Chapter 9 Chapter 51

A simple dinner was already set on the dining table, and Liu Shaoqi was still waiting motionlessly on the sofa in the living room.It was already past nine o'clock in the evening. Wang Guangmei was tricked out of Zhongnanhai by the rebels yesterday afternoon, and later heard that a criticism meeting was going to be held today. It has been almost thirty hours since Wang Guangmei still hasn't come back.This waiting is filled with numb worry.Finally, there was a sound at the gate of the courtyard. It seemed that footsteps entered the courtyard, but then disappeared again.Liu Shaoqi listened, thought for a while, stood up and walked out of the room.

In the middle of the courtyard under the dim light of stars and lights, Wang Guangmei was holding a small tree to breathe.Seeing Liu Shaoqi, he straightened his body, raised his head and straightened his hair, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'm not hurt at all. Have you eaten yet?" She appeared to come up relatively briskly.Liu Shaoqi said, "I'm waiting for you to eat together." Wang Guangmei complained while supporting Liu Shaoqi's arm and walking in: "What are you waiting for me? You should eat when the time comes. Okay, let's eat together. We still have to make something." What? I'll get it." She first went to the restaurant to look around, there were rice porridge, steamed bun slices, salted duck eggs, sauced tofu, and pickled cucumbers.Wang Guangmei said, "Let me scramble another egg." Liu Shaoqi looked at her up and down and said, "Don't worry, you wash it first." Wang Guangmei looked at the dust all over her body. It was pitch black, so he said, "That's fine. I'll wash it up, and we'll cook and eat together."

Wang Guangmei entered the bathroom, and there was a sound of bathing.After a while, she took a shower, tied her wet hair back, put on homely clothes, changed into a pair of slippers, and came out very clean.She seemed to have thrown all the dirty clothes inside and out, together with the experience and exhaustion of the day and night, in the steamy bathroom, looked at Liu Shaoqi's gloomy face and said, "You don't have to worry so much, I'm back right now? Criticism will pass, and the energy of the rebels will always find a place to release. They will not do anything to you." After speaking, he put on a floral cloth apron and walked into the kitchen neatly.Soon there was a sound of cooking in the kitchen.Starting this month, the rebels in Zhongnanhai drove away all the internal staff. In the past two days, they began to cook, clean and wash their own clothes.Fortunately, there have been no party, government and state affairs that need them to take care of, and doing housework and housework by themselves every day is also a way to kill time.In a blink of an eye, Wang Guangmei came out of the kitchen with several plates. The tender yellow scrambled eggs with chopped green onion, the browned and white salt and pepper tofu, and the roasted cabbage with shrimps were placed on the dining table in a lively manner.The two sat and ate with chopsticks in their hands, but they started talking first.

Liu Shaoqi asked about the details of the day and night, and Wang Guangmei truthfully described the entire process of criticism and interrogation in a relatively calm tone.She knew that Liu Shaoqi cared about the whole situation of criticism and interrogation, what questions he asked, and what tone he set. This was the basis for his political judgment.When the whole situation was told, Wang Guangmei realized that Liu Shaoqi only had a piece of scrambled egg in his mouth, chewed and swallowed it slowly, and left the rest of the food untouched.Wang Guangmei said: "Let's eat first. Believe in history and time." She put a piece of scrambled egg on the small plate in front of Liu Shaoqi, and put a piece of square salt and pepper tofu on the plate in front of Liu Shaoqi. In the small dish, he said, "Try it, and see if I am still in good condition for cooking after a day of criticism." Liu Shaoqi stared heavily at the front of his eyes, without expressing anything.Wang Guangmei cracked the salted duck eggs open again, picked out the oily red yolk inside, and put them on the rice porridge in front of Liu Shaoqi, "Don't eat fried vegetables, eat some salted duck eggs, pickled melon, and have a bowl of porridge." Liu Shaoqi raised his eyes and said gloomily Glancing at her, she said, "Eat it, I don't want to eat it." Wang Guangmei took two bites, put down his chopsticks, looked at Liu Shaoqi and said, "The situation is indeed not so optimistic, but black and white will never be completely reversed, right?" Liu Shaoqi looked Slowly shaking his head frozen.He has been engaged in politics all his life, and he dare not take any chances in his current situation.He realized something again, looked up at Wang Guangmei, tapped the dish in front of him with chopsticks, and said, "I haven't moved all day, and I don't have any appetite. You have been tossed all day, so eat more." Wang Guangmei shook her head , Said: "I can't eat it either."

