Submission/Kevin Zhou
Picture/From the Internet
In December 1973, I actively responded to the call and enlisted in the army, and joined the unit that had haunted me for 18 years. For soldiers who enlisted in the seventies in the seventies, if it was a winter conscription, there was a big difference in the calculation of the length of service and the length of service. When calculating the age of the soldier, it is calculated from January of the following year, and so on. However, when calculating the length of service, the year in which the enlistment notice was issued is still the same. Therefore, I joined the army on December 24, 1973, and I was a soldier in 1974. However, my years of service have been counted since December 1973.
When our group of recruits lined up in two teams, led by the commander of the receiving platoon, walked into the gate of the recruit company camp with excitement, at that moment I realized that the military life that I had been thinking about was finally about to begin. The next three-month recruit training was also very fulfilling and very memorable.
I remember that at that time, we got up on time at 6:00 every morning, and after getting up, we were faced with the first problem after we arrived in the army, folding the quilt (it is not easy to fold the quilt into tofu blocks). After folding the quilt, by 6:30 a.m., we started running (5 kilometers a day). After the run, it is time to go back to the dormitory to clean and wash.
After tidying up the housekeeping, we started to eat breakfast, and our daily breakfast was basically millet porridge, wowotou, and a mustard. In the morning, queue training is generally carried out, our daily lunch, the staple food is basically two rice (rice mixed with millet), the dish is generally cabbage fried shredded pork, radish fried shredded pork, and potatoes fried shredded meat in rotation (one dish at noon every day, because of limited conditions, it is said to be fried shredded pork, but the meat is relatively small), and queue training is still carried out in the afternoon.
But at that time, our dinner was different from other places, we didn't eat millet porridge and wowotou at night, but the same as the lunch meal, which was still two rice and one dish. Therefore, although the food of our recruit company was not good, we were able to eat enough, and in addition, our daily training intensity was also very high. As a result, after three months of training, not only did I not lose weight, but I even gained five pounds (there was a comrade-in-arms in our class who ate a lot of food at every meal, and by the end of the recruit training, I actually gained thirteen pounds).
After the recruit training, we went down to different companies according to the assigned specialty. At that time, many comrades-in-arms in the company also had a good place to go because they showed their strengths when they were in the recruit company, some of them were selected to the division training team to learn to drive (learning to drive was the most popular major in the army in the 70s); some went directly to the company as clerks (the clerk is the position of squad leader, and at the same time, he has been working beside the company leader, which is a very important and promising position in the company); and some were directly selected as correspondents (the main job of the correspondent is to upload and distribute and help the leader sort out internal affairs. In addition to these, when the leader's family members come to visit relatives in the army, they will also help the leader pick up the sister-in-law and see the children, and they have been working beside the leader).
And I, on the other hand, went directly to the second squad of the first platoon of the communications company and became a soldier. Not only that, but when I first went to the first company, I already learned that we would be rotated for the production company for the first year. The production company, as the name suggests, is to go to the army farm and take turns in production. At that time, after learning the news, the two comrades-in-arms who came to the first company with me were all bitter and sighed, thinking that other comrades-in-arms had a good place to go, and they either learned to drive or became communicators. And myself, not to mention farming at home, after arriving in the army, I still have to continue farming.
But there is no fluctuation in my heart, because I understand that no matter where I go, as long as I work hard enough, hard enough, have advantages, and have specialties, I will not worry about not standing out. In this way, with firm faith and optimism, I went to the first company and began my career as a warrior. At the same time, not long after the dozen or so recruits arrived in the first company, our company went to the army farm 100 kilometers away to take turns in production according to the requirements.
More than a month after we arrived at the army farm, we were faced with our first big job, harvesting wheat (in June). Because I am a soldier in the south, I grew up in the south, and I also cut rice at home, so I thought that the job of cutting wheat should be easy, at least, I can get started quickly. But when I actually stood in the wheat field, I realized that this is completely different from the rice grown in our south. The wheat field is endless, and under the breeze, the wheat waves are constantly tumbling and surging, which is very spectacular.
But while the wheat fields are spectacular, it also means that there is a lot of labor. When it was time to harvest, all the soldiers of our company, according to the task assignment, each was divided into a line, and after the company commander gave an order, they began to cut forward in unison. But because I had no experience in wheat harvesting, I was very slow to mow, so as the morning passed, I fell behind at the back of the line. At that time, I saw that my other comrades-in-arms were cutting fast, so when I started cutting wheat in the afternoon, I didn't care about being unskillful, and forcibly increased the speed of my own hands. But just when I was about to catch up with the progress of the large army, because I was anxious and unskilled, I cut too fast, and I accidentally cut my calf, and immediately blood flowed.
Seeing this situation, our company commander immediately ran over, and after simply bandaging my calf and taking over the work in my hands, he arranged for two soldiers to send me to the farm health team. When I arrived at the health team, the doctor on duty at that time was a female assistant who was about my age. When she saw the two warriors limping in with me in her arms, she quickly got up to get the medical kit and sat me down.
