4. Educated Youth Who Abandoned Their Wives and Children
"Yan Xun, your package."
In a farm in a commune in Long Province, a group of men in their forties and fifties were cleaning the feces in the pig pen with shovels. It was very cold, and the breath they exhaled seemed to freeze into ice chips. Their exposed hands were frozen red, and there were many cracks, and pustules and scabs could be seen on them.
The gatekeeper of the farm was an old widow from a nearby village. His only son became a martyr, and the higher-ups compensated him by finding him such an easy job. As long as he managed the bad elements in the farm, he would have food and accommodation on the farm every month, and he would also get 18 yuan.
Old man Li had no worries, and it was useless to ask for more money. Naturally, he would not make things difficult for those who were already in trouble. Usually, when the relatives of these prisoners sent packages, he would simply open them and take a look. As long as there were no dangerous items, he would return the items to the owner intact.
It's not so good in other places. Usually, if there are any packages or letters sent, most of the good things will be exploited first. How much is left in the end depends on fate. As for letters, most people will not open them. But you have to pray that there are no people who like to stir up trouble in the farm you are staying in, otherwise they will accuse you of literary inquisition and aggravate the charges. There is nothing you can do about it.
"Package? Mine?"
A hunched-backed, old-looking man raised his hand in the crowd with a surprised look in his eyes.
The man looked to be in his forties or fifties, his face was already covered with traces of wind and frost, his forehead had deep lines, and his hair was half white and messed up by the strong wind.
He is the father of Yan Chu in this world, and the person he wants to save. If someone who knew Yan Xun in the past stood in front of him at this time, he probably wouldn't recognize the man in front of him, the man who amazed the entire Yanjing University in the past.
Counting the days, he has been in this farm for transformation for nearly ten years, and he has never received a letter or a package during this period. It is not just him. All the people who have been released here have received letters from home only a few times.
This is the norm in this era. Everyone wants to get rid of their relationship with them, so who would take the initiative to provoke them.
Yan Xun couldn't think of who would send him a package. His wife divorced him when he was in trouble, and took away their son who was only seven years old at that time, and published an advertisement to break off their relationship. Those students at that time were already very good for not taking advantage of him. His parents died early, and he had no brothers and sisters. Yan Xun couldn't come back to his senses for a while, and thought he had heard it wrong.
"Old man Li is calling you. We haven't received anything sent from outside for more than half a year, right?"
The person next to Yan Xun pushed him, and he came back to his senses and followed Old Man Li outside. When he came back, everyone saw that his eyes were red and he was carrying a large package letter, and no one knew who sent it.
"My son wrote me a letter. I haven't seen him for almost ten years. He was a chubby kid back then. I don't know if he is tall or strong now."
Yan Xun came in from outside. When he walked, he felt like he was stepping on cotton. He felt like he was dreaming.
When his ex-wife left him with his son, he didn't blame her at all. Who put him in that situation? She left with her son, at least she wouldn't be implicated by him.
But even if he thought so, staying in this closed farm, Yan Xun missed his only son all the time. He knew in his heart that his ex-wife was so young that she would remarry sooner or later, and his son was so young that he might not remember that he had a father like him after a few years.
Yan Xun was sometimes afraid that his son would blame him, the tainted father, and that he would never see his son again in this life.
"Why are you crying? You should be happy that your son wrote to you and sent you something." The man next to Yan Xun smiled and said to him. He was happy for him, but also a little lonely. Where should his children be now?
Yan Xun nodded repeatedly, and did not open the letter package on the spot. The farm manager often came to patrol and supervise. If he caught them being lazy and not working, they would deduct food.
After the morning work was done, everyone took their lunch boxes to get lunch. Today's lunch was a corn bun mixed with bran, and a bowl of porridge that was so thin that you could see your shadow. This amount of food was not enough to fill you up, but from the looks of everyone, they seemed to be used to it.
"Look, what did your son send you?"
Everyone had been together for so long, and they basically knew everyone's background. They all knew that when Yan Xun was sent here, he had a seven-year-old son who was taken away by his ex-wife. Unexpectedly, this son still remembered his biological father, and deliberately found out that the other party was sent to this farm and sent letters and things.
