(Original)
In the 1960s, when China and the Soviet Union were at odds with each other and the US military stepped up maritime exercises, China's northeast, north China, northwest China, and the coastal areas of east China became within the enemy's front-line firing range, while China's main industrial facilities were concentrated in the first-line areas, and once war broke out, our countermeasures would be paralyzed. In order to ensure the supply of war-ready materials, the central authorities have decided to carry out the construction of basic facilities for national defense, science and technology, industry, and transportation in the third-tier areas. Songzi County Liujia site wuling yumai, coastal water, in the small third line area in line with the principle of "patronage, dispersion, concealment", was selected as the Hubei Mining Machinery Factory site, the factory code is 982 mining machine factory (actually 56 type 7.62mm semi-automatic rifle factory); more than ten miles away from it, under the White Tiger Mountain, was selected as the site of the state-owned Jingjiang Agricultural Machinery Factory, the factory code name is 949 agricultural machinery factory (actually 56 type 7.62mm ordinary gun and bullet factory).
To carry out construction in the midst of lofty mountains and mountains, it is inseparable from the participation of a large number of migrant workers. In 1969, I came there with the militia battalion (commune for the battalion, the brigade for the company), personally experienced a period of great experience, but also left a regret that will never be forgotten.
I was 21 years old that year, and I felt a great novelty about the scenery in the mountains, full of hope for the future of life.
One day I went to town to mend my clothes, and The tailor didn't take my money. I didn't want to go, so the next day I sent four dried bream from home to Tailor Chen to eat. Tailor Chen asked me if I had a family, and I said I hadn't found a partner yet. The tailor asked me again if I would like to meet one in Songzi, and I said, "Well, you bother!" ”。
At that time, there was a slogan called "Good people are good and immediately on the third line", which means that the people sent to the third line construction site are carefully selected and reasonable in all aspects. In the fiery era when politics was in charge and ideology was in the lead, whoever sent an old and weak horse with a crooked head and a crooked neck beat him into a counter-revolutionary in minutes. Although I dare not compare with the movie star, but it is no problem to play a seventy or eighty points, plus I have a high foundation in playing the flute and pulling the erhu, and the brigade literary and art propaganda team is not good for me, so my self-confidence is often written on my face.
Within a few days, at The home of Chen Tailor, I saw a beautiful girl: tall and tall, Tingting Yuli's appearance; a white and red melon face, like a painting; two small black braids, looking lively and handsome; a shy smile, which was particularly likable.
Her name is Chen Hongyan, fang is 18 years old, and she has just joined the private teacher of primary school. It seems that their family has quite a good foundation in the local area.
Just when I was full of joy but uneasy, Tailor Chen spoke: "With her looks and status, I am not worried about finding a good mother-in-law." The reason why I like you is because she is the only seedling in the family, expecting you to support the façade and send her parents to the end of the year! ”
I had laughed at others as door-to-door son-in-law before, and I had sworn that I should not be a door-to-door son-in-law, but this time in the face of Chen Hongyan, I actually made God promise Chen Tailor like a god, and in hindsight, I had some doubts about whether I would become a traitor in the future.
The days that followed were filled with sweet tastes. She had a cousin who delivered letters every three to five minutes and took me to her house for dinner. At that time, the economic conditions were poor, and the pork of 0.6 yuan a catty could not be on the table of ordinary people, and it could only be opened until the New Year's Festival. Every time my hairy son-in-law entered the door, he could enjoy a full bowl of shredded meat noodles, rabbit meat noodles, egg noodles or chicken noodles, which was already the life of a rich and noble family at that time. The Hongyan family does not have much income, I don't know how they have worked so hard to arrange these family banquets, and whenever I think about this, I feel flattered.
After eating, it is a ten-mile send-off. I was actually not used to being a treasurer, thinking about doing some housework, but the two elders said that they would not let me do anything, and asked Hongyan to send me. She sent me, I sent her, I don't know who sent whom, endlessly, until very late I could not return to the place of residence.
Hongyan's parents also specially invited the leaders of our battalion headquarters to dinner to show their caution about this affair.
Happy days are spent unconsciously, and we all look forward to the early arrival of the day of starting a family.
But one day, suddenly, there was bad news: my brother and sister-in-law had suffered a landslide in the gate repair project, and two were buried in the ground and died. As a result, the burden of supporting my mother and raising my three nephews fell entirely on my shoulders.
