Chapter 240
March 8th Red Flag Bearer
The year is now 1982.
Miss Chen thought that she would have to wait until she was 60 years old to be elected as the March 8th Red Flag Bearer, because the March 8th Red Flag Bearers across the country are generally over 60 years old.
But unexpectedly, when she was 32 years old, she was suddenly elected as the March 8th Red Flag Bearer.
"When I arrive in Beijing, I will wear the pair of leather shoes that my leader bought for me. I have only worn that pair of shoes once, and I thought I would not wear them again until I am 60 years old," said Chen Lina.
The worker responded in the dark, humming absentmindedly, "Yes, you are going to be on TV. I was wondering, once you are on TV, will there be a lot of men in our mining area who want to follow you, Miss Chen?"
"Really? Is that possible?" Chen Lina thought, yes, Nie Gong was on TV once, and many young girls wrote to him. She immediately said, "No, from today on, I have to take good care of myself and strive to be prettier than the anchors of CCTV when I appear on TV."
"You are beautiful enough now, okay? What else do you want? What should I do if a bunch of men come to the border to support you?" Nie Gong was full of jealousy.
Suddenly, his hand stopped. "No, you seem to have something here."
"Ah, what is it?" Chen Lina asked.
"It's nothing, go to sleep." said the worker.
The next day, the children had their winter vacation, so I could bring them all with me.
Miss Chen was going to Beijing to attend the year-end work summary and receive her award as a March 8th Red Flag Bearer. She was very happy and in high spirits.
Nie Weijiang was also very happy because he and Deng Chun were now sophomores at Oilfield Middle School. However, thanks to Edward's efforts, he went to the Beijing Consulate General for an interview and obtained a visa. He was then able to go abroad with Deng Chun, directly to Texas, to start from middle school and then to college.
Nie Weimin is in Texas, studying at the University of Houston.
Nie Weijiang hasn't decided yet which school he wants to go to, but since his brother is there, it would definitely be better for him to go there instead of being completely in the dark and living with a godfather whom he has only met once and has only been in contact with through letters for more than ten years.
As for Deng Chun, it could be said that he was taking advantage of Nie Weijiang.
However, without Deng Dongya, it would not have been so easy for the two of them to go abroad.
In short, the Deng family and the Nie Gong family can be said to have achieved mutual success.
As soon as they got off the plane, Deng Chun and Nie Weijiang had to go to the U.S. Consulate General in China to approve their visas.
Without going to Beijing, they still don't know how crazy the current trend of studying abroad is. Of course, the slogan shouted by most people is to study abroad, learn the advanced productivity of capitalism, and return to serve the motherland.
But once they actually set foot on the land of capitalism, it is hard to say how many of these children will be willing to come back.
"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You two are still so young. In my opinion, it will be no problem for you to go abroad after graduating from college. Nie Weijiang, relax a little, okay?" Nie Gong took the time to say to his youngest son.
Nie Weijiang and Deng Chun were arm in arm, and Deng Chun said, "Don't worry, uncle, we will definitely be able to get out."
The two silly boys ran away one after the other.
Seeing that the worker was unhappy, Chen Lina advised him, "The child has grown up, and you have to learn to let go. Okay, let's go."
The satellite said, "Dad, you still have me. I will not go abroad. I will always be with you and mom."
Alas, this chubby little cutie can be said to be the last comfort for Mr. Nie and Miss Chen after their children have grown up and left home.
The worker sent Miss Chen to Dazhalan and let her stay there. Then he called Ji Chaoqun and said, "Yes, it's just like you described, the size of a soybean and very hard. Ji, what is the chance that this thing in the breast is cancer?"
Ji Chaoqun said on the phone, "If it is discovered suddenly, then there is a possibility that it is cancer. However, in most cases, it is just hyperplasia or nodules on the breast. Secondly, there are also benign tumors. Aren't you too sensitive, Mr. Nie?"
