In 1988, a woman came to Beijing. The woman was unassuming, even a little restrained, wearing a burlap shirt with many patches on it. At that time, China had entered the reform and opening up for many years, and the domestic economic level had been advancing by leaps and bounds, and looking at this dress, I think this woman's daily life was very simple.
The woman, who was actually in her seventies, set off from Jiangxi and took a train all the way north to Beijing. When they arrived in Beijing, the local women's federation received the woman.
When she came to the local women's federation, this old lady was still very nervous about everything around her, she was born in the countryside, she had hardly ever come to such a big city, and everything here made her feel strange. Out of courtesy, the staff of the local women's federation asked about the identity and intentions of the old lady.
After the old lady revealed her identity, all the staff members present were shocked.
The old lady's name is Lai Yueming, and her identity is the wife of the late founding marshal Chen Yi.
Lai Yueming
The reason why the staff was shocked was because in their cognition, Marshal Chen Yi's wife had died many years ago. Moreover, from the news that has been spread, more than fifty years have passed since the time of Lai Yueming's death.
So, what's going on here?
Red marriage
Lai Yueming was born in 1914 in Baishiqiao Village, Xingguo County, Jiangxi Province. Lai Yueming's family is an authentic peasant family, in that turbulent era, Lai Yueming's birth did not bring much joy to the family, on the contrary, one more person in the family is equal to one more person to eat, at that time the peasants can feed themselves is already very difficult, where so many excess rations to feed more people.
Because of the family's overwhelm, Lai Yueming was sent to her uncle's house by her family not long after she was born. Lai Yueming's uncle had no children and no daughters, and Lai Yueming's arrival naturally made his uncle happy. Compared with Lai Yueming's father's biological mother's family, the grain in his uncle's family is enough to feed Lai Yueming.
The hard life of a farmer in the last century
Therefore, under the care of his uncle, Lai Yueming's life in childhood was not bad, and he always had food to eat and a place to live. However, the uncle has a bad habit of life, that is, like to smoke a lot, the long history of smoking makes the uncle's body worse than a day, in addition, smoking a lot of smoke is also a very expensive thing, let the uncle's family no longer have money, but also can not withstand the consumption of this day and day.
Finally, when Lai Yueming was fourteen years old, his uncle wiped out the bottom of the family. Not only that, the uncle who did not have a big cigarette once lost his mind, in order to smoke a big cigarette, the uncle actually sold Lai Yueming, who had been supporting for more than ten years, to a local landlord as a daughter-in-law.
Although he did not want to, his uncle did it anyway.
At that time, Lai Yueming was already a small adult, in childhood, his uncle had sent Lai Yueming to read books for several years, under the influence of knowledge, Lai Yueming gradually established a perfect value system. Therefore, Lai Yueming at that time was more mature than other peers. Lai Yueming, who was sold to the landlord's family, did not live her life like this, she thought that a person's life should be more valuable, but at the time and was still relatively young, so she chose to put up with it first.
A year later, Lai Yueming took advantage of the landlord's lack of attention and ran out as soon as he slipped away. Lai Yueming knew that running away from the landlord's house meant freedom and liberation, but it also meant facing homelessness. At that time, at the height of China's revolution, there were many Red Army troops stationed in the local area, and after careful consideration, Lai Yueming chose to defect to the Red Army.
The Red Army team pursues the principle of equality between officers and soldiers, and here Lai Yueming feels the meaning and value of being a "human", and she is very glad that she chose the Red Army. Therefore, Lai Yueming cherished every day here, and at the same time contributed his part to the Red Army team.
Because of her outstanding ability in the ranks of the Red Army, the young Lai Yueming soon became the director of the Women's Federation Committee, and that year Lai Yue was only seventeen years old next year, that is, in that year, Lai Yueming met the man she was destined to meet, that is, Marshal Chen Yi.
Marshal Chen Yi
At that time, Lai Yueming was only a director of the Women's Federation, but Chen Yi was already the commander-in-chief of the Jiangxi Military Commission. On this day, Marshal Chen Yi led his troops to lai Yueming's base area for rest. In order to take care of Marshal Chen Yi's troops, the local government specially organized several performances to comfort the soldiers. Lai Yueming, as the director of the Women's Federation, also performed on stage at the invitation of everyone.
