Chapter 42

  After "December 9", Peking University and many middle schools in the city went on strike.

  Three days after "January 29", Dao Jing's illness was cured, but she was still weak. In order to protect her body and reduce the enemy's attention, Xu Hui firmly refused to let her out of the house, so she could only lie on the "bed" reading books, temporarily isolating herself from the turbulent outside world.

  Jiang Hua did not come on December 9th, nor did he come the next day. It was not until the evening of the third day that he finally arrived.

  He walked into the house with a very happy face. Rubbing his cold hands, he said to Dao Jing with deep affection: "Dao Jing, today I don't have to leave. We can stay together for a few days now."

  "Look, it's been more than half a month since I had time to visit you, we've really become a one-night couple."

  "Ah, really?" Dao Jing's face turned red with excitement. She pulled Jiang Hua's large hand as if she didn't believe it, "Really? Is this true? How come! Your complexion is so bad!"

  "Are you ill?" She stared at him in surprise, her heart skipping a beat.

  "No illness. Is your illness better?" Jiang Hua smiled and leaned on the 'bed'.

  Dào stared at Jiāng Huá uneasily: "No. If he wasn't ill, he wouldn't be so pale. Was he injured?"

  Jiang Hua slowly moved his head to the pillow, closed his eyes in exhaustion and rested for a while. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Dao Jing who was standing by the bed: "No... that day our command center was in the Ya Bei coffee shop, we couldn't get there in time. The reason is... last night, Northeast University was surrounded by over 200 police officers, searching for and arresting *** leaders, I was there..." He glanced at Dao Jing, smiled faintly with his pale lips, "Luckily I arrived just in time. Seeing the situation was urgent, we jumped over the wall and escaped. The snow was heavy, I jumped barefoot onto the wall, slipped, and fell from the high wall onto a wooden beam of someone's house. Probably hurt my waist a bit." The more calmly he spoke, the more worried Dao Jing became. Because she understood Jiang Hua had always been like this.

  "Let me see where you're hurt." She stood up and was about to unbutton Jiang Hua's cotton-padded jacket.

  Jiang Hua didn't let her. He pushed her away: "It's already tied up, don't move anymore. Quiet."

  He grasped her hand and called out to her in a low voice, "Jing, have you heard the results of this movement? — All schools in Beiping have already gone on strike; students from all over the country have also risen up in response; the anti-Japanese national salvation beacon that our party has worked so hard to ignite has been lit!"

  "I've heard that." Dao Jing smiled and pressed her face close to Jiang Hua's, intentionally changing the subject, "You must be tired? Let me tell you something from my heart... it's been so many days since we last saw each other, do you know how much I've missed you? When can we be together forever - never parting ways?"

  Jiang Hua nodded. A happy smile appeared on his dark and pale face without any blood color.

  He slowly opened his tired eyes and held her hand even tighter.

  "Quiet, I've grown up to be 29 years old, for the first time, being good with you is my first time. Except when I was a kid, my mom was like you... So, I'm very willing to use my heart and emotions to make you happy, to make you blissful... But, sorry to you, I feel uneasy in my heart, I've given you too little."

  The coal ball stove was emitting a faint red flame, Li Huaiying gave Daojing a pot of green-colored winter wheat grass that hung down at one corner of the table, and Daojing's small house seemed particularly warm and peaceful today.

  She nodded her head with mixed feelings of joy and unease after hearing his words.

  "What's wrong with you? Don't our joys and sorrows share a common root? Do you think I have any complaints about you? No, I'm very happy. Happier than ever before." She took a deep breath, her pale face calm and gentle. "I often wonder, how did I get to where I am today? How was I able to realize my ideals - to become a glorious warrior of ***ism? Who gave me all this? You - the Party. As long as our cause is progressing, as long as it's beneficial to the Party, what do our personal sacrifices matter?"

  Jiang Hua nodded and smiled warmly at Dao Jing. After a while, Dao Jing suddenly wrapped her arms around him and whispered: "You can't stay with me for a few more days? That would be great! Think about it, we've only been together for such a short time." She leaned against him shyly and giggled softly. A moment later, she sat up again and asked him: "Hua, how serious is your injury? Don't hide it from me - you always have to work on something."

  "It's okay." Jiang Hua said slowly with his eyes closed, "Really, it's okay. If it were serious, could I still be talking?" He suddenly opened his eyes and smiled, "Jing, there are some things you don't understand about me yet, thinking that apart from *** , I don't think of anything else? No, sometimes I'm mischievous, and sometimes I like to indulge in wild thoughts. You didn't know this, did you?"

  "I don't know. What's on your mind sometimes?"

  "I think - think, often thinking of you! Do you believe?" He hugged Dao Jing's neck and suddenly 'kissed' her face. His action was just like a young passionate 'hooligan'. Dao Jing couldn't help but laugh. She pulled his head back to the pillow and gently comforted him like a mischievous child, saying: "Hua, I know you... believe you."

  Jiang Hua smiled silently, only tightly grasping Dao Jing's hand, as if afraid it would run away.

