Chapter 28 Chapter Seven (4)

At this time, in the educated youth spot of Shichuan Village in northern Shaanxi, Zhong Yuemin was sitting cross-legged on the kang and playing chess with Cao Gang. The third set seemed to be hanging, and he didn't pay attention, and Cao Gang came to him as a "hindsight". Cao Gang jumped down the kang overjoyed: "Ha, where are you running? Hindsight, you are finished." Zhong Yuemin quickly regretted the move: "Oh, where is your horse? I didn't see it, no, no, I won't take this move." "Are you regretting the game again? No, we are hanging up the gamble. You already owe me three buns. What do you want to do?"

Zhong Yuemin said: "Okay, okay, don't waste your money, let's continue, isn't it just three buns?" Cao Gang stretched out his hand: "Hey, this store doesn't owe you credit at all, so let's settle the account first." Zhong Yuemin said anxiously with a white face: "I'll give you dinner in a while, what are you in a hurry for? Come, come again, I'll go first, and take the lead." Cao Gang shook his head and said: "No more, let's talk after dinner. If you lose this game again, you don't even have anything to do with dinner. I can't bear to let you watch me eat. When the time comes, I will soften my heart. If I give you back another cornbow, didn't I win in vain?"

"I'm happy if I'm hungry, don't be soft-hearted, why don't you just carry two meals? Little boy, come on, come on." Zheng Tong walked into the cave and said, "Yuemin, you cooked the rice yesterday, right? You didn't say hello in advance when the food ran out?" Zhong Yuemin slapped his forehead: "Is there no food? Oops, I remembered, I forgot, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, there's nothing left? Can you make do with it?" Zheng Tong said angrily: "There is not even a bit of fucking scum left." Cao Gang suddenly realized: "Fuck, I said why are you not in a hurry after losing three Wotou in a row? Is it because I have been fooling me for a long time?"

Zhong Yuemin quickly explained: "Whoever fooled you is the grandson, I really forgot." Zheng Tong laughed and said, "Don't you guys want to lead a team to beg for food? Let's go, borrow a few ragged padded jackets from the fellows in the village to put them on, and get a dog-beating stick for each person, and beg for food. Beg for food. You can't be vague about this outfit." Zhong Yuemin scratched his scalp: "Even if you go to beg for food, you have to go tomorrow. How do you live today? How about a dinner, huh? This smells so delicious, who cooks?"

Cao Gang said, "Those three girls." In the kitchen of the educated youth spot, just as Jiang Biyun turned on the steaming steamer, Zhong Yuemin sneaked in like a stroll and said, "Hey, it smells so good, what are you doing?" Jiang Biyun didn't even lift her eyelids: "What else can I do? Wotou." Zhong Yuemin said shyly, "Can I try it?" "cannot." "Don't be so stingy. Anyway, they are all from Haidian, Beijing, and they came here by train. As the saying goes, when a fellow countryman sees a fellow countryman, his tears are tearful. Look, my tears are about to flow down..."

"Less magnetism, let's talk about things." Jiang Biyun replied bluntly. Zhong Yuemin said unyieldingly: "Well, let's not talk about fellow villagers, we are neighbors after all? The two dormitories are next to each other, isn't there a wall in between? What did Grandma Li say in "Red Lantern"? We are one family after the wall is demolished, Tiemei said that even more absolutely, guess what she said? She said we are one family if the wall is not demolished..." "Zhong Yuemin, you've been talking glibly for a long time, but you just want to eat something?"

"Don't put it so harshly, I just want to borrow some food, you see, one is rubbing, the other is borrowing, there is an essential difference between the two..." Zhong Yuemin muttered. Jiang Biyun bluntly refused: "No borrowing." "Or, it's a usury, how about borrowing one catty and paying two catties?" "I do not care." Zhong Yuemin wanted to explode but held back, and left resentfully.Jiang Biyun looked at Zhong Yuemin's back with a contemptuous expression on his face. Chang Gui, the village party secretary, was eating at his kang table. There were several corn buns on the table. He, his wife and children were each holding a big bowl and drinking wild vegetable mush.

Zhong Yuemin shouted outside: "Is Secretary Chang at home?" Chang Gui whispered nervously, "Put it away." The mother-in-law quickly took away the leftovers, and Chang Gui walked out in an old sheepskin jacket: "It's Yuemin, sitting in the kiln." Zhong Yuemin walked into the cave, and Chang Gui greeted him in accordance with the village idioms: "Have you eaten?" "No, Secretary Chang, have you eaten?" Chang Gui showed a helpless look: "What do you want to eat? My house is broken." Zhong Yuemin didn't seem to expect it, he was stunned for a moment, hesitated to speak, he carefully examined Chang Gui, Chang Gui also narrowed his small eyes and looked at Zhong Yuemin nonchalantly.

