Chapter 10 close call

But there was a loud knock on the door.I know, the Red Guards are here again.Sure enough, as soon as the door was opened, three students barged in, valiant and high-spirited, their armbands shining bright red.They came to escort me somewhere to criticize. Under such circumstances, I know that I have no right to speak.I'm just an animal being driven to slaughter, to be slaughtered and driven.I immediately and secretly put down the bag containing the sleeping pills, bowed my head and followed my ears.The two old ladies in the family watched helplessly as their relatives were taken away.They were as silent as I was.Now is the moment when people are swordsmen, I am fish and meat, and the power of life and death is in the hands of others.Walking on the road, I was caught in the middle, with a Red Guard on one side and another behind, like a rearguard.They reprimanded me loudly as they walked, saying that my attitude was extremely bad, and they dared to retort.Today I want to show me a little bit of color, to show off my majesty.I just listened attentively and kept silent.I realized that a huge storm was circling over my head.The scenes of brutal struggles that I had seen before, unexpectedly happened to me today.Originally just a bystander, today he has become the protagonist.To say that I am not afraid in my heart is not the truth.But what good is fear?My head is confused, it seems clear, and it seems confused, and it is a mess.I think of the scene of being kidnapped and taken to the execution ground.I have no experience of being kidnapped and sent to the execution ground to be beheaded or shot.Is the feeling in my heart a bit similar to that incident?I can't tell.In fact, I think it's better to beheaded or shot, it's just a matter of a second, the flash of the knife, the sound of the gun, and I'm over.Now I don't know how long the criticism will last, and I don't know what torture tricks are out there...

Along the way, I dare not look up, dare not look at others.I don't know how other people see me.I think of Lu Xun's novel: .I am now the one being shown.There must be a large audience around me like the audience mentioned in the novel.They were probably also pointing and talking.It's a pity that I can't and don't want to listen to their arguments. I don't know how it happened, but I was escorted to a certain place.I looked down at the ground, and I knew it was the Great Dining Room, the largest indoor gathering place on campus.I walked in through the back door and walked into a small room, where there were already several "prisoners", all of whom had become Patriarch Bodhidharma, standing facing the wall.I dare not look at anyone, I don't know who they are.I was also ordered to stand facing the wall.My ears have not been plugged, and I can still hear voices, some of which I am familiar with.I only feel that the figures are chaotic, and I can only hear the noise of people's voices.The people present must all be from the Xinbei University Commune, and people from Jinggangshan will not come.I stood there with bated breath.Suddenly, I heard a crisp slap, but I didn't feel anything on my face, knowing that it was on the faces of other "prisoners".I got a little comfort in my heart.But immediately I heard another clearer slap, the sound was close in front of my eyes, and my face was a little hot.I realized that this sound happened to my face.I was a little nervous.But there was another heavy punch on my back and another heavy kick on my leg.I ate the guts of a tiger and the heart of a leopard, and dared to stand up against their mistress.It's only natural that they focus their hatred on me.Why am I so strange?In addition to this, I think there are other reasons: some people really get pleasure from torturing others.Ancient Chinese philosophers emphasized the distinction between humans and animals.Their opinion is, of course, that man is superior to beasts.But in this regard, I still agree with Lu Xun's opinion.He said that when animals eat people or other animals, they just open their mouths to eat. They will never be like humans. eat human.The distinction between humans and birds, that is, the difference between animals and humans, lies here; in other words, animals are better than humans, they are straightforward, and they eat humans or other animals when they are hungry.How do the "people" of the New Peking University Commune compare with animals?

