Suffering and Sharing, Hand in Hand in Life (Picking Up The Past)

Zheng Wenzhou and his wife (old photo)

Author: Zheng Wenzhou

This year marks the 46th anniversary of my marriage to my lover. When the marriage reached 46 years, it was said that it was a sapphire marriage. Sapphires, aquamarine eyes, lock on to you and pull your heart to the rhythm together. For 46 years, we have shared hardships and hardships, weaved a beautiful life, and paid hard work and hardships. Many past events still shine in memory, there is pain, there is sweetness, there is joy, there is sorrow.

My lover and I are all intellectual youths of the third year. The Cultural Revolution shattered our dreams of reading and returned to reality from a beautiful vision. In October 1968, in response to the call to "go to the countryside and accept the re-education of poor and lower-middle-class peasants------", we went up the mountain to the countryside with pride.

In the autumn of 1969, through the introduction of relatives and friends, we met. The first time we met, there was a feeling of "having a sharp mind in our hearts" and hating each other. This may be a divine arrangement, or "fate", and each of them has an extra him or her in their hearts. Since then, we have often written books about our hearts, our feelings, and the future; we have written about our experiences in the countryside and received the harvest of re-education for the poor and lower-middle-class peasants. In times of difficulty, comfort and encouragement each other bring the two hearts closer together.

In April 1970, I was elected by the poor and lower-middle peasants to buyeo to participate in the oil conference. She was happy, and I had a glorious look on my face. On the day of leaving, she came to send me, silently. I thought: Maybe it's a feeling of nostalgia. When she broke up, she said only one sentence: "When you are a worker, you have to do a good job!" At that time, I also only said one sentence: "Rest assured, obey the party's arrangements for the rest of your life!" Only to see her bow her head and turn around and leave in a hurry.

I really can't guess the girl's heart! I was fascinated by the fiery heat of the oil war. I was a hot-blooded young man at that time, and I was not willing to fall behind. Desperately dry, even the shaft rotation, peeling off the meat is also worth it! For a million sweat wet clothes, hard to put the cool breeze. At the end of the day, exhausted, I rarely wrote to her, sometimes only a letter for months.

Once she wrote a letter that deeply shocked me. The letter said: "Because my family was not good, and my father was a rightist, I was designated by the Brigade Revolutionary Committee as a child who can be well educated. For this, I work hard to reform the world view, and I will not delay a day's work. The body is thin, clenching teeth, dirty work is tired to do in front, good performance. Last few days, the captain divided the work and let a few girls go to The Hemp. The waist-deep water in the stinky puddle weighed a hundred pounds of green and linen rods, and we carried them into the pit one by one and placed them in the water. I went back and forth, not resting. When I started to go into the water, the water was very cold and my body was shivering. After finishing work, his limbs were weak and he barely managed to return home. At night, my legs hurt and my stomach hurt. I secretly shed tears, I am really not very strong! Seeing this, my eyes were wet and my heart was beating fiercely.

I wrote her a letter: Wang Tieren jumped into the mud pool for industrial oil, and you trekked in the stinky puddle to build a new countryside. Your bravery is good' and 'respectable!' I love you, just when I am by your side, if you want to cry, cry bitterly! But let's not be discouraged, cheer up, people who can laugh always have to laugh in the end. It's not your fault that you're not from a bad background. What I love is you as a person, your qualities, your character' and perseverance.

When I was in middle school, I was a member of the propaganda committee of the class Communist Youth League. I often work as a classmate from a bad family background. That said, most of them have very good academic performance and their brains are particularly smart. I was also a member of the study committee in the class, and working with them on the problem made me understand their inner world very well, and I became friends with them not only as classmates, but also with them.

In the days of the Battle of the Seven O Oil Fields, some people knew that my girlfriend's family was a "landlord" and had ideas about me. There are also people who advise me and her to "blow" and affect your future more, and I will introduce you to a good one. Of course, there are many good ones, and there are also pursuits of mine. However, I can't do that. Although she became a worker and threw away the weak little girl who was still struggling in the countryside with her bitter love, it was not equivalent to sprinkling another handful of salt on the trauma of her soul.

