Return To 1977 Chapter 142: Train to Beijing

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"The brilliant morning glow rises in the golden capital, and the solemn music reports the dawn of the motherland. Ah capital, ah capital, the heart of the motherland, the symbol of unity, the pride of the people, the guarantee of victory, the people of all ethnic groups put their Praise you, you are a bright star in our hearts..."

The train is traveling on the yellow land, heading towards the capital.

Despite the noise and chaos in the carriage, there were people everywhere. Although the floor of the carriage was mottled and dirty and smelled of soot. Although the loudspeaker in the carriage was playing repeatedly, in addition to excerpts from "Red Lantern", it was this "Ode to the Capital". Driven by the desire to go home, Hong Yanwen, who was sitting in the carriage at this time, still felt happy and happy. good.

He was immersed in a good mood that was difficult to explain to others. His eyes were looking at the green artificial leather seats, the short yellow wood tables, the huge glass windows, and the crowded passengers standing or sitting on them. The luggage that was packed all over the world was lying on the bed, but what I was thinking about was something else. To describe this in current terms, what I see is nothing else but my mood.

Eight years ago, when he first left the capital, he took such a train. In the past eight years, he also took such a train to and from home every time he went home to visit relatives.

This time, although the essence of "taking the train" has not changed, its meaning and his mood are completely different. Because when he returns to the capital this time, he doesn't have to leave again. This is like an undoubted circle, a fateful return that is inevitable.

Since he completely walked out of the house, he truly understood what "parting" is and what "family love" is. Therefore, during the twelve-day family leave every year, he always chose the time to return to his hometown during the Chinese New Year. Because only in this way can he comfort the sorrow in his heart.

Those days at home are precious because of their brevity. He knew very well that this kind of return would be followed by farewell in an instant, so he would count the New Year celebrations one after another, and would be very careful to avoid words like "walk" and "train station" to avoid Causes parents grief.

What makes him sad is that often at times like this, although the faces of his family members deliberately pretend to be calm, and sometimes even smile slightly, they can never hide the bitterness and worry on the inside.

There is no way, life has made all his family members learn to act and cover up. Especially during the New Year, everyone works extra hard for each other to show satisfaction and happiness, even if the happiness is fleeting.

Because of this, he didn't even dare to write letters home for eight years. In fact, he missed home so much that he wanted to tell his family everything about him in detail.

But since he learned that his mother had cried all night long for his hardship after receiving his letter, and her heart was filled with sorrow and longing for him, he could no longer write. Because the longer and more frequently the letters are written, the more upset it will be for the mother.

Fortunately, this situation is finally over now, and his relationship has been successfully transferred back to the suburbs of Beijing. From now on, he will no longer have to face the heavy heart that his family deliberately suppresses before each separation, and he will no longer have his mother worry about him at all...

Not even an hour after passing Datong, the car stopped again, a temporary stop. Along the way, there are countless such battle stations.

Hong Yanwen looked out the window and saw people everywhere on the platform. The word "Yanggao" was faintly visible on the shit-yellow wall at the exit. He still hasn't left the Yanbei area, and what is probably certain is that he is getting closer to home.

A young couple stood opposite him. Hearing the woman's Beijing accent, he originally thought they were also educated youths who had gone to the countryside and wanted to chat. Unexpectedly, the man spoke in local dialect, and the woman blushed and immediately lowered her head.

He immediately understood something and didn't dare to ask anymore, but he felt annoyed for no reason. Whether he hated himself for being meddlesome or something else, he couldn't tell.

Situations like this are common nowadays. Even among their educated youth, there is a girl who married a local farmer. This is all caused by the saying "take root for a lifetime". But who would have thought that fate had played a big joke on their generation, and that the current actual situation would turn out like this?

The train started moving again. Hong Yanwen looked at the speeding trees outside the window and couldn't help but sigh. He couldn't help but recall his past eight years.

In August 1969, he was still very young, a teenager who knew nothing about sorrow and was full of romantic fantasies about the future.

So, he took the initiative to answer the call and went to the countryside to join the queue. Not only did he cancel his household registration with his household registration book, but he also changed his revolutionary name to "Hong Xiangyang". It can be said that Li Yuhe is more passionate than Li Yuhe.

Back then, he was filled with the yearning to "go to the vast world and have a big fight". He couldn't rest at all. As soon as he got on the train, he started doing good things, mopping the floor over and over again, and delivering hot water to everyone.

At that moment, he did not expect, and could not have imagined, that what would begin would be the most difficult and helpless years of his life, which would last for eight years!

Educated youth also have levels.

As we all know, joining the Corps requires a political review and a physical examination, and the number of places is limited. The Corps is responsible for food, drink and clothing, is paid on time and enjoys the benefits of registered employees.

The most numerous educated youths like him who "jumped in line" received no salary, and only had one year's rations initially allocated by the state. After one year, they were like local farmers, relying only on earning work points for their livelihood. In essence, it is a de facto form of unemployment.

What's more, he was assigned to the Yanbei Mountains where rabbits don't poop. In that place called "GeDaling", there is not only a lack of arable land, which only produces millet and yam eggs, but also a long-term water shortage.

In fact, including him, there were only six educated youths assigned to "Gedaling" at that time, three boys and three girls, each from five schools in the capital.

