Drifting Autumn Leaves: The Ups and Downs of a Japanese Woman's Time (2)

On August 15, 1945, Tohoku was restored, Japanese imperialism surrendered unconditionally, and Japan became a defeated country. The whole country of China celebrates the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.

At this time, Sumiko Yamaguchi, who had been staying at her sister's house, had no idea how the world situation had changed, nor did she understand the situation on the battlefield, let alone know the death or life of her husband.

Soon, Yamaguchi received a notice from the head of the resident group that the Japanese had to return to Japan, and asked her to hurry up and get on the train. Due to the tight schedule, it is impossible to mail anything, so you can bring whatever you can with you. She only took two Soviet-style blankets and the "wowo rice" she was going to eat on the road, and hurriedly boarded the train home. The eldest sister, eldest brother-in-law and younger sister Yonako are also on this train.

Most of the people on the train were Japanese who had returned to Japan, mostly women and children. On the train, Yamaguchi heard explosive news: Japan surrendered, this was the order of the emperor, the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, killing many people, and if Japan did not surrender, Japan would perish, and the Japanese would be extinct. The news was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and many Japanese people in the car burst into tears.

When the train arrived at Dandong Station, it stopped because the Yalu River Bridge was destroyed and could not continue running. Yamaguchi got off the train in frustration with other Japanese and was temporarily placed in an empty room on the railway.

Hopes of returning home came to naught, and Yamaguchi faced a severe challenge from her fate and ushered in a major turning point in her life.

In Dandong, Yamaguchi breaks up with her eldest sister, brother-in-law and sister Yonako. Yonago followed the Eighth Route Army and left.

Yamaguchi was housed in a refugee camp filled with Japanese refugees in empty railway buildings. She lives on the first floor of 3 floors, with 3 rooms on the first floor, where 3 families of refugees live. The camp is guarded by the Eighth Route Army. At that time, the social order was chaotic and looting was rampant, and the two blankets brought by Sumiko Yamaguchi were snatched by a group of young people in broad daylight. A Japanese worker who was still working on the railroad saw that she had no bunk at night and brought her a futon.

Life in the refugee camp is extremely difficult, there are men's families, men can go out to work, earn some money, and she with a 4-year-old child, unable to find work, the about 2,000 yuan she brought with her spent all the money, so she had to sell all the clothes and sell a watch to an old man living in the same building for 45 yuan. This only barely lasted half a year. Next, I had to wander along the street and beg.

In a foreign land, Yamaguchi Sumiko is unaccompanied and homeless, especially as a woman of a defeated country, the wife of an invader, constantly surrounded by Chinese hatred and unable to pick her head. She was in pain, her liver and sausage were broken, she washed her face with tears night and night, she was at a loss, and she thought: In the eyes of Chinese, I am just a bereaved dog, how can I still be a person? How will the rest of the life be lived? She even thought about death, but when she saw her son jumping alive, she couldn't bear to let go.

Just when she was struggling to live and die, Wang, who lived near the Dandong Railway, sympathized with her situation and gave her an idea: "You can't live like this, hurry up and marry Chinese." "Wang grows a vegetable garden, and often sends sweet potatoes, potatoes and other foods to relieve her. Yamaguchi Sumiko was very grateful to him and trusted him, so she listened to his advice when she was cornered. Wang acted as a matchmaker and introduced Yamaguchi Chengzi to Wang Zhongwen. Wang said to her: "After getting married, the government asked you to go back to Japan, will you go back?" Yamaguchi replied, "I don't think about anything, as long as I can live!" Of course, Wang Zhongwen promised that if there was a chance to return to Japan, he would let her go back and would not stop her.

Thus, in July 1946, they were hastily married. Since then, Yamaguchi has taken root in China.

Yamaguchi Sumiko was only 26 years old when she married Wang Zhongwen. Wang Zhongwen was 11 years older than her, 37 years old at the time, illiterate, without a house, no land, no occupation, and was a destitute bachelor. He was married, his daughter-in-law died of illness, and he became an "errand runner". The trees in the mountains around Dandong City had long been cut down, and there was a shortage of firewood, so he went up the mountain every day to create roots, sold the money to buy bud rice noodles, and lived day by day, muddling his life. Because of extreme poverty, they never had a wedding or a banquet. At the time of marriage, neither of them wore a new dress, did not even buy a piece of candy, and even had no food to eat the next day.

Sumiko Yamaguchi only had a quilt and clothes to wear, and nothing else. The house where I got married was an empty dog running house abandoned during the Japanese surrender, located on the outskirts of 8 miles from the train station. Wang Zhongwen hired a carriage to bring the new Japanese daughter-in-law home from the refugee camp. Marrying Chinese, Yamaguchi Sumiko felt very uncomfortable, she often sighed for a long time, and couldn't help but shed tears. On the way, the 4-year-old son asked, "Mom, where are we going?" Yamaguchi Sumiko choked up and couldn't speak, thinking silently in her heart: "Child, mother is sorry for you." ”

On her wedding night, Sumiko Yamaguchi naturally recalled the wedding to her ex-husband Yamaguchi. At that time, Yamaguchi Lian bought her a jeweled gold ring as a wedding souvenir, and her mother accompanied her with a new light green satin futon. The in-laws have two floors, the first floor is the hotel, and the second floor is their bedroom. Cozy new house, spacious and bright. The wedding banquet is located in the hotel, where guests and friends push cups and change glasses, sing and dance, and congratulate each other one after another.

On the same day, the snow fell, and she sat in a car and went to the church for the wedding with joy. Her husband, Yamaguchi, is one meter seven tall, wearing a straight suit and a tie with blue stripes, handsome and dashing. Yamaguchi divorced along with his first daughter-in-law, and Sumiko Yamaguchi was the second room, but she was very satisfied. The pastor said, "From this day forward, you are already husband and wife. Sumiko Yamaguchi, who bowed her head shyly, hurriedly prayed to God reverently, and then the husband and wife saluted each other. Who would have thought that this love would be so short-lived, and her beloved husband would become cannon fodder for the war...

One is a Japanese husband, the other is a Chinese husband, one is a grand wedding in Korea, and one is a sad union in China, and the two weddings form a sharp contrast. Who played tricks on her fate? Who changed her life? Undoubtedly, the main culprit is the fascist war of aggression! However, at that time, Yamaguchi Sumiko had not yet figured out the root cause that changed her fate and life, and only complained that her fate was not good.

However, while the god of fate closed a door, he also opened a window for her. Since 1946, this halfway couple, formed in hunger and cold, has relied on each other and worked together to overcome the difficulties. (To be continued)