Zhong Yuemin suddenly smiled: "Since that's the case, then I don't need to say anything, Secretary Chang, we go to beg tomorrow, who else in the village will go with us?" Chang Gui squatted in front of the kang, filled a pot with tobacco leaves and lit it on fire, saying: "Bring the old, weak, sick and disabled with you, this is the rule." Zhong Yuemin said in a begging tone: "Secretary Chang, we are going to have a hard time today. Can the village lend us some food first? Let's get through today first." Chang Gui was unmoved: "Where is there any food? It is common for people in our village to go hungry for a day or two. It's nothing, just get used to it."

Zhong Yuemin had no choice but to stand up and say goodbye. He stopped at the door and turned around: "Secretary, haven't Japanese devils come to our village? During the War of Resistance Against Japan, the Japanese never crossed the Yellow River. Where did our village learn this set of strong walls and clear fields?" Kung fu?" Chang Gui pretended to be confused: "What are you talking about?" "I didn't say anything, secretary, you rest, I'm leaving." Zhong Yuemin did not expect the food shortage to come so quickly, nor did he expect that once the food ran out, the consequences would be so serious.Since they found out that their rations had run out at noon, until they went to bed at night, the male educated youths borrowed food everywhere, but they didn't get a grain of food. Everyone was starving for two meals.Zhong Yuemin understands that the farmers here are already frightened by starvation, and they value food more than their lives. It is easier for you to borrow a wife from him than to borrow food.Besides, some peasants' families must have already had a break. Since Zhong Yuemin had promised the branch secretary in a big way to lead a team to beg for food, the villagers just waited obediently.Zhong Yuemin used to always think that everything is the same, and there must be a way for the car to reach the mountain.But I didn't expect that all the roads are blocked now, and there is no place to steal even if I want to steal it.In the evening, Zhong Yuemin and Zheng Tong walked more than ten miles to steal chickens in the adjacent Xujiaweizi. Unexpectedly, chickens are more expensive than phoenixes in poverty-stricken areas. The villagers stared at them, they were watched everywhere they went, and there was no chance to do anything. After walking for a while, they found that many villagers were looking at them with shoulder poles and sickles in their hands. It's not good to let them beat me up again, so they went back home wisely.Unexpectedly, the two of them lost their energy when they walked halfway, so they had to walk for a while and rest for a while, and it took two hours to walk back to the village.

