1969 (the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar), dozens of young men and women came to our village. They were all wearing very beautiful clothes, carrying large and small bags, and speaking incomprehensible dialects. The brigade cadres said that they were educated youth in Shanghai and came to our Guo family brigade to settle down.
I was fifteen years old that year. Although I had studied and visited Xiajiang County, I was considered a young man who had seen the world in the village. But this is the first time I have heard of the word "educated youth" and I don't understand why Shanghai educated youth came to our remote mountain village to settle down.
Guo Jianer is my uncle, and he is also the captain of the third production team of our Guo family brigade. That day, as soon as a few young young students and I ran to the brigade headquarters, my uncle came over and said to me, "Yuansheng, come home and tell me that the team will arrange a Shanghai educated youth to stay at your house and tell your mother to prepare." "Go to live in my house? There is no empty house at my house." I asked in confusion.
My uncle glared at me and said, "A girl from the yangzi will live in your house and let her live with your sister and old official." "I know." When I heard that it was a female educated youth who went to my house, I suddenly felt an indescribable joy in my heart. I quickly agreed and ran back home.
When I got home, I told my mother about my uncle's arrangement for female educated youth to stay at my house and asked my mother to prepare for it quickly. My mother glared at me and said, "Let her live in the same room with your sister. What's there to prepare? Your sister also went to the brigade headquarters to watch the fun. You go and call her back."
Seeing that the yard was a bit dirty, I quickly picked up the broom to clean the yard, and carried the bucket to carry two buckets of water. I was about to go to the brigade headquarters to find my sister, but my sister was carrying a big bag and a beautiful young woman to walk towards my door. There were a few young young men behind her who helped carry a wooden box.
I hurried over, took the bag my sister was carrying, said hello to the beautiful female educated youth, ran into the yard with the bag, and put the bag into the house where my sister lived. My mother saw that my sister brought back a beautiful girl, so she hurriedly greeted her and greeted her with a smile.
The female educated youth from Shanghai seemed to be unable to understand our words, and we couldn't understand what she said. Fortunately, my sister and I were both educated and I really couldn't understand. So we just wrote on the ground, so the communication barriers were basically not a big obstacle.
When dinner was about to be had, my brother came back from school. Seeing a stranger coming to his house, he hid in the house where we lived and refused to come out, and he didn't eat dinner. My mother called him a shameless person, saying that he couldn't even get his wife when he grew up.
After dinner, I went to my sister's house to help the female educated youth place the suitcase, just to raise the large wooden box with something to prevent moisture.
During the conversation, I learned the name of the female educated youth. Her name was Zhou Huiai. She was sixteen years old at the time, one year older than me. Sister Zhou Huiai is a junior high school graduate. I haven’t graduated from elementary school for half a year. My sister is not as good as me. She has just been in the third grade of elementary school. However, at that time, my sister and I were considered cultural people in our Guo family brigade, and there were not many people studying in the village.
After breakfast the next day, Zhou Huiai's sister wanted to go to the commune supply and marketing cooperative to buy a thermos bottle. She originally said that my sister would take her to the commune supply and marketing cooperative, but my sister said she had a stomachache, so she asked me to take Zhou Huiai's sister to the commune supply and marketing cooperative.
The Commune Supply and Marketing Cooperative is ten miles away from our Guo Family Brigade. I usually get to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative in one hour. That day, Sister Zhou Huiai called several of her classmates to go with her. They were talking and laughing on the way, stopping and stopping, and they felt fresh everywhere, and kept asking me about this and that. I thought it was almost two hours before I came to the commune supply and marketing cooperative.
When I returned from the commune supply and marketing cooperative that day, the sun was far west. They spoke Shanghai dialect along the way, and I couldn’t understand a single sentence. Sister Zhou Huiai only spoke Mandarin when she was talking to me. I helped them take the items they purchased and walked with their group of female educated youth, and felt uncomfortable at all. That day I swear that I will never accompany them to the supply and marketing cooperative again.
