Chapter 48 Chapter Twelve (2)

Zheng Tong learned from reliable sources today that the workers, peasants and soldiers recommended by the commune had already set off, but the party branch of Shichuan Village did not recommend anyone.This made Zheng Tong so angry that he immediately realized that it was Chang Gui's trick. This old thing was too insidious, and he didn't do anything after accepting the gift. Zheng Tong decided to ask Chang Gui to discuss it. Zheng Tong broke into Chang Gui's cave dwelling angrily, and Chang Gui was sitting on the kang drinking porridge with a large bowl in his hand.He suppressed his anger and said, "Secretary Chang, I have something to ask you."

Chang Gui blinked his small eyes and looked at Zheng Tong: "I know, it's for school, right?" "Didn't we agree last time? Why didn't you recommend me?" Chang Gui said with a look of innocence: "Why do you talk like that? How do you know I didn't recommend you? Are there limited places, and you can't just go alone." "I have reliable news. During the recommendation meeting of the commune, you squatted there with a cigarette pipe in your mouth and said nothing, didn't you?" "Who said this?" "Don't care who said it, is there such a thing?"

"No, if you don't believe me, call the secretary of the commune and I will talk to him face to face. Did I tell him?" Zheng Tong finally couldn't help turning his face: "Don't do this shit, you know very well that Secretary Wang can't come to confront you, Chang Laogui, you are a sinister person, you are a ghost in front of you, just because of you Zhong Yuemin and I have offended you about the deduction of the educated youth's rations, it has been several years, and you still hold grudges and tripped me up behind my back, you really are not a fucking thing."

Chang Gui said softly but firmly: "Zheng Tong, if you want to say that, we will have nothing to say, and I can't take care of school matters. Why do you scold people when you come up? In terms of age, you are also a nephew, why are you like this?" say?" Zheng Tong was furious: "Calling you? I still want to hit you an old bastard." In a rage, he picked up the big sea bowl on the kang table and wanted to smash Chang Gui. Jiang Biyun rushed in and hugged Zheng Tong. Chang Gui rushed over, Jiang Biyun desperately pulled Zheng Tong away. Zheng Tong and Jiang Biyun sat side by side on a stone roller in the threshing ground at the entrance of the village. They were silent for a long time. Suddenly, Zheng Tong began to sob.

Jiang Biyun was shocked, this was the first time she saw Zheng Tong crying, she put her hand on his shoulder in panic: "Zheng Tong, what's wrong with you?" "This day...is really hopeless." "Isn't that how everyone lives?" "People... are afraid that there is no hope. What's the point of living like this?" "Zheng Tong, you have always been an optimistic person, why did you become so depressed today? This is not like you." "You don't know, I want to go to university, I even dream about it, but today I went to the commune to ask, and the selected worker, peasant and soldier students all set off. At that time, I felt that my eyes were dark, and all the hopes in my heart were shattered. "

Jiang Biyun said: "But you can't give up hope, I don't believe it, we will stay in this small mountain village forever, there will always be opportunities." Zheng Tong said disheartenedly: "If the opportunity meets me, I'm afraid I will go around. I'm not very lucky." "If one day an opportunity comes your way, but you can't seize it because you don't have the ability to seize it, then you will have nothing to say." Zheng Tong was silent. "I know, you're in a bad state of mind, life's hard, your future is hopeless, and... you're lonely."

Zheng Tong whispered: "Yes, it is a kind of loneliness of the soul. I am walking alone in the long night. Where is the return journey..." Jiang Biyun said softly: "If you have love in your heart, maybe the situation will be much better. At that time, you will feel warm, feel that you have support, feel that your soul is no longer lonely, and feel that life is full of colors from then on." "But in front of my eyes is a world without color, only loess lacking vegetation." "Zheng Tong, don't you want to say something to me?" "I'm so devastated that I really don't feel interested in talking."

