Chapter 33 Chapter 33 Go to the auditorium to prepare to start the reminiscence...
After a restless night, Su Yan finally took a nap around six o'clock, and was up again at seven to make breakfast. She cooked half a pot of porridge and told the two children to get up, wash up, and get ready for school.
When we arrived at the office, Ming Fan, a young girl from the office, had already arrived. She was wiping the tables and sweeping the floor. When she saw Yingzi come in, she greeted her with a smile, "Good morning, Sister Yingzi!"
Su Yan greeted her, and then she asked, "Sister Yingzi, we have a reminiscing session this afternoon, don't forget."
Su Yan nodded. Holding a meeting to recall the bitter past was easy; the hard part was eating the meal. That was literally just eating coarse grains of rice. Su Yan had only taken a small bite during the last meeting, and the spicy taste stung her throat. Fortunately, after just one bite, Director Lin called her back to urgently revise the materials, saving her from disaster.
Su Yan felt that the political atmosphere was becoming increasingly intense. The most obvious thing was that meetings to recall the bitter past and cherish the sweet past were being held more and more frequently. At each meeting, not only were they required to recall the bitter past and cherish the sweet past, but the children of the rich peasants and landlord class were also required to reflect and review themselves. Of course, asking them to speak also meant that these children of the landlords and rich peasants were eligible for education.
At Su Yan's first meeting, she sat in the audience. Someone mentioned that Lu Yingzi's grandfather was also a rich peasant, and logically, she should be asked to speak on stage. Su Yan was terrified. Then Director Lin explained that Lu Yingzi's grandfather had died before liberation, and her parents were genuine workers when their social status was determined. Her father had died in the line of duty only a few months earlier. Why were they asking a genuine working-class person to speak on stage?
After Director Lin said this, Su Yan did not go on stage to review her mistakes.
However, after this lesson, Su Yan instinctively felt dangerous and became silent at work. She would never speak unless she was required to express her opinion.
In the afternoon, Su Yan packed up, prepared her handkerchief, and headed to the auditorium to attend the meeting to recall the bitter past and reflect on the sweet past. During the previous meeting, Su Yan had been distracted for a moment, and the meeting leader criticized her for her apathetic expression and lack of class sentiment. He criticized Su Yan, "You're also a child of the working class. You're on stage saying you didn't have enough to eat in the old society and couldn't wear cotton clothes in the winter. How could you be so indifferent to such miserable times?"
Su Yan had no choice but to apologize: "I'm sorry, I just remembered that the secretary has a manuscript that I haven't finished writing, and I was thinking about how to revise it."
The team leader shook his head and said, "Lu Yingzi, you need to strengthen your ideological education. Your family has historical problems."
When they arrived at the auditorium, Su Yan tried to sit in an inconspicuous position in the middle at the back, and brought a handkerchief ready to wipe her tears at any time to see what the meeting group leader had to say.
At the Jiangzhou Machinery Factory, everyone was required to speak at these meetings. However, some spoke incoherently, while others spoke endlessly about the bitter past and only briefly about the sweet past. The leadership, upon seeing this, felt that this was unsound, so they screened the speakers, inviting those with eloquence and substance to speak. Because these meetings were held so frequently, sometimes twice a week, most people had heard the stories of the bitter past and sweet past.
Uncle Lu was the first to take the stage today. Su Yan was both surprised and surprised. Lu Yingzi was being gossiped about simply because her grandfather, who had died before liberation, was a rich peasant. Shouldn't Uncle Lu, a true capitalist, have taken the stage and tearfully confessed his mistakes?
Uncle Lu took the stage, straightened his clothes, and bowed before saying, "Comrades, my name is Lu Er. My father is an industrialist. When he went to study in Germany, he saw the Ruhr area, Germany's industrial zone, and was deeply envious. That's why he named me Lu Er. When I went abroad, my father said that China's industry was too weak and that you should work hard. Later, I came back and became an engineer, also at the Jiangzhou Machinery Factory. At that time, I was the factory manager. Back then, running a factory meant dealing with people from all walks of life. You had to take care of the police station, the fire department, and even the small-time thugs on the surface, otherwise the factory would be plagued by problems here and there. Once, our factory was asked to contribute 200,000 yuan for military expenses. We really couldn't come up with it, so we had to close the factory. Later, after liberation, the people were in charge, and the government re-established the machinery factory. They didn't even care about my family background and invited me back to work there."
At this point, tears welled up in his eyes and flowed out: "Comrades often say that the old society turns people into ghosts, and the new society turns ghosts into people. In my case, it is the new society that has given us the machinery factory..."
Su Yan was moved by the simple patriotism of this era, as if being able to run a machinery factory and develop China's industry would be her greatest wish in life.
Ming Fan whispered in Su Yan's ear, "This Old Lu is really smart. He made half the people at the conference cry. But, I won't be so lucky next time."