But in order to refuse to accept them, He Sankui, the brigade secretary of "Gedaling", went to the county educated youth resettlement office and repeatedly begged the director for mercy, saying that "Gedaling" suffered from famine every year, and the per capita ration was only 200 kilograms of shell grains. , there is no way to support these children in the capital.

From this we know what kind of land this is.

To be honest, when he went there, he was indeed prepared to endure hardships, but he did not expect that the reality would be too bitter, and most of them were beyond his imagination.

First of all, stop.

They were accepted by the village because they agreed to hand over the allocated house building funds to the village, and the six of them were eventually placed in two dilapidated cave dwellings.

The conditions there were extremely poor. There were no beds or tables. Even the windows leaked air. Even mice didn’t like to come. Therefore, on the first day of residence, everyone suddenly lost their "arrogance and righteousness", leaving only loss, frustration and confusion.

Secondly, let’s talk about work.

The mountains of "GeDaling" are all worked by hand, with no livestock and no machinery. They, the "children of the capital" with delicate skin and tender meat, have to work from morning until dawn.

He still remembered that when he first came here, he didn't wash his feet for almost half a month. He didn't wash his feet because he was tired. As long as he climbed onto the kang, he would fall asleep in less than a minute. And my feet are numb and painful every night. Back pain and leg cramps are common conditions all year round.

What people didn’t expect is that dogs are vicious.

The dogs in the countryside are powerful, with narrow waists and long mouths, and are not good at publicity. They will suddenly jump out from behind the wall and hit your calf with a mouth. People say that "a thief bites a mouth and penetrates three minutes to the bone." Let the dogs in Yanbei When you take a bite, it's not "three points", it's "smashed".

The dogs here do not recognize the educated youth from outside, so they all look like sworn enemies to them. Moreover, these dogs have all fought with wolves, and most of them have the heritage of Hun hunting dogs.

So on the third day after arriving here, when Liu Yangping in "Sixty-Three" was bitten and sent to the county hospital, all the educated youth would run away in confusion and avoid the dogs in the village when they saw them again. Not as good as.

After all, the most distressing thing is the problem of eating and drinking.

It is difficult to draft water in "GeDaling". You have to go to the bottom of the ditch to pick it up. Carrying water uphill is a great hardship and test. Whoever takes it's turn to carry water will stumble.

Carrying two buckets of water, I climbed up vigorously. There was no place to rest on the way. The buckets were high in front and short in back, making it difficult to move forward. I had to move sideways and step by step. Those who are not used to it will either knock their legs with the bucket or spill the water. If you accidentally knock it over completely, just sit on the **** and cry until it gets dark and you have to go down and pick again.

Besides that, the water quality is not good either.

The water in the ditch was very alkaline, bitter and astringent, with a disgusting turbid smell. If you are not in good health, you may have diarrhea after drinking it. They, the educated youths, couldn't get used to drinking it for a long time. Thanks to someone who brought a lot of berberine, everyone finally got over it.

Not to mention eating. The biggest problem is hunger. It’s not that we don’t have enough to eat. It’s that we never have enough to eat.

This is a mountainous area, and the crop fields are all terraced fields. There is no water source and we completely rely on the sky for food. The life of local farmers is very poor. They only eat rice and potatoes all year round.

At first, they, the educated youths, had enough to eat because of the state’s food rations. But starting from the second year, they turned into a group of wolves with blue eyes. No matter what they saw, their first thought was always "can they eat it?"

In order to make their stomachs feel better, they often have to rely on "self-reliance". This usually means three ways.

The first one is to visit each other when eating, go to the villagers' houses, stay there for a while, and stay there with a shy face when it's time to eat. If I have a bowl for you, I have to have a bowl for me, no matter how bad it is. dislike. In fact, it is just taking advantage of others, which is called "beating the autumn wind" in a more civilized term.

The second is to join a team. There are educated youth spots in nearby villages, such as Kaoshangou, Mojiahe, and Tianguyu. There are friends all over a hundred miles away. Joining a team is a common thing. We are all from the same world, so there is no need to know each other when we meet.

There is also an unwritten rule among educated youths. No matter where you come from, as long as you are an educated youth, you will be in charge of food and housing. You can live there for three to five days, or for ten and a half months. It is a completely communist supply system. .

This kind of teaming up comes and goes. As the saying goes, "give me a peach and repay you with a plum". As long as the family has something, they will definitely give it to each other without hesitation. But if not, then all you can do is stare at them and tighten your belts.

Third, it is a crooked way of “generating income”. The so-called "income generation" is actually an excuse for face. To put it simply, it is "passing along", and to put it bluntly, it is "stealing".

The content is very rich. There are all kinds of sneaky things and pulling out garlic seedlings. Some of them are behaviors that they hated deeply in the past. But in the face of hunger, people's face and dignity have become useless things. Their moral bottom line It was lowered again and again without realizing it.

Slowly, due to their appearance, chickens in the village continued to disappear, and hares in the fields were rarely seen. The fellow villagers all have a feeling that since the arrival of the "Beijing Wazi", they have the same feeling as in the past when the Japanese invaded the village.

But helplessness, patience, and hardship have become the only choices for these educated youths.