I carved a few more pieces, smelled my fingers, and immediately frowned from the stench. I pounded my sore neck and looked at the silent mountains outside the Village, suddenly feeling an inexplicable sense of Lost. Was I going to spend my whole life in the mountains carving Tomb Bricks and watching the Forest Farm? Although this certainly built character, it was still too far from my ideals. I was too young then, impatient about my future. The thought of being stuck in the Mountain Ravine my whole life, unable to join the army and fight to realize my ambitions, immediately brought waves of panic deep in my heart, my nose stung, and I almost cried.
Fatty saw my strange expression and asked what I was thinking about, why I looked so gloomy all day. I sighed and replied, "Damn it, I'm worrying about the liberation cause of the people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America." Fatty advised me, "Stop worrying. We can't manage how the people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America are living. Maybe they don't need us to worry about them either. It's almost time to finish work. Tonight I'll treat you to offal, eat to your heart's content. In Northeast dialect, they say don't be polite, just devour it."
I wiped the snot running down my face and was about to discuss with Fatty how to prepare the offal when the Old Branch Secretary returned. He had gone to the brigade office on business and happened to pick up several parcels for the Educated Youth. Transportation in these mountains was inconvenient. We had been sent to the countryside to work and live for several months and had almost lost contact with the outside world. Seeing mail and parcels for the first time, how could we not be overjoyed? We immediately forgot everything else. What Fatty and I cared about most, of course, was the situation at home. But the Branch Secretary searched for a long time and informed us that there were no parcels for us; these were for the other Educated Youth.
Although I knew my family members were currently under isolation and naturally had no chance to send anything, I still felt terrible. Just as I was about to turn and leave, the Old Branch Secretary called the two of us back. He held up a letter in his hand and said this was the only letter addressed to the two of you.
Fatty and I were slightly startled and rushed over to grab the letter, wondering why there was only one letter for the two of us. Yanzi was also very curious and came over to look at the letter with us. I suppressed my excitement and eagerly looked at the envelope. The letter had been forwarded to us by the transmission room of our hometown military district, so there was an original envelope inside. Clearly, the sender did not know the address where Fatty and I were sent to the countryside to work and live, so they sent the letter to the military district, and it was forwarded from there.
I opened the letter and read it word by word carefully. The sender turned out to be a Comrades-in-arms named Ding Sitian, whom Fatty and I had met on the train. She was about our age and an artistic ace. We hit it off immediately. In Chairman Mao's hometown, we each grabbed a handful of local Soil and held it tightly for a whole day and night, resulting in our hands swelling up later. In the revolutionary holy land of Yan'an, we shared a piece of dry ration in a cave dwelling. We were still alive, and we exchanged contact information. A long time had passed since then, and I never expected to receive her letter in the mountains today.
Ding Sitian's parents were both Museum staff. The Ding family had four children in total, named respectively after "Recalling Bitterness and Thinking of Sweetness"—which was the mainstream way of naming children back then. In her letter to us, she mentioned: "Writing to my closest revolutionary Comrades-in-arms, Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan. Since we parted ways in the great capital Beijing, I have missed our days and nights every moment. I have long wanted to write to you, but many things have happened at home... I assume you have achieved your wish and enlisted in the army, gloriously joining the People's Liberation Army and becoming a revolutionary soldier is also my dream. I hope you can send me a photo of you wearing your uniforms so I can share your joy... Finally, please do not forget the revolutionary friendship between us; I wish it to be higher than the mountains, farther than the road, eternal, and never fading."
From the letter, we learned that Ding Sitian, who wanted to join the army, had to be sent to the countryside to work and live in Horqin Left Wing due to factors like family background. She clearly did not know that Fatty's and my experiences were similar to hers—we didn't become soldiers either and were sent to the Greater Khingan Range to be sent to the countryside to work and live. After finishing the letter, Fatty and I were silent for a long time. We truly had no face to write back to Ding Sitian, and certainly no photos of us in uniform to send her.
From Ding Sitian's letter, I sensed she was very lonely. Perhaps life in Horqin Left Wing was even more monotonous than in the mountains. Although Horqin Left Wing, like Ganggangyingzi where I was stationed, belonged to Inner Mongolia, it was not in the same League. Horqin Left Wing was a Pastoral area on the Grassland, with harsh environments and even sparser population, very far from the Hinggan League. It was fine for Ding Sitian to sing and dance, but imagining her herding animals on the Grassland was hard to accept. How could I not worry? As I was pondering this, I noticed Fatty rummaging through boxes and cupboards looking for paper to write a reply. I said to him, "Stop looking. We don't even have paper to wipe our butts, so where are we going to find letter paper? I think we're going stir-crazy staying in the mountains. We might as well take a trip to the Grassland and visit our close Comrades-in-arms along the way."
Hearing that I wanted to go to the Grassland, Yanzi asked in surprise, "What? To the great Grassland of Horqin Left Wing? It takes at least ten days to half a month just to get there and back. If you don't work for so many days, what about your Work Points? What will you eat when you get back?"
I nodded to Yanzi. Of course, I couldn't ignore this issue. Work Points were the lifeline for Educated Youth. Educated Youth sent to the countryside to work and live, unlike those in the Production and Construction Corps in places like the Great Northern Wilderness, were managed under quasi-military conditions, organized by divisions, with standard military structures below such as regiments, battalions, companies, platoons, and squads. Corps members received free food and lodging and a monthly stipend of six yuan. The advantage of the Corps was a fixed income; the disadvantage was a lack of freedom—you couldn't come or go as you pleased. Educated Youth operated on a Work Point system; the disadvantage was unreliable income, but the advantage was freedom to come and go and very convenient leave requests. Some people might find it strange: since the Educated Youth were so free, why didn't they return to the city? This was mainly because if they went back, they would lose their grain rations. Moreover, the so-called being sent to the countryside meant their household registration had been moved to the countryside, making them rural residents. If they returned, they would be unregistered, and there would be no record of them in the city, making it impossible to find work. After all, food is the paramount concern for people; one cannot live without eating. No Work Points meant no grain rations, so people were tied down.
A few days ago, we found quite a few Gold Beans at the Tuan Shanzi Forest Farm. Of course, we didn't dare keep this for ourselves. After turning it over to the collective, the Branch Secretary, being kind-hearted, promised to credit us with two extra months of Work Points, even though there was no concept of bonuses back then. This was so we could take a long vacation when we returned home to visit relatives for the New Year. This meant Fatty and I could skip two months of work. Since we were tired of staying in the mountains and also missed Ding Sitian, we immediately decided to make a trip to the Grassland.