Tea picking
- The story of the women's platoon of the Red Army in Jingangtai
Cao Duoyong
About author:Cao Duoyong is a professional writer at Anhui Academy of Literature and vice chairman of Anhui Writers Association. He has published 4 novels and 6 short story collections. He has published 3 million words of short and medium stories in journals such as "People's Literature", "Contemporary", "October", "Chinese Writers", "Writers" and "Mountain Flowers". The novel "Beautiful Village" (co-authored) won the 10th "Five Ones" Project Award of the Central Propaganda Department. The novella "Good Day" won the Anhui Literature Award. His main works include the novel "Big River Bay" and so on.
As soon as it dawned in the morning, Wu Jichun stood in the tea garden to pick tea. At that time, the leaves and buds of the tea tree were dotted with drops of crystal clear dew, and the sun was hidden on the side of the mist-shrouded mountain. Wu Jichun tied a cloth bag around his waist, picked a handful of leaf buds and stuffed them in. The sack was full of sacks, and she went to the ground. There is a bamboo basket there. The bamboo basket is large, and when I pick it off for a long time, I can't pick it up. Wu Jichun picks tea slowly, not because of the speed at which she picks tea, but because of her distraction. Wu Jichun had to stop when he picked two handfuls of leaf buds and looked down the surrounding mountains. See if there is anyone going up the mountain road? If there is a stranger going up the mountain? If the situation is unusual, Wu Jichun will leave the tea garden and hide in the dense forest on the side. If a stranger did come up the mountain, she would run up the hill as fast as she could. There was a cave halfway up the mountain, where four wounded and sick were recuperating. Wu Jichun went there to direct the wounded and sick to retreat into the mountains. It's just that Wu Jichun took over from his comrade-in-arms Peng Yulan as a nurse for 20 days, and such a situation did not occur once. As the saying goes, the most dangerous place is probably the safest. The wounded and sick were recuperating in the cave behind Li Wangchong, which was a perennial stronghold. It was arranged by Li Youtian, the director of joint security. Meals for the sick and wounded and nursing are also provided by their families. Li Youtian helped the Red Army to do things, and the Kuomintang suppressed the Communist Brigade could not have imagined. Li Wangchong harbored the wounded and sick of the Red Army, and the Kuomintang anti-communist brigade was even more unexpected. There were no strangers on the mountain road, Wu Jichun lowered his head and continued to pick tea.
Gradually, the sun climbed to the top of the mountain, and the dew on the tea trees slowly dissipated. At noon, Wu Jichun did not go down the mountain, and Li Youtian's wife went up the mountain. Li Youtian's wife carries an identical bamboo basket behind her. The bamboo basket contained food, Chinese herbal soup for the sick and wounded, cotton, bandages, and a ball of lard. Western medicine is in short supply, and Chinese medicine is substituted. There is no medicine cotton, and the broken quilt cover is boiled instead. There are no medical bandages, rag strips boiled and boiled instead. Lard is a humectant. Scrub the wound, apply a layer of lard and wrap it in a bandage. In this way, the flesh of the wound does not stick to the bandage.
Li Youtian's wife has a pair of small feet, and the mountain road is crooked and difficult to walk, Wu Jichun stopped picking tea and sat on the ground to wait. It was almost as long as a meal, and Li Youtian's wife showed her head in the bend in front of her. Li Youtian is the fifth oldest among the brothers. In Li Wangchong, Wu Jichun followed the customs and called Li Youtian's fifth uncle, and called Li Youtian's wife and fifth aunt. The locals call the girl and call Xiao Nizi. Wu Jichun was 21 years old that year, and in the eyes of Li Youtian's wife, he was still a child. Li Youtian's wife shouted from afar: "Xiao Nizi, come and pick up the fifth aunt, there is delicious food in the back basket." "Picking tea for a long time, I don't see a mouthful of water, I don't see a grain of rice, and my stomach is "gurgling" in the morning. Wu Jichun stood up and stepped forward to take the bamboo basket. The bamboo basket is heavy and has a mixed taste of food and Chinese medicine.
The fifth aunt asked, "What do you guess you burned today?"
Wu Jichun said: "I know. ”
The fifth aunt said, "You know, what do you say?"
