Chapter 33 Chapter Eleven

The sun finally set. The world suddenly became dark.The Yellow River, awakened by the whistling wind, tossed and turned on the wide river bed, making roars of struggling to move forward. "Hulong!" A large part of the river bank collapsed.Along with the loud rumbling noise, there was another puff of muddy smell.The black night permeated the universe, and in every direction was a mass of boundless chaos.Although there were still scattered stars above his head, he lay on his back on the railing of the donkey cart, and after staring at them for a long time, he discovered that they were under his feet...

Everyone's life can be divided into two periods, some boundaries are more obvious, and some boundaries are not so obvious.After he lay down on the river bank and let go of all the tears, although his heart was lightened, he obviously entered the second half of his life. The leading cadres helped him back to Zhuangzi.The next day, his daughter found that his original black hair was covered with white hairs, curly like withered corn silk, which was particularly conspicuous. Later, the two rows of solid and bright teeth that should be proud of were gradually shaken. .The villagers call it "fire teeth" or "worms eat teeth".The worms ate the big teeth first, and then proceeded step by step, one by one.Now the worms had eaten six of his teeth.

In 1968, revolutionary committees at all levels were established successively in the county, and the sound of gongs, drums and firecrackers was endless.Because the vast majority of people don't understand how he, the hot-tempered "commander" of the "peasant red guards", can be short-lived, and he ran back to Weijiaqiao obediently without showing any resistance to Wang Yihu. , so when the county leadership team was brewing, no one dared to mention his name.But that year was the year when all the influential figures in the Cultural Revolution celebrated each other. If they didn't get an official position at that time, they would never have such an opportunity again.As a result, he was also "officially" in a slump. He was no more than the branch secretary of the brigade, and his name was not included in the registration form of state cadres.

As for him, after Han Yumei's accident, and since the veteran cadres left Weijiaqiao one by one, his heart felt empty, and he felt a kind of tranquility that he had never felt before.The old cadres who left Weijiaqiao were all picked up by small sleeping cars from the province.He protected them, talked with them, and packed their bedding, carried their luggage, and happily sent them off.He saw their ups and downs, their honors and disgraces, and at the same time realized that his past ambitions and leadership desires were very naive and ridiculous.If such an old revolutionary has to endure such torture, what is he?A farmer with muddy legs, he should lead everyone to suffer in the field.

In 1971, the province organized agricultural model workers and cadres of advanced communes to visit and study in the Dazhai and Xiadingjia Brigades, and he got a chance to go out. The Dazhai Brigade and the Xiadingjia Brigade coaxed the student dolls, government officials, and workers to be no different from "foreign dignitaries." In the eyes of the old peasants who had worked in agriculture all their lives, they could see the problem at a glance.He made a calculation for Dazhai: a total of just over 400 mu of land was planted—while his brigade had more than 4,000 mu including the "black field"—and just relying on it to sow handfuls of corn and millet, Don't think about repairing such a big project!

"It's really selling poems and books in front of Confucius' gate, and playing axes in front of Luban's gate! It's hard to make money, and you still organize so many people to study!" He secretly thought, "Just give Weijiaqiao the excrement of the people who visited and studied, and I will do it too." Better than Dazhai!" However, this visit opened his eyes after all.It was the first time in his life that he had traveled such a long distance, the first time he had seen such a large world, and the first time he had crossed the Yellow River on an iron bridge.When the car passed the Jinan Iron Bridge, someone told him that the Yellow River was about to leave the sea.Looking out of the window, he saw that the river bed was broad and majestic, the river was mighty, steamers and sailboats shuttled on it, and there were row upon row of factory buildings on both sides of the river, emitting white gas and black smoke suddenly, which made him feel This farmer who lived half his life in a remote village was very excited, and something seemed to pop up in his heart; looking into the distance, at the foot of the eastern sky, the end of the Yellow River was surging in a milky white misty mirage. As was the case when a thought was struggling to form from the fringes of his consciousness.

And his thought formally took shape when he met Wu Shangrong. That day, he just got off the bus, carrying a net bag of Shandong pears, carrying a bag of souvenirs from his visits and studies, sitting under the Quotations Tower in the center of the county square, looking for a tractor or cart to go to the river to pick up some It's August, it's noon, the sun is scorching hot, and there is only a narrow triangular shadow under the Tower of Quotations.The asphalt road is sweating with black light and black light, and the stench is suffocating.The leaves of the poplar trees were covered with dust and drooped listlessly, motionless.The street was empty, and the popsicle seller had gone somewhere to hide.He took out a pear, wiped it with the palm of his hand, took a bite, turned his face and spat out the dregs to the other side of the tower of sayings, and a disheveled head poked out from the shadow over there.

