There are two major hardships for intellectual youths in the countryside: hardship in life and spiritual hardship. Spiritual hardship will be discussed later. The main hardship of life is “not being able to eat” (in northern Shaanxi dialect, i.e. not enough food to eat).
In northern Shaanxi, there are only one or two months of fresh vegetables in a year, and in winter, we rely on sauerkraut, and between spring and summer, we can only eat with salt and spicy noodles. The good thing is that there are melons and fruits that can be eaten freely every autumn. At least half a year or even seven or eight months without oil, “eating fried vegetables” in the language of the old countryside has always meant a luxurious enjoyment. Jing Wen in the countryside self-learning foreign languages, mathematics and chemistry, often feel that the brain turns very slowly, or even do not turn, is not the relationship between the year-round lack of oil to eat?
Not enough food, shall not eat is the trouble of many young people. There were no side dishes and no oil, so everyone’s meals were surprisingly large. Jing Wen was as thin as a sisal pole, but surprisingly able to eat, the thinnest person, but is the village youth can eat the most, 2 feet 1 pot, a foot eight grate steamed more than half a span thick cornmeal nest, with a line strangled into seven or eight inches long a tooth a tooth long strip nest, a bite to eat a five or six teeth is still not enough, the big old bowl of noodles Tie a two or three old bowls still do not satisfy the craving. What is puzzling is that it seems that the thinner the youth, the more they can eat. Then a pig was raised, and it seems to have found an explanation. Anyone who has raised a pig knows that. The half-grown krogan pigs are very thin, but especially able to eat, a meal to feed a large pot, but as the pig fattening, the pig’s meal gradually reduced, to fully fattened, a meal can only eat a scoop, but a day to eat many meals.
Jing Wen’s meal size is smaller than that of Yang Zixiong and Wang Lifeng, the two youths in Yaojia Village. The two students were seniors in the second year of senior high school at Peking University. It is said that one year, Yang and Wang, two brothers each year more than 400 pounds of grain, food to this level in the Hukou commune is very rich village. But one person more than 400 pounds of grain two six months time to eat up. The two brothers ran to the commune to ask for food, to the commune to apply for relief. One person more than 400 pounds of grain in six months to eat up, the commune suspected that it was a waste of food. The commune sent a deputy director to travel 20 miles to Yao’s village to investigate. To the village just in time for the first morning meal, Yang and Wang students two in front of the deputy director ate a whole grate (a foot eight diameter grate) half a span of thick corn flour nest, but also drank half a pot of rice soup (porridge), is eaten, not eaten. This amount of food made the deputy director look dumbfounded, and at once granted them relief food 400 pounds.
Decades later, when I met Wang Lifeng, he told Jing Wen that the food subsidized by the commune was not enough for them to eat, and the most he ate in a year was 1,000 pounds of grain. Jing Wen said. Where can you get so much grain to eat? The commune can’t give you that much. Wang Lifeng students said he also ran to the county youth resettlement office to ask for food, sitting there, to food subsidies, and finally he also ran to the county revolutionary committee director Comrade Ma Yi Han to ask for relief food to eat. The county had no choice but to grant them food subsidies.
I heard that the two brothers Yang and Wang were the most explosive, two people with four pounds of dry flour rolled noodles, a large pot of noodles, the two brothers will be a pot of noodles with soup and water all wiped out in one breath. Four pounds of dry flour ah! There is also a legend. Two brothers had a bet with people, if you can eat 40 pounds of watermelon for nothing, the results of the two brothers will eat 40 pounds of watermelon in one breath, so that the watermelon seller had to rely on the bet.
Meet these two eaters, the commune also very headache, and then a railroad unit to recruit workers, quickly send out the two gods to recruit workers. Because can eat, hard than we stay in the countryside less than half of the time.
