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Everyone will have the most memorable past, which is engraved in their minds and will never be forgotten. The same is true for me, after half a century, I still remember the experience of the educated youth who settled in the Northeast back then, especially the sister-in-law of Xiuying in her second hometown, which left a deep impression on me. Whenever I think of the scene when she lifted me out, I still feel red.
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In late March 1969, in that warm and cold spring, dozens of our Beijing educated youths took the train to Jilin Province, and finally seven of us educated youths (four boys and three girls) were assigned to settle in the Xinfa No. 8 team in Changling County, Captain Wang arranged for us to live in the three adobe houses at the team site, three girls lived in the east house, four of us boys lived in the west house, and the middle house was a place for cooking.
The one who helped us cook was a young daughter-in-law, around twenty-four years old, and a two-year-old daughter, her name was Han Xiuying, who was the women's captain of Team 8. Han Xiuying is quite tall, has a cheerful personality, and looks good. At first, we all called her Captain Han, and she said that calling the captain seemed to be raw, and it was okay to call her Sister Xiuying or Sister-in-law Xiuying. The four of us boys thought it was convenient to call Xiuying's sister-in-law, so they called her Xiuying's sister-in-law. The three girls felt that it was more affectionate to call her sister, so they called her Sister Xiuying.
Xiuying's sister-in-law came to help us cook every day, either from her house with half a pot of sauerkraut, or with half a basket of soil or bean radish, and sometimes a few pickle gnocchi. April in the Northeast is the season when vegetables are most scarce, and the vegetables grown in the land will not be available until mid to late May at the earliest, and the vegetables stored in the autumn will basically be eaten by this time, and even if you have money, there is no place to buy vegetables.
When we first came to settle in the queue, the vegetables we ate were all from Xiuying's sister-in-law's house. She went door to door to ask for us, giving us a few radishes if there were turnips, a few potatoes if there were potatoes, and two pickles or two pickles if there were no potatoes. The villagers are very generous, and they would rather not eat it themselves, but also save us Beijing educated youths to eat.
Later, there was really no food to eat, and we could only eat pickles and pimples like the villagers.
Around May Day, the weather is getting warmer and warmer, and the soil in the fields has begun to thaw and become soft, and the annual spring plowing and preparation production has kicked off in full swing.
Captain Wang knew that we educated youths had no labor experience and no strength, so he asked Xiuying's sister-in-law to lead us to do farm work with women.
On the first day of farm work, we followed Xiuying's sister-in-law to the dung field south of the village outfield to plow manure. To the south of the yard of our eighth team is a deserted field, which is also the dung field of our eighth team, whether it is the cow dung of the cowshed or the miscellaneous manure of the members' homes, they must be concentrated in the manure field, and then transported to the field. There is also a manure pit next to the manure field, which is a manure pit for manure in summer, and Captain Wang leads the villagers to accumulate soil and miscellaneous fertilizer every year to create conditions for increasing grain production.
The soil miscellaneous manure piled up in the manure field is like a hill, the soil miscellaneous manure piled up in the manure field for a winter has been very porcelain, it is necessary to use a two-tooth hook or a three-tooth hook (a kind of agricultural tool) to plane the soil miscellaneous manure, and the lumpy soil miscellaneous fertilizer is broken up, in order to be loaded into the soil basket or transported to the field on the rack car to prepare for spring ploughing, our task is to plan, smash the manure, load the car, load the basket (soil basket), this work looks easy, and it is really not easy to do.
In addition to the four male intellectuals who were digging manure in the manure field, the rest were female members and three female intellectuals, and we felt a little awkward to let our boys and female members work together. In fact, it's not just that our boys are awkward, the female intellectuals and the unmarried girls in the team also feel awkward, those married sisters-in-law get together without anything else, just say some unmarried people inappropriate words, not only the female intellectuals and those girls blushed when they heard it, but even our four young men, listening to their discussions, will also feel red-faced.
In order not to disturb each other, we were automatically divided into three groups, three female intellectuals and those unmarried girls for a group to dig and smash dung together, we four male intellectuals for a group, Xiuying's sister-in-law and those sisters-in-law and aunts as a group, the distance between each other is appropriate to hear each other clearly. Grouping in this way avoids unnecessary embarrassment, and it is equivalent to giving those sisters-in-law the right to freedom of speech.
After two days of digging manure in the manure field, Xiuying's sister-in-law assessed the work value of our educated youth on behalf of the production team, our male educated youth earn six points a day, and female young people earn five points a day, and our male young people do not have as much work as female members a day.
For this reason, we male intellectuals felt that it was unreasonable, so we went to Captain Wang to ask for an explanation. Captain Wang said that Han Xiuying was the women's captain, and she had the final say. Since you work with her, you have to listen to her arrangement.