Wang Guangmei cleared the dining table and talked for a while, it was past eleven o'clock.Wang Guangmei said, "Let's rest." Liu Shaoqi looked at her and said, "You should rest first, and I'll sit down for a while." Wang Guangmei thought for a while, and said, "I'll lie down for a while, and if you still don't sleep, I'll get up to accompany you." Liu Shaoqi nodded.Wang Guangmei entered the bedroom, lay down, and after a while, she heard her snoring.She never snores usually, it seems that she is really tired today.Liu Shaoqi walked into the bedroom slowly, the bedside lamp was still on, and Wang Guangmei was already in a deep sleep. She was lying on her back with the quilt covering her chest, with one arm on her chest and the other arm stretched out on the bed, her head Trapped in the pillow, the still-dried hair looked very messy.Taking a closer look, she saw a tired look on her face.He was holding on to a smile just now, but he couldn't see anything, but now he fell asleep, and the tension, fear and fatigue of more than a day were all written on his face.There were many wrinkles on that face, showing an aging state.Liu Shaoqi stood in front of the bed, feeling sad.It is indeed a very painful thing when a man cannot protect a woman and wants her to be implicated and bear the pressure for him.There seemed to be something blocked in Wang Guangmei's nasopharynx, and she was breathing with her mouth open, snoring again and again.Snoring like this was very uncomfortable. Liu Shaoqi wanted her to sleep on her side, but was afraid of waking her up. After thinking about it, he turned off the bedside lamp and walked out of the bedroom slowly.

He sat down in front of the desk, turned on the desk lamp, and wrote down a few words on the desk calendar of the day: "Wang Guangmei went to Beiqing University to accept criticism, and returned home at 9:30 in the evening." Then, he simply wrote a few more words, Indicates the general situation of this criticism meeting and interrogation, "China's biggest Khrushchev." "Patriotism or traitorism." "The biggest anti-party leader." "On Cultivation." "Attitude towards the Central Cultural Revolution." Next, his thoughts fell into a state of stagnation that could not be developed.Since the Cultural Revolution, he has been thinking about the situation of the whole country and his own destiny almost every day, but it is becoming more and more difficult to think like this.There was a silent yellow halo under the light of the desk lamp. He sat blankly for a while, then took the desk calendar and flipped through the situation in the past three months this year.

On January 1, New Year's Day, a few words were written on this page: "Six o'clock, big slogan." The scene of that day immediately emerged before my eyes.At six o'clock in the morning, they were awakened by a knock on the door. They opened the courtyard door, and a few rebels from Zhongnanhai came in.They put up many big slogans on the courtyard wall, the most important ones were "Down with China's Khrushchev Liu Shaoqi"; "Whoever opposes Mao Zedong Thought will never end well."Finally, they also wrote these two big slogans on the ground of the yard with brushes dipped in ink.In this way, every time you go out or come back from the outside, you will see these two big slogans. The New Year's Day in 1967 began in this "open door black".

Turning to January 3, there were a few words written on it: "Look at Liu Shaoqi's ugly soul." He couldn't help closing his eyes, these words stimulated him the most.On that day, he and his ex-wife Wang Qian's daughter Liu Tao and son Liu Yunzhen posted this big-character poster at the entrance of the staff canteen in Zhongnanhai.I heard that this big-character poster was later copied to many universities in Beijing.At that time, the entrance of the staff canteen in Zhongnanhai was full of people. When he saw this big-character poster signed by his children in the crowd, he felt both humiliated and painful.It is said that before this, Jiang Qing personally found Liu Tao, who was studying at Tsinghua University, to work. The actions of his sons and daughters made him especially aware of the cruelty of this great revolution.That day, he didn't eat, which was a bigger blow to him than the Politburo passing a resolution criticizing him.In the evening, another group of Zhongnanhai rebels broke into his home and scolded him in the corridor for more than 40 minutes. A noisy voice rang in his ears. What impressed him most was that a group of people asked him to recite quotations from Chairman Mao , and ordered him to go to Zhongnanhai Huairen Hall every day to read big-character posters. January 3 was the day that hit him hard.

