Today is October 1, 2022, a festive day for the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. In the morning, I chatted with Mr. Zhang Qingran from Beijing. He told me about the first National Day he spent when he settled in northern Shaanxi and about his life experience of educated youth in northern Shaanxi.
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Zhang Qingran is a junior high school graduate of the 1968th grade. He left Beijing on the educated youth train on January 19, 1969. After the educated youth train arrived at Tongchuan Station in Shaanxi, they transferred to Jiefang convertible truck and headed north. At 10:30 am on January 22, he arrived at Majiaping Commune in Yan'an District, northern Shaanxi. Hundreds of Beijing educated youth were concentrated in the compound.
At about 11:30, I started to have lunch. The main food was steamed buns with white flour. A dozen people squatted on the ground, stewed around half a pot of pork, and everyone ate it very delicious. Outside the wall of the commune courtyard, many people were lying on the wall to watch the fun. They seemed to be talking in a low voice about the educated youth in Beijing, but no one understood what the fellow villagers were saying. At that time, the educated youth were still talking privately: Didn’t they say that life in northern Shaanxi is very hard? If you have white steamed buns and meat, this food is also OK.
After lunch, the staff of the commune's educated youth office gathered all the educated youth together. A tall and thin young man began to announce the list of educated youth dispatched. Zhang Qingran and four male educated youth and three female educated youth were assigned to settle in the second production team of the Chaijiagou Brigade, 12 miles away from the commune's station.
The director of the Commune Education Youth Office pointed to several fellow villagers who were smoking dry tobacco at the base of the courtyard wall and said to Zhang Qingran and the others: "You just follow them, they are here to pick you up."
Seeing the commune cadres leading seven Beijing educated youths over, the fellow villagers who were squatting (squatting) at the base of the courtyard wall all stood up in a hurry. A man in his thirties smiled at everyone and said, "Oh," the men in their thirties smiled at everyone and said, "Oh," (I) is the captain of the second team. Oh (my surname is Chai. Welcome you Beijing educated youth to come to Chaijiagou to settle down in the countryside."
The educated youth greeted the fellow villagers one by one. Captain Chai carried the shoulder pole and led five members to the pile of luggage behind the educated youth. Six people carried the luggage of seven educated youths and walked out of the commune base, turned on the rugged mountain road, and walked towards Chaijiagou.
Zhang Qingran carried his yellow canvas bag and followed Captain Chai closely, talking to Captain Chai with difficulty. Captain Chai's dialect was very heavy. He said it several times before Zhang Qingran understood that the road from the commune to Chaijiagou was difficult to walk. He had to cross three ridges and pull the carts and to make more effort, so he asked the villagers to help the educated youth carry their luggage.
It took me more than two hours to walk on the Twelve-li Mountain Road and when the sun was still high, the educated youth followed the villagers to the Chaijiagou Brigade. Although it was cold winter, the villagers carrying luggage and educated youth were steaming on their faces, and everyone was sweating all over.
The educated youth came to the second team of Chaijiagou, but did not go to the second team headquarters, so they went directly to Captain Chai's house. At that time, Captain Chai's yard was already crowded with people, including brain-breaking dolls watching the fun, mothers and women who helped cook, and villagers who came to the entrance of the village to greet them, all followed them back. Captain Chai saw that his yard was full of people, so he shouted loudly, "Ha! What's the best thing? Let's put down the luggage of the educated youth."
The supper that day was very simple, without white flour buns, and no pork stew. Each educated youth had a bowl of dried millet rice, half a bowl of potato (potatoes), and a little radish pickled vegetables. The educated youth thought it might be a little simpler for dinner, and when tomorrow's breakfast and lunch there would be pork stew and white flour steamed buns.
After dinner, Captain Chai said to everyone: "The earth kiln in the team headquarters is a cold kiln, and there is no earth kiln inside. You male educated youth live there first. The girls go to Accountant Guo's house. When the spring is warm, they will pick out the two earth kilns in the team. Then you will go to the team headquarters to live."
