Pity the hearts of parents all over the world
In 1973, my wife Li Pu and I were transferred from Guangdong to Beijing. Li Pu served as the director of the Beijing branch of the Xinhua News Agency. I could have worked at the Xinhua News Agency, but the Xinhua News Agency has an unwritten practice: if one husband and wife are transferred, the other party will also be assigned a job, not to mention that I am still an old man of the Xinhua News Agency. But Lip thought it was not good for the couple to be in the same unit, so I had to find another unit.
There were no dormitories in the Beijing bureau, and for a while, I had to build a bed in Lip's office and live with him. Of course, this is not a long-term solution. After several twists and turns, my friend Zhang Tiefu found us a dormitory in Building 5 of Yuetan North Street.
There is a row of newly built five-story buildings on Yuetan North Street. By today's standards, it can be said to be a simple house, but at the time it was considered good. We live on four floors. Building 5 is facing the gate of Yuetan Park, which is a big attraction for us, and we can go out and cross the street to take a walk in the park. We have two suites, one with a kitchen and the other with two with a kitchen. With these three rooms, we were satisfied.
We lived in Yuetan North Street for about three years. These three years have been truly earth-shaking and thrilling. How many singing and weeping things have happened in the past three years! And our neighbors are extraordinary, with all kinds of people, etc., making our little No. 5 dwelling very lively. After arriving in Beijing, the most memorable and lively thing can be said to be the No. 5 building of Yuetan North Street.
I'll start slowly. With a house, you can walk around with friends and family, catch up and have a meal. At that time, I didn't go to a restaurant, so I cooked a few dishes at home. What I remember the most is that when my friends met at that time, the topic they couldn't leave was how to transfer their children back. Most of our friends have worn various "hats" and "cowsheds" and then "liberated", and their children have gone to the mountains and the countryside. How to transfer their children back to Beijing is the most worrying thing for parents. A generation of young people has been deprived of the opportunity to learn and Xi, how can parents not worry. Both of our daughters are in Guangdong. We also traveled far and wide to inquire about ways to transfer our children. But no one can say why. Later, I heard that the central authorities had a policy: an old comrade could transfer a child to Beijing. This was the long-awaited good news, and my friends were ecstatic and rushed to tell each other. But no one can say how to adjust it. We hear the good news. Consider whether to transfer the eldest daughter first or the younger daughter first. Letters went back and forth, and after much discussion, it was decided to make it smaller first. Because the eldest daughter is in Guangzhou, there are friends to take care of, and the younger daughter is far away in a factory in Shaoguan. Then I was worried about how to tune it. The youngest daughter, who works as a worker in a factory in Shaoguan, first drove a big crane, and later said that it was too dangerous for a girl to drive a big crane, so she asked her to study accounting. Finally, a friend learned that a light bureau in Beijing wanted an accountant, so we contacted the first light bureau. A person from the personnel department of the First Light Bureau said: "As long as the Shaoguan side is willing to release the people, we will issue the order." So, we immediately contacted Shaoguan, and the Shaoguan factory said: "As long as the other party gives an order, we will release the people." "I have been back and forth many times, but these are these two sentences, and no one says the first sentence. I really don't know where the mystery is. Coincidentally, Li Pu had a student who worked in the Yuetan District Government, and she said that she could transfer her hukou first and then talk about work. With her help, the youngest daughter's household registration was transferred, so that the youngest daughter entered a light bureau. It was only after a long time that I suddenly realized that the reason why the hukou was so important was that at that time, food stamps were required for meals, cloth stamps for clothing, and tickets for everything to buy. If you don't have an account, you won't have those tickets. It is even more difficult to settle in Beijing in the first good district. Therefore, no unit wants to find this trouble.
