The Ups and Downs of the Commoners Page #8

This non-fiction novel tells the life of ordinary commoners in the middle of the 20th century in China, from the series of movements such as "Land Reform", "Great Leap Forward", "Cultural Revolution" and "Educated Youth Going to the Countryside" to the early days of Reform and Opening-up. The book has four volumes, and was published by Hong Kong Chinese International Publishing House in 2015. The protagonist of this book, Fang Zhengben, was born into a bankrupt family of landowners. Their family has lived in Taiqing Town for generations. When he was six years old, he left Taiqing Town with his parents and came to Longyun Mountain, where the mountains overlap. From then on, he began an unusual life: their family hard work, but they couldn't eat enough; he yearned for reading, but he has dropped out of school three times before graduating from junior high school; he is diligent and studious, with excellent grades, but the door of colleges is

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There are many things in the world that are easier said than done. Fang Xinwen lived on the town since he was a child. At that time, his family was wealthy. In addition to reading and practicing Chinese calligraphy, he was eating, drinking, and having fun. After his family declining, he served as a soldier for a few days and taught for several years. Where did he know about growing crops? He is a tall and lanky man, the handle of an ordinary hoe looks a little short in his hand, and his two arms don’t have much strength. When he swings the hoe, he looks like acting on the stage. The hoe is soft when it hits the ground, not only can it not penetrate into the soil, but sometimes even the hoe  falls; the distance between the corn pits is more uneven, either too far apart or too close. Although Wang Qihui was born in the countryside, not a golden branches and jade leaves in a boudoir in the big family, but she is still the jewel in the palm of a wealthy family in the countryside. When it came to spinning yarn, weaving cloth and making clothes, she was one of the best in the neighborhood. When it came to field farm work, she knew nothing. Needless to say, the Fang Zhengqing brothers are still children. Fortunately, Zeng Sanxing passed by and saw this situation, that he was amused secretly, so he came to the field and gave some pointers, so that their seeding  able to proceed.
After Fang Xinwen finished digging the pit, he took the dung bucket and went to the ditch next to him to fetch water, and poured water on each the pit with a dung spoon. After sowing the seeds, Wang Qihui turned around and covered the corn seeds with soil. About 130 square meters of corn were planted that day. Watching the sun sink in the west, they packed up their farm tools and went back to the street to rest.
In the next few days, they woke up early every day, moved some small things to the mountains, then planted seeds in the fields for a day, and then walked 6 kilometers on the mountain road when it was getting dark and returned to the street.
On this day, Wang Qihui returned to the street from work, and suddenly saw the child's maternal grandmother sitting in front of the house. She was surprised and asked: "Mom, why are you here?" Maternal grandmother said, "I heard the people who came here to rush the bazaar back and said that you were deported to the countryside to farm. I am anxious, always wanted to come and have a look. So Tianhui and Tianliang use Easy palanquin, and escort me arrive here." Wang Qihui asked: "Where are Tianhui and Tianliang?" Maternal grandmother said, "Because my family is busy, they sent me here, but when they saw that you were not home, they went back first." Fang Zhengqing and Fang Zhengben stepped forward to greet maternal grandmother. Fang Xinwen first greeted his mother-in-law, then he opened the door and entered the house, lighting the oil lamp. The family followed up into the house.
As soon as Wang Qihui entered the house, she was busy cooking. While talking to her daughter, maternal grandmother helped her in front   of the stove make a fire.
Maternal grandmother is in her fifties, and her hair is a lot grayer. She has a pair of small feet and it is very inconvenient to walk. Since her home is in Sanxi Township, Tuoyang County, which is more than ten kilometers away from Taiqing Town, she came here by Easy palanquin. While sending firewood to the stove, she asked her daughter, "What is the name of the place you moved?" Wang Qihui said, "It's on the mountain in Lianghekou Township, called Huoshao Ping." Maternal grandmother asked, "How is that place?" "Wang Qihui was afraid of his mother's worry, and said, "Not bad." Maternal grandmother said: "Tomorrow I will go and see with you." Wang Qihui said: "Mom, the road is not easy to walk there, you still don't go to, just stay at home." Maternal grandmother said: "I must go take a look."
Maternal grandmother insisted on going up the mountain with them, but Wang Qihui couldn't stop her, so she had to let her go. When she came to Huoshao Ping, she first saw the two thatched houses, and then look the land allocated to her daughter's family, anxiously said: "Oh, looking at the land you have allocated, it is so barren, even if you put a pile of feces on it, it will not breed flies, you how much food can be grown? Besides, there is no rice field at all, how can you live in the future?" Wang Qihui said: "Mom, it doesn't matter!" Maternal grandmother was anxious, determined to help her daughter, and said: "You all work in the fields, and I cook at home."
When it was time for lunch, maternal grandmother said, "It's not easy to make this meal. I found that you don't have firewood. This afternoon I went to pull some grass on the hillside and dried it to make firewood." Wang Qihui knew that although her mother was inconvenient to walk, she was a person who couldn't stay idle. She said, "You can pull the grass, but be careful not to fall." Maternal grandmother washed the bowls, goes to the nearby hillside to pull the roots of Imperata Root. She doesn't know how to climb slope, she can only use her hands and feet. If she could find a small flat spot, she sat on the ground and pulled up the grass roots. Her fingers were quickly torn by the grass roots, bleeding, but she still refused to stop, and did not return to the street with her daughter's family until the evening.
On this day, because of   reluctant to lay down sowing, get off work too late, as soon as Fang Xinwen's family arrived at Lianghekou, it became dark. The sky in the ravine is usually darker than the outside of the mountain. When passing by Laolong Pool, both Fang Xinwen and Wang Qihui repeatedly reminded: "Be careful!" The Fang Zhengqing and Fang Zhengben persons were short, their eyes were close to the ground, and they could see the road. They kept walking in front. Their father, mother, and maternal grandmother could only fumble and forward with their feet on the ground, fearing falling into the abyss on the right. The two brothers took a few steps and then had to stop and wait for a while.
"Mom!" When the be two brothers be about to walk out of Laolong Pool, they suddenly heard their mother scream from behind, followed by a sigh from the maternal grandmother: "Oh-ah! It's dangerous!" The two brothers were startled, they hurriedly stopped.
Maternal grandmother is getting older, her eyes are bad, and her feet are small, making it her particularly difficult to walk at night. Every time she took a step forward, she had to stretch out a small foot, and slowly explore for a while in the ground, and then she dared to step out of the foot. This time, when she stretched out her right foot to explore the way, her foot suddenly stretched into the air outside the cliff. Fortunately, mother kept supporting maternal grandmother. When she suddenly felt the center of gravity of her maternal grandmother's body shift, she screamed and pulled their maternal grandmother back from the edge of the cliff, finally avoiding a disaster of falling into the abyss. After the maternal grandmother eased her breath, she said, "I just now have one foot stepped on in the air!"

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