My name is Wang Jing. I am a junior high school graduate from the 1968 class and a native of Xi'an. Maybe it’s because of my age. Recently, I always like to recall things from the past, especially the days when I was an educated youth when I went to the countryside to join the queue. It always comes to my mind like a movie.
Why do my years as an educated youth haunt me? Why do I never forget that period of my experience as an educated youth? Because the folks in the place where we jumped in line to settle were so honest and kind. I will always be grateful to the folks in my second hometown. There was also a simple, kind and handsome male educated youth who also deeply moved me. He became someone I will never forget.
December 26, 1968, is a day I will never forget. It was in that cold winter that my classmates and I left the ancient capital of Xi'an and started our career as educated youths working in the countryside. I was sixteen years old that year, and in the eyes of my parents, I was still a child who had not grown up.
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The small mountain village where we jumped in and settled was called Guojiapo Brigade. Guojiapo is located in the northwest mountainous area of , Qian County, . There are five production teams in the whole brigade. There was a jingle at the time: One team was rich, the second team was poor, and the third team wore corduroy. The fourth team has many bachelors, and the fifth team lives on a high slope. At that time, four of us female educated youths and five male educated youths were assigned to the fifth team of Guojiapo and lived in two shabby earthen kilns on the hillside. Ten male educated youths were assigned to the first team to jump in and settle down, and the nine educated youths in the fourth team to jump in were all women. It is said that this was specially arranged by the brigade secretary, and his purpose of such arrangement is self-evident.
Although Guojiapo Brigade is not the poorest place in the whole commune, there are ravines and undulating hills. Most of the cultivated land is sloping land, and there are very few flat rivers. Although there is a lot of arable land per capita, most of the barren land is used for extensive planting and poor harvest. The villagers are not rich and can barely solve the problem of food and clothing.
The reason why the first and third teams are richer is mainly because the cultivated land of the first and third teams is flatter. Relatively speaking, they can harvest more food. With more food, life will naturally be richer. The situation of the second, fourth and fifth teams was similar. There was almost no flat river land, and the harvested grain was small. The lives of the villagers were not easy.
The fifth production team where we joined the team and settled down is the place with the highest terrain. There is no flat river land in the team. The natural conditions are the worst, and the lives of the villagers are also the hardest. At that time, everyone knew that northern Shaanxi was hard, and the Guojiapo brigade where we jumped in and settled was not much better than northern Shaanxi.
Although the life of the villagers is very hard, the life of us educated youth who jumped in the queue was not bad. In the first year of joining the queue, we had to eat the supplied food, so the food problem was basically guaranteed. Local villagers not only have difficulty eating food, they also face a shortage of firewood. We, the educated youth who jumped in line, had no problem not only with eating food, but also with burning firewood. The day after we arrived at Guojiapo Team 5 to join the queue and settle down, the honest and kind-hearted Captain Guo Qingliang picked up a load of firewood for us. He also ordered the members of the commune that each household should pick up a load of firewood for the educated youth from our provincial capital.
Looking at the life of the villagers, it is not easy. After settling in a place to eat and live, we held meetings and studied at the brigade headquarters for two days, and went to the brigade's breeding room to collect cow dung for a day. Then we also picked up the poles, picked up the hoe, and followed the villagers to collect firewood in the valley ten miles away.
Until the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, which is the Little New Year's Day in the lunar calendar, everyone stopped collecting firewood, because the firewood in the yard was enough to burn for half a year. Of course, except for the load of firewood picked up by Captain Guo, we did not ask the villagers to collect firewood for us.
When we first came to Guojiapo, we basically relied on the help of the villagers for food. The Dong family had half a basket of potatoes , the West family had two cabbages, the Zhang family had half a basket of radishes, and the Wang family had a bowl of pickles. We are truly touched by the generosity and enthusiasm of the folks, and we are grateful to the folks from the bottom of our hearts.
