Small Camellia House
▓ Xu Xiaobing
The car went out of the South Yandang Mountain Scenic Area, went southeast, passed through Chaoyu Valley, went around the Wu Ancestral Hall, just drove out of Shuitou New Town, and seemed to hear a voice in the haze: Brother Bing, you want to come and see me!
I suddenly had a stirring and woke up, and the town I had just passed by was Shuitou. Head! Half a century ago, I was stationed in the training place three times, accumulating more than 200 days. Youth, blood and sweat are mixed and thrown here......
Stop the car! Turn around! Go back! Go and see the "Little Camellia House"!
Shuitou is an ordinary place name that can no longer be ordinary, only in Fujian, Zhejiang, and Zhejiang, which are more than 200 kilometers square, there are seven "Shuitou" (five in Fujian, two in Zhejiang).
This water head is named because the sea tide head is here to merge with the Ao River water (formerly known as Wo Shui) in the past 200 years, there is a faint dividing line at high tide, the water in the east of the line is muddy and astringent, and the water in the west of the line is clear and a little sweet.
All villages and towns in southern Zhejiang pay attention to the "face project", the streets are gorgeous and tidy, and the buildings are lined up one after another. The "Little Camellia Building" I am looking for, not on the side of the street in my memory, at the end of an alley in the north-west, less than 100 meters away from the river bank, is a three-story "old building" built 40 years ago, I hope to survive in the "new rural construction", and the owner of this building: Little Camellia, nearly seventy years old, children and grandchildren around the knee, enjoy the old age, right?
1970 year.
The girl Camellia, because of her small birthday, is two years old and 15 years old, but in fact she is only 13 years old, and she is in the fifth grade of elementary school. The small body of one meter four that has not yet grown up, carrying an old elder to climb down the field and straw every day. There was no labor at home, and my father was injured by bandits when he went up the mountain, and he couldn't do heavy work. The rations for the seven members of the family had to be bought back by her work. They also have to go up the mountain to chop firewood, pick mushrooms and dig bamboo shoots.
We live 30 meters to the left of her house, and we often go to her house to help during breaks, pick up water, step on the mortar, and rush a rice or something. I also went to drink tea with her father Lao Yang under the big camellia tree in the courtyard, watch Lao Yang weave baskets, or check her younger siblings' homework for her. Due to the large number of personnel in the army who go out to perform tasks, it is difficult for the cooking class to grasp the "amount of rice," and it is common to cook too many meals. In order to "keep it fresh", they are all brought to the camellia's house. This is what everyone agrees on.
There are many factors in the selection of summer training sites for amphibious reconnaissance teams, but the first and foremost is water. Waters: moderately wide, tidal, smooth flow; Water quality: hygienic, SP value qualified; Environment: Adjacent to the mountains and villages and towns, convenient transportation, etc. These are all available in this place. So, the following year we came back and set up camp in the big granary where we had lived the previous year (1969).
In 1969, as soon as I arrived at the reconnaissance team, I was elected a member of the "Revolutionary Military Committee" and designated by the deputy political commissar (of which he was the chairman) as the head of the "mass working group". The following year, there was no re-election, and the old place was revisited. As soon as I got old and settled down, I led the cadres of the "group work group" to walk into the streets, carry water and get haircuts, and visit the poor and ask questions.
Entering the courtyard of Lao Yang's house, Lao Yang was still sitting under the big tea tree, watching him do handicrafts. As soon as a cup of tea was entered, a small village girl with high trouser legs and barefoot and capable feet pushed the door in, and a silver-bell-like voice-changing child's voice (listening to what the military doctor said) came: "Ah! Brother Bing, here you are again? Sit down! Sit down! "Looking at this little girl Camellia who just looks like a little adult, capable, delicate, neat, a good hand inside and out, she really honed people, she has only been seen for more than nine months, and she has become a pillar of good girl.
"Little Camellia! Little Camellia! An old voice came from outside the courtyard. Mother-in-law! "The camellia ran happily like a fawn and brought in a white-haired old grandmother. Since Eminem "left" in early spring, the camellia, who has only turned fourteen years old, has become the "master". Grandma is relieved that there are no less than a few little grandchildren, and she often brings some delicious food to see, and by the way, she points out the "little camellia". "This home depends on the little camellia!" Grandma wiped her tears: Poor girl!
When I returned to my place of residence, I asked the secretary to allocate two sets of old training clothes for the navy basket, paid the old ones and received the new ones, and sent them to let the camellia be changed to a small one for my sister or brother to wear. That's all I can help with.
In the blink of an eye, five years later, the troops were stationed in Shuitou Town for training, and they still lived in that big granary.
After dinner, I walked to the outside of the small courtyard of Lao Yang's house, and the people in the courtyard seemed to be arguing about something. I knocked on the door and pushed it in, and after a moment of silence, a happy voice sounded: "Brother Bing! I thought you weren't coming to see me. "With the aftermath, I felt that it was a joyful "butterfly" that swooped down...... I quickly dodged, dodged and grabbed the "butterfly's wings".
"Butterfly" is a youthful and beautiful camellia, a "little camellia" in my grandmother's mouth. She grew taller, one meter and five five; She has grown up and is a sturdy, capable, healthy and confident girl full of youthful vitality.
During the chat, I learned that in addition to doing a good job in the team's work this year, there are two major things to do at home: First, repair the house. The half of the house in the front yard was built by her father in 1965, because Eminem was seriously ill and had no money, so she put it on hold for 12 years, and now she has saved some money, and she wants to fulfill Lao Yang's wish; Second, "the front ship does not go, and the back ship goes first." "The eldest sister is eighteen years old, has booked someone, and is currently weaving mats in the old house, "raising fat". The new house is repaired, and you will not marry your sister before the winter solstice, and you will not marry if you don't settle your younger siblings......
After returning to the team, I reported the situation to the deputy political commissar. He pondered for a moment and said: This child is indeed not easy, we have to help her. On every rest day, he would take a quarter of the staff to "help", and after returning to the team for lunch, he would change to a group of "volunteers" to work. Everyone is very enthusiastic: doing heavy work, isn't it just moving muscles and bones, cool! On five days off, the main body of the three-story "Little Camellia Building" was completed.
At the monthly "Revolutionary Committee", someone proposed: Shall we donate some money to her family? It was unanimously approved by the committee members. The next day, the members of the "group work group" came to the team with a donation box, and I immediately stuffed the monthly salary of 42 yuan received yesterday (13 yuan and 5 food expenses have been deducted) into it. And suggested: "Little Camellia House" is not as good as "Little Camellia House".
At the end of the summer training, the car drove past the "Little Camellia Building" and saw the five Camellia sisters and brothers kneeling in a row:
"Brother Bing, you want to come and see me!"
Xu Xiaobing, born in 1952, is known as Bingga. He went to the countryside to join the team, fought as a soldier, worked as a saltwater duck, worked as a trade union cadre, and graduated from the Chinese Department of Nanjing Normal University. The last public office was magazine editor.