Zhao Dianzhi's hometown is in Maoxing Town, Zhaoyuan County, Heilongjiang Province, her family used to farm in the Zhao family's shack, and then her father Zhao Chengren didn't want to farm, so he went to work in the Maoxing Oil Mill, and a family of ten rented two houses on West Street.

In the seventh month of the lunar calendar in 1944, there was a plague in Maoxing, and the common people did not know about it.

I worked with my father, and there was a person who was fine early in the morning, and he said that he had a stomachache while working, and no one cared. After a while, he vomited and diarrhea, and could not stand.

Dad carried him on his back and sent him home, and the man died the same day.

In the evening, my father said to my second uncle: "This stubble diarrhea is very bad, I heard that there are several deaths, let's be a little more careful." Tomorrow, after finishing work, let's go to the bubble and get some fish to eat. ”

The next morning, Dad was sick. First of all, my stomach hurt, beads of sweat fell down, and then I vomited up and down, and after vomiting, I was hot, and I asked for water to drink: "I'm thirsty!" I want to drink water! I want to drink cold water! ”

Mom was going to the well to fetch water, but grandma stopped her: "Drink cold water for diarrhea, the more you drink, the more you drink, the worse it gets." Don't give him water, let him hold on. ”

That year, Dianzhi was thirteen years old, with two younger brothers, a younger sister, and a sister-in-law, who was one year younger than her. began to crook on the kang, and then the kang rolled and asked for water to drink, and the tossing was so boring that he died the same day.

Maoxing has died one after another, and it is no longer possible to buy coffins. The landlord remembered that there was a mentally ill woman who got sick early, and she was also pulling and vomiting, and the family bought a coffin, and her illness was cured.

The second uncle's name is Zhao Chenghai, he bought the coffin from someone else, and buried his father that day.

Dad is gone, and there is a lot of crying at home. The grandmother and mother who cried the most were grandma and mother, grandma had no eldest son, and mother had no husband.

On the morning of the third day, my mother was also sick, her stomach hurt, she vomited and diarrhea, her whole body was hot, and she was so uncomfortable that she was rolling on the kang and asked for water to drink.

Grandma cried and asked the second uncle: "Why is it still contagious to have diarrhea this time?" God, do you want the life of our whole family? ”

The second uncle lowered his head and didn't say anything.

Grandma wiped a handful of tears and said to the second aunt, "What can I do?" We can't wait to die, can we? Lock up all the children first. ”

The second uncle locked the five children in the barn and opened the door from the outside.

At noon, the second aunt brought something to eat.

Like my father, my mother shouted one after another: "I'm thirsty!" I want to drink water! I want to drink cold water! ”

The second aunt said, "Or give my sister-in-law a drink, she shouted too pitifully." ”

Grandma said, "No." If you can't drink cold water for diarrhea, that's a pit for her. ”

Listening to the mother's high and low shouts, several older children cried with the sister-in-law. The little sister is young, only two years old, and she has not given up her milk, so she cried and cried and fell asleep.

The screams are getting quieter.

In the afternoon, my mother also died.

Grandma cried for a while and said to the second uncle: "We don't have anything else at home, so there is only a big cabinet left." You vacate the cabinet and bury your sister-in-law. ”

There is a big cabinet at home for bits and pieces. The second uncle and the second aunt vacated the closet, put their mother in the cabinet, and buried them on the same day.

No matter how Dianzhi cried and shouted, grandma didn't let them come out to see their mother for the last time.

Many people died in those days, the doors of their homes were closed, and there was no one on the streets. The dead want to bury it, but they can't find anyone to help.

Fortunately, there is a doctor surnamed Zhang living across the family, and his family has a carriage with a horse tied outside. The second uncle and the second aunt carried the cabinet to the carriage, and the second uncle pulled the mother out and buried it.

On the morning of the fourth day, the second uncle also fell ill. Like his parents, he first had a stomachache, vomited and diarrhea, and then his whole body was hot, so hot that he was rolling on the kang, and asked for water to drink: "I'm thirsty!" I'm dying of thirst! I want to drink cold water! ”

Grandma knelt on the ground and cried out, "God, you can leave me a son, I am such a son!" If he dies, my family won't be able to live! ”

After crying for a while, my grandmother got up from the ground and said to the second aunt: "If you die, you will die, you want water for him to drink, you go to the well to get new cold water, let him die happily." ”

The second aunt went to the well to fetch new cold water, and the landlord helped pour it into the second uncle's mouth. The second uncle spit it out when he drank it, and the water he spit out was hot; Drink it in and spit it out, and the water that comes out is still hot.