My daughter's transfer to Beijing is a great encouragement to our friends. Tian Lin, an old colleague of Xinhua News Agency, hurriedly came to our house to inquire how our daughter was transferred. I told her to change her account first. However, I couldn't go to Lip's student anymore. Because she said that she made an exception to help with this. Tian Lin knew this trick, but he didn't know where the gate was, so he was still in a hurry. I know a kid who works as a photojournalist at CCTV. One day he came to my house to play. I told him that Tian Lin was going to transfer his daughter to Beijing, because Tian Lin's husband and this reporter were in the same unit and knew each other. This friend thought for a while and said: He has people he knows and can help, but he must not let Tian Lin and his wife come to him. Because, once Taili knows, his job will be difficult to protect. I immediately told Tian Lin the good news, and repeatedly told her not to go to the reporter, and told the reporter her daughter's name and address. Everything went well, and soon the child was transferred back. Who knew that Tian Lin's husband was a complete nerd, so happy that he ran to the reporter's office to thank him. The more I thanked the reporter, the more anxious he became, and he came to my house to complain about what he was doing, and he still came to my office. Pity the hearts of parents all over the world, and when they are happy, they forget everything. The journalist later came to the United States and now doesn't care about leaking the secret.
The days of "Bubble Sick".
I didn't join the Xinhua News Agency, but was transferred to the Beijing Municipal Radio. At that time, it was still the world of the "Gang of Four", and after working for a while, he couldn't do it anymore, so he called himself sick at home and "soaked in the sick number". There were not a few people like me who were "sick" at that time. Li Pu and I go to Yuetan Park early every morning to exercise.
One day, I don't remember under what circumstances I met Situ Huimin, the former deputy director of the Film Bureau. He lives in the dormitory of his wife in the United Front Work Department, and every day to go to work in the Ministry of Culture, he has to pass through Yuetan North Street. When he knew that we were exercising in Yuetan Park, he volunteered to teach us tai chi every day. For a while, we learned Tai Chi with Situ Huimin in Yuetan Park early in the morning, and went home to have breakfast with Situ after boxing, chatting for a while. The arrival of Situ has added a little color to the days of our "sick number". When Situ was a film actor in the 30s of the last century, he was Jiang Qing's director. Liao Mosha and Jiang Qing had a special relationship, Mosha was worried at the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution", and soon he was caught in the national campaign against "Sanjia Village", he was a member of "Sanjia Village". Situ had more contact with Jiang Qing, and he was spared, I don't know what trick he had. He was kind, talkative, well-informed, spoke fluent English, knew a little Russian and French, and people jokingly called him "English of the Eight Nations". At breakfast, he used to tell jokes that made us laugh. Once, he said that he had accompanied Mao Dun to the Soviet Union, and Mao Dun asked Situ to accompany him to the park. When they arrived at the park, tourists heard that Mao Dun was a great Chinese writer and surrounded him. Mao Dun gave an impromptu speech. Situ had no choice but to work as a translator for him. Situ said: "I know limited Russian, and I can deal with ordinary everyday language, and Mao Dun talks about literature, I have no choice, so I have to say Mao Dun's Mao Dun's, I say mine, and talk about Sino-Soviet friendship over and over again, because I can only say these two sentences." "Although we didn't go to the park to learn boxing from Situ all day, I don't remember how long we learned, but we never learned it.
Three of our good friends published a series of essays under the pseudonym "Ma Tieding" in the Yangtze River Daily in Hankou at the beginning of liberation. The three friends were the poet Guo Xiaochuan, Zhang Tiefu, who later became the head of the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee, and Chen Xiaoyu, the editor-in-chief of the supplement of the People's Daily. When we arrived in Beijing, Guo Xiaochuan followed the advice of a friend and went to Henan to hide. Chen Xiaoyu committed suicide shortly after the Cultural Revolution began. He is the editor-in-chief of the supplement, and he naturally belongs to the literary black line figure. criticized the black line characters in literature and art, he was dragged to accompany the fight, and he committed suicide. I heard that after he accompanied the fight, he returned home and was criticized by his family. The Red Guards' criticism of the struggle means that "the rebellion is justified and the revolution is meritorious." Of course, they do not ask whether they are right or wrong, and they are indiscriminate; if their relatives are the same as the Red Guards, then there is really no way out. Coincidentally, Guo Xiaochuan's wife is also exposing Guo Xiaochuan, so someone told Guo Xiaochuan to hide quickly. One afternoon, Guo Xiaochuan's youngest daughter, Mei Mei, came to our house, and she said that she had heard some things outside, and when she came home and said them, her mother immediately wrote them down. Mei Mei was frightened and did not dare to go home again, so she had dinner at our house and immediately took the train to her father in Henan. This revolution was really unprecedented, and the wife betrayed her husband and the mother betrayed her daughter, are the people really crazy? Guo Xiaochuan died a very strange death, and he was very excited when he had just smashed the "Gang of Four," and he was still in Henan at that time. At night, he took sleeping pills, lay on the bed and smoked, and the cigarette butt lit the mattress, but he didn't realize it, so he left.
