Is it better to have a straight river or a curved river?

Author: Zhou Lisong

Doubts

Ever since I was young, I have been troubled by some specious questions that never have clear answers. When I was young, I would ask questions that were not a problem in the eyes of adults whenever I had the opportunity. The answers from adults would either laugh them off or say, "You will know when you grow up." Unfortunately, some questions will not necessarily have answers when we grow up.

For example, changing a river - straightening a winding river that has been flowing naturally for thousands of years through mountains and cross-country. In an era without any mechanical equipment, let alone any artificial intelligence technology, how much manpower and time would be invested, how much hard sweat would be shed, and even the price of life would inevitably be paid. However, the ancestors still have to do it, and the organizers are happy to do it. The reason for this, if we only think about the disadvantages of the river bending and the advantages of straightening it, it seems difficult to have an accurate answer, and some are even puzzling.

Take the river in front of the campus when I was in middle school as an example. It is a tributary of the Qi River, a tributary of the Yangtze River. It originates from the depths of the Dabie Mountains in eastern Hubei, winds for more than a hundred kilometers, and flows to my When I returned to my hometown, I turned a corner in front of the district government seat, and then continued southward, slowly flowing towards the main stream of the Qi River. At the bend of the river, there is a lively and prosperous town on the bank. Although there is only one very old street, there are all kinds of shops including department stores and daily necessities, hardware and handicrafts, non-staple food and snacks. One side of the old street is backed by a mountain, and there is a middle school on the mountainside called "Wuqi Middle School", which is far away from my alma mater "Twelve Middle School" in Hedong; the other side of the old street is built along the water, with a gap in the middle, and a three-foot-high The wide wooden bridge leads from here to the east of the river. This is the only way for us to go shopping and play in the old street.

I remember when I was a student, when I was listening to classes and doing homework in the classroom, as long as the sound of gongs, drums or firecrackers came from the window, it was either a play on the other side of the river, or a family on the street was having a wedding. , which made everyone feel secretly itchy, wishing that get out of class would be over immediately, and fly across the wooden bridge in three steps and then two steps to watch the excitement. As everyone knows, there is a pen repair shop near the bridge across the river. The shop owner is named Chen Wendou. He was disabled due to work in the past and has only one leg left. He sits in the shop all day long to help people repair pens. No matter how exquisite his craftsmanship is, no matter how bad a scrap pen is, once he plays with it a few times in his hand, it will turn into something magical and write better than before. What attracts everyone even more is that he can also tell jokes. For example, he made up a few jingles for himself: "There is Chen Wendou on the street. He has everything he wants. He only has one foot, but three hands, two on his shoulders. Walking on one hand (referring to a cane)." It made the customers laugh non-stop, and they were reluctant to leave after the pen was repaired.

If you want to play on the street, you must be brave enough to cross the bridge. Although the three-foot-wide bridge deck can be used normally, the piers supporting it are just a few wooden pillars that are not thick. The wooden boards used as the bridge are fixed on the tops of the wooden pillars with iron nails, making it wobbly when you walk on it. , creaking; looking down at the river, the rushing water makes people dizzy; what is worrying is that girls must walk together every time they cross the bridge. The hands of those walking behind put their hands on the shoulders and backs of the former, and they are all trembling with fear. , screaming from time to time. Despite this, the temptation of fun and delicious food on the other side of the river kept arousing everyone's urge to get on the bridge and cross the river.

Fortunately, although the water is deep and fast at the bend of the river, there is a wide beach on the side near our school, where most performances and movies are held. This greatly facilitates our school and makes the teachers and students of Hexi's "Wuqi Middle School" envious.

The situation is constantly changing. One day, the school suddenly received a notice that it would vacate the auditorium and some dormitories for the stationing of migrant water conservancy workers.

What project is so demanding that even the school’s normal schedule has to make way for it? It turns out that the river in front of the school is going to be changed into a straight line leading downstream.

