Therefore, Zhou Fu pays special attention to the education of children. Zhou Xiulian was sent to school as soon as she was old enough to remember.
At school, Zhou Xiulian learns to sew and make clothes in the morning, and it is time to read books in the afternoon. When she thought of her reading, Zhou Xiulian reel back:
Speaking of climbing trees, the old man Zhou Xiulian came to the spirit in an instant. Facing the volunteers who came to express their condolences to the anti-Japanese war veterans, the centenarian said, "At that time, I could climb extremely high trees, and almost no one in school could match me."
Zhou Xiulian has read a lot of poetry books since she was a child, and her personality is free and easy, which is completely different from other women in the old society. 19 1 1 year, when the Revolution of 1911 broke out, Zhou Xiulian was baptized by the Three People's Principles.
1925, in order to follow Dr. Sun Yat-sen's thoughts, Zhou Xiulian, who was only eighteen years old, joined the Women's Federation without hesitation, devoted herself to the revolutionary cause and fought for women's equal rights.
In the work of the Women's Federation, she deeply realized the stubborn roots and bad habits of the feudal old society. Only revolution can break the old society and bring a new era of democracy and equality for all.
Since then, Zhou Xiulian has become an independent and free-thinking woman in the new era.
193 1, Zhou Xiulian met her hometown Yang Ping. Zhou Xiulian was deeply attracted by Zhang Ping, an outstanding revolutionary youth, and they fell in love and got married.
At that time, Yang Pinggang graduated from the Central Army Military Academy, and then served as the 5 th company commander of the 25 th Division, 25 th Brigade, 2 nd Battalion under General Guan Lian, becoming a rising star in Ran Ran.
After the wedding, they didn't have time to live a quiet life, so they both devoted themselves to the busy revolutionary cause.
1932, Zhou Xiulian went out with her husband, followed Yang Ping's troops from Changsha, passed through Jiulishan in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, and marched from here to Hebei's anti-Japanese front, fighting against the Japanese aggressors in Miyun, Kangzhuangfu and the Great Wall.
1933, Yang Ping led his troops to participate in the Battle of Gubeikou and Juyongguan. Because of his outstanding performance, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
In Zhou Xiulian's memory, marching with her husband was particularly hard. She rides a horse or mule over mountains, and her calf hurts every day.
The marching road is rugged and difficult. From time to time, there will be some knee-deep potholes. If you are not careful, you will fall down.
At that time, in the army, in order not to let the Japanese recognize women, women had to lower their hats to cover their foreheads and faces when marching. The Japanese plane hovering overhead rumbled, and Zhou Xiulian lived in fear every day.
193865438+In February, Du's 200th Division was expanded to 1 1 Army, and later renamed as the 5th Army. The headquarters was moved from Xiangtan, Hunan Province to Quanzhou, Guangxi Province, becoming a new mechanized army in the early days of the Anti-Japanese War, and Du served as the army commander.
Yang Ping was soon transferred to the Sixth Regiment of the Twenty-second Division of the Fifth Army as the second battalion commander and became Du's subordinate.
Zhou Xiulian and Du's wife also served as the director of the garment factory, producing strategic materials for the front line. In this way, the two men, in tandem, contributed to the victory of the Anti-Japanese War.
The work in the garment factory is so hard that 1 12-year-old Zhou Xiulian still keeps the plaster and often wipes her sore arm, which is the sequela left by the high-intensity work that year.
As an important strategic material production department, the soldiers in front at that time had to follow dozens of miles to transport production materials, and they were often busy until three or four in the morning.
Zhou Xiulian also lived in the hospital twice because of low back pain, which was also caused by lifting heavy objects.
Soon after, Yang Ping was promoted to be the deputy head of the 66th regiment by Du because of his outstanding performance in the army. And Zhou Xiulian also ushered in a promotion.
At that time, the logistics factory composed of family members in the army gradually played a huge role. At first, Zhou Xiulian did simple coolies.
Later, when Cao Xiuqing found out that she had read a book, she was appointed as a lieutenant's receiver. Later, due to her excellent work, she was promoted to captain's receiver administrator.