Turning it down, it was January 13, with a few words written on it: "Chairman Mao received, the Great Hall of the People." On that day, Mao Zedong sent his secretary Xu Yefu to pick him up in a Warsaw car.It was late at night, and they came to the temporary residence of Chairman Mao in the Beijing Hall of the Great Hall of the People.I remember Mao Zedong's first sentence was: "Is Pingping's leg healed?" Mao Zedong was referring to a detail in the "Smart Capture of Wang Guangmei" organized by the Tsinghua University rebels on January 6. In that detail, Liu Shaoqi's daughter Liu Pingping injured his leg.Starting from the details of this misrepresentation, Mao Zedong seemed to show a little concern for himself. At that time, he felt a sense of relief.When he came by car along the way, he was always uneasy, not knowing how the leader would deal with him.That night, the atmosphere of the conversation seemed peaceful, and he proposed to Mao Zedong to resign from the positions of the Politburo Standing Committee and the Chairman of the State, and the director of the editorial committee of Mao Zedong's works, and return to Yan'an or his hometown to farm, so that the Cultural Revolution can be ended as soon as possible and the country will suffer less losses. .When he finished speaking, Mao Zedong smoked a cigarette and was silent for a while, then changed the topic and suggested that he read a few books. Mao Zedong also recommended "Mechanical Materialism" written by German Heigl and Diderot's The two books "Mechanics".After the conversation, Mao Zedong stood up and sent him to the door of the Beijing Hall.The last sentence he said when he shook hands and said goodbye was: "Read and study hard when you go back, and take care of your health." When he returned home, Wang Guangmei, his children and the staff around him were eagerly waiting for the news he brought back to meet Mao Zedong.He said to them: "The chairman did not criticize my mistakes, he was very polite, and told me to study hard and take care of my health." The whole family was relieved, and Wang Guangmei looked at him helplessly and said, "It's all right now." When he came back that day, He actually felt a little hungry, and Wang Guangmei made him something to eat in the middle of the night.Mao Zedong's interview brought hazy expectations to the whole family, as if they believed that the weather would always clear up when the clouds and fog were thick. However, the development of things was far from this.

He continued casually flipping through the desk calendar. On January 17, four words were written on this page of the desk calendar: "Interrupt the call." That day, the rebels from Zhongnanhai rushed into the house, disconnected the phone, and removed the phone."You have no power to do that, I am the president," he protested, to no avail.Since then, he has lost the channel to communicate with the outside world, and also lost the possibility of talking directly with Mao Zedong on the phone. On the desk calendar on February 4, the words "Liu Yunruo" were written.That day, his second son Liu Yunruo was arrested by the Ministry of Public Security.Further down, turn to March 16th, and the words "sixty-one people" are written on this page of desk calendar.