Jiang Biyun pulled Zheng Tong's shoulders, looked into his eyes and said, "Then let me say, listen carefully, I want to make a suggestion to you." "you say." "It's too lonely to walk alone at night, wouldn't it be better for two to walk together?" Zheng Tong's eyes widened: "You mean, come with me?" "Yes, let's walk the night together, resist loneliness together, and look for light together, would you like to?" Zheng Tong turned his back and remained silent, while Jiang Biyun gently hugged him from behind. Two lines of hot tears flowed from Zheng Tong's eyes...

On the playground, the whole company of the reconnaissance battalion stood in line on the playground. Tonight, the battalion instructors will announce the list of students who have been selected into the military instruction team. Since 1966, almost all military academies in the army have been closed, and the selection of officers is all from veterans in active service.All armies, divisions, and even regiments have set up cadre teaching teams, which are equivalent to military schools in disguise. Selected veterans receive a few months or a year of accelerated officer training in the teaching teams, and then serve as officers. Return to the army to lead the troops. Before 1966, the admission requirement for the Military Academy was to first pass a unified cultural examination. This alone discouraged many rural children with only elementary school education.With the rise of the Cultural Revolution movement, many old rules and regulations were abolished, which brought hope to Wu Mantun, a low-level peasant boy. In such a big China, when all the doors to enter are closed to you, only There is still a glimmer of light in the army, which is indeed exciting news for the people at the bottom.

Moreover, it is not without precedent in Chinese history to quickly become an officer in a few months or a year. Wasn't the famous Whampoa Military Academy also a crash course?This does not prevent it from training a large number of famous generals, and more than 300 generals have emerged from the 600 trainees in the first period alone. It took them less than ten months from enrollment to graduation. Zhong Yuemin, Zhang Haiyang, Wu Mandun and others have known the list of officers for a long time. The three of them are the combat backbone of the company. It is imperative to be promoted, and the instructors have also talked to the three of them respectively.

