Jintang County is located in my hometown, Chengxiang Town, 45 kilometers away from Chengdu. Chengxiang Town is very large, with four long streets in the souThea Liust, northwest and dozens of alleys, as well as a shabby park. I spent my childhood in this town. In the early 1950s, the county seat was moved to Zhao Town, 60 kilometers away from Chengdu. On the morning of April 22, 1966, Lu Deyin escorted me to Zhao Town to find the Organization Department of the Jintang County Committee of the Communist Party of China. Lu Deyin went in to contact people from the organization department while I waited outside the office. After a while, Lu Deyin came out and said that the county wanted to arrange for me to work on the county farm, with convenient food and lodging, and a monthly living allowance of 20 yuan. He also said that staying on the county farm would be conducive to transformation (tight supervision).
I refused and asked to go back to my hometown, work at the bottom of society, and make a living on my own. After all, freedom is more precious than a job. This idea was given to me by Comrade Zhuang Zhou two thousand years ago. He advised people to imitate the pheasant, which would rather "peck at five steps" and "drink at ten steps" than "live in Fanzhong". I refused to go to the farm, and the Organization Department of the county party committee couldn't force me to stay, so they called Chengxiang Town to discuss arrangements for me to return to my hometown to work. So that afternoon Lu Deyin escorted me away from Zhao Town and walked back to Chengxiang Town.
It was late spring and early summer, and the weather was dry. It is fifteen kilometers from Zhao Town to Chengxiang Town, and the road is hilly and mostly uphill. Seeing the sunset in the west, I was eager to go on the road. I was panting and my underwear was soaked with sweat. Thinking of the ancients who were proud of "returning to their hometown with wealth and wealth", I wore a rightist hat and was escorted back to my place of origin with a look of embarrassment. I couldn't help but feel like I was living in an emperor's place, worrying about the fate of the rest of my life. I let him go along the green mountains and green waters. I have no interest in watching it anymore. But I didn’t want to look pitiful, make Lu Deyin laugh, and take it back to the Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles to disseminate it, which would damage my image, so I pretended to feel good about myself and smiled, as if I was helping him complete his political career this time. Like a mission. At the same time, I also looked for some positive topics, such as anti-imperialism, anti-revisionism, and the international and domestic situation, and talked with him and preached to him. To tell this beautiful nonsense, to be honest, my glib mouth can open and close freely, and I can talk endlessly at will, no less than others. "Rightists are indeed cunning!" Lu Deyin may think so. In fact, I said all that nonsense just to cover up my own embarrassment. The sad thing is still me!
It was dusk when I hurried to Chengxiang Town. The towering Chaoyang Gate (East Gate) tower and the battlements on the two wings of the city wall that looked up to the sky have withstood hundreds of years of wind and rain, but now they are gone. It's like a person who has been stripped of his hat and clothes. The appearance of the town has been destroyed, and his inner state has been exposed, which looks ugly.
Dadong Street is still the same Dadong Street, with bumpy roads and more dilapidated houses. The Jinyuan Primary School where I studied when I was young, with black painted dragon gates and stone steps, has never been renovated and has completely preserved the memories of the past. Stopping to look at it, I feel both familiar and sad, as if I can see the naughty boy running out of it with my schoolbag on my back. Going forward, it is the Jintang County Middle School, which I also studied. The gate that imitates the Roman church is majestic and tall, and it was supervised by Yang Xiuchun, the brigade commander of the garrison in the 19th year of the Republic of China. Opposite the middle school is the King Kong Park, which has become an abandoned garden and pond. From a distance, only bamboo trees and houses can be seen.
Going forward, Dadong Street turns to Shangbei Street, but I see that the shops are closed and the market is deserted. This town still eats, and the restaurants are doing good business. The pedestrians on the street are in a hurry, probably going home after work. I am very happy that no pedestrian recognizes me. Although this place is called my hometown, I was born in Chengdu. I moved back here with my parents when I was four years old. After graduating from junior high school at the age of sixteen, I left home alone to go to Chengdu for high school. I only go home for a short stay during the holidays every year. After liberation, I have been working in Chengdu. I am thirty-five years old and have only lived in my hometown for twelve years, so few people here recognize me.
