Chapter 8 Old Farmers Under the Slap of the New Wave

Snow covered fields, country roads.The mud that was trampled on during the snowmelt at noon had frozen into hard lumps at night, and the road was bumpy and bumpy.The road faces south, stretching along the wilderness uphill, twisting and turning on the snow like a leather rope thrown at will. The three of us—squad leader Liu Jianguo, head teacher Mr. Wang, and I—were walking south along this country road, braving the bitter cold wind in the midwinter morning on the Weihe Plain, to reach a village called Tianjiazhai. I went to the village to find Tian Fang's father, Tian Maorong, an old man.We will give him 400 yuan, and he will hand it over to the parent of the party who ordered Tian Fang to repay the bride price or bride price he has accepted, and completely cut off the rope that binds Tian Fang financially. What an inspiring feat!

Four hundred dollars is in my schoolbag and hangs heavily on my shoulders. It is no different from hundreds of beating hearts. How can I not feel heavy! At the New Year's party, our opera "The White-haired Girl" was a great success, Tian Fang's name disappeared, those classmates who knew her or didn't know her, those teachers who taught her or didn't teach her at all , We kindly call her the white-haired girl when we meet, not to mention the students in our class.The white-haired girl in the play has obtained the right to a new life and a happy and free love. The white-haired girl in real life——Tian Fang, the feudal dark cloud hanging over her soul has not yet dissipated.

Although the incident of robbing Tian Fang caused a sensation in the town, her father still did not change his words and would never allow her to break the marriage contract with Dazhang Village that had been confirmed by three media and six certificates.It was not her father who put the greatest pressure on her. She said that she would never go home, even sever the relationship between father and daughter, and would never go back to "the dark dry well".The most stressful thing for her was Bashi Wheat. The dowry her father promised her to Dazhang Village had already been eaten by the whole family, turned into dung and put on the fields.Eight stones of wheat, one stone and ten buckets, one bucket thirty-five catties, a total of two thousand eight hundred catties, equivalent to more than three hundred yuan!

A fundraising event was launched in the normal school! I still get emotional when I think about the ins and outs of this fundraiser.At first, it was only the actions of a few students in our basketball team, but unexpectedly it expanded to the whole school.After the basketball game with the County Armed Forces Department that day, on the way back to school with Captain He Changhai, we chatted about Tian Fang being robbed in the past.I said, if I had three or four hundred yuan, I would take it out and relieve her of the debt in her heart.He Changhai said, can our team get enough together?A dozen or so basketball players gathered together, but a few dozen yuan was far from enough.After returning to school, the news spread to the male and female students in the class, and everyone donated to me one after another.Immediately afterwards, students from other classes rushed to my dormitory and classroom to donate, and even a dozen teachers also donated...Ah!In just three or four days, I put more than 500 yuan in my schoolbag, which was more than I needed.After discussing with my homeroom teacher, Mr. Wang, I decided to return the extra 100 yuan to the teachers and students who donated the most, leaving 400 yuan enough.

"In order to break the feudal chain! I donate three yuan..." "We can no longer tolerate our sisters as victims of feudal marriage! I will donate a piece..." "For liberation, for freedom! I donate..." The faces of boys and girls were printed in front of my eyes, and the impassioned words rang in my ears, which will never be forgotten!Everyone is not only sympathetic to Tian Fang's experience, but also a common requirement of the times. The first generation of young people in New China who have just been liberated and free have a strong sense of anti-feudalism. These normal school students, especially He is a crash course student, from the bottom of society, not only hates landlords and capitalists, but especially hates feudal marriages. Many people have similar experiences with Tian Fang. Divorce and dissolution of engagement will not only not be ridiculed by others in normal schools, but will be widely accepted. support and sympathy.

"Are you divorced?" "separated!" "Completely messed up?" "Zero is done. What about you?" "I just mentioned it, and I'm leaving!" "Leave quickly! Go free again..." This is an open conversation, and no one will discuss it... It is not surprising that an eye-catching white-haired girl like Tian Fang receives enthusiastic donations. I pressed my schoolbag, 400 yuan was in my palm, my heart couldn't stop a burst of heat, and the cold wind in the early morning on the midwinter field was not so severe. The three of us walked into Tianjiazhai, and after asking several times, we finally found the door of Tian Fang's house.

There are two small houses without even a wall. It can be seen at a glance that this is a very poor peasant family.The three of us stood at the door of the shabby house, and a woman came out, about forty years old, who could be identified at a glance as Tian Fang's mother, her face was so similar, she was stunned when she saw these three strangers who were not dressed like peasants. After a while, he asked a little terrified, "Who are you looking for?" Teacher Wang explained our identities. The panic on Tian Fang's mother's face disappeared immediately, but she became even more panicked. She let us into the room, but couldn't make us sit down.Under a tattered quilt on the kang, four children and women were sitting around, and there was no stool on the ground for people to sit on.She wiped her hands and stepped out the door. When she came in again, she was carrying a bench, which she probably borrowed from the neighbor.In any case, the three of us squeezed together on the bench and sat down.

She scrambled to pour water, fetch cigarettes, and brought a wooden box containing cigarettes, but could not find the pouch.Teacher Wang lit her own cigarette and advised her not to bother.She sat down on the wooden pier under the stove, but didn't know what to say.Peasant women who have never seen the world or dealt with government cadres are often like this.Although Mrs. Wang was very kind, when she asked her about the situation at home, she didn't raise her head, she kept the fire burning, and answered a short sentence, but she was speechless for a long time.Tian Fang's father went to pick up dung, she told us, and then ordered her son who was sitting on the kang to look for it.

