Ma Shukui's mother died when he was less than three years old, and he was raised by his grandmother. His father and stepmother were well-known teachers who taught for a living in other counties before liberation. The family is owned by Grandma Ma, and all 20 acres of land are leased.

There is a big mullet in the clear river behind the horse's house, leading a group of children to forage and play in the grass under the shade of the tree every day. One day, when Grandma Ma went down to the river to wash rice and vegetables, the group of mullet babies circled around her like headless flies, as if telling that their mother was missing. The neighbor's child said that it was an old man wearing a straw hat who fished it away, and the old grandmother chased it out of the village with her little feet, exchanged five liters of rice for release, and said that the small fish were not allowed to fish again until they grew up.

The grandmother eats and worships the Buddha and is very popular, and the villagers and neighbors can get her help when they are in trouble, but they are classified as landlords during the land reform but they are not fought. My father said to the team leader: I support the people's government. I don't want any land and real estate, just keep my pen. He and his stepmother were classified as landlords, but they did not wear "hats".

Having lost his mother's love since he was a child, Ma Shukui developed a withdrawn and wooden personality, never took the initiative to communicate with others, and it was difficult to say ten words a day. His stepmother thought that he should not study more and should work and integrate into society as soon as possible, and enrolled in an agricultural technical school after graduating from junior high school. After graduation, he was assigned to the Agricultural Bureau as a trainee agricultural technician.

A year later, the provincial department dispatched technical personnel to support the poor counties in the north, and the leaders of the bureau held a meeting to mobilize everyone to write an application report. Two days later, the director talked to him: Xiaoma, you are a member of the Youth League, why don't you respond to the call and take the initiative to write an application? Ma Shukui asked if someone else had written? The director said that everything was written, and you were the only one. He wrote a three-line volunteer request report.

The next day at work, a big red good news was posted on the bulletin board: Ma Shukui, a member of the Youth League, responded to the call of his superiors and took the initiative to apply to work in a poor county in the north, which was approved after research.

The day before leaving, he drank farewell wine, and he lay on the bed tossing and turning and couldn't sleep. Ask Xiao Shi in the same dormitory: Everyone writes applications, why do you approve me alone?

Xiao Shi said that you will leave tomorrow, and to tell you the truth, you are the only one who writes the report! He sat up from the bed at once, lay down in a daze, and said to himself: Oh, I see! The director said, I am the first batch, who will be fooled again in the next batch? Xiao Shi said that it is just a "task", how can there be a next batch? Pony, my brother warns you, you're too honest!

Ma Shukui came to Sheyang County, on the shore of the Yellow Sea, and ran around the saline-alkali land on the beach every day, and the sea breeze made him as dark as an African.

In the third year, the state dispatched technical personnel from the developed provinces in the south to support the construction of Beidahuang Farm. The Sheyang Agricultural Bureau held a mobilization meeting, or the same set of procedures: calling for writing a letter of determination and writing a report for request. Ma Shukui learned the lesson of the last time and decided to wait and see. The leader asked him why he didn't write a report and ask for a transfer? He said that he was not busy, and it was not too late for everyone to write and write.

Three days later, the big red list was announced. There are three agricultural technicians who support the Great Northern Wilderness, and Ma Shukui is on the list. He asked the leader, I didn't write an application, why did I have me? The leader said that if you don't write an application, it only means that your consciousness is not high, and do you understand personal obedience to the organization? As he spoke, he handed him a brown paper envelope, which contained a letter of introduction for job transfer, a letter of introduction for salary, a relationship with the league organization, and a hard sleeper ticket for a direct train to Harbin. "Pack up and send a car to take you to the train station tomorrow night."

Seeing that he was silent, the leader said a lot of praise, praising him for his good performance in Sheyang for two years: We have made a good appraisal for you and put it in the file. Ma Shukui stared at the other party's smiling face and constantly moving lips, and never heard anything again.

boarded the train to the north, Ma Shukui still didn't understand, the job was transferred twice in the three years after graduation, and the more he was transferred, the more desolate and difficult he became, the reason was not whether he wrote or not: first, the family composition is not good, and the place where others don't want to go is naturally preferred, and Cai Chuanguang, who is in the same company, is similar to him; He has a wooden personality of the two, who eats persimmons and does not pick soft pinching?

The train travels unhurriedly, stopping at more than 60 stations to reach Harbin. A jeep with a public security license plate drove for six hours and took three agricultural technicians to their home, the local state-run Maoshan Farm.

At the western foot of the Xiaoxing'an Mountains and the northern end of the Northeast Great Plain, there are 14 conical volcanoes within 100 kilometers. At that time, the volcanic eruption magma blocked the river channel, forming five dammed lakes connected in size, which is the well-known Wudalianchi at home and abroad. Maoshan Farm is located at the foot of Maoshan Mountain in the northeast of Wudalianchi.

Maoshan Farm is a labor reform farm under the jurisdiction of the Provincial Public Security Department. Four of the seven sub-camps are for prisoners of re-education through labor, and three of them are for agricultural workers who have been released from prison and left for employment, commonly known as "second re-education through labor".