"This concerns my wife, I cannot be insensitive. Can you come to Beijing? I hope you can diagnose her in person. She has been looking forward to the title of March 8th Red Flag Bearer for many years. I don't want this to affect her mood." Nie Gong said.
Ji Chaoqun felt that Nie Gong was making a big deal out of nothing, but he could also understand Nie Gong's feelings.
He found a hard lump in his wife's breast, the size of a soybean, which would not move. So there was a chance of a tumor, so he called her and hoped she would go to Beijing.
After all, Chen Lina and Nie Weimin had helped Ji Chaoqun a lot, and it happened that she had a year-end vacation, so Ji Chaoqun readily agreed to join the job.
"When you come, try your best to cover up this matter and don't let her have any psychological pressure, okay?" Nie Gong then said.
Ji Chaoqun smiled and said, "Of course. I will do a manual examination on her first. If there is a problem, I can perform surgery. I will only perform surgery if there is a problem with the biopsy. Don't worry, you can trust my expertise."
"Hey, our leader is here again." Suddenly, a young doctor at the door said.
Deng Dongya came in holding a bouquet of flowers. "Doctor Ji, how are you feeling today?"
Ji Chaoqun didn't say anything and continued writing the case. Deng Dongya then said, "I have to go to Beijing for a meeting tomorrow. Xiaoxi also wants to go to Beijing to play. I heard from her that you will be on vacation soon. Let's go together."
"Just leave the flowers there. Also, I'm at work now and I'm very busy. Don't disturb me unless you have something to do." Ji Chaoqun said lightly.
Doctor Ji has become more and more beautiful after her divorce. She wears a white coat, has short curly hair, a slender neck, and looks like a fairy from Little Dragon Girl.
Deng Dongya said cautiously, "Then tonight, I will go to your house after the meeting. I should be able to finish my work before 11 o'clock. You must remember to open the door. Don't fall asleep and forget to open the door for me like last Saturday."
This man, when you care about him, he ignores you, saying he is busy every day, so busy that he doesn't even have time to go home. Now that Ji Chaoqun doesn't care about you anymore, he comes to you every day. He even comes to the hospital to give you a bouquet of flowers during dinner break, and then goes back to work overtime.
Who says he doesn't have time? As long as you are willing, you can find time.
Ji Chaoqun is living in her mother's house now. When she is in a good mood, she will let Deng Dongya into the house. When she is in a bad mood, he knocks on the door in the middle of the night and she just pretends not to hear it.
It's been a year, and he still doesn't seem to be calm.
Really, this man is probably a born masochist. Sometimes it's so bad that Ji Chaoqun feels embarrassed to torture him anymore. And several boyfriends introduced to her by her mother were all ruined because the leader blocked the hospital entrance every night.
It makes him angry just thinking about it, but Ji Chaoqun can't do anything about the shameless Deng Dongya.
Who asked him to lead almost all the reform projects in the city? Unless men are crazy, who would dare to pursue the former relatives of the big leader?
In Beijing, Mr. Nie and Ms. Chen do not want Nie Weijiang and Deng Chun to get their visas approved at the consulate, and they hope that Acee can keep these two enthusiastic and silly guys.
However, when they came back from the consulate in the evening, they walked away without any hesitation, which showed that the interview went very smoothly.
"Weixing, your brother Deng Chun is going to Snow White's hometown. As soon as he arrives, I will send you a Snow White dress, okay?" Deng Chun said, and when he saw a pot of fried sauce on the table, he rushed to the kitchen to make it for himself.
Nie Weixing pouted and snorted, "You've been talking about giving me your skirt for years, but you still haven't given it to me, humph!"
Nie Weijiang said, "Don't listen to him. We satellites look good in anything we wear. However, you have to stay with mom. You can only go abroad when I come back from my overseas study and can be with mom. Do you understand?"
"Why, Brother Dandan?" asked the satellite.
Nie Weijiang said, "After we leave, Mom will definitely be lonely. With you by her side, she won't be lonely anymore."
"Now that you know this, why are you still leaving?" Nie Weixing said.
