Visit the old place
——Accompany my father back to the boat
My father is 82 years old and was a primary school teacher for 43 years before retiring. His career can be divided into Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture from 1959 to 1979, and was transferred back to his hometown Gaolan County at the end of 1979, and has never returned to Zhouqu since. My father's most beautiful youth was struggling in the basic education sector of Zhouqu County, and there must have been many people and things worth remembering during the period, so it can be said that Zhouqu is my father's second hometown. In recent years, our brothers and sisters have planned to accompany our father to visit the school where he used to work, but due to the epidemic and other reasons, it has been stranded many times, and this time it finally took advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays.
On September 30 (the 16th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar), a group of 9 of us set off from Lanzhou at 8 a.m. in 2 cars. Because it was the second day of the long holiday, there were not many cars out of the city, and the road was smooth, and the highway from Lanzhou to the south was smoothly followed. There was a light rain in the morning, the rain had stopped when we set off, the air was exceptionally fresh, and the mood was also very excited. Along the way, it rained and cloudy, and the sun showed its face for a short time, and the weather was much better than we expected. At noon, I arrived at Hadapu, my father often talked about this place, he was an old Communist Party member, especially interested in the history of the party and the revolution, this visit fulfilled his wish, and our family also received a baptism of revolutionary spirit.
After visiting the memorial hall, continue to set off straight to Zhouqu County. In 1959, after graduating from Lanzhou Normal School, my father was assigned to teach in Triangle Ping Township, Zhouqu County, during which he also taught in Baleng Township for a few years, and then went to Triangle Ping until he was transferred back to his hometown in 1979. The schools he taught were all in places where Han and Tibetan people lived together, and the students he taught were half Han and half Tibetan, and his father silently dedicated his best youth to the cause of basic education in ethnic areas, and established a deep friendship with the local Tibetan and Han villagers. My father often worries about Zhouqu and silently pays attention to every grass and tree in Zhouqu. Zhouqu has a special meaning to his father, and it has been his wish for many years to go back and see, but he has never proposed it for fear of causing trouble to his children. My father is such a person who never causes the slightest trouble to others (including his family).
At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we came to the Longjiang Ecological Park near Zhouqu County, where the environment is beautiful, the food tastes good, and the plan is to rest and eat here. The county seat is not far from here, after dinner to book the Dragon Boat Hotel to stay, this hotel is located in the north exit of the county's pedestrian street, belongs to the county facilities and environment are very good hotels, and it is 6 o'clock in the afternoon when you settle down. After a short rest, they went to visit the county seat together and accompanied my father to find his past memories. My father never worked in the county seat, but he had to stay in the county seat for meetings, studies, and homecoming. In the more than 40 years since he left, everything in his memory has changed dramatically, except for the Bailong River and rolling mountains that flow through the city. We walked along the banks of the Bailong River and listened to my father talk about the county seat he remembered. The county seat has changed so much, I don't know if the schools in Triangle Ping and Baleng that I plan to go to tomorrow still exist? My father was a little closer to his hometown and even more timid, and he didn't dare to ask the people who came to be worried. There happened to be a local peddling business on the side of the road, so I went up to inquire and told us that the schools in both places still exist, and they are new school buildings that have been rebuilt in the same place, and the road is easy to walk, so it is no problem to go by car. My father was finally relieved, so he planned to go to Triangle Ping early tomorrow morning, and then go to Baleng.
The next morning after breakfast from the hotel, check out and depart. Triangle Ping Township is now changed to Goye Township, about 30 kilometers away from the county seat, we drive to the navigation directions, the country road along the mountain winding on the mountainside, on both sides of the high mountains, lush trees, clouds and mist, there is a canyon in the middle, while enjoying the scenery, while looking forward to arriving at the father more than 40 years ago where he worked and lived in the Triangle Ping. Suddenly, I saw a lot of cars parked on the side of the road in front of me, thinking that it was a traffic jam, and then drove forward, an excavator stopped in the middle of the road, it is estimated that it was a landslide, and it was rushing to open the highway! My father got out of the car and looked at the path at the bottom of the valley and told us that he had walked for 6-7 hours along the path in the canyon to the mouth of the two rivers and took the bus back to Lanzhou. It was during such a difficult journey that my father would bring us local specialties such as walnuts and persimmons on his shoulders every time he came home, and he also carried home semi-finished furniture made by local carpenters. My father bought furniture such as square tables, chest of drawers, and bookcases for our home in this way. I can't imagine the hardships at that time, but my father's unique optimistic, perseverance, and persistent character should have been cultivated in such an environment!