"Yo, it's Secretary Wei." "Hey, it's you?" He also wondered, "What are you doing here?" "I'm waiting for the County Revolutionary Committee to go to work." Wu Shangrong bent over and sat next to him. "I have been here for half a month from my hometown." "In the past few years, you have been doing well." He squinted at Wu Shangrong: now this man of the age is covered in dust, and his face is full of traces of trekking and wandering in all kinds of weather. "Oh, what are you talking about?" Wu Shangrong curled his lips, and said with the expression of meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land, "In the past three years, the household registration has not been reported, and there is no food to eat. Do odd jobs for others to earn some money to buy sweet potatoes. I have to run back and forth for more than a hundred miles. I dare not take it on the train, and I don’t have the money to buy a ticket, so I can only carry it on my shoulders... Let’s not talk about this crime. I’m used to it, but now I cry when I see sweet potatoes. Sigh..."

"Then what's the use of finding the County Revolutionary Committee?" "I was expelled back then. It was clearly a wrong case. Secretary Wei knows this best—I would have died without you Secretary Wei that time—now that the Cultural Revolution has entered the late stage, I'm here to look for it and want to come back." "Then go find it." Looking at the fortified gate of the County Revolutionary Committee, he lightly taunted Wu Shangrong. "Oh, what are you looking for? After searching for half a month, no one answered me, saying that cases older than mine are still piled up there. Hey, Secretary Wei," Wu Shangrong said in a completely different tone from that day in the dark room He said in a calm tone, "Can you help me? Can you, Secretary Wei, save people to the end."

"How can I save you?" He threw away the pear pit and wiped his hands on his trouser legs. "At present, I don't know anyone in the County Revolutionary Committee. The 'old, middle-aged and young' are all rebels just like you... Hey, don't you have your old comrades in arms?" "Hey, what an old comrade-in-arms! Then they became opposites." Wu Shangrong shook his head self-deprecatingly, "Secretary Wei, I'm not begging you to talk. When you mention me, those people are like eating grapes and drinking vinegar— —I lost my teeth. I just ask you to find me a place where I can get my household registration and have a bowl of rice to eat.”

