Chronicle of the Republic of China

In October 1949, New China was established.

Meng Xisheng's stomach disease recurred this year, and he was admitted to the hospital.His situation was more complicated than expected. Because of Fang Wuyu's relationship, the best surgeon in the hospital even conducted a consultation on his illness, and Fang Wuyu naturally participated in the audition.Several doctors suggested that if conservative treatment was ineffective, surgery should be performed.But Yuncheng is a small place after all, and there are few major operations done, so I dare not take the knife lightly.

After thinking about it, Fang Wuyu asked for leave and took Meng Xisheng to Shanghai to see a doctor.

Meng Xisheng was in so much pain that he couldn't sleep all night.When it was really difficult, Fang Wuyu would give him a sedative, and watched him no longer twitch in pain, as if he wanted to vomit out his heart and lungs.

The director personally helped Fang Wuyu contact a large hospital in Shanghai. After Meng Xisheng was admitted to the hospital, the doctor finished evaluating him for a few days and planned to operate on him.

In midsummer, the cicadas kept singing on the trees, and Fang Wuyuhou stayed outside the operating room until midnight.

Meng Xisheng had a third of his stomach removed, and when he was pushed out of the operating room and put on the bed again, the moonlight outside the window shone on his pale face.

The postoperative recovery was good. The doctor praised Meng Xisheng for being a good patient, not fussing about, and especially able to bear the pain without crying or shouting.Fang Wuyu pressed his lips against his forehead, thinking, he has always been like this.

After Meng Xisheng was discharged from the hospital, the two of them returned to Yuncheng in no hurry.Meng Xisheng hasn't been to Shanghai yet, and wants to visit this colorful world. Fang Wuyu is afraid of tiring him, so he takes him to a place every day.

I really enjoy myself. I used to go from Xiafei Road to Fuxu Road in the ten-mile foreign market. I went to the Lyceum Grand Theater, walked across the Waibaidu Bridge, and enjoyed the wind on the banks of the Huangpu River.Meng Xisheng couldn't see it, so Fang Wuyu dictated it to him, even a trash can by the roadside.His good eloquence was brought into play at this moment, and Meng Xisheng visualized his description in his mind, as if he had really seen it with his own eyes.

The two stayed in Shanghai for half a month and finally wanted to return to Yuncheng.

While on the train, I heard people on the opposite side discuss the situation: the US military crossed the [-]th parallel, threatening China's security.The Chinese army is crossing the Yalu River and rushing to the Korean battlefield.

Meng Xisheng rested his head on Fang Wuyu's shoulder, showing no concern for the first time in the home-country war.He was a little tired, and in the chaotic world, he just wanted to have a good sleep.

Fang Wuyu once asked him why he wanted to join the army.Meng Xisheng's answer was quite straightforward. He said that he didn't want to see the whole country in ruins, and he always felt that he should do something.Fang Wuyu blurted out, even if I might return to Chongqing, you won't wait for me.Meng Xisheng was silent for a while, and said, wait.Afraid that Fang Wuyu would be disappointed, but he didn't want to lie, so after he finished speaking, he kissed the corner of Wuyu's mouth above to make up for it.

Many times, a person always has to give up something in order to move on.Meng Xisheng gave up his love and made way for his family, country and world.

Fang Wuyu couldn't imagine how many injuries Meng Xisheng had suffered in those years, how much hardship he had endured, and how many near-death situations he had experienced.But he survived in the end, leaving behind a whole body of pain.

Fang Wuyu didn't want to thank God, he just wanted to thank Meng Xisheng, because he worked so hard to keep himself alive.

When getting off the train, Meng Xisheng took Fang Wuyu's hand and said worriedly, "When will we stop fighting?"

Fang Wuyu smiled, patted his hand like coaxing a child: "Yes."

At Yuncheng Railway Station in 1950, Fang Wuyu saw the bustling crowds on the platform, and a few recruits were saying goodbye to their relatives.Fang Wuyu suddenly realized that he and Meng Xisheng were both in their [-]s, which made him feel unreal.