When we were hesitating, the road builder told us that we could park our car on the side of the road, walk more than 20 meters through the landslide area, and rent a local car to continue going, about 10 kilometers away from the destination. There happened to be a 7-seater van from the triangle that was ready to stop into the city, the owner usually does passenger transport business, he promised to take us to the school to see, we are a group of 9 people, plus the owner of 10 people, belongs to overloading, for safety, we want to rent 2 cars to go, but for a while can not find a suitable car, the owner is in a hurry to go into the city to do business, had to risk squeezing in this van. The owner of the car was very talkative, and he reassured everyone, saying that he was absolutely safe to drive and would definitely deliver everyone safely. Along the way, he introduced the changes that have taken place in the local area over the years, and his father's memory of this mountain is very deep, and returning to the old place feels like opening a book that has been turned many times, and every page is so familiar and kind. Passing by Shimengou, Zhenzhuang, Zhuxi, Chigan and other villages can be like a number of treasures. The father asked the owner of the car about the students he had taught, Ma Niannian, Xu Jiaojiao and other classmates, very coincidentally, the owner of the car is Ma Niannian's eldest son, and learned that Ma Niannian retired from the county people's congress and is currently living in the county, and the owner is going to the city today to gather with his family. Fate is so wonderful! People who are destined will always meet unexpectedly. The father's conversation box opened suddenly, recalling the teacher-student relationship between him and Ma Niannian.
After a while, I came to the central primary school in Goye Town, the school is located on a relatively open and flat mountain, with 3 buildings, one is a 5-storey teaching building, a 2-storey student cafeteria building, and a 3-storey library building, a basketball court, a volleyball court, 2 table tennis cases, and a standard 400-meter running track, and the ground is paved with red and green plastic. In recent years, the country has paid more and more attention to education, especially in the education of towns and villages, and the campus is definitely the most beautiful place in the local area. Standing on the school playground and looking out, the surrounding mountains are lush with green trees, and the campus is quiet and peaceful. At this time, I realized that my father's peace of mind is the place of return, and he relied on his love for education and responsibility to students, not forgetting his original intention, taking root in the mountain township, and cultivating the teaching altar.
Back then, my father was gone for more than half a year, and the contact with his family could only rely on letters, but fortunately, my mother had gone to school, and I didn't need to hire someone to do the letters for me. When my brother was in the third grade of elementary school, the family sent letters to my father, often including those written by my brother. I remember writing a letter to my father when I was in the third grade, and my mother taught me to write it. Later, my father was transferred back to his hometown and ended his life as a bookkeeper in both places, perhaps it was writing letters to my father that trained my brother's ability to be good at writing. My father told us that he spent his spare time and longing for his family by reading, so he developed the habit of insisting on reading, and until now he reads the secretary's notes every day, and writes poems and essays from time to time to record his life. Because of my father's words and deeds, my family loves to read, and often shares our reading experiences with each other and recommends books worth reading. My brother, in particular, has loved reading and writing since he was a child. I remember when I was a child, my brother used to borrow boxes of villain books, and my brother and sister and mother read them together. When I was in junior high school, my brother had already gone to high school in the county No. 1 middle school, and he would borrow a lot of books from the county cultural center every winter and summer vacation, and our whole family would take turns reading them. In those days, there was no money to buy books, and it was not easy to borrow books! Because my father can only come back once a year during the winter and summer vacations, and most of the time my mother and grandmother take my siblings, my brother has an extra responsibility to protect my sister and me, which just exercises his independence and leadership. When my brother was in elementary school, he often organized a group of children from our neighborhood to dig a sand pit together for high jump and long jump training, and called everyone to read and study together. My brother's idea of attaching importance to education should have been born at this time!
After visiting the school, the car owner took us around the town, as he said, all the units in the town are complete, but there are very few people, which is also a common phenomenon in the rural areas of the country. We returned to the place where the road was repaired, the owner's brother had driven to pick him up and his daughter-in-law into the city to party, because my father and his father were teachers and students, we felt very close to each other, and we were very cordial, the two families took a group photo together, left each other's contact information, and my father also signed for Ma Niannian and presented a collection of poems compiled and printed by his brother for him last year as a souvenir.
When my father was working in Baleng, my mother and I visited here in the summer of 1975 and stayed at Baleng School for more than 40 days. I was 7 years old and I have a very deep memory of that trip.