Zhang Tiefu, the only one left in "Ma Tieding", lives on Yuetan South Street, very close to my home, and we often go back and forth. We often eat at his house and sometimes stay at his house. Zhang Tiefu's knife skills are excellent, he can cut cucumbers, carrots and other vegetables very finely and mix them into cold dishes, which is really a must. Later, we moved a few times, and Tiefu also moved to Wanshou Road, which was far away, and there were fewer opportunities to meet. Last year, we bought a pot of azaleas to visit him. He was getting oxygen and had terrible asthma. When talking about the essay "Ma Tieding", he sighed and said: "'Ma Tieding' has broken up. This is really ironic, he said: At first, Chen Xiaoyu's wife took away Chen Xiaoyu's articles from the "Ma Tieding" essay collection and wanted to publish another book, and then Guo Xiaochuan's wife also took Guo Xiaochuan's articles away. "The rest is mine," he said. ”
"Master Ye" on the other side of the door
We live in a four-story building, and there is a house of three rooms, and their doors are facing our two rooms. Our neighbor's name is Ye Zilong, and he is a well-known secretary who has followed Mao Zedong for many years. The doors of our two houses are always open, and we often come and go with each other. Ye Zilong lives there with a daughter and a little grandson. Ye Zilong was not "liberated" at that time. He was strong, energetic, very good at life, and talkative. When it comes to life, he is our advisor. At that time, it was fashionable to call "master". We all call him "Master Ye". Because, like us, it is not appropriate to call "long", and it is not appropriate to call "comrade" as a part, but I don't know if the other party has any problems, and calling "master" still has a bit of a working class flavor. Now that I think about it, calling "master" is full of "sense of the times", which is wonderful. His youngest daughter's nickname is Erwazi, which is the name of the people of northern Shaanxi. My little grandson is only four or five years old, and sometimes when they go out, they leave him at our house. The tofu made by Master Ye is better than any store bought. He taught me how to make it: first steam the tofu I bought, then cut it into small squares to make it moldy, use cumin, salt, and chili pepper powder to mix evenly, and when the tofu is moldy to a certain extent, dip each piece of tofu in the wine first, and then put it in a bottle. About a week later, when I opened the cap, I was greeted with a fragrant and delicious taste. Master Ye will also pickle the snow red, he uses small dried fish and some chili peppers to fry the snow red, which is another delicious dish. Whatever good dishes Master Ye makes, he always gives us a little to taste. We have to send some good dishes to our family.
I once thought that Master Ye had been Mao Zedong's secretary for so many years, and he must have read poetry and books and heard secrets. However, I don't know if he wants to talk to me about this, so I don't want to ask him rashly. One day, he asked me if I would like to do him a favor. I said, as long as I can help. I thought it was something in my life, but to my great surprise, he asked me to write a review for him. What to review? He said, quite simply, it was to review the bugging device. I have absolutely no idea what an Ann bug is all about. Master Ye told me that it was not a bugging device at all. At that time, when the Central Committee held a meeting, or Mao Zedong talked to someone, Mao's speech had to be recorded, and sometimes it was difficult to hear or remember, so the people in the Central Office discussed installing a small microphone to record the old man's speech, and then organize and record it according to the recording. After a while, it was discovered by Mao, and it became a big deal to install the bugging device privately. There were a lot of people involved in this matter, and I asked Master Ye how to review it. He said that he didn't involve others, just said that he was wrong. I wrote a review carefully according to his request, and Master Ye was quite satisfied.