In Liaozhai there is a story named Tianlu, said that the total amount of food eaten in a person’s life is a fixed number, eaten life expectancy is over, the black and white impermanence will come to collect life. In the Ming Dynasty, the “four lessons” of the family book also recorded the fortune teller known as the divine fortune teller to Lu rice how many stones (quintals) buckets of liters as the unit of counting accurate fortune telling deeds. These two gods were so good at eating, would they have eaten all of their heavenly riches early on? We do not know.
Yang, Wang two students, a fat and a thin two were called big rice bucket, two rice bucket in our commune youth fame. Yang Zixiong was very fat in his early years, even in the hard years like the rural insertion still very fat. But in his later years, he was very thin and had a bad stomach and a very small amount of food, and later died of stomach cancer. Namo Amitabha Buddha! Wang Lifeng was very thin, but in his old age, he became a big fat man, with a small amount of food, and his health was still very good.
In the years when he went to the countryside, the grain yield in northern Shaanxi was heartbreakingly low.
There was a shortage of water on the Loess Plateau in northern Shaanxi, and people had to go down into the deep ditches to draw water and use donkeys to carry it up. It took more than an hour to make a round trip to draw water from the ditch in Taoqu Village. It is so difficult for people to drink water, and there is no water irrigation for crops, so we have to rely on God for rain. But there are nine droughts in ten years. It is impossible to have high grain yield.
People’s Commune era, where the mu yield of corn is only 110-130 pounds, wheat mu yield is only 80-110 pounds, cereals, millets, buckwheat and other mu yield of more than 80 pounds even good.
In addition to the drought, the people’s commune members work big wave coaxing, out of work is not an important reason for the low yield. In those days, you could see a small piece of a small piece of crop on the edge of each village to grow very lush and strong fields, that are the private members of the community’s own land.
When working alone, whether before joining the community or after the package to the household, the grain yield was at least twice as high as that of the People’s Commune.
The village of Taoqu, where Jing Wen was stationed, had a good harvest in 1969, with a per capita share of 380 pounds of grain, which was gross grain, at most 340 pounds after skinning, not even 30 pounds per month, no oil and no vegetables, not enough for the youth to eat, but some students went home because of illness, and a longer time to return to the village, saving food for the youth who stayed in the village to eat, which was barely enough to eat.
In 1970, there was a drought and the food production was reduced.
Jing Wen remembered that 60 piles of rapeseed were planted on the slope of the ridge opposite the big ditch in the west of the village. We carried the old stiff to go down the ditch and climb the slope to dig the seeds, and in the middle we carried the hoe to hoe the land again, and in the summer we went to harvest it, went over a ditch, walked 5 miles, and went to the slope to see that the rape seeds grew sparsely and short, and it took dozens of laborers two hours to finish the harvest and then bundled it up and carried it back over a ditch. The average harvest is only three or four pounds per acre, although it is a slope, it is too miserable.
Because of the drought, wheat grows very badly, and the yield per mu is only sixty to seventy pounds. After the harvest of wheat, many villages continued to plant a crop of buckwheat. Buckwheat drought-resistant, purple-red stems, green leaves, purple flowers, small flowers, single plants look inconspicuous, but patches of buckwheat blooms such as a purple sea, very beautiful. Buckwheat flowering season, Jing Wen in the Anle Mountain looking east, there are three loess from the Anle Mountain down to the Yellow River, from north to south, respectively, Taoqu, on the Hou Loess Plateau, the water south of the Loess Plateau and Sangbai, Zhaizi Loess Plateau, the three loess plateau has a large area of thousands of acres of buckwheat, buckwheat purple flowers in full bloom, the entire plateau has become purple, in the autumn clouds, the east of the world for the faint purple enveloped, is this the legendary purple east? Is this the legendary purple energy coming from the east?
But the beauty and belly are two different things, food failure is a foregone conclusion. This year, the youth in their own land planted a pile of land (3 piles equal 2 acres) of radish, due to the drought, the largest radish grows only the size of an egg, Jing Wen and classmates in their own land shaved two zu, but also did not pick up many radish, many than the pinky finger is also thin radish, are too lazy to pick up, looking at a field of broken radish cherry, Jing Wen felt some frustration.