  "Aren't you happy writing poems? Have you written any in these days?" He suddenly asked this after a pause.

  "How did you know I wrote poetry?" Dao Jing was slightly surprised.

  "Not only did I know it, but I also saw it."

  Suddenly, she remembered that it must have been the poem she wrote to miss Lu Jia-chuan that he had seen. Because before Jiang Hua entered her 'door', she just casually put it in a book on the table. Thinking of this, her face turned red. She pulled his hand and stuck her own face on it, whispering: "You - don't blame me? I won't write any poems, just for him, for your friend, I wrote it. I hope you can understand me, not be angry."

  Jiang Hua didn't speak. His face was calm, simple and clear. Only a more mature comrade could have such an expression in this situation. After a while, he spoke in a low voice: "Jing, you said earlier that our pain and joy are all shared. Everything is the same. I just casually mentioned it, don't misunderstand me. I'm glad you can write poetry... Okay, let's talk about something else - we rarely have such an opportunity to chat. You often ask me about my past life, but I never had a chance to tell you. Now, I'll tell you a bit, okay?" He took a sip of the hot water that Dao Jing handed him and lay back on the bed with his eyes closed again. "My dad was a printing worker who supported five or six children and my mom by himself. Usually it was fine, but when he lost his job or the factory owed wages, our whole family would go hungry. When I was 12 years old, I did something very bad, and whenever I think about it, I feel sorry for my mom. You see that I'm still honest now? But when I was a kid, I was a mischievous devil, a good fighter, and after school, I would hang out with some rascals in the alleys of Shanghai. When I was 12 years old, my mom had just given birth to a younger sister, and my dad was unemployed and away from home looking for work. My mom was lying on the bed without anyone taking care of her. The other kids were all young, and I was the oldest, so she asked me to borrow some rice from the neighbors to cook some porridge for her to eat. But instead, I ran out onto the streets with my friends to cause trouble and forgot about it. My friends and I went to the docks to scavenge for food to fill our bellies but forgot that my mom and younger siblings were starving at home. When night fell, I played enough and returned home, only to find that my dad still hadn't come back, and my mom was lying on the bed crying alone. In the dim light of the lamp, her face looked as white as a dead person's. My three younger siblings were all sleeping on the floor. At the time, my mom didn't say a single word of blame to me, but her sorrowful expression left an impression that I could never forget. I cried, and I knew I had done something bad. So from then on, I changed..." He opened his eyes again, tiredly stopping his words. Dao Jing gently wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and softly said: "Hua, you're too excited today, you've talked too much. Rest for a bit, don't speak anymore, okay?"

  "Not tired. We should talk more about our hearts." Jiang Hua smiled and continued, "Quietly, without the party, I wouldn't be here today either. It was the party that saved me, this wandering child. From when I was an apprentice, the party has been cultivating me, educating me, and later I entered a party-run middle school to receive even more education. Whenever I think of my mother lying in bed with a pale face, tears streaming down her face after giving birth to my sister, I think that this sinful society must be changed!"

  "Is mom still there?" Dao Jing quietly interjected.

  "It's been four years since we last contacted each other." He paused for a moment, then suddenly opened his eyes and said, "What did I just say? My mind is all muddled. And there's something else I haven't told you, Xun Ning has been captured again."

  "What? Xu Ning said it was Shang Shanbei, how did he get caught again?"

  "He didn't leave. The party sent him to Dongda to help with the work. He was caught on the same night as me - after he jumped over the wall, hiding in a big girl's quilt in someone's house."

  Northeastern University students suffered the deep pain of national destruction and family breakdown after "9.18", and also suffered from a deeper layer of deception and oppression due to hunger, ***.

  For the sake of studying, for the two meals of coarse tea and plain rice "given" by the school, they endured four years of slave life with tears and silence. When "December 9th" arrived, they broke through the school authorities' various deceptions and intimidation, and resolutely participated in it. After returning, a series of ugly dramas unfolded before them one after another.

  University students just returned, were immediately summoned to listen to the school authorities' grand speech: "Comrades, I tell you, just now two Japanese people came to our school. They asked if we can still control the students? If not, they will directly control you! We quickly said: 'Can! Can! The school certainly can!'"

  As soon as the flattering speech was over, the secretary-general changed his tone and scolded the street. He said: "You little rascals who are not afraid of death! You have bones, it's your dad who beat you, why don't you take guns to fight Japan directly? Why - why make trouble in school!"

  Then, the grand entrance of the university was guarded by armed police and soldiers. The students became prisoners, not allowed to enter or leave. However, they still unfolded various patriotic activities within the school without fear. Two days later, on the snowy night of December 11th, a large number of Northeastern constabulary arrived, surrounding the school.