Su Yan turned her head to look at her, as if she didn't recognize this lively and cheerful girl. Ming Fan saw Su Yan looking at her and said, "Sister Yingzi, look at you, you were almost pushed onto the stage last time. If I hadn't run to find Director Lin, you would have definitely been criticized. This old Lu is the son of a true capitalist. We criticize him and ask him to reflect on himself because he can be educated. This is to help him."
Su Yan whispered, "Hasn't he been reformed quite well?"
Ming Fan shook his head. "Sister Yingzi, you don't think that just a few words will change you, do you? Last time, he complained about the bitterness rice being unpalatable. He only ate half of that huge bowl. He doesn't act like a working class person at all. I think he still thinks he's the youngest son of a capitalist, dreaming of a life of luxury and exploitation."
Su Yan didn't comment, only saying, "Really? I didn't notice it before. When I was in HR, I thought he was pretty good."
Ming Fan nodded: "You believe everything others say. You are deceived and can't see the fundamental problem."
Su Yan sighed after hearing Ming Fan's words. Today's bittersweet rice consisted of bran and wild vegetables. Su Yan brought it over, took a bite, and swallowed it without chewing. Ming Fan, beside her, seemed to be eating mousse cake, taking big gulps with a spoonful, enjoying it with relish. This time, no one called Su Yan home, so she had to finish the whole bowl of bran. It felt like it was stuck in her throat, as if she would vomit it out if she spoke.
Before leaving, Sister Wang called to inform her: "The Municipal Party Committee program has been cancelled. Oh, it's really frustrating. We were almost done rehearsing, and it was canceled."
Su Yan was happy to have one less job to do. She smiled and said, "Sister Wang, are you unhappy about one less job? Besides, we've already rehearsed. If it doesn't work this time, we can always do it next time!"
Su Yan packed her things, picked up Yan Zi from the kindergarten, and rode her bike home.
When they got home, Dahua was there too. Xiaogang came back a little earlier and ran over to Su Yan and said, "Auntie, Dahua has been crying for a long time. I asked her what's wrong, but she kept crying."
Su Yan parked her bike and saw Dahua's face was covered with tears and snot. She took a towel and wiped her face. She asked, "Dahua, is there something wrong?"
Dahua looked up, stunned. "It's okay, Sister Yingzi, I'm fine. I just want to cry here with you for a while, okay?"
She raised her head, and Su Yan discovered that there were several more bruises on her face.
Su Yan sighed and took out some medicinal wine from the cabinet and gave it to her: "Wipe it on. I don't know what happened at your home. But if you tell me and I can help, I will definitely help."
Dahua stopped crying after hearing this. She took the medicinal wine and wiped herself for a while. Seeing the shoe patterns on the cabinet beside her, she said, "Sister Yingzi, let me teach you how to make cloth shoes. Are you learning?"
Su Yan then knew that the girl didn't want to tell her, so she cooked and brought out the meal for Dahua to eat. But Dahua shook her head: "Everyone has a hard time, how can I always eat your family's food?"
As he was about to leave, he turned around and said at the door: "Sister Yingzi, I'm getting married this Sunday. Remember to come and drink my wedding wine. I've prepared wedding candy for you."
Seeing her expression, Su Yan couldn't say congratulations, and only asked: "Is it what you want and what you like?" Or did your mother force you to agree?
Dahua was silent for a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Sister Yingzi, I promised it myself. Once I get married, I can leave this home."
Su Yan advised her: "Dahua, you are a good girl. You are still young, only eighteen years old. If you want to leave home and be independent, you just need to find a job. I can help you ask if our factory is hiring."
Dahua looked at Su Yan and choked up, "Sister Yingzi, you are a good person, but there is no need. I did it on my own will, I like him." As she said that, she actually bowed to Su Yan and turned away.
Su Yan looked at her back and felt that she looked so frail. She stood at the door for a long time, stunned for a long time, and felt a little cold. When she came to her senses, it had started to drizzle.
Su Yan sighed and was about to close the door and go in when she saw a man turning around the alley. When he got closer, she realized it was Qin Zhanwu.
He was still wearing his military uniform, without an umbrella. His body was already wet, and he looked at Su Yan quietly without saying a word.
Su Yan suddenly felt empty inside, not knowing what it felt like. She sighed softly, "Why don't you hold an umbrella? It's easiest to catch a cold if you get caught in the rain at this time."
Qin Zhanwu said, "It wasn't raining when we got here, but it started raining halfway through."
Su Yan handed him the handkerchief she was carrying: "Wipe it off. Since it's raining, you should find a place to hide. Is there something important? Why did you come here in the rain? Haven't I made it clear that I have no intention of getting married for the time being?"
Qin Zhanwu still didn't say anything, just looked at Su Yan. The rain was getting heavier and heavier, and raindrops were falling on his eyelashes. Soon the water in front of the door became turbulent.
Su Yan had no choice but to pull him inside and said unhappily, "If you look like this, others will think I did something to you. Is it really that serious?"
Qin Zhanwu asked, "I just can't understand. If you don't want to marry me and look down on me, what did you do that night? Who can you marry in the future if you're like this?"
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