It's not that the white horse passes through the gap, so I feel a little white cloud and gray dog.Fang Wuyu didn't look at those young people again, and muttered, I was young too, so what's the big deal?

But the war is really like what the young Fang Wuyu said, it really won't be fought.After the War of Resisting U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, the country was in disrepair, and loyal bones were buried everywhere in the green hills. Those bones piled up became the backbone of this land, supporting the country that was about to collapse, and resurrected with an incredible gesture.

This is a good thing.Meng Xisheng was very happy, and he had an idea for a new novel. He wrote about a rich young man who lost a cat. He loved the cat so much. He embarked on a journey to find the cat. He saw a country under the cloud of war, hungry and dead, full of gunfire and bloody. .He stole a truck full of displaced people, he went to the church to confess and pray for peace, he was trapped in a city full of carnage, and he finally picked up a steel gun and went to the front to kill the enemy.

Fang Wuyu smiled and said, "Aren't you just writing about me?"

Meng Xisheng said: "Yes, yes, no. To all those who died for the country."

Fang Wuyu wiped his brows with his lips, saw Meng Xisheng's eyelashes trembling slightly, and said, "Then you are that cat?"

Meng Xisheng smiled lightly: "That cat—" He paused, then said, "It's hope."

The novel received a good response when it was serialized in newspapers, and the director of the newspaper intends to publish it as a book after the serialization is over.

The first book was delivered directly to Meng Xisheng after it was formed in the printing factory, and it still smelled of lead and ink.Meng Xisheng treasured it in a drawer and put it together with other newspapers that published his articles.Fang Wuyu tried his best to help him with publicity, and tried his best to get a copy in the hospital. If you don't buy it, you are not a human being. If you don't buy it, you will wait for Dr. Fang to bury you every day in the future, and you dare not not buy it.

Fang Wuyu said that he liked this novel because it was written by Meng Xisheng.Meng Xisheng pinched his neck and asked him to say sincerely that under torture, Fang Wuyu said that although the story was great and upright, the protagonist's heart was described too selflessly and selflessly, which was not his type, but he liked the story about the cat very much. metaphor.

hope.This was exactly what he was looking for Meng Xisheng at the time, hoping that he was safe, that he would not die, and that he could meet him again.Including all living beings in this troubled world, they always have their own hope and maintain the motivation to live.

Before the wind direction changed, Fang Wuyu also wrote a side story called "Cat".He wrote that the cat lost by the rich young master was also walking in troubled times. It ate carrion on the side of the road for a living, fell into the trenches, was picked up by soldiers curiously, and fed it a few fragmentary biscuits.It was wounded in the leg in the hail of bullets, and a passerby tore off his tattered clothes to bandage it.It is constantly experiencing life and death, and can always miraculously survive under the help of others.Finally, when it jumped into a church for food, it saw its owner, the rich young man, praying for all living beings in front of the Jesus statue.However, it didn't make a sound. After staring at it for a long time, it jumped out of the church and left.The cat knew his young master had found what he was fighting for, and his heart was full.

Fang Wuyu inherited Meng Xisheng's metaphor about hope, and he let hope be fed by everyone in his stumbles.

Meng Xisheng highly praised this story and wanted to recommend it to the newspaper.Fang Wuyu didn't care, he wrote it casually, and he didn't feel any emotion after writing it. He just liked that cat very much.Unexpectedly, the director of the newspaper was full of praise for this article, and said that the author would become a great writer in the future.Fang Wuyu is naturally very happy to be praised so much, but he has no intention of becoming a great writer. According to Fang Wuyu, writing articles is too tiring. He didn't want to start off.

Fang Wuyu's career as a "big writer" was interrupted just like that. He only wrote "Cat" in his life, and he never wrote another article after that.

Later, the direction of the wind changed, not only Fang Wuyu, but everyone dared not write anymore, because a wrong word was not only the fate of Sao Shou, but also ruined his life.