After that, our conversation gradually shifted to the situation when he was a secretary. As soon as the conversation box opened, it could be seen that although he was dismissed, he still had deep feelings for his old superiors, and he was even more fond of his secretarial work. He said that he had been Mao's life secretary for a long time, and he was in charge of all affairs in Mao's life. Mao Zedong didn't have to go to the tailor's shop to make clothes, and he didn't have to call a tailor to measure the size. Master Ye remembered his body length, shoulder width, sleeve length, waist circumference and other sizes, he just had to go to the Hongdu clothing store, choose the clothes, and let the store make the clothes according to the size he said, and keep the clothes that fit. The tofu he made was also Mao Zedong's favorite food. Master Ye misses He Zizhen very much, and often talks about how his wife and He Zizhen lay on a kang and chatted in Yan'an. He Zizhen's daughter Li Min also came to visit him on Yuetan North Street, and he also brought her to our house and introduced her to us. When talking about some people around Mao Zedong, he said the most about a girl surnamed Chen. He called her Xiao Chen. This Xiao Chen is very beautiful, can sing and dance, and is very smart. She can dance whatever she wants. Once, she was depressed and asked Mao to guess a riddle. The riddle is "Mao Zedong sneezes". The old man couldn't guess. She said, "It's simple, 'fault'. The old man laughed. She had asked Mao to approve her to join the party and asked for a job for her. Neither of these requirements could be met, and for this reason, she left Mao...... These stories are really unheard of to me, and I could never have imagined that there are so many bizarre stories in Zhongnanhai. Much later, I heard that the young lady had gone to Hong Kong.
New neighbor upstairs
On the fifth floor of Building 5, where we lived, there were still two houses that no one lived in. One day, someone came to see the house on the fifth floor. Master Ye knows best, he said that the person who came to see the house was the secretary of Wu De, the first secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and mayor, and maybe Wu De's secretary was about to move in. However, it was not Wu De's secretary who moved in, but an elderly couple. The old lady was fat enough and wore a pair of gold earrings. Gold earrings were very conspicuous at that time, because these things had long been broken when the "four olds" were broken. The old man is thinner, but very strong. Soon after, the old man went to work in a non-staple food shop near Building No. 5, and at first he did his duty, but the old man couldn't stay idle, and later he took "to make up the difference". We don't know who moved in, but it's a little weird. What makes us wonder even more is what kind of person actually asked the secretary of the mayor of Beijing to come to the house.
Master Ye was also well-informed, and he told us that the new neighbors were the parents of Zhang Yufeng, the current secretary of Mao Zedong, and the younger brother of her husband. Master Ye said that Zhang Yufeng's father was a porter on the railway, and it was uncomfortable to stay at home, so he went to the grocery store to help carry vegetables. Zhang Yufeng's mother is doing housework at home, and her brother-in-law works as a worker in a factory. After the new neighbors moved in, Building 5 became a little more lively. The busiest is Master Ye. From time to time, he would go up to the fifth floor under various pretexts, such as water meters, electricity meters, etc., to inspect them, and then come and tell us what furniture had been added to the fifth floor, what colors, where it was placed, and so on. Once, he came down from the fifth floor and said to us, "Chairman Mao is now in Hunan. I asked him how he knew, and he said that Zhang Yufeng had brought a leg of mutton to his family, and the newspaper that wrapped the leg of mutton was Hunan Daily. He is very good at interacting with people and can win the favor of others. He often brings us information in his dealings with new neighbors.
He Long's daughter, He Jiesheng, also lives on Yuetan North Street, and she and her husband are familiar with Master Ye, so they often come to our house. He Jiesheng was busy with another thing. The film "Entrepreneurship" shot the "Gang of Four", and He Jiesheng mobilized the screenwriter to write a letter to Deng Xiaoping, asking Deng Xiaoping to retry it. This incident is obviously aimed at the "Gang of Four", and it is not trivial. How to write the letter naturally needs to be scrutinized repeatedly, and all parties solicit opinions. He Jiesheng told me that she once told the screenwriter that if this matter is not good, she may go to prison. She asked the screenwriter if he dared to take this risk, and the screenwriter was willing to take the risk and submit the book. The screenwriter's wife also supported the letter. He Jiesheng told me that she once told the screenwriter that if the screenwriter was going to prison, she would definitely go to the cell to deliver food. After this effort, "Entrepreneurship" was finally staged.
"I'm not on a payphone here!"