On that day, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China issued the "Materials of the Sixty-one Self-Reports of Bo Yibo, Liu Lantao, An Ziwen, and Yang Xianzhen".This central document was shown to him. In this document, Bo Yibo and other 61 people became a "traitor group".The document pointed out that this was an incident planned and decided by Liu Shaoqi and agreed by Zhang Wentian, and it was done behind Chairman Mao's back.When he saw this document, he was stunned. It was difficult for him to unify all this with the scene when Mao Zedong met him on January 13. Turning to the desk calendar on March 31, I wrote down ""Red Flag", Qi Benyu's article." On this day, the fifth issue of "Red Flag" magazine published "Patriotism or Traitorism?" ——Comment on the reactionary film "The Secret History of the Qing Palace".The article was his first public, large-scale critique.He realized at once that his fortunes had clearly deteriorated.A few days ago, on the desk calendar for April 8, the words "Editorial of Guangming Daily" were written.On this day, "Guangming Daily" published an editorial titled "Down with China's Biggest Khrushchev", and then there was today's rally where hundreds of thousands of people criticized Wang Guangmei. He pushed the desk calendar aside, what he couldn't figure out was the true meaning of Mao Zedong's interview on January 13.That day, Mao Zedong's every word and every expression could not give him a signal that he would be defeated.Mao Zedong sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, smoking a cigarette. He looked more generous and kind than before the Cultural Revolution, and he often expressed comfort in his speeches.When they shook hands when they were parting, Mao Zedong also shook hands very kindly and entrusted him.So, in all this today, did Mao Zedong change his attitude, or did some other people influence Mao Zedong's attitude?Such a large-scale critical article cannot be published without Mao Zedong's nod.At this point in thinking, there is no way to move forward.Another detour, just thinking about whether Mao Zedong's interview on January 13 was a strategy of wanting to win first, so as to paralyze the opponent he wanted to defeat.As soon as this idea came out, he slowly shook his head.He has already lost any real power, and his fate is all in Mao Zedong's words, so Mao Zedong doesn't need to paralyze him at all. Some past shots flashed past in front of my eyes.In a conversation before the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong once said to him in a rage: "I can knock you down with a little finger." At that time, he did not understand the power of this sentence, but now it really has become a reality .He glanced at a corner of the desk where he had written some manuscripts for inspection and the drafts of the big-character posters that he confessed that he knew. In the end, those manuscripts ended with "Long live Chairman Mao, great leader, great mentor, great commander, and great helmsman! Years old!" This slogan is the end, from which one can imagine his current status.He hoped to have a hundred, a thousand chances to express his support for Mao Zedong's revolutionary line.More and more, he forgot that he was the president of the country, and often felt that he was just an old man who had grown old. He couldn't help coughing, his chest was a little stuffy, and he felt uncomfortable under his left rib.He stood up slowly and took a few steps around the room.This year he is sixty-nine years old, and in another year he will be seventy.He has always cherished his life very much, thinking about how many years he can do.Now, the exhaustion and aging all over his body made him even think about whether he could live to be 70 years old next year.When he stood still in the room, he had a very clear feeling about his body. He felt that his heart had weakened, his digestive system was sluggish, and the circulation of Qi and blood in his whole body was dry.It was difficult for him to hold his clothes upright as he walked slowly around the room.The Cultural Revolution made it difficult to bear not only the political blow, but also the physical blow.He couldn't help being terrified at the thought of being scolded at any time, ordered to bend over, made to stand, or taken to a criticism meeting.No matter how great a politician is in the face of such a specific blow, he is no different from an ordinary person.When the rebels dragged him to recite quotations from Chairman Mao in the corridor, when the rebels made him and Wang Guangmei stand on the table and bend over to accept criticism, he was just an old man in his seventies.At that time, he also thought that an old man of this age is already wearing a cane in the countryside. Thinking of this, he once again felt that his body did not match the clothes he was wearing.He glanced at the full-length mirror on the cabinet next to him. In the mirror, he was very weak and wearing a solemn Chinese tunic suit.He knew where his feelings were coming from.The light gray Chinese tunic suit he is wearing now is the one he most often wears when he is the vice chairman of the party and the state president. However, his body, which is as frail as an old man in the countryside, cannot stand up to the Chinese tunic suit of the national chairman.This Chinese tunic suit is simple and dignified, but his body has shrunk everywhere, and he even finds it difficult to straighten his back and neck.When he walked slowly around the room, his footsteps seemed to be cautious for fear of falling, but they were no longer the footsteps of the president of the country.For nearly a year, he was almost