My brother is already in elementary school, my eldest sister is 4 years old, my little sister has not yet been born, I went to primary school at the age of 8, and I happened to be the lucky one who was taken by my mother to visit my father. The first time I went out, I was very happy and excited, I took a car from my hometown to Lanzhou, stayed in Lanzhou for one night, and then took the shuttle bus to Wudu, the road conditions were not very good at that time, and the road was bumpy all the way. I remember the first time I sat in the car for such a long time, I got a little motion sickness, and I always slept in a daze. On the evening of the first day, we arrived at the county seat of Minxian County and stayed in a guest house, and set off again the next day, and got off at a place called Shawan at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and my father was already waiting for us at the drop-off place. To get to Baleng, you first have to pass a bridge, and under the bridge is the Bailongjiang River. I remember that it was a simple bridge like a chain bridge, and the deck was paved with wooden planks, probably to save costs! About every 10 centimeters a wooden plank, that is to say, people should be extra careful when walking on the bridge, otherwise their feet will step on the vacant place, it looks very dangerous, I was afraid, I didn't dare to walk, it was my father who carried me across the bridge. After crossing the bridge, I walked for more than 2 hours along the rugged mountain road to the school where my father taught. The school is built on a relatively open and flat hillside, a courtyard-style campus, with classrooms, offices, staff dormitories, kitchens, and a back garden with apple trees, walnut trees, grape vines, and vegetables such as bok choy, peppers, and eggplants. Outside the school gate is a playground with a basketball hoop in the middle for students to take physical education classes and exercise. There is a row of bungalows on the east side of the playground for students living far from home. On the high platform to the west of the playground is the school's experimental farmland, which is used by the students for labor, mainly corn and soybeans. This school is a seven-year school, with both elementary and junior high schools. In my memory, this school exists like a paradise, there are two gardens on the campus, colorful flowers bloom, the sound of books during the day, the crisp and pleasant cuckoo call at night, and I often sit in the courtyard with my father, mother, and my father's colleagues to enjoy the shade, chat, and listen to the song of cicadas and birds. The students often picked all kinds of wild fruits and quietly placed them in the window of their father's dormitory. During the day, when my father went to class and my mother cooked, I got bored, so I went to the water mill not far from the school to see the water mill flour. The mountain flowers, wild fruits, water mills, and the Tibetan women with so many braids (my father told me that they had the same number of braids as my age) were all new and curious to me.
Along the way, I was trying to find my childhood memories, when I passed by Shawan, I thought about where the old site of the simple bridge I was afraid to walk was located, and when I was about to reach Baleng, I was thinking about where the water mill that was pushed down from the mountain stream was located, and I guess my father was trying to pursue everything in his memory like me!
According to the navigation instructions, our car drove to the courtyard of the Baleng Town Government, and the staff on duty at the gate told us that the school turned into it at a front intersection. The yard of the town hall is more spacious, so we decided to get out of the car and take a break and go to the school again. At this time, Ma Niannian called to find his father, and the teachers and students who had been separated for more than 40 years exchanged greetings on the phone, chatting very happily, Ma Niannian sincerely invited his father to meet in Zhouqu County, and his father expressed his gratitude and promised to meet again next time. The teachers and students who had not seen each other for many years contacted him by phone, and it was also a wish of his father, and his concern for students and friends finally had a place to place. During the break, I communicated with the duty staff of the town government and learned that the school was rebuilt on the original site, and there should be a teacher on duty, so we went to the school to see after saying goodbye, the school gate was locked, and it was already 12 o'clock at noon, and it was estimated that the teacher on duty went out to eat. The school is a newly built building, from the door should be a teaching building, a student cafeteria building, etc., I can't find a little trace of the original school, my father lying on the locked door, looking inside through the gap, should be trying to find the memory of the past, deep attachment in the heart. My father told me that the original school gate was on the south side, but now the school gate is open on the north side. We couldn't enter the campus, so we had to take a group photo at the school gate and leave in a huff.
The long-planned trip to Zhouqu was a smooth and successful success, and it coincided with the National Day, when everyone celebrated the whole country in their own ways, our family just celebrated in the way of accompanying my father to return to his hometown to realize his dream, and I would like to commemorate this article, and let us jointly wish the great motherland prosperity!
October 9, 2023 diary
About the Author
Xiao Tongmei is the deputy director of the Teaching Quality Monitoring and Evaluation Department of Northwest University for Nationalities.