"Well," he turned his face away again, looking at Wu Shangrong with appraising eyes. "But our brigade only does agricultural work, what are you doing?" "Why don't you start an industry?" Wu Shangrong's face became lively, "In our hometown, the communes and brigades have set up industries, including machine repair, manufacturing, processing, plastics... quite comprehensive. I can't settle down. Households who have settled down are vying for me. Your Weijiaqiao brigade is one of the richest teams in the province, and it is difficult to run an industry?" "This Gazi went with me!" He was so happy that he almost slapped his thigh.But for a moment, he thought of Wu Shangrong's performance under his red-tasseled gun, and immediately turned the smile that had spread on his face into a sneer: "Hey, the toad wants to eat swan meat. Let's save it, which communes and brigades now rely on handfuls of grain to run industries. So, you don't want to do agricultural work?" "Well, it's not that I don't want to do it. Now it's still a matter of whether I want to do it or not?" Wu Shangrong said, "I'm a pity for my ability. I'm not bragging in front of your Secretary Wei, turning, milling, planing, grinding, pliers, cars, etc. , tractors, water pumps, electric motors, I can’t do it or repair it.” He knew that Wu Shangrong was not talking big. He had heard that he was a "technical authority" in the county in the past. "Then, all right." He saw Wu Shangrong's eyes were fixed on the net bag of Shandong pears, so he took out half of it and stuffed it in Wu Shangrong's satchel covered with putty. "For the sake of our friendship over a meal, I won't bury you. Here, I'll give you another fifteen yuan for this pear—it's a lot, and I didn't bring it—you go to the county in the province and run away again. Go. If you find a place where you can sell your technology, don’t come here, and ask someone to return the money to me later. If your technology can’t be sold, you can come to Weijiaqiao to find me.” He went back to Weijiaqiao. For the first few days, he waited at home without any worries.He predicted that Wu Shangrong would have to come to him—people who knew Wu Shangrong dared not want him, and those who were not familiar with Wu Shangrong wanted to see his proof, and he was sure that Wu Shangrong couldn't even take out a piece of red stamped paper the size of a palm. .However, ten days passed, half a month passed, and Wu Shangrong still hadn't been seen.He secretly complained to himself: Why didn't this Gazi be arrested at that time?Pooh!Forgot that he is a foreigner, why did he have to come to Weijiaqiao?Widow Luo is right, the out-of-towner's out-of-garden are all left outside the door of the house, and only those in our area who raise babies are buried in the threshold.That's why foreigners can run around and make their homes all over the world. Only our people have to come back when they go to the ends of the world. One evening, the red sun gradually set in the west.He was lying on the kang complaining to himself, when suddenly he heard a dog barking fiercely outside the door.His heart moved, and he lay down on the window sill to see: Wu Shangrong really came. Not seeing each other for more than half a month, Wu Shangrong was even more embarrassed.The strap of the dirty satchel was also broken, and he was swinging the dog with it; the shirt, which was as black as a rag, had two buttons, but there was not even a single button left on this trip—no wonder it looked like this. The dog will bark at him. He let the dog bite Wu Shangrong for a while, and then hurriedly sent his daughter who was at home on summer vacation to slaughter the chicken. "I'm still slaughtering a chicken, I can't even eat a bite..." His woman looked unhappy. "Go, what do you know? You will hatch eggs on the kang after eating chicken!" He waved his hand, lay down again, and raised his legs high. Wu Shangrong entered the door in shock, and he didn't show any intention of getting up. "Come on," he greeted lazily, "where did you find a job?" "Oh, don't mention it!" Before Wu Shangrong sat down, he cried and complained, "In my hometown, someone wrote a couplet, which was later labeled as a counter-revolutionary. Human feelings are so cold.' Now, this is where I am!" "Don't stand, sit down." He casually pointed to the edge of the kang, "Aren't you very good in the past? I told you a long time ago: You belong to the duck - the meat can't be cooked even if the mouth is boiled. What's wrong now? Is it as wilted as a snot?" "Oh, I can't help it!" Wu Shangrong sighed three times, "My stomach is not forgiving. There are still four mouths in the house. When I think of them, I can't even eat..." "Hey, don't skip your meal." He kept asking his daughter to bring the meal, "Let's talk after we have eaten." His daughter fried the fat and tender chicken and served it with white rice.Wu Shangrong was the same as he used to be in the office building, he was not polite, he sat on the kang table, crossed his legs and ate with his head down.At this time, Wu Shangrong probably forgot about the four mouths at home, and ate up a chicken.Then he wiped his lips, hiccupped, picked up the cigarettes he specially offered to respect guests, looked at the brand, lit the fire and smoked. "Are you full?" "I'm full." Wu Shangrong drank the matching tea and smoked a cigarette, indulging in the pleasant dizziness after drinking and eating. "How is life here compared to your hometown?" "Hey! Don't mention it, our hometown has been the worst in the past few years!" "Are you willing to move your family here, and what will you do in our brigade?" "Oh! Secretary Wei, do you still need to ask?" A hero who didn't blink at the point of a gun, after being "shocked" and "cold", his stomach was flattened and he was knocked down by a good meal. "really?" "really!" "Okay." He straightened his back and sat up abruptly, "Tomorrow I will issue a moving permit for you. I will build your house for you, and I will pay you the moving fee. You will work for our brigade from tomorrow onwards." I don’t ask you to do agriculture, so you plan to set up a factory for me. What kind of factory to build, how to do it. You make up