After helping me to sit down, the two comrades-in-arms went back and returned to the work of harvesting wheat (because there are many wheat fields, the workload is very large, and the task is very heavy). In the infirmary, there were only two people left, me and the female doctor. The female medical assistant first debrided the wound on my calf, and then disinfected and bandaged it. After doing all this, she wiped the sweat from her head and said with a smile, "Fortunately, the wound on your calf is not very deep, otherwise, it would be serious." ”
Since I couldn't walk at the time, and I hadn't been prescribed medication (I couldn't do it until the doctor from the health team returned), I sat in the infirmary and chatted with the female doctor. Because the two of us are the same age and have a lot of common topics, we didn't talk for a while, and we became acquainted. After getting acquainted with her, I also learned that her surname is Ge, she is 18 years old this year, and she has just come to the farm health team after training in the military hospital. Xiaoge has a cheerful personality, is very meticulous in his work, and likes to laugh very much, and when he laughs, he reveals the two shallow dimples on his face.
Because the doctor in the health team had been out for a long time that afternoon, Xiaoge and I sat in the infirmary and talked for a long time. Usually, there is no one in the infirmary, only Xiaoge is alone, and she is relatively boring, so when someone chats with her, she is very happy, and she keeps talking without feeling a little tired. We talked about training, life, and food in the army, and in the end, we were surprised to find that we both had a common hobby, that is, reading books (before I joined the army, when I was in middle school, I was very fond of reading). Now, it opened up the conversation and the distance between the two of us.
The wound on my calf, although not deep, was very long, and the company commander gave me a special leave of three days in order to let me recuperate with peace of mind. During these three days off, I had to go to the infirmary every day to change the dressing, because the doctor was very busy (the weather was hot, and the doctor was also in the wheat field to prevent the soldiers from fainting while cutting the wheat), and basically every time Xiao Ge helped me change the medicine. After changing the medicine, because I had nothing to do, and Xiaoge was also relatively idle (she was the only one on duty in the health team), the two of us basically sat together and chatted every day for a few days. The two of us became friends.
Because I am from the south, I am not used to the food in the north, my digestion is very bad, and I have a stomachache every day, so I often go to the infirmary during the year when I am on the farm for farming. Every time I go, Xiaoge is very happy and will come to talk to me. And I, if I'm not busy with work, I will stay every time and chat with Xiaoge for a while.
During the year on the farm, we trained and worked very well, so the days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the end of December 1974, and our company was about to leave the farm and return to the camp. And in the past six months, Xiaoge and I have also become good friends. So, I thought I was leaving, and I should say goodbye to her. It just so happened that in those days, because the weather was too cold, my ears were frostbitten, so one afternoon at the end of December (I know when Xiaoge was on duty), I went to the infirmary, on the one hand, to see the frostbite in my ears, and on the other hand, to say goodbye to her.
I remember that at that time, when Xiaoge saw me coming, she jumped for joy (before that, I hadn't been to the infirmary for almost a month.) After all, at that time, I was just a warrior, and if I always came to Xiaoge, it would definitely have a bad impact. So at that time, I would only come to the infirmary when I was not feeling well, or when I was sick, and then I would talk to her for a while), and then I would quickly run over and pull my sleeve, blink a pair of big eyes, and just look up at me like that. At that time, I couldn't help but blush when I saw Xiao Ge's slightly bold move (in the seventies, we were all simple and ignorant), and then I just stood there motionless.
And Xiao Ge, seeing that I was blushing, also realized my slightly outrageous move, and quickly let go of his hand, but still blinked those big eyes and looked at me directly. Looking at the delicate and slender little Ge in front of me, I couldn't help but feel my heart beat faster, and then I stammered and explained to her what I was coming from, and I said that we were about to leave the army farm and go back to the camp. I remember that at that time, after listening to my words, Xiaoge's eyes instantly lost light, and he began to become sad (in the casual chat with his comrades-in-arms, I learned that for some reasons, Xiaoge rarely chats with others, and I am one of the few people who can talk to her and have similar hobbies).
At that time, seeing Xiao Ge with his head down and sad look, I felt very uncomfortable, and I just wanted to say goodbye to her, but Xiao Ge suddenly raised his head, and then said to me seriously, "Wen Yao, your camp is not far from the farm. When you go back, you must remember to write to me, I don't have many friends, and we must not cut off contact. After listening to Xiaoge's words at that time, I nodded again and again in agreement. Then, after taking the medicine for frostbite in my ears, I waved my hand at her and strode out of the infirmary. On the third day of saying goodbye to Xiaoge, our company also left the army farm.
At that time, I had just turned nineteen years old, innocent and ignorant, and I came to say goodbye only because I regarded Xiaoge as a good friend and had no other thoughts. But what I didn't expect was that because of this farewell, I formed an indissoluble bond with Xiaoge, and she successfully entered my life.
—To be continued —
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