When Zhong Yuemin heard the news that he would be promoted, he still hesitated for a few days. He had no intention of serving as the army commander at all. According to his idea, he could just play around with everything. Since he had been a soldier for several years, Then it's time to change the gameplay, it's boring to keep playing the same game.If you mention it, you can't help yourself. If you don't work in the army for ten or eight years, you won't even think about leaving.There's an old saying that a soldier who doesn't want to be a marshal isn't a good soldier.Zhong Yuemin thinks this is pure nonsense, just a layman's idea, just like everyone wants to get rich, in fact, there are always a minority of people who get rich, there are various ways of living in the world, the key lies in one's own feelings, he I never thought there was anything enviable about being a Marshal.Now Zhong Yuemin has stood at the crossroads of his life. If he chooses to work in the army for another ten or eight years, he must kill him. Is this a joke?Just rushing this routine five-kilometer cross-country every day, he is a little annoyed, which means that he will have to run for another ten or eight years, and he will let you change jobs when you can't run anymore. Do you want to play something else? But Zhong Yuemin finally decided to join the teaching team, not for other reasons, mainly because of Zhang Haiyang and Wu Mantun. He couldn't stand the hard work of these two guys, especially Zhang Haiyang. His father wrote to him: Don't think about doing anything else in your life, just wear this military uniform until you die. The descendants of the Zhang family can't do anything except serve as soldiers. When you put on an officer's uniform, you can go home at any time, otherwise don't step into it. this house.Zhang Haiyang was cut off from the back, so he had no choice but to prepare to work in the army for a long time. But in his words, when he died, he had to be a backer. He believed that Zhong Yuemin was a backer, and he wanted to drag him into the water, so Zhang Haiyang and Wu Mantun adopted the tactics of stalking, pestering Zhong Yuemin every day, and even used extremely For the rogue way. A few days ago, Zhang Haiyang and Wu Mantun asked Zhong Yuemin to go swimming, and Zhong Yuemin was fooled as soon as they went. They took Zhong Yuemin to a secluded river bank, saying that they could swim with their buttocks naked here, and the two of them went down with their buttocks naked first. water.The soldiers don't have swimming trunks, and they all wear the big green trousers issued by the army when swimming. This kind of trousers has a lot of resistance in the water and is very uncomfortable.As soon as Zhong Yuemin saw the two of them getting into the water, he also jumped into the water with his bare buttocks. After he swam back and forth, he found that these two guys were already dressed and sitting on the river bank, smiling at him maliciously. Only then did Zhong Yuemin realize that he had been fooled.Zhang Haiyang put forward two conditions for Zhong Yuemin to choose, either to join the teaching team, or to return to the army with bare buttocks.Zhang Haiyang also specifically warned that no one is joking with him now, telling him not to have illusions, and he must consider the consequences before making a choice.Zhong Yuemin considered for a while and then compromised. He knew that Zhang Haiyang would definitely do what he said.While wearing the underpants, Zhong Yuemin thought, once he put on these underpants, he would be considered as a member of the army. On the night when the nomination list was announced, before the lights went out, Zhong Yuemin was called by Zhang Haiyang to the parallel bars on the playground. This was the place where the three of them gathered since they were recruits. Zhong Yuemin asked, "Why did you ask me to come here?" Zhang Haiyang said: "This means full storage, he wants to treat." "This kid usually wants to grind every penny into a waste, don't you want to pass it?" "I said the same thing, it's not about life and death, isn't it just mentioning why? Your family is so poor, what the hell are you doing? But this kid got anxious with me, and dared to stare at me, saying that if you don't go, get out. Just ignore me, fuck it, this will be when I first enlisted in the army, I will have to beat my teeth all over the place." Manhun hurried over with a bag of things in his arms. He knelt down and took out everything in the bag, including canned food, cigarettes, and two bottles of liquor. Zhong Yuemin and Zhang Haiyang watched him open the can silently. Mantun opened the can, opened the wine bottle and filled three cups. He looked at Zhong Yuemin and Zhang Haizhong and said, "Why are you still standing? Sit down." The two sat down in silence. Mantun raised his cup and said solemnly: "Take it up, it's done." The three drank the wine in one gulp. Fill it up and refill it: "Do it again." The three drank three glasses of wine in a row. Mantun suddenly became very excited: "The two brothers are not outsiders, don't laugh at brother..." He suddenly knelt down in one direction, licked three heads in a row, and burst into tears: "Father, mother, my son licked your head for your elder brother, The son did not embarrass his parents, the son has been promoted in the army, our family has hope, I can support the family..." Man Tun burst into tears, releasing all the years of grievances and depression in an instant. Zhong Yuemin and Zhang Haiyang were stunned by crying. Zhong Yuemin hugged his shoulders and persuaded: "It will be fine in the future. The rank salary is fifty-two yuan. You can support your family. This is a good thing. You should be happy, and the brothers are also happy for you." Mantun wiped his tears and choked up his sobs and said: "Brothers, it is reasonable to say that I am a brother to you. You are very kind, and you have never disliked me. You haven't even worn a new military uniform in the past few years. You have sent all of them to me. My family is gone, I am a