When I was a child, I heard my dad say that my uncle went to private school for several years when he was a child. At that time, he was considered the most educated person in our village. After liberation, he served as the mayor of the township, rode a tall horse, wore a shell gun, and was accompanied by two guards. Later, I don’t know what mistakes were made, and the township chief was dismissed, and he was almost arrested and imprisoned.
My uncle has worked as an accountant in our production team for more than ten years. He is very hospitable and well-spoken. His house is full of guests and friends every night. The team members all like to go to his house to drink tea, smoke and chat. He was also very generous and brought out the best tea and cigarettes in the house to entertain guests. What impressed me most was that he usually smoked local cigarettes, but he prepared cigarettes to entertain guests every day. You must know that in the early 1970s, cigarettes were a rare thing, and most people were really reluctant to buy them and smoke them.
Because the village is far away from the commune, it is very troublesome for team members to get sick and go to the commune hospital for medical treatment. For this reason, my uncle bought a lot of books on traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese medicine, and he learned knowledge about picking herbs, diagnosing, and prescribing medicines. He never charged money for treating the team members, and the treatment effects were very good. I remember that when I was in junior high school, my right hand swelled up for no apparent reason, and it was so swollen that I went to the hospital several times but it didn't feel better. My family was worried to death and didn't know what to do. It happened that my uncle came back from Guangzhou. After learning about my illness, he immediately ran to my house. After seeing it, he said that it was chronic poisoning and that he would be fine after taking three doses of traditional Chinese medicine. As a result, after taking the first dose, the swelling subsided immediately, and after taking the third dose of Chinese medicine, it was completely cured. My mother's stomach problems couldn't be cured at the People's Hospital, but they were cured by the Chinese medicine he prescribed.
My uncle has a high prestige in our production team. When team members have family conflicts or difficulties at home, they all come to him to resolve them, and there is no problem in the village that he can resolve. Whenever the team members' families were overspending, couldn't get food, couldn't open the pot, and were starving, they would come to him to help find a solution. He asked my dad to discuss whether he could borrow some food from the warehouse to prevent the team members and their families from going hungry. My dad was also a kind-hearted person and always agreed. My dad is the captain of the production team, and my dad’s opinion must be sought on matters in the team.
My uncle attaches great importance to reading. He is good at writing calligraphy, and the couplets on the door of his house are all handwritten by himself. The content remains the same every year: everything is of inferior quality, but reading is the only quality. He often encouraged the children in the village to study hard, saying that if they study well, they can become high officials in the future. I was considered the best student in our village at that time, and he had high hopes for me. After I was admitted to junior high school, he rewarded me with a new army quilt and a new mosquito net, which cost a lot of money.
Since the disbandment of the production team in 1980 and the household responsibility system, my uncle has been away practicing medicine for a long time. Because of his good medical skills, he has cured many difficult and complicated diseases and is famous. Many patients from as far away as Guangzhou and Foshan come here because of his reputation, and some even stay at his home for long-term treatment.
My uncle is good at everything, but he has one bad thing: he is very ambitious, is not satisfied with the status quo, and always wants to make a lot of money. In the mid-1980s, he invested in several coal mines in Huaping, Shaoguan. As a result, the coal mines failed to produce coal, and he suddenly fell into the pit. He owed a lot of foreign debt. Creditors kept coming to collect debts, and valuables at home (bicycles, sewing machines, tape recorders) , rice cookers, etc.) were wiped out by the debt chairman. His son and daughter-in-law were very dissatisfied with him. They separated from him and didn't even cook for him. At that time, he was really poor and desperate.
After my father heard the news that my uncle was in trouble, he took him in to eat at my house. At the same time, he sold the gold and silver jewelry my mother had given as a dowry to help him pay off his debts. My mother complained about my father for more than ten years.
My uncle died of liver cancer when he was 67 years old. Before his death, his son and daughter-in-law never visited him, but my dad went almost every day. Many villagers were grateful for his old man's behavior and went to accompany him every day. On the day of his funeral, many villagers cried and sent him to the mountains until he was laid to rest, then reluctantly left.
I share my uncle’s story with everyone. I hope all kind-hearted people in the world will be rewarded!