After dinner that day, Zhou Huiai's sister gave me a nail clipper and a handful of Shanghai milk candy. She said that I was suffering from it when I accompanied them to the commune supply and marketing cooperative and expressed my gratitude. Holding the gift from Sister Zhou Huiai, I felt warm and moved after hearing her words of thanks. I smiled and said to her, "Sister, if you want to go to the supply and marketing cooperative in the future, let me tell me, I will accompany you."
The educated youth rested at home for two days, and they also went to work with the members. Seeing them shaking on the path with cow dung, the villagers covered their mouths and laughed, saying that they were as stupid as ducks. After returning from work that evening, Zhou Huiai's sister hid in the room and started crying, crying very aggrievedly and sadly. Later, my sister went to persuade her, and she said that her shoulders were swollen, and it hurts when they touched her. She said she wanted to go back to Shanghai.
That night, my mother sewed a cotton shoulder pad for Sister Zhou Huiai, and my father made her a very light shoulder pole with a good bamboo pole. My mother also comforted her and said, "I just did farm work like this. I gradually adapted to it. I gradually got used to it. I couldn't let the difficulties in front of me be scared."
Under the care and care of our family, Sister Zhou Huiai gradually adapted to the heavy production labor and gradually got used to the arduous living environment in the countryside. Later, seeing her carrying loads and planting rice seedlings, I think every labor posture of Sister Zhou Huiai is very beautiful.
In the spring of 1970, the Commune Revolutionary Committee recruited a document, and our Guo Family Brigade recommended Sister Zhou Huiai. Sister Zhou Huiai happily went to the commune to participate in various assessments, but failed the political review because Sister Zhou Huiai's grandfather was a national capitalist. That night, my sister Zhou Huiai's sad crying came from my sister's room again, and I heard it very clearly. I really wanted to comfort my sister Zhou Huiai, but I felt it was inappropriate. The most important thing was that I didn’t know how to comfort her. In the days after
, I helped Sister Zhou Huiai as much as possible. When I participated in production labor, such as harvesting rice, I cut my own ridges of rice, and turned around and helped Sister Zhou Huiai cut rice. When I returned to the yard with rice, I deliberately speeded up and carried my burden to the yard, and then turned around to welcome Sister Zhou Huiai. In order to make Sister Zhou Huiai happy, I also ran to a relative's house several miles away and asked Sister Zhou Huiai for two (a pair of) white rabbits.
That's it. My relationship with Zhou Huiai is getting closer and closer. Zhou Huiai is also very nice to our family. Every time she goes to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things, she will buy some necessities such as salt salt, cooking oil, soy sauce, etc., and sometimes she buys notebooks for my brother. Every day after dinner, Sister Zhou Huiai also watched my brother do his homework. She explained the questions that my brother didn’t understand seriously and asked me to study with him.
After autumn, the team built a new house for the educated youth who were trained in the team and established an educated youth site. Zhou Huiai's sister also moved to the educated youth site to live. On the day of moving, she gave me one of her pens and a brand new "Xinhua Dictionary" and told me to study hard, take good care of my younger brother, and let me continue to study, and not give up halfway like me. That day, when Zhou Huiai went to the educated youth site, his sister Zhou Huiai took the two little white rabbits I sent to the educated youth site.
Picture source online
A few days later, I gave my brother the pen and "Xinhua Dictionary" that my sister Zhou Huiai gave me. First, my brother can use it, and my mother forced me to give it to my brother. Second, I don’t like to study very much, these two things are not very useful to me.
In the blink of an eye, it was early autumn of 1975. Although the recommended place to go to college that year was given to Zhou Huiai's sister, she still failed to pass the political review in the end. She was happy for a while, and she was really sad for a while.
After that autumn, my sister got married and got married. Sister Zhou Huiai bought my sister a thermos and an enamel washbasin, and gave my sister a fashionable floral shirt and a scarf. In our Guo family brigade, no one is following such a big gift, and our family feels very sorry.