The porridge they had ordered had already gone cold, and it was impossible to eat it in such a cold weather. Fortunately, the caretaker of this farm was not bad and gave them a stove that was not used on the farm. They had to go to the nearby mountains to pick up firewood for the fire. With this stove and the clay pot given to them by the gatekeeper, old man Li, they could drink hot porridge and water in the winter.
Seven old men in a room put all the porridge and corn buns they had received into the clay pot and cooked them slowly, while sitting cross-legged on the kang waiting for Yan Xun to open the package.
Yan Xun handed the big package to the people next to him and asked them to open it slowly. He couldn't wait to open the letter sent by his son. When he opened the letter, his fingers were still shaking.
"Dad, these days, I have been thinking of you and my childhood life in my dreams."
...
"My mother is no longer my only mother. She replaced my stepbrother with my name. Now, I have become an educated youth who goes to the countryside to support agriculture. I have to work in the fields every day. My shoulders and back aches. At this time, I can't help but wonder if you are more tired and harder than me."
...
"It's been a year in a blink of an eye. I really miss the taste of the candied haws a stick you took me to buy when I was a kid. I miss the days when you took me to play with ice in the winter. Dad, I miss you."
...
Yan Xun was so sad that he couldn't breathe. He covered his face to prevent tears from dripping onto the letter. He thought that even if his ex-wife left with his son, at least she was still the biological mother of the child, so she would not treat the child badly. But now when he reads the letter Every word he said, the child might have been wronged a lot.
This made Yan Xun feel distressed, but he also blamed his ex-wife. His son was still young at the time, and perhaps he didn't know it. When he first got into trouble, his ex-wife filed for divorce and took the children away from him. At that time, he left his parents behind. He gave a box of gold bars to his wife as a token of appreciation for a man who would never be able to fulfill his responsibilities as a father.
That box of gold was enough to raise a whole yard of children, but in the end, that's how the woman treated her son, letting him become an educated youth instead of her stepson.
Yan Xun's heart clenched into a ball, and he wished he could rush to his son right now and tell him that his father was still there and that he would take good care of him in the future.
"Xiao Xun, don't be too sad."
The old man next to him patted Yan Xun on the shoulder. He was the eldest among the group.
"Look how much your son cares about you. These gloves and knee pads are just in use now. He prepared these things for you with good intentions. Just now when I was making porridge, I heard Director Lin and others chatting, saying that we Two labor reform prisoners at the Red Army Farm not far away have been rehabilitated and have now returned. The Gang of Four has been overthrown. The higher-ups are very concerned about those unjust, false and wrongful cases. We may one day go back. "
He encouraged Yan Xun: "Think about your son, he is only seventeen. Don't you want to see him marry and have children? Your stepfather is always inferior to your biological father."
The old man's words instilled unprecedented determination in Yan Xun. He clutched the letter in his hand tightly. Yes, he wanted to live well.
*****
"Ding - the completion rate of the side mission is 80%, dear, keep up the good work!"
Yan Chu was at the supply and marketing cooperative in the county town at this time, and was startled by the message that suddenly popped up.
"What's wrong?" Lin Qingshan looked at Yan Chu's eyes staring straight into the air, followed his line of sight, and saw nothing.
"It's nothing." Yan Chu shook his head, realizing that his letter probably had an effect.
I wanted to give it a try before, and the bet was how much he cared about his son, the original person. While expressing his longing for his son in the letter, he also vaguely mentioned his current situation. If he lived too well, he would only let Yan Xun He felt relieved and no longer worried about anything. Only when he was not doing well would Yan Xun be worried and muster up the fighting spirit to carry on.
Now it seems that he has won, but why is the system's automatic notification sound so cute?
"We have to speed up. Brother Ding is still waiting outside the county town. I think they have almost finished buying New Year's goods and they should go back soon."
Lin Qingshan reminded Yan Chu that, as expected, this was their last trip to the city before the year. In addition to some daily necessities, the educated youth also needed to buy some things for the New Year. He and Yan Chu were the representatives.
Most of the necessary things have been bought according to the list. Now the two of them are wandering around and buying personal items.
Yan Chu nodded and paused when passing by the counter selling ointment.
Although he doesn't have a girlfriend, he has heard the saying that he can cure all diseases. Every girl should like bags, lipstick and cosmetics, right?
Yan Chu was not sure. He couldn't buy those things in this era. Looking at several boxes of beautifully packaged cream on the counter, he finally picked up one of them and paid for it.