These ideas came later.At that time, I was just an animal about to be eaten. I was both nervous and frightened; awake and confused.I stood facing the wall, all the nerves in my body were focused on my ears, and all parts of my body were ready to withstand punches and kicks at any time.I know that these can only be regarded as a prelude, and the big axis drama is still to come. Sure enough, the big axis show finally came.Suddenly I heard a shout in the air, like a thunderbolt: "Bring Ji Xianlin up!" Then two Red Guards came up.One grabs my right arm and twists it on my back.One grabbed the left arm, also screwed on the back.At the same time, a person freed up a hand and pressed it heavily on my neck, preventing me from raising my head.In this way, I was escorted onto the criticizing platform, and then staggered and shoved to the left front of the platform. "Bend down!" Well, I will bend down. "Bow your head!" Well, I will bow my head.But I was punched hard on the spine again: "Bend down!" Okay, I will bend down.But I was kicked fiercely on the leg again: "Bend down again!" Okay, I will bend down again.I couldn't stand anymore, and put my hands on my knees.Immediately, I was punched and kicked again: "Don't put your hands on your knees!" At this time, both hands were hanging in the air, and the weight of the whole body was pressed on the legs, and the legs really couldn't bear it. That's what Little Revolutionary wanted me to be, according to the construction of the jet.Their work style is extremely rigorous.It took a few minutes just to adjust my posture, but my legs were already sore and sore.I really want to just kneel on the ground.But, I knew that was bound to invite punches and kicks.My only way out now is to grit my teeth and endure everything.

Suddenly, I heard someone speaking on the rostrum behind me.I don't know how many people were on stage.I don't even know how many critics there are, and how many have been criticized.As for the situation in the audience, of course I didn't dare to open my eyes to see it. I could only hear the roar of people and the sound of slogans shaking the sky and the earth.I didn't even have the heart to listen to what the speaker was saying.I vaguely knew that today I am not the protagonist, I am just here to "accompany the fight".The protagonist being fought is an old comrade surnamed Ge.In terms of revolutionary qualifications, he was earlier than the 38th style.In terms of administrative experience, he served as the president of Hebei University, the vice president of Peking University, and the deputy secretary of the party committee.Such an old revolutionary was also "downed" by the New Peking University Commune just because he opposed that "Lafayette", and he was arrested and criticized today.I figured out my position in this unprecedented mass struggle, and felt a little comforted in my heart.On my right, probably in the middle of the rostrum, is where the old comrade stayed.Is he standing?Is it sitting?Kneeling?Or take a jet?I don't even know.All I could hear were crisp slaps, violent kicks, and heavy fists.I know he is suffering.Maybe someone(?) is burning his skin with a lit cigarette.But I am the mud bodhisattva crossing the river, and I cannot protect myself.Besides, my legs no longer have the strength to support my body, and the pain is beyond description.There are stars in front of my eyes, and my face is sweating.I gritted my teeth and warned myself: "Hold it! Hold it! You can't fall down no matter what! Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable!" Suddenly, completely out of my expectation, a mouthful of thick phlegm slapped Spit on the left side of my face.Of course I don't know where it came from.I can only "do it on my own."It is absolutely impossible to wipe it with your hands.I gritted my teeth again and again, counting silently in my heart, hoping that time would pass quickly.At this time, the noisy dining hall seemed to suddenly quiet down, as if the entire dining hall, the entire Peking University, the entire Beijing, the entire China, and the entire universe, I was the only one left.

All of a sudden, the big dining hall boiled up, and the sky-shattering slogans came up one after another, like the waves of the sea: the criticism meeting is over.Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, someone grabbed my neck again, cut my hands behind my back, pushed me out of the venue, and put me in a cabriolet.I realized that my play was not finished yet, and now I was going out to "show the public".The heroes put me in the middle, still alone on one side, and twisted my arms.I can't see anything, I dare not look at anything.I just felt that both sides of the road were crowded with people.Stones were thrown at me, hit me on the head, hit me in the face, hit me on the body.I felt a thousand hands waving above my head, a thousand feet kicking in my legs, a thousand mouths spitting at me.I can't stand it, and I can't stand it.The car just moves forward.Where are you going?I have absolutely no idea.I have lived here for nearly twenty years, and I am familiar with every inch of the land.But now I am completely confused.I am now like a boat tossed in a stormy sea, like a rabbit or a fox surrounded by hounds, like catkins blowing in the wind, like a homeless bird.Shouts from the side of the road shook the sky, and the sound of slogans shook the mountains, forming a majestic chorus.My head was befuddled and groggy.I know that life is in the hands of others now, and I have made up my mind to resign myself to fate.

