Although Zhu Tongxin is a bit quirky, he is very popular. When I met him, he was only in his twenties, but he gave me the impression of being very old. He was thin and tall, and he swayed from side to side as he walked. The pair of deep myopia glasses he wore had only one leg, and the other leg was tied to a cord that held the soles of his shoes. He never used medicine, and if it broke or had boils and sores, he would always apply toothpaste. He never washed clothes, and every few days, he would take off his military uniform and soak it in kerosene, and then dry it, saying that "this is cleaner than your washing, not only does it not attract lice, but it also does not attract any bacteria." So the chest, cuffs, and collar of his uniform shone like ironclad brilliance, and the smell of real "Texaco" kerosene. It was his prerogative to soak his clothes in kerosene. He was the "lighting leader" and was in charge of two gas lamps and a barrel of kerosene. The "lighting team leader" is a part-time job, and his main job is a creative team member. He had been writing, but the script he had written had never been performed, and in a guerrilla environment, there were no newspapers or magazines to publish it, and if the script could not be performed, it would have been written in vain. The creative team leader is a lesbian, a bit of maternal compassion, after seeing others sleep, he still guards the oil lamp like beans, squatting on the common people's pot and writing; The works that were written were sent to the bottom of the pot to be burned one after another, which was too cruel. The team leader discussed with the captain that every time he wrote a new work, he should read it aloud to the whole team before the march or at the leisure of the garrison, which would be counted as an oral "speech". He attaches great importance to this method of publication. He deliberately washed his face before reading aloud, poured a pot of hot water into his Japanese kettle, and squeezed a little toothpaste into his mouth after every scene and sent it down with water. He believes it will keep his voice clear. The comrades also welcomed him to read his works aloud as entertainment. Although his works cannot be performed, they are often surprising to read. He once wrote an allegro about catching spies, saying that two peasant self-defense members were digging sweet potatoes, and suddenly a spy came out of the ground (I have forgotten how the spy got into the ground). I just remember that he lived underground by eating sweet potatoes). The spies wanted to resist, and the two self-defense members sang allegro one by one: "My knife is shining, and the muzzle of my gun is shining silver." If you still don't surrender, resolutely shoot you, shoot you, shoot that shot, and give you a shot! Everyone asked him what "shooting a gun" was? "In the vernacular," he said, "is to shoot." ”

Zhu Tongxin's part-time job is very good, and he is inseparable from two gas lamps and six gauze covers. The smell of the gas lamp and his "iron armor" will smoke the people in the same class and can't sleep, so he often lives alone in the upper floor of the cowshed of his fellow villagers (in some places in northern Jiangsu, the cowshed and pigsty are two-story small buildings, and the downstairs raises pigs and cattle, and the upstairs puts sundries). The captain asked the correspondent Xiao Jiang to be his lighting assistant. This Xiao Jiang was reckless, and when he was cheering, he broke a gauze cover. From then on, he no longer allowed Xiao Jiang to pump up the lamp. Once Zhu Tongxin played a Japanese Taijun in a play, and when Taijun assigned a confidential task to the traitor captain, the gas lamp on the stage suddenly burst into flames. Xiao Jiang wanted to save the scene like fighting a fire, and despite his ban, he moved a chair to the stage to cheer up. "Japanese Taijun" immediately waved his hand when he saw it and said: "Don't yours, open the way!" He unsheathed his sword, got into a chair himself, and said to the traitor captain, "You hold on to the chair!" When he finished cheering, he pulled his chair apart, hung up his sword, and continued to act. The team members who played the traitors laughed so much that they couldn't answer, but Zhu Tongxin whispered: "During working hours, are you serious?" ”

In the winter of 1943, we were living in a small village in the area of the water network in northern Jiangsu, when the enemy suddenly came in the middle of the night. Everyone slept in a daze, got up and ran. People went to the cowshed to inform Zhu Tongxin, but there was only a gas lamp but no one. The enemy had already entered the village, and he could neither shout loudly nor look carefully, so he had to run out first with the gas lamp. I was twelve years old, and I couldn't run, but a familiar scout gave me a pair of large leather shoes for the Japanese army. The shoe was more than an inch bigger than my foot. Maybe there was a germ of Chongyang's idea at that time, and I couldn't wear it in my heart. The team leader said me a few times, but I was reluctant to take it off. It's a bad thing. Not only is it terrible to run, but the straps are always open, and as soon as they are opened, they stumble, and they stop and knot their shoelaces after running three or twenty steps. There were many ravines and dense trees, and I could not see the shadow of the people in front of me. I could hear the footsteps first, but I always got blocked by the ditch when I followed the footsteps. In the end, they simply turned around, and they couldn't leave the embankment of a deep ditch when they turned around. Exhausted and sweaty, I had to slip down the embankment into the ditch. Sit at the bottom of the ditch and take a breath to identify the direction, and cry by the way. Later, some years later, I also wanted to cry, but no matter how I squeezed my eyes, I couldn't shed tears, and I realized that crying happily is also a kind of enjoyment.