Yuncheng is a small place, but it is not closed. News from the outside world travels quickly.Not long after the anti-rightist movement started, Fang Wuyu keenly sensed the danger. Together with Meng Xisheng, he emptied the bookcase at home and sold it to a grocery collector by the pound, leaving only a few books on Confucianism, Mencius and Confucianism.Meng Xisheng was distressed, but he didn't say anything. He could feel that Fang Wuyu's sensitivity was right.

Fang Wuyu was indeed right, no one expected that this weird wave would cause a stormy sea.When Fang Wuyu was at work, he saw the director put a famous foreign book in the office, he knocked on the cover of the book and said, "Be careful." At that time, the wind had not yet blown to Yuncheng, and the director was at a loss: "Be careful of what? "Fang Wuyu blurted out: "Special period."

The four words "special period" later became the catchphrase of everyone in Yuncheng during that disaster, and no one knew who first spread it.

When the tide was at its most violent, Yuncheng also became turbulent. Everyone hoped that this strange incident would disappear quickly, and hoped that Yuncheng would not be affected.

On the day when the accident really started, Fang Wuyu was working in the hospital, and Meng Xisheng was at home cooking dumplings for himself.Several injured people were sent to the hospital, and the news spread, and everyone knew that there was a commotion.

Fang Wuyu knew the whole story from the wounded in the hospital immediately.

Those uninvited guests called themselves the Cultural Propaganda Team, or Cultural Propaganda Team for short.Except for the captain, these people are surprisingly young, and the youngest is under 16 years old.Fang Wuyu saw them countless times later on the street, always thinking of the few recruits he saw on the platform when he returned to Yuncheng from Shanghai, but they were so young and different, full of childlike malice, The evil is so pure and natural, and the evil is able to build up a strong feeling for himself, which makes Fang Wuyu no longer wish to be younger.

With so-called organizational orders, the propaganda team occupied the largest theater in Yuncheng and became their old den. They even entered and left the government halls, had direct contact with local officials, and they did not know what means they used to get a lot of privileges. It made them start to run rampant in Yuncheng.

When they entered the city, several innocent passers-by were involved because of conflicts with the soldiers of the city defense.But after that, the group of people suddenly became extremely calm, and no one knew what they were planning in the theater.

It wasn't until a few days later that they took the local roster of Yuncheng and began to check one by one, that everyone learned that they were familiarizing themselves with the backgrounds of everyone in Yuncheng, and then classified them.

The publicity team has three booklets. Except for themselves, no one has seen the contents inside. They only know that the colors of the book covers are different, red, blue and green.They arrested people according to the roster, and later everyone gradually found out that no matter what color it is, as long as the name is recorded in these three books, it is not a good thing, but the degree is slightly different.

Those three rosters became the book of life and death in the eyes of Yuncheng people. The king of hell sat in the theater, and the little ghosts piled up in the street, opening the hall of hell in the world.

Meng Xisheng no longer went to the street, and Fang Wuyu no longer hung around the street except for commuting to and from get off work, including everyone in Yuncheng.

Fang Wuyu packed the meals from the hospital cafeteria and took them home every day, and he rarely even went into the shops.In order to avoid the propaganda team, he went to work half an hour earlier every day, and the sky had not yet lit up.I leave work an hour late every day, waiting for the sun to set and the night to fall.

When the propaganda team started to investigate into the alley where Fang Wuyu and Meng Xisheng lived, Fang Wuyu knew that what was supposed to come had finally come.He knew in his heart that this matter could not be escaped, and everyone in Yuncheng would not be spared, even if he left Yuncheng, it would be the same.

Fang Wuyu was still at work that day, and when he came home, he saw that the concrete floor in the alley was wet. It had just rained this morning, and gray-green moss had fallen from the walls, and the gutters were overflowing. It was open, revealing pairs of peeping eyes behind the crack of the door.Fang Wuyu hurried home as if he had predicted what was going to happen.

A red slogan was pasted on the gate, ordering Fang Wuyu to report to the theater.The house was in a mess, a lot of things were searched, the bookcases and drawers were empty, even a few words written in daily essays were searched.The tables, chairs and benches in the living room were knocked down. It was obvious that Meng Xisheng had tussled with him when he was taken away.

