Chapter 1 A Thousand Miles Home

【1】

It was a midday in the spring of 1969, and there was a young man working in the Heze area of Shandong Province, who was a top student at China Agricultural University and worked as an agricultural technician in the county after graduation. Within a few years, he was transferred to work in a county agricultural technology committee in Heze area, Shandong. Because of his outstanding achievements, he has been promoted to the county agricultural technician, and he has also been rated as a county model worker.

His new varieties of corn and cotton have also been made into agricultural science films. For this reason, the Heze region of Shandong Province also awarded Zhang Guangming a certificate of merit, a certificate of honor, and a bonus. He received a call from his mother today saying, "Your father and your daughter-in-law have both fallen and injured, your father is seriously injured, you must come back immediately......

He took the train back to the train station in his hometown. He hurriedly got off the train and walked more than 20 kilometers, turning four corners, and he could see his village in the distance. He quickened his pace, looked further ahead, and was dumbfounded. For he saw that his village was in the midst of a sea in front of him.

"What's going on?" Zhang Guangming saw that some of the crops were submerged, and he couldn't tell what kind of crops were planted. Spring sorghum has a high advantage, poking out a bitter gourd face that has been yellowed by soaking. There is a layer of large and small pickles floating in the water, and I don't know what it is. Zhang Guangming bent down to take a closer look, and it turned out that there were countless pests such as black aphids, red spiders, cyan praying mantises, flower-colored grasshoppers, black grasshoppers, brown crickets, and so on. Some of the pests are dead, their corpses are floating in the water, and some are struggling desperately.

He couldn't help but wonder in his heart. "What's going on?" he hurriedly rolled up his trouser leg and waded through the murky water. The river in another village flows smoothly, why is the river in my own village so blocked? It must be the storms of the past few days that have scraped off the half-withered leaves into the river, and the half-withered grass and other garbage on the riverbank have not been cleaned up, and the silt has not been cleaned up, so that such a bad result has been caused!

This man sees a pest as if he sees an enemy, and he is not happy until he destroys it. He quickly took out the magnifying glass in his jacket pocket, put it on his right eye and squeezed his left eye to look carefully, only to see that on the back of the corn leaves, some black aphids were looking at the spring corn leaves with a pair of black eyes the size of pinpoints, and they were unscrupulously invading the mesophyll. Some of them spread their wings and fled when they were full.

The aphid's pointed head has a pair of small protruding eyes and two whiskers responsible for pathfinding, three legs on each side of the belly that are several times thinner than a hair, black and white hind legs are longer than the front legs, two hind legs are responsible for pushing backwards, and two front legs on each side of the body, which are responsible for moving forward.

Aphids are intelligent pests. It is said to be shrewd because it knows how to devour the middle part of the leaf first, so that the originally stretched leaf is rolled up, and it thinks that it can hide inside, and it can eat the mesophyll without being discovered.

When he saw the curling leaves, he unfolded them, and when he looked carefully with a magnifying glass, he could see every movement of the aphids clearly. Zhang Guangming crushed all the aphids rolled in it with his hands. At this time, he saw one by one the crickets and praying mantis fluttering past and landing on the wheat leaves, and he caught them left and right in a short time, and destroyed many pests.

【2】

He took a closer look, and the women in the evening were carrying coarse cloth pockets for picking cotton, and they were hurriedly picking all kinds of wild vegetables mixed with mud spots in the weeds by the creek, and quickly stuffed these green and yellow wild vegetables into the big pockets. The men climbed one after another on the big trees, with two feet on the branches, their backs against the trunks, a basket on one arm, and the other hand throwing half-sinful leaves into the basket. Those hands were as busy as robbers robbing jewels.

At this time, the captain of the thirteenth production team walked from the other side of the river, he was Zhang Guangming's own brother, named Zhang Guangcai.

As soon as Zhang Guangcai saw Zhang Guangming coming back from Shandong, he immediately said, "Hey, Brother Guangming, are you back?" Uncle Maoyuan repaired your uncle's house, and when he stepped into a leaky hole, he fell off the roof and broke his leg.

