(a)
My eldest brother is the eldest of my siblings, and I have two younger sisters (my eldest sister and second sister) and two younger brothers (me and my younger brother).
My eldest brother was born in the late fifties of the last century, nine years older than me. When I was born, my eldest brother was in elementary school.
At that time, in the Yushuwan mining area, it was too normal for a family structure like mine, and almost every household had a large number of adults and a group of children. At that time, my father worked alone at home, and his salary could not catch up with a month. Later, my mother started mineral processing (commonly known as sand beating) on the small No. 1 beneficiation in the first mining area of the factory, earning about 20 yuan a month, which greatly alleviated the tension of family life. The eldest brother has been very sensible since he was a child, and often helps his parents do what he can. After going to school, he and his eldest sister used the winter and summer vacations to "pick sand", "pull tiles" and "carry sand" on the sand slope in the sulfur factory mining area to earn a little money to subsidize the family. In terms of study, the eldest brother is diligent and studious, often goes home to get awards, and constantly strengthens his moral cultivation, and is a good student with excellent character and learning. It was highly praised by the school teachers and the surrounding neighbors. When the eldest brother was in the fourth grade of primary school, due to his excellent academic performance, the school teacher Chen Kuanhou and the school leaders decided to let him skip class to study in the sixth grade, and in the evening, Mr. Cheng Tao made up the fifth grade mathematics for him, and the eldest brother learned very easily.
In the fall of 1973, the eldest brother was admitted to Zhun Qi No. 2 Middle School with excellent results. At that time, Zhunqi No. 2 Middle School was a very hard high school in Zhungeer Banner. In that year, all the Chinese and mathematics champions in the national flag high school entrance examination were produced in the 825 school of Yushuwan Sulfur Factory. The number of students taking the high school entrance examination is the largest in 825 schools. When my eldest brother was in high school, I was a playful child. In the fall of 1974, I began my first grade of elementary school at School 825. Before that, my eldest brother used the summer vacation of high school to give me an enlightenment education, learning literacy, counting, and addition and subtraction within 20. Since my parents were illiterate, my eldest brother was very attentive to my enlightenment and education, and he was also very strict. After the school started in early September of that year, I passed the entrance examination smoothly. In my future studies, the school teachers all asked me to learn from my eldest brother and strive to be a "three-good student"! I secretly made up my mind to be strict with myself, and at the end of the first semester of the first grade, I joined the "Red Little Soldiers" organization. In the second semester of the first year, I was awarded the honorary title of "Three Good Students" by the school.
In the summer of 1975, the eldest brother graduated from high school. At that time, it was in the late stages of the "Cultural Revolution", and the university had not yet resumed normal enrollment. The "martial arts" that the eldest brother learned can only be taken home. Elm Bay 825 School hoped that the eldest brother could go to the school as a substitute teacher, but the eldest brother refused. He actively responded to Chairman Mao's call for "the vast world in the countryside and great achievements", and resolutely embarked on a journey with other intellectual youths in Yushuwan to go to the countryside and receive re-education from poor middle peasants.
During the period of going to the countryside, the eldest brother, like other educated youths, did hard work and ate the people's food. A few months later, the person in charge of the educated youth point recommended the eldest brother to teach at Dongfanghong Primary School. During the National Day holiday in 2008, I drove my eldest brother and went to the temple moat to visit the old site of the school where my eldest brother had taught in his days.
(b)
In the summer of 1977, the central government decided to reinstate the college entrance examination system. After a 12-year hiatus, the national college and secondary school examinations are about to resume. This news is great news for the eldest brother and millions of educated youths in the countryside.
In the era when the college entrance examination was interrupted, the studies of a large number of intellectual young people were barren. Fortunately, the eldest brother is studious, and during the period when he went to the countryside in the temple moat, although he has not given up the study of cultural classes, he is still affected after all. In the autumn and winter of that year, the 825 school of Yushuwan Sulfur Plant organized pre-examination counseling for students who applied for college and secondary schools, and the school's teachers with profound scientific knowledge completed this teaching and counseling work. When I was in the fourth grade of primary school, every afternoon when I came back from school to the Chen family compound, I heard the sound of the teacher lecturing from the main house. I leaned over the window glass and looked in, and what I saw was the eyes of students eager for knowledge and the scene of writing hard. This scene shook me deeply. After more than a month of tutoring and review, the eldest brother and his students who took the college and secondary school examination embarked on the journey to the sand to block the exam.
At the beginning of December 1977, the eldest brother took the first college entrance examination after the restoration of the college entrance examination system. Because the eldest brother's junior high school and high school were in a special period, there was no opportunity to learn foreign languages, so the candidates who took the college entrance examination in the Elm Bay area that year all applied for the junior college. After New Year's Day in 1978, the results of the college entrance examination came out. Among the Yushuwan candidates who took the college entrance examination that year, my eldest brother, Lu Hongzhi and He Jin were all admitted to the college line, and were respectively admitted to the Chinese Department of Hohshi Teachers College, the Physics Department of Baotou Teachers College and the Biology Department of Hohhot Teachers College. Of course, there are also some candidates who are admitted to the secondary school.