In the male dormitory of the educated youth spot, the male educated youths lay on the kang and tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Zheng Tong said weakly: "Yuemin, I'm tired and my head is a little dizzy." Zhong Yuemin said: "This is a symptom of hypoglycemia. You won't feel it when you fall asleep. Go to sleep." "Bullshit, can I sleep? My stomach is on fire, what is this? Who did we provoke? Send us to this ghost place to starve." Zheng Tong complained loudly. Zhong Yuemin said dissatisfiedly: "Zheng Tong, are you bored? Can't bear it after only two meals? Or you can eat me up." Zheng Tong sat up from the bed: "Hey, don't be greedy for me, if you have the ability, cut off a piece of meat from your butt, whoever doesn't eat it is a grandson." Qian Zhimin couldn't sleep either, so he simply sat up: "Fuck, if I knew I would come here to starve, I wouldn't come if I was killed. Sun Hong of our school just didn't sign up. Teachers, classmates, old women from the neighborhood committee, He went to his house like a revolving lantern to mobilize. This grandson is really calm. If you say hell, he just doesn’t say a word. At night, this buddy starts to take off his clothes and go to bed, still saying, lesbians, please avoid it. , I don't have any underpants on." The male educated youths laughed. Cao Gang said: "Our group of people are stupid people. As soon as they were mobilized, they came here like crazy. I heard that those who couldn't come were assigned jobs in Beijing." Guo Jie asked: "Yuemin, Zheng Tong, not many people from your Yuying School have gone to the countryside, and most of them have gone to serve as soldiers. Why didn't you serve as soldiers?" Zhong Yuemin asked back: "Didn't you also go?" Guo Jie said: "We are the children of ordinary people, so we should have jumped in line." Zheng Tong interjected: "We are not as good as ordinary children. We are children who can be taught well. We are not even allowed to participate in the bloody conscription medical examination." Guo Jie sighed: "I figured it out. People should die when comparing people, and throw away goods when comparing goods. How can there be equality in the world? There are many levels of human status. For example, I live on the first floor, and Yuemin lives on the second floor. One day, there was a hole in the floor on the second floor, and Yuemin accidentally fell down, and it was just level with me, if my floor also had a hole, well, I should have fallen into the basement." Qian Zhimin also joined the discussion: "That's right, if Yuemin broke through and went back to the second floor along the cavern, you must still be listening to the crickets in the basement. , because they are not on the same starting line." Zhong Yuemin felt that this kind of topic was boring, so he quickly changed the subject: "I said, what's the matter if you are not hungry? Say a few words less, save some energy, and there are still more than forty miles to the county next year." Qian Zhimin said disheartenedly: "Fuck it, if I can't walk, I'll be on the road. Anyway, it's boring to live." Guo Jie seemed to think of something suddenly: "Those three women are really dishonest. Seeing that we are starving and won't borrow food, the women are picky." Zhong Yuemin said nonchalantly: "We are the ones who proposed to split up. Now even if we starve to death, we can't speak soft words. We can't do things that lose our position." In fact, they misunderstood the three female educated youths. At this time, they were cooking in the kitchen of the educated youths.Wang Hong and Li Ping were sticking pancakes. They had already taken out all the food. Jiang Biyun was sitting by the stove pulling the bellows. The blazing fire made her melancholy face red. She regretted her attitude towards Zhong Yuemin at noon today. She is stingy, and knows that no matter how much food is saved, they will not be able to last for a few days. They will have to beg for food sooner or later. She is angry with Zhong Yuemin and intends to make things difficult for him. Jiang Biyun's father is a professor of biology at the university, and her mother is a lecturer in the same department as her father. She was a good student with good character and learning in school since she was a child. Such good students have always had prejudices against bad children like Zhong Yuemin, let alone their background Children from high-level intellectual families have always looked down on children from cadre families. They have been instilled by their parents with a set of ideas since they were young. Families like ours have no power and no power.Jiang Biyun grew up under this kind of education. She has a very extreme view on the children of cadres. Children of the Eight Banners, Yamen, like to brag about their parents' status. , inherited the talent of their country bumpkin parents Sex, the glory of ignorance. In August 1966, when the Red Guards Movement rose, Jiang Biyun's parents were arrested. At that time, she was still in school following the Red Guards to "destroy the four olds." Yes, she can only participate in the "Red Perimeter". She is very grateful to the Red Guards for giving her the opportunity to participate in the revolution, so she almost lives in the school every day and rarely goes home until one day, her parents' work unit notifies her to deal with it. Regarding the funeral of her parents, Jiang Biyun only knew that her parents had both committed suicide by taking poison and their bodies had been cremated. After hearing the news, Jiang Biyun collapsed all of a sudden. She returned home like a madman. When they couldn't find it, the parents just left without a word, not even leaving a suicide note.From then on, Jiang Biyun never smiled again. From then on, Jiang Biyun began to develop a strong hatred towards the Red Guards, and then expanded to the group of cadres' children.On the first day of her arrival, she began to hate Zhong Yuemin and regarded him as a rascal, and Zhong Yuemin also seemed to deliberately pretend to be a rascal to annoy her, so the hatred was forged. After Li Ping and Wang Hong learned about Zhong Yuemin's borrowing of food, they both