Ghost Blowing Lantern II - Chapter 20 A letter from the grassland (Part 2)

I peeled off a few more pieces and smelled my fingers. The smoke suddenly made me frown. I hit my sore neck and looked at the silent mountains outside the village. I suddenly felt an inexplicable loss. Could it be that I Are you going to stay in the mountains cutting tomb bricks and watching forest farms for the rest of your life? Although this is indeed a training exercise, after all, it is far from my ideal. I was still too young at the time, and I was anxious about my future. When I thought about living in a ravine for the rest of my life, unable to join the army and fight to realize my ambition, deep down in my heart I immediately felt panic, my nose felt sore, and I almost shed tears.

The fat man looked at me and asked me what I was thinking. Why do you look so sad all day? I sighed and replied: “What the hell, why don’t you just worry about the liberation cause of the people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.” The fat man advised me: “Don’t worry, people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America We don’t care about how people’s lives are going. Maybe they don’t need me to worry about them. It’s almost time to get off work. I’ll treat you to a meal tonight. Then you can eat as much as possible. Let’s take advantage of them. To put it bluntly, don’t be a heretic, but be vigorous.”

I wiped the dripping nose and was about to discuss with the fat man how to clean up the donkey’s water. At this time, the old party secretary came back. He went to the brigade to do some work and picked up a few parcels for the educated youth. Transportation in the mountains is inconvenient. Let’s come. I had been jumping in line for several months and had almost lost contact with the outside world. I was overjoyed when I saw a parcel for the first time. At that moment, I forgot about everything. What Fatty and I were most worried about was, of course, the situation at home, but The branch secretary rummaged through the mail for a long time and told him that there was no mail package for us, and that it belonged to several other educated youths.

Although I knew that my family was now quarantined, and of course I had no chance to send anything, I still felt very uncomfortable. Just as I was about to turn around and leave, the old branch secretary called us back again, holding a letter in his hand. Say this is the only letter addressed to both of you.

The fat man and I were slightly startled, and rushed over to grab the letter. We were still very puzzled, why did the two of us write a letter? Yanzi was also very curious and came over to read the letter with us. I suppressed my excitement and couldn’t wait to look at the envelope. The letter was forwarded from the communication room of our hometown military region, so there was an envelope inside that was the original. Obviously The sender of the letter did not know the address where Fatty and I jumped in line to settle down, so he sent the letter to the military district, and then it was forwarded again.

I opened the letter and read it carefully word by word. It turned out that the sender was Ding Sitian, a comrade-in-arms whom Fatty and I met on the train. She was about the same age as us and was a top literary and artistic person. We hit it off and became old friends in Mao Zedong. In the Chairman’s hometown, each of us grabbed a handful of local soil and didn’t let go for a whole day and night. As a result, our hands became swollen. In Yan’an, the holy land of revolution, we shared a piece of dry food in a cave dwelling. We are still here, and we stay with each other. It has been a long time since I got my mailing address. I never expected that I would receive a letter from her in the mountains today.

Ding Sitian’s parents are both museum workers. There are four children in the Ding family, each named after “Yi Ku Si Tian”. This was also the mainstream naming of children at that time. She mentioned in her letter to us: This letter is written to my closest revolutionary comrades Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan. Since we parted in the great capital Beijing, I have missed us all the time day and night. I have long wanted to write to you, but many things have happened at home. …, I think you must have fulfilled your wish to join the army. It is also my dream to join the People’s Liberation Army of China gloriously and become a revolutionary warrior. I hope you can send me photos of you in military uniform so that I can share your joy. …Finally, please don’t forget the revolutionary friendship between us. I wish it is higher than the mountains, farther than the road, evergreen and never fades.

I learned from the letter that Ding Sitian, who wanted to join the army, had to go to Karen Zuo Banner in Inner Mongolia to join the army due to family background and many other reasons. And she obviously didn’t know that Fatty and I had similar experiences to her, and we didn’t join the army. I was sent to Daxinganling to jump in line. After reading the letter, Fatty and I didn’t speak for a long time. I was too embarrassed to reply to Ding Sixian, and there was no photo of me in military uniform to send to her.

I sensed from Ding Sitian’s letter that she was very lonely. Perhaps life in Karenzuo Banner was more monotonous than in the mountains. Although Karenzuo Banner belongs to Inner Mongolia like Ganggangyingzi where I live, it does not belong to the same country. League, Karen Zuo Banner is a pastoral area on the grassland. The environment is harsh, the population is even sparse, and it is far away from Xing’an League Road. Ding Sitian can sing and dance. It is unimaginable to let her graze on the grassland. How can we let people Can you rest assured? While I was thinking about it, I noticed that the fat man was rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for paper to write a reply to, so I said to him: “Don’t look for it. We don’t even have paper for wiping our butts. Where can we find letter paper? I think we are all going to be stupid in the mountains. Why don’t we go there?” Let’s go play on the grassland and see our close comrades on the way.”

When Yanzi heard that I was going to the grassland, he asked in surprise: “What? Going to the Kelenzuo Banner grassland? You can’t go back and forth for ten and a half days. If you don’t work for so many days, you won’t get your work points? After you come back What are you eating?”

I nodded to Yan Zi. Of course I had to consider this issue. Work points are the lifeblood of educated youth. The educated youth who go to the mountains and countryside to join the team are different from those who join the Production and Construction Corps, Beidahuang and other places, which adopt quasi-military management. It is based on divisions, with standard military structures such as regiments, battalions, companies, platoons, and squads. Members of the corps receive a monthly allowance of six yuan including food and accommodation. The advantage of the corps is that it has a fixed income, but its disadvantage is that it lacks Freedom does not mean you can come and go as you please, but the educated youth implement a work-point system. The disadvantage is that the income is unreliable, but the advantage is that you can come and go freely, and it is very convenient to ask for leave. Some people may find it strange that since the educated youth are so free, why don’t they return to the city? This was mainly because I had no food rations when I went back, and the so-called queue jumping means that since your household registration has been settled in a rural area, it is considered a rural household registration. When you go back, you will also be a black household. There is no longer your number in the city, and it is impossible to find a job. After all, people depend on food. God, people can’t live without eating. If they don’t have work points, they won’t have food rations, so they tie them up.

We picked up a lot of golden beans at Tuanshanzi Forest Farm a few days ago. Of course we didn’t dare to keep these for ourselves. After we handed them over to the government, the party secretary was kind-hearted. Although there was no such thing as a bonus at that time, he still agreed to give us two more beans. Month’s work points are earned, and I will save them for a long vacation when I go back to visit relatives during the Chinese New Year. In other words, Fatty and I didn’t have to work for two months. We were tired of staying in the mountains and missed Ding Sitian, so we decided to go for a walk on the grassland.