Babaoshan in the west of Beijing used to be a paradise for eunuchs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties to retire and die. It is named after its rich production of eight kinds of minerals, including red soil, refractory soil, and green ash.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Babaoshan Cemetery built here became the most famous cemetery in the capital. Especially after the implementation of cremation, it has become the only burial option for people in the capital.
The Babaoshan cemetery is divided into two areas, one is the revolutionary cemetery where cadres and celebrities above the county level are buried, and the other is the people's cemetery where ordinary people are buried. The parents of Yu Ye and Chen Liquan are all buried here.
April 29, 1977, more than half a month has passed since the Qingming Festival. It was just an ordinary day. No one came to visit the tomb, and the entire tomb area was quiet.
It can almost be said that Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan were walking on the path up the mountain in a situation where they could clearly hear the breeze blowing.
They first went to pay homage to Chen Liquan's parents, and then went to say goodbye to Master Yu. The two small tombs were so small and inconspicuous, hidden among the densely packed tombstones of different shapes, as if they didn't want to see them.
It seemed like it took them a long time to find it.
However, Hong Yanwu's attitude towards his old friends in the two tombs was very pious. The process of paying homage to the two tombs was exactly the same, first cleaning, then making offerings, and finally kneeling down to pay homage, which was completed meticulously.
Since Chen Liquan was not good at speaking, it was Hong Yanwu himself who delivered the eulogies for the two tombs.
He said to Chen Liquan's parents, "Uncle Chen, Aunt Chen, Quanzi and I say goodbye to you together. We don't know if we can come back to visit your graves during the Qingming Festival next year. But I will definitely take good care of Quanzi for you on the way.
, and please your spirits in heaven to bless us and come back safely. In short, please rest assured, Quanzi will be my brother from now on. As long as I have food, I will not let him go hungry. As long as I have a roof, I will not let him.
He is frozen. No matter what I have from now on, Quanzi will have a share, and I promise never to let him feel lonely..."
He also said to Master Yu, "Master Yu, you didn't want to see me when you were alive. That's not your fault, but my fault. It's all because of the skills you taught me that I survived in the dark days."
A little color. I understand now that it is my luck and my blessing to have you as my master in this life. I am thinking of you, and Quanzi is also thinking of you. If we are destined to be masters and apprentices again in the future, I
I sat with Quanzi in the small courtyard and listened to you telling stories. I fanned you and asked Quanzi to pour you wine..."
When we were going down the mountain, what was a bit strange was that the sparrows all over the mountain and slopes suddenly started chirping.
At this time, I looked up and saw a clear blue sky above my head, with clouds passing by. This beautiful scene immediately made people feel a sense of enlightenment.
Both Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan felt a lot more relaxed...
That night, under the dim and warm light of the Hong family hall, Wang Yunlin, Xu Manli and Hong Yanru made a meal of pork and cabbage dumplings together.
They were following the old etiquette of "mounting the dumplings and dismounting the noodles" to prepare for Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan who were setting off tomorrow.
In terms of the economic conditions of the Hong family at that time, this dumpling meal was no less than a feast today, which made both Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan deeply grateful.
However, seeing his mother tearing up while making dumplings, Hong Yanwu felt very unbearable and kept trying to persuade her.
"Mom, don't think too much about it. As the saying goes, 'The lamb kneels down to breastfeed, and the crow feeds back.' If I didn't try to run, I would be worse than an animal. Fortunately, although I left, I would be gone soon.
My second brother will be back. With him here, I will finally have someone to take care of things at home, and I can feel more at ease. Don’t worry too much about me. I have grown up and I have Quanzi by my side. No matter what happens,
Both of us can handle whatever we get, so just stay at home and wait for my return..."
Although Wang Yunlin kept saying yes to this, she still couldn't help feeling sour and melancholy in her heart. And in the end, this apparent self-control could not last long.
Because of the chatterbox of Lao Bian's house next door, Li Yuhe's singing voice from "The Story of the Red Lantern" suddenly came out. When she heard the sentence "The season is not good, the wind and snow are coming suddenly, mom has to keep the warmth and cold in her heart", Wang Yunlin couldn't control herself because of the scene.
I burst into tears and had to leave everything to my daughter-in-law and daughter. I covered my mouth and went into the house. I couldn't come out for a long time.
This scene was sung at a really bad time...
April 30, 1977, Saturday, the official departure day is today.
Last night, Wang Yunlin and Xu Manli took the trouble to check the luggage of Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan, for fear that they would forget something. Early this morning, they got up early again and prepared breakfast for them.
Seeing Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan devouring their food, Wang Yunlin was speechless for a long time.