Fang Wuyu tore off the slogan and forced himself to sit calmly for 5 minutes.Then he started to rummage in the room, put a letter from the bottom of the box into his pocket, and walked briskly to the theater.

Fang Wuyu was escorted into an office and sat on an uncomfortable hard wooden stool with no backrest and rotten legs, and he could hear creaking noises whenever he moved his body. It's not scrapped yet.On the opposite side is a long square table with three glaring desk lamps, one pointing at the clerk in the middle, and the other two pointing at Fang Wuyu. The light and shade of the lights split the office into two spaces, like a watershed Also separated Fang Wuyu from the person opposite.

Fang Wuyu's materials were all in the hands of the other party. After asking a few words, Fang Wuyu was relieved in his heart.The other party didn't know that he used to be from Yuncheng, and the roster only recorded his identity and background after returning to Yuncheng.This allowed him to escape a catastrophe. If the propaganda team knew that he was born in a rich family in Yuncheng, and that he was a young master who did nothing when he was young, he might be the first to be thrown on the stage of criticism.

Fang Wuyu began to make up lies, dictating to the other party the experience that was not written on the roster.He said that he was from Peking, his father was a doctor, and he inherited his father's career.Later, unable to bear the loss of his family and country, he joined the army and became a military doctor. He followed the Eighth Route Army to the north to fight against the enemy. After coming to Yuncheng, he settled down here.

He had already made up these, and he had even communicated with Meng Xi early on. The two spoke in the same voice, and tried not to let them make mistakes.

The three interrogators were all young people in their twenties. They carried a chilling aura, and their serious faces were as tense as stones.One of them was from Peiping, who deliberately used the old Peking dialect to talk to Fang Wuyu, and Fang Wuyu answered fluently.During his years in the army, he mingled with soldiers from all corners of the country, and he was used to the accents from all corners of the country. Fang Wuyu was a fast learner, and now he could almost speak several dialects.

The interrogator changed his posture, put down the pen in his hand, hugged it in front of his chest, and asked confusedly, who is Meng Xisheng?

Fang Wuyu's answer was, cousin, because of the war, his family members died, and his cousin also joined the army, was injured on the battlefield, and became blind, so he took his cousin to live with him.

"Nonsense!" The other party threw the pen over, and the tip of the pen hit Zhong Fang Wuyu's forehead, leaving a bloody mark.

Fang Wuyu clenched his fingers and sat silently.The interrogator sneered: "He is obviously an opera singer!"

Fang Wuyu didn't want to mention the fact that he was not good as an actor.He was surprised, Meng Xisheng was never from Yuncheng, and even he, the former young master of Yuncheng, was forgotten in history, but why did he know what Meng Xisheng did back then.

Fang Wuyu said: "When he was a child, he was forced to make a living. He studied opera. But later he did join the army and killed many Japanese soldiers."

"Which soldier is participating?" The other party asked in a secretive manner.

Meng Xisheng was sent to southern Anhui as a wounded person and then transferred back to Yuncheng. This is an indelible fact. He is a member of the national army.This identity alone is already a crime in the eyes of the three interrogators in front of him.Fang Wuyu wanted to say that Meng Xisheng was just a soldier who had fought several battles. He fought bravely on the battlefield, so what if he was the national army.

"When he joined the army, it was the period of cooperation between us and the national army," Fang Wuyu replied in a roundabout way: "He once provided information to the Eighth Route Army and helped the Eighth Route Army suppress the bandits. You can go and investigate, and you will definitely find out. .” He announced Helian’s name, and took out the letter he brought along.The interrogator on the right got up, opened the letter, and read it.He raised his eyebrows and showed the letter to his companion.

This is the letter of introduction Helian left for Fang Wuyu back then. Helian said that if Fang Wuyu changed his mind, he could come to him at any time.The letter bears the seals of Helian and the army, which cannot be faked.Fang Wuyu didn't know Helian's current official rank, and they had lost contact for many years.But looking at the other party's expression, it is obvious that He Lian knew about it, so it can be seen that He Lian is in a high position now.