I was enjoying my crying, and when I heard footsteps, I quickly collected my tears to see who was coming. I heard a crackling sound, and a man fell from the embankment. I ran with my legs, the ice in the ditch was not thick, and the soles of my leather shoes were hard, and as soon as I stepped on them, there was a "click", which was a puddle. I ran a few steps in a row, and there were a few "clicks" and "clicks", and both feet were soaked, and the ice water pierced my feet.

The man who fell to the ground spoke: "Xiao Deng, don't be afraid, I'm Zhu Tongxin." ”

I stopped and asked him, "Where did you go when people were looking for you just now?" ”

He said that when he made the bed, he mistook the ears of rice for straw and spread them under him. The slab was low and cracked, and the oxen at the bottom always stretched out their heads to pull the ears of rice and licked their feet with their tongues. He couldn't sleep, so he moved to sleep in the backyard in the middle of the night, so no one else found him. He was awakened by urine, went out to pee, and heard someone talking on the street in front of him, some horses sprayed his nose, and he didn't speak Chinese, and he knew that there were devils. He went to look for the gas lamp and saw that the gas lamp was gone, so he ran out of the back wall. But I ran in a hurry, forgot my glasses in the grass hut, and either hit a tree or fell into a ditch along the way, and this is the third time I have entered the ditch. He asked me where the team had gone. I said, "I'm going to squat here if I'm going to be gone a long time ago?" He said, "It doesn't matter, let's see the situation before we act." You can't run blindly, but if you don't get it, you'll get into the enemy's den! ”

We sat in the ditch for a while, and when the sky was bright, he said, "I need to see what is going on in the village, and if the enemy is gone, I must go back and look for my glasses." ”

The embankment of this ditch is very high, and a man stands up just halfway up to his waist. He told me to stand on his shoulder and look at it. I got water in my shoes, so I took them off and stuffed my feet in a cotton hat and covered them. As soon as this foot stepped on his shoulder, he was blown by the north wind, and he shivered first. Also, I was a little scared. Fearing that he would throw me down, and fearing that the enemy would see me and give me a shot, he hurriedly glanced at me and said, "I can't see anything, it's too far," and jumped down. He didn't give up and told me to hold on to the wall, and he stood on my shoulder to watch. I stood against the wall, and as soon as he stepped on my shoulder, I was shaken. I said, "No, I can't stand it." He grabbed the edge of the ditch with both hands, and looked at it for another minute, and then let go and jumped down.

I asked him what he saw.

He said, "Fuck, I can't see anything without glasses." ”

As soon as he finished saying this, there was a rustling sound on the bank of the ditch. Zhu Tongxin grabbed my hand and listened attentively: "It's not good, someone is approaching us, go quickly!" ”

I picked up my shoes and was about to leave, when someone on the top of the ditch said, "Don't run, it's too late to run." ”

The two of us quickly lay down against the edge of the ditch. Zhu Tongxin asked loudly: "Who is it?" I shot if I didn't report the number! ”

The man on the ditch said, "If it were an enemy, I would have knocked out your bespectacled guy long ago!" Don't scare people, I know you don't have a gun! ”

It was the correspondent Xiao Jiang who came.

Xiao Jiang was sent by the captain to contact us. The party had moved to the seashore, and when he found us, he was told to go to a village by the sea to look for them, which was more than forty miles away.

This Xiao Jiang is a beautiful character. No matter how difficult the environment was, his military style and discipline were always neat and tidy, and his military uniform was cleanly washed. Now he was still tight-headed, his hat hung with the goggles he had picked up on the battlefield, his small backpack was square, and the two-finger-wide backpack belt divided the gray army into nine squares of general size, and in the middle two squares were a pair of new shoes with black cloth mille-feuille soles. The soles of the shoes are facing outwards so that the backpack is put down as a sitting object so that the quilt will not be dirty.