Three female educated youths followed Accountant Guo to his house, and the villagers also delivered the luggage of the three female educated youths to Accountant Guo's house. After sending the female educated youth away, the villagers helped the male educated youth move their luggage into the kiln, and young women helped them place their luggage and clean them.
All the villagers who came to help were gone. Captain Chai said to Zhang Qingran and the four male educated youths, "You have also seen that our Chaijiagou is a poor mountain valley, and everyone is not rich. Oh (my) family has five people, three children, and two earthen kilns. You can have a meal with Oh (my) family for the time being. If you are not well-careful, you can take care of it more."
The next day, when the sun was almost high, Captain Chai asked the educated youths to get up and have a meal. He knew that the educated youths had been walking on the road for three or four days, and they must be tired, so he let them sleep lazy.
Zhang Qingran and the others finished washing, followed Captain Chai into the earth kiln where Captain Chai's family lived. In addition to the inside and outside kangs (also called front and back kangs, it is a low wall built in the middle of a earth kang, and divides the kang into two kangs), there is no decent piece of furniture. There is a dilapidated kang table on the front kang. The educated youth took off their shoes and started to have breakfast.
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Breakfast is very simple, one bowl of corn flour per person, one corn flour per person and sorghum ( sorghum ) noodles are mixed with dough. There are half a bowl of pickles and half a bowl of spicy sauce on the kang table, no pork stew, and no white flour steamed buns. Captain Chai's wife and three dolls cried in the stove Huoyilao (the place to cook), each holding a black dish dumpling , and it tasted very delicious.
For several days, the educated youth did not see a single white bun, nor did they eat a piece of pork. Looking at the clean noodles and dry food they ate, and then the vegetables and dumplings that Captain Chai and his family ate. Zhang Qingran and the others understood everything. In Chaijiagou, they couldn't eat white flour steamed buns and pork on weekdays. They were so happy for several days. Later, I asked three female educated youths who lived in Accountant Guo’s house. Their lives were similar to those of male educated youths. It would be great if they could have a meal of potato stewed with sauerkraut a day.
Cai Captain Chai’s three babies are all boys. The older one is ten years old, named Dazhu, the second one is eight years old, named Erdan, and the younger one is six years old, named Sangou. All three dolls are crazy, with cotton jackets and trousers exposed, and their little faces are dark, as if they haven't washed their faces for a long time. Zhang Qingran and the others distributed the pastries and candies brought from Beijing to the three brothers. They took the pastries they had never seen before and were at a loss. Sangou actually put the candy cubes directly into his mouth, not even peeling the wrapping paper.
Looking at the living conditions of Chaijiagou, the educated youth felt an indescribable feeling of discomfort. Before they came to northern Shaanxi to settle down, they heard that life in northern Shaanxi was very hard, and northern Shaanxi was very backward. They could not have thought that they would fall behind to this level.
That year during the Spring Festival, the educated youth finally ate white flour steamed buns, pork stews and dumplings. They ate white flour steamed buns for three consecutive days from New Year's Eve to the second day of the New Year, and Captain Chai's family ate white flour steamed buns and dumplings. That day, Zhang Qingran gave the white flour steamed buns to three dolls from Captain Chai's house. All three dolls ran to the yard, but no one took the steamed buns in Zhang Qingran's hand. Whenever Zhang Qingran thinks of that scene, he feels very uncomfortable.
Three and a half months later, the educated youth moved to the team headquarters. Zhang Qingran and the others lived in Captain Chai's house for three and a half months. Captain Chai and his wife gave the educated youth a lot of care and care. During the three and a half months, Captain Chai's wife cooked and washed dishes for the educated youth, and the educated youth were all very moved. On the day of moving, the four of them raised ten yuan to put it on the earthen kang of Captain Chai's house. They wanted to express their feelings, but Captain Chai said he didn't want anything and almost turned aside the educated youth. Captain Chai not only did not ask for money from the educated youth, but also gave all the few eggs in his family to the educated youth.