Wu Jichun said: "Bamboo shoots roast meat. ”
The fifth aunt was stunned for a moment and asked, "How do you know?"
Wu Jichun said: "I can smell it at the tip of my nose. ”
The fifth aunt said, "You little girl, overheard me talking to your fifth uncle last night." ”
Wu Jichun smiled and didn't answer.
Wu Jichun came here for 20 days, and he had mixed noodles and porridge, pickled cabbage in the morning and evening, and fried cabbage at noon. Plant a bunch of cabbage next to the house of the fifth aunt's house, eat half a furrow in winter, and leave half a furrow. In spring, cabbage grows cabbage, and what is eaten at noon is stir-fried cabbage. Eating one meal, two meals, and three meals, Wu Jichun's mouth was full of the bitter taste of cabbage. There are five more people in the family to eat, and Li Youtian's family is doing their best. Besides, in the spring of the barren, those who stutter are considered good people. Last night, Li Youtian's wife said to Li Youtian: "You will go to Dongheji tomorrow to cut meat, you didn't see Xiao Nizi come here, you can't eat my family's food, it's dark and thin." Li Youtian agreed: "Okay! I'm eating roast pork with bamboo shoots this day." At that moment, Wu Jichun wanted to walk over and say to them: "I can't eat, it's not that I don't like food, it's that I'm scared day and night, my heart is not steady, I can't eat and sleep." Thinking about it, Wu Jichun closed his mouth and didn't say anything. Before going down the mountain, Shi Yuqing, the head of the women's platoon, explained to her: "Your task is to take good care of the wounded and sick, protect the safety of the wounded and sick, and it is not your business to worry about what to eat and what not to eat for three meals a day." ”
The fifth aunt went down the mountain with a bamboo basket with leaf buds on her back. Wu Jichun carried a bamboo basket with food on his back and went up the mountain.
Wu Jichun went to the mountain every evening to take a walk in the village to check the movements in and out of the village. During the day, when the enemy goes up the mountain, it is easy for them to see the road clearly, and Wu Jichun stands in the tea garden picking tea, and it is just as easy to see the enemy clearly. The most worrying thing was that at night, when the enemy went up the mountain, she could not see, and she and the wounded and sick had nothing to do if they blocked the entrance to the cave. Four wounded and sick people are hiding in different caves. At noon, Wu Jichun went from cave to cave to deliver food, feeding the wounded and sick one by one, feeding them with food, medicine, cleaning wounds, and changing bandages. Dirty cotton, bury it on the spot. Dirty strips of cloth, take them down the mountain to clean them, boil them in boiling water, and use them again next time. Four wounded and sick, several old Zhou were seriously injured. The old man is old, and he is over sixty years old. During the Long March of the 25th Army, he stayed in weak health and joined the Shangnan guerrillas. His injuries have not recovered. Two days ago, Lao Zhou began to have a high fever, and drank the medicinal soup that cleared heat and detoxified, but there was no effect. Seeing that Lao Zhou was dying, he would not live for a few days. Wu Jichun went to feed Lao Zhou's food, soaked the mixed noodles in the vegetable soup, and fed them one bite at a time. Lao Zhou only eats mixed bread, not bamboo shoots and pieces of meat.
Wu Jichun said: "The bamboo shoots are fragrant, you can taste them." ”
Lao Zhou said weakly: "I have bad teeth, so I can't chew." ”
Wu Jichun said: "The fat meat is burned badly, you eat a piece." ”
Lao Zhou shook his head and said: "It's a waste for me to eat meat, you eat two more pieces, so that you can run up and down the mountain to take care of the wounded and sick." ”
Wu Jichun's eyes were moist, and tears came out of his eyes. Wu Jichun said: "There are a lot of bamboo shoots and roasted meat today, and I have something to eat." ”
Lao Zhou said: "Then ask other comrades to eat more, they will heal their injuries one day earlier, and fight the white bandit army one day earlier." ”
On this day, Wu Jichun felt sad and didn't eat a bite of bamboo shoots to roast pork.
Two months ago, Wu Jichun just went to King Kong Terrace. Before this, she was captured and imprisoned twice, tortured many times, and beheaded at the execution ground, it is not too much to say that she has experienced nine deaths in her life.