Now that you have a goal to move forward, let's set off quickly. My leather shoes were already frozen hard, the same color as Zhu Tongxin's padded jacket. Stuffing your feet in it was like stuffing into two cans, cold and hard, and tinkling and clanging.

Zhu Tongxin said to Xiao Jiang: "You take off the shoes on your backpack and give him them!" ”

Xiao Jiang opened his eyes wide and said, "Hey, speak lightly, eat a lamp grass!" I didn't even want to change these shoes when they gave me three rounds, six or five bullets. ”

Zhu Tongxin said: "Isn't it just a pair of cloth shoes?" I'll give you back a pair of shoes. ”

"Cloth shoes?" Xiao Jiang turned around and twisted his backpack to the side, keeping his shoes away from Zhu Tong's heart, "This is Zhigong's face!" ”

Zhu Tongxin said: "Then you give it to him too!" ”

Xiao Jiang said, "What order did you issue?" You're not my squad leader! He can't walk, so the two of us can help him! Shoes can't be given! ”

They both carried me and dragged me along. After walking the way, my feet were worn out, and they were both sweating, and they both wanted to rest for a while.

We sat down against a grave. Zhu Tongxin suddenly said: "Now that we are separated from the army and acting alone, we must have a squad leader." It's organized to have a squad leader! ”

Xiao Jiang said: "If the captain is not here, who can appoint him?" ”

Zhu Tongxin said: "No one appointed us to choose one!" ”

Xiao Jiang said: "Can you choose yourself?" ”

Zhu Tongxin said: "Of course you can." ”

Xiao Jiang said: "Then I will choose myself as the squad leader!" ”

Zhu Tongxin said: "I also choose myself!" ”

I said, "I choose Zhu Tongxin!" ”

Xiao Jiang glared at me fiercely and pouted.

Zhu Tongxin said: "Okay, the minority obeys the majority, and I am the squad leader." Now I will give an order, warrior Xiao Jiang, you put the shoes on your backpack for Xiao Deng to wear! ”

Xiao Jiang muttered that he was warlordistic, but he still helplessly pulled out his shoes and threw them to me. I put my shoes on and threw them on the ground.

The shoes were also put on, and they had rested enough. Zhu Tongxin ordered to move on. Xiao Jiang asked me, "Don't you want big leather shoes?" ”

I said, "I'll never wear that scumbag again in my life!" ”

He said, "Then I'll pick it up!" is full of a pair of leather shoes, and he wants to ask the devil to pick them up, and he is cheaper for nothing! ”

This time when he went back, Zhu Tongxin lifted the ban on Xiao Jiang, not only allowed him to pump up the gas lamp, but also taught him to light the lamp, and finally handed over the responsibility of the lighting team leader to Xiao Jiang, and he specialized in writing. But he retains the right to soak his clothes every time he gets rid of the remaining oil, on the condition that he works as an assistant to Xiao Jiang during the performance.

At that time, the literary and artistic workers of our army did not know how to say the word "deep into life". Everyone is in charge of the troops, and the interview is called "collecting materials". Zhu Tongxin's first interview was to help at the prisoner shelter during the "Subei Campaign". The containment station was three miles behind the first line of our army's troops, and only two security officers looked at more than three hundred prisoners, temporarily hiding; As soon as it gets dark, the enemy planes will escort the prisoners to the rear as soon as they return to the nest. But before dark, a cavalry of the enemy broke through the water and rushed through our line and went straight to the prisoner camp. As soon as the captives saw their men coming, they immediately raised their voices and fled with the cavalry. The two security officers, armed with guns, returned fire and retreated and fled. When he returned, he reported that the writer had called the enemy to arrest him. When the news reached the propaganda team, everyone was very uneasy. Some people are worried that Zhu Tongxin will be sacrificed, and some people are afraid that he will lose his temperament. The captain and the eldest sister of the team leader even had gloomy faces for him for two or three days, neither laughing nor playing poker. Who knew that half a month later, when we were marching, we suddenly saw Zhu Tongxin sitting on a stone on the side of the road, playing a horse whip that sang Peking Opera in his hand. Everyone gathered around and asked questions. He smiled and saluted, took out a letter of proof, handed it to the captain, and said, "Whoever brought dry food, give me a piece." I've been waiting for you here for half the night, and I'm hungry. ”