Regarding the work of the garment factory, even after decades, Zhou Xiulian still remembers every detail, as if it were yesterday. She vividly recalled to the volunteers:
"At that time, the commander Du, seeing that I had many children, gave me preferential treatment and promoted me from lieutenant to captain. He also ordered that there be a paper appointment. "
At that time, there were more than 500 people in the whole garment factory, and Zhou Xiulian was responsible for sending and receiving lines. She said
Moreover, the work of the garment factory is as rigorous as that of the army, and there is no room for carelessness.
Whenever wartime time is tight, Zhou Xiulian and others will be as busy as a bee, providing arms and materials for the troops in front, and they need uniforms, quilts and accounts to catch up with their work. Therefore, it is common to work until the early hours of the morning.
Zhou Xiulian's women's clothing craft, which was practiced in the clothing factory, has been playing a role.
Until she returned to her hometown, Zhou Xiulian often knitted gloves, sweaters and hats for her neighbors. However, 100 is over years old, and she still insists on mending clothes by herself. When her socks are broken, the old man will sew a unique pattern on the hole with a needle and thread.
The war years are hard, but people will always have fun in suffering, and the troops will not fight every day. Whenever it is repaired, everyone will try to adjust themselves and release their pressure and depression.
It was also during the renovation of this army that Zhou Xiulian learned the biggest hobby in her life, "Domino Bo Opera".
Zhou Xiulian's domino play was learned by the troops when they were trimming the border in Beiyuan, Beijing and Nanjing. At first, this man from a small place knew nothing about domino games. Whenever she meets a card game, she can only "watch the game".
As an army general, her husband often attends parties organized by the army commander Du, at which officers inevitably have to sit down and play chess, which is also Zhou Xiulian's study time.
When her husband Yang Ping was with Du and other officials, she sat and watched carefully.
Even at the party of officials and their wives, she is not shy. She often asks some basic questions when everyone is in full swing, such as why this card is played like this, which makes everyone laugh again and again.
Speaking of people she has met, 1 12-year-old man seems to be instantly young 100-year-old, with a cheerful tone. As a result, she met many "big shots" in the army, only to see her thumb up again and then give out her little finger.
The thumb represents the big role she has ever seen, and the little finger represents her modest little role. "Du and Qiu Qingquan are big roles. We are all small roles, and we can often see them, but there are not many times when we can overlap. "
Zhou Xiulian, who often appeared, began to be active in the circle of the official wife. At that time, Du's wife, the director of the garment factory, often invited Zhou Xiulian to attend parties at home in her spare time.
In addition to attending parties organized by Mrs. Du and Mrs. Qiu Qingquan, Zhou Xiulian occasionally goes to Yang Ping's classmate's house for a walk.
One of them, Tian Jiyun, is a very good classmate of Yang Ping. They often meet in their spare time. Zhou Xiulian was deeply impressed by her husband's old classmates:
"He and I went to Tian Jiyun's head home for dinner. Head Tian was from Yiyang and later died in Kunming. The couple cooked at home to entertain us, and the food was particularly delicious. I remember his wife was beautiful. "
Obviously, Zhou Xiulian is very happy in this past, which is also the most precious fragment of that time filled with smoke.
The years when Zhou Xiulian and her husband Yang Ping went to the front and fought in the north and south were the most difficult years, but also the most wonderful and happiest years.
On the way, in order to protect the safety of his wife Zhou Xiulian, Yang Ping repeatedly advised her to retreat to the rear. Zhou Xiulian is always excited when she hears Yang Ping's advice. She said, "Even if we die, we must die together."
However, fate always plays tricks on people. Parting is the eternal theme of that war-torn era. How many families are fragmented, how many lovers are separated, and even yin and yang are separated.
Zhou Xiulian and Yang Ping, who love each other deeply, have not escaped this fate.
After the Pacific War broke out, at the beginning of 1942, the Japanese army invaded Myanmar, and soon occupied Yangon, the leader of Myanmar, and the war reached the border between China and Myanmar.
At that time, Myanmar was a British colony, bordering on the southwest of China. It is an important channel for foreign aid to enter China and has a very important strategic position.
