Prose about salvaging memories from the years

Sitting quietly at the desk, I flipped through the "Past Fifty Years of Educated Youth" I had just finished writing, and my thoughts uncontrollably settled into that fiery years...

　一

Open-top trucks with red slogans "Warmly welcome intellectual youths to the mountains and countryside" hung on them, carrying more than a hundred male and female students who had not yet shed their childishness on a rugged and winding road. The winding mountain road paved with sand and gravel is bumpy. The entire journey is about 30 kilometers and takes more than an hour. On the first truck that served as a greeter and conductor, the gongs and drummers were beating as hard as they could without any hint of hardship or fatigue. Although the sweat on their foreheads would sometimes blind their eyes, they would not even wipe it with the backs of their hands. With their unique spirit of endurance and hard work, the poor and lower-middle peasants inspired those who followed who were still learning and improving. The little intellectuals in the city.

This convoy of laughter, singing, shouting, and the sound of gongs and drums was like a gray-yellow earth dragon that appeared and disappeared in the dust and smoke stirred up by the wheels. Under the careful control of the drivers, the convoy moved slowly and leisurely. Apart from the stone mountains, there were mounds along the way. They were desolate and overgrown with wormwood, and there was no scenery at all.

In the somewhat boring swing, the initial frolic gradually weakened. Except for the sound of the wheels rubbing against the gravel, the surrounding environment was lifeless, and everything seemed to have entered the primitive state. In a moment of nonsense, I didn’t know which car caused the problem, and everyone sang "We are walking on the road..." in various tunes.

With the bumps along the way, A wave of sleepiness caused by "rock and roll" attacked all the young intellectuals in the city. They all drooped their heads without any spirit of playfulness. They were confused for a while, woken up with a start, and then confused again. The somewhat hazy sun in the clouds looked at these half-grown and even some underage students in the autumn sky and sighed softly.

The journey is coming to an end, and the gongs and drums of the car in front are still roaring powerfully in the northwest wind. At this time, the loudspeaker on the roof of the car began to recite the highest quotation audibly, which meant that the place where the students in the city would settle down would soon arrive.

With the harsh screeching of wheels and the sound of brakes, a row of trucks crowded to a stop in the square under a large stage next to Chisha Commune. Those who had woken up and those who had just woken up screamed, and those who had not yet woken up, full of longing for the vast world, jumped out of the car one by one like diving masters. Naturally, there was no suspense for the stalwart and strong man who landed on the ground gracefully. The thin man couldn't stand firm when he jumped down, so he would fall into a squat. In order to cover up his embarrassment, he simply rolled on the spot and got up again amidst everyone's laughter. counts as a response.

Suddenly, a series of earth-shaking firecrackers exploded amidst the wild beating of gongs and drums, drowning the surrounding re-education representatives who were simply dressed, with humble expressions, reserved behavior, and sincere and timid behavior. warm applause.

The commune secretary held a microphone that looked like a tall hat and delivered a welcome speech in a loud voice. The melodious authentic dialect attracted bursts of cheers from the onlookers, and these elementary school students from the city The children were confused. They could only clap their hands vigorously when they heard applause. As a result, the beat continued to lengthen, which was extremely inconsistent with the routine. The speaker could not grasp the key point of the speech. Which paragraph is on.

After the welcome meeting, all the educated people had a meal of walnut-filled dumplings arranged by the commune. Under the layout and arrangement of the commune, the emotional exaggeration that could not be calmed down spread from the commune to each production brigade, and then passed from the production brigade to each production team. Finally, the young boys and girls in groups of five to eight people, under the curious eyes of the commune members, temporarily moved into a hard collective kang room that kept them awake all night and exuded a strong smell of firewood smoke.

I was speechless all night long while working hard.

In the early morning, when they walked out of the farmhouse with tired, sleepy but hopeful eyes, they looked around: except for the barren mountains surrounded by thatched mountains, the land above their heads was filled with illusions. The blue sky set off by the touching white clouds is the only scenery and the only companion.