I don't know how long it took, and I don't know where the car drove.The car stopped suddenly.Someone—either a student or a worker—kicked me off the car.I fell a somersault, lay on the ground, and struggled to get up.An old worker came up and slapped me in the face, blood flowed from my nose and mouth immediately.I know this old worker.Later, when 8341 entered the campus, he actually held a sign to welcome the PLA on behalf of the working class of Peking University.I really feel bad.Is he good enough to be a worker?This is something for later, let's not mention it for now.At that time, blood was dripping from my mouth and nose, and I was at a loss.Suddenly, I heard a shout from the working class above my head: "Get out!" I knew they were letting me go home.I really seem to be the death row prisoner who was released in the old novels in the shout of "Knife!"At this time, my soul seemed to return to myself.I found that the hat on my head had already been lost, and there was only one shoe left on my foot.I limped like this and walked home.My embarrassment surprised the two old ladies in the family, but they immediately turned their surprise into joy: I finally came back alive.

This is the first time I have been criticized in more than fifty years.It really can be thrilling and unforgettable.It exposes the cruel nature of human beings.But it saved my life in the nick of time. "Such cruel criticism is bearable!" I thought to myself. "With this fight, what is there to fear in the future? Let's live!" I thought again.But I was really full of fear.If the Red Guards who escorted me had arrived half an hour late, I would have climbed over the short wall behind the building, arrived at the Old Summer Palace, and committed suicide by taking sleeping pills.If my attitude had been a little better, the leaders of the New Peking University Commune of the Department of Oriental Languages ​​would never have thought of trying to show off my prestige and not let me join the fight, and I would have already died in the big reed pond in the Old Summer Palace.Could there be anything more terrifying than this?I also came to a conclusion, a piece of life experience: sometimes it is better to have a bad attitude towards bad people.I took my life because of my bad attitude.This criticism seems to be an experiment to determine the minimum level that a person can endure under cruel torture.What I suffered was clearly on this line.These are all delusions.Anyway, life is picked.But I picked my life, should I be glad?Or should I regret it?I still haven't figured it out yet.

Now that you are determined to survive, you must prepare for more brutal and intense criticism.I have this mental preparation. Here I would like to study a problem first: the problem of criticism.I don't know who invented this form.Probably it was invented by concentrating the wisdom of the masses, discarding the dross and selecting the essence, discarding the false and preserving the true.If there is a patent right for this invention, the inventor is a genius, and he should win the first prize.But I think he is a stupid genius.This kind of criticism is vigorous and powerful in form; in fact, it can't solve any problems.In the old society, the magistrate or other judges ordered spanking, splinting, and even piercing the "prisoner"'s nails with bamboo sticks, in order to torture them into tricks.What is the purpose of the current criticism?If you only want those being denounced to admit that you are a capitalist roader and a bourgeois reactionary academic authority, haven’t you already announced the charges with loudspeakers and big-character posters?What is the use of acknowledging or not acknowledging?This or these inventors may have been influenced by art for art's sake in the West, and he or they criticized for the sake of criticism.If you think about it a little worse, he or they criticize and fight in order to satisfy the inferior nature of human beings to torture others for fun.In short, I think that criticism is useless.However, here, I have to pay my utmost respect to the inventors. They are proficient in science and technology and understand the construction principles of jet aircraft, so they invented the jet-type criticism method.The beasts couldn't think of such a method.Man is the spirit of all things, believe me!

Gossip less, the book returns to the main story.The fate was picked, very good.But it was picked for criticism.A few days later, the criticism of the Eastern Language Department began.Originally, I was only allowed to play a supporting role, but today I was upgraded to a leading role.Criticizing the program, everything is as it should be.After the fierce knock on the door, two Red Guards (one less than last time) came in, valiant and high-spirited, their armbands shining bright red, and escorted me to the Foreign Languages ​​Building.When entering the door, stand on the wall inside the corridor.I still can't see anything.All I could hear was the noise of people.Beside me stood two people facing the wall.I understand, this is the companion.I have worked in the Department of Oriental Languages ​​for more than 20 years. The teachers and students I have trained now work in an orderly and leak-free manner. I secretly admire them.Before I could turn my thoughts back to the scene, I heard a shout from inside the room: "Bring Ji Xianlin up!" It was only a dozen steps from the door to the podium.However, these ten steps are really difficult to walk!Four hands twisted my arm and turned it on my back, and a few more hands grabbed my neck.I have at least seven or eight hands on my body. Although there is still a gap from the Thousand Hands and Thousand Eyes Buddha, it is already impressive enough.But I don't know how many hands have been inserted into the crevices of these hands, and where they want to hit me.I was pushed and shoved onto the podium like this.This is where I have often stood for twenty years. At that time, I was the head of the department, the head of the department, and a guest of honor; today I am a "counter-revolutionary" and a prisoner.Life is unpredictable and unpredictable.At this time, the whole big classroom shouted loudly.A lady leads the singing.She shouted: "Down with ×× member Ji Xianlin!" Then the crowd echoed.This ×× can be changed, for example, from "reactionary bourgeois academic authority" to "capitalist roaders", and then to "remnants of the Kuomintang"-let me declare first: I have never joined the Kuomintang-and then what? , I can't remember.Every time it is changed, the "revolutionary masses" will yell accordingly.Probably all the hats of the "Cultural Revolution" have been worn by me.I have become a prominent figure in Peking University's collection of hats!

