Preface
Before Zhang Qian died, she called the children to her hospital bed and explained something to them.
Zhang Qian was sterilized after giving birth to four children
In 1940, Chen Yi and Zhang Qian got married a few days before the Spring Festival, and not long after they got married, Chen Yi's unit went to open up an anti-Japanese base in northern Jiangsu according to the instructions of the central government.
Two years later, the first son of the two, Chen Haosu, was born, Zhang Qian was not yet 20 years old at this time, for her, the feeling of being a mother is very strange, in order to better raise children, Zhang Qian had to temporarily leave her job. Once, Chen Yi came home from the front line and saw the child crying, but his wife was in a hurry, so he picked up his son and joked to his wife: "Comrade sister-in-law, I only got a doll in my 40s, why don't you hurt him more!" ”
In 1943, Zhang Qian gave birth to her second child, Chen Danhuai, and in the same year, Chen Yi received a new order, and Zhang Qian and her husband separated, and the wait was 2 years, because the post and telecommunications were not connected at that time, and the news between the two was very closed.
Zhang Qian was not idle here, she obeyed the instructions of the organization, packed her bags and went to the Department of Finance and Economics of Huazhong Construction University to serve as a political officer, but when she rested, Zhang Qian always inevitably remembered her husband who was far away in Yan'an.
The father and wife met again in 1945, after the outbreak of the Liberation War, Zhang Qian wanted to go to the rear hospital for an abortion after comprehensive consideration, Chen Yi of course did not agree with his wife's decision, Zhang Qian had just landed, Chen Yi's letter was also sent as quickly as possible, in the letter, Chen Yi persuaded Zhang Qian not to do this, after all, there is no professional obstetrician and gynecologist in the rear hospital, if something happens, the two will definitely regret it.
Zhang Qian is not a person who goes all the way to the black, after reading the letter, Zhang Qian took into account the progress of the military situation ahead, her husband is already very hard, if she worries about her own affairs anymore, it is really inappropriate, so Zhang Qian immediately dispelled this idea.
The following year, Zhang Qian gave birth to a third child in the sound of artillery fire - Chen Xiaolu, at this time Zhang Qian was anxious, and had no energy to raise the child at all, so she thought about giving the child to those cadres who had no children, but unfortunately, no one could accept it after asking around, and in desperation, Zhang Qian could only personally drag the family and take the children to flow in the rear, while Chen Yi was fighting on the front line without distraction, and the husband and wife gathered less and left more.
It was not until the liberation of Shanghai that Zhang Qian entered Shanghai with her three children, and their family was reunited, ending this life of less gathering and more separation.
The following year, Zhang Qian's youngest daughter Shanshan was born, after which Zhang Qian underwent sterilization, this year, she was 28 years old, in 1951, Zhang Qian left her job to study at the Beijing Russian College, in the winter of the same year, she unfortunately suffered from tuberculosis, and could only take a break from school to recuperate, however, Zhang Qian did not give up, but self-taught, and finally mastered the Russian language proficiently, and also translated and published several works.
Chen Yi chose a career path for his daughter
Chen Yi's children are very particular about their names, all according to their birthplace, for example, Chen Haosu was born in Jiangsu, and the other two sons are the same, only the youngest daughter has something special, because she is late, so she is called Shanshan, however, after joining the army, her name was also changed, this is what we later know Cong Jun.
Cong Jun's resume is very good, she once went to school in the middle school attached to Beijing University of Foreign Languages, in 1972, with the approval of Premier Zhou, Chen Congjun went to the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom to study language, after the reform and opening up, she went to the United States to go to school, obtained a master's degree, you may not know that she is also one of the few female ambassadors in the mainland.
However, when Cong Jun made the choice of major, he was also entangled for a long time, mainly because Chen Yi and his wife had a disagreement on the planning of their daughter, in Zhang Qian's view, her daughter is suitable for taking the artistic route, so she trained her piano and violin at a young age, but in Chen Yi's view, the country is very scarce for foreign language talents, and it would be good if Cong Jun could learn a little foreign language. Chen Congjun seriously thought about his parents' opinions, and finally decided to choose his father's path, Chen Yi happily prepared textbooks for his daughter after learning of his daughter's decision.
It's a pity that after Chen Congjun graduated from junior high school, he encountered ten years of turmoil, Chen Yi was powerless, and watched his daughter become a nurse, but even in this case, Chen Yi still did not give up cultivating his daughter, and he did not interrupt his daughter's learning of foreign languages.
In 1971, Chen Congjun went to Beidaihe to visit his parents, and before leaving, Zhang Qian handed her daughter an English medical textbook, so Chen Congjun later embarked on this path, partly because of her parents' unwavering support.
Unlike Chen Congjun, in Chen Haosu's view, the image of his father is relatively vague, and when he was young, he only knew that his father was a soldier and a general, and adults called his father "501 chief". In Chen Haosu's eyes, the image of his father is mysterious enough, but not kind enough, in his childhood memory, his father is always far away from him, he is on the front line every day to direct the war, he can only move in the rear with his mother and brothers.
Chen Haosu also learned about his father's past history from many articles, and he regretted that he couldn't personally consult his father about the psychological activities and practices in those battles.
In 1971, Chen Yi's colon cancer condition took a turn for the worse, he had to undergo a second operation, after that, his physical condition was very bad, frequent fever, coma, on January 4 of the following year, Chen Yi's body temperature dropped, but his consciousness regained consciousness, he was able to clearly recognize, guarding his bedside is his wife and four children, looking at his father's lips constantly moving, Shanshan stepped forward to put his ear to his father's lips, and finally heard his last words: "Chairman Mao...... Defeat the enemy. This is Chen Yi's last sentence in the world.
Zhang Qian did not have any requirements for the specific arrangements for her husband's memorial service, in her opinion, a Communist Party member who worked all his life, as long as he could be recognized as serving the people, was enough.
After the death of her husband, Zhang Qian has been immersed in grief, but fate is still unwilling to let her go, Chen Yi died only 70 days ago, Zhang Qian was found to have lung cancer, after learning about this, Zhang Qian around her cried for her, only she silently suffered the blows, in the face of these successive blows, Zhang Qian has been a little numb.
After the doctor checked Zhang Qian's physical condition, he decided to perform surgery on her, and at this time Cong Jun must have set to study abroad in mid-March, and the people around Zhang Qian persuaded her to keep her daughter by her side without exception, and wait for the results to see the results after the operation before making a decision, however, Zhang Qian did not agree, and Cong Jun still set off as scheduled.
After the operation, Zhang Qian's recovery was quite good, and within a few days, she was able to listen to her son read her husband's posthumous manuscript on the hospital bed, and after a while, Zhang Qian was able to get out of bed by herself, and she read the manuscript by herself.
Even in her later years, Zhang Qian continued to work tirelessly, and in the winter of 1972, Zhang Qian reviewed all the poems and compiled a collection of 100 poems.
After my sister gets married, you can split up
Before Zhang Qian died, she specially called Chen Haosu's three sons to her hospital bed and solemnly explained to them: You must wait until your sister gets married and starts a family before you can separate the family.
In the Spring Festival of 1977, three years after the death of their mother, the three brothers Chen Haosu complied with their mother's wishes, and everyone pooled money to arrange a wedding for their little sister.
Chen Congjun's life is also very happy, her husband was her classmate when she studied in the UK, and like her, they were engaged in diplomatic work, and they were both moved by each other's interactions, and later, their only son also graduated from Beijing University of Technology and had an excellent job.
When he was over half a hundred years old, Chen Congjun called the children to him and told them that he hoped that they could become people of struggle and integrity.