In the winter of 1977, China was on the eve of reform and opening up, and the entire social atmosphere was in a period of prosperity and turbulence.
Wei Zhenfang, a 21-year-old native of Changlin Village, Linshu County, Shandong Province, is a typical rural village in northern China, where villagers rely on farming to make a living.
This year's winter was colder than usual, and the land in the village was frozen as hard as stones, but in order to harvest the next year, they had to turn over the land in this cold season.
She bent down and grabbed the handle of the hoe with both hands, the hard ground could not be inserted into it at all, she could only put the hoe on the ground, held the handle of the hoe with both hands, pressed down, and used gravity to pry the clods of soil, and so on many times, sweat soon soaked through her thin cotton clothes, and her hands were already red from the cold.
At this time, the hoe suddenly hit a hard object, "dang" the ground, she quickly looked down, it turned out to be a small mound of earth was dug out of the surface by her, this is terrible, such a protruding mound of dirt in the ground is very dangerous, need to be bulldozed, she decided to use a hoe to hoe it first, so that no one will trip.
She swung her hoe and slammed it down on the mound. But instead of leveling the mound, a smooth object rolled out of it, and she picked it up and examined it carefully, and was shocked - it shone like a star!
Although Wei Zhenfang was born in the countryside, she heard from the old people in the village that diamonds could often be found in the strata in this area, and she immediately realized that she might have picked up the legendary diamond!
She held the "diamond" excitedly, thinking that this luck had come and she was going to make a fortune! But soon, she realized that this might be a hot potato, and that she could keep such a big diamond as a girl! She had to hurry home and discuss with her family what to do.
At dusk, Wei Zhenfang returned home with a nervous mood, she sent a message to her father and brother who were still working in the fields, asking them to come back quickly, the family sat around the lamp, Wei Zhenfang told the discovery of the day, she grabbed the crystal clear stone, put it in front of her father, and saw her father full of surprise.
The family discussed it word by word, and the diamond was very likely to cause trouble, and finally they decided to directly report the matter to the village organization and leadership, and the state would handle it properly.
The news soon reached the village committee, and the district sent people to appraise it and confirm that it was an extremely precious giant diamond, weighing 158.78 carats! Subsequently, the district party committee decided that Wei Zhenfang and his father would personally send the diamond to the relevant state departments in Beijing.
In Beijing, the diamond was further identified as the largest and most perfect natural diamond found in China at that time, and it was officially named "Changlin Diamond" to commemorate its discovery.
The state highly praised Wei Zhenfang's selflessness and patriotism, and expressed its willingness to grant any of her requests as a reward, which was undoubtedly a golden opportunity for the Wei family, who could put forward any conditions to change their fate.
However, to everyone's surprise, Wei Zhenfang did not have the slightest personal request, she took into account the hardships of life in her hometown and the hard work of the peasants ploughing the land, and decided to ask the state to allocate a tractor to her hometown to relieve everyone's labor.
This selfless request touched everyone who heard about it, and the state not only gladly granted her wish, but also gave her an additional prize of 1,000 dollars as a reward for her noble character.
In the following days, Wei Zhenfang's story spread all over the country, becoming a good story that people talk about, an ordinary girl's own strength, insight into the opportunities of the changes of the times, and the benefit of the neighbors with an extraordinary mind, so that this early spring season is a boost.
People have published remarks in the newspapers and periodicals, praising Wei Zhenfang's noble qualities, she is the most valuable moral model of this era, and her spirit will always shine and surpass this dazzling diamond!
Time has passed, those noisy discussions have gradually calmed down, Wei Zhenfang still lives in Changlin Village, living the simplest life, she has experienced the death of her husband, the departure of her children, all kinds of hardships are only briefly circulating between the eyebrows, when the neighbors ask her about such a noble character, but she has a hard time, she just smiled slightly, disagreed.
Wei Zhenfang is still alive, she is already eighty years old, but that simple feelings are still vivid, people still talk about her good deeds, and regard it as a treasure of Chinese national morality, passed down from generation to generation.
Wei Zhenfang and her husband play with their grandson
She is the same as Chang Lin Diamond, with practical actions to interpret what is the true meaning of life, in today's materialistic world, what they do is more and more magnificent, worthy of everyone's Xi and remembrance.
(Source: Records & Transmission)