"Children always leave their mothers, so when you were little, I pestered my mother to give birth to you because she would be very sad without you and now that we are gone." Why was Nie Weijiang, a scheming man, so persistent in wanting a younger sister? It was because he knew that sooner or later he would have to leave his mother.
At this time, Chen Lina went to the venue to report and had not returned yet.
Nie Weijiang remembered that she had a meeting the next day, so he quickly opened Chen Lina's suitcase, took out the clothes she would wear the next day, and carefully ironed them for her.
Judging from the reaction of the interviewer today, they should not need to go back to the mining area and can go abroad directly.
Little Dandan is reluctant to leave his mother, but if he doesn't go out to study, how can he gain more knowledge and come back to serve his motherland?
So, Xiao Dandan sat in front of his mother's desk and listed all the issues that his mother should pay attention to after he was gone. For example, he wrote down the mailing addresses of his two brothers separately.
For example, he also wrote down the phone numbers of his two brothers.
Nie Gong applied for a phone with international long-distance service so that he could contact his two sons.
Nie Weimin makes more phone calls. Of course, when he gets through, he communicates with his parents about his health, his views on capitalist countries, etc. It's a simple situation. In short, he is very relaxed and optimistic.
Only Wei Guo, because he had always lived in a rented house and had no fixed phone number, would call occasionally. No matter what Nie Gong and Chen Lina asked, he would not answer and would only say that he was living a good life.
Once, he said, "Mom, I dreamed of the pork knuckle you made. I wrote a song called "My Inseparable Love for Pig's Knuckle". I'll sing it to you when I get back."
Another time, he said, "Mom, I wrote a song called "Red Burning Rock". I'll play it for you when I get back, okay?"
When I heard that the child was not full there, I knew that he was not full. Alas, he chose his own path, so what can parents do at this time?
Nie Weijiang wrote a long letter to his mother, stuffed it into her suitcase, and closed the suitcase again.
The next morning, Ji Chaoqun, Deng Dongya and Deng Xi arrived in Beijing.
"Come here, Xiao Chen, come in and take off your clothes, I'll examine you." Ji Chaoqun said as soon as they met.
Chen Lina thought it was unnecessary. "I'm fine. You're a breast doctor. What kind of physical examination did you give me?"
"Every woman over 30 should check her breasts once a month to prevent and detect breast cancer early. Do you understand?" Ji Chaoqun said, washing his hands first, motioning for Chen Lina to lie down, put her hands on her head, and began to examine her.
"You haven't breastfed Nie Weixing, right? Her breasts are well maintained." Ji Chaoqun said as he checked.
Chen Lina started to boast again when she heard this. "Yes, I have never breastfed. Besides, don't you think this thing needs frequent massage? Tell me, among all the women you have examined, am I the best at this age?"
"Yes, it is indeed the best." said Ji Chaoqun.
Outside, the worker was standing outside the window. Ever since he heard that Deng Dongya's ex-wife died of breast cancer, he had been very concerned about Miss Chen's gynecology.
I have even read many cases specifically about breast diseases and the structure of the diseased breasts. No matter if it is serious or not, it is always better to extinguish the disaster before it starts.
Deng Xi hasn't seen Deng Chun and Nie Weijiang for two years.
However, the two brothers were busy attending a lecture at the Canadian embassy. They just said hello to Deng Xi in a hurry and left without recognizing any relatives.
"It's difficult to tell whether it's benign or malignant based on physical examination alone, but we can be sure that it's a tumor and it won't move. You know, the capsule is smooth and will move. Basically, we can conclude that it's benign. Is Xiao Chen's tumor growing fast?" Ji Chaoqun took the opportunity when Deng Dongya and Chen Lina were chatting to come out and ask Nie Gong.
The worker said, "I'm sure it happened last month. I check her every time her period ends."
"Let me put it this way. I have a classmate who is now in Concord. Since her tumor has formed, it is impossible for it to disappear. It has to be removed. Moreover, I can now do micro-acne surgery. The operation process is very simple. Let's go for a B-ultrasound first." Ji Chaoqun said easily.