Three technical cadres were transferred at one time, and they came from economically developed provinces in the south, and the field leaders sent a special car to Harbin to pick up the station. Before the jeep arrived at the field department, Sun Junhu, secretary of the party committee, Yu Dajiang, the field director, and Wang Zihe, the deputy field director, came out to greet them and shook hands with Xiaoma, Xiao Cai and Xiao Lan cordially to express a warm welcome.

Wang Changchang accompanied them to the first dinner in the Great Northern Wilderness: the staple food is white flour steamed buns, golden corn porridge; Four dishes: beef sauce, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, shredded potatoes with green peppers, and green onions dipped in sauce. Wang Zihe grabbed the root ruler and kneaded the long green onions into several pieces, dipped them in the sauce plate, and ate them fragrantly and sweetly. Cai Chuanguang followed the customs of the locals, and he also ate the same. Wang Chang smiled: Xiao Cai is still making rapid progress! If you don't eat green onions, you don't count as a person in the Great Northern Wilderness.

The farm has more than 300,000 acres of cultivated land, and there is still a large amount of reclaimable land in the surrounding area. Three agricultural technicians form the production technology department, which is responsible for preparing the reclamation planting plan, cultivating and introducing excellent varieties, and promoting new technologies for plant protection and pest prevention. Director Wang designated Cai Chuanguang to be temporarily responsible.

The folk song says: The Great Northern Wilderness is really novel, the rod beats the roe deer scoop the fish, and the pheasant flies into the rice pot.

Autumn is the golden season for land reclamation. First, use a tractor to circle out the fire escape, and choose windless or breezy weather to set fire to the wasteland. Dianzi, which has been sleeping for thousands of years, burns, crackles and bursts out of sparks, stretching for several kilometers, and the fire dragon is extremely spectacular. The pheasants fluttered everywhere and rose into the air, and the hares rushed to the east and south, and finally could not escape from the fire, becoming a delicacy in the pot of the reclaimers. When the grass burns away, the pitch-black scorched earth twists into oil, and the tractor-drawn ploughshare turns over and rakes it to pieces, and the next year there will be thousands of wheat waves.

The hilly terrain is full of hills, and the low-lying areas are filled with ponds, which the locals call blisters - a name so apt, they resemble pearls scattered in the wilderness. The shore is overgrown with reeds and cattails, and the water surface exudes a strong smell of rotten grass. In the slightly blackened water, the fish are fat and stupid, spitting bubbles and swimming lazily.

On her days off, Pony Blue bends wires into circles and sews gauze to make nets. Sticking the net pocket into the bubble, he quietly approached the fish and scooped it quickly, and a few stupid guys fell into the net in ignorance. The fish were so fat that they tucked into their necks, and their scales were dark brown, and they didn't bother to struggle until they were slaughtered.

The folk song says: The Great Northern Wilderness is really desolate, there are rabbits and wolves, but there is a lack of big girls.

It is not an exaggeration to describe the lack of girls on the farm. There are more than 40 staff members of the organ, except for the cashier Xiao Liu and the telephone operator Xiao Qu, all of whom are "monk heads", and the sex ratio is abnormally high. In those days, there was no television, and an open-air movie every other week was a black-and-white film that I had watched many times, and I could barely memorize the lines. On Saturdays, the dance was held in the small hall, and the only accompaniment was an old accordion, played only by the employment peasant union named Wang Long Neck.

Xiao Liu Xiaoqu is a rare resource at the level of "field treasure", and it is overwhelming at the dance: after accompanying the field leader to accompany the section chief, and then it is the turn of the section members to be invited, one after another, naturally there is no time to invite others. The young men then caught their own pairs of companions, like a pair of great praying mantises, and performed rough and clumsy dance steps, which made people laugh.

In the blink of an eye for three years, Xiaolan and Xiaocai got married one after another. The singles are bitter, the corn ballast in the canteen is day after day, and the people who eat potatoes and cabbage are unappetizing. The single dormitory is boring, the farm generates its own electricity, the living area is closed at nine o'clock, and one person sits under the kerosene lamp, which is simply autistic.

The bride of Lan Lepu, Liu Fengzhi, is delicate and exquisite, the wife and sister of the mechanic Kelu technician, and her family lives in the tunzi near the farm. Primary school culture but can speak well, the biggest disadvantage is that he doesn't like to work. Lan Lepu is a state cadre, and her monthly salary of 52 yuan is enough to provide her with a good life. At the beginning, my brother-in-law Lao Lu reminded: Xiaolan's family background is not good, and she can't talk about a big future, so let his wife and sister consider remarrying. Liu Fengzhi's sister said: My sister herself has no job, marrying a Han and marrying a Han, dressing and eating, eating and drinking is a future.