"What year and month is this stamp?" one of them laughed in a low voice.

The clerk who was in charge of recording was quite knowledgeable, and murmured into his companion's ear, "This is the number of the XX Army before it was reorganized. This is the number that the Eighth Route Army used back then."

They chattered for a minute, and after their voices gradually faded, Fang Wuyu looked at them and said, "I was in this army for three years, and then I went to southern Anhui with the army, and met my cousin, because of his eyes, Losing the ability to live, I decided to stay and take care of him. Captain Helian..."

"What regiment commander!" The other side scolded, "It's the commander!"

Fang Wuyu changed his words and said, "Commander. Commander Helian cherishes talents and said that if I want to go back, he is always welcome, so he left me this letter of introduction."

Fang Wuyu boasted himself in a disguised form, and the boast was relatively low-key, but the three young men on the opposite side didn't hear it, but he didn't expect Fang Wuyu to have such a relationship with a commander.

Fang Wuyu was interrogated until after 1:[-] a.m., during which the three of them took turns to rest. He was the only one who was forced to sit on this bench, his body stiff and uncomfortable.

At dawn, Fang Wuyu signed a confession, and he was temporarily sent home.Before leaving, he asked when he could release his cousin, and the other party pushed his shoulder and told him to leave quickly, but said nothing else.He wanted to get the letter back again, but it was believed that the other party had no intention of returning it.

There was no one on the street outside the theater, and it was very quiet.Fang Wuyu really wanted to know about Meng Xisheng's situation, but he also knew that he couldn't go head-to-head with the propaganda team, because he couldn't touch these lunatics alone.

At least he saved himself temporarily. Only when he was outside could he find a way to rescue Meng Xisheng.

The only person Fang Wuyu could turn to for help was the director of the hospital's department. The director had friends in the government office, so he might be the only one who could help.

Without further ado, the director contacted his friends and tried to inquire about Meng Xisheng's situation. Finally, he learned that Meng Xisheng is now locked in the prison in Yuncheng. His interrogation is not over yet, and he cannot be released from prison.

Fang Wuyu didn't expect Meng Xisheng to be imprisoned, and immediately wanted to go to the prison to see him, but was stopped by the director.Meng Xisheng is now a sensitive political criminal. Except for the propaganda team, he cannot see anyone.Fang Wuyu gritted his teeth and dropped a cup on the table.

The director asked Fang Wuyu to wait and see what happened, and not to act rashly.Fang Wuyu thought to himself, even if he wanted to act rashly, he couldn't move.He sat down in a daze, thought of all the ways he could think of, and found that he was helpless.

Fang Wuyu was afraid, he was afraid that Meng Xisheng's twisted personality would not be able to get good results, and he was afraid that he would be tortured if he didn't know how to flatter him.

All his fears were confirmed.

Half a month later, a criticism meeting was held in the Yuncheng Grand Theater. Fang Wuyu saw Meng Xisheng at the meeting as if he knew what was going to happen.

Meng Xisheng was lifted out of the prison and knelt on the stage with his head pressed.Someone was saying something impassionedly, and Meng Xisheng's head hurt like it was exploding, and he couldn't hear the words clearly.There were deep and shallow bruises on his face, his thin lips were pursed tightly, and he knelt in a strange and upright posture.During the interrogation, Meng Xisheng was tortured twice. His body was wounded, covered by clothes, and his thin body was erected on the platform. Just like his head, he did not bow down.It wasn't until a broad hand slammed him down that he finally lowered his eyebrows under the pain.

During the two interrogations, the first was to force Meng Xisheng to confess his true identity in the national army and his current plans.What kind of identity did Meng Xisheng come from? He was just one of thousands of soldiers, a soldier who survived by surviving on the battlefield.Where did he have any intentions? He is just a blind man with one-third of his stomach missing. In front of Fang Wuyu, he joked that he was old, weak, sick, and disabled. He didn't expect that one day, he would be called Cheng has other intentions.

Meng Xisheng didn't explain anything, because there was nothing to explain.

He suffered because of this. During the second interrogation, apart from continuing to ask about his identity and intentions, the other party began to target Fang Wuyu.