From this moment on, these fair-faced dolls began to turn around in their lives by becoming self-reliant, working hard, and nurturing themselves after leaving the warm home.

Although the living conditions are different due to the different economic status of the production teams they settled in, the requirement to ask for instructions early and report late is the same, which is why they are gradually adapting to living in the mountains. The only spiritual pillar of life.

Guo Lianhua, who was only sixteen years old, was accompanied by Zhang Xianque, her schoolmate and leader of the educated youth group, the sturdy Jia Baosheng, the shy Zhang Xishan and the beautiful schoolmate Ouyang Yuqing. , was placed in the second team of the Xifeng Brigade to receive education and hone his will.

Here, they will begin an unforgettable and very difficult survival experience.

The life instructors assigned by the production team withdrew to their homes after completing a month of practical training on daily life. These young men and women took on all the responsibilities for life management at the educated youth point. got up.

On the somewhat gloomy morning of the first day of life, Guo Lianhua and Ouyang Yuqing, who were in charge of cooking, carried the firewood that the boys had chopped early in the morning into the dark kitchen. The people were divided according to their body size and energy: the slender and weak Guo Lianhua rolled out the noodles, while the relatively stronger Ouyang Yuqing fetched water.

I live on a hillside, and the spring is at the bottom of the hillside. It takes at least 20 minutes to carry water back and forth.

Ouyang Yuqing hung the two wooden barrels on the poles with her delicate hands, carried them on her slim shoulders, and went down the slope to pick up the water of life for several people. The heavy empty wooden barrel already made her gnash her teeth. Adding more than thirty kilograms of water, she couldn't even straighten her waist, let alone take a step. Even if she tried to devote herself to the revolution or sacrifice her life, it would be in vain. .

Guo Lianhua, who had already rolled out the dough and was waiting for the water to pour into the pot, was a little anxious when Ouyang Yuqing didn't come back. I have been carrying water downhill for a long time, and I should have come back long ago. My male friends are about to come back for lunch. Feeling strange, she decided to go downhill to see what was going on.

Beside a pool naturally formed by rainwater, two buckets were lying side by side, with water spilling all over the floor. Ouyang Yuqing was sitting on the dirt and crying, with tears streaming down his face. non-stop.

Guo Lianhua hurriedly walked over and tried to straighten the bucket, but she couldn't move the heavy bucket despite all her efforts. Just as she was trying her best to straighten the bucket, her foot slipped and she fell heavily into the mud pit. Moments after being frightened, her face was full of despair, and she started to cry along with Ouyang Yuqing.

Since then, carrying water has become a boy’s patent.

This is just the beginning of life as an educated youth.

Since there are no bathrooms in the residences of the members of the production team, they naturally have to go to the fields under the moonlight to relieve themselves at night. The educated youth who live here naturally have to follow the local customs. Although the moonlight was bright, he or they had no interest in admiring it when they got up at night. They were just looking for a suitable place to stay.

Men had no problem urinating at night, but timid women who were not used to using small potty potties had no choice but to call on boys who were tired but brave enough to act as escorts to accompany them from a distance to quickly solve the problem. The boys standing under the bright moon will stare at the dark spots in the distance, patrolling with high vigilance, and protecting the somewhat exposed and delicate girls with a sense of heroism. This kind of unappreciated expression also shows the pure and innocent nature of these boys and girls.

Boiling noodles in plain water every day and eating corn paste mixed with pickles every day made Guo Lianhua and her family unable to adapt to living outside the mountains where there is no lack of meat and fish. The complete change of living conditions made it difficult for Guo Lianhua and others to accept it, so they had no choice but to try their best to solve it themselves. To steal vegetables from the vegetable garden of a small state-owned forest farm at the foot of the mountain, it was carried out secretly for dozens of nights in a row under the slogan of "stealing is shameful" under the bold suggestion and decisive action command of the team leader Zhang Xianque. . As the number of cabbages and radishes in the vegetable garden of the forest farm continued to decrease, Guo Lianhua, the chef, made everyone eat dishes that lacked oil but had a lot of salt every day, adding a little more green to the boring eating life.