At this time, standing on the side of the long-awaited He Zongshun’s aunt-in-law pointed to the ground of the fine radish and radish cherry timidly asked Jing Wen, these you still want? Jing Wen waved his hand, no more. He Zongshun’s aunt-in-law, with two children, quickly rushed up, picking up the scattered radish, cleaning up the battlefield. Poor old villagers, how did they survive all those years? The radish harvested by the youths could not even squeeze half a jar of sauerkraut, so what could they eat in winter?
The good thing is, the dates grew well this year, and the team gave out more than 100 pounds, and the date palm trees on their own land made more than 100 pounds of dates.
Zhang Qijiang also taught everyone to make half a vat of wine dates. Jing Wen still remembers clearly the process of making wine dates. Cut off the leaves of the jujube with leaves, but leave a small stalk, which must be intact, intact to the extent that you can lift the jujube by squeezing the stalk with your hand. The most important thing is to make sure that the stem and skin of the dates are 100% intact, if there is one bad one, the jar of dates will be finished. Then pour in 1 catty of white wine, cover it with a lid and seal it for 1 month, and the dates are made.
By the end of October, the village finished grain, back to the kiln to check some, the drought miscellaneous grains are still some harvest, divided some millets, buckwheat, hybrid sorghum, divided a lot of beans, but the corn is divided than in previous years much less; wheat is less, 1969 per capita wheat 110 pounds, 1970 per capita wheat less than 30 pounds.
This year, the village average per capita only 230 pounds of raw grain, after the skin is only 200 pounds, the average monthly per person only 17 pounds of grain, so how people live ah! Jing Wen this year, more than 350 days of labor, earned more than 3,500 work points, according to the distribution of work points more grain, but also less than 280 kg of grain. How to save is not enough to eat. How will the youths live next spring?
Since the food is not enough, we have to plan to eat. A few boys just pack water folding firewood, the meal is all by Ji Ning big sister to worry about. The so-called big sister is only 20 years old, you have to take care of a few 18 or 19-year-old brothers. In the fall it was better, mainly dates topped the big event, more than 200 pounds of dates, dried and more than 100 pounds, ate hard for more than two months, steamed a grate every few days, before work in the morning to eat a meal of dates, back from work in the evening, a meal of dates, woke up in the middle of the night, you can also grab a handful to eat, and top rice and top dishes.
After the lunar year, the days began to be tight. Pickles and dates are all eaten up, so every day you can only drink corn paste in the morning, eat corn flour nest, noodle soup with spicy noodles and salt in the evening, and the only thing you can eat at night is the “Voice of America”. The “Voice of America” had two programs that were mandatory for several young people, listening to the “Voice of America” news program every night during dinner, and listening to the daily concert program at 9:00, mostly classical music, with occasional introductions to the life and music of the musicians, which really grew a lot of knowledge. I really gained a lot of knowledge.
Because of the small amount of wheat, Jining’s sister never made noodles with white flour mixed with bean flour. After the Yangtze year, the proportion of white noodles in making noodles became less and less. The proportion of soybean flour is increasing. After more bean noodles, kneading dough brittle, can not knead, had to let the boys to knead the noodles.
From the lunar year onwards, not only were the vegetables cut off early, but there was also no oil to eat. Originally, the production team could only eat the food until the New Year, but this winter there were more young people back in Beijing, only three boys and two girls stayed in the village, 10 people’s rations for 5 people to eat, at least for another two months of suffering. By April, finally corn and wheat were all eaten, and a little beans remained.
Sister Ji went to beg the captain, the team lent the youth a bucket of fodder corn for feeding the head hub (livestock). The borrowed corn was ground into flour and steamed into a nest with a greenish color and bitterness in the mouth, which turned out to be moldy. But I had to eat it, I was hungry. Everyone was green in the face when they ate. Later I heard that eating moldy things will get liver cancer, but several brothers and sisters, so far the liver is very good, is not the hungry people are invulnerable to all kinds of poison?
