In the autumn of 1969, the liberation war of the Vietnamese people resisting American imperialist aggression was proceeding vigorously. At this time, as one of the many Educated Youth sent to the countryside, I was assigned by the Educated Youth Office to a village in the Greater Khingan Range to be sent to the countryside to work and live, receiving the Supreme directive: Educated Youth go to the countryside, brave the wind and snow, temper the red heart, fight heaven and earth, and forge an iron will.
Unknowingly, several months passed. The excitement and novelty from when we first arrived in the mountains had long since vanished, replaced by the monotonous routine of day after day. The Mountain Ravine where I was sent to work and live was only about the size of a palm, with only twenty or thirty households in total. Within hundreds of miles in every direction, it was almost entirely uninhabited Primeval Forest.
The people in the Village lived off the mountain. Besides reclaiming a few acres of barren land to plant some staple food for daily consumption, the rest of their sustenance mainly came from hunting in the mountains. Roe deer, hares, wild rabbits, and pheasants in the mountains, as well as wood ear mushrooms and fungi in the forest, were all delicacies. Eating their fill and eating well was not a problem.
But that winter, the snow fell very early in the mountains, and the northwest wind suddenly intensified, making the weather instantly cold. It looked like heavy snow would soon seal off the mountains, yet everyone had not had time to store food for the winter. This was because in previous years, in the autumn, the mountain people would take advantage of the wild boars and rabbits being plump to hunt in large numbers, air-drying and preserving the meat to get through the cruel and long winter of the Greater Khingan Range.
This abnormal weather, unseen in ten years, arrived suddenly. Heavy snow began to fall halfway through autumn, immediately followed by the howling northwest wind. The Hunters were inevitably thrown into disarray, rushing to sling their Hunting Rifles, bring their hunting dogs, and compete to enter the mountains to "rush the Winter Famine." They raced against Old Man Heaven to seize Time, going all out to trap Foxes and shoot rabbits. Otherwise, if they delayed any longer, the White Hair wind—which only blew in winter—would surely sweep through the mountains, and then they wouldn't be able to hunt anything. If that happened, the entire Village would face a terrifying Winter Famine.
Fatty, my Companion who was sent to the countryside to work and live with me, had also been itching with restlessness recently, wishing some trouble would magically appear. Seeing the Hunters entering the mountains in groups to hunt, he suddenly became interested, rubbing his hands together and discussing with me a plan to go into the mountains with the Hunters to hunt a few Human Bears.
My enthusiasm for hunting in the mountains, especially my love for strategic contests like "Trapping Foxes," was no less than Fatty's. However, I rarely had the chance to take a gun and dogs out to have my fill of fun. Regarding this upcoming action, I already knew clearly that the Party Branch Secretary would certainly not allow us to participate. Firstly, because we few Educated Youth had already caused quite a few Mishaps in the mountains in less than half a year, angering the Old Branch Secretary, who forbade us from causing further trouble. The tasks he had recently assigned us were either Carving tomb bricks or guarding the timber at the Forest Farm—all tedious, stationary chores. Secondly, this rush to prepare for the Winter Famine was a major event for the Village. The hunt was a collective action requiring rich Experience and tacit coordination among the Hunters. Letting raw recruits from the city like us Educated Youth join in, in case a Mishap occurred, meant everyone would have to endure the harsh winter on an empty stomach. No one could bear that responsibility, and such a risk absolutely could not be taken.
We watched longingly as every household selected their strongest Hunters, forming the "Winter Famine Combat Team," heading into the mountains with a large contingent of hunting dogs, treading through the snow toward the front lines of the encirclement hunt. I was truly anxious and frustrated. Even though I knew it was basically hopeless, I still held onto a sliver of hope and went to the Party Branch Secretary again to plead for leniency, asking that they assign us Educated Youth even some rear support tasks. Staying in the Village would surely drive us crazy.
Fatty also emphasized Chairman Mao's Supreme directive to the Party Branch Secretary: "We all come from different places, united for one common goal. On behalf of the five of us Educated Youth, I sincerely request that you absolutely must allow us to join the torrent of this revolutionary struggle to rush the Winter Famine..."
The Old Branch Secretary didn't wait for Fatty to finish before crushing our request with another Supreme directive: "Stop talking nonsense with me, what are you rambling about? Didn't Chairman Mao also say... oh yes... the old man also emphasized opposing liberalism and obeying organizational arrangements? Look, all the people in our Village are going hunting; what's left are only Women, children, the old, the weak, and the sick. Look at this snow; if some Black Bear that hasn't stocked enough food for hibernation comes around, it'll be trouble. I think we'll just do this: half of you youths stay to guard the Village. Bayi and Little Fatty, Yanzi will take you two to guard the Forest Farm, just in time to replace the old man who was keeping watch. I'm telling you two, you are absolutely not allowed to cause trouble while I'm away, understand?"
I saw that, as expected, there was no room for compromise on the line of action. Since things had reached this point, I had no choice but to give up. I secretly schemed that I could find an opportunity to trap Foxes near the Forest Farm, which was better than the boring task of conducting ideological work in the Village. So, I said goodbye to my three other Educated Youth Companions, slung my bedding roll over my back, and, along with Fatty, followed Yanzi's lead to guard the timber at the Forest Farm near Tuan Shanzi.
In the Village, several households served as the Educated Youth points, where the sent-down youth were permanently housed. Meals were taken in rotation at each household, eating whatever was available. Yanzi, this girl, was the "landlady" for me and Fatty. She was also an excellent Hunter. The Party Branch Secretary arranging for her to lead us in guarding the Forest Farm was also out of concern that the Forest Farm might be attacked by wild beasts.
Yanzi didn't complain about losing the chance to go hunting in the mountains, because the Educated Youth were much more knowledgeable than the mountain people, especially those like me and Fatty who could talk about everything from astronomy to geography, boasting and chatting. When with the Educated Youth, she could learn about the world beyond this vast mountain range she had never left. So, she slung her Hunting Rifle, carried some other essential supplies, and set off with me and Fatty. It was a long journey from the Village to the Forest Farm, requiring crossing one ridge and turning through two Mountain Hollows. Along the way, the northwest wind howled fiercely, whipping the snow spray from the treetops into a swirling dance across the sky. Coupled with the sky being gloomy even during the day, it was impossible to tell if the snow was still falling. I wrapped my head tightly in my Dog fur hat, but the wind still made my head gradually go numb.
However, listening to Yanzi, this kind of weather was nothing. In the deep twelfth lunar month of winter, the accumulated snow in the forest could be waist-deep. Walking through the snow in the snowdrifts was very strenuous, and one would break out in a sweat quickly, but one absolutely could not stop. Once you stopped to catch your breath, the bone-chilling wind would instantly turn all the sweat on your body into layers of ice and frost. Moreover, those who have never spent a winter in the Deep mountains cannot even imagine the most terrifying thing, which is the "White Hair wind" that mountain people speak of with dread. The so-called "White Hair wind" is snow mixed with the wind—a silvery-white whirlwind—more vicious than ice blades. No one can withstand it when it blows on a person. That is why mountain Hunters must store food in advance. When the weather turns bitterly cold, they start staying warm in their homes on the heated brick beds, waiting out the winter.
It took almost a whole day to reach the Forest Farm. This Forest Farm was adjacent to "Tuan Shanzi," where Human Bears frequented. A river cut through this sea of snow-covered forest, neatly dividing the mountainous area from the forest. Tuan Shanzi had dense Vegetation and no shortage of food. The Human Bears on the mountain would rarely cross the river into the forest, and the Hunters dared not casually provoke the ferocious King of the mountain forest—the Human Bear.