According to him, when the enemy came out of the water, he was still busy giving supplies to the captives. Two people can't manage more than 300 captives. It was cold, and the captives were thinly clothed, so they went in groups of three to the villagers' haystacks, cowsheds, and horns to keep warm. He sent him to find people everywhere. One of the captives was singing with the military troupe, with a teenage child with a horsewhip pinned to his belt. He felt pity for the child, and when he didn't see the two of them, he looked around with a few sorghum cakes, and finally found them hiding in a blank potato cellar. He sent the bread down from the cellar, and there were four or five captives in the cellar besides them, who had not received any food, and when they saw it, they came up and took it. He drank the men away. He promised to go out and look for them again. When he came out of the sweet potato cellar, the enemy had reached the head of the village, and a large number of prisoners were shouting that they would flee with the cavalry. Two Guangxi soldiers came to the cellar to greet their fellow countrymen, and when Leng Buding saw him coming up, they pounced on him, knocked him down, tied him with leggings, and pushed him down from the potato cellar, and went down to the cellar with him.

The Guangxi soldiers who tied him shouted: "Brothers, our horse team has rushed out, follow them and escape!" ”

The people in the cellar stood up and scrambled to climb out.

Zhu Tongxin asked, "What's going on?" ”

His kidnappers said, "What's the matter? You have become our prisoner. ”

Zhu Tongxin said: "You are our prisoner, how do we treat you?" Ungrateful! ”

The singer said to the Guangxi soldiers: "This brother treats us well, let him go!" ”

Guangxi Bing said: "Let go of him, he has to go with us!" ”

The singer said to Zhu Tongxin: "You just promise to go with us." ”

Zhu Tongxin said: "You just escaped from under the gun, where are you going?" Don't you feel sorry for your child? Your cavalry fled for his life, not to fetch you, and can you keep up with its four legs on two legs? Our team is in pursuit, can't catch up with them or can't catch up with you? Stay here and eat cakes! ”

When he heard the singing, he sat down. Several others hesitated.

When the two Guangxi soldiers saw this situation, they scolded "bad bear", threw down Zhu Tongxin, and hurriedly got out of the white potato cellar. The singer untied Zhu Tongxin. Zhu Tongxin loosened his arms and twisted his neck and said, "In this case, you wait, I will find food for you." ”

The singer said, "It's still messing up, let's go out later." ”

Others also advised him to wait a while. Sure enough, within ten minutes, someone came from above. And it went straight to the sweet potato cellar. People told Zhu Tongxin to hide behind them. It was the two Guangxi soldiers who came just now. As soon as they came, they asked, "What about the New Fourth Army just now?" ”

The singer said, "You run your way, what are you looking for someone else to do?" He's gone. ”

Guangxi soldiers said: "No, the cavalry team lost that mother and ran out of three miles, and we couldn't catch up." I beg him not to remember his old vengeance, and to keep us as his prisoners. ”

Zhu Tongxin turned out from behind the person and said, "I'm lenient with you two, sit down." If you don't believe it, wait and see, the people who ran out will have to be caught. ”

Sure enough, in less than midnight, forty or fifty people returned. Zhu Tongxin formed a team for them, and led them to the rear at night. But he didn't know where to send it. On the way, he met a combat company, and he wanted to hand it over to others, but they didn't want it; But seeing that he was alone with sixty or seventy captives with his bare hands, he sent half a squad to help escort him. They walked around all day, came across a prisoner of war shelter from a friendly unit, and begged to keep the prisoners. They said, "We don't have enough manpower, so we have to keep you together, and take the prisoners to the rear and you will return to the team!" He was forced to be the captain of the shelter for more than ten days, and it was not until he arrived in the Yimeng Mountains that he asked the comrades at the shelter to write a letter of certification for him and returned with it. Before leaving, he exchanged half a catty of yellow cigarette for the captive's horsewhip, and he thought that the team's performance would be useful.

Everyone should repay him. He was very annoyed and said, "I got into trouble with these turtle grandchildren, and I didn't bother to collect materials." Blind the creative plan. ”

Soon after this incident, he joined the party. In the spring of the following year, he went down to collect materials. He rushed into the city with the assault team, but the follow-up troops were blocked by the enemy and did not follow, and the assault team suffered heavy casualties in the enemy's internal and external attacks. After fighting until dawn, he had to retreat to a ruined temple in the corner of the city to hide. At this time, even the instructor was sacrificed. The commando leader was a platoon commander and said to Zhu Tongxin: "You are the only one here who wears a sling uniform." Didn't say it, you should be a political captain! He asked, "Is this in order?" The platoon commander said, "I haven't joined the party yet, so you can't ask me to be an instructor, right?" Zhu Tongxin said: "Okay, but I won't command the war." The platoon commander said: "I will command the battle, and you will do the work of political agitation." Remember, you have to run ahead and shout, 'Comrades, follow me,' and that's it! Zhu Tongxin said: "I can shout this." But I don't know where to go! The platoon commander said, "I'll follow you closely, and you can take it wherever you want." ”