So with the help of Britain, Du Wei was appointed as acting commander, headed by the Fifth Army, and an elite Chinese expeditionary force was formed, with about 6,543.8+10,000 people heading for Myanmar.
Yang Ping was promoted to be the captain of the technical training brigade of the officers and cadres of the Fifth Army, and went out with the expeditionary force to fight fiercely with the Japanese army in Miyun and Tengchong, Yunnan.
1On the afternoon of June 20, 943, Yang Ping was seriously injured in an anti-Japanese battle with the Fifth Army in the jungle on the border between China and Myanmar, and finally failed to survive and died heroically.
Zhou Xiulian, who learned the bad news, held several children and cried into tears. In the face of her husband's departure, she can only sigh the hardships of fate while raising children with uncertain future.
The army held a memorial service for the martyr Yang Ping, promoted him to major general, and sent someone to escort the coffin back to Yang Ping's hometown.
Zhou Xiulian took her children and sent her husband back to Xinmao Village for burial, thus ending her life with the army and living in the old residence of the Yang family in Xinmao Village.
Fate did not stop torturing Zhou Xiulian. 1944 September 17, Zhou Xiulian was working in the field with her children when a neighbor in the distance came running quickly and shouted at Zhou Xiulian who was working hard:
"Xiulian, your house is on fire. Come, go back and have a look! "
Zhou Xiulian was dumbfounded after listening, until the child took her home, and the fire was unstoppable. Looking at the burning house, Zhou Xiulian sat down on the ground. She knew that there was almost nothing but what she had brought.
This fire burned Zhou Xiulian's few possessions and all traces left by Yang Ping in the world. All his photos, classmates' records, military officers' cards, anti-Japanese medals and expeditionary force documents were burned to ashes.
From then on, the appearance of her husband Yang Ping can only stay in Zhou Xiulian's mind.
However, before Zhou Xiulian's adjustment, War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression's fourth Changsha Battle started, and Zhou Xiulian's hometown was instantly shrouded in war. Zhou Xiulian had to run around with a box and a married child.
This wandering memory is Zhou Xiulian's most unforgettable. So far, recalling that time has made Zhou Xiulian frightened and repeatedly stressed: "I am scared to death."
Zhou Xiulian, who fled with her children and had no property, was exhausted and lived in poverty. 1945 After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, she met her old friend, Qiu Qingquan, in Changsha Pension Liaison Office.
Meeting an old friend made Zhou Xiulian cry, sighing that things were different and crying about her current difficult situation.
Seeing that Zhou Xiulian was in such a miserable situation, Qiu Qingquan took out 100 yuan from his pocket to give her emergency, and called the clothing factory where Zhou Xiulian once worked, asking her to recall Zhou Xiulian to continue her work.
In this way, with the help of Qiu Qingquan, Zhou Xiulian was able to spend the most difficult war years.
It was not until the eve of liberation that Zhou Xiulian returned to her hometown and lived incognito. Living in her hometown, she has never been able to change her military style. Her housekeeping is very tidy, and her clothes are folded without a wrinkle after washing.
In the memory of Zhou Xiulian's youngest son, Yang, my mother has always been a woman who is out of place with her surroundings:
"She can still fold the quilt into five patterns, and it only takes five minutes to finish all the finishing after getting up. She can always handle things tactfully. Not long ago, a stranger came to the house. She is at home alone. She thinks there's something wrong with that man. She pretended to shout at the upstairs. Why don't you come down? The man left as soon as he was happy. "
Zhou Xiulian has four children. For her mother and the children at home, there are endless words in front of the volunteers. The eldest son said:
In their mouths, the volunteers learned that the centenarian has three hobbies every day: knitting sweaters, growing flowers and playing dominoes.
The old man's bed is reddish brown. Although it is very old, there are still a few pink wool balls hanging on the bedside, which are idle handmade works of the elderly.
"Mom is especially good at knitting sweaters, and knitting sweaters is the best in the world. Her life is also very special. The flowers and plants in the yard are all planted by her, and she takes care of them herself every day. "
Zhou Xiulian, who lives in her hometown, is still a domino fan, so that many people in the village, men, women and children, have learned to play dominoes with her. She has always disliked the old people in the village who play cards with ink and are slow.