"Let's wait until the meeting is over. I don't want to affect her mood." Nie Gong said.
From the moment she entered the venue, Ms. Chen was the focus of the crowd.
After all, if only one in a hundred people who attend such meetings are women, that's good enough. And women under the age of sixty, well, are rare.
Chen Lina is 33 years old this year, mature and stable for a woman, but her beauty and charm have never faded. The "New Youth Daily" from ten years ago was reprinted today as an exception, and was sold out as soon as it was sent out of the printing factory.
The photo of the young female farm manager squatting in the corn field with a smile was even sent to television. The news kept scrolling, reporting on her deeds of taking root in the frontier and starting a business.
There were two meetings this morning. The speakers at the meetings were all frequent TV stars, the kind that Chen Lina had only seen on TV in her previous life. In the afternoon, there was a meeting hosted by Deng Dongya, who used his city as an example and summarized the difficulties and experiences encountered on the road to reform, which was considered an exchange and sharing of ideas.
Chen Lina listened to Deng Dongya's talk all afternoon.
Regardless of his personal ethics, at least when he presided over the meeting, he was relaxed, humorous and witty. Otherwise, Miss Chen would have fallen asleep.
At around four o'clock in the afternoon, it was Chen Lina's turn to record the show.
In a solitary room, a group of directors, planners and program staff from the TV station surrounded Chen Lina. Of course, the speech was prepared for her. In short, when the reporter asked, she just had to read it.
Leng Qi and Hu Xuanang, who were not qualified to go to Beijing, both put on military uniforms, wore all their military medals, sat upright, and waited for the seven o'clock news.
In this case, there is nothing special or unique.
The TV station's scripts were of course reviewed layer by layer, and every sentence Chen Lina wanted to say was also finalized sentence by sentence, word by word.
Every minute, every second, every word conveys a spirit. In front of the state machine, it is impossible for a woman to have a private performance.
Chen Lina gave herself five minutes to memorize what she was going to say, then took a deep breath before going in and accepting the interview.
The reporters are a little impatient because they are going to interview more than a dozen national advanced workers today. Of course, Chen Lina's interview clip will definitely be broadcast.
Because she is beautiful and speaks well, she is a role model of women in the new era. However, five minutes of preparation is long enough.
The reporter asked questions and Chen Lina answered.
As she answered, the director behind her gave her a thumbs up.
How should I put it? For an ordinary person who has never been on TV, Chen Lina's answer was really wonderful. She didn't even need the director to guide her. She was able to capture the camera naturally and communicate with the reporter appropriately.
After the reporter asked the last question, that is, what is your opinion on reform and opening up, Chen Lina read the manuscript very naturally, but then she said, and...
"And, I also want to say to my children, children, no matter where you are, whether you are having a meal, wandering alone on the street, or lost in the direction of life due to some unexpected setbacks, or excited about starting a new journey, you must remember that studying is the most important thing in your youth.
If you don't want to disappoint your mother, remember that as mothers, we don't actually like what you promised, such as companionship when we are old, or clothes and gifts during festivals.
As a mother, what I want most is that my children can return to their motherland after graduation and serve their motherland. I will be waiting for you at home forever."
The director immediately stopped the show, "Comrade Chen, you performed very well up to the beginning, but we can't broadcast what you said later. Are you kidding me?"
The host laughed and asked, "Comrade Chen, are you too nervous?"
In order to match the solemnity and sternness that a March 8th Red Flag Bearer should have, Chen Lina tied her hair up today and wore a small liberation suit from many years ago.
She stood up and said calmly, "I know, the last part cannot be broadcast, you just need to cut it. It's just that I have two sons living abroad and it's hard to contact them. I want you to cut my speech into a tape and then mail it to them, okay?"
The director thought about it, shook his head and said, "No, I can ask for a review. Your speech should be able to be broadcast. Okay, comrades, hurry up and record it again."
On the third day, the meeting was over and Weixing was ready to go shopping with his mother.