In the summer of 1935, due to the betrayal of traitors, the rear hospital of the Red 28th Army where Wu Jichun was located was attacked by the Kuomintang army. Dean Lin Zhihan and political commissar Xiong De'an organized comrades to fight the enemy on the one hand, and disperse to break through on the other. The battle lasted from early morning to mid-afternoon, and more than 20 people died heroically. Xiong De'an was wounded and brutally killed. Lin Zhihan was seriously injured, and his lover Zhu Shuliang died heroically. Wu Jichun was captured along with Lin Zhihan, a total of 19 caretakers and miscellaneous personnel. On the way, Lin Zhihan learned through observation that the Kuomintang army that attacked the hospital was Zhang Xueliang's 112th Division of the Northeast Army. At that time, Zhang Xueliang's troops generally did not kill doctors and nurses. Lin Zhihan told Wu Jichun not to be afraid of the enemy, not to tell the truth to the enemy, just said that the family was poor and could not eat, so he came to the hospital to take care. Wu Jichun always insisted that he was young during the trial, and he only worked as a nurse to eat, and he didn't know anything else. For more than four months, Wu Jichun was first imprisoned in the Judge Advocate General's Office, and then in a prison cell. During this period, she was interrogated and tortured many times, but her true identity was not revealed. In the end, Wu Jichun was sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment, punished with hard labor, and was released on bail by his family half a year later.
After returning home, Hu Ming, a plainclothes team appointed by the Communist Party of China in Northeast Hubei Province, came to see her and told her to stay at home to do revolutionary work. Soon after, the local organization was discovered by the enemy, and Wu Jichun was arrested again, spent ten days in a prison cell, and was tortured and interrogated three times. She always insisted, "I don't know anything." "When the enemy killed other comrades, they escorted her to the execution ground to be beheaded. Subsequently, Wu Jichun was released on bail by Wu Dianzhang. Wu Dianzhang is the platoon leader of the local militia group and Wu Jichun's uncle.
Gong Zhifu, the head of the militia group, heard that Wu Jichun was young and beautiful, so he wanted to marry her and go home to be his little wife. Wu Dianzhang thought that this was a good opportunity to climb the dragon and attach the phoenix, so he agreed to come down. Wu Jichun resolutely refused to agree. Gong Zhifu was annoyed and angry, and sent more than a dozen groups to snatch Wu Jichun over and forcibly get married. In the new house, Wu Jichun swore to death with a pair of scissors. Gong Zhifu had no choice but to take Wu Jichun, he suspected that she was a member of the Red Army, and he was afraid that the Red Army would settle accounts with him after the autumn, so he had to send Wu Jichun home and order Wu Dianzhang to guard her strictly. Wu Dianzhang did not dare to disobey the order, and asked Wu Jichun to work at home during the day, and locked her up in the militia artillery tower at night. The organization learned of this and secretly deployed a rescue plan. One night, a few athletic men infiltrated the militia turret. This is a plainclothes team sent by the Communist Party of China in northeastern Hubei Province. The leader is Hu Ming, whom Wu Jichun has seen. Several plainclothes team members took advantage of the gap between the opening of the door and pouring water, and rushed into the turret, and several pistols were aimed at the heads of several regimentals, and they did not dare to move. Hu Ming said: "We don't want to hurt you, we just want to take people. The regiment did not dare to resist, and the plainclothes team took Wu Jichun out of the militia artillery tower and sent him back to the army.
This time, the organization sent Wu Jichun to Jingangtai, mainly to take care of Li Wangchong's wounded and sick. After several hardships of life and death, Wu Jichun knows that the choice in the face of death is easy, and the choice in the face of life is difficult. The enemy interrogated and tortured her, but she didn't say anything, and was faced with the choice of death. The enemy dragged her to the execution ground to accompany her, she was not afraid of anything, and she was also faced with the choice of death. People say that when a person's head falls to the ground, it is a big deal to leave a scar the size of the bowl. Gong Zhifu forcibly wanted to marry her, and what she was facing was the choice of life. That night became a memory she couldn't forget.
