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March 23, 1977, Sunday, 5:30 in the morning.
It was a cold and fresh morning in Beijing.
The sky was barely bright, the sun was just turning red, there was a thin layer of sugar-like frost on the eaves and branches, and there were no pedestrians in the alley yet.
However, although the revolutionaries are still sleeping soundly for the revolution, the “ghosts and ghosts” have already gotten up early.
In Furu, you can now see some people who always walk with their heads down, with humility and caution on their faces, sweeping the streets with big brooms. They are all the targets of control on the streets.
This is a special scene in a special period in a special year. Volunteer workers like this who cannot even get a comment like “learn from Lei Feng” have been working hard to maintain a clean environment in the streets of the capital in the past ten years regardless of rain or shine. A major force.
These people are very dedicated and conscientious, with almost no need for supervision, because everyone has their own designated scope of responsibility, and for fear of being held accountable, no one dares to mess around with things. Everyone wants to sweep the floor spotlessly. My home is still clean.
It should be said that the sanitation workers in the capital should be the most grateful. It is because of these people that their workload has been greatly reduced. However, as of now, their good days are numbered.
Among the people sweeping the streets, Hong Yanwu was naturally included.
Since Hong Yanzheng and his wife have children to take care of and their workplaces are not close by, it has always been Wang Yunlin’s task to clean up the Hong family. So in the past two days, Hong Yanwu had to get up early every day to sweep the streets for Wang Yunlin, not only to allow his mother to sleep a little longer, but also to prevent her from being too tired to turn over due to back pain every night.
In the east courtyard of Guanyin Yuan, in addition to the Hong family, the Su family also belongs to the category of voluntary workers.
The head of the Su family is called Su Shenzhen. His wife has passed away, and he lives with his son Su Jin and daughter Su Xiu. He is a tailor who repairs the actor’s “helmet” at the Beijing Kunqu Opera Troupe. But in fact, this job was a bit humiliating for Tailor Su, and the reason why Old Su came to sweep the streets was somewhat unfair.
Why?
Because the Su family’s ancestral home was originally Su (zhou) in Jiangnan, the needlework skills were also passed down from ancestors. Just because his ancestors made several new clothes for the emperor when Qianlong went to Jiangnan, the emperor became interested in this craftsmanship. Qianlong decreed that his ancestors be selected into the palace and brought back to the capital. From then on, the Su family was forced to become tailors for the Guangchu Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and had to move to the capital to settle down.
Southern people are attentive, and their euphemism and sophistication are not comparable to northern craftsmen. Therefore, the Su family’s needlework is also highly regarded in the palace and has always been very popular. Even during the Cixi period, when clothing production was most prosperous, there were as many as two to three hundred clothing craftsmen. The Su family’s craftsmanship was still outstanding, and it was the favorite of the old Buddha. Later, it was not until the Republic of China that the Su family moved from the palace to the people.
Although the Su family no longer has official positions, their craftsmanship is still there. Old Su’s father even married an embroiderer who also fled the palace. The couple thus combined the splendor of “Palace Embroidery” and “Suzhou Embroidery” into one. With their incomparable craftsmanship, they still created a new world among the big houses, and were also sought after by the ladies and ladies of wealthy families. and favor.
The people who ask the Su family to make clothes are from wealthy families because of their exquisite workmanship and fame. As a result, Su Shen learned art from his parents at an early age and developed a good skill in making cheongsam. The texture, color and workmanship of the finished products he made by himself in his prime years even shocked his father.
Speaking of which, Hong Yanwu’s mother Wang Yunlin was also a customer of Su Shenzhen. After she married into the Hong family, she made some of the most expensive cheongsams in the capital. All come from the hands of Lao Su.
But it is a pity that after liberation, Su Shenzhen had no use.
Because the new life discards the old and creates the new, advocating frugality, the cheongsam gradually fades out of people’s lives. Even though Tailor Su had a pair of dexterous hands that could turn a piece of white cloth into colorful flowers, he never had the opportunity to use this method again. So in desperation, in order for the whole family to have food to eat, Lao Su had no choice but to end his freelance career and go to the government to find a job.
In fact, it stands to reason that if the Su family’s craftsmanship is placed in the “helmet” industry, making costumes for Peking Opera is not a waste. However, there is only one old business in this industry in the capital, “Sanyiyong Costume Store”, which has already been fully staffed.
As a result, they couldn’t coordinate, so the government had no choice but to let Su join the Kunqu Opera Troupe as a tinker. However, there was still some embroidery work there. Tailor Su was not a complete waste, so in order to make a living, he just pinched his nose and accepted the job. .
But the most unfortunate thing is that within a few years, the “movement” came again.
In this way, Su Shen, a grown man who used needle and thread to mend costumes every day, became the first target of the “Destroy the Four Olds”. From then on, he would be implicated in any conference or meeting related to feudal consciousness. Therefore, he became the only subject of control in the east courtyard besides the Hong family.
On the contrary to Tailor Su, it was his neighbor, Old Ding, Ding Guiru, who had great luck.