For a while, Zhang Yufeng often came to my house to call. She was very polite, and when she came to my house, she never forgot to say, "I'm sorry, I borrowed a phone call, and after the call, she always said thank you or something." Once, she also brought her two children and asked them to call us grandparents, which was very "warm". As a neighbor, it is normal for people to make a phone call, not to mention that she is polite. Her phone calls are generally always twofold: one is to ask the old man if he has watched the movie, and the other is to ask for a car to pick her up. Soon another lady came to call. She came to my house, completely different from Zhang Yufeng, striding in with her head up, and leaving after making a phone call, it was really arrogant. Because of the embarrassment, we let her beat her, are we all neighbors? Later, there were a lot of calls to her, and we had to open our voices and ask her to answer the phone. With so many phone calls and her unstoppable attitude, Lip became impatient. Once, it was her phone again, and Li Pu grabbed the phone and said sharply, "I'm not a pay phone here!" and hung up the phone with a snap.
We have a Guangdong friend's daughter named Xiaoping, who is studying Xi at the Beijing Foreign Chinese College, and comes to my house every week and holidays. She said there was a "red flag student" at their school. The so-called "Hongqi students" refer to the students who come to school by Hongqi cars. At that time, only senior leaders were eligible to ride in the Hongqi car, and there were students who took the Hongqi car to school, which of course caused a sensation in the whole school. Xiaoping said that this "red flag student" does not attend classes with everyone. She had to call the teacher and give her a lecture alone. The school asked her to fill out the form, and she said, "What form to fill in, you ask Wang Dongxing to fill it out." "This special student is the lady who came to my house to call. It is still Master Ye who knows the details best. He told us that the lady had been favored by Jiang Qing to be her nurse, and later, Jiang Qing recommended her to Mao Zedong, with the intention of allegedly trying to install a person of his own around Mao Zedong. Although she is quite beautiful, her kind of style makes Mao Zedong unbearable. finally made Mao lose his temper and slapped the table and told her to get out. really told her to get out, where did Jiang Qing's face go. It was Zhou Enlai who came up with a way to send her to Beijing University of Foreign Chinese to study Xi. In this way, she also lived here on Yuetan North Street.
When Mao Zedong was seriously ill, the lady was about to get married in a hurry. It is said to be married to the son of an old general. That day, at the top of the stairs, I saw a soldier in military uniform struggling to climb up the tall building, and then carrying a blanket roll from the tall building to the bottom with great difficulty. I looked at it, and I felt very uncomfortable. Let the driver and the guards wait downstairs, the old general himself will do this kind of heavy work, and treat his daughter-in-law like this, isn't it too much?
An extraordinary year
In the blink of an eye, 1976 was an extraordinary year, a year of earth-shaking changes, with sadness, joy, surprise, joy, crying, and laughter. First of all, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, and Mao Zedong died, during which there was also the Tangshan earthquake, and even more unexpectedly, the collapse of the "Gang of Four". Our No. 5 Yuetan North Street Building is also very lively. It starts at the beginning.
Zhou Enlai died on January 8 of that year. In the early morning of the 9th, mourning music was heard on the radio, and the news of Zhou Enlai's death was read out. I hadn't gotten up yet, and the tears were not stopping. Then, I heard the cries of my neighbors. Everyone knows that Zhou Enlai is sick, but they don't know the details of his condition. At the National Day reception the year before, Zhou Enlai also attended the speech. My wife, Li Pu, who attended the conference, told me that when Zhou Enlai arrived at the venue, the attendees applauded for a long time, and the people sitting in the back actually stood on their chairs to take a look at Zhou Enlai. Everyone thought that this would probably be the last time they would see Zhou Enlai, but they didn't expect him to go so fast! The perverse and tyrannical behavior of the "Gang of Four" made people pin their hopes for reversing the situation on Zhou Enlai, and the grief of Zhou Enlai can be imagined after Zhou Enlai's death. The "Gang of Four" tried to prevent the memorial service to Zhou Enlai. They have strict restrictions on the time and number of people who say goodbye to Zhou Enlai's body, prohibiting people from wearing black veils, and prohibiting organs from mourning on their own. However, when Zhou Enlai's coffin was sent to Babaoshan, the people of the capital spontaneously helped the old and the young to send each other with tears in the biting cold wind. This is unprecedented in Chinese history.
