Our family moved to Baichengzi Chengnan Forest Farm in the spring of 1978. This place used to be called Official Bank . Baichengzi was once the seat of the Liaoji Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. Guanyinhao is a financial institution officially established by the Qing government, which is equivalent to today's bank. But that piece of grassland and several nearby villages cannot in any way connect people with the bustling banks and markets of the past. I didn't know it was the Guanyin Hao at the time, I thought it was the Guanyin Hao.
We live in a red brick house assigned by the work unit. The roof is slightly arched and is poured with asphalt to prevent rain. Later, when houses were built, they were all with flat roofs and were called Beijing flats.
Out of the yard, there are grasslands to the west and north. I just rolled around on it because I had never seen such a big grassland before.
The first person I met in Guanyin was Aunt Park.
Aunt Park is the director of the neighborhood committee and earns eight yuan a month. The neighborhood committee also has a deputy director, Aunt Shi. The deputy director didn't get any salary, so he just helped out as a volunteer. Aunt Shi is illiterate, so she cannot be the director.
Mrs. Park came to our house with a registration book, stood in the yard and asked my mother some information, and then registered it in the book with a blue ballpoint pen. My mother was very enthusiastic and let her into the house.
Aunt Park has a long face, her face is golden and her pores are enlarged. She has small eyes with droopy corners, and her hair is curly, covered with a white and blue floral gauze scarf. She was very tall, and when she sat on the kang, her two-day long legs stretched out far away. I think she looks like a camel.
She brightened up our house and kept sighing: Teacher Liu, your house is too clean! This is a bright and clean window, spotless.
My mother said modestly: "No, I have nothing to do this day and I can't stay idle."
Aunt Pu wiped the edge of the kang with her hand and said: Tsk, this is clean. Tell me, you are a teacher and you still work. You are more efficient than a housewife who does not work. It's really incomparable. You have three children, no more, no less, just right. There are five in our family, which is a bit much.
My mother said: How old are your children?
Aunt Park said: My eldest son Park Zhenglong is working in the grassland and does not like to study. The eldest girl Park Jinhua took the college entrance examination today. The second girl Park Yinhua is in the second grade of junior high school, the third girl Park Meihua is in the fifth grade of elementary school, and the oldest son Park Zhengxiang has just started school. Alas, several children have a hard time studying. I really envy you.
My mother said: If you don’t understand something in your studies, you can ask me. I can still teach a little bit.
Aunt Park said: Seriously, Teacher Liu, you have to worry about it.
The next day, Park Jinhua, the eldest daughter of the Park family, came. She brought an essay and asked my mother to read it. Park Jinhua looks very much like Aunt Park, she should be the younger version of Aunt Park.
After she left, my mother and my father lamented: This Pu family Jinhua is too stupid. There are at least a dozen typos in an 800-word essay.
After the college entrance examination that year, Park Jinhua came to our house again to discuss the college entrance examination questions with my mother. She knew that she would definitely fail the exam and Mrs. Park would definitely not let her repeat the exam, but she still wanted to try for another year and asked my mother to help intercede.
My mother agreed when she saw how much she loved studying. After she left, my mother sighed and said to my father: Jinhua will not be able to pass the exam after another year of study. But if a child has a heart, it must be fulfilled.
Park Jinhua repeated her studies for one year and failed as expected. Aunt Park asked her to go to a textile factory to work as a turner.
Park Yinhua is the most beautiful of the three sisters of the Park family. She has taken the advantages of Aunt Park and Uncle Park. As soon as she entered high school, she got a haircut, wore bell-bottom pants, and brought some boys and girls around. There were some comments in the family area, saying that Yinhua didn't learn well. Aunt Park couldn't help but come to my mother to ask for advice.
When boys in the family area make mistakes, they are usually hung up and whipped with belts. Girls are often slapped in the mouth by their parents. My mother said it was impossible. She said to Mrs. Park: If you don’t teach your children, your parents will. Sister-in-law Park, the child cannot survive without spanking, but you have a method to spank him. I spank all three children in our family, but they all have skills. Pinch the acupuncture point at the back of the neck. This will dispel the fire and prevent it from being broken. It is equivalent to pulling the sha, which is good for the child's health. The adults vented their anger and educated them. What's more, one parent cannot criticize the other's habits. When it comes to spanking, both of them must have the same tone of voice, otherwise the spanking will be in vain.
Mrs. Park nodded and said: Well, Teacher Liu, your trick is really good. Children like me don’t listen to anything they say. There’s really nothing we can do about it. I'll go back and try.
There was a dispute between the neighbors, and there was a quarrel, and the children were brought to the parents. Aunt Park had to get involved in both big and small matters, trying to make peace. I don’t know how much time wasted. But one's own knife cannot cut one's own handle.
Dalong of the Pu family is the boss of the forest farm area. It is said that he dares to kill someone in a group fight.
When Park Jinhua got married, she often ran back to her parents’ home crying, saying that it was her husband who beat her.
At a young age, Pu Lao stole eggs from Wu Kai's family, broke old Lang's sweet sticks, drank the milk ordered by Lao Han's family and filled it with lime water . People often looked for Aunt Park.
Park Mi-hwa is the only child who does not let Aunt Park worry.
Aunt Shi came to visit us one day and said to my mother: I think Mrs. Park is not suitable to be the committee director. Her own children are useless. How embarrassing.