your mind. What you need, you talk. If you can’t get something, I’ll give you a note, It's safe for you to catch. However, you, Guzi, still have to argue with me, 'Long live', 'Long live', I will not forgive you, and I will send you to the police station even if you send your four back to eat sweet potatoes! " Before he finished speaking, Wu Shangrong was dumbfounded. On the second day, Wu Shangrong began to send materials for the Weijiaqiao brigade to run the factory.Unexpectedly, Wu Shangrong held the crooked and illegible note written by Wei Tiangui, and his hands and eyes were as good as the sky.It turned out that the more than 20 leading cadres who had taken refuge with him, although they were anonymous when they came, became friends with him when they left, and secretly told him their names and addresses.There is actually a secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Secretariat, the directors of the three departments of the Provincial People's Committee, and the youngest is also the director of the special agency.At that time, he didn't think it would be of any use, but in this way, it really complied with Liu Weiqing's words and became a large intangible wealth in his hands. After the "September 13th" incident, more than half of these people have joined the provincial and prefecture-level revolutionary committees or become department leaders. He gave the green light and tried every means for him. He bought machines and materials at the most favorable price, and soon set up a machine repair shop along the Yellow River. Every morning, he has to go to the machine repair shop to exercise his powers of chairman.The entrance of the machine repair shop is paved with cinders, and on both sides are wall piles built of adobe, with arched steel beams on the wall piles. Wu Shangrong originally planned to put a few round wooden signs on the steel beams, writing the name of the factory, but he He disagreed, so he ordered the workers to paint the earthen walls white, and used a large brush dipped in thick ink to trace out the big characters of "Weijiaqiao Agricultural Machinery Repair Factory", followed by three big exclamation marks. As soon as the machine rang, it was his happiest moment.The rumble of motors, the clatter of belts, the clang of iron made his dreams dangle from the land.He felt as if he were rising into the air, soaring like a bird, the horizon shrinking below him, the world expanding before his eyes.Now, he not only knows that Switzerland is not in Shanghai, but also knows that besides the Soviet Union, the United States, Japan, Vietnam, and Albania, there are more than 100 countries in the world; Switzerland is the best; the United States can make airplanes, Japan can make fertilizers, and Canada has a high output of wheat... This infinitely expanding world made him swell, and he felt that he could have a head-to-head with Holliday. .Yes, why does he always have to be a double-faced, "half ghost"? However, Holly poured cold water on him... In the distance, from an unknown Zhuangzi, the first long crowing of a rooster sounded, like a gossamer floating in the dawn wind, vaguely discernible, trembling, drifting thinner and farther away.The night is gradually becoming clearer, the world is no longer chaotic, although it is not yet dawn, but the surrounding layers can be vaguely discerned, and the dirt road is gradually showing grayish white; a soil lark, startled by the donkey cart, is quietly walking Flying low on the grassy beach behind the dark night, the donkey probably smelled the breath of dawn, and began to stretch its muscles and bones, and quickened its pace. The dawn of summer also came by running, and soon, the distant village showed a blurred figure unknowingly.They are still asleep.Occasional cock crows and dog barks are like metallic clangs, cutting the thin dawn one by one.People are still silent, but it is conceivable that they will come out of their respective homes with vigor in a short while.For the moment, however, it was peaceful, even cozy.Ah, honest and hardworking peasants, you will always work like this at sunrise and rest at sunset, but how much you have suffered. Holly said, "Is it easy for us to get here?" This "we" should refer to the peasants People should not be people like He Lide. At this time, he was thinking about the debate with Holliday. That was in 1975.One day, He Lide came to inspect their brigade.The Beijing Jeep drove directly to the field and stopped with a screeching sound.Their teams often have provincial and local leaders, and sometimes they bring visiting groups from other counties.Provincial and local cadres introduced to them that Weijiaqiao's achievements were all the result of learning from Dazhai and paying close attention to class struggle... This time, it was He Lide who came alone. Looking back now, Holly has been gaining weight since then.The two corners of the forehead are shining with oil, and the wrinkles on the face are round and even, as if carefully drawn.That was probably the happiest time in Hu Lide's life.He got out of the car, followed by a correspondent carrying a small Maza. "Bring it back!" He put on a debate posture, and first fired at the small correspondent. "All the farmers are weeding in the fields, who are you holding a horse to sit on? What does it look like?" Holly turned around, looked at him, then at the stunned correspondent, and smiled tolerantly: "I am here to work today, not to give a report, why mention this?" Hu Lide actually walked with him to the edge of the rice field, and asked a few words about the crops with the members in the field affectionately and dignifiedly. Then, without hesitation, he took off his leather sandals, took off his nylon socks, rolled up his trouser legs, and made a plop. Jump into the field and pull up the grass side by side with him. After a while, the farmers in the field consciously and slowly moved away from these two big men.Holly caught two in the water.Picking up a few stalks of trigonum, straightened up and looked around, he said, "What's the matter? Old Wei, why are you so angry today?" "Why are you so angry?" He also straightened up and threw the weeds in his hand onto