At the time of farewell to the remains, there is a strict limit on the number of places in each unit. I can go, but my daughter Kangmei is crying, and she will go too. At that time, there was a rule that anyone who had worked beside Zhou Enlai could be given priority. I took advantage of this article to bring the anti-American with me. I said that the last time I saw Zhou Enlai, he had asked about my daughter, so I was going to take her there. It's true. In the autumn of 1964, I took the small operas of the five central and southern provinces to Beijing to perform, and invited the premier to watch the plays. During the break, in the lounge, Chen Xilian pulled me to the prime minister and introduced him to the prime minister: "Prime minister, let me introduce you to a female soldier who can't ride a horse. When the prime minister saw me, he smiled and said, "I don't need your introduction, I already know her." "I worked in the Foreign Affairs Group of the Eighth Route Army Office in Chongqing, and Zhou Enlai directly led the work of the Foreign Affairs Group. Then he asked about Lipp and my daughter. In this way, the anti-American followed me into the ranks of farewell to the body.
The premier's body was stored in a very small room in a Beijing hospital. This is extremely incommensurate with his status as the leader of his country, and the flow of people who come to bid farewell to the body is endless, and it is crowded. All kinds of restrictions have made the grieving masses very dissatisfied. Zhang Yufeng's brother-in-law often comes to my house. At this time, he came to my house to call Zhang Yufeng, and he said that the workers of their factory asked for a funeral hall to be set up in the factory to mourn Zhou Enlai, and asked for an extension of the time for the body to be said and the number of people to say goodbye to the body was increased. Zhang Yufeng said, let her ask for instructions. We were all nervously awaiting the outcome of her request. After a while, Zhang Yufeng's reply disappointed everyone, she said: After asking for instructions, we can only do it according to the methods stipulated in the newspaper.
On January 15, a memorial meeting was held in the Great Hall of the People, and Deng Xiaoping delivered a eulogy. It was Deng Xiaoping's last appearance after his first comeback. Then, the newspaper criticized Xiaoping by name, either explicitly or secretly, from dark to open. This further fueled resentment against the "Gang of Four". This resentment finally flares up. From late March to April 5, the masses in major cities across the country used the Qingming Festival to mourn Zhou Enlai, in fact, to denounce the "Gang of Four". People came to Tiananmen Square from all directions carrying all kinds of wreaths and flower baskets. Some wreaths are so large that they have to be transported by truck. Countless poems hung on the wreaths and on the cypress trees on both sides of the square, and the crowd busily copied the poems. The young people in our neighborhood went to Tiananmen Square to copy, and then came to our house to exchange with each other, and I was busy copying poems. Late at night on April 5, the "Gang of Four" mobilized 10,000 militiamen, 3,000 public security personnel, and five battalions of the People's Liberation Army to beat and disperse the crowd in Tiananmen Square and smashed all the wreaths. On April 7, the Central Committee adopted the "Decision on the Removal of Deng Xiaoping from All Posts Inside and Outside the Party," and the people again fell into helpless grief and anger.
One after another, on July 6, Zhu De died.
Less than a month later, on July 28, the Tangshan earthquake struck. We were all still asleep, and Lip first noticed that the house and furniture were shaking. He said, "There was an earthquake, and we got up in a hurry. It was drizzling, and we hurried to Yuetan Park with umbrellas. By this time, the park was already crowded. Waiting until dawn, we went upstairs to get something to eat. I learned from the radio that there was an earthquake in Tangshan, and the aftershocks continued. We hurried downstairs. At this time, on the court next to Yuetan Park, Zhang Yufeng's parents' house had already set up a big tent for them by the army. We walked in and saw how imposing it was. Mattresses, tables, chairs, and benches have all been removed, and there is no shortage of gas canisters, stoves, and cupboards. Zhang Yufeng's mother politely invited us to move in, but we declined and returned to Yuetan Park. Soon after, someone from the Beijing branch of the Xinhua News Agency found us in the park and took us to the earthquake-proof tent set up by the branch. All the staff of the branch and their families were crammed into a shockproof canopy, one by one, like sardines. We feel more at ease by relying on the organization. When we arrived at the branch, we learned that the earthquake was above 7.8 and destroyed the whole of Tangshan. Some houses also collapsed in Tianjin and Beijing.