They hid in the city for a day. When the people outside heard the gunfire in the city, they thought they were all done. Unexpectedly, after dark, a general attack was launched, and as soon as the explosives were pulled outside, they came out of the ruined temple, shouting everywhere, and firing guns on all sides. The enemy, thinking that our army had all entered the city, was shaken and let go of the city gates. After this battle, the troops dressed him in red and hung colors, and sent him back to the propaganda team with the good news of his meritorious service. He buried himself in writing and spent twenty days writing a script. The captain felt that it was too unreasonable not to act this script, so he rehearsed it ruthlessly. On the day of the rehearsal, even the Minister of Propaganda came to visit. The play was nowhere near as interesting as the works he had read aloud before. The first one was written that Chiang Kai-shek and Tang Enbo had a meeting, and the two made endless speeches; In the second scene, the headquarters of our army held a meeting, and the army commander made a complete mobilization report; At the beginning of the third battle, the cadres and soldiers expressed their determination one by one; In the fourth scene, the siege was written, and the armies on both sides repeatedly rushed over and fought it. People looked down patiently, but their expressions were very serious. He was the only one who smiled and nodded, and kept reminding the creative team leader sitting next to him: "Here I am explaining the political consciousness of our soldiers...... This shows the courage of our army...... Listen, a single sentence exposes the reactionary nature of Chiang Kai-shek...... The next one will be exciting! ”

This play was performed in two performances, and the cadres and soldiers all said that they dozed off when they saw it, so they had to put it away. At this time, the unit in Laiwu sent a letter to discuss and wanted to transfer him to officially serve as a company instructor. The leader of the propaganda team also thought that he would be better able to use his talents there, so he talked to him and asked him if he would like to; He also explained that he is now at the platoon level, and if he goes to the post, he can be promoted to the regular company level without exception. Zhu Tongxin begged him to think about it. When I returned to the class, I slept under the quilt and didn't go to eat for two meals in a row. The team leader thought he was sick and made a sick meal and sent it. He pushed the bowl away and said, "Don't pretend to care. You discussed pushing me out of the art world, so ruthlessly, and brought me sick food! Only then did the team leader know that it was an emotion, and immediately reported it to the captain. The captain came to him and said, "I am asking for your opinion, not ordering you to go." If you don't want to go, if you don't go, it's over, what a game! Zhu Tongxin said: "I won't go." I know you look down on me in your hearts and think that I have no artistic genius. Wait, I'm going to show you! I asked to be given time to go down and gather some more information. ”

So he took his backpack and went to the independent division again.

This independent division was originally a Henan unit, and in the summer of 1945, it participated in the Central Plains Breakout and came to East China. When he went, the troops had just received a secret order to attack the enemy's rear and expand the battle line to Chiang's area. Zhu Tongxin followed him behind enemy lines, but there was no news. A year later, we went to Henan and joined the independent division, but we went to look for him but couldn't find him. The division commander told us: Just a few days after coming out of Yimeng Mountain, Zhu Tongxin ordered the enemy plane to injure his leg. At that time, the troops were being pursued and intercepted by more than ten times the enemy, and the situation was urgent, and it was impossible to take the seriously wounded away. I had to give him twenty silver dollars and hand him over to the people of a village along the way to ambush him. As a result, we walked on the front foot, and the pursuing enemy arrived on the back foot. The conditions of the masses in Chiang's area were different from those in the base area, and it is estimated that he was sacrificed. The division commander said: "The old Zhu Quan knew about the enemy situation at that time, but this comrade was very party spirited. The organization spoke to him, and he was very calm, neither crying nor wiping away tears, nor making any requests. He only said: Please rest assured organizationally, I will never be a traitor, leave me a grenade. ”

Many were in tears when they heard this. A memorial service was proposed. The captain said that there was no news of the actual sacrifice, and the memorial service could not be held.