Because it stands to reason that “Beng Douding” was a shop in those days, no matter how big or small it was. Even if it eventually fell into a small stall, it should still be classified as a small owner.
But it just so happens that Old Ding knows how to get into trouble. During the “movement”, he was on guard against being “opened to old scores.” Before he “cleaned up the class ranks,” he bought a torn and tattered one from nowhere. When the old cotton robe comes, reports of “remembering the bitter and thinking of the sweet” begin all over the world.
Lao Ding told everyone about the bitterness of his journey to Beijing to beg for food, and described his father-in-law as a “capitalist” who exploited and squeezed him. The “romantic” story moved some young Red Guards and workers after listening to it. I had to shed tears.
As a result, he became the “working class” who suffered greatly and hated himself before liberation. Finally, he also changed the status of small business owners to “urban poor”.
This is called, the same flower bears two different fruits. The gap between people’s encounters is so huge due to their different operating methods.
At this time of year, the political atmosphere is undoubtedly much more relaxed. After Hong Yanwu finished sweeping his own house, he immediately went to help Su Shen clean his house. The two of them swept the streets unlike in the past where they could only work hard without daring. There was a little communication and we naturally started chatting.
“Uncle Su, please stop swiping from now on. I’ll do it with you every day…”
Hong Yanwu was the first to speak. He was sincere. This little job was really nothing to him. When he was learning from Master Yu, every day he could clean the yard and outside more than the two families put together. The scope is still large.
“Thank you, but the ‘Ethnic Affairs Committee’ won’t agree. Forget it, I’m used to sweeping every day, so I just treat it as exercise.”
I don’t know whether it was because he was being polite or because he had political concerns. Su Shenzhen just smiled and declined, and then asked again. “Boy, do your clothes still fit you? You have to be careful when you take off your clothes. Don’t expose the ‘flesh’ underneath.”
Tailor Su was referring to Hong Yanwu’s new jacket, which Wang Yunlin felt her son was too thin on and asked him to change it overnight yesterday using Hong Lucheng’s dress and mandarin jacket.
Although the outside is made of ordinary fabric and is very simple, the inside is made of blue silk and has a hollow brass dragon buckle nailed on it. Lao Su was worried about being discovered, and it was not a big deal.
“It fits. Don’t worry, I will pay attention to it. I haven’t thanked you personally yet, which makes you tired.”
“After all, we have been neighbors for so many years, so how can we talk about the word ‘thank you’? If I say that, do I still have to come to thank your family for the meat sausages? Your mother’s character, but It’s really hard to say…”
Because we are so poor these days, no one can live without the help of others. It has become normal for neighbors to give gifts to each other. If any family wants to get something good, no one is alone. As long as you can share it, a handful of melon seeds is never too little, and you have to send some to your neighbor’s house. What’s important is the friendship between the two.
Wang Yunlin is a lady, she is not a person without vision, so she is not stingy. In addition, over the years, because of Hong Yanwu’s incident, Wang Yunlin always felt sorry for several old neighbors, so this time she gave a whole stick to each of the three neighbors in the east courtyard from the things Xu Manli brought back. Big sausage and a can of lunch meat.
In those days when food and clothing were scarce, this was no less than a generous gift. Not only were the Bian family and the Su family extremely happy to receive the things, but even Lao Ding no longer worried that Hong Yanwu would pursue his second daughter-in-law’s rude remarks.
Naturally, when several neighbors looked at Hong Yanwu’s return, they became more tolerant in their hearts.
Now Hong Yanwu can truly understand his mother’s painstaking efforts.
Since yesterday, his mother has been smiling from heart to face, almost singing a ditty.
However, my mother has never been so busy. Whether she gets up early or after get off work, she has become a voluntary servant in the courtyard. When you see someone getting up, greet them quickly.
“Sister, I have raised your fire, you can make porridge!”
“Lao Su, the water is boiling on my stove. If you want to make tea, use mine first.”
“Old Ding, you have a letter at home. I met the postman at my door. I won’t bring it in for you. Hey, what else can you say thank you for? If you want to say thank you, this neighbor can’t thank you enough. .”
Everyone in the courtyard was filled with excitement. But everyone understood that Wang Yunlin was not only happy because his son had returned, but also worried that he would cause trouble again in the future, so she was being extra careful to please everyone.
People have begun to walk on the street, and the sweeping of the street has come to an end.
It was precisely because of thinking of this that Hong Yanwu was speechless. He showed a kind of hesitation that he wanted to speak before giving up.
Seeing this, Su Shenzhen probably saw what Hong Yanwu was thinking, and whispered, “It’s good that you can understand your mother’s difficulties, and just be filial to her from now on. But I have to remind you, you really You should be nice to your father. Don’t always think that he doesn’t want to see you. Now, you should do something for your father and don’t always contradict him. Do you understand this? ”
Hong Yanwu was not sure. He looked at Su Shenzhen and nodded, his expression solemn.
I couldn’t help but think: Today is the time to have a serious talk with my mother about my father’s illness.