At this time, all units and neighborhood committees are busy distributing earthquake-proof equipment. People have no intention of working, using all kinds of equipment to build all kinds of earthquake canopies on every open space. The masses were busy guarding against the earthquake, and the "Gang of Four" was busy criticizing Deng in the newspapers. Natural and man-made disasters are coming together. Shortly after the earthquake, on September 9, Mao Zedong died. On September 18, a grand memorial service was held in Tiananmen Square. After that, all kinds of gossip spread. Our house on Yuetan North Street is full of relatives and friends. Some people say that Wang Hongwen took the standard image, and some people say what happened to Jiang Qing to Dazhai. I don't remember where someone got a copy of "The Empress of the Red Capital" written by a foreign reporter for Jiang Qing, and everyone was quietly circulating. What will be the fate of the country? People are sad and panicked.
A strange call
At noon on October 7, a phone call suddenly came. The call was a shocking surprise and a big surprise to us. I once wrote an article about the scene under the title "A Strange Phone Call", which is transcribed below:
On October 7, 1976, we were having lunch. Suddenly, the phone rang. I took it.
An unfamiliar voice said, "Is it Comrade Li Pu's house?"
I said, "Yes, who are you?"
"It's 39 rounds. Director of the × Department of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee invited Comrade Li Pu to speak. The other party said. The 39th Bureau is the switchboard of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and has great authority.
I immediately handed the phone to Lipp. I don't know what the other party said to him. I just listened to him "oh oh" for a while and then said, "I'm on sick leave." The other party said something again. Li Pu asked, "Where to open the Purple Light Pavilion, and how to enter the door?...... Okay, good...... I arrived on time. This is the end of the call.
It was a very strange call. At that time, Li Pu was working in the Beijing branch of the Xinhua News Agency and had no direct relationship with the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee. Li Pu said that the vice minister was very polite and invited him to a meeting at the Ziguang Pavilion in Zhongnanhai in the afternoon. What kind of meeting is going on? If it is related to the news, it should be the Xinhua Headquarters or the Central Propaganda Department looking for him, and if it is something else, it will also be found by the Beijing Municipal Party Committee. What are you doing when the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee is looking for it? They refuse to say what kind of meeting they will have, but they only say that you will know when you come. At that time, the "Gang of Four" was rampant, and we could not work, so we were "sick" at home every day, worrying all day long, not knowing when something would happen or when a catastrophe would come. This strange phone call undoubtedly heightened our doubts, trepidation and uneasiness. In those dark times, disaster could fall from the sky at any time. Lipp said he was on sick leave and was trying to get out of the way. But the other party said that he knew that he had called in sick. There's no escaping that. In Lip's case, the "Gang of Four" didn't seem to be able to catch him with any braids, but anything could have happened in those years. It's a blessing or a curse, so I have to resign myself to fate!
We hastily took a few bites of food, and we couldn't guess the point. Finally, I said to Lipp, you take a nap first, and I'll watch you the time.
Lip left at half past two. I'm at home, like an ant on a hot pot, and I can't give up. At about 4 o'clock, the driver, Lao Zheng, came back and said that Li Pu wanted a little stomach medicine. I asked him where Lipp was, and he said he was in the branch. I obviously knew that Li Pu had just gone to the Ziguang Pavilion, so how could he be in the branch? What kind of reputation was he doing? I asked again: Will he come back for dinner? Lao Zheng said, you can eat, you don't have to wait for him. He was obviously not telling the truth, but it didn't look like something bad had happened. After taking the medicine, he hurried away. Looking at Lao Zheng like that, I realized that something big had happened, otherwise it wouldn't have been kept secret from me. What is going on? In those days of panic, the appearance of such a phone call and Lao Zheng's mysterious appearance made people's hearts even more uncertain.
Just after dinner, two relatives and one or two friends came to the house. At that time, many people "bubbled sick" and visited each other, inquired about the news and complained. It's something so strange happening in our family, but I can't say it. What 39 bureaus and Ziguang Pavilion held a meeting, it was a great event for those of us who were "sick". If you poke it out in a daze, you might get a big disaster for Lip. Besides, I don't know what is going on.