In the autumn of 1976, with the strong recommendation of my uncle (uncle), Zhou Huiai's sister went to Guojia Primary School to work as a private primary school teacher, and finally she didn't have to go to the field to work.That time, in order to allow Zhou Huiai's sister to be a teacher at school, my mother secretly sent half a basket of eggs and two rabbits worth more than four kilograms to the brigade secretary's house. The two rabbits were grown by me by cutting grass, and my family never wanted to eat rabbit meat once.
Although private teachers at that time also earned labor points like farmers, they could not blow the wind and rain, and the sun could not be sunny. They could take a day off on Sundays, and they still earned labor points every month. Compared with farmers, private teachers were much better. I really envy the profession of private primary school teachers, but unfortunately my level of education is too low to be competent for this job.
Shortly after the Mid-Autumn Festival, a kind-hearted person in the village introduced me to a partner. The girl was named Xueying. She was very beautiful and she was illiterate. She had never read a book in a day. I went to discuss with Sister Zhou Huiai and asked her to help me make an idea. When Sister Zhou Huiai heard that I was going to get engaged, the smile on her face disappeared immediately, and she blushed and said, "How old are you? Are you so anxious to find a partner? Also, no matter how ugly and handsome you look, you have to know at least a few words."
Xueying and I were not successful. Xueying married the captain of the team, Wu Tianming. Zhu Tianming is taller and taller than me, his family's conditions are better than mine, and he can drive a tractor. At that time, my mother scolded me for being too jealous and said that I was just waiting to be a bachelor.
From then on, I found that the look of Sister Zhou Huiai looking at me was different from before. When she saw me, she blushed and her tone of speaking changed. The tone of his talking to me was very soft, just like the gentle breeze and drizzle in March. That year, Sister Zhou Huiai went back to Shanghai to visit relatives for the Spring Festival. She bought me a very fashionable lapel top and a pair of pants worn by young people in the city.
The summer day of 1977 was Sunday. Just after breakfast, my sister Zhou Huiai came to my house and asked me to accompany her to the commune supply and marketing cooperative. She said she wanted to buy chalk for the school and other things, but she was afraid that she would not get it back alone. Seeing that I was hesitating, my mother smiled and said, "Baby, hurry up and accompany your sister. When I was working, I told my uncle. The farm work in the team is not busy anyway."
On the way to the commune supply and marketing cooperative, Sister Zhou Huiai and I walked side by side. I seemed to hear her breathing and heartbeat. It was the first time I had contacted her so close. At that time, I was very nervous and kept my head down, afraid of meeting an acquaintance. In that era, young men and women walked side by side, and others would gossip.
We didn't say a few words along the way. When we were about to arrive at the commune supply and marketing cooperative, Sister Zhou Huiai suddenly grabbed my hand. I felt like I was touching electricity, and I quickly pulled my hand back. I felt like I was having a fever all over, my face was red to the base of my neck, and my breathing was not evenly.
walked forward for a while, and Sister Zhou Huiai whispered, "Yuansheng, do you like me?" "I like it, I like it." I was speechless, and I felt my face was hot, and my legs were a little out of control.
Sister Zhou Huiai is tall, has delicate and white skin, double eyelids and big eyes, and has two dimples with a smile. She is really like a fairy, three points more beautiful than a fairy. The young young people in our Guo family brigade say that if anyone can marry Zhou Huiai as his wife, it will be a great virtue for his ancestors.
When we arrived at the commune supply and marketing cooperative, we bought chalk and other teaching supplies for the school. Sister Zhou Huiai bought me toothpaste, toothbrush and an enamel teapot. We had lunch at the restaurant diagonally opposite the supply and marketing cooperative. Sister Zhou Huiai also bought two kilograms of white flour steamed buns with food coupons for my house.
When I got home, I told my mother about my sister Zhou Huiai's relationship with me. My mother touched my forehead and said, "Baby, you don't have a fever either? Why are you talking nonsense?"
is sure that I am not talking nonsense. My mother ran to the educated youth site and called Zhou Huiai to my house. She asked her in person: "Ai Ai, what you told Yuansheng is not a joke, right?" "Auntie, I am serious. Marriage matters cannot be regarded as a joke." After Zhou Huiai finished speaking, she blushed and lowered her head.