Two years later, when the propaganda team was waiting to cross the river in the Liuhe area, Zhu Tongxin suddenly put on the uniform of a local cadre, rode a horse, and brought a guard, and ran majestically along the riverside. When he saw us lining up under the tree, he jumped off his horse and shouted, "Grandma, ask everywhere where you are stationed, and I rode all day!" ”

Naturally, the rehearsals stopped. Everyone gathered around him and hugged him, beat him, took off his hat and threw it into the sky, and asked him why he wasn't dead. The captain dragged him to the team headquarters, and the guard led the horse and asked, "County magistrate, can this horse be unloaded?" He said: "Send the horse number to say that I rode it, and ask Lao Liu to help feed it, and we won't go back today." Everyone was dumbfounded, wondering if they had heard it just now! The team leader stammered and asked him, "What did you just call you?" What is long? ”

"County magistrate. Temporary! Zhu Tongxin said a little embarrassed, "I've found you, I'm going back." What you love grows, tell others to do it, I still write my script. ”

That night, everyone held a welcome meeting under the bamboo forest and asked him to report on the past two years of fighting. He said that the troops left him at his hometown's house, and that the enemy came that night. But the fellow was good, and hid him in the haystack. The enemy pursued us, and walked and passed, and did not stay long. He raised it for a month, and he was able to walk away on crutches, so he changed into civilian clothes and went to chase the team. But he went in the wrong direction and found the Henan-Anhui region. The local armed forces took him in for a few days of examination, and after several battles, they found that he was a real revolutionary, and made him the leader of the district squad. The revolutionary situation developed quite rapidly, the tide rose, and the district brigade became the county brigade, and the county brigade became an independent regiment. He became the deputy county magistrate of a small county on the border of Henan, Anhui and Suzhou, and this time he brought a team of migrant workers to support the army to cross the river.

Everyone praised him for a good job and showed his face to the propaganda team. He said no, he never made it, and he made mistakes. In the process of suppressing the bandits, he was going to shoot a man who had been a bandit for only two days after he was captured. The villager from the man's village came to guarantee him, and he said, "Whoever comes to protect it again will be killed!" "Just as the prisoner was about to be taken to the court of justice, the district leader came to attend the public trial and corrected the matter. The leading comrades asked him: "Knowing that this man was forced, he has only been in the gang for two days, and he has not committed any crimes, why did you kill him?" He said, "I'm afraid that if I let him go, the bandits will arrest him again, and when I force him, he will join the gang again." The leader said, "You won't hold him first?" He said, "I fight guerrillas every day, and I have no place to live, so how can I have a place to detain him?" There are a total of nine people in my district team, and one more person will be sent to watch him, won't he be able to pull the bolt? As a result, he was given a warning.

He probably talked to the captain for a long time that night. The next morning, my eyes were swollen. He said to a few of our old comrades that he asked to come back; The captain said that he was now in charge of the front of the branch, and he could not be transferred, and he would talk about it when he crossed the river and settled down. He asked us to remind the captain often after we crossed the river, telling him not to forget about it.

He reluctantly left, and soon I left the unit.

In 1955, I entered the Central Literature Training Institute. One day, Comrade Cao Yu came to talk about "Shakespeare's plays", and I suddenly found that there was a person sitting in the auditor's seat, very similar to Zhu Tongxin. During recess, I walked over and asked, and sure enough, it was him. I asked him where he worked? He said he was back in the old propaganda team. However, the propaganda team has been changed to a certain military art troupe, and he is already a regiment-level creator and deputy head of the regiment. This time, I took a year off and came to be an auditor. He knew that I was studying here, but because he had never written a decent work, he was embarrassed to come to me.

During the year, we met every time we attended lectures, and he even came to listen to the students' seminars. He studied very seriously, and almost memorized some theoretical lessons. And full of confidence, saying that I have been doing creative work for many years before, and I have never understood what literature is, but this time I understand, and I want to do a big job when I go back, "I have to scare you!" ”

After graduating from the Literature Institute, when I arrived at the construction site, he also went back to the southwest. He hadn't heard from him for a long time, and he hadn't seen any of his startling prints printed. In 1957, there was "frightening" news, and an acquaintance from the southwest told me that he had become a rightist.

I asked, "How did he become a rightist?" Why? ”

He said that after he returned from Beijing, the leaders asked him to give a lecture on his study experience to the cadres of his own system, and in his speech, he trumpeted Ding Ling, Ai Qing, and Feng Xuefeng, and tried his best to sell their revisionist black goods. In addition, he has been obsessed with becoming a writer for many years, which shows that his individualistic idea of fame and fortune has developed to the extreme, which has degenerated him. ”

After that, I was too busy to take care of myself, and I never asked about him again, and I never thought of him again.

