Chapter 38 Section 38

Several big buses stopped in front of the building where five people jumped from the building in less than a month. The first batch of one hundred people who went to the countryside lined up to wait for the military representative to give a lecture before leaving. Each of them pinned a red flower made of paper on their chest. , This is also representative Zhang's instruction, before getting into the car, I asked a few people in the office to rush it out. More than half of the fighters in this team are elderly, and there are also women, those who have reached the retirement age but have not retired, and those with high blood pressure who are on sick leave, including veteran cadres in the Yan'an base area and old guerrillas who fought tunnel warfare in the Jizhong Plain. , according to Mao's latest "May 7 Instructions", go to farm, with this paper flower on your chest, labor reform is also glorious.

Representative Zhang came down from upstairs, put his fingers together on the brim of his hat, and paid attention to everyone: "Comrades, you are glorious May 7th fighters from now on! You are the advance team, and you have the great mission of building a communist university called by the great leader Chairman Mao! I wish everyone a good harvest of labor and thought!" As expected of a regular soldier, there was no nonsense, and he raised his arm to signal everyone that it was time to get in the car.There were family members and colleagues in the building who came to see him off in front of the building, and there were people waving at the windows on all floors.The past three years have had enough fighting - those who left were all comrades, and some women wiped their tears. This scene was a bit touching, but the atmosphere was generally cheerful.

He was really happy in his heart, and cleaned up everything, even the enamel urinal in the room was scrubbed clean, and packed into a wooden box nailed by the public.Each person who was sent down was given two such wooden boxes for free, and if there were more, he would pay for it personally. This was specially issued by the newly established May 7th Office of the State Council.All his books were also crucified in a wooden box. Although he didn't know when they would be opened again, they would always be with him for the rest of his life, and they were his last spiritual sustenance. When he submitted the application for decentralization, Representative Zhang hesitated a bit and said, "The investigation is not over yet, there are still more difficult tasks ahead."

Without waiting for the military representative to finish speaking, he eloquently stated his determination and necessity of undergoing labor reform in one breath, and said: "Report to Representative Zhang, my girlfriend has also graduated from college and was assigned to the countryside. After the construction of the cadre school is completed, we can also take her to settle down and work in the countryside for a lifetime of revolution!" This made it very clear, he was not avoiding suspicion, but an extremely pragmatic consideration.Representative Zhang rolled his eyes, and this turn determined his life and death.

"Good!" Representative Zhang took his application form. He was relieved. Only one person said: "You shouldn't be leaving!!" It was Da Li, and he heard that it was a condemnation of him.Comrade Wang Qi, whom he had protected, came to see him off, his eyes were red, and he turned his face away.Da Li also came to shake hands with him to say goodbye, his eyes were swollen, but he looked more simple and honest. They could never become friends.He saw Da Li's loneliness. Among the disbanded rebels, he had comrades-in-arms, but no real friends, and he also abandoned them.

Before going downstairs to gather in line, he went to the room of his old superior, Lao Liu, and shook hands. Lao Liu's hand held him tightly, like pinching a life-saving straw, but this straw also wanted to avoid sinking.They silently pinched Niu Yun's mouth for a while, and they couldn't get involved and sink together, so Lao Liu let go of his hand first.He had finally escaped from this mad hive, this building of death. Outside the front door, the train station is always so crowded, on the platform!In the carriage, the people who said goodbye and saw them off moved. At this time, it was mainly the staff and cadres of the decentralized government agencies and the middle school students who went to settle in the countryside. The college students had already been sent to the countryside and the frontier.The boys, girls and children who got on the bus blocked the window, and it was their parents who crowded outside the window and repeatedly urged them.The drums and gongs were blaring on the platform, and a group of children who were not yet old enough to go to the countryside led by the workers' propaganda team were beating, making the parting scene very lively.

The dispatcher in blue uniform blew his whistle again and again, and everyone retreated behind the white line on the platform, but the car didn't start for a long time.There was a sudden commotion on the platform. First, a group of armed policemen ran out, stood in a line, followed by the "long" line of shaved-headed prisoners, Erlu with quilts on their backs and an enamel bowl in their hands, walking in neat steps. , singing a rhythmic slogan in a low voice: "Be honest, start a new life, resist reform, and die!" The chanting was low and repeated, with the solemnity of a requiem, and the drums and gongs of the children stopped.The row of prisoners crossed the platform obliquely, and with repeated slogans, they entered a few windowless stuffy tank cars at the rear of the train.Ten minutes later, the train started slowly in silence.At this time, there were a few uncontrollable sobs from the platform, and immediately there were children and adults crying on and off the train, and of course there were some waving their hands to force laughter, and the man-made atmosphere of joy disappeared.

Outside the car window, red brick houses with cement poles, gray concrete buildings, chimneys, and bare tree branches recede one after another.He was willing, and finally escaped from this terrifying capital.The oncoming wind was still cold and hard, but at least he could breathe freely, and he no longer had to worry about it all the time.He is young and strong, has no family, no burden, nothing but farming.He went to the countryside to work when he was in college, and no matter how tiring the farm work was, his nerves didn't have to be so tense.He wants to hum a song, what other old songs can he sing?Well, it doesn't matter if you don't sing.