In the two years of getting along, we went from acquaintance and acquaintance to love, and this kind of love is constant. Among thousands of people, the encounter between you and me is a fate. Our correspondence has become more frequent and is still in our collection. They also often meet each other, and they are in love when they are separated. At that time, we also wrote a small poem together: Ask Yu Huan when he will gather, and time will force me to cry. Why put mandarin duck wine together? But he chanted today's parting poem.

Once, I received a letter from her and saw her happy mood: she had been designated by the Brigade Revolutionary Committee as a child who could be well educated, and there was also hope that she would be transferred to work or go to school. I wrote to her hoping that she would continue to work hard and try to get out as soon as possible. Because a large number of Intellectuals were transferred back to the city, I didn't want her to stay in the countryside. In addition, not eating red grain in rural hukou is also a difficulty for us to live together in the future.

We fell in love with each other, missed each other for another two years, and during this period in 1973, Zhiqing repeatedly smoked people and did not have a chance with her. Than the conditions, helpless! The family was not from a good background. Once she wrote to her: "My struggles and expectations over the years have become a failure, and my grandiose words are deceitful!" I was born in such a family that I can't change, but it's also difficult to change my destiny. "She's in distress, she's crying inside. I wrote to her: "Fate is in our own hands, the road is under our feet, we must go on our own, no one needs to change!" Let's change the way we live, let's get married! Let me give you joy and share your sorrows. "

On September 23, 1973, 46 years ago, we finally entered the hall of marriage hand in hand. After marriage, the little family was in the small warm cabinet of my parents' house, and there was a six-square-meter cottage. I still work at Buyeo and live in both places. Because of the large population of my family, I have five younger brothers under me. She gets up early and greedily, cooks 'laundry' and cleans up hygiene; honors her in-laws and loves her brother. She got along very well up and down, and the family liked her very much.

Some of her brothers were still young, and she always coaxed them to play and taught them to sing and write their homework. In the eyes of her brothers, she was not only a sister-in-law, but also a big sister. She brought joy to our family. Due to the continuous development and growth of the oilfield, I was transferred to the logging squadron of the completion brigade of the Second Drilling Headquarters of the Honggang Oilfield. I was going to rent a house in Hou Taipingtun near the unit's station and take my lover to the oil field. One is to end the pain of years of lovesickness, and the other is to reduce the pressure of my parents' family rations, [my lover's household registration is in the countryside, there is no urban supply] Third, they also take care of each other and raise the sails of life together.

Bringing the family members in, you think beautifully, there are many difficulties. At that time, the oil mine had regulations: the family members must come to the oil field with the mine household registration, must be approved by the leadership, and after coming, they can also arrange work. We don't dare to think so much, and we don't want to talk to the leaders. Just transferred to the new unit, people simply can't agree, they have to find their own way. Thanks to the help of my fellow villagers' friends, I found a warehouse in the rural old composer's house and put a fire on the stove; the air was ventilated outside and smeared with mud. It's cold, it doesn't burn, and the unit can't give it to you at all. It was also through the contact of friends that I went to the drilling team ten miles away for help.

I remember that it was very dark that night, and there was still a little light snow in the sky. The landlord pulled a big carriage from the production team [the locals were enthusiastic] to pull coal. Because the carriage was inconvenient to get to the well site, it had to stop tens of meters away. The friends carried the coal one by one. I still clearly remember that at that time, there were: Zhou Zhenfa, He Hongzhi, Ge Lirong, Zhang Shide, Qi Hancheng, and Wang Ze. No matter how the years change, we will never forget the affection of our friends!

On the day of the move, it snowed heavily, and the small north wind blew like a knife. I first went home to pack my things and prepared to carry the log truck used for the construction of Da'an North to carry my home to Hou Taipingtun when I returned. The snow outside was getting heavier. I waited left and right and didn't see the logging truck coming. In the afternoon, He Hongzhi braved the heavy snow to find my house, and he said: 'Without the approval of the leader, the logging truck does not dare to come to you to move and return to Honggangzi.' Zhou Zhenfa and I were very anxious, so we contacted a tanker truck driven by a fellow villager and came to move you when we returned to Honggangzi after pulling the oil. Zhou Zhenfa is sitting in his car, afraid that you are in a hurry, I will take the train to tell you first. The car arrived when it was dark. We loaded things in the empty space of the tanker truck [there is a gap between the tank and the four-sided carriage], and my lover and I sat in the cab, and He Hongzhi and Zhou Zhenfa stood in the gap of the car.