As a result, Mr. Nie insisted that she had to go to Xiehe for a physical examination. Well, when they arrived at the hospital, I don't know how, but at Ji Chaoqun's suggestion, Miss Chen was taken to the ultrasound room for an ultrasound.
After the ultrasound, Ji Chaoqun took the ultrasound report to several doctors and classmates with whom he had been in contact to discuss whether the soybean-sized shadow was benign or malignant.
After a discussion among several doctors, they suggested to have surgery to remove the tumor first.
Well, after Ms. Chen put on the surgical gown, she found that someone was going to touch her breasts.
Her anger can be imagined.
"Whoever dares to touch my breasts will kill me." Miss Chen yelled, rushed out of the breast department and went straight downstairs.
The doctor had seen many female comrades who refused to undergo surgery, but Nie Gong couldn't understand it. He chased her out and said, "Deng Dongya's previous wife died of breast cancer, Chen Lina. Beauty is not as important as life, right? Besides, it's just a small amount of cancer removed. How embarrassing can it be?"
Chen Lina was so angry that she said, "Nie Bozhao, are you out of your mind? Can't you ask me before making these decisions? I know my own body, of course, and the body is always changing. In my previous life, I also had this thing, at this age, in this breast. It was not cancer, but a small benign tumor, really."
"So you never cut it in your entire life and it's fine?" The worker was stunned.
Chen Lina said, "No, it disappeared after I met you."
Nie Gong admired again, "Chen Lina, you should deify Nie Bozhao. Really, you should put him in the position of God."
But in fact, Chen Lina also had such a small fibroma in her previous life. Perhaps it was more because of her good mood and the benign development of her body functions that it disappeared.
Mr. Nie has worried for nothing. From now on, he has to focus on massage. Well, he'll just have to trust the apricot tree fork. What if it can get better?
Half a month later.
Chen Lina's final extra remarks and an interview edited with various photos, historical images and other valuable elements were still broadcast during the extra time of the "News Broadcast".
As Chen Lina is young enough, and because of her and Nie Gong's legendary life, as well as the efforts of various publicity departments, many foreign media outlets rushed to reprint and report on this footage.
Nie Weimin saw his mother on the big screen at the Johnson Space Center when he visited the center through Edward's connections.
On TV, she was wearing the Liberation Army uniform she wore ten years ago, smiling and saying to him, "I hope my children can return to the motherland after graduation and serve our country..."
At that time, the head of the ground control group of the space center was lobbying him to stay in the United States, saying that NASA would give him the best working environment on the planet.
Nie Weimin suddenly started laughing, pointed at the TV and said, "Mom, do you know that woman is my mother?" He suddenly covered his face and squatted on the ground.
Edward told the leader of the control group, "Oriental people are always so sentimental, shy, and cute."
Looking back at TV, that beautiful and proud oriental mother has never aged in ten years, and she still smiles so appropriately and proudly.
…
The skinny Nie Weiguo bought a burger at a burger shop, sat down, carefully cut it in half, and was about to eat one half, which was his breakfast and lunch.
Yes, although he had fifty pounds a month for living expenses, he saved most of it to buy music teaching materials and musical instruments. The only thing he could cut down on was food expenses.
When his mother appeared on the TV in the burger shop, Nie Weiguo was stunned.
He didn't speak English well and didn't know how to tell the other people in the burger shop that the person on TV was his mother.
But at this moment, the staff of the burger shop thought that he didn't want that half burger and put it into the trash can.
Nie Weiguo was watching his mother on TV while rummaging through his half burger in the trash can, crying and laughing.
Yes, what he is experiencing now is what his mother said, the most difficult, darkest, and most doubtful journey in life.
He wanted to give up countless times and go home to be with his mother.
However, thinking about what his mother said, that she was waiting for him at home, Nie Weiguo mustered up his courage again.
Deng Chun and Nie Weijiang were at the Capital International Airport, preparing to set foot on American soil. They were arm in arm, not caring about their relatives, and they didn't even see their mother's face as she was being broadcast on the airport TV.