Li Yue'e and her siblings went to the wasteland to look for leaves, and when she saw a toon tree, she walked up to see that the leaves on the low branches had been brushed up, so she climbed to the top of the high tree to pick up the leaves. Unexpectedly, she was bleeding heavily when she gave birth to a chick, which caused her to lose too much blood and cover her head, and her younger siblings fell to the ground and injured her legs when she was dizzy, and she limped when she walked. Your three daughters are young.

Brother Zhang Guanghua works in Beijing, and Yanzi's sister can't walk on her legs. You have added two serious illness numbers to your family at once, which can make my Aunt Zhao Tonghua anxious. Brother Guangming, you should come back to take care of Uncle Maoyuan and his younger siblings for a few days! Hey, if people are unlucky, bad things happen one after another at home!" Zhang Guangcai, the captain of the thirteenth team, walked up to Zhang Guangming and said in detail with a bitter expression.

The women who were picking wild vegetables on the roadside, as well as the men who were picking leaves on the big elm tree, locust tree, and willow tree on the great shore, greeted Zhang Guangming warmly. With expectant eyes, everyone said loudly to Zhang Guangming:

"Bright, you have helped people in Shandong to research new varieties of grain and cotton, so that people can have food and clothing. Why don't you go back to your hometown to help our hometown fathers and elders? Look at the crops in our village, the crops in our village are dying of drought and waterlogging, and even the yellowing wild vegetables and leaves are almost eaten, and some of the people in our village are dying of starvation!"

"Well, that's right. The others sighed. They all looked at Zhang Guangming with pleading eyes.

Zhang Guangcai also immediately said: "You should be transferred back quickly to save our fellow villagers!"

"We can't do anything about the drought, so why don't we get rid of the pests in time? Why are the weeds in the crops? Why is the river blocked when it's waterlogged?" Zhang Guangming asked very anxiously.

Zhang Guangcai hurriedly said: "Since there was a light snow a year ago, I haven't seen a drop of rain in the coming year." We don't have well water to irrigate the land, so the pests can multiply quickly, eradicating and multiplying from generation to generation. A few days ago, I felt that the weeds were dwarf, so I ignored them and did not remove them in time.

A few days ago, it seemed that the sky suddenly woke up, and then I remembered that it hadn't rained for us, so I poured the downpour for several days, and it became a waterlogging. This spring was the first time in a century that the river was blocked, and the river was clogged before it had time to clear the garbage and silt. ”

With a helpless expression, he said: "I am a member of the Communist Party, and I should work wherever the leader directs me to go." Farmers in Heze, Shandong Province do not grow cotton, and our region and Heze are friendly areas. The district leaders sent me to lead the local agricultural technicians to the Heze area of Shandong Province to help farmers there plant and manage cotton. Is it something that I can transfer if I want to?"

He waved apologetically to the group and walked thoughtfully towards the village. Zhang Guangming said "oh!", his face was full of anxious expression, and he walked back to the village with brisk steps.

【3】

When Zhang Guangming came to the house, he saw his mother cooking lunch in the kitchen, and his mother cried when she saw her eldest son walking into the house. Mother said while crying sadly, our family is very unlucky, your father's leg is broken, and Wen Yaniang is also injured.

Mother and son talked as they walked up into the house. Zhang Guangming walked into his parents' room and saw his seriously injured father lying on the bed and sleeping under the quilt.

He gently put the special medicine and gifts for treating leg injuries on the table next to the bed, and slowly lifted the quilt to see that the light and thick of his father's calf were half a foot long, and the knife edge was marked with steel nails. Mother whispered, "Your father can't sleep a night these days, and he worries every day when he will be able to repay the money he borrowed from his neighbors......

Zhang Guangming hurriedly took out a wad of money from his jacket pocket and whispered to his mother: "I have cultivated new varieties of corn and cotton with high yields in Shandong, and this money is a bonus given to me by the leaders there. ”

The mother was overjoyed and took the money, and laughed like a child. She told her eldest son that you should contribute to the country's agricultural undertakings! The people now lack food and clothing, and the days are too miserable.

Zhang Guangming hummed solemnly, and said in a low voice, "I will definitely listen to my mother's words and make efforts to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people of the motherland!"

