A few days ago, I went back to the county to meet with Sister Lu. I had a lot of thoughts and wanted to write about the feelings of educated youth.
There are many emotions between people, including family affection, friendship, love, nostalgia; friendship between classmates, comrades-in-arms, and affection among educated youth.
The sentiment of educated youth is a special emotion of that special era.
Educated youth, from the 1950s to the late 1970s, organized efforts to mobilize urban (town) educated youth to go to the countryside, take root and settle down, and receive re-education from poor and lower-middle peasants. Eighteen million young urban students went to the mountains and countryside. The highest concentration was in 1968, when the third generation of junior high school and high school graduates went to the countryside to join the workforce or work on state-owned farms.
My peers and I went to the countryside to join the queue in 1968. Nowadays, they are all over sixty years old, and some have even passed away. Over the past 45 years, the relationship between our educated youths has become stronger and stronger, surpassing the relationship between family, friendship, classmates and comrades-in-arms.
This friendship comes from the hardships of jumping in the queue together, from working hard to start a business together, and from the special big family back then.
I once remembered that more than 70 people lived and ate in Youth Point, which was the home of the youth. They were assigned to work in the production team, which was the career of the youth. Most young students aged 17 or 18 have no understanding of the rural living environment and labor skills. They rely on the help and guidance of villagers and hard practice on their own to gradually adapt to rural life. In a difficult and difficult environment, the educated youth are members of a collective and a big family.
The past experiences allowed the educated youths to form special friendships.
As the times change and time goes by, we return to the city one after another to work and are distributed on various fronts. Then, we get married and have children, each of us is busy with our own career and each leads our own small life. No matter who is promoted or laid off, our feelings have not changed at all. As soon as the party was mentioned, everyone cheered up. Everyone seemed to be back in that era, talking, laughing, and playing around. They forgot their age, their identity, and the hardships of the day, and were completely drunk.
If someone has a big or small incident, it is an opportunity for us to get together. We will be there when we hear the news. When any family has difficulties in life, everyone lends a hand to help. Those who have money contribute money, those who have no money contribute their efforts. If there is really nothing to help, just go and visit more and send care and warmth. Our elder brother Li is the oldest and the most difficult in life. He has become the target of help for all of us, sending rice, noodles, oil and meat during the New Year and festivals. When he is ill, everyone raises funds. Brother Li was so moved that he didn't know what to say. When he was critically ill, he called his son to him and said: "Don't forget to remember these uncles and aunts in the future!"
After the Spring Festival this year, two educated youth sisters came back from other places. We made a special trip back to meet with them. Although our hair was white, our faces were wrinkled, and our teeth had fallen out, we still had smiles on our faces. Still so brilliant! Although we all have children and grandchildren around us, our inner friendship is still as young and beautiful as the green years.
There are things in my heart that are hard to say to my parents, my children, and even more difficult to confide in my brothers and sisters. But among us old educated youths, we can talk about everything, and we are so kind to each other. The trust is the most sincere and the intimacy between each other is the most transparent. One day, a sister from the educated youth came to my house to talk about her inner troubles. She kept talking for the whole morning. I knew that we could not solve the problem and could only persuade her. However, our listening gave her a lot of relief. and warmth, finally breaking out of tears into laughter.
There was an elder brother who could no longer take care of himself and had no close relatives around him, so he had to live in a nursing home. Several old educated youth buddies often went to accompany him. After we heard about it, we invited some friends to visit him, and he was so moved that he actually named 8 of us. Looking at his smiling eyes, I knew he must have a special sense of happiness in his heart.
We have special feelings for the small village where we jumped in line. Although we only lived there for a few years, we regarded it as our second hometown. Every time I pass by there, I have to stop and look at the changes in the small village. Whenever I get a chance, I want to go back and see the house I once lived in. There is always an indescribable sense of intimacy. The villagers also regard us as family members. If they have any difficult problems, they will come to the city to ask us for help. On the 40th anniversary of our going to the countryside, more than 50 people gathered for a gathering back to our hometown. We saw that the village committee and school had built urban buildings, and some villagers also lived in small buildings. I was indescribably happy.
This is the place we dream of! Our youth shines here, our sweat flows here, and we exercise and grow in this vast world! Here, we learned perseverance, we learned tenacity, and we learned responsibility! Thanks to this hot land for giving us wisdom and strength; thanks to these folks for teaching us knowledge and skills not found in books. Thanks to the years of living here, we can take one step at a time and walk steadily on the road of life!
Time passes quietly year after year like running water. We move from youth to old age. Looking back, my mood and emotions are still the same, and the imprint left by my years as an educated youth is deeply etched in my heart. The four seasons reincarnate, the years pass by, the hair turns gray, the mood remains the same, the emotion remains the same.
What ripples in our hearts is still the most youthful color, what lingers in our memories is still the most dazzling Mood for Love, and what flows in our hearts is still the purest love of educated youth!