With the death of the old man around her, now Zhou Xiulian doesn't go out to play dominoes. Only when her children and grandchildren come home, or when there are guests at home, will she occasionally touch the cards and move the bones.
Zhou Xiulian, who lives in her hometown, is satisfied with her stable and happy life. Although those eventful years and unforgettable old friends in her memory always fascinate her for a long time, peace, stability and happiness should always belong to everyone.
After listening to Zhou Xiulian's legendary life, all the audience at the scene could not be calm for a long time. After feeling that the old man is now living a stable and happy life, the volunteers have no intention of continuing to bother and get up and leave.
Zhou Xiulian saw that everyone wanted to leave, hesitated for a long time, and finally spoke a heart that had been pressed in her heart. This wish has been hidden for 73 years.
"Could you please do me a favor and help me find photos of Yang Ping? I want to leave a memory and give it to my descendants as a permanent memorial. " Zhou Xiulian said slowly.
He Jia of the volunteer team was deeply moved when she heard the wishes of the old man. Ma Rong's husband died in a foreign country, but his mark was completely destroyed by a fire.
Every minute is precious to the old man. He Jia was suddenly filled with a sense of mission. He decided to help the old man realize this wish.
He Jia usually works as a network editor, so he is also good at information retrieval.
However, all the clues were wiped out in the fire that year. He only knows three key messages from the old man Zhou Xiulian: his name is Yang Ping, a native of Xinmao Village, Changsha, and an officer of the sixth phase of Huangpu.
So he started the first step, network search. He searched for information on major websites by inputting three keywords, but due to the scarcity of information, he was able to search for some written materials about Yang Ping's deeds and wars, but there were no photos.
At that time, the photos were extremely precious, and all the places that could be found should be on the documents destroyed by the fire. Therefore, He Jiaming understands that it is almost impossible to find photos with that little information in the ocean of information.
After giving up online search, he decided to call on more people to help, so he released information through various channels and called on national anti-Japanese war researchers and volunteers to help him find it.
This time, the good news came quickly. Two or three days later, He Jia received an echo in this sea area.
A volunteer from Zhejiang responded to He Jia: "In the Zhejiang Museum, the database of Whampoa Military Academy at that time was kept."
He Jia quickly logged into the database of Zhejiang Museum from the Internet. Sure enough, he found a photo of Yang Ping with information attached: Yang Ping, Changsha, 3rd Infantry Brigade, 9th Infantry Squadron.
However, after many scans, reprints and network compression, the pixels of blurred photos are very low, so it is difficult to identify whether this is Yang Ping.
But compared with the initial search for a needle in a haystack, it is obvious that they are one step closer to success. He Jia and the volunteers are very excited. They are going to send the photos to Zhou Xiulian for identification.
But before they set off, there was better news from Taiwan Province province in China on the other side.
A volunteer from Taiwan Province Province who specializes in the history of the Anti-Japanese War took the initiative to contact He Jia. He found a personal photo of Yang Ping by searching for information.
Volunteers sent an electronic scanned version of the photo, which is similar to what was found in Zhejiang Museum before, but much clearer. He Jia secretly more sure that this is the photo.
After printing this photo from Taiwan Province Province, they rushed to the home of Zhou Xiulian, an old man in Xinmao Village, and delivered the photo to the old man.
The old man just glanced at it and tears welled up in his eyes. This is what the young soldier in my mind looks like. He is wearing a military uniform, and the eventful years are fixed in his brow.
Looking at the photos, Zhou Xiulian's old man can't be calm for a long time. The man who couldn't bear to scold her for fighting bravely to defend his country is no longer with him, but the day of traveling with him seems to be yesterday.
It is thousands of people like Zhou Xiulian and Yang Ping in Qian Qian who stood up when the enemy bullied them, shed their blood for defending the country and burning their youth, which created our stable and prosperous environment today.
People will eventually disappear in front of the years, but with the same belief, new people will continue to stand up.
-End-