On the third day of work, four of us male intellectuals told Xiuying's sister-in-law about the division of work, and Xiuying's sister-in-law smiled and said: "I will record six divisions of labor for you a day, which is already considered to take care of you, you see how much dung you have shaved in two days, and then look at how much dung we have shaved." Don't look at our mouths for a day, but our hands are not idle, even if we can't top the two of you, at least we can top one and a half, if you don't believe it, let's compete. ”
After listening to Xiuying's sister-in-law's words, our faces were hot, and in terms of how much work we worked, we were indeed not as good as Xiuying's sister-in-law, nor as good as those girls. Later, we developed blisters on our hands and worked more slowly. Xiuying's sister-in-law also comforted us and said: "When the blisters on your hands turn into calluses, you male intellectuals can earn ten percent a day, and female intellectuals can earn seven percent a day like us." ”
After a few days, we gradually became familiar with the female members, so we stopped working in groups with them, and we didn't hear what they said.
Once, when there was a break in the middle of the night, a young man in the team who was carrying dung joked with Xiuying's sister-in-law, Xiuying's sister-in-law said hello, and several sisters-in-law swarmed up, and immediately pressed the young man to the ground and pulled off his pants.
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Since then, the young man has seen Xiuying's sister-in-law like a mouse and a cat, and he has been hiding from afar, for fear that the sister-in-law will pick up his pants again. Xiuying's sister-in-law and those sisters-in-law are indeed a bit rude and barbaric, but they are very friendly to our educated youth, rarely joke with us, and try to help and take care of us in all aspects, and we are grateful to them from the bottom of our hearts.
However, once I also encountered an embarrassment, it was also when everyone was sitting next to the dung field to rest and rest, the second stunned daughter-in-law and Yin Rukun joked, I helped Yin Rukun speak, I didn't expect this to provoke the second stunned daughter-in-law, she said hello, four or five sisters-in-law surrounded me, three times five divided by two pressed me to the ground, the second stunned daughter-in-law came to pick up my pants, I could only beg for mercy loudly, but there was no ability to resist, I just let the second stunned daughter-in-law rip off my pants, ashamed I really want to find a crack to get into. At this most embarrassing time, Xiuying's sister-in-law spoke, and they stopped, I put on my pants and ran back to the Zhiqing point, and the next day I went to work and saw everyone still blushing.
Xiuying's sister-in-law knew that I was thin-skinned, so she pleaded with those joking sisters-in-law on my behalf to stop teasing me in the future. Since then, I have never dared to joke with them, I really learned how good they are. In fact, those sisters-in-law have no malice, maybe this is a way for them to entertain.
After the spring ploughing was over, all the miscellaneous manure from the manure field was transported to the field, and Xiuying's sister-in-law led us to work with the male members. The daily work of female intellectuals is still five points, but they have no opinion, because they know that there is indeed a gap between their ability and that of female members.
When it comes to the autumn harvest, our male intellectuals finally have as much work as male members, and female intellectuals can earn seven centias a day. To speak in good conscience, the team really took care of us by assessing such a job for the educated youth. That day, I went to the yard to pick up sorghum heads (sorghum ears), and the two bundles of sorghum ears picked by Xiuying's sister-in-law were one hundred and forty or fifty catties.
The autumn harvest season is the busiest and most tiring time of the year, and every day after work, Xiuying's sister-in-law will come to our youth spot to see if we need help. Xiuying's sister-in-law also often sends us some delicious food, at least more than half of the cucumbers and persimmons grown in her vegetable garden (self-reserved land) are eaten by our educated youth, and even her eggs, each of us has not eaten less. Sister-in-law Xiuying is like our bosom sister, she has given us a lot of love, and we intellectuals are grateful to her from the bottom of our hearts.
In the autumn of 1975, there were still two male educated youths left in Beijing, Yin Rukun and me, who had settled in the Xinfa Eighth Team, and the other educated youths were recruited to work in the city, and a female educated youth was transferred to the commune radio station as an announcer. Yin Rukun and I stole a rooster from the secretary of the brigade, and later let the director of the commune's Educated Youth Office know, and the consequences can be imagined.
At that time, Yin Rukun and I were both twenty-four years old, and we were considered older young people in the Xinfa Brigade. Seeing that it would be difficult for us to enter the city for a while, Xiuying's sister-in-law was worried that we were singles, so she went around to find a partner for the two of us.
There is a girl named Li Shuxiang in our eighth team, who is twenty-one years old, has a primary school education, and is very beautiful, Xiuying's sister-in-law said that I am the best match for Li Shuxiang, so she forced me to have sex with Li Shuxiang. I said I didn't want to deal with the object, Xiuying's sister-in-law scolded me: "You silly brother, what a good thing it is to marry a daughter-in-law, a daughter-in-law can give you laundry, cooking, and food, and can sleep with you to give birth to children, and when you marry a daughter-in-law, you will feel uncomfortable if you don't see your daughter-in-law for a day......" Xiuying's sister-in-law said something that made my face flush, and I was stunned for a long time, but I didn't say a word.