In 1980, I corrected the rightist issue and went to the southwest to cover news. I inquired about it by chance and heard that he was waiting for distribution at his home in Kunming; The punishment has been corrected, and the party membership has been restored, but he cannot be assigned, and no unit wants him.

"Why?"

"He has cancer, and the hospital can't treat him, who will send such a cadre to wait for the memorial service?"

When I heard the news, I made a special trip to Kunming. He lives in a small wooden building near a movie theater. There was only one room, with a curtain in the middle, and his daughter lived outside, and his husband and wife lived inside, and there were many things, messy and dirty. He was wearing an old cadre uniform, and his chest, cuffs, and collar still glowed with the brilliance of "iron armor"; He was fat, his face was scorched, but his eyes were very active, but he always coughed.

I don't know what to say, but after sitting for a long time, he started talking first.

"I've read all the novels you've written lately, so good! Fuck I can't do it, I need to find something else to do! ”

I said, "You should take care of your body first!" ”

He said, "If I think about the lump in my stomach every day, I will be too impatient. Whether you want it or not, you can't lose it anyway, let it go! ”

I asked him how he got it? He said that he had been working in a saline-alkali area for more than ten years and drank the water there. First it was kidney stones, then it became stomach cancer, and then it was in the lungs and lymph. The doctor told him to open the knife, but when he saw that two of the three people who lived in the same house had died, he refused to do so. The hospital was not opened and he was discharged. He said: "I was discharged from the hospital, and now I will find a local doctor to treat me." ”

I asked him, "Does it work?" ”

He said it works, but it has to be a little hard. The doctor's method of treatment was to apply a medicine to his arm, which became inflamed, ulcerated, and bled heavily. As soon as the arm is rotten, the stomach is light, the pain is light, and the cough is weak. As soon as the arm was closed, the stomach began to stir again. So I put medicine on my other arm.

He said: "I have checked the ancient medical books, and this method has been used since ancient times, and it belongs to the science of view. ”

I pretended to have the most faith and persuaded him to persevere. He also expressed great confidence that he would never surrender to cancer. But when he sent me out, he cried, and I cried. We all say "goodbye", but no one knows it's hard to see you again.

Sure enough, at the novella award meeting this spring, a writer came to Yunnan. I asked him, "Do you know Zhu Tongxin's situation?" What happened to him? ”

"He's dead! died two or three months ago. I've just heard about it. ”

I said, "It's exceptional that he can live for so many years." ”

The writer said: "Yes, in foreign countries, it is a medical achievement to extend the life of a cancer patient for an extra year. He lived three more years! ”

I'll tell you the news to some acquaintances. Acquaintances were not surprised, everyone felt sorry for him! said that he wanted to enter politics and could be a good local leader; If you join the army, you will at least be a deputy commander. It's a pity that the ghost is obsessed with the mind, and if he wants to be a ruined writer, not only can he achieve nothing, but he takes his life to go in.

I told my lover about it. She said: "You should write an article to commemorate him, this man is firm in his ideals, which is not something ordinary people can have." ”

On the evening of the twenty-fifth day of the lunar month, I was sitting at home and was conceiving this article, and just as I had come up with a clue, there was a knock on the door outside. My lover went to open the door, asked two questions, and said with a confused face, "Someone is looking for you......"

I asked, "Who?" ”

"He said his name is Zhu Tongxin!"

"What? You heard it wrong! ”

But Zhu Tongxin has already come in. Tall and thin, swaying, an old army coat does not look like it is worn on a person, but it looks like it hangs on a hanger. His face was thin and dry again, but it was bloody, and he said in a loud voice; "It's really hard to find this place for you, I've just changed the car three times!"

I said, "You ...... this."