The old man came back, with a black veil wrapped around his head, and his nose was red from the cold. As soon as he entered the door, he said loudly: "The three gentlemen are here! Smoking—" He gave the short-stem pipe to the three of us one by one, Then he sat down on the threshold. "What are the three of you doing?" He raised his head and asked. Teacher Wang talked to him about Tian Fang's marriage and explained to him the principle of freedom of marriage in the new society.The old man lowered his head, smoking a cigarette, and made a posture of listening patiently.As soon as Mr. Wang stopped talking, he raised his face and said with a sense of righteousness: "The new society is good, and we farmers support the Communist Party. The marriage of children should be managed by the family, and the government and the school should be in charge of these matters." What are you doing?"

Teacher Wang patiently explained to him why the school should manage it. "If you don't trust your words, you don't know what to do." Tian Fang's father said, "You are all knowledgeable people, and you know more than I do. Let me tell you the next sentence. Three media and six certificates are known to all neighbors. Now Once the water washes away, am I still considered a human being in Tianjiazhai?" I was secretly surprised.This old farmer was dressed in a black home-woven cotton padded jacket and trousers, with patches piled on top of each other, with black cotton flocks exposed on his elbows. The fingers of the cigarette pipe are cracked like bark, but a string of half-baked words and sentences spit out from the mouth.I had already learned from Tian Fang that her father was a clumsy farmer who could not read a word.A clumsy farmer who can't read big characters, but he has to speak faithfully when he talks, mixing some ancient Chinese words that he doesn't understand.It would not be surprising if my father spoke like this, but Tian Fang's father made me feel strange.

Teacher Wang simply asked about Bashi Maizi. "There is such a thing." Tian Fang's father agreed, "Every family sells their daughters for money, and every family's son spends money to order a wife. I ate other people's wheat, and I have no conscience..." Teacher Wang reasoned again, saying that it was not a matter of conscience at all.I just took out 400 yuan with one hand: "This is a little thought from our classmates and teachers. There is only one purpose, so that Tian Fang can study with peace of mind, and don't force her to get into the sedan chair..." The old man stared wide-eyed, staring at the thick bundle of tickets I handed to him, and was stunned.He obviously didn't expect this move from us.After being stunned for a long time, as if I suddenly came to my senses, I stretched out my hands suddenly, pushed my hand away, and stood up: "This can't be done, this can't be done!" "We are for Tian Fang's future..." I said. "For nothing to break your promise!" said the old man. "If you don't accept it, we--" Teacher Wang saw that he couldn't persuade, so he made the last move we had discussed on the way, "hand it over to the township government, and the township government will hand it over to the family in Dazhang Village. Of course, In this way, the matchmaker and you will inevitably look bad. You know, last time you robbed people, the county detained three people from Dazhang Village, and they were just released..." "Oh!" Tian Fang's father sat down on the threshold, holding his head in his hands and sighing. Teacher Wang signaled me to put the money down, and I looked at the tattered little table with hemp ropes on its legs, with pots and jars on it, and put the money down. "Let's go." Teacher Wang stood up and said. Tian Fang's father raised his head and saw the stack of money on the table. He didn't refuse, but with a look of guilt on his face, he opened his hands and blocked the door: "You can't go if you don't want to eat... just sit down... ..." We sat down again. "Hey, three colleagues..." He shook his head, with a sincere and ashamed look on his face, "Liberated, are all the politeness in the past outdated?" Teacher Wang smiled: "That's not what you said. You, a poor peasant, turned over and planted your land firmly, and lived a better life. What are you doing with so much bad manners?" "It's great to be liberated! It's really good! No more soldiers, no more taxes, and officials don't bully the people, it's really good! But this new society—" Tian Fang's father now showed the innocence of an old crop, saying, "Aren't they all big or small? Is there no distinction between men and women? Is it regardless of face?" Teacher Wang laughed and shook his head. "Look—" the old man gave an example, "There are five surnames in my Tianjiazhai, Tian is the master, and the rest are added later. People say, 'The crooked Hu family, the evil Qin family, the evil spirits come from Liu. , Li’s family, benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, Datian’s family’, and now, the Tian family doesn’t pay attention to etiquette! Look, those men and women, this one is divorced, that one is free! It’s all messed up...Of course, we even Even the women can't control it!" "Why do you want to control others?" Teacher Wang asked with a smile, "Young people, listen to what you don't listen to, you have your own ideas! You can't control others with those old feudal ideas!" Tian Fang's father sighed: "Our older generations have never talked nonsense to others. Being poor is poor, but we have never done anything that makes people feel bad..." "You have oppressed me for a lifetime!" Tian Fang's mother said, "Now the child can't be suppressed anymore... that's good!" "You—" Tian Fang's father blushed, "I don't think I can survive!" "It's so poor, but it's so polite!" The woman became more courageous, "During the land reform, the working group gave us a table and two chairs. What about him? They quietly sent them back at night and let the militiamen seize them." Yes, after midnight interrogation, he said that he was in collusion with the rich man, and he only said... I can't accept ill-gotten gains in vain...Listen, you three, this is his courtesy!" After bidding farewell to Tian Fang's parents, the three of us returned.The sun rises in the gray-blue winter sky, the chill dissipates, the roads begin to loosen and the country roads are covered with mud.The three of us recollected the interesting conversation with Tian Fang's father just now, talking and laughing, and walked to the top of Manpo. In front of you is the magnificent wilderness of the Weihe Plain, open and wide, with endless tombs of ancient emperors, counselors, and generals scattered in the fields, covered with a layer of snow. They are buried in underground palaces. It is said that it has been more than a thousand years, but the feudal ethics created by them have been discharged outside the palace walls together with the filth in their palaces, seeped into the fields, and soaked into the blood of his subjects, and passed down from generation to generation. Like my father and Tian Fang's father, are they righteous people?