs in time to cure the stomachache of a row at the wind whistle station. When the wind blows, it blows all the way to the other side of the national border... Because of Wang Daan's accident, a team leader came from above. In fact, they came here for the mountains. After the investigation, the leader of the working group made a report to Gao Dashan and the others, saying that the nature of the border incident was serious, but the person directly responsible was Wang Daan, who died in the incident.Since he is not a member of the Third Frontier Regiment, the Third Regiment can not be held responsible for this! But Gao Dashan was angry. He said: "Why are you talking like that! Do you know that Comrade Wang Daan is no longer here!" The working team leader said: "Head Gao, we did this mainly because of..." But before the team leader finished speaking, Gao Dashan stopped him. Gao Dashan said: "Don't talk about it! I am the head of the third frontier defense regiment. It is my primary responsibility to prevent and eliminate border incidents. The responsibility for this accident should not be borne by Comrade Wang Daan. He is training at the grassroots level. The post was blown past the boundary marker by strong winds! For his death, I, Gao Dashan, and our comrades in the whole regiment are very sad! As far as I know, Comrade Wang Daan strictly demanded himself during the training period at Dafengkou, and fulfilled his duties well. A soldier's duty, he also used the rest time to see a doctor for the soldiers, he is a rare good comrade, our good comrade-in-arms!" The team leader hoped that Gao Dashan would calm down a bit. Gao Dashan patted the table and said, "I am calm? Why am I calm? Why should I be calm! Comrade Wang Daan died while fulfilling his duties as a border guard. He dedicated himself to helping his comrades cure stomach problems. Others They are all dead, what are we living people doing? Do we still want to push our own responsibilities onto him? No! If there is any responsibility, I will bear all the responsibilities, and the superiors will punish them , Just punish me! It’s because I didn’t do my job well and failed to prevent the incident from happening in advance! As for Comrade Wang Da’an, I object to any punishment for him!” The working team leader stood up helplessly and said, "Okay then, we will take the opinion of the team leader Gao back!" The next day, the commander called Gao Dashan, saying that they adopted Gao Dashan's opinion, and determined that Comrade Wang Daan was sacrificed by a strong wind to collect herbs for his comrades to cure his comrades during the training period of the army. Posthumously recognize him as a revolutionary martyr.Another, his order is given, and he will go to the military region to serve in two days.As the commander of the garrison area, the military area decided to be replaced by the head of the second regiment, Chen Gang, and asked him to give Chen Gang the first blow! The political commissar of the regiment became angry as soon as he heard it. He said: "Old Gao, this is not fair! In terms of ability, grades, military exploits, including seniority, you are not as good as Commander Chen!" Gao Dashan also felt sorry for this, but he told the political commissar: "No incident like ours happened on the border of the Second Regiment, do you know that?" Lin came late. Lin Wan's arrival seemed to be another heavy blow to Gao Dashan's heart. Lin Wan handed in a report and proposed to be transferred to the Dashanzi Garrison District Hospital. When Gao Dashan heard that he was in a hurry, he stared helplessly at the political commissar and asked, "Do you agree?" The political commissar said no, and he said, "I have to ask your opinion first." Gao Dashan sighed deeply for this, and then said: "That's good, after all, there is nothing she can miss here, let her change the environment." When Gao Dashan saw Lin Wan, he was in the guest house of the regiment headquarters. There were many people there, almost all of them came to comfort Lin Wan.But Gao Dashan tried his best to avoid Lin Wan's eyes.But Lin Wan couldn't help feeling grateful to Gao Dashan. She said: "Commander Gao, on behalf of Da'an, and myself, thank you and all of you! You and the party committee of the third regiment took responsibility for him, I know!" Gao Dashan said: "No! Comrade Wang Daan has no responsibility at all! If I have a responsibility, it is my responsibility. I know that Comrade Wang Daan asked to go to Dafengkou for exercise, but I didn't think of taking better care of him and letting him go out. This accident. Our three groups are sorry for you, and I, Gao Dashan, are