Bitter but sweet prose.

One day, I suddenly remembered Lenin's words: to think about the past in the name of revolution means betrayal. So a few past events came to my mind, though bitter and sweet, and I took the liberty to dedicate them to the young and middle-aged readers in Tianya to understand the hard times of my generation.

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First of all, a quilt tells the past and present.

I opened the bedding a few days ago and found a mattress that looked familiar. A closer look, ah, I remember, this is a mattress made of old quilts, which reminds me of the past.

It was August 1959, and I was admitted to Beijing Institute of Chemical Technology. Before leaving, my wife said to me, "When you go to Beijing to study, that thick quilt is too rustic, which makes people in the city laugh.". Let's take the flower quilt away when we get married! " So the purple satin "foreign cloth" quilt replaced my coarse cloth quilt.

This kind of quilt is bright red with patterns of dragons and phoenixes flying on it. I feel very gratified to have such a quilt to accompany me to college.

At that time, the countryside was poor, and quilts were still very precious items. Generally, only a few people in a farmer's family cover a quilt. I study in other places, only a thick quilt, no mattress. Just because I went to Beijing to study, I specially made a bed with a plaid lining. Today, I have this floral quilt. How can I not be happy? This precious quilt has been with me for five years, and I don't want to change it after graduating from college.

It is this old quilt that accompanied me to the factory, to the countryside, and followed me to the beautiful rivers and mountains of the motherland. It was1June, 966. Just after the National Day, I carried this old quilt and embarked on a series journey. It once went to the ancient city of Xi with me, and stayed in the cave in Yan 'an for 3 days and 3 nights. I have been to the beautiful mountain city of Chongqing, crossed the river and the Three Gorges, and visited Wuhan. This old quilt is a good partner for me to get along with day and night. Because of years of dedication, it slowly began to decompose. I used it for many years for various reasons.

1968 I went to Shanghai on business and bought a red satin quilt cover. I am going to replace this old quilt cover. It happened that my daughter went to Huxi Middle School that year, so I gave her this new quilt cover. It wasn't until 1970 that I went to work in May 7th Cadre School. The school gave each employee a new quilt cover and the heating fee, so I replaced the old quilt cover. After another five years, my financial situation improved, and I put on a new quilt, and changed this old quilt into a mattress, which has been used until now.

Since the reform and opening up, my income has greatly increased, and great changes have taken place in bedding. My quilt has also changed from one to two, and there are more than a dozen spare quilts at home. In addition to the quilt, there are blankets and towels, and the quilt cover has also been replaced with various patterns. Silk and quilt cover have also changed from cotton wool to silk cotton, camel hair and down. Covering with such a warm quilt makes me very happy and comfortable.

I often write essays recalling the past, not because I appreciate the past, not because I miss the lost years, but because I cherish the hard-won present by recalling the past, and I will strive to create a better future. Now that life is rich, we can't forget the hardships of the past. "We must continue to work hard" and always remember Lenin's words: thinking about the past in the name of revolution means betrayal.

Second, the "trouble" brought by clothes.

Eating and dressing is a major event in life, and writing about clothes is not a fuss, because I have an unforgettable memory of dressing up, and clothes cause a lot of "troubles".

Before liberation, it was difficult for the poor to eat and dress. There is a fugitive in my village. A family of four lives by selling vegetables. They don't have enough to eat and don't wear warm clothes. What is even more unimaginable is that the couple only have one pair of pants. Even for ordinary farmers, it is quite difficult to dress, and naked people abound. In summer, many 8-and 9-year-old boys are almost naked.

After liberation, people's living standards have improved, but it is still difficult to dress. At that time, the clothes worn by farmers were all home-made fabrics, sewn by women, and woven fabrics (called foreign fabrics by farmers) were beyond the reach of most farmers. I grew up and worked for many years, and all my clothes are made of this kind of home textile. 1959 I went to Beijing to go to college. My wife sewed all my clothes and cotton-padded clothes by herself. At that time, I was afraid of jokes from city people, so I changed the cloth buttons of my coat into fashionable plastic buttons at that time, and my trousers were changed from straight pants to suits. At that time, I only had a coarse coat. My parents saw me in rags and squeezed 5 yuan money out of my meager income to buy a new dress in the city. I was too addicted to books to buy clothes, so I bought all the books. Every summer, I always wear this coarse white coat. When it is dirty, I will wash it at night, dry it at night and wear it during the day. The secret was discovered by my roommate. She told the members of the League branch that she gave me an old silk coat of her uncle, which I regarded as a treasure and wore until I graduated from college.

After working, although I have a salary, I need to support my family, and it is still very difficult to dress up. "New three years, old three years, and then sewing for three years" is also a true portrayal of my dress at that time. I have worn a pair of light green cloth pants for 7 or 8 years, and my wife has patched two obvious patches, but I still can't bear to change them. I continue to wear them to give classes to students and lead them to practice in factories (as evidenced by my photo with my wife and my 5-year-old son). 1August, 968, I went to Shanghai on business, and I often went in and out of the city and the Bund of Huangpu River. It is really indecent for a university teacher to wear a pair of worn trousers, so I made up my mind to buy a pair of woolen suit trousers and a pair of simple leather shoes. I am used to wearing ordinary clothes. At first glance, I feel uncomfortable in a straight suit and pants. When I entered the factory, I also attracted the strange eyes of the workshop master. It's these beautiful suit pants that I dare not wear yet. I lay at the bottom of the box and slept for a long time. I only wear it once on holidays or when visiting relatives and friends. 1975, I was sent to work in Beijing Pinggu. One day, I dug out this suit and pants, and my colleagues were surprised to see it: "Wow! Do you still have such fashionable pants? " It happened that the commune held a cadre meeting. Teacher Li said to me, "Lao Sun, if you dare to wear this suit and trousers to the meeting today, I will pay you a catty of sugar." This can give me a moderate question. It's too dazzling to wear such fashionable pants in front of farmers. I really dare not wear it. But I was still stubborn, so I said, "Why not? You will lose this time! " "Having said that, I still crustily skin of head wore this suit and pants to attend the commune meeting. When sitting in the conference room, I always feel that someone is staring at my suit and pants. I can't help but pull my coat down with my hands, but my eyes are afraid to look. I didn't feel comfortable until I returned to the station after the meeting and changed this suit and pants. Hey! I am really a poor person, and I suffer from poor clothes.