  The situation was even more severe, the struggle was even more tense. Jiang Hua, Xu Ning and the responsible comrades of the Dongda Party had not left the school. The student-organized patrol team reported that everyone immediately knew this terrible news, but in the dark night, heavy snow fell, and they were surrounded on all sides. Where could their classmates escape? Jiang Hua and others couldn't leave immediately. Therefore, everyone could only disperse to find hiding places within the school. When dawn was approaching, a batch of police cars with guns and ammunition arrived one after another. The school authorities handed over a list of names, and the constabulary searched every corner of the dormitories according to the list. More than 30 students were on the list. After the constabulary searched for the people on the list, the school immediately announced a "state of emergency", with the secretary-general and military training director as the commander of the martial law, and the constabulary guarded the school gate, prohibiting students from entering or leaving. The situation was even more urgent, and the student leaders who were on the blacklist had to escape quickly. Jiang Hua jumped over the wall and hit a wooden board, but he still managed to escape; but Xu Ning climbed onto a low wall on the west side of Dongda, flipped over and fell into a family's courtyard. He wanted to go through the courtyard and open the street door to escape, but he didn't have time - the police behind him discovered him, and a large number of constabulary followed in the midst of rapid gunfire. The owner of the house, an old man and his young daughter, heard a loud noise in the courtyard, they panicked and got out of bed, opened the door and looked outside. Xu Ning saw that he couldn't escape, so he rushed to the door and said to the old man: "Old sir, save me! I'm a student!" The old man and his daughter were shocked, but immediately said: "Come in!" In their panic, they had just covered him with a quilt when a large group of fierce constabulary rushed into the house. They shouted at the old man: "Where is he? Hand him over quickly!" The old man and his daughter denied it: "We don't know, we don't know anyone." Those constabulary scolded: "Nonsense!

  "It's clear that someone has entered, and there are footprints all over the floor. Do you still want to help? If not, your old man will be guilty too!" The old man and his "daughter" still said: "No! No!" Although the "girl"'s body was trembling violently beside Xun Ning. At this point, Xun Ning could no longer hide, he suddenly stood up without hesitation, and was caught just like that.

  Jiang Hua fell onto the pillow, seemingly asleep, but suddenly opened his eyes and seriously stared at Dao Jing, saying: "Most schools in the city have stopped classes, those reactionaries must be thinking of ways to sabotage again. The struggle will only become more complicated, Dao Jing, your experience is still insufficient, you must continue to work hard! But... don't be satisfied just because there's a little achievement with the work at Beida, you must persevere and continue to struggle...". By this point, he had already fallen into a daze and gone to sleep.

  Dào Jìng stood in front of the 'bed', silently gazing at that pale, yellowish yet strong and determined face. The wound was severe, but he didn't utter a single cry of pain; amidst the joy of reuniting with his loved one, amidst extreme fatigue, almost fainting away, he still couldn't forget the current struggle and work; couldn't forget encouraging his loved one's progress... Moreover, regarding her poem that reminisced about another person - although he clearly knew her love belonged more deeply to that deceased comrade than to him, he didn't have a single complaint. He was only doing everything possible to make her feel happy, feel joyful, even though the time and energy he could use for this were so little... She thought like this, silently gazing at him for a long time. A feeling similar to guilt began to prick at her heart...

  She saw that his cotton-padded jacket had several large tears, and she took out a needle and thread to mend it for him. In the pocket of the jacket, she found a crumpled small piece of paper. She opened it, and it was Jiang Hua's clear handwriting: "Jing, I'm sorry, this is the third time I've broken my promise..." For some reason, Dao Jing looked at this ordinary little note - which hadn't been sent to her - and suddenly, her eyes became moist.

  "Is Miss Lu at home?"

  "Who?" Dao Jing was startled, put down the things in her hand and gently opened the door. It turned out to be Ren Yuguang's father, Old Man Ren - now he is a liaison officer of the municipal party committee. Dao Jing grasped the old man's hand with excitement and fear, pulled him into the house and asked in a low voice: "Uncle, what's wrong?" She nodded towards Jiang Hua who was asleep, "He's injured."

  Because she knew that if it wasn't for something important, the Municipal Committee wouldn't send someone to find Jiang Hua.

  The old man nodded, stood anxiously in front of the "bed" and gazed at Jiang Hua's sleeping face, then turned to Dao Jing and said: "When was he injured? The comrades don't know! There is an important meeting tonight, if he can't go, I'll go tell the head of the household. How serious is his injury?"

  Dai Jing looked at the pale face of Huang and said softly, "He himself says it's not serious, nor does he ask me to take a look. He says that after being nailed in the waist, it seems like he lost a lot of blood and is a bit weak. Do you think we should wake him up?"

  "Don't call him anymore." The old man shook his head sympathetically, "I'll go tell the master, just let him stay here for a few days to recover." The old man said as he walked out.

  "Older brother, wait! Let's go together." Jiang Hua had already woken up and was sitting on the bed. As he spoke, he got off the bed, calmly putting on his cotton-padded jacket while softly saying to Dao Jing, "Sorry again, I missed our appointment. You sleep, don't wait for me. It's too late, I won't be back."

  She quietly saw him off. Watching his tall figure disappear with the frail old man at the corner of the alley, she couldn't help but whisper to herself: "Lu Jia-chuan... Lin Hong... He, they are all so similar people..."