As for the reason for the change, some say it is for flood control, to prevent the water flow in the river bend from being too large, hitting the district office and its nearby streets and villages, and damaging nearby rice fields; others say it is to reduce the area inundated by river water and free up more land for farming.

Regardless of the purpose, this project is of great significance and very necessary. All walks of life, commune brigades and production teams must fully invest and actively support and cooperate. As for whether another bridge will be built after the river is straightened, where will it be built, and whether we can still go to the street on the other side of the river to watch a play, buy a pencil and exercise book, or go to the non-staple food store to buy some A few small candies to satisfy the craving, or listening to jokes from Chen Wendou, who only has one foot, are not what the adults who organized the river reform care about.

Bangge

It was a particularly cold winter. From dawn in the morning to sunset in the evening, red flags were fluttering on both sides of the river, and people digging and building embankments were bustling and mighty; the sound of pumps in the center of the river bed kept ringing. The construction leaders were holding tin trumpets and shouting back and forth on the river bank.

The teachers who were giving lectures in the classroom were worried that their classmates could not hear clearly, so they had to increase their volume in an attempt to suppress the noise outside; in several classrooms near the river, the teachers were almost hoarse, and those listening to the lectures The students had to prick up their ears to understand it carefully; they really couldn't hear what the teacher said clearly, and they couldn't help but feel distracted. For example, all I can think of is the old man I saw during dinner in the morning. He was dressed in ragged clothes, carrying a shovel in his left arm, and holding a glass vase tightly in his right arm. He was freezing all over while standing outside the cafeteria eating. Shivering. Because he kept coughing, some students around him secretly looked at him. The naughty boys asked the girls to look carefully. Unexpectedly, some girls screamed. It turned out that the father had a big hole in his pants, and half of his buttocks was exposed. . The old man didn't seem to care about the children's fuss. His dull eyes were always staring at the approaching meal window. It could be seen that he was very hungry and wanted to drink a few mouthfuls of porridge as soon as possible. At this time, the horns on the construction site were blaring. Suddenly there was a sound, and he quickly wiped the snot on his face and the saliva around his mouth, turned around and stepped on his legs that seemed to be inflexible, and limped towards the construction site by the river, coughing all the way. That old and thin body quickly disappeared into the hurried and anxious flow of people...

I really hope to finish work early today, otherwise, the old man will have an empty stomach, will he be able to bear it? This stressful and tiring time? How I hope that this huge project will end soon, otherwise, with his weak and withered body, how will he survive this long and cold winter?

I was thinking wildly, and another equally busy but exciting scene suddenly appeared in my mind: the vast reservoir construction site was crowded with people, the diggers were huffing and sweating, and the people carrying soil were flying. , scrambling to be the first; the groups who were laying foundations for the reservoir dam were the most in the limelight, and the newly composed and sung rapping songs from time to time caused the crowd around to laugh happily: "Yo ho hi, yo ho hi, that big guy in my house Girl, oh, oh, I gave birth to a big-headed baby, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, your mother and I are so happy, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh! /p>

Most of the people who lead the tamping and singing are cheerful and well-spoken people. The rest are all young men aged 17 or 18. There are also one or two strong men in each group of tamping players. Big girl. They bent over and worked hard while flirting and flirting, becoming the joy of the entire construction site and making the long tiring time lively and interesting.

I was only six or seven years old at the time, playing on a hillside next to the construction site. This is the commanding height overlooking the entire construction site. A leader often stands here to check the progress of the project. If there is a problem, he picks up the tin speaker and shouts down. He is my uncle, the commander of the reservoir project. He brought me here today. Apart from letting me see the excitement, did he have any other intention? He didn't say it directly, and I didn't understand.