the field ridge. "I've wanted to talk to you for a long time. If we don't talk, we don't deserve to be Communist Party members. Look at what's going on in the countryside now. You'll learn from Dazhai, from Xiaojinzhuang, and cut off the tail of capitalism...Who harmed you? Ordinary people, you just use whoever you want, and you only want such people to be obedient, and people like Luo Mazi have become commune secretaries... If this continues, it will take another 60 years!" He has a lot to say, but he doesn't know where to start Speaking of. "Hmph?" Holly laughed through his nostrils, "You still want to talk to me, just in time! Let me ask you, if your captain doesn't listen to you, would you use him? You don't need it either. Which one would you use? People? Do you use people like you? To be honest, the other teams are all politically graded, and your team is still distributing according to work, practicing bourgeois legal rights; the other teams’ private land is confiscated, and your team’s private land is still in the hands of members. You distribute the wheat in the top spot as rations to the commune members, and the public rations in the downtrend; you exchange the poor and old sheep of the commune members for the fat sheep and goats that are handed over to the task. Are there any such things? To be honest, you have to They are all like you, do you still want to contribute to the country? Is this like what the Communist Party members do? Old Wei, if you don’t change your own small production habits, come and tell me. You should study an article by Lenin : People want to 'get out of Petersburg', you have to get out of Weijiaqiao! To be honest, I am here today to sound the alarm for you." He suddenly looked like an eggplant beaten by frost, unable to jump up and down. Yes, he did everything Lao He said, and "iron logic" defeated him again. "Old Wei, don't let yourself be unaware," He Lide reminded him again, "What kind of people are you using in your machine repair shop? Heh heh, Wu Shangrong! To be honest, the materials to report you are in the provincial and prefectural committees. If it’s not Secretary Tang, Director Wang and me, you’ve been out of luck! You spread Dazhai everywhere with state support. Did the state support you? Who built the machine repair factory? How much chemical fertilizer do you use? Are you any different than other teams? To be honest, which of the advanced communes and teams doesn’t eat a small pot of rice, or how do you say the word “vertical” in the word “vertical red flag”? Alas, you are old Confused? Why do you say these things that are not good for you... I don’t know why you keep getting in trouble with Luo Mazi, but he never said a bad word about you. This kind of person is a smart person, who is said to be a socialist? Whoever is socialism, whoever is said to be capitalist, is capitalist, like you... you must suffer!" "Then, you should remove my secretary!" Originally, he wanted to lose his temper with He Lide, and he wanted to plead for the people like You Xiaozhou, but he was stripped naked by He Lide's words, so he could only be annoyed. So to speak. "Hey!" Hollide finally tied a few stalks of syringae into a knot, threw them on the edge of the field, then pulled his arm, bent down, and said while weeding, "You still remember, ten years ago , what you taught me in that toilet. The important thing is not the words. Don't think you are uneducated, but you can teach me a simple truth: people can only talk about other things if they preserve themselves first. You taught You forgot about my stuff. If you don’t want to be a secretary, what would you do? In 1968, I didn’t ask you to have a name in the county. I didn’t think carefully. If you were a national cadre, you would be transferred anywhere Okay. Now, if you don’t become the secretary of the brigade, you will be the same as a member of the commune. You will be clocked to start work and clocked to finish work. You will have no chance to do something. Look at You Xiaozhou, to be honest, he is a good person , We used to be in the same army. Although he is out of prison, he has entered a cadre school again. How many times in his life have he served the people? Don’t imitate him, why don’t you give advice, write a letter to the central government...you just work hard You, talk less, less trouble. To be honest, those old leaders are very concerned about you. I am here this time, they are the ones who called me. Let me tell you the truth. coming……" His face was flushed red, he didn't know whether it was because of anger or shame, he was muttering, he couldn't find any strong and convincing words, what else could he say?Didn't he also laugh at You Xiaozhou?Didn't Lao He's philosophy of life come from his professor?When he wanted to change this philosophy of life, Lao He still insisted on sticking to it to the end.Alas, not only did he take part in every wrong thing he did over the years, but even Lao He's leadership style was formed on a subordinate like him.If everyone is You Xiaozhou, our country will be much better. He swelled up, like a soap bubble, and Holliday punctured it with a single finger. What Holliday said today about "the way we used to do it" is just like this: on the one hand, we cut off the "tail of capitalism" so that the peasants had no money, no food, and nowhere to go; A small pot of rice", turned a blind eye to what the "Red Flag Team" did.As long as the erected "red flag team" is rich, it can be used as a signboard, as a weapon, and as a "model" to attack the "capitalism" of other communes and teams. The "red flag team" is falsely prosperous, and the general team is vicious poor.As for him, he has already made this signboard, and now he can't help it if he doesn't want to.He was frustrated, he was frustrated, he thought of the efforts and schemes he thought he had in the past, and tried his best to change the means for the benefit of the farmers.It was all in vain, including the sincere friendship between him and those veteran cadres, which was used by Holly and became one of Holly's "methods". And today, Holliday is still using him as an example to prove that "our methods in the past are still correct"!