Purchasing daily necessities is a simple and convenient thing in the city, but it is very difficult for Guo Lianhua and her family who live in the mountains. A very ordinary purchase of commonly used items required crossing a river, climbing two mountains, and walking a long way early in the morning to reach the only supply and marketing cooperative in Chisha Commune. If you go back and forth like this, you will be able to come back in time for dinner, but if you don't, the team will have to send people with long flashlights to greet them.

Guo Lianhua and she (they) can still cope with these hardships. Fuel for cooking is a hard demand indicator, so they have to pay prematurely with labor intensity that is not consistent with their age.

The educated youth mainly rely on firewood for cooking and boiling water. Although they are surrounded by mountains, they are not grassy mountains where trees can grow. Although there are many walnut and persimmon trees, they are absolutely not allowed to be used as firewood. To burn firewood, you can only go to the mountains. Cutting firewood in the mountains has become an important job for these young educated youths. Before the rooster had time to crow, Jia Baosheng and Zhang Xishan, who were somewhat muscular, led by the team leader, were already walking in the haze feeling the air to explore the path. They had to follow a mountain path that had been trampled by their predecessors for hundreds of years and walk on a stone road for more than ten or twenty miles before they could follow the mountain road and climb halfway up the mountain where timber could be harvested. He used an ax that had been sharpened all afternoon to chop down the wrist-thick Qinggang wood, cut off the branches, there were about ten branches, and tied them up with grass and vines. Then he wiped the sweat from his forehead, took out the pancake, and chewed the few cucumbers he had stolen from the vegetable rack in front of the forest farm office last night at the great risk of being arrested. Get up, and from time to time take a handful of cool mountain water with your hands to put the pieces of cake stuck in your throat that you haven't had time to chew into your stomach.

Seeing that it was getting late, they hurriedly picked up the firewood and hurried back. After all, they had heavy responsibilities and walked slowly. The long journey made them feel exhausted. The longer they walked, the more tired they were. Just when they were exhausted and could no longer move, a few weak flashlight lights mixed with the shouts of their own people gave the three of them the hope of dawn.

The sun rises before it rises and returns only after it sets. In order to earn three or two points of work every day, we have to carry dung and spread the ground in the cold winter, and work hard to harvest the autumn and summer harvests. Otherwise, where will the rations come from?

All this is hard, tiring, and hard on the muscles and bones, but it has also trained these young educated youths into a real farmer. The bronze color of hard-working and simple farmers has appeared on their faces, and their palms have also become... Dare to rake weeds and start fires on the hard yellow soil as described by Wei Wei. A mouth full of yellow teeth and a neck full of scabs became a source of pride. Earning centimeters, grabbing private land, using local swear words to curse people, urinating anytime and anywhere, and clamoring over grain distribution... completely integrated with the poor and lower-middle peasants.

The days of Guo Lianhua and others as educated youths were spent slowly day by day. The hard life of cooking rice while cooking rice not only tempered their will, but also allowed them to finally understand the subtle meaning of the ancient poem in the textbook: "Every grain of sweat is in the soil, and every grain of it is hard work."

二

At that time, the whole country was dancing the "loyalty" dance to show loyalty and love for the great leader. Under the leadership of the National Revolutionary Committee, the Chisha Commune Revolutionary Committee did not dare to be an exception and quickly established a revolutionary propaganda team composed of outstanding educated youths. The establishment of the propaganda team gave the weather-beaten Guo Lianhua an opportunity: she, Liu Qiuhong, who was of the same age and had the same mental health from the third team, Hu Fumin from the fourth team, and Chang Xisheng from the fifth team were selected to promote the Luohuagou Reservoir. Team, thereby ending their education life of crying without tears while rubbing their sore backs every night.

The little-known Luohuagou, with its simplicity and original ecological mystery, coupled with a small river that continuously flows southward and a narrow water outlet, gave people in the dry plateau the idea of ????no longer praying. The hope of the rain god: to devote all the efforts of the whole society to build a reservoir here to benefit the commune members.

