Chapter 57 14. Where does the vast world go?

The Spring Festival in 1958 was on February 18, so the house in Duofu Lane was naturally deserted.Years ago, Beijing Film Studio notified Chen Ming that his treatment would be to revoke his rank, keep his factory registration, and send him to Mishan Farm in Heilongjiang for labor reform along with the rightists in the State Council system.He took advantage of the few days off to pack up his luggage.Ding Ling always asked: What should I do when you are gone, I cannot live without you!Chen Ming said, let's take a group photo at home as a commemoration of parting.In the photo, they were sitting side by side with serious expressions on their faces.On the third day after the Chinese New Year, Chen Ming went to Dongjiao Shuangqiao Farm to participate in the training camp.

The management of the training camp was very strict, and he was not allowed to go home on Sundays. Chen Ming only came back once on March 8, and returned to the farm that night.He was worried about Ding Ling staying in Beijing alone, and said, should I say hello to the Writers Association and let them know that you are alone at home.Ding Ling said, no, we don't want pity, I thought about it these days, and then I went to the Great Northern Wilderness! In August 2002, Chen Ming told the author: In the later period of the anti-rightist struggle, we thought, I don’t want my past revolutionary history, so it’s okay to start revolution again, right?We began to think about where to go, and the first choice was Yichun, the northeast forest area. We saw a group of photos from "People's Pictorial", which were very distinctive.But we were worried that the Writers Association would say it was too cold there, and Ding Ling's waist was bad, so it was not suitable to go there, so we chose another place from the south, and the second one was Guiyang, which was also engaged in forestry.Our thoughts at that time were: to change our existence in society, to change our living environment, to change our own identity, no longer as a writer, but as an ordinary laborer.Our family has always insisted on eating coarse grains, two or three times a week, such as millet, corn cakes, sweet potatoes, etc. Aunt Wang Jie is from Yangzhou, she is not used to eating, so Ding Ling and I eat it alone.This is also a preparation for suffering in the future.

On December 16, 1957, when Liu Baiyu talked to Ding Ling on behalf of the Party Group of the Writers Association, she mentioned that she wanted to go to Yichun to engage in forestry, saying that it was Xiaoxing'an Mountains, Yichun was a new city, and the houses had heating.Liu Baiyu's answer was that he hadn't considered whether he could go to Yichun yet, and he would think about it later.Ding Ling said that Chen Ming proposed to go wherever the hardships are.We are mentally prepared.Liu Baiyu said, we have considered your body, don't be too forceful, we are considering the age and physical strength of you and Xuefeng, and we should be more considerate.It is good to go to the lower level to work, and it can strengthen class feelings. The fundamental problem is a complete change.Later, before Ding Ling went to the Great Northern Wilderness, she had to hand over all her deposits to the organization. Liu Baiyu dissuaded her, saying that you still need to spend money to go to the Northeast.

On March 15, Chen Ming and the others set off by train.It was a special train, all of whom were rightists from the State Council system. Each person was given bread and meat products, and three people had a berth and slept in turns.The demobilized soldiers who lead the team are very kind.When the train arrived at Jixi Station, there was hot sorghum rice porridge boiled in a big pot on the platform.The train took them all the way to Mishan County in Heilongjiang, where the Bureau of Land Reclamation of the Railway Corps was located.The personnel were further divided, and Chen Ming was assigned to a newly-built production team in the second branch of the 853 Farm. At that time, a large number of demobilized officers and soldiers had not yet left, and the conditions were very harsh. Sleep on a kang, one squeezed one by one.Chen Ming wrote to Ding Ling that there were more than 100 people in their team, most of them were rightists in units directly under the State Council. Each person was paid 28 yuan a month. There was light snow flying outside and the indoor temperature was two degrees above zero. .Chen Ming also asked Ding Ling to go to the People's Market, buy him a shoulder pad for carrying things, a pair of leg wraps, and send them along with the raincoat.Chen Ming also said in the letter: "As for how you left Nanjing in history, it is best to ask the organization to make a conclusion. The more I think about it, the more I think it is necessary. Otherwise, there will be inconvenience wherever you go. How do you deal with it? "Chen Ming looked forward to "our happy meeting."

Not long after Chen Ming left, Xia Gengqi, a civil servant, was also transferred back to the Writers Association. Only Ding Ling and Sister Wang, the nanny, were left at home, making it even more deserted.Xia Gengqi has been working as a civil servant for Ding Ling since the spring of 1951. He has been in her house for seven years. He is diligent, simple, smart and clever. Ding Ling's family likes him and treats him like his own family. Naturally, Ding Ling is reluctant to let him go .But thinking about it, it's better to leave, so as not to let him be implicated by himself, the young man still has a long way to go.Ding Ling had nothing to say, nothing to do, no one to watch, and no one to see her.She had to read books every day and read a lot of foreign literature.

