Scholar speaks of the heart | There is a small aspen on the frontier

Source: People's Liberation Army Daily, China Military Trumpet

On my father's desk was a yellowed old photograph. In the photo, my father and Uncle Mao Xiangjun stand next to a small aspen tree with their arms around each other's shoulders, and the humble dormitory and barren eyes behind them show the harshness of the environment. This photo is considered a treasure by my father. He said that Uncle Mao is not only his close comrade-in-arms, but also an "opponent" who knows himself and his opponent.

One

In 1993, his father joined the army and began his military career. "When I joined the army, I was on the same train as your uncle. Later, we went to military school and took the same train. Looking back on those years, telling the story of him and Uncle Mao, my father always danced with his eyebrows, "When I was in the company, we compared internal affairs, physical fitness, and tactics, and even sang before meals to compare who sang loudly......

"Little poplar, little poplar, it grows and I grow, guard the border with me......" My father's military story and the song "Little Poplar" have always accompanied me growing up. My father told me that during the military school, I had to take a five-stroke input test. He and Uncle Mao had never touched the computer, so the two of them practiced day and night, sometimes sitting in front of the computer for a day, reciting each other's root lists during breaks, and finally passed the exam successfully.

"I can't beat Mao Xiangjun in grenade throwing, so I practice when it's time to rest. I had a strained shoulder, so he helped me massage and apply the medicine. "These past events, which are full of comradeship, have given me a special affection for the army since I was a child.

I remember the night when the college entrance examination results came out, my father talked to me a lot at the dinner table. His eyes were full of anticipation for me to apply for military school. But I was a little hesitant in my heart, worried that I wouldn't be able to endure hardship. Seeing that I was hesitant, my father sighed helplessly: "Today, your uncle called me to ask me." It's still his son who is angry, and he will fill in the military academy without saying a word. ”

After saying that, my father put down the dishes and chopsticks and left silently. At that moment, I looked at my father's slightly rickety back and thinning hair, and my feelings were very complicated. That night, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and finally made up my mind to apply for military school, both for my father and for myself.

When the military school admission letter was sent to the family, my father chatted with Uncle Mao on the phone for a long time, and the two talked and laughed for a while. After the call, my father told me: "Uncle Mao Xiangjun's son is called Mao Wentao, and he is a few months older than you. You both went to the same school and were to take care of each other. Of course, you can't lose to him in training or life. ”

Two

When I entered the military academy, my first "big thing" was to find Mao Wentao, whom I had never met.

Knowing that we were assigned to the same cadet team, I looked for Mao Wentao's name one by one on the label on the dormitory door, and finally met him at the end of the corridor. He was a little whiter than I had imagined, and much stronger than I was. He recognized me at a glance: "You are exactly the same as Uncle Wang in the photo." ”

The process of transforming from a local youth to a cadet is full of hardships. Standing in a military posture under the scorching sun, an emergency assembly in the middle of the night...... The monotonous and tense daily life has become the starting point of my military journey with Mao Wentao.

When it was my turn to help cook, Mao Wentao would deliberately "change shifts" with other comrades-in-arms, accompany me to choose vegetables in the back kitchen and wash dishes in the water room...... Once, Mao Wentao asked me if I could sing "Little Poplar". I immediately sang: "A little poplar, growing next to the outpost...... but I didn't sing a few words before I went out of tune. Mao Wentao grinned at me on the side and said, "Come on, come on, sing along with me." The roots are deep, the cadres are strong, and they are watching the ...... of Northern Xinjiang", he changed the topic and continued to tease me: "My dad often told me that your dad had a lot of food when he first joined the army. Unexpectedly, you look thin like your father, but the amount of food is not small. ”

As he spoke, he took out a steamed bun from the pocket of his camouflage uniform and handed it to me, saying, "I will hand over the steamed buns that I can't finish eating in the future." My dad also told me not to waste food. ”

Looking at the steamed buns in my hand, a warm current rose in my heart, and I suddenly understood why my father always talked about Uncle Mao and those seemingly insignificant military camp pasts.

In life, Mao Wentao and I are "like brothers", and in training, we often compete.

During an assessment of the basic tactical movements, the two of us secretly competed under the barbed wire for an afternoon. After the assessment, seeing that my wrist was injured and bleeding, Mao Wentao said while disinfecting me: "This time you won, when you go back to school, we will continue to compete in cultural classes." ”

Later, during a field training, I accidentally broke my foot and had to rest in bed. At night, looking out the window at the bright moonlight, I asked Mao Wentao, who was lying on the top bunk: "Do you feel homesick, or do you feel bored and regret the life in the barracks?"

Mao Wentao looked at me, was silent for a while, and said, "Minzhe, do you know why Xiao Baiyang can still stand tall in the difficult environment of border defense?" I looked at the moonlight pouring into the house from the window, and I was speechless for a moment.

He went on to say: "Because no matter the wind or sun, the little aspen will quickly adapt to the environment and take root and grow in the grinding." ”

Mao Wentao didn't answer my question in the end, but I already had the answer in my heart.

Three

After graduation, Mao Wentao and I both chose to go to the frontier, and Mao Wentao was even luckier to be assigned to the "Little Poplar Outpost". When we were resting, we often talked on the phone. Mao Wentao said that he and his comrades-in-arms watered the little poplars and brushed them with lime water...... Such bits and pieces make me envious. I decided to go to the place in my father's photo, the birthplace of the little poplar story, and Mao Wentao's unit to "find out".

On vacation this year, I boarded the train to the Little Poplar outpost. Knowing that I was coming, Mao Wentao waited for me at the gate of the camp early. As soon as we met, he couldn't wait to show me the little poplars in the camp.

Mao Wentao told me that the company had recently organized everyone to brush the trees in the camp with lime water, and he deliberately left the little aspen tree behind and waited for me to come and "paint it white" with him.

That day, Mao Wentao and I walked side by side in the camp. In the early spring of the station, there was a slight chill in the breeze. Before I knew it, the "different" little aspen appeared in front of me. Its branches were bare, the white ash on its trunk was somewhat faded, and the surroundings were no longer as barren and barren as they once were.

I gently stroked it, hoping to convey the ups and downs of this growth to it through the palm of my hand. Feeling the traces left by the wind and frost on the little poplar, I seemed to hear it patiently explain to me what it means to persevere.

After a while, Mao Wentao brought a bucket of lime water and two brand-new brushes in his arms. After taking the brush, the two of us squatted next to the little poplar and brushed together, and the scene was very similar to helping cook and wash dishes together in the military academy. While brushing, he asked me, "You say, did our father paint the little poplar like this back then?"

"Definitely, they used to guard the little poplar, and now we are guarding the little poplar. I replied.

After brushing, Mao Wentao and I looked at the "white spots" on each other's bodies and smiled.

Before parting, Mao Wentao and I stood under the little poplar, hugged each other's shoulders like our fathers, and asked our comrades-in-arms to take a group photo for us. The little aspen tree was tall and straight under the warm sun, full of vitality.

When I got home, I put this picture on my desk, just like the old one my father treasured.

(Produced by the People's Liberation Army Daily, China Military Horn)