sorry for you!" Tears flowed slowly from Lin Wan's eyes again. Gao Dashan couldn't stand this kind of scene. He said to Lin Wan: "Comrade Lin Wan, we won't accompany you any longer. Comrade Wang Da'an died, but we are still here. We are comrades and comrades-in-arms. What is the difficulty? , just tell me to us! We will try our best to help you solve it!" Lin Wan said: "Thank you, Lao Gao, thank you all!" Gao Dashan looked at political commissar monk Shouzhi and Li Mantun and said, "Let's go! Comrade Lin Wan, take care!" Shang Shouzhi said: "Leader, there is one more thing, I need to ask Dr. Lin's opinion!" Gao Dashan said: "Ah, by the way, Comrade Lin Wan, how to arrange Comrade Daan's body, we need to listen to the opinions of the family members!" Lin Wan said: "Old Gao, Da'an has no parents, only me. If he is still alive, he will definitely be willing to stay here and be with you for a long time. He even wrote to me a few days ago, saying that he likes you , I like the Third Frontier Defense Regiment and want to stay for a long time. I would like to ask the organization...and that will satisfy his wish!" Gao Dashan looked at Shang Shouzhi and Li Mantun, and everyone nodded in agreement. Wang Daan's funeral was held on the hillside. Next to Wang Daan's tomb is the tomb of Squad Leader Ding. Gao Dashan said: "Comrades, today we buried our good comrade-in-arms, good comrade, Comrade Lin Wan's lover Martyr Wang Da'an here... What should I say?... I feel sad, I thought about it In other words, I have forgotten even now... Ah, yes, when I came here today, I saw the tomb of Comrade Wang Daan and the tomb of Squad Leader Xiao Ding, and I suddenly remembered one thing: Who else is there today? Dare to say that soldiers will not sacrifice in peaceful times?... No! No one can say that! He has no right! Even now, with the new China and peaceful times, our comrades and comrades-in-arms are still sacrificing! Comrades, we must Remember this matter, remember the names of these comrades! Remember that they died on the posts of guarding the frontier of the motherland, just as heroic as those who fell on the battlefield for the establishment of New China!... By the way, there are us , we all have to be ready to die in our posts when needed, lying next to Comrade Daan and Squad Leader Xiaoding, right here..." He pointed to the grass next to Wang Daan's tomb, with an extremely sad expression. Lin Wan looked very surprised. Before leaving, she handed Qiuying a letter. Lin Wan said: "Sister-in-law Qiuying, this is a letter that Da'an wrote to me after I went to Dafengwhistle. I want to leave it to you and Captain Gao at the moment...but don't read it now, wait until I leave See you later." Wang Daan said in the letter: "Lin Wan, there are some things I can only write to you when I am here. Don't think that I am here to escape from you and the true feelings in my heart. Yes, in the past I did not put my I tell you all the thoughts and feelings in my heart because I think those feelings and thoughts are despicable. Although I believe that Comrade Gao Dashan is an upright person, although we have been husband and wife for so long, I still have I have a little suspicion, thinking that you have more feelings for him than me, although I have concealed it very well in front of you and Comrade Gao Dashan... With this thought, my heart often aches, because... you I know... I love you... But at the same time, I also understand that I may be wrong... I can't explain this kind of mixed thoughts, so I want to leave you for a while to clean up my inner feelings... This is the real reason why I voluntarily asked to be a soldier at the grassroots level. At least it is one of the reasons. It was only when I came here and lived with the soldiers who have been here for many years that I realized that these thoughts of mine are similar to them and the same age. Comrade Gao Dashan who guards the border every year is so trivial. It is this period of life and understanding of Comrade Gao Dashan that I understand that we are first and foremost revolutionary soldiers, and the meaning of life is to serve the country and the people Hold this border line. Compared with Lao Gao and the soldiers here, I am deeply ashamed of those dark thoughts in my heart... Lin Wan, I will go back soon. I am healing many soldiers At the same time, I also healed my spiritual disease. Now I feel that I understand you too. What you have for Lao Gao can only be a comrade-in-arms emotion, because you know him better than I do, I also understand more deeply, you are an upright person like him, because of this, now I find that I love you more passionately..."