My fellow villagers don’t store much autumn vegetables at home. As the Chinese New Year is approaching, some families basically have no vegetables to eat. Let’s not talk about other people’s homes, let’s talk about Captain Guo’s home. His mother-in-law said that there are three cabbages and a few radishes in the home, as well as some potatoes and some carrots. His family is usually reluctant to eat these dishes, saying that they will save them for the New Year.
We stopped going up the mountain to collect firewood, so we followed Captain Guo to Fengjiagou to catch a market and bought a basket of water radish and more than ten cabbages. Seeing that the Chinese New Year was coming, we should also prepare the new year's goods.
Although the first Spring Festival in Guojiapo was very difficult, we really felt the simplicity and enthusiasm of the folks. On the afternoon of New Year's Eve, many fellow villagers brought us delicious food, including fried cakes, date cakes, and vermicelli tofu. Captain Guo also brought us a big rooster from his family. The first Spring Festival I spent in Guojiapo will be something I will never forget.
After the Spring Festival, the weather gradually became warmer. Captain Guo began to lead the educated youth to work in the mountains with the commune members, delivering manure to the fields, and digging small plots of farmland on the sunny slopes. When the land in the shade had all thawed, Captain Guo personally commanded the animals and began to plow and harrow the land.
experienced the heavy labor of spring plowing and sowing for the first time. We truly realized the difficulty of farmers and understood the profound meaning of hard work for every grain. At that time, when the team rated us as and , many members said that we couldn't do farm work and asked the team leader to give us the lowest work score. But Captain Guo said with a smile: "They are children from the city, here to receive re-education. Look at the blisters on their hands, how can we bear to give them the lowest work points."
As soon as we started to participate in production work, Captain Guo gave us educated youths who jumped in the queue a high work score, which was only one point lower than the normal labor force. The team gave us female educated youths six points of work a day.
As the old saying goes, hard days will seem very long. Although our queue-jumping life is also very difficult, the hard days do not let time stop. It seems that in the blink of an eye, it has been four years since we settled in the Guojiapo Brigade. That year, the county wanted to recruit a female cadre among the educated youths who jumped in the queue. Because I had been a model educated youth every year, I was fortunate enough to be recommended by the commune’s educated youth office and reported to the county.
successfully passed various assessments and also passed the physical examination, but I failed to pass the political examination. The reason is that my grandfather drove a car dealer before liberation and was a capitalist. It's a pity that I have never even met my grandfather, but I have been implicated by his old man.
Until the autumn of 1975, there were still two out of the nine educated youth who jumped in and settled in Guojiapo Team 5. I still couldn't recruit people, let alone recommend them to go to university, and it was because I was the granddaughter of a capitalist. The Educated Youth Office of the commune saw that it was inconvenient for two educated youths, a boy and a girl, to live in the same educated youth spot, so they decided to merge us into other production teams.
At that time, there were four female educated youths in the Fourth Team. The director of the Educated Youth Office wanted me to transfer my household registration to the Fourth Team and join the team. I thought there were too many bachelors in the fourth team, so I refused to go to the fourth team. Because two of the nine female educated youths who jumped in and settled in the Fourth Team have already married two bachelors from the Fourth Team.
Director Wang from the Educated Youth Office of the commune saw that I didn’t want to jump in and settle down in the fourth team, so he said to me: "Wang Jing, we are from the same family. I can’t help with anything else, but I can still help with this little help. You can tell me where you want to go, and I will satisfy you."
To be honest, I didn’t know where to go at that time. I heard other people say that going anywhere would be better than staying in Guojiapo, so I said anywhere except Guojiapo would do. Director Wang did not break his promise. He complied with my request and allowed me to transfer my residence to the Wangjia Brigade and join the Wangjia Team.
Wangjia Brigade is the hometown of Director Wang of the Commune’s Educated Youth Office. Director Wang was born and raised in Wangjia Brigade. To be honest, the natural conditions of the Wangjia Brigade are much better than those of the Guojiapo Brigade. According to the Xi'an educated youth who joined the team and settled in the Wangjia Brigade, they can receive a bonus of 70 or 80 yuan every year, which is more than double that of our educated youth who joined the team and settled in Guojiapo.