I saw people from nearby villages constantly coming to bring tea and water. As soon as I saw my uncle, he raised his thumb and kept praising me: "Jide, the government has done a good job in this matter. If there is another drought next year, we will not be afraid." !" An old lady with a closed ear held her uncle's arm tightly with both hands and said, "Good man, good man!" She kept asking questions, tears streaming down her face, no matter how the uncle explained, she still kept asking questions. Asking: "Commander, are you a Communist Party member, right?"

My uncle has been an official all his life, from the head of a rural credit cooperative to the secretary of a brigade. Although his rank is still the lowest among government officials, Although he is far away, his demeanor, prestige and status in the hearts of the villagers are still talked about today. My impression of my uncle as an official began when he led everyone to build water conservancy projects.

Vomiting blood

Our ancestors once said that water conservancy is the lifeblood of agriculture. Digging ponds and cofferdams, building dams and opening canals to store the rainwater sown by God in case of emergencies, or building strong banks of rivers and lakes to prevent flooding, or diverting the water to other places to relieve the urgent need of drought. This is water conservancy. Since ancient times, strengthening river dams, building large reservoirs, and digging canals that are tens or even hundreds of miles long are all good things that benefit mankind. More than 2,000 years ago, an ancestor named Li Bing, faced with the turbulent Minjiang River cascading down for thousands of miles, was able to think of splitting it into two. One branch continued to flow to the Yangtze River, and the other branch was directed to the middle of Sichuan. , used to irrigate the fertile fields of this place, which not only reduces flood pressure, but also alleviates drought problems, which can be said to benefit the future. Looking back on the past, there are tens of millions of people who are like Li Bing. Although their actions are not as grand as the Dujiangyan Project and worthy of being passed down through the ages, their diligence, perseverance, and indomitable spirit have left an indelible mark on the hearts of today's people.

The uncle is an ordinary rural cadre. Although he did not create grand plans and great achievements like Li Bing, nor was he as famous as Dayu's flood control, his state and spirit similar to "passing through the door three times without entering" have been fully reflected in him. In order to ensure the quality of the project, he inspected the construction site day and night, slept in a straw hut with the engineering and technical personnel, and never let go of any doubts. In order to speed up the progress of the project and let the migrant workers go home early for the New Year, he led party members and cadres to set an example and took the lead in exceeding quotas. Complete daily construction tasks. He vomited blood due to overwork, so he continued to work on the construction site without telling his family. When his back was too tired to straighten, he struggled to walk with a wooden stick in his hand, and he was still busy there. Perhaps, it was this kind of energy and spirit that convinced the masses of him; it was this kind of persistence and pursuit that made everyone see the true character of a Communist. Because of this, those who are lazy and slippery are most afraid of him. Even if they hear his cough from a distance, they are frightened and do not dare to be careless in their work. When cadres and the masses encounter difficulties, they always think of him first and put him in their care. Serve as the backbone.

Later I discovered that my uncle’s prestige lies not only in his seriousness and responsibility and his spirit of enduring hardship, but also in being the quickest to understand the spirit of his superiors’ instructions and the most resolute in executing them. I remember one summer when it didn’t rain for a long time. In order to save the seedlings that were on the verge of drying up, the brigade concentrated on building a cofferdam in the river to block the water and form a temporary reservoir. Each production team is vying for water to irrigate their farmland, but the commune leaders require overall consideration, first urgent and then slow. The production team where my family works is right next to the river. The water from the cofferdam was first released into our team's farmland. It seemed that the first-come-first-served approach to the building near the water was enough. Although others were jealous, it was understandable, so someone took the lead in draining the water from the river into our team's farmland. Team farmland. Unexpectedly, the matter was reported to the commune. When the uncle found out, instead of defending his team, he became furious. After criticizing the responsible cadres of the team, he cursed at the production team leader of our team. From then on, in addition to resolutely executing the instructions from superiors, everyone no longer dared to be flexible or slack in the slightest.

Reverie

My thoughts returned to the classroom, but I still couldn’t hear what the teacher was saying. The scene I saw in the morning, the old man's shabby and shivering figure, kept swaying in my mind again.

