Chapter 11 Back Door

  In the evening, the young couple rested early, and early the next morning, the young couple packed up their things and prepared to return home.

  Su Anying’s family is in Daying Commune. From Dongjiangyan to Daying, you have to walk to Jewelry Hill, then take a train from Jewelry Hill to Xianren Bridge, and then walk from Xianren Bridge to Daying.

  If you look at it from the map, walking like this is equivalent to going around half a circle. It is better to walk along the mountain road along the Dongjiang River and go straight to Daying.

   But the mountain road is rugged and difficult, and there is a section of the road where you have to climb rocks, which is too dangerous, so Xu Shiyan would rather be safe.

  Walk more than eight miles north from Dongjiangyan all the way to Qingling, where Xu Shide taught, and then walk seven or eight miles north, and you will come to the drop-off station of Zhuanggang.

  Zhugegang is the pronunciation of Zhugegang. Zhuge means dead in Korean.

  During the Japanese puppet period, many people died of Keshan disease in the Zhuanggang area, so this place name was left behind.

  The construction of the Hunbai Railway began in 1958, and it was fully opened to traffic in 1974.

  There are several express trains and slow trains from Baihe to Tonghua, and from Baihe to Shenyang every day. In addition to the Yanling train, it is quite convenient to go to Xianrenqiao.

  At 5:10, there happened to be a bus coming into the station along the zero train. Xu Shiyan helped his wife squeeze into the bus, paid for the fare and sat down.

  Along the zero train, that is, the freight train hangs two carriages to carry passengers, most of which are short-distance.

  The trains of this year are still old-fashioned steam engines, the kind that burn coal, and someone is responsible for filling coal into the boiler.

  When encountering an uphill, add coal in advance, the train is suffocating black smoke, and climbs uphill.

  The journey from Zhuzhugang to Xianrenqiao is a total of 24 to 5 miles. There is a stop at Huangjiaweizi in the middle, and the speed along the zero train is slow. After about 20 minutes, we arrive at Xianrenqiao.

  Walk five or six miles westward from Xianrenqiao Station, and you will arrive at Daying Village, where Daying Commune is located, also called Daying Brigade.

  There are many place names with the word "ying" in Fusong area, most of which are related to ginseng.

  In 1910, Xie Taixin, a Dasan household in Yingkou, hired more than 100 workers and set up a relatively large Bangchui Camp here, so it was later called Day Camp.

  As soon as the young couple entered the village with their things, they were seen by children playing outside. After a while, many children gathered around and started booing.

   "Oh, oh, the second sister of the Su family is leading her son-in-law home." A group of children were yelling there, causing Su Anying's face to turn red.

   "Okay, okay, don't make a fuss, each of you will give you a piece of candy, and go play."

  Xu Shiyan took out a handful of candies from his pocket and distributed them to the children, so as not to let them mess around.

  Now life is hard at this time, and for the children, getting a piece of candy is almost in time for the Chinese New Year, and they are jumping happily.

   "Hurry up, go to Su's house and report a letter, saying that the second sister brought her son-in-law home."

  The leader of the child had candy in his mouth, and gave instructions vaguely.

   When two boys heard this, they rushed out with a whoosh, and Su Anying shouted in fright, telling them to run slowly, and don't choke on sugar in their mouths.

   "It's okay, I'm used to it." Xu Shiyan smiled and shook his head.

  The children of this age are all outside, crazy all day long, they don’t care about anything, they are honest.

  The husband and wife walked side by side to the village, followed by a group of children, and met a few old men and old ladies on the road from time to time.

   "Hey, isn't this the third kid from the old Xu family? Did you come back home with your wife today?

  Good guy, you still have these old things with you. No wonder people say that the old Xu's life is better, it's true. "Someone said with emotion.

   Xu Jiazu came to the Northeast through the Guandong, and initially lived in Shijiagou, Yinkuangzi Village, Qingshangou Township, Kuandian.

