On June 10, 1974, Zhu De's only son, Zhu Qi, died suddenly of a heart attack, and the home was empty at the time.
At this time, Mr. Zhu was 88 years old, and he was worried that he would not be able to bear the pain of losing his son, and it was not until the funeral was completed that his family told him the bad news.
After hearing that his son died, Mr. Zhu's eyes were red, and he endured his grief and said: "If you don't tell me that this is not right, I am such a son, and it is a pity that he left so early...... He could have continued to contribute to the country....."
At this point, Mr. Zhu couldn't say any more, in addition to Mr. Zhu having to endure the pain of the white-haired person sending the black-haired person, Zhu Qi's death also brought great pain to another person, she was Zhu Qi's wife------ Zhao Liping.
Unlike Zhu Qi's red family background, Zhao Liping was born in an ordinary family, but under the influence of his father and elder brother, Zhao Liping began to participate in the revolution when he was a teenager.
In 1945, in order to better carry out revolutionary work, 19-year-old Zhao Liping came to Yan'an, the holy land of the revolution, and entered the Xi of the Anti-Japanese University, and it was here that she met Zhu Qi.
Originally, Zhu Qi was fighting on the battlefield, but because he was shot in the leg and became disabled, he could only return to Yan'an to work, at this time Zhu Qi was 29 years old, but he was still a bachelor.
Kang Keqing was very anxious, so he asked Peng Shaohui to be a matchmaker for his son, and the first thing Peng Shaohui thought of was Zhao Liping, who was lively, cheerful, and highly conscious.
Unexpectedly, when she heard that she was going to introduce herself to Mr. Zhu's son, Zhao Liping resolutely objected, first, she felt that she was young and that her marriage must go through the nod of her parents, and second, she felt that she was too different from Zhu Qi's family.
Unlike Zhao Liping's rejection, Zhu Qi admired her character and began to take the initiative to pursue it, at first Zhao Liping did not appreciate it at all, but after a period of time, she began to let go of her inherent prejudices and seriously consider whether Zhu Qi was suitable for herself.
Just when Zhao Liping was hesitating, He Long, who had a straightforward personality, played a role in boosting and directly wrote a note: "Approve the marriage of Zhu Qi and Zhao Liping!"
With the note handed over to the organization, Zhao Liping and Zhu Qi were legally husband and wife, because they got married in the Jinsui base area, and Zhu De and Kang Keqing, who were far away in Yan'an, did not attend their wedding.
The first time Zhao Liping met his in-laws, it was two years later, because his in-laws were very kind, all Zhao Liping's nervousness disappeared, he called Mr. Zhu "Daddy" and Kang Keqing "Kang's mother".
Zhu De's meeting gift to his daughter-in-law is also very special, it is a "Mao Zedong Anthology", and this meeting, Kang's mother also quietly said to Zhao Liping: "Your father is in a hurry to hold his grandson, you hurry up!"
Zhao Liping said shyly: "If we are not so busy with work, we will have children!"
But in fact, Zhao Liping said that she and her husband had a child after marriage, but the child died when she was three months old, and they chose to hide it because they were worried that their in-laws would be sad.
Soon after this meeting, Zhu Qi and Zhao Liping had new jobs, because the Ministry of Railways needed people, Zhu Qi obeyed the arrangement and came to work at the Shijiazhuang Railway Bureau, while Zhao Qi was assigned to the People's Bank of China.
Although their work seems to be glamorous, it was not as good as it is today, especially Mr. Zhu, who told his son: "You don't know technology, you have to start from the grassroots when you get to work!"
Zhu Qi followed his father's teachings, started as a boilermaker, and it took a few years before he sat in the position of a professional train driver.
The same is true for Zhao Liping, she never makes any requests to the organization, but goes wherever she needs to. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, she obeyed the arrangement to work in the Tianjin branch of the People's Bank of China, and for 47 years after that, she has been working in Tianjin without being transferred.
At the same time that the work gradually got on the right track, Zhao Liping also began to spread out for the Zhu family, she successively gave birth to four sons and a daughter for her husband's family, considering that they were busy with work and liked children, Mr. Zhu and Kang Keqing took their grandsons and granddaughters to Beijing to raise.
In addition to the five children, Mr. Zhu also brought the children of his brothers and sisters to Beijing, when the Zhu family combined with more than 20 people, although he was the founding marshal, but the pressure on life was still very great.