"I'm here on a business trip to see you." As he spoke, he put a carton on the table, "By the way, bring some white fungus." ”

I asked, "Are you on a business trip alone?" ”

He said, "Yes, help temporarily, come to an experience exchange meeting on white fungus planting." ”

I asked him, "How did you grow white fungus?" ”

"It's thanks to my illness," he said. The year before last, I was so sick that I thought I wouldn't live long. I thought: my frightening work, I didn't write it for half a day; Seeing that there is little time left, there is no hope; It's better to use this time to do what you can, which is beneficial to the country and the people! When I used to work underneath, I fumbled for planting white fungus, and I confidently mastered some knack. Two years ago, some familiar members came to the city to ask me for tips on growing white fungus, so I simply applied to the organization and moved back to the countryside. The effect is good, many families have become rich, and the masses say that it is still better to be communist, not only because there is a policy of bringing order out of chaos, but also because there are Communist Party members who help the peasants get rich through labor. Although this is a prize for me, I also feel that the past two years have really been worth it, and it is indeed the best use of my limited time. ”

I asked, "So, what about your illness?" ”

"It's still in the stomach," he said. It's still hard to the touch, but it doesn't cough or hurt anymore, and it looks like it's taken off again! It's really strange in my life, and most of the things I want to do seriously can't be done; Whatever I didn't want to do, and was forced to do by the situation, most of the things I did were okay. Even sickness is the same! At that time, I was in Kunming, and I went all out to cure it, but it was dangerous. After I went down, I put all my energy on helping everyone plant white fungus, and it was a routine thing to cure diseases, but it was better! ”

I said, "You can sum it up, maybe there's some regularity here!" ”

"Yes, yes!" "I just don't understand it yet." You see, I participated in the war, and I was forced by the enemy's situation, and if I didn't kill the enemy, he would kill me, and the battle was fought well. The opening up of the new area was forced by the political situation, and we could not survive without opening up the base area, so the new area was opened up. Planting white fungus is forced again, don't do something effective, I have to live in vain in the last few years, and I can't explain to Marx when I die, and the white fungus will be planted! When I was engaged in creation, I always did it when there was plenty of time and conditions, and I wanted to write something scary, forgetting to sleep and eating, persevering and constantly worrying and scruples, suffering from gains and losses, and as a result, nothing was written! ”

I said: "Is it that people are forced by the situation at the moment of life and death, and the private word is squeezed very small, but it can mobilize all the potential initiative and advantages, and it is invisibly in the best competitive state, and the efficiency is high." When all the conditions are sufficient, hidden private words will pop up, and they will be blinded by some subjective wishes, but force themselves to choose a path that is most difficult to give full play to their advantages? ”

He said: "Perhaps, I used to think that fate was too lenient and too special for me; Several times he died on the verge of death, but he turned the corner again. But what have I done for the people with this life? It's ridiculous, I did things that I didn't want to do. Any Communist Party member in that situation would have done what I did, and he would have done it better than I did. It's not an achievement, but the real performance has to be extraordinary and special, so I always want to write a work that will be passed down to future generations, thinking that it will not be in vain to live a lifetime. Now I think that maybe I don't have this ambition, and it would be better to do every ordinary thing with peace of mind. Summing up your life like that, you will always have more achievements than you have made now! ”

I said, "It looks like you don't want to write anymore!" ”

He said, "No." I don't take writing as a career that I have to accomplish, I have pursued it all my life, and this hobby cannot be completely lost. Therefore, in addition to planting white fungus and curing diseases, I also wrote a little bit for self-entertainment. I don't want to publish or be scared, I just write a letter and read it to my wife and children. Listening to everyone's laughter, the family enjoyed themselves. I've brought two articles reminiscing about how we fought together, can you see if there are any memory errors? ”

He left me with a thick stack of manuscripts. After dinner, I took it out and flipped through it, and within a few lines I was completely hooked. This manuscript is contrary to the norm of his past works, not to scare people with shelves, and not to deliberately make strange epigrams; In his characteristic humorous tone and a somewhat mocking tone, he tells the story of his past with a group of our acquaintances; It took me back to the bygone years and heard the voices of ordinary Communist Party members!

The next morning, I couldn't wait to call him and drag him out of bed. I said, "Dude, how much did you write?" Would you like to send me the rest as well? ”

He said, "What, can I give you some creative material?" Okay, I'll send it to you as soon as I get back. If it can be useful to you, it is really an unexpected reward. ”

I said, "You've written so well that it's not just useful to me, it's really, really good!" ”

On the phone, he stuttered, and he said, "You are deliberately comforting me, right?" Don't be like this, it's okay for others to be so merciful to me, you don't want to come here too. This makes me sad, reminds me that I have an incurable disease, you learned to slip! ”

"Lao Zhu, I swear!" I said anxiously, "I swear in the name of a party member that I am willing to exchange what I have written for half my life for you." If you don't change everything, just change the one I've read! Dude, you always don't know where your true worth lies! ”

"Really? I ......"

Such a big person actually sobbed on the phone.

Beijing, January 18, 1984