poor boy, I am really a drag on the brothers, I kowtow to you on behalf of the whole family..." Mandun was about to kneel again, Zhong Yuemin and Zhang Haiyang hurriedly supported him: "Dude, you are boring, aren't we buddies?" Mantun grabbed the wine bottle again: "Okay, I won't say anything, how should I repay the brothers, my surname Wu knows it well, drink, these two bottles of wine will be finished today, so don't pretend to be bears." Zhong Yuemin drank the wine in the glass in one gulp and said loudly: "Drink, to bid farewell to our soldier's life, let's get drunk, as long as we can get up tomorrow morning." Zhang Haiyang said coquettishly: "It doesn't matter if you can't get up, just ask someone to bring a letter to the teaching team, saying that the uncle drank too much and he will leave one day later, what's the matter?" Zhong Yuemin smiled and said, "Look at you? Isn't it just a small platoon leader?" Zhong Shanyue has not been assigned a job since he was released from the isolation review. He has been at home for several years. During the review period, he promoted several deputy ministers in the ministry, so the number of deputy ministers in office has reached seven or eight. There are really no The location can be installed.Although Zhong Shanyue was very anxious, there were too many cadres in his situation, and the organization department was helpless.Zhong Shanyue, like most veteran cadres who were impacted at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, publicly stated that he was still young and in good physical condition, and wanted to work for the party and the people for a few more years.In fact, everyone understands that these reasons are too high-sounding. Zhong Yuemin heard his father complain a lot when he came home from visiting relatives this time. The old man added another bad habit. He drank alcohol every meal, talked a lot when he drank, and cursed when he was drunk. He has scolded all the dissatisfied people and things one by one, and Zhong Yuemin can't blame him at all, and he will take him with him if he disagrees. The father and son have not seen each other for five or six years. When Zhong Yuemin first came back, his father was very excited. He first called his old comrades in various places and said that my old Zhong’s son had become a platoon leader in the army, and then he chased Zhong Yuemin non-stop. Asking this and that, Zhong Yuemin went to the living room, the old man chased him to the living room, Zhong Yuemin went into his bedroom, the old man chased him to the bedroom again, making Zhong Yuemin almost annoyed.He remembered that his father was not like this before. At that time, his father was an upright man in his eyes, and even when he beat someone, he was quite manly. He never slapped the child's buttocks like ordinary parents beat their children. , Zhong Shanyue is not so gentle and elegant, he always strikes like lightning, before Zhong Yuemin can react, a crisp slap has already been firmly slapped on the face, the force is enough to make Zhong Yuemin turn 360 degrees on the spot, his eyes are full of golden light . Zhong Yuemin was puzzled, is this nagging old man in front of him his father?How come people become like this when they get old?Where is the young teacher who was equally busy fighting and chasing women during the Liaoshen Campaign? Of course, this is all the scene when Zhong Yuemin first came home. After spending a few days with his father, he found that his father hadn’t changed much. Once he got angry, he immediately showed a hideous face. Zhong Yuemin recalled his childhood ideal, that he had to be a father himself in order not to be beaten by his father. This kind of thinking was too lacking in thoroughness, ignoring the most fundamental one: Even if you become a father, you cannot guarantee that your own father will not beat you , this is an iron law, no matter how capable you are, you can never turn it over. Zhong Shanyue was sitting on the sofa in the living room, and Zhong Yuemin was massaging his father's shoulders. He asked flatteringly, "Dad, are you reinstated?" "I have returned to the original level of treatment, but I have nothing to do. The Central Organization Department may have forgotten me." Zhong Yuemin said: "You should take a good rest for a while, Dad, why didn't you find a wife after my mother passed away?" "Is there a suitable one? Can you introduce one to me?" "Sorry, no." "Then what are you talking about, kid? Are you asking me about my private life?" "I just think you need someone to take care of you." My father said: "Getting married is not about asking someone to take care of you. If that's the case, I might as well ask for a nanny. Son, let's go to Babaoshan to see your mother tomorrow. There are only two of us left in our family. The population is not strong. The biggest regret in my life is that I didn't have more sons, and your mother underwent surgery after giving birth to you." "I know, you still miss my mother." Father said: "I ask you, do you have a girlfriend?" "I handed over two, and the time is not too long." "Stupid, you can't even look down on a girlfriend, and people look down on you?" Zhong Yuemin ashamedly admitted: "Forget it, I have no ability, far worse than when you were young." Zhong Shanyue boasted proudly: "That's true. I was more beautiful when I was young than you are now. The youngest division commander in the whole column, those lesbians' eyes shine when they see me, and they can't even go away." "Did you finally see my mother?" "Your mother was the most beautiful in our Dongye organization at the time. Well, many division-level cadres were interested in her at the time, but no one liked her. Only I knew in my heart that she was waiting for me. Before the general attack on Jinzhou, I was preparing for a big battle, so I didn’t have time to talk to her. I only went to your mother after the battle. Guess what your mother’s first sentence said? She said, why did you come?” Zhong Yuemin laughed: "Dad, you are really a master of love. My son is ashamed of himself."