Close to the base of the steep hillside, Li Bingling, the captain of the propaganda team who is also an educated youth, is leading all the team members to hurriedly build a thatched hut so that everyone can have a shelter from the wind and rain.

Everything is lacking in Luohuagou, except thatch and firewood sticks. Thatch nearly two meters high grows all over the mountains and fields. There is no shortage of raw materials, and it is easy to build two original thatched huts belonging to both sexes. Looking from a distance, it has the desolate flavor of Du Fu's Thatched Cottage, which makes modern people feel a little sad.

Regarding this propaganda team’s thatched nunnery, there is such a hilarious record in the Luohuagou Reservoir diary:

“In the men’s nunnery of the revolutionary propaganda team, a row of A long Datong pavilion made of wooden sticks and wheat straw. In the eastern half of the pavilion, Zhang Shanliu, Hu Xinchun, Ha Lianlian, Zhang Zhenqiu, Liu Qinglin and Cao Shougang were arranged smoothly. In the western half, Li Bingling, Sun Yingjie, Hu Fumin, Chang Xisheng, Lin Wencheng and others were all in a messy combat reinforcement class. In this small and crowded thatched hut, if one person lowered his body to vent, everyone could benefit from the same straw bed supported by wooden sticks. Each person's bedding has different colors and styles, and their personal belongings are hung on the cantilevered beams of the grass wall. They are of various shapes, lengths, and shapes. As the main tools of the propaganda team, there are erhu flute, accordion, and trumpet banhu violin. , are all private property, but they are all for public use, neatly arranged on the simple wooden table. The light bulbs are swayed by the breeze that penetrates through the cracks, blinking brightly and darkly, making the thatched cottage blink. It is filled with a sense of strangeness and mystery. This scene, this portrait, is far better than the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival"

As for the Nunnery, it is much smaller, and there are also rows of Zheng Xiufen and Wang Shuxia. , Zhang Xiuying, Liu Qiuhong, Guo Lianhua, all of them are pretty innocent ladies. Different from the male nunnery, the layout inside is more personal and private: various bras, stockings, and even trousers are hanging on the beams in a leisurely way. , everything is showing off, very female

It is the propaganda team, which is naturally closely related to the cultural performances that match the current situation.

Every day, the propaganda team members. They all stand by the river or the roadside, clearing their throats sonorously, which often scares the people on the top of the mountain passing by, as if they have encountered a demon (nerve)

Practicing literature and art. Programs and going to the construction site to cheer, and using their inner energy to spread a group of heroic words in the sky above Luohuagou to mobilize the enthusiasm of the migrant workers are the main tasks of the propaganda team..."

From this point of view, , although the living conditions of this propaganda team are relatively poor and the work tasks are not easy, it is ten times better than working hard in the fields every day and night in the production team. Here, the leadership of the Chisha Commune Secretary, the highest level of direct jurisdiction, is authoritative. Here, those who are very gentlemanly will be admired by people. Here, there will be relaxed and happy singing and heartfelt laughter. Here, at least there is no need to continue to sway in the wind and rain, except for eating and sleeping.

All the members of this propaganda team had similar lives to Guo Lianhua and others before they got together again, and some were worse than Guo Lianhua and others.

三

The construction of Luohuagou Reservoir is indeed a move that benefits the people and has been highly praised and supported by the majority of members on the Loess Plateau. All migrant workers on the construction site are collectively selected from various brigades throughout the commune, and they are basically strong laborers.

As a cultural and ideological main force in reservoir construction, the role of the revolutionary propaganda team is very important: in the heated battle, they must use loudspeakers that ring through the sky to praise the migrant workers who have laid the foundation with their sweat. Activists should use beautiful songs and dances to stimulate the maximum labor potential of migrant workers, preach the spirit of the central government, and use various documents issued by the central government to attack and criticize some well-intentioned class elements. For a time, the propaganda team became a supervisory team for the rapid progress of the project and a condolence team for superiors to show sympathy, and was regarded as superior by many educated youths who came with them.