An educated youth returned to the city
One day at the end of January, 1971, I finally finished the re-education of the poor and middle-aged farmers in Luoba Commune, Hongya County, Sichuan Province. I left the production team and Luoba Commune. I took the old wooden boat across the Qingyi River. At Luoba Station, I bid farewell to the educated youth comrades who came to see me off. He stepped on the long-distance bus back to Chengdu and left the unforgettable Luoba.
In the mountains, the engine of the long-distance bus buzzed from time to time. Along the winding mountain road, along with the dangerous sharp turns, it made a loud roar again and again. It climbed one steep slope after another, and the blue mixed with black diesel exhaust smoke was discharged halfway up the mountain from time to time, dissipating in the mountains and forests. The coach traveled slowly and carefully along the muddy gravel road in the mountains toward Chengdu.
Outside the window of the long-distance bus, on both sides of the muddy and simple winding mountain road, the sound of gongs and drums to send off and welcome the educated youth to the countryside could be heard from time to time. Hearing this intense percussion music, my thoughts couldn't stop. It always brought my thoughts back to the day when I set off for the countryside. All the scenes of setting off from home to Hongyaluoba as an educated youth appeared in front of me from time to time. The life of educated youth in the past two years was vivid in my mind, just like watching a movie. They kept flashing in my mind.
The wheels of the long-distance bus rolled up large pieces of wet soil as it moved along the winding mountain road. From time to time, they splashed on the back of the long-distance bus, making a sound from time to time. This sound brought me back to the present. I was riding the long-distance bus on the way home. From the vast world, back to the city I was familiar with, about to move to a new job and start a new life…
In the coach, next to my seat sat a cadre of the People's Liberation Army. He had a face full of doubt and confusion. He had been silently observing me for a long time. He finally couldn't hold it in any longer and suddenly asked me,"When others go to the countryside to train, there will always be someone to send them off and pick them up. Why are you going alone? Isn't it possible that no one will care about you?”
I couldn't help but laugh when I heard his question. At that time, I raised my head and raised my voice, proudly telling him," Now I don't need anyone to pick me up. I have ended my mission of receiving re-education from poor farmers in the countryside and completed the transition from educated youth to workers. From tomorrow onwards, I will officially become a worker in an enterprise owned by the whole people. From now on, my identity is no longer an educated youth. Right now, I'm rushing to report to work.”
It was not a big deal, but the entire carriage was in an uproar.
Many people asked me where I was in the countryside, and some people said,"We have seen this educated youth before." He was an educated youth from Chengdu who had been sent to Hongyaluoba. His performance is not bad." Many people on the bus waved at me to congratulate me. The officer from the People's Liberation Army said emotionally,""I also have to find time to write letters to my younger brothers and sisters who are educated youths. I want them to perform well in the countryside and strive to return to the city as soon as possible to become workers.”
After a few hours of arduous trekking, the long-distance bus finally drove into the city safely. After turning through several long and bustling streets, it finally entered the Chengdu Nanmen bus station next to the Temple of Marquis Wu. At this time, I was carrying a bamboo woven backpack that I had brought back from the countryside, a rattan box in my hand, and a big backpack tied tightly on the ground. Standing alone on the sidewalk of Jiefang South Road in Chengdu City, looking at the bustling pedestrians on the streets of the city, he suddenly felt that everything in Chengdu was so familiar and intimate. The scene in front of him seemed to always produce an illusion: It seemed that I had never left this place. I responded to the call to go to the mountains and villages to leave Chengdu. The day I set out for the countryside seemed to be yesterday.
On January 22, 1969, I set off from the North Train Station and left Chengdu by a stuffy train. After passing through Jiajiang, I changed to the glorious team of Hongya Luoba Commune. At the end of January 1971, he set off from the small wooden house of the glorious team of Hongya Luoba Commune, stepped on the curved stone road that was less than one foot wide, came to Luoba Ferry, took the ferry across the Qingyi River, and then took a long-distance bus back to Chengdu, getting off at the South Gate bus station. For two whole years, my entire life as an educated youth, this long experience, from a historical perspective, from the perspective of the entire road of life, it is just a matter of a snap of the fingers.
When I got home, my father and mother had gone to work. Only my two younger brothers were at home. I pulled the bamboo basket that I had carried back from the countryside to the dining table. From it, I took out the local products that the villagers had given me, namely soybeans, white sugar, yellow cakes, a chicken, a few catties of cured meat, and more than ten catties of corn flour that I had grown myself. She took them out one by one and placed them on the dining table.