  As the name suggests, Shijiagou is full of rocks, and you can hear movement on this hillside when you shovel the ground.

  The land is barren, the grain output is low, and the people are very poor.

   It is said that the poorer you are, the lazy you are. This is true. When Xu Chenghou was young, he was not only lazy, but also loved to gamble. I often go out to play money, and I don't see anyone for ten days and a half months.

   Playing with money, if you win, you can buy a lot of delicious food, and if you lose, you will beat your wife and scold your children when you come home.

  The house was so poor that there was no firewood for the fire. When it was time to cook, Zhou Guilan had to go to the back mountain to collect firewood. When it rained, she would worry about making a fire.

  After liberation, people like Xu Chenghou became the target of attack.

  If Zhou Guilan's old mother hadn't suggested to let them move out, Xu Chenghou would have been arrested long ago.

  In the autumn of 1957, Xu Chenghou and Zhou Guilan moved to Fusong with their children.

  Maybe it was the old lady of the Zhou family's beatings that worked, or it might be Xu Chenghou's repentance.

  Xu Chenghou changed it like this, and worked steadily to earn work points, and successfully gained a foothold in Daying.

  It's a pity that in 1967 and 1968, Xu Shixian jumped up and down all kinds of slapstick, writing "black material" about the leaders of the commune.

  Offended people, was excluded everywhere, and couldn't get along in the big camp.

   Exactly in 1970, Xu Shide became a substitute teacher and taught in Dongjiangyan, so his family had to move to Dongjiangyan to live.

   It has only been seven years since Xu’s family left Daying, and there are relatives here who often come and go, so most of them know Xu Shiyan.

   Seeing Xu Shiyan accompany his wife back home, they had to say hello and chat.

  Su's house is right next to the small river in the middle of the village. Before they could cross the bridge, they saw Su Anying's fifth younger sister, Su Anfang, and sixth younger sister, Su Anhua, running towards her.

   "Second sister, second brother-in-law, you are back. My parents were still talking about it this morning, saying they wonder if second sister can come back today."

  Su Anfang rushed over, pushed Xu Shiyan away, and reached out to hug the second sister's left arm.

   "Just now a few boys came to report that it was the second sister who came back.

  The parents were very happy, let us come out to greet them. "Su Anhua hugged her sister's right arm.

  The sisters of the Su family have a very good relationship, especially the fifth and sixth, who grew up on Su Anying's back since childhood, so seeing her sister back, she was very affectionate.

  Xu Shiyan was not annoyed when he was squeezed away by his two sisters-in-law. He just smiled and followed behind with his things.

  Cross the bridge and turn north, and walk outside the gate of Su’s house.

  The Su family lived by the river, with three adobe houses.

  The roof is made of wood thatch that is split into the thickness of a finger and is more than a foot long. The locals call it "thatch house."

  Daying has a large population, and Su's family is in the middle of the village, so the yard is not very big, and the stick is clamped with a piece of wood as tall as a person.

  The two wooden doors did not have door handles, and the door was open at the moment. Su Anzhen, the third child, and Su Anfen, the fourth child of the Su family, were standing in the yard, looking out eagerly.

  As soon as they saw Su Anying and his wife, they immediately became happy and shouted into the room.

   "Father, mother, it's really my second sister and second brother-in-law who are back."

   As soon as the words fell, Su Weizhong, the father of the Su family, and his wife Han Cai'e came out of the house, just in time to meet Xu Shiyan and his wife.

   "Father, mother, I'm back." Seeing her parents, Su Anying couldn't help it, her eyes filled with tears.

   "Father-in-law, mother-in-law, I will accompany Yingzi back to visit the two elders." Xu Shiyan stepped forward to salute, which was owed in his previous life.

   "Hey, hey, just come back, just come back, come on, come in, come in."

  Su Weizhong also looked very excited, and hurriedly called Xu Shiyan and his wife into the house.

  (end of this chapter)