That night, Gong Zhifu returned to the new house from the banquet, but he didn't expect Wu Jichun to hold a pair of scissors in his hand. The scissors are only the size of a palm, and Wu Jichun has been carrying them with him these days. It's her weapon against her enemies, and it's her weapon against herself. Gong Zhifu looked down on Wu Jichun half-drunk and half-conscious. Gong Zhifu said: "What's the use of such a small pair of scissors? After a while, I'll ask someone to send a pistol for you to play with." Wu Jichun pointed the scissors at his neck and said, "I can't kill you, I'll kill myself." Gong Zhifu said with a smile: "Don't stab yourself, if you don't die, break your appearance, and stay in my house as a servant, I will think you are ugly." Without defense, Wu Jichun turned the scissors and stabbed Gong Zhifu violently. Gong Zhifu hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop it, his hand was cut, and he was bleeding. Gong Zhifu was not annoyed, but smiled even more happily. Gong Zhifu said: "I like a fierce woman like you." ”
Gong Zhifu did not give up, and asked his second aunt to persuade Wu Jichun. Gong Zhifu's second aunt, Wu Jichun knows, named Qian Lijuan. Three years ago, Wu Jichun and Qian Lijuan worked together as nurses in the 225th Regiment Infirmary of the 75th Division of the 25th Red Army. Gong Zhifu led the militia to cooperate with the Kuomintang army to encircle and suppress. Five nurses and four seriously wounded were captured by the medical staff. That time, Wu Jichun escaped. Four seriously wounded were shot dead on the spot. Five guards were taken to a temple at the foot of the hill by the vigilante group. Tuan Ding held a gun and told them to stand in a row with their backs against the courtyard wall of the temple, and one by one they were pulled to the opposite side, standing there with their faces facing the courtyard wall, and Tuan Ding raised his gun and shot them in the back of the head. Among the five caregivers, Qian Lijuan was the most beautiful, and the last one was pulled over. shot the four guards in front of him, and Gong Zhifu stood aside without moving. When Qian Lijuan was shot, Gong Zhifu walked over and said to her: "You are so young and beautiful, it's a pity that you die like this." I'll show you a way out, and you'll answer me if you think about it. Qian Lijuan's eyes darkened little by little, her mind became confused little by little, where is the light and the way to live? Gong Zhifu said: "I'll give you one night, you tell me tomorrow morning, do you want to be my second aunt?" ”
This time, Gong Zhifu gave Wu Jichun a night away. Wu Zhifu said: "I asked Qian Lijuan to come over and tell you in person, whether she lives with me is moisturized or not, and my two hands hold her like holding a flower." ”
Qian Lijuan walked over with a wicker box in her hand. When the wicker box was opened, there were women's clothes and silk fabrics. There is also a jewelry box with gold rings, gold earrings, gold necklaces, jade bracelets and the like. Qian Lijuan said: "I gave you the clothes. The jewelry was prepared by the master a long time ago. ”
Whether a woman is doing well or not, whether she is comfortable or not, is not in her dress, but in her complexion. Qian Lijuan stood in front of Wu Jichun like a spring breeze and willows. Wu Jichun knew at a glance that she was a woman who lived well and comfortably.
Qian Lijuan said: "What do women want to do when they are born in this world? Don't you just want to find a man who feels sorry for you, so that you don't have to worry about food or clothing?"
Wu Jichun didn't speak, and held the scissors tightly with both hands. It seems that Qian Lijuan is here to snatch the scissors from her hand, not to persuade her to change her mind.
Qian Lijuan said: "If you are too much of a third aunt, call my sister wronged." The two of us will change one by one, I will be the third aunt, you will be the second aunt, and I will call you sister. ”
What kind of woman is Gong Zhifu's eldest wife, Wu Jichun doesn't know, and he doesn't want to know. Qian Lijuan took away the jewelry box and left the wicker box. There were two gun-wielding men dangling in the doorway. Wu Jichun was the only one left in the new house. This night, Wu Jichun didn't close his eyes, and it was impossible to close his eyes. Wu Jichun looked forward to the dawn and was afraid of the dawn. She didn't know what kind of tricks Gong Zhifu had after dawn. When the rooster crowed for the fifth watch, Wu Jichun held scissors in his hand and stabbed his left index finger. Little by little, the blood beads grew bigger and rolled to the ground with a "snap". Half a year has passed, and the scar on the index finger is still there. Wu Jichun thought about it, looked at it, and touched it, like a kind of alertness.