August 20th of the lunar calendar is Zhang Qingran’s birthday. After breakfast, Zhang Qingran went to ask Captain Chai for leave. Captain Chai asked him why he asked for leave. Zhang Qingran smiled and said, "Captain, today is National Day. I want to take a day off and go to the commune supply and marketing cooperative to buy a bottle of soju to celebrate." Zhang Qingran wanted to celebrate his birthday by himself, but he was embarrassed to say that, so he had to talk about National Day, because that day was October 1, 1969, which happened to be National Day.
After hearing Zhang Qingran's words, Captain Chai looked confused. He asked in confusion: "What kind of National Day is National Day? August Day (Mid-Autumn Festival) has just finished, and there is no National Day in Chaijiagou." "Captain, National Day is the time for our country to be founded, the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and it is the festival of the people of the whole country." "What you said (I) know, 1949, it has been twenty years since then."
After talking for a long time, Zhang Qingran saw that Captain Chai still didn't understand, and he said again: "Captain, you are right, People's Republic of China was established on October 1, 1949, but October 1 of each year is the country's birthday, which is National Day. The country's birthday is a day worth celebrating, a very grand festival, even more grand than August Festival. "
Captain Chai finally understood it. He smiled and said, "Celebrate, celebrate the National Day. You go to the commune supply and marketing cooperative to buy soju. I will dig some potatoes for you in the field. At noon, you stew potatoes for the festival."
It was almost time for lunch, and Zhang Qingran came back from the commune supply and marketing cooperative to buy things. When he arrived at the gate of the team headquarters, he smelled the fragrant smell. When I walked into the yard, I saw Captain Chai’s wife helping the educated youth cook. The pot was stewed with potatoes with chicken.
It was Zhang Qingran's turn now. He asked Captain Chai's wife in confusion: "Where did the chicken come from?" "Today is not National Day. His baby (dad) killed the big rooster crowing at home. He said that you would like to celebrate National Day." Captain Chai's wife said while burning the fire.
The first year of settling in northern Shaanxi, Zhang Qingran and his friends spent an unforgettable National Day. But when Zhang Qingran thought about the living conditions of fellow villagers in northern Shaanxi and the only big rooster in Captain Chai's house, he couldn't tell what it felt.
In the winter of 1970, Zhang Qingran joined the army and became the first Beijing educated youth to leave the Chaijiagou Brigade.
The day before leaving Chaijiagou, Zhang Qingran gave his big wooden box and all his daily necessities to Captain Chai's house, and his blue coat that he had been wearing for a short time also gave it to Captain Chai. Seeing Zhang Qingran delivering so many things, Captain Chai and his wife were so happy that they burst into tears. That night, Captain Chai asked his wife to steam more than a dozen white flour buns and asked Zhang Qingran to take them on the way to eat. Those white flours are the white flours that Captain Chai’s family prepares for the Spring Festival.
At the morning of the next morning, Zhang Qingran secretly went to the commune armed forces department, because he was afraid that Captain Chai would see him off. But Captain Chai still carried the dozen white buns on his back and rushed to the commune armed forces department. After hearing from the staff of the armed forces department, the new recruits did not need to bring their own dry food, Captain Chai returned to Chaijiagou with the dozen white bread.
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After more than fifty years, whenever I think of the days when I settled in northern Shaanxi, whenever I think of the first National Day I spent in northern Shaanxi, whenever I think of the scene when Captain Chai was rushing to the commune to see him off with a white flour bun on his back, Teacher Zhang Qingran felt an indescribable warmth and discomfort in his heart. He said that he would never forget the simple and kind fellow Shaanxi villagers in his life, and he would never forget the simple and kind Captain Chai and his wife. Fortunately, the villagers in northern Shaanxi have now lived a prosperous and well-off life and have all achieved a well-off life. Teacher Zhang Qingran is no longer concerned about the villagers in his second hometown.
Today is National Day, the 73rd birthday of the motherland. I sincerely wish the great motherland to be more prosperous and wish the motherland a better tomorrow!
Author: Grassroots Writer