In the evening, although the snow stopped and the wind stopped, the sky was still dumb and cold. They were standing on top of the car, needless to say how cold it was! Our two good brothers, we still remember them to this day! After the car arrived in Taiping, the compatriots and friends had already burned the stove red, the hut was warm, and my lover's heart and mine were also warm! Today, 46 years later, we would like to say again: friends, thank you!

After all, the small mud house is not an upper room, the walls are thin, there is little lighting, and the low is dark and damp. The fire burned, the house was very warm, and as soon as the fire stopped, it did not take long for the house to cool down. The wind blew outside, and the straw leaves on the buds in the house rustled. Every morning, the water in the basin freezes into ice lumps, and the potatoes become frozen autumn pears. Our new house and small mud house are really different from the tall buildings we live in now. However, the small earthen house has left us with good memories.

Although the small mud house is cold, it is the world of the two of us, full of warmth and sweetness; the small earthen house, although short, is our harbor for shelter from the wind and rain, waiting to sail away; the small earthen house, although simple, it has erected wings for us to take off in a new life. The small mud house is at the southernmost point of Hou Taiping Tun. Standing outside the house and looking south, you can see the station of the oil unit, about three miles away, separated by a flat and open saline land. Every time I came back from work, I could always see my wife standing outside the house looking out. We love each other, affectionately, lovingly. My wife's smiling face, the laughter of the silver bell, like a breeze wrapped in a burst of fragrance; like a clear spring hitting the atrium of my heart! My wife's fiery love melted the poverty and melted my whole body.

Although the days are difficult and hard, they also feel very sweet. I secretly made a vow: I love you in this life and this life! With the continuous discovery of new blocks in the oilfield, our unit has also been relocated many times. Every time I took my lover to look for a house in the nearby countryside where the unit was stationed. The wife is very competent, and like the rural women, raises chickens, 'ducks' and pigs. Raising pigs is a tiring job, and you have to go to the wild every day to pick up pig vegetables. Even with the strap, a sack of pig vegetables arrived home, and beads of sweat flowed down. It hurt my heart to see her shoulders red and swollen. Due to the nature of my work, logging construction often goes out, sometimes only come back once in ten days and half a month, and the work at home does not help much at all.

My lover's thriftiness, hard-working, little life is also a little prosperous. Every New Year's Pass, she can also kill a big fat pig, invite relatives and friends to dinner, and taste the harvest of her hard work in the past year, and her heart is full of joy and sweetness. Because both sides have parents and kill pigs every year, she takes the initiative to send meat to her family, and there is not much left for her.

In those years, social development was not so fast, the economy of their parents was very restrictive, she often took the initiative to fund, and the family affection was particularly strong. One spring, when I went to the countryside, an old poor peasant in the production team came to me for help. Due to the implementation of the co-production contract system in the rural areas, he was anxious to buy a four-wheeled vehicle to cultivate land, but the money was not enough. I discussed it with my lover. She only said one sentence: "Farming is a big thing", and handed him the passbook of the thousand yuan she had accumulated over the years. What a good heart, shining like gold! I am also very grateful to her for giving me such a big face. The difficult times always have to pass, come over, you are the strong! Our new life is difficult and not rich, but we are very happy and happy. There is suffering and pleasure, sharing and sharing.

1979 was the most heart-wrenching and bitter year for both of us. Unfortunately, my father was seriously ill and bedridden, so we hurried home to visit. Sitting in front of my father's bed, watching the tears rolling on the cheeks of his old man's kind cheeks, our hearts were very uncomfortable. She said to my father, "Father, you should be at ease with your illness, and your children must cure your illness and let Wenzhou take a leave of absence to come back to take care of you." The father listened and said gratefully: "That is difficult for you, in fact, I don't want your eldest brother and second brother to take care of them, they are all teachers, you can't delay teaching the children." Hearing this, I said to my father: "Dad, you can rest assured, I will immediately go back to the unit to ask for leave, and I will come back in a day or two to take care of you." The doctor said: "Your father's illness is not cured, you can only take good care of it, maintain the status quo, and turn over often to avoid bedsores." In this way, twenty-four hours a day, at the latest, you have to turn over once every two hours, and sometimes you have to turn over once every twenty minutes, otherwise my father will not be able to bear the pain. It's harder to urinate, urinate catheters, and urinate with your hands. I stayed in the hospital all day. The eldest brother and the second brother teach during the day and often come to stay up late at night. The younger brother was still very young and stayed at his father's bed all day. There were four younger brothers, who were very busy driving, two who were in the army, and one who was in college, and they all put the hope of taking good care of my father on me. The mother was very bitter and tired, cooking and delivering meals, boiling medicine's laundry, and taking care of the housework.