Liu Fengzhi was raised white and tender after marriage. Her husband bought her three "Spring Festival" cigarettes every month, which was equivalent to food money for two people. Three years later, two children gave birth to three daughters, and they couldn't eat without the help of their mother-in-law. Three points of beauty depend on dressing up, and Liu Fengzhi often has children's feces and urine spots on her clothes and pants, which is not glamorous. There are too many people and the cost is large, and the "Spring Festival" can't afford it, so the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law sit cross-legged opposite each other on the kang, and smoke the horn barrel around the cigarette basket, choking Lan Lepu to tears.

Cai Chuanguang's bride Ren Fengying is a native of Shandong, and the financial chief Ren Dahai's younger sister. There was a famine in her hometown, her mother died of edema, Ren Fengying did not graduate from junior high school, and went to her brother with her father. The Great Northern Wasteland is vast and sparsely populated, and there is open space in the hollows of the hillsides, so you can't be hungry if you plant anything.

Ren Dahai arranged for his sister to work as a salesperson in the supply and marketing cooperative. began to count temporary workers, and a year later, the recruitment index was successfully turned positive. Recruitment requires junior high school graduation, and Ren Dahai didn't bother to get a graduation certificate. In the era of material shortage, everything was supplied according to the plan, matches, soap, kerosene, tickets, milk powder, sugar, and hot water bottles had to be approved by the leadership, and the supply and marketing cooperatives entered 200 pairs of nylon socks and each person was limited to two pairs. Ren Dahai took a fancy to the salesman and gained popularity.

Cai Chuanguang was very active after coming to Maoshan. Not only is he active in his work, but he also often writes ideological returns and submits an application for joining the party in half a year. He said to Xiaoma that it is difficult to join the party if he has a bad background, and he has to write when he applies for it, which is called "Heart to Buddha Knowledge". At the meeting, he would take the lead in singing to make the atmosphere hot, and leave everyone with an image of an enthusiastic and positive progressive youth. Although he was temporarily in charge of the biotechnology department, except for a few field leaders, everyone called him "Section Chief Cai".

Xiao Cai set her sights on Ren Fengying, this girl is so simple and diligent, she is a wonder among girls who have a job. The chief of finance is very important, and marrying his sister is naturally beneficial to the future. After making up his mind, he worked Ren Hai's body, and sent him a copy of the application for ideological return to join the party, and said sincerely, "You are a branch committee of the organ, please care more and help." ”

Then he set his eyes on Feng Ying's father, Ren Laohan, who was very affectionate and affectionate. Once the old man went to the well to fetch water, he grabbed the flat shoulder to carry the water to the house, and saw that there was scale on the edge of the water tank, and the inside and outside were clean, and the old man praised Xiao Cai for not having an intellectual shelf, and the girl who married this son-in-law enjoyed endless happiness. The hometown sent the "White Rabbit" toffee, and every time I went to Ren's house, I didn't forget to bring a few pieces to Feng Ying's nephew, and the little guy saved a thick set of good-looking candy paper. Ren Dahai's wife teases her sister-in-law: What is the little sister still hesitating about? It's hard to find lanterns, don't ask people to grab them!

The hard work paid off, and Xiao Cai finally chased Ren Fengying into his hands. Ren Dahai said to his brother-in-law, close the door and talk about your own words, you can do anything, that is, you are from a family, and you are congenitally insufficient! Fortunately, you have the national cadre brand. Feng Ying is an honest child, it's not easy to have this job, you drill more business and rely on technology to eat, and the rest is okay with the crowd, remember to be a low-key person with your tail between your legs. Cai Chuanguang was very moved when he heard it.

Grandma Ma asked someone to write a long letter to her grandson, introducing Jiang Lehua's situation in all aspects, and telling her grandson to write a letter to propose marriage immediately, "It's not that you are cornered, which good girl is willing to marry the Great Northern Wilderness?" ”

Ma Shukui received the letter and didn't fall asleep in the middle of the night.

By the time he was twenty-five years old, he had not spoken of friends. When I was young, I didn't want to talk about it when I was working in the county agricultural bureau and Sheyang. came to the Great Northern Wilderness as I grew older, but there was no one to talk about: two women in the agency, the cashier Xiao Liu was enthusiastic and lively, he was short and fat, and the fat powder couldn't cover the freckles on his face; The operator Xiaoqu is tall, with big wavy curly hair but a crooked mouth, and his smile is even more crooked, so he looks unattainable with a tense face all day long. These two "fairies" also have a high return rate, pursuing them one after another, including section-level cadres and promising rookies. The principle that scarce goods are expensive and strange goods can be lived in is fully explained here.

Ma Shukui stared at the photo of Jiang Lehua sent with the letter, and for the first time in his life, he felt strange and happy, and wrote the first courtship letter with a pen in his clothes. Truthfully introduce your experience and the hardships of the Great Northern Wilderness, and pick a photo that you are satisfied with and send it back in the letter.

Soon I was looking forward to a reply. Jiang Lehua said that the difficult environment of Luyuan is nothing, "You have suffered so much, you should be accompanied and taken care of, I am willing to protect you for the rest of your life." "The only requirement is to go to work to earn money so that my father can see a doctor so that my younger brother Lesheng can finish high school.