At that time, Marshal Chen Yi had just lost his wife, and his mood was in a moment of extreme depression, so he came to watch the performance to relax. When he heard Lai Yueming's singing voice on the stage, Chen Yi looked up twice. Marshal Chen Yi's behavior was seen by The elder sister cai Chang in the base area, and Cai Chang knew the news that Chen Yi had just lost his wife, so he hoped to help Marshal Chen Yi find a new partner.
Therefore, Cai Chang found her husband Li Fuchun and talked with Li Fuchun about his ideas, and Li Fuchun also expressed support for Cai Chang's ideas. Therefore, the two found Chen Yi and introduced Lai Yueming to Chen Yi. Although Marshal Chen Yi and Lai Yueming had a lot of age difference, Chen Yi felt that this little girl was really good, but because he had just experienced the pain of losing his wife, Chen Yi did not have the heart to find a new partner, and he himself did not want to delay Lai Yueming, so he refused the kindness of the two.
Marshal Chen Yi's wife was named Xiao Juying, and the two had known each other for many years and married in 1930. At that time, the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was at its most tense, so the two were also gathered together and separated. In order to save their lives, the two had to be separated and worked in their respective regions.
Chen Yi and Lai Yueming
In order to gain an advantage in the battlefield of public opinion, the Kuomintang clique at that time often spread gossip about the senior cadres of our party. Once, the Kuomintang began spreading the news that Marshal Chen Yi had died. Xiao Juying, who learned of this news, believed that it was true, although the two had been separated for a long time at that time, but the one-day husband and wife bai day, the love between the two couples was still very deep, Xiao Juying could not accept this fact for a while, so he threw himself into the well and martyred.
Soon after Xiao Juying's death, Chen Yi returned intact, and Chen Yi was very sad to learn this news. For this matter, Chen Yi attributed the mistake to himself, saying that if he could write more letters to Xiao Juying, Xiao Juying would not do such a thing.
When Cai Chang introduced Lai Yueming to Marshal Chen Yi, Chen Yi had not yet come out of the pain of bereavement.
Although Marshal Chen Yi politely rejected Cai Chang, Cai Chang understood Chen Yi's thoughts, the revolutionary road was full of hardships, and he needed a partner around him. And the young Lai Yueming also admired Chen Yi. As a result, Cai Chang and Li Fuchun often used various ways to match the two, and finally put the two together. Although Chen Yi and Lai Yueming have a certain age gap, their feelings are also very deep, and soon after, the two held a wedding in the red zone.
Great women
Out of the needs of the revolution, Chen Yi often needed to travel back and forth around the country. And Lai Yueming is also very supportive of Chen Yi's work, and has been silently sticking to his post and being Chen Yi's strong backing.
After the failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, the soldiers of the Red Army were forced to embark on a twenty-five-thousand-mile long march.
Due to various reasons, Chen Yi could not drag his family with him, so he left Lai Yueming in the base area. Before parting, the two reluctantly said goodbye, and Chen Yi promised that he would come back to pick her up after the battle was won.
No one expected that this parting would be the last of the two.
Chen Yi in the Long March (right)
After the departure of the large red army, the remaining fighters who remained in the base area began an even more brutal anti-encirclement and suppression campaign. At that time, in order to arrest the remaining revolutionaries, the Kuomintang clique did not hesitate to send a large number of troops to search the Red Army base areas. Under such circumstances, Lai Yueming returned home, hoping that his father could take him in again.
Blood is thicker than water, Lai Yueming's father still left her, and later, in order to protect Lai Yueming, Lai Yueming's father began to spread rumors in many places that Lai Yueming had jumped off a cliff to commit suicide. At that time, the information system was limited, and more and more people spread the rumors, and many people believed in this matter.
Soon after, the Kuomintang once again began to spread false news that Marshal Chen Yi had died on the Long March Road, and upon learning of this news, Lai Yueming felt that his eyes were dark, and he only felt that life had suddenly lost hope. But under everyone's appeasement, Lai Yueming still came out, and she was determined to inherit Chen Yi's will and live tenaciously.