That night, my mother killed a rooster with her own hands and made snow-white rice, fried eggs and vegetable soup. After dinner, I held Zhou Huiai's hand and sent her back to the educated youth spot.
After the autumn of 1977, my sister Zhou Huiai and I received our marriage certificate. A beautiful and kind Shanghai girl became my wife. More than a month after getting married, I seemed to be still in a dream, and I couldn't believe it was true. The villagers in the village also said that the smoke was coming from my ancestral grave. I, a rural cub, actually married a female educated youth who was as beautiful as a flower.
That winter, my brother was admitted to a normal school (technical secondary school). Everyone in the village came to congratulate him. The villagers all said that my family had a lot of good things and good things one after another. To be honest, it is really my wife’s credit for my brother being able to get into a technical secondary school entrance exam. If it weren't for my wife's supervision and help, my brother would have had a hard time getting into a technical secondary school entrance examination. In the first year of the resumption of the college entrance examination, my younger brother was admitted to the technical secondary school in our community.
In the autumn of the next year, Zhou Huiai gave birth to a girl named Guo Ying. This name was given to my daughter by my wife, and I also like this name very much. My daughter looks as beautiful as her mother, and she will hug anyone when she sees her. With the child, my grandmother and I felt at ease. My grandmother and I have always been worried, fearing that one day Zhou Huiai will leave us.
In the summer of 1979, Zhou Huiai was admitted to Jinggangshan Normal School, and after graduation, she stayed in Ji'an and became a middle school teacher. After Zhou Huiai was admitted to the normal school, there was gossip in the village saying that if someone had a job in the public, he would not live with a mud-legged person. This made me, Guo Yuansheng and my poor daughter suffer.
To be honest, my mother and I also had this concern at that time, and I was really worried that she would not come back after entering the city. At that time, Zhou Huiai not only got admitted to normal school, but her family was also removed from the hats and was no longer a national capitalist, and her father also resumed work. But Zhou Huiai is not that kind of person. He did not abandon my father and daughter. My mother and I were a little worried.
Although the Guo family brigade is more than 200 miles away from Ji'an, my wife will come back every month to visit my daughter and me, and will buy some things for the family. Over time, the gossip in the village became frustrated.
In the autumn of 1984, I enjoyed the treatment of the family of educated youth and was recruited to work as a deliveryman at the commune post office. My daughter and I also transferred the household registration to a non-farmer household registration. Although the job of a deliveryman is very hard, I work hard and never complain, because I have become a public servant who earns wages and eats the national treasury grain. I also thank my wife.
When my daughter was fourteen years old, her household registration was moved back to Shanghai and landed on her grandmother’s household registration book. The child also returned to Shanghai and returned to her grandparents. After several years of hard study, my daughter was admitted to Shanghai Normal University.
Now, my wife and I live in Shanghai, not far from our daughter and son-in-law’s home. The house where my daughter and son-in-law live is very large. They all want my wife and I to move in and live with them. My wife said she still wants to live in the old alley for a while because there are her youthful memories there. She went to Jiangxi to settle down in the countryside and left there. The two old houses in the old alley were also the thoughts left to her by her grandfather.
A Jiangxi farmer and a female educated youth in Shanghai finished her marriage and love experience. After listening to Master Guo Yuansheng’s story, I was really happy for him. The reason why Sister Zhou Huiai, who was beautiful and well-educated back then, fell in love with a mud-legged must be that Guo Yuansheng’s simplicity, kindness and hard work touched her, and that Guo Yuansheng’s parents’ kindness touched her.
The old saying says that a family of good deeds will surely have good fortune. This old saying really came true for Master Guo Yuansheng and Ms. Zhou Huiai. I sincerely wish this lover good health and happiness forever.
Author: Grassroots Writer
