Chapter 18 A Letter from the Grassland (below)

I peeled a few more pieces, sniffed his fingers, smoked me straight frown, I whacked his sore neck, looking at the silent mountains outside the Tun, suddenly felt a burst of inexplicable loss, is it that I have to stay in the mountains in this life to peel the grave bricks to look at the woodland? Chairman Mao waved his hand to change course, millions of students to change the battlefield, go to the countryside to accept the poor peasants re-education, although this is indeed exercise, but after all, and my ideal gap is too large, was still too young, in the face of their own futures, a thought of a lifetime nested in the ravine, can not join the army to fight to realize their own ambitions, the deepest depths of the heart immediately produced a burst of panic, the nose is sour, the tears almost did not fall down.

Fatty see me look strange, asked me what I think? How all day long sad face? I sighed and replied, “Damn it, it’s not just for the liberation cause of the people of Asia, Africa and Latin America.” Fatty advised me: “Don’t worry, people in Asia, Africa, Latin America, how the people’s lives, we can’t care about it, maybe they also don’t need us to worry about them, looking at the next work, I’ll invite you to eat donkey water at night, then openly eat, take their northeastern words is don’t go out of the way, can vigorously build.”

I wiped down the dripping snot, and was about to discuss with Fatty how to pack the donkey water, this time the old branch secretary came back, he went to the brigade to do business, by the way, to the youths to retrieve a few postal packages, the mountain transportation is inconvenient, we came to the insertion of the team for several months, and almost all lost contact with the outside world, the first time I saw a postal package of mail, how not to be happy, and at once put all things in the back of the mind, I and Fatty most concerned about the home situation, of course, but the most important thing is the home. Of course, is the situation at home, but the secretary turned over half a day, told us that there is no our mailbag, which are a few other youths.

Although I know that my family is now isolated, of course, there is no opportunity to send things, but the heart is still very bad taste, was about to turn away, the old branch secretary called us back, he held up a letter, said only this letter is sent to you two.

Fatty and I slightly stunned, rushed over to snatch the letter, the heart is still very puzzled, how the two of us a letter? Swallow is also very curious, come over to read the letter with us, I pressed the excitement, can not wait to look at the envelope, the letter is our hometown of the military district conveyor room forwarded, so there is an envelope inside is the original, apparently the sender does not know me and fat man inserted into the settlement of the address, only to send the letter to the military district, and then forwarded over.

I opened the letter, a word by word carefully read up, it turns out that the sender of the letter is fat and I in the national crosstalk, on the train to meet a Red Guard comrade Ding Sishen, her age and we are similar, is the literary and artistic elite, we know each other at first sight, had been accompanied by the crosstalk of the greater part of China, in the hometown of Chairman Mao, each of us grasped a handful of local soil, the entire day and night without letting go, as a result of the later hands! are swollen, in the revolutionary mecca of Yan’an, we ate a piece of dry food in the kiln, we also accepted the highest specification parade in Tian’anmen, tandem at the end of the breakup, we left each other’s mailing address, which has been over for some time, never thought that today, will be in the mountains to receive a letter from her.

Ding Sistern’s parents are museum staff, Ding family a total of four children, respectively, to “anti-U.S. support for North Korea, remembering the bitter sweet” as the name, which is also the mainstream of the year to the child’s name, she wrote to us in the letter mentioned: to write to my closest revolutionary comrades Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan, since we parted company in the great capital of Beijing, I All the time do not miss the days and nights of our big series together, have long wanted to write to you, but there are a lot of things happening at home ……, I think you must have enlisted in the army as you wish, right, honorably join the People’s Liberation Army, become a revolutionary soldier is also my dream, I hope you can put on the uniform of the photos sent to me! I hope you can send me photos of you in your military uniforms, so that I can share in your joy. …… Finally, please don’t forget the revolutionary friendship between us, and I wish that it is higher than the mountains and farther than the road, and that it is evergreen and never fades away.

I learned from the letter, want to join the army Ding Si-Tian due to family composition and many other reasons, had to go to Inner Mongolia Kelun left flag insertion, and she apparently does not know, I and fat man’s encounter with her almost, also did not become a soldier, was sent to the Daxinganling insertion to the army, read the letter, I and the fat man half a day did not speak, really have no face to Ding Si-Tian back to the letter, and which have to wear uniforms of the photographs sent to her.

I feel from the letter from Ding Sistian that she is very lonely, perhaps the life of Kelun left flag than the mountains and monotonous, Kelun left flag, although I am in Ganggang Yingzi also belongs to Inner Mongolia, but does not belong to the same alliance, Kelun left flag is the grassland pastoral, harsh environment, more sparsely populated, far from the Xing’an League Road, Ding Sistian singing and dancing is also into the grasslands for her to graze is really unimaginable, how can let people How can one be assured? I was thinking, found the fat man rummage through the cupboard to find paper to write a letter back, then said to him: “Do not look for, even wipe your ass paper are not, where to find a letter paper, I think we are in the mountains are almost stupid, why not go to the grassland to play a round, on the way to see our close comrades.”

Swallow heard me say I want to go to the prairie and asked in surprise, “What? Going to the Kelun Left Banner Prairie? You won’t be able to make half a round trip in ten days and half a month, and if you don’t work for so many days, you won’t need your labor credits? What will you eat when you return?”

I nodded to Yanzi, this problem I certainly can not not consider, work is the lifeblood of the youth, the youth in the countryside, different from the production and construction corps, the Northern Great Wilderness and other places of the Corps, to take paramilitary management, are based on the division as a unit, the following regiment, battalion, company, platoon, class, and other standard military establishments, members of the Corps, including food, accommodation and six dollars per month of the post, the Corps has the advantage of a fixed income, the disadvantage is the lack of freedom, can not think of the standard military establishment, the members of the Corps to eat and live in the monthly subsidies, the advantages are fixed income, and the disadvantage is the lack of freedom. The advantage of the corps was that they had a fixed income, and the disadvantage was that they lacked freedom and could not come and go as they wished, whereas the intellectuals practiced the work-point system, the disadvantage of which was that their income was unreliable, and the advantage of which was that they had the freedom to come and go and it was very convenient for them to ask for a leave. Some people may wonder why the youths did not go back to the city if they were so free. This is mainly because at that time to go back to no rations, and the so-called insertion, both the account has fallen into the countryside, is considered a rural household, go back to the black household, the city is no longer your number one, it is impossible to find a job, after all, the people to food for the day, people can not live without food, no work points, no rations, so the people bolted up.

A few days ago, we picked up a lot of gold beans in the Tuan Shanzi forest, this thing is of course not dare to stay private, after the public, the branch book good heart, although there was no bonus so to speak, but still promised to give us two more months of work points to stay in the New Year to go back to visit their families when they take a long vacation. That is to say, I and the fat man can not work for two months, in the mountains stayed bored, and miss Ding Sistern, then decided to go to the grasslands to go.