complained that Jiang Biyun had done too much. Wang Hong said very dissatisfied: "Biyun, you shouldn't be like this. We are a group. Seeing them starve, can we eat?" ? Li Ping also sighed and said: "These boys are really pitiful. They haven't eaten for two meals. Zhong Yuemin is a face-saving person. Before he borrowed food, he must have been in a dilemma. He must have had a lot of courage to speak. Push him against the south wall, and he won't beg us if he starves to death. Jiang Biyun suddenly felt very isolated. It turned out that Li Ping and Wang Hong had a good impression of Zhong Yuemin. They might really think that Jiang Biyun was reluctant to borrow food and regarded her as a cheapskate. Jiang Biyun was so wronged that he covered his face and cried. In the male educated youth dormitory, everyone was bored talking, Zheng Tong kept turning over and sighing. Zhong Yuemin kicked him: "Zheng Tong, can you fucking be quiet? Why do you keep squeezing me?" Zheng Tong said weakly: "I recalled that time when I bought ice cream with Yuan Jun. I ate it so much that I had diarrhea. I swore at that time that I would never eat ice cream again. Now that I think about it, if there is ice cream, I can eat it." A barrel." Zhong Yuemin sat up and said: "Zheng Tong, I know you are hungry, but you have to learn to be patient, and you have to be patient if you can't help it. Not only do you have to endure tonight, but you also have to endure to the county seat tomorrow. Can you ask for food when you arrive in the county seat?" Not necessarily, even if we want something to eat, we can't eat it, because there are old people and children in the village, we have to endure it, not for anything else, because we are men, do you understand?" "Understood, I will bear it in this life, and I will not be a man in the next life, Yue Min, what else can I do to prevent me from being a man?" Zhong Yuemin smiled: "There is a way, Cao Gang, do you still have your sickle? Take it here, I will castrate this kid." The male educated youths booed: "Yes, eunuch." Everyone was arguing, Zheng Tong heard someone knocking on the door, and Jiang Biyun's voice came from outside the door: "It's me, Jiang Biyun." Zhong Yuemin roared: "We'll talk about it tomorrow, we don't have any clothes on, so don't invite us to make mistakes." Jiang Biyun did not show weakness, she shouted: "Zhong Yuemin, you bastard, open the door." Zheng Tong stuck his head out of the quilt and coaxed: "Comrade Jiang Biyun, we can't do it anymore. Farewell. I still have 20 cents on me. Let it count as my party fee for this month. Don't be too sad and bury our corpses. Go ahead, wait until the day when all mankind is liberated, and don't forget to lay a bouquet of flowers in front of our grave..." Wang Hong laughed and scolded outside the door: "I'm so hungry that I can't get up, and I'm still poor. We still have something to eat here. If you don't open the door, we can leave." The male educated youths jumped up like their buttocks were on fire, and hurriedly put on their clothes. The door opened and three girls came in carrying some cornmeal pancakes.Li Ping smiled and said, "Aren't you hungry? We came late on purpose to let you be hungry for a while, so that you don't cherish it. Get up and eat. We have also used up all the food. Let's go begging together tomorrow." The male educated youths cheered "Long live the girls", and they grabbed the pancakes and devoured them. Only Zhong Yuemin covered his head with a quilt and pretended to be asleep.Jiang Biyun pushed him over and said, "Zhong Yuemin, what are you pretending to be? Get up and eat." Zhong Yuemin turned over, turned his face inward and said: "I'm not hungry, a gentleman doesn't eat food that comes at you." "Then who went to my place during the day to grab a meal?" "One moment and another moment." "How do you say that?" Zhong Yuemin sat up helplessly and said: "At that time, I took you as a revolutionary comrade and borrowed food from you, but now the nature is different. It is like a landlord giving alms to the poor. We are poor and ambitious." Jiang Biyun whispered, "Do you want me to beg you?" "Don't, I'm not hungry, I just didn't eat for a day, so I can't bear it anymore, I just want to experience the feeling of the Red Army's Long March." Jiang Biyun said softly: "Zhong Yuemin, I know I hurt you today, I apologize to you, you eat first, we can talk about other things later, okay?" "Where is it? You have the right not to borrow your food, it's only natural, and there's no need to apologize." Jiang Biyun's voice was clearly pleading: "Yuemin, eat, I beg you." "I'm not hungry, thank you." Jiang Biyun suddenly broke out: "Zhong Yuemin, put away your self-esteem, you think you are the only one with self-esteem? Why don't you care about other people's feelings? What I despise the most is your arrogance, the kind of arrogance that is soaked in your bones. arrogant." Zhong Yuemin looked at Jiang Biyun suspiciously: "You are not sick, are you? Why do you look like you are bitter and bitter?" "It's because I can't understand you. I have prejudices against you cadres and children. In the red August of 1966, you ransacked your home, beat people, and acted arrogantly. When the disaster touched your own family, you put on a cynical look. He even pretends to be a hooligan and laughs at everything to show that he is different." "You can have your own opinion, but why did you send us food again, are you trying to laugh at me?" "You're wrong. I'm not so narrow-minded. I suddenly figured it out. I think it's boring to go on like this. The ten of us are a collective. Since the society has thrown us into such a remote place, who else can we count on? Intrigue is too contemptuous." Zhong Yuemin seemed to be shocked, he was silent for a moment, picked up a pancake and took a bite. Jiang Biyun's eyes were red: "Yuemin, thank you, did you forgive me?" Zhong Yuemin nodded with difficulty, his eyes were a little moist. Jiang Biyun burst into tears in an instant: "Yuemin, I'm sorry..." The educated youths were all in tears, they seemed to have matured suddenly, and life seemed not an easy task. It was windy outside the cave.