Going forward, asking along the way, I found the town government I was looking for on Shangbei Street, that is, the town people's committee. This white sign with black characters will soon be smashed by the rebels, and replaced by the so-called town revolutionary committee with a yellow sign with red characters, which will bring an unprecedented catastrophe, corrupt the party and the country, harm the people, and spread evil far and wide. But at this time, everyone was still in the dark, and no one could have imagined that the tragedy was coming. Walking into the gate of the town government, the courtyard is silent and no one is seen coming and going. It can be seen that the government is simple and the atmosphere is clean, and everything is not in chaos. Only the four shocking characters "Act at the Situation" on the wall of the front wing indicate that China is bound to be in chaos.
Several staff members came out of the hospital after get off work, chatting as they walked. One of the women was timidly startled, stopped and called me softly: "Brother Jiu, are you back?" It turned out to be my cousin Yu Xunjin, who works as an accountant in the town. I said I wanted to find the mayor. The tall and thin man next to her, with bulging eyes, looked very capable. He looked at Lu Deyin, then at me, and said, "Well, you are here." Then he led us to the office in the courtyard. go.
The mayor's surname is Wang. He has a loud voice, rolls his eyes when he speaks, and is quite courageous in his actions. He has gradually risen from the lowest level, so he should be regarded as a veteran cadre of this town. I reported to Mayor Wang and handed over the household registration transfer procedures and food supply relations. From now on, I am a resident of Chengxiang Town. I made a complaint to Mayor Wang, saying that I was just here to check in today, and that I would have to go back to Chengdu tomorrow to move furniture and books. When everything was settled, I would rush back to wait for arrangements. Mayor Wang agreed to give me a few days off and asked me to leave early and come back early. Then he listened to Lu Deyin's report on my transformation alone, while I left and hurried home to take a look. My mother must have heard from my cousin Xun Jin that I was back. She was inevitably worried and suspicious. Did she think that I had caused some trouble outside and was sent back to my hometown?
Counting the farewell to my hometown in 1950, it has been sixteen years now. I think that as the eldest son, I left home at a young age and did not learn to behave well outside, which led to my own ruin. I also brought trouble to my loving mother and caused her to wear the hat of a landlord again. I really feel guilty. I walked out of the town hall and ran diagonally into Nangshi Lane, lowering my head and blaming myself all the way. Walking to Huaishu Street, where my home is, I smelled the fragrance of grapefruit blossoms that became stronger and stronger as the night passed. I knew that this familiar fragrance came from my hometown, and those forgotten memories suddenly awakened. How wonderful it would be if I were carrying my schoolbag and rolling hoops and going home from school!
The feeling of self-blame and shame was swept away, and I walked quickly and lightly, full of warmth. As we walked, we hadn't reached the gate of Yu's courtyard yet. Why could we see my mother's house so far away? It turns out that a section of the courtyard wall has collapsed, and you only need to cross the neighbor's vegetable garden to get home. I didn't want to take a shortcut, so I followed the old traces of my childhood, walked to the door, and walked back home happily.
Mother is busy making dinner.
"Mom, I'm glad you're here." I said with a smile, but I wanted to cry inside.
The mother was very excited and wiped her hands on her waist, not knowing what to do. I explained to her why I wanted to come back and reassured her. In that era of class struggle and implicated crimes, if a notorious right-wing son came home to stay for a long time, it would obviously bring disgrace to her and even threaten her. But she listened to all my explanations and words of reassurance, and kept nodding her head. She was willing to be deceived. Mom is mom after all!
Stay at the guest house in this town this night. Mayor Wang came to inform me that I had been placed in the town's furniture company to work on saws. From then on, it lasted six years.
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