My lover is also busy, running at both ends of the year for an unknown number of times. He often encouraged me: "Filial piety to the elderly is a natural principle, and it is the responsibility of the children to take care of the father." If we have me at the other end of the house, you can rest assured. It's almost August Festival, so I'll find someone to kill the pig and give it to my father, who loves to eat pig blood sausage. Hearing this, I held her tightly to my chest. The father's illness affects the hearts of the whole family, and the sorrow 'waits' in hope, and the father's illness is good soon! When nursing my father, I took a nap at night, dreamed that my father was well and stood up, and just when he was about to shout happily, he was awakened by a groan.

Days of torment, heartache to guard. Time passed silently, and in the blink of an eye it was autumn, and it had been almost a year since I had been nursing my father. The two salary increases in the unit in a year did not have my share. The unit once sent someone to find me, and if I could go back to work, my salary would be transferred. Looking at the father lying on the hospital bed, can the son walk away? I had to politely refuse. When my wife heard this letter, she had no complaints and supported me very understandingly. I said to my father, "Dad, we won't leave, as long as you stay in the hospital for a day, Wenzhou will be here to take care of you for a day." "What a kind and pure heart! It is like a bowl of clear spring water, quenching people's thirst and giving people sweetness. In the years when she and I traveled with the oil fields, the hukou and food relations were in the countryside. Every year, I have to go to get rations. Every time the intellectual youth is drawn, it is even more unrelated to her. When she thought about it, she always sighed. I have also advised her many times to be patient, believing that the state will have good policies towards intellectual youth. After the harsh winter is spring, and after the rain comes rainbows.

In August 1981, we were overjoyed with Takako. The arrival of our son brings us joy and makes life full of hope. In November, we moved our family to the city to live in the family house of the oilfield, and had our own fixed residence; in the spring of 1983, the oilfield also implemented the Zhiqing policy and arranged my lover directly to the logging work. Removed the stones that weighed down on her heart, and years of hope were realized one by one. She smiled with tears in her eyes!

Some people say that a person's life is difficult. I said that a woman's life is harder. Since then, my wife has been running the housework while going to work. The pick-up and drop-off of the child's enrollment in kindergarten, tutoring and learning all fell on her alone. She is hard-working, always full of spring breeze, never let me share worries, let me devote myself to logging work. Thanks to my wife's understanding, encouragement and support, I went from a logging worker to a senior worker technician and a technical expert pacesetter in the Ministry of Petroleum; from an ordinary laborer to a provincial labor model. Looking back on this glorious history, it is actually my wife's credit. At that time, every time I returned the award's medal or honorary certificate, she carefully collected it and brewed me a cup of tea. This is to calm me down and clear my head. The woman's mind this time I will guess.

Time is like an arrow, and the years are like shuttles. Long life, like crying like a song. "A round of autumn shadows turned to golden waves, and the flying mirror was re-sharpened." Ask the wine to Eun Chang: Be deceived by the white hair! ------ "Now, we have all entered the ranks of middle-aged and elderly people, and our sideburns have a trace of white hair." There is no sea oath between each other, and there is no Qingqing you and me. But our hearts are imprinted and our blood is mixed. Frown at me, on her heart; she shows a smile, and I smile now. We are full of love for life, and there is no excessive luxury, we only hope that the road in the future is safe and secure, hand in hand to the white head, looking back at the road we have traveled, crossing the ravines and thorns, there are flat 'rugged' flowers' there are meadows, there are smiles, there are cryings, there are regrets, there is a sense of sigh: year after year, now in front of the mirror, there is no peach and plum color, and the two sideburns have been spotted first. Spring breeze willow green, autumn maple leaves fresh. Hand in hand in the road of life, bitter and sweet.