Emmett's Epoch of Endeavor Chapter 17

At that time, there were about 150 "Black Category 5 elements" in the town. They gathered under the observation tower of the fire brigade every night, listening to and reading newspapers, and sometimes listening to the lectures of Director Zhang of the police station. Mayor Wang and Minister Luo of the Chengxiang District Armed Forces Department occasionally came to give lectures. After the autumn of 1966, the rebels rose and the situation became more complicated. Considering that problems could easily arise if more than a hundred people gathered together, the superiors dispersed the "Black Five Categories" into seven or eight groups, and each group was in its own place every night. study. The so-called town-run welfare businesses refer to various businesses in the streets, including wood furniture shops, brick and tile shops, ironware shops, vegetable shops, washing and dyeing shops, sewing shops, honeycomb coal shops, and transportation teams. 

There are ten "black five types of elements" in total. Nine people formed a group and gathered every night to study in the venue of the wood furniture club where I sawed. This so-called meeting place is really pitiful. It is just a hall leading from the woodware store sales department to the backyard. The venue was very narrow, with one hundred-watt electric light inside and two short benches along the wall, which were not large enough to sit on. Latecomers sat on the big logs under the wall. There are no tables. There is a portrait of Chairman Mao on the wall. An old-fashioned chiming clock hangs under the statue, ticking to give learners something to look forward to. I was in this group and read the newspaper aloud to my classmates under the lights every night, inserting a few sentences of explanation from time to time. President Yue is in charge of our group's studies. His house is right next to the venue, so he doesn't have to come to the venue to sit with us. 

During the two hours of night school, he came twice: once after 7:30, he came to see who was absent so that they could go to school tomorrow; once before 9:30, he came to look at the wall clock and sit for a while. After a moment, he announced: "That's all for today. Let's go back." President Yue's family is in the countryside, he was a cooper, illiterate, and not interested in political studies. Most of the things I read aloud he couldn't understand. Six years later, the whole country criticized Kong Laoer. President Yue thought that Kong Laoer was Sun Wukong (in my local pronunciation, Sun Wukong was Sun Wukong). At the employee study meeting of the company, he spoke and said: "It is unrealistic to say that he can hit a hundred and eighty thousand miles with a single pound. This is unrealistic and should be criticized!" The whole audience was confused at first, and then laughed. He was always tolerant when it came to our studies and never scolded or made things difficult for us. The "Fifth Category Elements" all said to me behind my back: "Your father-in-law is a good person." (lz)
 
Thanks to reading the newspaper every night, I was able to understand the major events in the world without becoming politically illiterate. I read newspapers very enthusiastically and am active in discussions and speeches. Of course, they all followed the newspaper propaganda and did not dare to say what they were thinking. Even though I knew that it was a lie and heresy, I took the lead in speaking and enthusiastically supported it. I have the ability to turn lies into truth and heresy into truth without blushing. My classmates admire me and think I am knowledgeable. There are several students who are illiterate. They were bandits, policemen, bailiffs, and bought and sold guns before liberation. They all asked me to write self-reviews and guarantees for them--review their recent past. The trivial mistakes they made ensure that they will clean up their act and never make the same mistake again. They think that the review I wrote is the most profound and the guarantee I wrote is the most specific. They take it to their supervisory team leader. They can't find any faults and can easily pass the test.

Thanks to reading the newspaper every night, the "Black Five" finally had social activities. The revolutionary workers are unwilling and dare not pay attention to them. Therefore, when we gather every night, most of them arrive early, and before the study begins, they chat and laugh together in twos and threes, recall what they have seen and heard in the past, or report today's news, all looking very happy. There are also those five or six classmates who work on the transportation team to pull the trucks. Because they have to go to the factory in Qingbaijiang District, Chengdu every morning to load the goods, they can't help but peek at the newly posted big-character posters. They know to some extent the current situation of the struggle, and they are fighting against the capitalist roaders somewhere. There was a fight somewhere, a crow dog (rebel) was causing trouble somewhere, a royal dog (conservative) was beaten somewhere, etc. Bring it back and share it with everyone to help with the discussion. I read the "reference news" orally from them to make up for the lack of newspaper reading.

One night in November 1966, 9:30 was still far away. Suddenly, I heard the rumble of at least five or six large trucks outside the store sales department passing through North Street. At the same time, I heard slogans blasting: "Down with Li Jingquan! Liberate the Southwest!" Who doesn't know that Li Jingquan is the first secretary of the Southwest Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, how can he be knocked down by shouting loudly? The "five black categories" students were shocked and frightened by such reactionary slogans. What is shocking is that the world is so pale and repetitive, which I never imagined in my wildest dreams. What I'm afraid of is that this slogan is so dangerous, so don't let it get to you. You can tell from the sound of the car that it is coming from the direction of Qingbaijiang District outside the north gate. From the slogans, we can guess that the big trucks are packed with groups of rebel workers, perhaps from the Sichuan Chemical Plant. The classmates all looked at each other in panic, and no one was interested in listening to me reading the newspaper. At this time, President Yue hurried back from the street, with a gloomy face, looked at the wall clock, and announced in advance: "That's all for today. Let's go back." He also added a tail and whispered: "Don't go to the street, turn to the alley. Go back." Everyone lowered their heads and walked away quickly, not daring to talk to each other. Squeezing out through the wooden door of the small facade, the houses along the street were closed and the lights dimmed. Since the rise of the rebels, in addition to the existing Sharp Knife Group and Thousand Crusaders, the revolutionary organizations have also added some newly established ones with so many names that I can’t remember them all. Among them was the Red Workers' Rebel Corps, which opened its doors to develop the organization and recruited members regardless of family background or personal history, so it grew rapidly and became famous. The two factions of revolutionary organizations were busy holding meetings in the evening, causing the streets to be deserted and every store to close early. I turned from North Street into an alley, the lingering sound of slogans still lingering in my ears. How tragic and heroic the slogans burst out! To be honest, I don't like Li Jingquan as a person, but I don't like this slogan even more. Knock him down and Sichuan will be even more chaotic. Those careerists who want to replace him are more left-wing and cooler than him!