I was wondering, after the river at the gate of the campus is straightened, what will it bring to that old man? Is it because his house is far away from floods, or does his production team have a few more acres of farmland? Perhaps, after the river straightened, his way out and back home became closer? But these prospects seem vague.

I also thought that there was more than one person of the same age as this old man on the river diversion construction site. In addition to fatigue, cold and hunger, do they still have yearning and longing for the river to be straightened? If so, is it the joy of eating shredded pork noodles at an old street restaurant, or the pleasure of watching a movie on the river beach? If it’s not clear yet, what motivates them to work so hard?

After thinking about it, I was not sure about any of my answers, so I had to prepare to ask my uncle. But after entering high school, I rarely went home. My uncle was busy as always, so it was difficult to see him, and there was no proper opportunity to talk to him about these things.

Fortunately, the summer vacation is coming soon. During the time when I was helping the adults plant rice and cut grain at home, when I came home from work in the evening, I found that my uncle seemed to be very leisurely. He was shirtless and wearing big pants, standing I was smoking alone on the hillside next to the door, and I was quietly humming a verse from Li Yuhe in "The Story of the Red Lantern": "Drinking a bowl of wine before leaving, full of courage - valor - arrogance..." He sang very seriously and out of tune, which made me get goosebumps all over my body and made it difficult for me to say hello to him. When I was in a dilemma, he suddenly noticed me and took the initiative to walk towards me. Seeing that I was pretending not to hear and keeping my expression calm, he shook his head in self-mockery and said, "I'm not singing an opera at all. I'm just a monk chanting sutras with a crooked mouth." He also explained in anguish, "There's really nothing I can do. I just learn to sing revolutionary models." The superiors asked cadres to take the lead, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to pass this test.”

"As long as you can sing a few lines, it's mainly a matter of attitude." I comforted him, and immediately brought the topic to the district's ongoing organizational reform, hoping to understand his views on this matter.

He clearly remembers how many reservoirs he built, how many ponds and weirs he dug, and how many ditches he opened as a cadre; he also treasures the value and effectiveness of each project. Only this time when he changed the river, he seemed a little confused. I asked him, "Is this change useful?" He was so upright that he didn't answer directly. He just sighed deeply, threw the cigarette butt that he could no longer smoke on the ground, stamped it with his foot and said, " One day, you will understand.”

I really didn’t understand anything at the time. To this day, when I have reached the same age as my uncle, I still don’t seem to fully understand what he meant.

For some reason, every time I go back to my hometown, I have to take a detour to the river in front of the middle school. The river is still the same river, with both sides of the river straight and straight. The entrance of the alma mater is closer to the river, but the old street on the other side of the river has long since disappeared quietly because it is far away from the river, traffic is inconvenient, and passers-by are gradually becoming rarer; connection The wooden bridges on both sides have long been demolished and replaced by another cement bridge downstream. At the end of the cement bridge is a new street, where people and traffic are coming and going all day long. I walked around this street. Although the houses were very beautiful, I could no longer see the simple, simple and practical shops on the old street in the past, let alone the skilled and well-spoken one-legged Chen Wendou. The joke is on the craftsman. Am I getting old, or is there really something missing in this river and the streets by the river?

As for whether the floods are no longer raging because the river has been straightened here, the area of ??fertile farmland is larger, and more grain and other crops are harvested, these cannot be demonstrated, and no one cares about it anymore. Because of this, I still haven't figured out whether it would be better to change the river or not.

I remember someone once said that the bend of the river is to feed more creatures. Whether this is a poetic reverie or a scientific judgment, I am afraid it is difficult to come to a clear conclusion. How I wish my uncle had not passed away. If he were still alive and I would ask him about it, maybe he would no longer just sigh.

(Written in Lingshui, Hainan. Nanwan Monkey Island on January 10, 2020, revised in Wuchang on January 3, 2021)

Submission 174536399@qq.com

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