While he was in the middle of his mind, Lip returned. He seems to be a completely different person. I was so happy and elated that I didn't care about anyone at home, so I just said to me, "Quick, quickly prepare me some change of clothes, toothbrush, and cigarettes, and I'm going to leave soon." Then he greeted the guests and shook hands one by one. Everyone asked him what he was doing, and he only said that he would have a meeting.
I helped him clean up in the next room, and deliberately opened my voice and shouted, "Come and see, do you want this dress?" As soon as Li Pu entered the room, I immediately asked him what was the matter? I was not reconciled: "Is it a good thing or a bad thing?" and he said, "It's a good thing." I asked, "How good is it?" and he said, "It's so good that I can't say it anymore." No wonder he was so elated. However, I still don't know what a good method is, and I don't want to ask again. After maneuvering with the guests in the next room, Lipp hurried away.
I realized that this was not a trivial matter, and why was it so mysterious, hurried, and so disciplined? The next morning, I went out to inquire about the situation. I found a comrade who had been in Erye in the past, and as expected, the troops conveyed it early, and of course, the troops also had to keep it secret. However, once it is communicated, there is no secret to be protected. Only then did I realize that the night before we received that mysterious phone call, a new page had been turned in China's history!
Wiped out the "Gang of Four"! The comrades of the army told me that the troops had conveyed it first, but they had to keep it secret. I used to be a front-line reporter in Nino, and I was half a member of the army, so I didn't keep it a secret. They told me again and again not to say anything to anyone else.
When I came home, I was so happy that I wanted to sing, scream, and cry, and I wanted to share this great happiness with others. However, I had to be disciplined and keep my mouth shut. My friends came the same way, but I didn't say anything. A friend from the literary and artistic circles came. He frowned sadly and sighed, it turned out that he was going to go to the factory to squat, otherwise he might be criticized again. But he was not in good health. I sympathized with him and said to him in an affirmative tone, "You can not go." Of course, he couldn't hear me, and I couldn't bear it, and I couldn't take care of the discipline, so I left him later. After the others left, I immediately told him that the "Gang of Four" had all been arrested! He was stunned for a moment: "Really?" "Really, the troops have already conveyed it." He screamed, tears streaming down his face.
I can't remember exactly when the local unit conveyed it. Anyway, in the next few days, people will visit the house more frequently, and you will come and go. Everyone cried, laughed, and screamed, and they didn't know how to vent their grievances that had been stuffed in their hearts for a long time. At this time, there was a joke that a man bought crabs and asked for a female and three males. So some people meet and ask: Did you buy crabs? People seem to be still dreaming, how did such great news come all of a sudden?
During this period, Li Pu came back once, and I learned that on the 7th, he was ordered to enter the headquarters of the Xinhua News Agency, and he was one of the five people stationed in the headquarters. On the same day, another five-member team was stationed in the People's Daily. As for the radio station, while arresting the "Gang of Four" on the night of the 6th, Geng Biao led the team to station.
People gradually turned from crying and laughing to inquiring about details. How to catch the "Gang of Four" is something that everyone is particularly interested in, and there are many "versions". Some people said: When Jiang Qing was arrested, why did Jiang Qing cry and make trouble, and how did the waiter smack her; some people said that when Wang Hongwen was arrested, Wang Hongwen even started fighting. There is a young friend who comes in several times a day, sometimes for "the latest news" and sometimes for "authoritative sources". This kind of gossip, even if it is similar, even if it is very bizarre, even if it has been heard more than once, the people who say it still talk about it, and the people who listen to it also listen to it with taste. It seems that the more you talk about it, the more you will solve the hatred. Then, everyone sighed, and they got rid of these jackals all at once, which was really a celebration for the whole world, so lightning fast, we people could not have dreamed of it.
What I am writing about here is a very small and very small aspect of the historical transition, a drop in the ocean. But from this drop, we can also get a glimpse of how unpopular the "Gang of Four" has become!
The above short article was written shortly after the "Gang of Four" was crushed. After more than 20 years, revisiting the old events, I think again that we may have been happy too early at that time, and I am afraid that it will be a long, long way to go before the people of the whole country can really be happy!
Amended on February 21, 2004