1986 the whole school held a singing competition for faculty and staff, requiring participants to wear suits and ties. I put on a suit, trousers and a tie. It's really "clothes make the horse lean on the saddle". Suddenly I looked full of energy and graceful, so someone said, "Wow, Mr. Sun looks so handsome in this suit and tie, like a big professor!" " Although I listened with a smile, it was unnatural to stand and sit. As soon as the singing contest was over, I quickly put on my tunic suit. I didn't wear this suit until 1992 retired.

1992 After retirement, more and more old people wear suits. I also spent 150 to buy a suit from the market (people are fat and the original suit can't be worn), and I often wear it when I walk in meetings. After wearing it for more than half a month, I still feel comfortable wearing casual clothes. Later, several children brought me their discarded suits, and there were four suits in the closet at once, which had been hanging in the closet for several years. In order to prevent insects from eating, it is really troublesome to put mothballs in your pocket and dry them often in summer. There are several pieces of the same clothes, and it's really urgent to figure out which one to wear.

In the past, it was difficult to wear clothes, for one thing, because there was no money, and for another, it was difficult to buy clothes. At that time, people bought clothes and cloth, and urban and rural areas relied entirely on cloth tickets. Moreover, cloth tickets are not circulated among provinces, and sometimes it is difficult to buy cloth with cloth tickets.

Since the reform and opening up, the distribution of tickets has been cancelled and the supply has been opened. Moreover, there are many colors and varieties of fabrics, and clothes are fashionable and updated quickly, so you don't have to worry about dressing up anymore. But I'm worried about too many clothes. My family's updated clothes, from old people to children, are piled up and piled up. I sent many bags of brand-new clothes to my hometown in the countryside, and now there are still many clothes to sleep in the closet. These clothes are reluctant to throw away, but they are useless. In summer, they are afraid of mildew. Hanging clothes has become an important task for my wife.

Worried that lack of clothing and food is poverty; Too many clothes will worry you. That's alarmist. The "worry" caused only by clothes also reflects the improvement of people's material and cultural life since the reform and opening up. An era of lack of clothes and food has passed, which will usher in a well-off, harmonious, rich and colorful life for the people of the whole country.

Third, the story of an old desk lamp.

During the May Day holiday in 2008, my granddaughter who worked in Beijing brought me a gift and a new desk lamp. She looked at the old lamp on the table and said to me, "Grandpa, you antique should be laid off. I bought you a new desk lamp. " When you open the box, it looks good, generous and novel. However, I still can't bear to change that old desk lamp, because it has been with me for decades and there are unusual stories in it.

It was June1964+1October 65438. I graduated from university and stayed at school to work. After I set the tables and chairs in the dormitory, I always feel something is missing. Come to think of it, oh, there is a desk lamp missing. At that time, I just got a salary of 46 yuan. Apart from sending my wife 20 yuan, I still have 26 yuan left. I rushed to Wangfujing Department Store by bus and saw all kinds of desk lamps on the shelves. I lingered for a long time and finally let the salesman take the cheapest desk lamp. I couldn't put it down. When I asked about the price of 1 1 yuan 50 cents, my heart trembled: my wife worked in the countryside for only a few cents, and it took her months of hard work to get 1 1 yuan 50 cents Thought of here, I really hate buying. I took a closer look at this desk lamp. In fact, the structure is very simple. I think it's better to go back and make a lamp yourself! So, I only spent fifty cents to buy a multifunctional lamp holder and went back.

I used Sunday to find an abandoned flashlight as a pillar and a small plastic plate as a base, and began to make my own desk lamp. After the desk lamp was assembled, I spent 1.5 cents to buy a red and green plastic cord, wrapped the desk lamp pillar tightly on insulating material, and made a lampshade out of waste film. After the lamp is electrified, the effect is really good, not only beautiful and practical, but more importantly, it reflects my labor achievements. Looking at the lamp I made, I feel so beautiful! To tell the truth, I am happier than buying a new desk lamp!

It is this self-made desk lamp that accompanied me in Beijing for 12 winter and summer. 1976 when I transferred from Beijing to Huabei Oilfield, I got rid of a lot of things except this desk lamp. I took it to North China Petroleum School, now Tianjin Petroleum Vocational and Technical College, and it continued to accompany me in preparing lessons and correcting students' homework. It was not until the school gave each teacher an 8-watt fluorescent lamp that I replaced it and put it in front of the bed in the dormitory for lighting at night. Later, its lampshade was broken, and I didn't want to change it, so I insisted on using it. My children feel indecent when they read it. They tried to change my bedside lamp several times, but I didn't agree. I think it is not only simple and convenient to use, but also because I have deep feelings for it.