The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 473: Teach the "ungrateful bastard" a lesson!!!
"We step into 1979 with great excitement." This was the first sentence of the New Year's Day editorial of Renren Daily in .

The word "jump" is heroic and high-spirited, giving the Xia people a courageous and strong posture as they embark on a new journey.

The year 19796 has arrived!!!

For Liu Zhiye and his generation of Xia people, this year is a watershed!

Since the beginning of winter last year, flower shows in Liujiazhuang and the surrounding rural areas have begun to revive.

The elders in the village took out musical instruments that had been hidden for a long time and made a new land boat in preparation for performing the "Borrowing an Umbrella" scene in the Legend of the White Snake. They practiced every day in the fitness field and threshing ground.

The troupe in Liujiazhuang no longer sang model operas but traditional operas.

All the old actors came out one after another, and the troupe even paid for a few new costumes. Many old actors twisted their bodies when they walked, and even spoke in "false voices"...

On one side, the land boat is being played on the fitness field, with the gongs and drums beating loudly, and on the other side, people in the troupe are singing “yi yi ya ya”…

The commotion caused the classrooms at all levels not far away to become a little excited!

The festive atmosphere of this year is already brewing!

During the days leading up to the New Year, Liujiazhuang was extremely lively. Even the old ladies who had not gone out for many years were helped out to watch the lively "parade in the street" of the land boat festival.

There was also an old lady who said to the third uncle Liu Yuanhai who was dressed as the "White Snake": "This white snake face could be a little longer!"

The onlookers burst into laughter, but the laughter was soon drowned out by the ups and downs of the music from the concert behind!

At night, the troupe performed "Picking up the Jade Bracelet" and "Butterfly Cup". Even some old ladies hobbled to watch the show, and the children carried stools and followed behind the old people...

This scene can last from the end of the year to the fifteenth day of the next year, when the flower fairs of each village rotate from one village to another, either in schools or on threshing grounds.

The sound of the three-barreled gun sent away one group after another; the sound of the three-barreled gun welcomed another group after another...

Those village brigade cadres and those in charge of the flower show were so busy as spinning tops that they even walked with an air of pomp!
Compared to the hustle and bustle outside, home is much warmer!
The walls are also brand new. The protagonists of the New Year paintings on the walls are no longer the thick-browed and big-eyed Guo Jianguang, Li Yuhe, Yang Zirong, Li Tiemei... and the propaganda paintings about promoting revolution and production...

Instead, there are costume photos of talented men and beautiful women, movie stars, and landscape photos. No matter who’s house you walk into, the walls are filled with colorful and bright colors, which are a feast for the eyes!

This year, the children especially love to visit each other’s homes. They don’t talk, but just want to look at other people’s New Year pictures. What’s the difference between them and their own!
Another year was when televisions became common in every household in Liujiazhuang.

This is a new product produced by Liujiazhuang Home Appliance Group - a 19-inch color TV, which caused a buying frenzy as soon as it was launched on the market.

In fact, Liujiazhuang's home appliance group already had color TV technology.

In 1970, the factory successfully developed China's first transistor 19-inch color TV.

In 71, the second set of color cameras was successfully developed. In 74, the first color TV broadcast vehicle in China was successfully developed.

This year, we successfully developed a set of color television center equipment.

From then on, Liujiazhuang's home appliance group became a nationally renowned manufacturer of radio and television products.

In just a few years, the factory has grown from nothing to something, from small to large, and has trial-produced and developed more than 100 products.

Among them are various models of amplifiers, radios, three-way floor-standing machines, televisions, FM machines, as well as various speakers, capacitors and other radio parts.

After years of development, Liujiazhuang Electric Appliance Factory No. 1 has grown into a specialized factory in the electronics industry, mainly producing televisions and supplemented by producing instruments.

In the past year, the factory produced a total of 50,000 televisions of various models.

Most of it is exported, and a small portion is sold domestically.

Moreover, it is not much different from mainstream international televisions and is cheaper, so it is in short supply in Eastern Europe.

It's the end of the year, and on the television production line of Liujiazhuang's No. 1 Electrical Appliance Factory, workers are still concentrating on their assembly line operations.

At the end of the production line, packaged color TVs are neatly stacked.

It took them more than 20 days to design, manufacture and install a production line that can produce more than 200 units a day.

Since it was put into production, the assembly line has been operating normally and arranged reasonably, with the daily output reaching more than 300 units, exceeding the designed capacity.

Some of these color televisions are 14-19 inch color televisions made from spare parts imported from JVC Corporation of Japan.