In order to give his daughter hope for life, Lai Yueming's father told Lai Yueming a family affair, and in the end, Lai Yueming agreed to this family affair.
In the years after marriage, Lai Yueming gave birth to a son, and thought that life would slowly improve, but at this time, Lai Yueming's husband suddenly fell ill and died soon after, leaving Lai Yueming and a three- or four-year-old son alone.
The neighbors were very sympathetic to Lai Yueming, so they told her about the family affair.
This time, Lai Yueming's husband is a veteran. Lai Yueming and her husband lived a simple life together, although the life was poor, but fortunately nothing major happened, slowly, Lai Yueming accepted such a life, and after that, Lai Yueming gave birth to a pair of children.
However, fate once again tricked Lai Yueming. One day, Lai Yueming went to the street to buy vegetables, and saw a newspaper on the side of the street, and in the newspaper, Chen Yi's photo was posted in the center.
It was only at this time that Lai Yueming understood that her husband was not dead, on the contrary, he successfully passed the Long March. Lai Yueming bought the newspaper and ran home with it. Back at home, Lai Yueming sat at home, doing nothing, just holding the newspaper, crying for a while and laughing for a while. Lai Yueming's husband did not know what had happened, so he had to sit next to her and accompany her.
When Lai Yueming's mood stabilized, Lai Yueming's husband asked her what had happened. Lai Yueming put down the newspaper and said excitedly, "He is not dead yet." ”
After that, Lai Yueming wanted to go to Beijing to meet Chen Yi. However, at that time, Lai Yueming was no longer the lai yueming who was alone at the beginning, she had a husband, children, and her own family, if she left, then what should her family do?
Lai Yueming thought a lot, and finally chose to stay at home.
And Marshal Chen Yi has never given up on looking for Lai Yueming. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chen Yi returned to the base area, but the news he could get was that Lai Yueming had jumped off a cliff and died, and when he heard the news, Chen Yi was so sad that he had to leave this sad place.
Marshal Chen Yi expressed the grief in his heart in the form of poetry, and he wrote a poem called "Xingguo Hostel" to remember Lai Yueming.
Chen Yi
The news of Chen Yi was learned again after the death of Marshal Chen Yi, and on that day, Lai Yueming looked at the news of Chen Yi's death in the newspaper and was stunned for a long time.
Later, by chance, Cai Chang met Lai Yueming again, at that time Cai Chang was already the chairman of the Central Women's Federation, and when he met his former friend, Cai Chang was very happy, the two chatted for a long time, and then they also exchanged letters.
In 1988, Cai Chang was critically ill, and in the hospital bed, Cai Chang wanted to see Lai Yueming again, so he wrote a letter to Lai Yueming, hoping that she could go to Beijing. After receiving the letter, Lai Yueming came to Beijing.
In order to successfully meet Cai Chang, Lai Yueming had to tell the secret that had been hidden for decades.
Cai Chang, who was critically ill, saw no one, and only hoped to see Lai Yueming again. Hearing Lai Yueming tell the secret that had been sealed for many years, the staff of the local women's federation was very shocked and immediately found someone to confirm the news. Yes, Lai Yueming was the wife of Marshal Chen Yi, who did not die fifty-four years ago, but stubbornly survived.
For fifty-four years, Lai Yueming has always kept this secret. Many people wonder why Lai Yueming did not come to Beijing to look for Marshal Chen Yi after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In this regard, Lai Yueming did not answer. However, perhaps everyone knows that the parting before the Long March was destined to be separated from each other from now on.
After the marriage and children, it was also doomed that lai Yueming and Chen Yi's fate would end here.
As the wife of the founding marshal who has always been remembered, Lai Yueming has never come to Beijing, and she and her family have been staying in the countryside and living a hard life. If it were not for Cai Chang's accidental goodbye to him, if it were not for Cai Chang's desire to see Lai Yueming again before he died, no one would have known that Marshal Chen Yi's wife was still alive.
Lai Yueming is not an ordinary woman, she has a firm revolutionary belief, although she misses Chen Yi incomparably, but out of the duty of a mother, Lai Yueming still chose not to disturb each other, and because of this, Both Lai Yueming and Chen Yi have left lifelong regrets.