He asked again, "Why didn't I see Yan'er?" My sister hasn't come back from school yet? Mother replied that she was coming back soon, and she was going home in a wheelchair. Zhang Guangming said, then let my father sleep, I will go home first, and then come to visit my father after lunch. ”。 Mother said, go ahead, they are all at home waiting for you to go back.

【4】

Zhang Guangming hurried back to his home again, and as soon as he entered the door, the three daughters called their father to greet him happily. The third daughter hugged her father's leg, the second daughter held her father's hand, and the eldest daughter held her father's arm. They all said, I miss you so much, Dad!

Zhang Guangming smiled and said, "Dad misses you too!"

"Wenya's dad is back?" asked the wife, who was breastfeeding her little daughter.

Zhang Guangming immediately walked into the bedroom and asked his wife how her injuries were. Zhang Guangming listened to his wife while eagerly picking up his little daughter. He looked at this little girl's pink mouth, a pair of big eyes and double eyelids, white and tender skin, and curved crescent eyebrows.

When his wife gave birth, he was working in Shandong, and this was the first time he had seen his little daughter so beautiful. He said happily, this little girl is really like you, so beautiful!

Zhang Guangming asked his wife a few words of warmth, and then began to cook on the fire.

After lunch, he hurried to visit his father again. When the father saw that his eldest son was very worried, he said optimistically: "My leg has been operated on, and it will be fine in more than three months, so don't worry." Zhang Guangming chatted with his father for a while.

He cleaned his parents and started the housework, then went out into the yard and picked up an axe and began to chop wood, and in a short time he chopped a large stack of dry tree roots.

The younger sister said to the eldest brother in a high-spirited manner, "The eldest brother is back, and I miss you, sister." Big brother, let me tell you, now I have learned carving and painting with my father. You look at the poem you wrote for me, I carved it on the purr. ”

When Zhang Guangming heard this, he put down his axe and came over and said, "Oh, yes? Then I'll take a look at your masterpiece." ”

He came to his sister's room and said, "Wow, there are so many carvings and paintings here!" The eldest brother saw that there were many bamboo carvings, gourd paintings, and leaf carvings in his sister's room. My sister took a gourd and handed it to my brother and said, "Do you like it?" Zhang Guangming looked at the gourd, and sure enough, it was an inspirational poem he wrote to his sister "Heaven Rewards Diligence":

Frosted to the bone, I like to see the fragrance of cold plums.

What is there to fear from a thousand hammers, rough iron is quenched into steel.

The bitter wind and rain have been tasted, and the rainbow is woven into colorful makeup.

Bamboo grass chases the dream of the sky, and reaches the clouds to catch the sun.

Persuade the gentleman not to waste time, and hard work can eventually create brilliance.

When Zhang Guangming saw this poem, he recalled that when his sister was in junior high school, she was often ridiculed by the naughty students in the class, saying that she was an ugly lame duck with broken wings. So she couldn't stand that kind of ridicule and discrimination, so she became pessimistic and misanthropic. He also chose to commit suicide several times, but fortunately, he was found by his family in time and saved his life one by one. But since then, her expression has been depressed and she has collapsed. So I wrote this poem of persuasion to my sister with poetic words. My sister really jumped out of the abyss of pain after reading this poem. The eldest brother praised the younger sister for carving well!

My sister said that she would engrave this poem in my heart like carving it on a gourd, so that it would always inspire me to grow up! The eldest brother listened to his sister's words and said, "My sister has finally grown up."

Zhang Guangming went to the kitchen again and picked up six buckets of water into the vat. After brushing the pots and pans, the mother went to the weeds in the yard to feed the chickens, ducks and geese. She grabbed a handful of yellowed grass and threw it on the ground as she said, "Bright, you can rest for a while." Chickens, ducks, and geese scattered around rushed over to eat when they saw the weeds fluttering their wings on the ground.

Zhang Guangming said: "I'm not tired, my father's leg is broken, I can't work these days, I have to take on all the housework!" The mother looked at her filial eldest son with a relieved smile.

At this time, there was a noise of people and noise outside the gate......