Originally, Mr. Zhu could get a first-level salary, but considering that the country was in a difficult period, he chose to get a fourth-level salary and refused an additional subsidy.
Zhu Qi and Zhao Liping's life is also like this, they have not only been separated for a long time, but they are also very poor in order to support their children, and later recalled the time when they were young, Zhao Liping said in a calm tone: "It will be really hard, I am in Tianjin, my husband is in Beijing, they are equivalent to a weekend couple!"
Fortunately, the husband and wife are in harmony, and there is nothing about hard work, but accidents always come unexpectedly. On June 10, 1974, Zhao Liping went to work as usual, and Zhu Qi stayed at home.
Unexpectedly, such a simple separation turned out to be a farewell, and when Zhao Liping went home again, Zhu Qi had already passed away due to a heart attack.
Zhu Qi was empty when he left, his wife was at work at the time, and his children were either soldiers or school, so he passed away in loneliness.
The sudden death of her husband made Zhao Liping heartbroken, thinking of her husband's tortuous life, she couldn't control her tears, Zhu Qi lost his mother at the age of 3, and lived in the countryside with his stepmother for more than ten years, and was later arrested to be a strong man.
After reuniting with his father, he went to the front line to fight again, and was disabled, after the founding of New China, he chose to start from the grassroots level, and finally his life was stable, and there was that "storm" again, although he was the son of Mr. Zhu, but he also suffered a lot of unfair treatment.
In Zhu Qi's short 58 years of life, he was bitter most of the time, how could Zhao Liping, who loved her husband deeply, not be sad, but she had to choose to be strong.
At that time, considering his father's physical condition, Zhao Liping only told Kang's mother the bad news, and he had to tell his father-in-law until he dealt with the funeral.
Seeing the tears of her elderly father-in-law, Zhao Liping's strength collapsed instantly, she couldn't help crying, and finally Mr. Zhu, who had been fighting all his life, stopped his tears.
He endured the pain of losing his son, comforted his daughter-in-law to be strong and told her to educate the child well. After Zhu Qi's death, someone suggested that Zhao Liping's job be transferred to Beijing, and it was also convenient to find Mr. Zhu and his wife.
Mr. Zhu refused, saying: "Liping has worked in Tianjin for more than 20 years and has a strong mass base, so she should continue to work in Tianjin!"
As the daughter-in-law of the founding marshal, Zhao Liping has always strictly followed the family style of the Zhu family, so he does not engage in any privileges and never makes any requests.
The only "privilege" she enjoys is that she doesn't need to pay for a ticket from Tianjin to Beijing, not because of Mr. Zhu's relationship, but because her husband is a train driver.
After the death of her husband, Zhao Liping worked and lived alone in Tianjin, and the loneliness can be imagined, and in the next ten years, she experienced three more blows.
First of all, two years after Zhu Qi's death, her most respected father-in-law also passed away, looking at the thin father on the hospital bed, Zhao Liping's tears were like pearls with broken threads, but no matter how sad she was, she couldn't prevent the death of her relatives.
A few years after her father-in-law's death, her youngest son was sentenced to death because of his life style, which is simply cutting Zhao Liping's heart with a knife, but no matter how difficult it is to accept, she must accept this reality.
Zhao Liping, who has experienced the pain of losing her husband, father and child, chooses to face the rest of her life and take care of her family as much as possible, especially Kang's mother.
Since 1988, Zhao Liping has often returned to Beijing, mainly to take care of his elderly mother Kang. In 1999, 81-year-old Kang Keqing passed away accompanied by his daughter-in-law and family.
In the last few years of his life, because of Zhao Liping's company and care, Kang Keqing was not lonely, and he walked very peacefully, and in Zhao Liping, we saw the filial piety of the Chinese.
It is worth mentioning that Zhao Liping was only 48 years old when her husband died, and many people persuaded her to remarry, but she refused. In Zhao Liping's heart, no one can replace Zhu Qi, and she has already integrated with the Zhu family and will not enter the second family.
In 1996, after retirement, Zhao Liping left Tianjin, where he had lived for half a century, and came to Beijing to live with his daughter.
Today's Zhao Liping is 97 years old, in nearly a hundred years of life, she is loyal to the country, filial piety to the family, worthy of being the daughter-in-law of the founding father, her noble personality and quality are worthy of our learning Xi.