Xiuying's sister-in-law was still not moved to see me, she thought that I didn't like Li Shuxiang, so she introduced Li Shuxiang to Yin Rukun when she turned around, Yin Rukun had this meaning, but Li Shuxiang thought that Yin Rukun had small eyes, and within a few days she was engaged to a private teacher in a neighboring village. After Li Shuxiang got engaged, I felt inexplicably uncomfortable for a while.
failed to facilitate my marriage with Li Shuxiang, and Xiuying's sister-in-law introduced me to an uncle and sister of her mother's family, that girl is called Han Xiuzhi, who is not as good-looking as Xiuying's sister-in-law, nor as beautiful as Li Shuhua, but she is a private teacher in a primary school and a junior high school graduate. I struggled for several days, but I still politely refused the kindness of Xiuying's sister-in-law. Xiuying's sister-in-law was not angry with me, and said with a smile: "I can't blame you, my sister (Han Xiuzhi) is indeed not as good-looking as Li Shuhua, wait for me to slowly touch you with a girl who is better looking than Li Shuhua." ”
I remember one day in the summer of 1976, Yin Rukun and I went to the commune post and telecommunications office to send letters, passing by the compound of the commune Revolutionary Committee, we happened to meet Director Li of the Educated Youth Office, Director Li smiled and said to the two of us: "Secretary Zhang of your brigade told me, you two compensated for his rooster, and admitted the mistake, Secretary Zhang also said that you two performed very well and did a lot of good things for the village, and next time there is a recruitment quota, you two can recruit workers into the city." ”
Actually, Secretary Zhang didn't ask for our money, nor did he tell outsiders about it, but it was someone else who inadvertently said that the educated youth stole the chickens of the team secretary, which made Director Li of the Commune's Educated Youth Office hear. The rooster was not stolen by the two of us to Secretary Zhang, but was caught by us when it ran to our Zhiqing point. We also know that Secretary Zhang made a special trip to the commune to clarify this matter for the two of us, and Yin Rukun and I are also very grateful to Secretary Zhang.
That day, Yin Rukun and I had just returned to the Zhiqing Point from the commune, and Xiuying's sister-in-law came, and she smiled and said to me: "Brother Jianhua (my name is Yang Jianhua), there is a girl in the Erlijie brigade who looks like a fairy, I am sure that you are satisfied, and tomorrow my sister-in-law will take you on a blind date." "Sister-in-law, thank you for worrying about me being tired, I want to think about personal issues in two years. I said gratefully. Xiuying's sister-in-law was really angry now, she pushed me to a stumble, stepped forward and punched me again, and said angrily: "I have run all over the villages around us, but I can be regarded as touching a big beauty, don't you use my sister-in-law as a monkey? Besides, I have told people, if you don't go on a blind date, why should I tell them." ”
Yin Rukun saw that Xiuying's sister-in-law was really angry, so he smiled and said: "Sister-in-law, don't be angry, Jianhua won't go on a blind date, I'll go on a blind date, I have long wanted to marry a daughter-in-law......"
After breakfast the next day, Yin Rukun put on my really good shirt and followed Xiuying's sister-in-law to the Erlijie Brigade, although the girl didn't take a fancy to Yin Rukun, but she finally relieved Xiuying's sister-in-law, and Xiuying's sister-in-law didn't embarrass me. No matter what I say, I am still grateful to my sister-in-law Xiuying from the bottom of my heart, and I am also grateful to my good brother Yin Rukun.
In the autumn of that year, I caught the last train recommended to go to university, successfully passed the cultural class examination and various audits, and became a worker, peasant and soldier college student at Beijing Iron and Steel Institute. In the winter of that year, Yin Rukun returned to Beijing due to illness, and after resuming the college entrance examination, he was admitted to the Beijing Institute of Technology. After many years away from school, we finally realized our college dreams.
In March this year, Yin Rukun and I came to our second hometown after many years of absence to visit the villagers, and when we walked into the courtyard of Xiuying's sister-in-law's house, Xiuying's sister-in-law recognized us at a glance, and she stepped forward and gave each of us a big hug. Xiuying's sister-in-law, who is nearly eighty years old, is deaf and blind, and she is still so strong that she almost didn't pick me up. She took my and Yin Rukun's hands and said with a smile: "My two good brothers, thank you for always sending me money and mail, and you still remember me for so many years." ”
We had two meals at Xiuying's sister-in-law's house, and Xiuying's sister-in-law didn't let us go, and said that she would give us two stewed chicken and dumplings to eat. She said that the food in the restaurant didn't count, and she cooked a meal for the two of us. The two of us had to stay at Xiuying's sister-in-law's house, eat her stewed chicken, eat her dumplings, and then we reluctantly left our second hometown and returned to Beijing.
When we separated, we agreed with Xiuying's sister-in-law that next spring, we will come back to eat the dumplings she made.
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After so many years, I still remember the experience vividly, like it happened yesterday. Whenever I think of the scene when my daughter-in-law picked up my pants, I still feel blushing. At the beginning, I was sorry for Xiuying's sister-in-law to help me out of the siege, otherwise, they would have to make me cry before it was over. Sister-in-law Xiuying, I will never forget you.
Author: Grassroots Writer (Narrator: Mr. Yang Jianhua)