Her son's journey was like a piece of flesh being cut out of her heart. This pain seemed to never go away. She imagined the countless difficulties his son would encounter in Liaodong, and imagined the loneliness of losing a son beside her.
Life, thinking that May Day is just one day away, and my son leaves home at this time...
As I thought about it, the circles under my eyes turned red again. I always felt that I had a lot to say, but I couldn't.
Hong Yanru had to go to school today and couldn't see her brother off. She didn't know what to say, so before leaving, she just told Hong Yanwu repeatedly, "You must have a good time when you are away." In addition, she also took out five yuan and insisted on
Leave it to Hong Yanwu.
Hong Yanwu said no, and Hong Yanru started to cry. Hong Yanwu had no choice but to take the money. He didn't put the money back into the drawer in her room until he watched his sister walk out with her schoolbag on her back.
After breakfast, it was almost time. Hong Yanwu walked to his father's room, wanting to say his final goodbyes.
However, ever since he found out about Chen Liquan's resignation from his job, Hong Lucheng has been blaming Hong Yanwu for this in the past few days. He felt ashamed of the deceased Chen Deyuan and his wife, and he also did not want his son to leave home for him.
He was traveling far away. So at this time, he was still in a bad temper. He just lay on the bed with his face facing the wall and ignored his son who came into the room.
Hong Yanwu stood like this behind his father for a long time.
There was a clicking sound outside, which was the sound of Chen Liquan moving his luggage.
Hong Yanwu had to say, "Dad, I'm leaving..."
But Hong Lucheng's shoulders moved, but he didn't say anything.
Hong Yanwu sighed, called "Dad" again, took the initiative to kneel down and kowtow, and finally took a deep look at his father's thin back, and then walked out silently.
To be honest, he felt a little disappointed. Without hearing his father's final instructions, he really couldn't leave the house with peace of mind.
Unexpectedly, Wang Yunlin came out of Hong Lucheng's room after a while, and handed Hong Yanwu one hundred yuan, saying it was his father's wish. This finally made Hong Yanwu feel relieved and felt that his father
After all, I still miss him in my heart, maybe I'm not so angry anymore.
But he couldn't ask for this money. He actually had thousands of dollars with him. So he said that the family should leave more money to buy medicine for his father's illness, and he wanted to refuse.
But Wang Yunlin said, "Take it. A poor family has a rich life. Our family's situation is just like this. I really don't want to give more. If there is a need, I will sell Bianfang."
Hong Yan had no choice but to take the money.
At this time, the elder sister-in-law Xu Manli came over and took out the same ten dollars and asked Hong Yanwu to take it. She also told him not to tell his elder brother.
After Hong Yanwu thanked her, he only asked his sister-in-law to take good care of Wang Yunlin, saying that her mother was not in good health either.
Xu Manli asked Hong Yanwu to leave with peace of mind, saying she was at home.
At this moment, Hong Yanwu's eldest brother, Hong Yanzheng, finally came out of the house. Wang Yunlin and Xu Manli both knew that the two brothers had something to say, so they went back to the house.
Hong Yanzheng did not teach him a lesson this time. Seeing that there was no one around, he quietly took out 20 yuan from his pocket and gave it to Hong Yanwu, telling him to take it with him and not to tell his sister-in-law.
Hong Yanwu really didn't expect that the elder brother who always disliked him would act like this. He took the money and called "brother", feeling for the first time the warmth given by his elder brother.
At this moment, Chen Liquan had already moved all his luggage into the courtyard. He said that everything was ready and he was going to meet "Xiaobaizi" at the station later. He asked if he could leave now?
When Hong Yanwu heard this, he looked into the room again.
Hong Yanzheng was short-tempered, but couldn't help but urge him, "Let's go quickly. A real man has a home all over the world and can travel to the ends of the earth. Don't dawdle and look like a girl."
But Hong Yanwu said no. He had to formally kowtow to his mother before leaving. After saying that, he ran into the house, knelt down in front of Wang Yunlin, and said with a slight cry, "Mom, my son is gone."
Wang Yunlin burst into tears as she sat on the chair, but she couldn't stand up.
She didn't want Hong Yanwu to see herself so sad before leaving, so she turned her face towards the wall, just waved her hands, and never looked at her son again.
She didn't get up until she estimated that Hong Yanwu and the others had left the yard. But when she walked to the washbasin and wiped her face with a handkerchief, she still felt that her legs were a little shaky.
So she went back to sit at the Eight Immortals table for a while, but unexpectedly, she found one hundred and thirty dollars under the tea tray.
At this moment, her heart was so excited that she couldn't help shouting "Lao San", picked up the money and chased outside.
But outside the courtyard gate, the alley was empty, and there were no traces of Hong Yanwu and Chen Liquan...