At that time, there were five educated youths who jumped into the Wang family's team, four men and one woman. They were all educated youths in Xi'an, but I was not familiar with any of them. Fortunately, I have a female educated youth as my companion. Otherwise, I would definitely regret transferring my household registration to the Wang Family Brigade.
The team leader of our educated youth team is called Liu Changan, who is the same age as me. Although we are from the same hometown, we don’t live in the same district, let alone study in the same school, and we don’t know each other at all.Liu Changan is very enthusiastic and easy-going. When I first arrived, he didn't let me carry water or light a fire to cook. He took care of all the things I should do.
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The female educated youth named Zhao Xiangyu at the Educated Youth Point also secretly said to me: "Team Leader Liu must have fallen in love with you. He does all the work for you and asks everyone to pay more attention to you."
In the days that followed, Liu Changan always cared about me very much. He also lent me his flashlight, saying that it would be useful for getting up at night. When I first started working in production, the young men in the team often made fun of me, which made me don’t know how to respond. Liu Changan was afraid that I would be embarrassed, so he often came to my rescue.
After a period of contact and understanding, I found that I gradually fell in love with the simple, kind and handsome Liu Changan. I went to the commune supply and marketing cooperative to buy him a pen and a diary.
In the fifth month after I transferred my household registration to the Wang family, Zhao Xiangyu was recruited. Instead of going to the county seat, she went directly back to the provincial capital and went to a large state-owned enterprise. We all guessed that her family must have some connections, but there is no basis for it, it's just speculation.
After Zhao Xiangyu returned to the city, Liu Changan seemed to be a little colder to me. One time we went to a mill to grind flour together, and I asked him why he was alienating me. He blushed and said, "You are the only girl among our educated youth. If I get too close to you, I'm afraid it will have a bad influence on you..."
After hearing Liu Changan's answer, I felt warm in my heart, and my good impression of him increased a lot.
One day in the twelfth lunar month of 1976, I accidentally caught a cold and suddenly developed a high fever in the middle of the night. At that time, the village doctor had no antipyretics, let alone antipyretic injections. None of the classmates at the educated youth camp had antipyretics. Liu Changan had to go to the third team of the educated youth camp and ask for antipyretics from his classmates. Seeing Liu Changan running with steam coming out of his face, I feel warm and touched, and I feel sorry for him even more.
The next summer, the Wang family brigade got another recruitment quota. I heard that it was the recruitment quota for the Northwest National Cotton Factory No. 3, which was a state-owned enterprise that everyone envied. The recruitment process was based on seniority. Whoever made great contributions and was a model educated youth in the Wang family brigade would be qualified to work as a worker in the provincial capital.
At that time, I had just transferred my household registration to the Wang Family Brigade and settled there for more than a year. I had no special contribution and was not a model educated youth. Moreover, my grandfather was a capitalist. The recruitment quota was quickly confirmed, and the brigade secretary decided to let Liu Changan go to the provincial capital to work as a worker, because Liu Changan did the most for the Wang family brigade.
After Liu Changan got the recruitment approval form, he came to me immediately and said with a smile: "Wang Jing, you are the only female educated youth in our team of educated youths. You should go back to the city first. If I leave, who will take care of you?" "No, no, that's not possible. You should go back to the city first. I don't have the qualifications. Besides, my grandfather is a capitalist, and I can't pass the political examination." Although I said this, I really wanted the opportunity to return to the city.
Liu Changan smiled and said: "Recruiting workers in an enterprise is not recruiting cadres. This does not require political review. Follow me, and we will go find the brigade secretary now." After Liu Changan finished speaking, he took me and left. After knowing each other for such a long time, this was the first time Liu Changan held my hand.