The eldest brother was admitted to college, which caused a huge sensation in Elm Bay that year. From school to society, from relatives to neighbors, they all spoke highly of my family! At the end of 1977, my eldest sister was also assigned to work at the Yushuwan Power Plant according to the recruitment of young people staying in the city. The work problems of the two "eldest" in the family were solved, and the faces of the parents showed smiles that they had not seen for several years. After the eldest brother went to college, he made demands on our younger brothers and sisters who were still in school, asking us to study hard and not waste our good years! In fact, when the eldest brother was admitted to the university, we already felt the pressure from the society and the school, and at the same time, we also felt the expectations of the eldest brother for his younger siblings after he was admitted to the university.
When I went to college, every time my eldest brother wrote a letter to his family, he would mention our studies. At the same time, he often mailed us tutorials and extracurricular reading materials. I remember "The Story of Edison", "The Story of a Foreign Writer", "Selected Readings of Ancient Poems" and so on. Among them, "Selected Readings of Ancient Poems" was specially mailed to me. A set of four volumes, a selection of fine poems by many poets from the pre-Qin period to the late Qing Dynasty. In a letter mailed at the same time, my eldest brother asked me to memorize all the poems in the first volume when he came home from summer vacation. I did as my eldest brother told me to complete the tasks he had assigned, and this is where my hobby and interest in literature began.
(c)
With the care and help of my eldest brother, through my own efforts, I successfully went to junior high school and high school.
During the three years of intense study and life in high school, my eldest brother still gave me strong support and funding for my study and life. After graduating from university, the eldest brother stayed in Hohhot to work. In the winter of 1981, he and his sister-in-law got married. A young man who lives and works in a grassroots mining area can imagine how difficult his life is. In this case, my eldest brother also had to sponsor my high school studies. In 1982, after I went to high school at Zhunqi No. 1 Middle School, my eldest brother gave me five yuan a month from his meager salary. The five yuan of that year was our food expenses for half a month, and the eldest brother's salary that year was more than 50 yuan per month, and the sister-in-law added up to a total of 100 yuan. In this case, my eldest brother often mailed me study materials and reference books.
In the summer of 1983, I returned to Elm Bay after completing my freshman year of high school. One day, my father came back from work and told me, "Your brother called back and asked you to go to Hoshi to get glasses." At that time, I didn't pay good attention to eye hygiene in my daily studies, and in the first semester of high school, I couldn't see the board books written by the teacher on the blackboard. In order to take care of me, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhang Junting, transferred me from the back row to the third row, but I still couldn't read the words on the blackboard. I once mentioned this matter in my usual correspondence with my eldest brother, and it was just talking, but I didn't expect my eldest brother to take this matter as a big thing, and specially called my father to ask me to go to the city to get glasses.
In late July of this year, I took a hitchhike from the Yusu factory to Hoh. This is the first time I have left Zhunqi to go to Hohhot, the capital of the autonomous region. As soon as I went to Hoh, of course, the eldest brother and sister-in-law were warmly received. They took me to visit the Five Pagoda Temple, Dazhao, Zhaojun Tomb and People's Park to broaden my horizons, and I did open my eyes.
In the second week of going to Hohhot, my eldest brother led me to the "Daming Optical Store" in the old city of Hohhot to have my eyesight tested, optometry, and finally glasses. When I put on my glasses, I feel that the world is so clear. Since then, my studies have not been affected. It was my first pair of glasses.
In the summer of 1985, I took the college entrance examination. After the college entrance examination results came out, I was dumbfounded, and I was still 11 points away from the score line. I was depressed, hesitant, and unspeakably uncomfortable. But I was not convinced and decided to tutor in Zhun Qi No. 1 Middle School. At this moment, the eldest brother called back again and asked me to go to Hohwa for tutoring. During the year of tutoring in Hohhot No. 14 Middle School, I ate at my eldest brother's house, lived in the school's nightroom, and was accompanied by the school's night-time old man. After a year of hard work, in 1986, I was admitted to the Department of Education of Inner Mongolia Normal University. The specific situation in this regard has been described in detail in my "My College Entrance Examination" in the past, so I will not repeat it here.
Four years of college life were intense and busy. On Saturdays and Sundays, I basically spend time at my eldest brother's house. Sometimes I went by myself, and sometimes my eldest brother came and called me. During college, I didn't have enough money to spend, so I went to ask my eldest brother for it, and I felt very reasonable! My brother and sister are not inferior to you, why are you so energetic! But my eldest brother and sister-in-law didn't take these things to heart back then, and they enthusiastically sponsored me.
In July 1990, after graduating from the university, I first taught at the Islamic League Normal School, and then changed my career to the administrative unit. In the year I graduated, my eldest brother was transferred to the Department of Education of Inner Mongolia, and successively served as deputy director and director of the Department of Policies and Regulations, the Department of Pragmatics and the Department of Higher Education. In the blink of an eye, more than 30 years have passed. In the past 30 years of work, I have never left the care of my eldest brother. From his own family to the growth of his children, he has always been carefully helped by his eldest brother. In 2018, the eldest brother retired from the Department of Education as a deputy inspector. After the eldest brother retired, he was rehired by the Autonomous Region Education Society as the vice president, and continued to exert his residual enthusiasm until recent years.
Looking back on my studies and work in the past, I can't help but mention the important role my eldest brother played in this process. People have to go through a lot of things in this life, but in comparison, family affection is the most memorable in a person's life. What I can do now is not to forget the family affection and remember the brotherhood.
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Source: Vitality Jungger (Author: Chen Junchi), the picture comes from the network editor: Wu Zhuoqun, Li Rong Proofreading: Li Rong, Wu Zhuoqun
Review: Yang Yang