An interrogator took out Fang Wuyu's letter and made insinuations to Meng Xisheng, wanting Meng Xisheng to confess the true origin of the letter, by what means Fang Wuyu obtained it, whether it was cheating, stealing, or forgery, and Fang Wuyu What did Wuyu do in the past? Is it the same as Meng Xisheng concealing his identity as an actor? Fang Wuyu also has an ulterior motive.

Meng Xisheng wanted to laugh at that time, so he only said one sentence, whether this letter is true or not, wouldn't you ask Commander Helian?

Until the end of the interrogation, he still didn't explain anything. Regarding Fang Wuyu's past, he only followed the compiled version, and didn't mention anything else.

His stubborn attitude annoyed the interrogators, and the second punishment was even harsher than the first.After he was injured, he was brought here by a big truck without a drop of water.

There was a huge crowd, and the people who were invited to watch were not only the propaganda team, but also people from Yuncheng.They didn't know what bewitched or stimulated them, or maybe they just wanted to protect themselves, and they shouted louder than the propaganda team.

There was thunderous applause in the theater, and the propaganda team on the stage gave an impassioned speech, full of voices.

Fang Wuyu walked through the crowd with difficulty, and when he saw Meng Xisheng being slapped to the ground, his blood rushed to his head, and he was about to jump up to the stage, but was pulled back by someone.

Fang Wuyu was about to wrestle with this man, and the crowd knocked them both to the ground.

He was forcefully dragged out of the theater, and finally got a little distracted to see who it was.

The director shouted: "What's the use of you going up like this?! There are so many of them and they have weapons. Don't you throw yourself into a trap by going up?! If you are arrested again, who will rescue Meng Xisheng?"

Fang Wuyu didn't say a word, didn't listen to persuasion, and turned around to go back to the theater to save Meng Xisheng.He is smart, but his temper is too big. Since he was a teenager, he can't hide his anger. Once his temper is carried away, no matter how smart he is, it won't work.The director put in a lot of effort, saying that no wonder you can be a poor doctor in this Poyun City, and you haven't learned to hide your strength and bide your time at such a young age.

Fang Wuyu said angrily, "Will you let me go?"

The director was afraid that he would beat him, so he finally let him go, and immediately said, "If you want to save Meng Xisheng, you must find the right way!"

"My solution," Fang Wuyu said in a low voice, "is to find a knife and chop them off."

"Wrong! You should go to Commander Helian!"

Fang Wuyu stopped suddenly and did not move.

The director's voice lowered: "You know, if this goes on like this, I will be in danger. My wife was arrested and interrogated two days ago, and she was finally released. I'm terrified now, and I don't know what to do. You mentioned to me the other day that you have a letter of introduction from the officer back then, so you should try to contact him and let him rescue Meng Xisheng, it would be best," the director choked up and stammered, "It's best, It’s best to save Yuncheng as well.”

Fang Wuyu hadn't thought about this method.But today is not what it used to be. Helian is now the commander. If he calls the government, why should others tell him the contact information of Helian, a small citizen, and go find it himself. It will take time, and it may not be possible to meet the real person noodle.

He had been lucky, thinking that Meng Xisheng would be released like him, but he didn't expect that the other party had grasped Meng Xisheng's past experience, so he detained Meng Xisheng.

Suddenly there was another frenzy in the theater, and a voice that didn't look like a young man was giving a speech with a microphone.Fang Wuyu's anger suddenly receded completely from his face, and he was extremely displeased when he heard the voice from the microphone being unhurried and putting on airs.

He took a staggering step, turned back to the theater entrance, clenched his fingers tightly, looked through the crowded heads, and caught a glimpse of a tall and tall man in a Chinese tunic suit on the stage.

The collar fits tightly around his neck, and the simple decorations on his body are nothing compared to his beautiful military uniform back then, but his domineering appearance and gloomy eyebrows and eyes have not changed even though he is getting older. Killing bloody smell.

Fang Wuyu finally understood the reason for everything, the moment he saw Commander Gu for the first time.