A bucket of moldy corn plus a little leftover beans, and eaten for ten days and a half months, to the end of April, early May, completely cut off the food. Sister Ji went to the captain to cry a little, and borrowed two buckets of soybeans. Soybeans are ground into noodles, made into nests and rolled into noodles. People who had never eaten it might think it was delicious, but in fact it was extremely unpalatable, and it was indigestible and made people feel weak, and everyone’s face was green and yellow.
At that time, we did not know that Beijing youths could go to the commune to ask for relief food, so we had to stay dry. How did the old villagers survive at that time? Who would help them? Did they get any relief? The long breath to cover the tears, mourning the hardships of the people. They are really poor!
At this time came a good news, Yichuan County after the Cultural Revolution of the first sports games to be held, so that the young people with sports expertise to sign up to participate, it is said, to participate in the games daily meal allowance of 80 cents. The village’s Zhang Qijian students due to good basketball, has been selected to the commune’s basketball team, ahead of the county to play ball, Zhang Qijian students to send back word that the daily 80 cents food allowance to eat very beautiful gas. The green eyes of Jingwen students who are hungry and hungry green eyes immediately turned into red eyes of envy and jealousy, decided to register for the county games, in fact, is to run away, to mix and eat 80 cents a day of good and beautiful food.
To the commune registration, the commune clerk looked at Jing Wen sisal like dry thin body questioned, you sports good? Jing Wen from elementary school to middle school sports has never been a lower level, this time for that daily 80 cents of good food and drink, the body of the ribs beat the thud, loudly bragging, look at my so tall (then about 1 meter 78), I am good at sports, fast running it! So the commune clerk agreed that Jing Wen enrolled in the 200 meters, long jump and triple jump three projects.
One day in May, Jing Wen walked 90 miles to the county to participate in the games, mixed with 80 cents a day of good food and drink to meet the spring shortage.
In May 1971, it was the party festival for Beijing youths who were stationed in Yichuan, and the small county town of Yichuan, which had only one street, was full of Beijing youths who came to participate in the games, and Beijing youths accounted for 90% of the total number of athletes. The only playground in Yichuan was a small 200-meter lap of the county high school, and there was not even a 100-meter long straight track, so the sprinting competition could only be held on the gravel road in front of the county government. 200 meters was run without curves, and the 200-meter distance from the street to the end of the street was measured on the line, which was the playing field.
Jing Wen participated in his personal heavy entry project 200 meters team competition. Once the gun went off, Jing Wen took a big step forward and ran wildly, ran 30 meters and felt weakness in his legs, ran 60 meters on the chest tightness, panting like an ox, to the end of the line is already two eyes gold stars, almost collapsed to the ground. Jing Wen was more than 60 meters behind the first place. Jing Wen got the 5th place in the group (only 6 people in total), 200 meters in more than 40 seconds, Jing Wen is really indiscriminate.
Our old family has a saying: one day to eat in the mouth, ten days to eat in the legs. Jing Wen last year after the autumn divided 280 pounds of grain, spring famine and starvation for a long time, Jing Wen in the county mixed eat two days 80 cents a day of good food and drink, considered a full meal, over the mouth, but the legs or no strength, simply can not run. The group’s first score of 28 seconds, it is estimated that the buddy at least 500 pounds of grain, every day can eat a full meal.
Jing Wen is pleased that he is not the last in the group, in his back twenty to thirty meters, there is a thin youth in staggering struggling to run forward, it is estimated that the buddy only share more than 100 pounds of grain, but also indiscriminately to eat 80 cents a day to eat and drink to the spring drought.
Jing Wen participated in the long jump again, making Jing Wen angry knot is his best long jump score is only 2 meters 8, than five years ago in the second year of junior high school is much worse, when the second year of junior high school seems to be able to jump a 3 meters 5 more. Jing Wen to participate in the triple jump is even more funny, he can not learn how to jump the first step of the triple jump pedal jump, landing on one leg to jump forward the second step, and then take a big leap forward the third step of the pace of the triple jump. Finally, he let Zhang Qijiang take his place in the competition, and ended up winning a first.