I glanced sideways at the three things on the table of the rostrum: one was a gleaming kitchen knife; the other was a bamboo basket containing burnt old letters;I froze, almost fainted from fright.I thought: "Too bad! My life is over today!" For the masses who don't know the truth, each of the three things can vividly arouse the great hatred of the masses, and can kill me.Today, I, the protagonist who hangs the headlines, seem to be in danger.The ancients said: "If it comes, it will be safe." There are no cracks in the ground, and I can't get in.I'll just "safe" it.

After the slogan "Down with him" was shouted, the chairman respectfully read the quotations, such as "Revolution is not a dinner party", "If you don't beat him, he won't fall down" and so on.I also don't know what effect reading quotations will have.Is it an encouragement to the "revolutionary masses"?Or a deterrent to "prisoners"?Anyway, I have read the quotations, and I can't finish reading them one by one.Finally the quotation is over.Someone gave a keynote speech—it seemed to be Wang Moumou, a Thai-language learner who came to my house to copy the house—and counted my "crimes" with impassioned, righteousness.I'm sitting on the jet right now, and my legs are sore as hell.I was so concentrated on my legs that I could only spare a quarter of my ears to listen to the speech.Ninety-nine percent of the speeches are slander, fabrication, weaving, and lying.My mind is still clear, but I don't feel any grievances—I'm used to it.When he spoke of the passionate part, the sound of "down" shook the roof tiles.The universe really seems to be full of righteousness.At this time, people gradually surrounded me, punched and kicked me, and kept knocking me down to the ground.When I was fighting in the big dining room, I only heard the sound of punching and kicking, which happened to other people.This time it happened to me.Am I already bruised and bruised and I can't see myself without a mirror.Soon someone dragged me from the ground, more violent punches and kicks.At this time, I think it is impossible to take a jet.Among the besiegers, I can clearly see Zheng who is learning Hindi, Gu who is learning Korean, and Wang who is learning Vietnamese(?).The former one is eloquent, known as "Dianmen", and is a hardcore under the command of "Lafayette".The latter two are burly men with "two arms with great strength".I suddenly had the thoughts I had when my house was ransacked: I am such a bad old man, I have no power to restrain the chicken.You only need to produce one hard-core female member, and it is enough to knock me to the ground and set foot on a thousand feet.Why use your generals in fighting against me?Don't tell me, these giants really do their best and never spare their strength.They killed my chicken with a sledgehammer.What the result is, the reader can imagine for himself. I don't know how long the criticism went on in total.Really well-rounded.My protagonist probably also "acts" (acts passively) well.I'm afraid that everyone in the masses has got their share of enjoyment and is satisfied.I suddenly heard a shout: "Put Ji Xianlin down!" I was cut behind my hands again, and I was pushed out of the Foreign Languages ​​Building in the forest of fists and shouting slogans.However, the masses with extremely high revolutionary enthusiasm have not fully vented their revolutionary indignation. They chased after me, still punching and kicking.It seems that an Arabic teacher surnamed Luo said a few words, and the momentum of the pursuers to fight against the enemy eased a little.At this time, I had almost escaped to the Democracy Building.Looking back, there were no pursuers behind.My heart seemed to have just returned to my own cavity, and I took a breath.Only then did I feel sore and sore all over my body. There was a bit of stickiness under my nose, corners of my mouth, and forehead, probably blood and sweat.I walked home like this. I went through another baptism of blood.