Haikou, 2 Feb (Xinhua) -- "Five grains are abundant and a thousand families are happy, and the wind and rain are smooth and prosperous." Early in the morning of Chinese New Year's Eve, at the Nanfan Base of the Academy of Agricultural Sciences in Hebi City, Henan Province, located in Sanya, Cheng Xiangwen, an 86-year-old corn breeding expert, looked at chunlian and clapped his hands and said: "The couplet is sticking to the new year's flavor, which is very in line with the nature of our work." ”
In 1964, he went to the south of Hainan to breed seeds, and Cheng Xiangwen spent the 57th Spring Festival here. The Spring Festival is a critical period for corn pollination. After pasting the couplet, Cheng Xiangwen drilled into the ground to bag and pollinate, sometimes bending down to observe the corn roots, leaves and ears, and sometimes instructing the assistant on how to analyze and use the material.
Cheng Xiangwen instructed the assistant to observe the material properties. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Junfeng
Assistant Zhang Zhiteng said: "Teacher Cheng can't see enough when he goes to the ground, and stays for a few hours. "They go to the ground at 7 o'clock every morning, and they often find that Cheng Xiangwen has circled around in the ground. Cheng Xiangwen said, "Dry breeding should be improved, according to 100 points of effort, to reach 90 points is not bad; the target of 80 points, the result may not be passed." ”
Cheng Xiangwen works in the fields. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Junfeng
A few days before the Spring Festival, Cheng Xiangwen, who was busy, also worried about one thing: find a time to "go to relatives". He has been stationed in many villages in Sanya to breed, and every Spring Festival, he tries to go to his hometown to pay respects to the New Year.
On the morning of January 27, Cheng Xiangwen and his party carried rice and oil to the home of Huang Hai, a villager in Shuinan Village. He lived in the Huanghai family for 22 years, during which time he also taught the villagers to grow corn and melon vegetables to increase their income. And the one acre or two acres of land vacated by the fellow villagers became his test field. "Before Teacher Cheng moved to the base, his father called him every October and asked him, 'Is it time to come?'" The rooms are all packed'. Huang Hai said that they had already regarded Cheng Xiangwen as a family member.
In Luopeng Village, four septuagenarians embraced Cheng Xiangwen warmly. The old photo album they took out witnessed the friendship with Cheng Xiangwen spanning half a century. In the Spring Festival of 1966, Cheng Xiangwen, who was breeding in the village, went to the public toilet 3 kilometers away every day to fertilize with manure. One day, exhausted, he fell into a pit of dung, and six Li girls heard the cry for help and rushed to rescue him.
Old Man Fu Yalian hugged the visiting Cheng Xiangwen. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Junfeng
In each of the homes he visited, Cheng Xiangwen repeatedly said, "I can't do anything without your support." "Corn makes him harvest the feelings of his relatives in a foreign land, but every festive season, he is thousands of miles away from his relatives."
The assistants celebrated the New Year at the base for the first time, and Cheng Xiangwen zhang Luo had a reunion dinner. After finishing the work and cooking, it was already 8 p.m. A table was set up next to the cornfield, and several plates of home-cooked dishes and dumplings, cornmeal steamed buns, and corn porridge were placed, and everyone poured drinks and toasted to celebrate the New Year.
Cheng Xiangwen and his assistants had a reunion dinner. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Junfeng
Missing home in a foreign country every year? Cheng Xiangwen blurted out: "Think! How not to. But when the farm time is not waiting for anyone, staying in the field, the sorrow and bitterness of homesickness will fade. "Do the perennial family members understand? Cheng Xiangwen said, "We are all used to it."
Every year during the Spring Festival, his family eats dumplings and puts a bowl on the table for him. When Cheng Xiangwen said this, his tears of heartache wet his eyes. From his marriage in 1959 to his separation from his wife in Zhengzhou and Hebi in 1985, his days at home were less than a year. After 1985, he was in Hainan for half a year every year, during which time his eldest daughter fell seriously ill and his wife died.
In the past 60 years, the old cheng who has turned green silk into white hair has realized his wish, and one new variety has become a heavy grain in the hands of farmers. The new varieties of corn he cultivated in the "Jundan" and "Yongyou" series have been promoted by more than 500 million mu nationwide. In 2014, Cheng Xiangwen was awarded "Top Ten Meritorious Figures in China's Seed Industry".
"It's all done together." Cheng Xiangwen said, "I'm older, I don't know how long I can work, but as long as my body allows me to continue to work." ”
Every evening, the Z202 train from Sanya to Beijing via Henan roars past the base. Cheng Xiangwen would always look up to see the train go away, and then bend down and plunge into the field.