In the afternoon, Wu Jichun stood in the tea garden picking tea, and his heart was always uneasy. What big things will happen? Lao Zhou will not be able to last this morning or tomorrow night, this is known. That is, something happened in the village. On this day, Wu Jichun didn't wait for the sky to get dark, so he hurriedly went down the mountain and walked into Li Wangchong. The villages in the mountain nest are not big, more than ten or twenty families are crowded at the foot of the mountain, your house is close to my house, my house is close to your house, the alleys are twisted and curved, not distinguishing between east and west, not distinguishing between north and south. Wu Jichun was afraid to leave, so he had to walk in. In the past, at times like this, there would be sparse villagers walking around in the alley, but today I can't see a single villager. The houses on both sides of the alley are closed, as if they have walked into a village where no one is inhabited. Wu Jichun was alert, walked forward slowly, and slowly approached Li Youtian's house. Wu Jichun heard the voice coming from Li Youtian's house, the voice of a strange man questioning and the cry of Li Youtian's wife.
- It seems that you don't want to take us up the mountain to search for the communist bandits?
I don't know where the gangsters are, how can I take you to find them?
- Li Youtian has already confessed that there are gangsters harboring in the mountains, don't you know?
- Who said that he knows, who do you call to bring? What do I know as a woman?
Wu Jichun understood what was going on, turned around and ran outside the village. Two soldiers walked out of the alley and shouted at Wu Jichun to stop, saying that if you don't stop, we will shoot! Where will Wu Jichun stop? The two soldiers "bang" and fired two shots. Wu Jichun desperately turned left and right to run up the mountain, and the two soldiers chased the mountain while shooting. The escape route had already been surveyed by Wu Jichun. It was a route away from the cave of the sick and wounded. The route leads through a dense forest to the side of a cliff. Escaping here, Wu Jichun can hide in the stone crevices on the cliff, and he can also close his eyes and jump down with his legs. This is a place where life and death are decided, and if you can't choose to live, you have to choose death.
Wu Jichun checked the route during the day, but he didn't expect that this was a wild boar's nest at night. Next to the cliff, the woods are dense and appear black. Wu Jichun stepped on the wild boar, and the wild boar "snorted" and went up to bite her. Fortunately, I bit on the hem of my trousers and tore off a lock. In the howl of the wild boar, Wu Jichun was exposed, and two soldiers chased after him. She quickly hid in a crack in the stone and threw down two large stones. The stone rolled down the bottomless cliff, and two soldiers stood beside the boar's nest, looking at the sound of "bang-la-la-la".
One of the soldiers asked, "Did the man fall?"
Another soldier replied, "I'm afraid I'll fall into a ball of meat sauce." ”
The two soldiers walked away. Wu Jichun didn't walk away. She knew the enemy would search the mountains tonight.
Supplement: Wu Jichun, born in 1915, is a native of Xinxian County, Henan. In September 1955, he was awarded the rank of Major. In August 1988, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Red Star, 2nd degree. She was one of the few female Red Army soldiers who walked down from the King Kong Terrace of Dabie Mountain. He died in 2001 at the age of 86.
Huainan Bagong Mountain has a rich history and humanities, and it is also the place where the book "Huainanzi" was written, and the place name brand is well-known, which has a great influence on the works of propaganda writers. "Bagongshan Literature" (yearbook) is an internal publication supervised by the Propaganda Department of the Bagongshan District Party Committee and the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, guided by the Huainan Writers Association, and sponsored by the Bagongshan Writers Association. The journal is committed to the development and prosperity of literature, and provides a platform for writers, poets and literature lovers in Bagongshan District, other counties and districts of Huainan City, as well as all over the country to exchange and display their works. As of this year, seven issues of Bagongshan Literature have been published (2016-2022 volumes). It has had a great impact on the literary world.
Today's headlines "Eight Public Angles" cooperated to select the outstanding works among them. Cao Duoyong's novels released in this issue of "Bagong Angle" are selected from the 2022 volume of "Bagongshan Literature" "Langji Qingqing" novel column.
(Editorial Department of "Bagongshan Literature" of Huainan Bagongshan Writers Association)
On April 18, 2024, today's headlines "Eight Pictures Angle" were released