This incident was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, destroying the future of me and Hongyan. I didn't know how to tell her, I just felt that I was no longer qualified to continue this affair. After talking to the leader, I quietly embarked on the journey home.
In the days at home, I worked desperately, trying to use physical pain to forget those warm times and the guilt of returning from my heartbreak.
One day, I was working in the fields, and Wang Aiguo of the team suddenly came to call me, saying that Chen Hongyan of Songzi had come and asked me to go to the Chengdong Hotel to meet her. Wang Aiguo and I are third-line colleagues, and Chen Hongyan also knows him. He is on duty at the construction site during the Spring Festival, and these days it is his turn to go home and rest. Chen Hongyan first went to the construction site to understand the situation, and then found me through Wang Aiguo.
I immediately packed up, paid another fifty yuan in the team, and trotted all the way to the Chengdong Hostel.
Chen Hongyan did not come alone, but with her cousin. She was very annoyed by my resignation. I apologized while entertaining them to dinner, and by the way, I told them in detail about our family and tried to dispel her misunderstanding. After dinner, I went to the consignment store and bought two spring clothes (there was no clothing store in HouXian at that time) and gave them one for each of them. When it was time for dinner, thinking that it would not be easy for them to come, I deliberately ordered two braised wild ducks at the famous People's Restaurant to entertain them, hoping that the sisters would be happier.
After eating and returning to the hostel, Chen Hongyan asked me what I was going to do? I said, "You know the situation, I didn't lie to you, I don't want to bother you, you have a better choice." ”
"I don't care, I'm willing to bear it with you!" Besides, your eldest nephew is also fifteen years old, what is there to worry about? ”
"No, even if you agree, your parents won't agree." You are their heart and liver baby, how can you bear to let you suffer? Besides, their relatives and friends are in Songzi, their roots are in Songzi, and the homeland is difficult to leave! ”
Chen Hongyan didn't expect things to be so complicated, and she cried so much that she stopped talking.
The cousin said, "Your affairs are known to the villagers, so how will she be called a person in the future?" ”
I said angrily, "Where did my cousin say, and I didn't tell her what to do, what's not to like?" Seek truth from facts and tell others well! ”
That night I talked to them in the middle of the night, couldn't stop sighing, and then slept outside on the chase bunk for the middle of the night.
The next morning, I bought some fried dumplings, small dumplings, and Happy Rounds to give them to eat on the way, and then I sent them to the Yangtze River Wharf. After a piercing whistle, the ship sailed off into the distance, and my mood was extremely sad.
I thought our relationship had ended up in this, but a month later I received a letter from her recounting my memories of my previous life and my concern for me. Am I not giving up? But in my reply, I advised her to forget about me and find Ruyi Langjun as soon as possible.
Six months later, she wrote me a letter revealing that her parents were referring her to a matchmaker and asking me what she was going to do.
Fifteen months later I received a letter from her telling me that the family had found an object for her and asking if I had found one; if I did, I must tell her so that she could rest assured. Although my heart ached, I pretended to be okay and sincerely expressed my blessings to her.
My brother and sister-in-law died in the line of duty, and the team gave me the best care she could, so my financial burden was not very heavy, and I only needed to be responsible for guardianship. The captain has been helping me find objects, but it is always difficult to make a situation. Until a year after Chen Hongyan found the object, the captain finally finalized a girl from a neighboring village for me, who came from a poor background and was very simple, suitable for our daughter-in-law. When I told Chen Hongyan the news, she was also happy for me and wished us happiness.
After that, she never received a single word from her, as if she had reached the end of the world, as if the past was just a dream.
Due to the change of the situation, the Songzi 2358 Project was incorporated into the military to civilian organization a few years later, and then moved out of the mountains into the city, and the once boiling mountains returned to silence.
Time is like an arrow, the sun and the moon are like shuttles, and fifty years have passed in a flash, but Chen Hongyan's figure has not disappeared with the passage of time. I don't know what she looks like now that she should be promoted to the level of grandmother, I have the heart to visit her, but I don't have the right identity; I yearn to send a simple greeting, and I am afraid of disrupting her comfortable life, afraid of the pressure of the world to crush the families on both sides. In fact, we belong to the same province, and in the past it was difficult to travel, and modern transportation is only a six-hour drive, but our distance seems to be thousands of mountains and rivers, and it seems to be separated from two worlds. I think that this is a question that is doomed to be undeliverable, and I can only meditate in my heart: Songzi girl, are you okay?