The second aunt went to fetch water again, and the landlord helped to irrigate it, and the water spit out by the second uncle became colder and colder every time.

Grandma said to the second aunt: "The coffin is gone, the cabinet is gone, and there is a kang mat left in our house." If the second child is gone, sweep it with a kang. ”

The second aunt didn't squeak either, and ran to the well one by one. The second uncle drank the cold water, and the water he spit out was cold, and then he didn't vomit the water he drank, and he fell asleep.

The second uncle woke up and saw his grandmother crying, so he quickly said, "Mom, I'm fine." ”

Grandma said, "Okay! That's it! God finally opened his eyes and left me a son. ”

Grandma said to Dianzhi several times: "I really regret it, your father and your mother want cold water to drink, why don't I call it?" If you pour cold water on them, do you still have parents and fathers? ”

At first, some people said that this disease was cholera, and there had been cholera in Maoxing before, and many people died. Later, I heard that it was a plague, and many people died on West Street, including a neighbor's family of six, and there was no one left.

The plague lasted for more than a month, beginning in the seventh month of the lunar calendar and not passing until August.

The second uncle and aunt gave birth to two children, but neither survived nor regenerated. When my mother was pregnant, she said to my second aunt: "Whether this child is male or female, I will give it to you after giving up the milk." ”

The second aunt said, "Okay." ”

Mom gave birth to a little sister, and before she could give up her milk, she was gone.

My parents are gone, and they have all become the children of the second uncle and the second aunt, and the second uncle supports eight people by himself. At that time, there was a saying: it is better to eat more than to eat. My sister-in-law was fifteen years old, and my grandmother found her mother-in-law's house; Dianzhi was seventeen years old and married to his neighbor Zhang Xilong.

Zhao Dianzhi and Zhang Xilong. Photographed in Maoxing Town, Zhaoyuan County, 1984. Provided by Zhao Dianzhi.

Zhang Xilong's father died early, and Xilong's mother was widowed at the age of thirty-six.

When the family was separated, the grandfather said, "I have lived with my grandson. "Grandpa knows how to straighten bones, and he also passes on the craft to his grandson.

The plague has passed, and Xilong's mother is thinking about the girl on East Street.

When she went to her daughter's house, there was no one inside or outside the house, and her son-in-law bowed his head and wiped his tears.

Her mother-in-law told her, "People have been gone for many days, and they die on the day they get sick, and they are buried when they die." ”

Xilong's mother cried and went home, and a rush came up, and she couldn't see the way clearly, and others helped to send her home. I took a lot of medicine, but it didn't work.

When Dianzhi got married, her forty-year-old mother-in-law was already blind. The couple led their mother-in-law to Harbin University Hospital for examination, and the doctor said: "It may be that I fell asleep while crying, and the fundus of my eyes is broken, and it can't be cured." ”

The mother-in-law gave birth to six children, survived three, and in the end there was only one son. She said to her daughter-in-law, "It's not okay to have fewer children, you can have more." I can't help you keep an eye on the child, but when the child can walk, you tie a rope around the child's waist, and the end of the rope is tied to my waist. ”

Dianzhi listened to her mother-in-law and gave birth to eight children.

The ancestors of the Zhang family have all farmed, and they don't make any money. If the problem is light, pinch it and leave; If you need to take medicine, give a medicine money; Those who have a long way to go will stay overnight; If you don't have money, you don't want anything. During the Chinese New Year, some people who had seen the disease came to Dr. Xie with canned food and snacks, and her canned food and snacks could be eaten until the spring of the following year.

At the end of the 80s of the 20th century, Zhao Dianzhi was in his own yard. Provided by Zhao Dianzhi.

Dianzhi never said how good she was, her mother-in-law lived to be eighty-two years old, and her grandfather-in-law lived to ninety.

Dianzhi's children are called grandparents and grandparents, and the children of younger brothers are called grandparents. The younger sister died of illness at the age of twelve, and their sister and brother supported the two old people to the end.

When I heard about the plague, the Japanese went to Maoxing, looked at it and left.

After Japan surrendered, I heard that the plague had something to do with the Japanese. At that time, the Japanese experimented with living people in Heilongjiang, and they also did some kind of bacteriological warfare.