At that time, the supply of daily necessities in the city was also quite tight. Many non-staple foods had to be supplied by the ticket plan. Even if you had money, you might not be able to buy it. Seeing this, the little brother was very happy and said happily,"It's good that big brother is an educated youth. We can eat a lot of meat.”
The eldest brother asked me thoughtfully,"How long can you stay this time?"
At that time, I imitated a line from a revolutionary model opera and proudly said,"Now that I'm back, I won't be leaving." The two younger brothers smiled happily.
In the evening, my parents came home from work. When they saw that I had returned home, they were very happy to ask me this and that. My father also looked at me and asked with concern," How long will you stay this time?”The eldest brother also imitated a line from the revolutionary model opera "Shajiabang" and happily rushed to answer,"Big brother is back, so he won't be leaving.”Mom and Dad looked at me in confusion, but they still smiled happily.
At this time, I opened the rattan box and took out the forms and documents, recommendation letters, food relations, household migration certificates, etc. I handed them to Dad. Dad and Mom were very excited. After receiving them with both hands, they handed them to each other and looked at them again and again. After a long time, his father finally said,"It has been two years. No matter what, my eldest son is finally back. It's really not easy." The mother muttered to herself," It's good this time, it's good this time. These two years have been too hard on the child. The eldest son suffered a lot in the countryside, and now he's finally back." This time, all of us are relieved.”Mother said as she walked and happily went to the kitchen to cook.
Because the house we lived in at that time had two families sharing a kitchen. Then, the neighbors opposite and downstairs all knew that the eldest son of the old Shi family had been transferred from the countryside to the city to be a worker. After dinner, they all came to our house to see me. Many neighbors praised me and said,"We all saw that this child has been very obedient since he was young. It was indeed not easy to transfer from the countryside to the city to work.”
It was late at night. The three of us were huddled together on a big bed, laughing and joking until it was past one o'clock in the morning. That night. His father could not hide his happiness and rushed over to interfere again and again."Alright, stop fooling around. It's time to rest. Your brother has to report to the unit tomorrow. It's time to go to work."
After midnight, I was still lying in bed excitedly, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. I looked at the bright stars in the sky. The dazzling Seven Stars and Big Dipper were still shining, hanging very clearly in the sky. I turned around and looked at my two sleeping brothers repeatedly, my heart churning. I felt that the scene before me was almost identical to the scene when I was about to leave home two years ago. It was as if I was dreaming.
Yes, two years ago this night, I was about to leave home and go to the countryside to be an educated youth. I was filled with boundless fantasies about the future. Today, two years later, I was still in the small mountain village in the countryside of Sichuan Hongya Luoba Commune, walking on the muddy country road and the winding stone road. Now I have really returned to my home and laid on my wooden bed.
Yes, I'm still the same person, but I'm no longer a junior high school student, nor am I an educated youth who went to the mountains and countryside. After two years of hardship, I finally completed the transformation from a junior high school student to an educated youth, and then from an educated youth to a worker. He had to report to the head office tomorrow. He was about to start a new life.
It could be said that from tomorrow onwards, I will officially become a worker in an enterprise owned by the whole people. He had truly become a member of the working class.
Looking at the shining Big Dipper outside the window, the familiar figures of the educated youth comrades of Luoba Commune, as well as the hopeful eyes of the future, kept appearing in front of him. I'm back now. Among all the educated youths in Luoba Commune, I'm the first to leave that vast world and return to my home in Chengdu City. I'll go to work tomorrow. However, there were still many schoolmates and students, as well as the old educated youths who had gone to the countryside in 1964. They were still looking forward to the news of the country's recruitment. Those who had been educated youths in the production team were all looking forward to being transferred back to the city as soon as possible. Recruiting people to return to the city was the common wish of the majority of educated youths. Back then, when we were in the countryside, weren't these the words that we looked forward to day and night?
Back then, when he wanted us to go to the countryside, it was a call from Leader Mao. He wanted us to respond to Leader Mao's great strategic deployment. From 1969 to 1978, there were 17 million high school and junior high school graduates in the country, including those who graduated from primary school. They had all become educated youths, going to the vast fields in the countryside to cut the queue and settle down there to receive the re-education of the poor and lower-middle peasants. It was easy to go down, but it was difficult to return to the city. Back then, when I registered my residence, the old policeman at the police station was right.
No matter what, I'm done. I have to report to the unit tomorrow.
Please look at the next section of " Reporting at the Head Office."
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