Spring is here, the weather is getting warmer, and the two Xifu Begonias in the yard are blooming very prosperously.It was planted by Xia Gengqi when he first moved to Duofu Lane, five or six years ago.In the past, when it bloomed every year, some friends would come to the house to watch it, and the yard was full of laughter, but this year it was surprisingly deserted and quiet.The delicate petals are pink when they first bloom, slowly turn pink, and then white, and the flowering period is very long.On Ching Ming Festival, she went to Wan'an Cemetery in the western suburbs, and sat alone beside her mother's grave for a long time.Looking at the statue designed by Jiang Feng and made by Liu Kaiqu, she thought to herself, fortunately, her mother passed away early, if she lived to this day, how painful it would be for her to see me like this!

Party secretary Shao Quanlin once told her: "You will be punished according to the sixth category of rightists. Feng Xuefeng is also dealt with under the sixth category of rightists. This was discussed at the CPPCC meeting group meeting. You don't have to go to work. Assigned work, you can also stay in Beijing, engage in research or writing, slightly reduce or keep the original salary; like Xuefeng, probably will still stay in the Literature Publishing House, and participate in the annotation work of Lu Xun's complete works." Shao Quanlin said that his personal opinion, Ding Ling You can stay in Beijing to write, and then transfer Chen Ming back from the Northeast after a period of time.When Zhou Yang talked to her, he also advised her not to go down, saying that she was too old.But Ding Ling didn't want to stay in Beijing.She felt that Beijing was very cold, but the place Chen Ming went to was very warm. She still longed for the ice and snow of the Great Northern Wilderness. She formally asked the Writers Association to go to the Great Northern Wilderness, but she replied that her conclusion had not been drawn yet, and she would wait Wait.

There was no news from the Writers Association, but there was news from Chen Ming. On a Sunday in early May, Wang Zhen, Minister of Land Reclamation, visited the 853 Farm to inspect the work and came to the production team where Chen Ming was.Chen Ming reported to him that Ding Ling also wanted to come to the farm and hoped that Minister Wang Zhen could help.Wang Zhen immediately replied: "Okay, she comes, I agree." That night, Chen Ming wrote to Ding Ling to tell her about it, and then wrote to tell her what clothes and daily necessities to bring when she came.Ding Ling was overjoyed when she received the letter, and immediately reported the news to the party group of the Writers Association, and began to make preparations for going to the Great Northern Wilderness.Her request was finally approved by the Party Group of the Writers Association.

At the end of May, the Leading Group for the Rectification of the Chinese Writers Association finally came up with the "Political Conclusions on Ding Ling, a rightist". Its original administrative (seventh-level) level, retains the director of the Writers Association." At the end of the conclusion, there are the seals of "Guo Xiaochuan, the head of the Rectification Leading Group", and the seal of the "General Branch Committee of the Chinese Writers Association of the Communist Party of China".The due date is May 27th.Ding Ling signed the words "Ding Ling agrees" in the column of "My Opinion".This conclusion also has an appendix "Ding Ling's Main Anti-Party Facts", which was signed in February 1958.

When she signed the words "Ding Ling agrees", she didn't know what mood Ding Ling was in.This is her sentence, and it is an evaluation and summary of her decades-long history by the party organization of the Chinese Writers Association!Is this what happened to her?Is this what she deserved?Is this what happened when she devoted herself to the revolution, joined the party, ran to northern Shaanxi, endured back pain and wrote all of this?She must have been sore in her heart, but she didn't say anything, she just picked up a pen and wrote down the four words "Ding Ling agrees" fluently.When she walked out of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles building, she even felt a burst of relief: After all, the conclusion was reached, and she could leave Beijing soon to find Chen Ming.After returning home, she began to pack her luggage according to Chen Mingxin's instructions.