At that time, Zhang Ruihua was doing homework with me at our house. She listened to the adults talking and didn’t write a word for a long time. Because there were no textbooks in my new school, I had to do homework and copy new words with my classmates every day.
I waited for her for a while and said: "Have you finished writing? I'm waiting to turn over the film."
She just came back to her senses and started writing.
A few days later, Aunt Shi came to our house again. She said to my mother with red eyes: I said that Mrs. Park was not suitable to be the committee director and I didn’t tell anyone else. Yesterday, Mrs. Park came to me to argue.
My mother asked me: Xiaoyan, who spread the gossip between you and Zhang Ruihua?
I said: Mom, I haven’t seen any of the Pu family sisters in the past few days, how can I spread gossip?
My mother suddenly remembered and said: By the way, the Lao Zhang family and the Pu family live next door.
Aunt Shi suddenly realized: Oh, how can that girl from the Zhang family be so good at spreading gossip!
When Aunt Shi left, her mother packed ten salted goose eggs for her. I thought to myself: If someone spreads gossip, our family will almost take the blame, and our family will have to apologize in the end. It’s true.
The next day Zhang Ruihua came to our house again to do homework, and I asked her if she was spreading gossip. She blushed and denied it. She was so stubborn.
Aunt Park’s family is from the Chao ethnic group, and their house is also very clean. The Chao ethnic pot they use is polished and shiny. The cake made by Aunt Park is also very delicious. My mother only knows how to steam sticky bean buns . When I went to the Pu family to look for beautiful flowers, Aunt Park gave me a piece of cake. The cake is white and chewy, and I think it is the most delicious snack in the world. It's a pity that I can't eat it anywhere except Mrs. Park's house.
Aunt Park became more and more worried, and later she even lost the mood to make cakes.
First, Aunt Lin came to Aunt Park, saying that the youngest Park had harmed her eldest daughter. Of course the youngest Park refused to admit it. Aunt Lin said that she cried all night and the eldest daughter was done with her life.
Not many people knew about this at first, but Zhang Ruihua heard about it and talked about it everywhere. The gossip didn't do anything to the Pu family, but the Lin family couldn't stay in the forest farm area any longer, so they moved away. The eldest daughter of the Lin family, named Lin Aijing, was only twelve years old when they moved away.She looks exactly like my doll. She has long eyelashes and is so beautiful.
Another five years later, the youngest Park was sentenced for raping a mentally ill girl and causing the girl to become pregnant. Aunt Park resigned from the position of director of the neighborhood committee. From then on, she didn't dare to say hello to anyone, and always walked listlessly with her head down.
This is not over yet. To make matters worse, in 1989, Park Dalong was sentenced to death for attempted murder. A public trial was held in the city, a sign was hung on the Liberation Car and paraded through the streets, and then he was shot.
On the day when Dalong was paraded through the streets, many people in Caochang District went to the streets to watch. They looked particularly excited among the onlookers on the three floors inside and outside, as if they were celebrating a major festival. They came back from Haiming Road and talked vividly about Park Dalong's appearance. It is said that Dalong nodded and smiled when he saw an acquaintance.
Aunt Park lay on the kang, motionless, for a whole day and night. When she gets up again, she becomes lame.
Dalong likes Zhang Yanan, the daughter of the forest farm director. Zhang Yanan was married to a well-matched nobleman, but somehow she ended up getting along with Dalong. Dalong asked Zhang Yanan and Dagui to divorce. Dagui disagrees. Dalong went to Dagui's house one night to harm him.
Dagui’s family lives in Beijing Ping. The house is more stylish than the old red brick house. Their kitchen is in the back. Dagui went to boil water and make tea in the kitchen, which was dimly lit. The dragon was behind him and struck him on the head with an axe.
Dagui miraculously woke up after being in a coma in the hospital for several days. From then on, he lived with a steel plate on his head and a cane.
Neighbors all said that it was not easy to worry about how the Pu family's sister-in-law got into such evil fights.
Park Jinhua went to the south after her divorce and never came back.
It is said that Park Eun Hwa became a stage lady in a dance hall, but she was going all over the place anyway. Only Park Mi-hwa can often come back to take care of her parents after getting married.
In fact, the person Park Auntie hates to see the most is Park Mi-hwa. Pu Meihua wears the leftover clothes from her two sisters, and uses the stationery that her two sisters have eliminated. She also has to cut rabbit grass, burn the stove, sew quilts, and cook. She often goes to school with flour in her fingernails, and is always scolded by Aunt Pu.
Aunt Park lived in Park Meihua’s house before her death. Pu Meihua's house and my new home are in the same community. I often see Park Mi-hwa pushing Mrs. Park out in a wheelchair to bask in the sun. Uncle Park passed away a few years ago, and it was Park Mi-hwa and her husband who attended his death.
The weather is already very warm, and Aunt Park’s legs are still covered with a blanket. I said hello to Mrs. Park, but her eyes were dull, wondering if she recognized me. Because she is thin, her face looks longer. Park Meihua bent down to tuck the blanket for Mrs. Park and whispered: My mother’s ears are completely deaf.
When the leaves were falling that autumn, Aunt Park passed away at the age of eighty. It has been many years since we all left Guanyinhao.