completely defeated not only politically, but also physically and mentally. He glanced at the large photo of Mao Zedong hanging on the wall.That was a photo of Mao Zedong in Beidaihe, wearing a hat and a coat standing on the beach with his hands behind his back, the sea behind him, the wind blowing up a corner of the coat, Mao Zedong looked far-sighted, profound and great.Of course Mao Zedong can still put on his leader's attire now, but if he is subjected to such shocks every day, he will weaken as quickly as himself, and it will not match his straight leader's attire.He didn't dare to think about it anymore, he couldn't have any ideology that disrespected the leader. He walked out of the study and came to the door of the bedroom, and heard that Wang Guangmei's snoring had turned into a softer snoring.He walked in slowly, and by the light coming in from the door, he saw that Wang Guangmei had turned over and fell asleep on her side, with the quilt wrapped around her body messily. He thought for a while, but without disturbing her, he backed out again.He felt that his chest was still stuffy and uncomfortable, and it was best to walk slowly in this situation, so he walked around the living room, thought for a while, and walked slowly into the yard.All the staff had left, but it seemed quiet.The yard smells like spring.The starlight shone down coolly, and one could smell the breath of Zhongnanhai lake water, pines and cypresses, and willows just turning green. The courtyard he lived in in Zhongnanhai was called Fuluju.Fuluju did not bring him blessings, but instead became a place where he was placed under house arrest in disguise.He can only walk around in the yard every day, or sit still at home, and then go to the Huairen Hall in Zhongnanhai to read big-character posters.When he was walking on the road between Fuluju and Huairentang, all the staff in Zhongnanhai looked at him indifferently, and he would not leave the line connecting these two points.Going for a walk in other places in Zhongnanhai, he no longer has that kind of power; but going to and from Huairen Hall is an expression of his honesty and security in accepting the great criticism of the revolution. The night air was quite quiet, and he walked to the gate of the courtyard after turning around.Seeing the trees, houses and roads outside, he felt that Zhongnanhai seemed to be peaceful and quiet in the middle of the night. Enticed by this peace and quiet, he couldn't help but stepped out of the courtyard gate.Zhongnanhai was absolutely safe in the past, but now, as long as no rebels arrest you, it is naturally safe.The rebels would not be active at this time, and he tried to walk back and forth at the gate of the courtyard.This kind of walking seems to have a meaning, that is, he still has a little more power to move around than the yard, and he still has a little courage to go out of the yard to move around.In this way, the distance he walked back and forth slowly became longer and longer.When he stood still and saw that there was a distance between himself and Fuluju under the starlight, he felt the scarcity and preciousness of this free space that was carefully won.Zhongnanhai in the spring night is very peaceful. Although in the shadows of the hazy houses and trees, mysterious and ominous factors can still be felt, however, as long as you overcome it in your heart, you will imagine the clusters of shadows as the darkest night. Tranquil performance.Rows of street lights illuminate their respective areas sparingly. Houses and trees shade various shapes of darkness under the street lights, which can be understood as the height and width of each building and plant.It may also be that after walking for a while, I relaxed, so I didn't look back, and walked a little farther.When he met a few soldiers on night duty, he didn't pay too much attention to it, only vaguely aware that the other party was observing him with some doubts. He ignorantly put on the Chinese tunic suit of the president of the country and walked to a place with bright lights.Looking up, I can't help but feel sad for my own efforts to fight for free space in the dark.Because inadvertently, he came to the big-character poster area in front of Huairen Hall again.Row after row of big-character poster columns here are quietly and quietly opened under the light, and a few people read big-character posters with their hands behind their backs. The crowded big-character poster area during the day is like a deserted dream at this moment. .During the daytime, this is the center of the Great Revolution, everyone is trapped in the turbulent crowd, and every big-character poster posted is an indispensable social phenomenon; at this moment, the big-character poster area is deserted in the spring night of Zhongnanhai , the sky is a starry sky, surrounded by hazy tree shadows, you feel that it is a superfluous and false existence.The brightly lit big-character poster area is far away in the night, like a strange bonsai, or an empty stage. Just as he was hesitating in advance and retreat, he heard hurried footsteps coming from behind.Looking back, Wang Guangmei rushed here under the guidance of a guard soldier, and she was arranging her hair while walking.She didn't see Liu Shaoqi standing under the shadow of the tree, she looked anxiously towards the big-character poster area, and when she saw Liu Shaoqi standing under the tree, she hurried over to support him.The guard soldier's attitude seemed rather kind, and he waved his hand magnanimously, meaning to let them go back.Wang Guangmei nodded to him thankfully, then walked slowly back with Liu Shaoqi by the arm.