Hearing that they won the first (nominal), Jing Wen a burst of ecstasy, a single first athletes, can represent the county to participate in the Yan’an Regional Games, the daily food allowance 1.2, even eat half a month, this can now eat the beauty of the gas. Unfortunately, after a day of bad news came, so the low score (9 m 8) was canceled to participate in the Yan’an Regional Games qualification, can not continue to abuse the number.
After his own project, Jing Wen relaxed and happy to watch the game, while continuing to eat mixed daily 80 cents of good beautiful food and drink, the day rip (local dialect: the meaning of comfortable) very much.
The Hukou Commune Shuinan Village internment of the Beijing youth Peking University High School old senior sister Jin Shi Yun in the games of 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters sprint race, far ahead, came out on top. She is said to have won several track and field events at the Beijing Secondary School Games. Big sister Jin Shi Yun won the long jump competition with a score of 4m6, making the lean and dry wolf man Han Jing Wen, who had a long jump score of only 2m8, sweat. I heard that Jin Shi Yun’s family is an overseas Chinese who returned to China from Canada in 1965, speaks better English than Chinese, and in the end grew up drinking milk without going through the famine, which is much better than the physical fitness of the teenagers who lost their bodies in the famine at home.
I heard that her family was also screwed up in the Cultural Revolution. Her father, an intellectual who was full of patriotic enthusiasm and determined to return to his country to serve the motherland, was ushered into the Cultural Revolution only a year after his return to Canada. Her mother, a second-generation Chinese born in Canada, was forced to remarry an old cadre for the sake of her children’s future, but the children still came to northern Shaanxi to join the troops, and the couple had no common language. Those years, life tragedies are endless! Some years ago, I saw a report on TV about the vice principal of the New York Chinese School, Jin Shi Yun, and learned that she had settled in the United States.
The long-distance running race was held in a small 200-meter lap of the playground of the county high school. In the 5,000-meter run, there was a tall, skinny young man with a clear face and a boyish look. The young man nicknamed Ghost looks very young, probably the 68th class of junior high school, two long legs, stride big, easy pace, really a little ghost of the floating style. Look at his easy running style when he started, very some championship phase. Later, or physical stamina, gradually fall behind, face showed painful expression, but gritted his teeth and insisted on running the whole course. Jing Wen deeply admired. I do not know the name of this ghost guy? How is it today?
10 km race walking project, the Hukou commune down the village of the old senior high school three Beijing youth Li Rong and classmates gritted their teeth to the end to win the championship. The village is said to be the poorest village in Hukou Commune, and Li Rong and his classmates said that the value of their village work was only 7 cents a day, and last year he worked hard for a year before he got 170 pounds of grain, and the money was not even a penny. Oh my God! How did he survive the spring famine? He won the 10km race with only 170 pounds of grain.
Jing Wen was most impressed by the 10,000-meter running race, 200 meters a lap, running 50 laps, really a donkey pulling the mill to turn the waist. There is an inconspicuous young man, medium size, small flat head, a little pale, running to the middle of the gradual lead, and later, squinting eyes, full of pain, the corners of the mouth gradually out of the white foam, but the faster you run, although the mouth full of foam, but still put everyone behind more than 5 laps, finally won the championship, to the end of the field was helped off. After a while, Jing Wen saw a lot of people around the corner of the stadium, so he ran over to see what was going on, and squeezed in to see that the 10,000-meter champion was being held by two students, leaning against the wall, eyes closed, two lines of tears flowing long, the corners of the mouth foaming, unconscious, crying “My father is not a traitor, my father is not a traitor …” That scene … That scene is still as vivid and vivid as yesterday, and it is unbearable to look back.
How many families were harmed by the political movement in the name of revolution? How many people have been harmed? Karma leads to three lives, those who do good will be rewarded! Those who do evil will be rewarded with evil!
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