The brigade secretary was very kind. He smiled and said to Liu Changan: "Chang'an, there are not many opportunities to return to the provincial capital, so you have to think carefully. Since this quota has been given to you, you have the right to decide. If you agree to give up the quota to Wang Jing, I don't have any objection, but if there is a recruitment quota in the future, you will have to wait in the queue. "Secretary, I have decided to let Wang Jing go. If there is a recruitment quota in the future, I will never compete with others." After Liu Changan finished speaking, he took out his pen and filled in my name, Wang Jing, on the recruitment approval form.
At that time, I also felt that this was a bit inappropriate, but it was too late to stop Liu Changan. There was only one approval form, and my name was written on it and it could not be changed. The brigade secretary also said that if I did not become a worker, the quota would be invalidated. In this way, I had to complete the recruitment approval form and fill in my personal information in detail.
In the early autumn of 1977, I returned to Xi'an and became a worker in the Third National Cotton Factory.When I left the Wang Family Brigade, I held Liu Changan's hand and said to him affectionately: "Liu Changan, I'm waiting for you in Xi'an."
Shortly after returning to Xi'an, I got the news that had resumed the college entrance examination and . Immediately, I wrote a letter to tell Liu Changan the great news. That winter, Liu Changan also signed up for the college entrance examination, but unfortunately he failed. I was admitted to a health school (technical secondary school).
Liu Changan failed the exam. I was afraid that he would be disappointed, so I wrote a letter to encourage him not to be discouraged and strive to get good results next time. But since then, I have never received a reply from Liu Changan.
In the summer vacation of 1979, I went to the Wangjia Brigade. The educated youth spot of the Wangjia Brigade has become the brigade headquarters of the Wangjia Brigade. All the educated youth who joined the Wangjia Brigade and settled in the city have returned to the city. I found Liu Changan's home address at the commune's Educated Youth Office. When I returned to Xi'an, I took the address to find Liu Changan. Only when we got there did we find out that Liu Changan's family had moved. No one knew where exactly they had moved.
After graduating from health school, I worked as a nurse in the hospital. Every day off, I went around asking for news about Liu Changan, but until the spring of 1988, I still didn't find out about Liu Changan. I was already thirty years old at the time, and my parents were anxious about my marriage.
One morning in the early winter of 1983, a patient came to the pediatric clinic where I was located. A man was holding a crying baby. Behind him was a woman, who was also holding a baby girl in her arms.
That man was none other than Liu Changan, whom I had been searching for for many years. At that time, he was already the father of two children, and his twin daughters were just three and a half months old.
There was no joy in meeting again after a long absence. Liu Changan's daughter got pneumonia. He was very anxious. We had almost no conversation. He was busy paying the money and I helped him with the hospitalization procedures. After completing the hospitalization procedures, he hurried back to his unit. He heard about Liu Changan's situation from his wife.
The next summer, I got married to a colleague from my work unit, and Liu Changan has been deeply buried in my heart since then. Because his wife was particularly sensitive and suspicious, I never contacted Liu Changan again. We can't renew our relationship, and I don't want to disturb his peaceful life.
On December 26, 2008, I went to my second hometown where I jumped the queue and settled down. What I never expected was that in my second hometown where we jumped the queue and settled down, I actually saw Liu Changan, whom I had not seen for decades. During that meeting, I saw the tears rolling in Liu Changan's eyes. He said that he often came back here in his dreams. He still kept the pen and diary I gave him back then.
When I returned to my second hometown, Liu Changan and I visited the villagers and gave money and materials to the elderly in the village. Liu Changan also accompanied me to Guojiapo. The enthusiasm of the folks makes me feel more cordial and warm. My second hometown is a concern that I will never let go of in my life.
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Time flies, the sun and the moon fly by, half a century has passed, and the life experience of going to the countryside to join the queue seems like yesterday. It is a pity that we can never go back to the past.
After so many years, the days of educated youth have faded away, and many past events have been forgotten. Only the folks in my second hometown and my sweetheart will be deeply engraved in my memory forever.
This feeling can be remembered later, but it was already at a loss. My years as an educated youth, my fellow villagers, and the person I will never forget will all remain in my memory forever.
Author: Grassroots Writer (Compiled into a text based on Ms. Wang Jing’s narration)