On June 1, she wrote to Shao Quanlin and said: "I will go to the Ministry of Land Reclamation tomorrow for a job interview, and I may be able to leave soon. I am determined to start a new life and work properly. I must be cautious, humble, and selfless. To engage in labor and reform, hoping to contribute to the construction of socialism. Before I leave, I really want to see you, do you think your body will allow me to go?" Shao Quanlin suggested Ding Ling to go down out of good intentions After changing a name, Ding Ling said: I don’t change my name when I’m in business, and I don’t change my surname when I sit. My real name and surname are easy for the masses to supervise.She is not afraid of the crowd. The next day, she went to Zhuanta Hutong in Xisi, and brought a letter of introduction from the Ministry of Agriculture and Reclamation, which said: "Minister Wang Zhen instructed to go to Tangyuan Farm, and the specific work will be determined later." The Central Propaganda Department also gave her a letter. A letter of introduction was issued, which said: "Revocation of position, cancellation of rank, retaining the name of director of the Writers Association. Go down to experience life and engage in creation; if you engage in creation, you will not be paid. If you participate in work, you can re-evaluate salary." Ding Ling saw I feel ridiculous: She is a reactionary rightist, and she went to labor reform, so how can she have the qualifications to "create"?After changing from the supply system to the salary system, Ding Ling responded to the call of the Writers Association's party group for writers to be self-sufficient. She never received a salary and lived on manuscript fees. She even paid the salaries of civil servants herself.During the 12 years in the Great Northern Wilderness, she and Chen Ming only lived on Chen Ming's salary and their original savings. When they went down, they had about 30,000 yuan in savings. She dismissed Sister Wang, gave away some of the family's belongings, sold some, and shipped all the rest to a yard at No. 3 Daxiangfeng Hutong on the South Bank of Houhai. Feng bought five or six rooms in the north room and two rooms in the east room.At that time, Ma Feng insisted on selling the house and returning to Shanxi to create. Hearing that Ding Ling wanted to buy it, he immediately found out the contract for buying the house and showed it to Chen Ming, saying, "You can pay as much as it says in the contract." The more than 500 yuan for decoration is not counted, and it is not a penny more.Duofu Lane is the house of the Writers Association, which should be returned to the Writers Association.She secretly rejoiced: Fortunately, she bought Da Xiangfeng's house back then. The things were transported away, and the yard was empty, except for the two crabapple plants and a grape tree, which shook their leaves in the breeze. Are they saying goodbye to the owner, or are they reluctant to let her go?Ding Ling sat under the grape trellis and wanted to stay alone for a while longer. She moved here from No. 22 Dongzongbu Hutong in the spring of 1951 and lived here for seven years. There are too many laughter, joy, family affection, and friendship here. , There are too many troubles, pains and cries.At this time, she recalled many past events, thinking of Chen Ming who was far away in the Great Northern Wilderness, Zu Lin Zuhui who was far away in the Soviet Union, and the days spent with them and the days spent with her mother.There will never be such a day in the future, and she will never come to this yard again.She wants to say goodbye to Beijing, she wants to say goodbye to Joy, and all the good things are only kept in memory! On June 12, Ding Ling boarded the train bound for Harbin. She bought a soft sleeper at her own expense.The writers' association sent a demobilized soldier to "escort" him, and Ding Ling had to pay for his soft sleeper ticket. She stopped in Harbin for a few days and met Yan Zemin, chairman of the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles. He was very enthusiastic and caring. He introduced himself and said that when he was studying at the Central Party School in Yan'an, he and Chen Ming were classmates.Ding Ling also met Chen Yi, former Minister of the Ministry of Political Affairs and Culture, now also a rightist, sent to Qiqihar to supervise labor.Qiqihar is in the northwest of Harbin, and Mishan is in the southeast of Harbin. They are not in the same place.The two of them didn't have much to talk about. In this situation, Ding Ling suddenly thought of Bai Juyi's poem: "We are both fallen people at the end of the world"! At the end of June, Ding Ling arrived in Mishan.Wang Zhen met her at the Land Reclamation Bureau of the Railway Corps, laughed enthusiastically and heartily, and encouraged her: "Work hard, reform well, and take off your hat in two years. I will give you conditions. You can write whatever you want and go wherever you want." You can go wherever you want, the world here is huge, and we are practicing communism here." A few days later, Chen Ming also came from 853 Farm.Arranged by Wang Zhen, they settled down in Tangyuan Farm, where the conditions were much better than those of Chen Ming's new team. At that time, the Great Northern Wilderness had just been developed, and it was still a sleeping ancient wasteland.In a conversation, Li Xin said that when he heard Ding Ling go to the Great Northern Wilderness, he thought to himself: That place is so icy and snowy, so desolate, can you survive? A week after arriving at Tangyuan Farm, Ding Ling wrote the first letter to the Party Group of the Chinese Writers Association, reporting her situation. She said: "I personally feel very happy with the new environment and new life." In the melting pot of life, I completely changed myself, and I believe I can be transformed here." As a guilty person, she started a new life in that icy and snowy place, and lived there for twelve years.