Therefore, the quality of the television has fully met the technical level and technical requirements of domestic production in Japan.

Even at the end of the year, Japanese technicians have to work overtime like Xia country workers and are debugging color televisions.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that Liujiazhuang Electric Appliance Group’s Factory 1 has an annual output of 50,000 color TV sets.

But at present, most people in Xia Country, except the people of Liujiazhuang, cannot afford it.

Take this TV for example, it was a very rare treasure in the 1970s.

Besides, there weren't many programs on TV those days. Apart from the news, there were some revolutionary feature films. The most popular ones were "Unforgettable Battle", "Tunnel Warfare", "Landmine Warfare", "The Battle of South and North", "Railway Guerrillas", "Little Soldier Zhang Ga", "Heroic Sons and Daughters" and so on.

At that time, there was no such name, term or concept as "TV series".

Since last year, a qualitative change has taken place in the land of Xia, and discussions on "seeking truth from facts" have continued to appear on TV programs.

Sha Zhu’s first black-and-white TV was a Japanese “Panasonic” brand.

Red shell, full channel. This was the first time I heard the term “full channel”. The TV cost 480 yuan in total.

There are only two channels on the TV, and the screen is often filled with snow and noise. So the "all channels" are useless for those who come to their house.

Nowadays, it is a great honor for a family to have a TV.

Dafang Shazhu put the TV in the yard, and adults and children, holding small stools, crowded into the yard.

There was no closed-circuit television or cable TV at the time, so the viewing experience was extremely poor.

A small TV antenna often attracts people from all over the hospital to rush to it.

In order to let their children watch the whole program, some adults even hold the antenna with their hands to ensure the TV's viewing effect.

Later, no one knew who invented the idea of ​​using "cans" to make antennas.

As a result, all kinds of metal conductor TV antennas of different lengths are erected on the roofs of every building and bungalow, and they are not afraid of being struck by lightning.

Each time an antenna is installed, one person is on the roof, one person is adjusting it inside the house, and one person is outside to pass on information. The antenna is slowly rotated upstairs until the TV effect is best.

However, the wave propagation is often different. If a strong wind changes the antenna angle, people have to go up to the roof to readjust it.

A TV or a program often makes the whole family noisy, sometimes happy, sometimes complaining, sometimes angry.

No matter how hard it tries, I won't smash the TV. I can only hold my anger and muster up all my strength to absorb the "culture", "fashion" and information I desire.

As more and more programs are available on TV channels, TV program previews have become a hot topic.

It was a must for every family to buy a copy of the Radio and Television Newspaper from the post office every Thursday. The Radio and Television Newspaper also became a hot commodity. Those who could not buy one would borrow one, copy it and post it on the wall at home.

At the same time, because the tastes of the programs are different, there are a lot of quarrels and fights, which can only be blamed on the lack of financial conditions.

As a result, many people who studied or were interested in radio began to buy components and assemble tube televisions by themselves.

This is still a good condition, at least there is a TV to watch.

Most of the people in Xia Country had never even seen a TV, let alone watched TV programs.

If a family had a radio to listen to the radio, it was considered a "high-end enjoyment".

But by 1979, although the people in other areas of the capital could not compare with those in Liujiazhuang, they had also become familiar with radios.

Almost every family had a music box. The one in Liuhaizhong's house in the backyard was the largest and had the purest volume. It was covered with a new veil to keep out dust.

The music box plays dramas, crosstalk, and singing...

Almost every household has their radio turned up to maximum volume, and you can hear it when walking on the street!
…………Xia Country is walking towards the world, and spring is walking towards Xia Country.

As if in response to the excitement and anticipation of thousands of households, the Spring Festival of 1979 arrived early before January was over.

The Chinese New Year is on January 1, which is the Year of the Sheep according to the lunar calendar. Because June is a leap month, there is a Beginning of Spring at the beginning and end of the year, making it a year with two Beginnings of Spring.

As early as January 1, Renren Daily published a news report from Xinhua News Agency, "According to the investigation of the railway department, the national railway passenger flow during this year's Spring Festival will be more than 8 million, and the daily average will increase by about 40% compared to usual."

In an era when migrant workers had not yet migrated across borders, the crowds flocking to the train station in early 1979 included college students on winter vacation, cadres and workers visiting relatives, intellectuals for whom the policy had not yet been implemented, and of course educated youth scattered in rural areas across the country.

After the Spring Festival this year, there will be a peak in the number of educated youth returning to the city.

As soon as the winter vacation started, Beijing University student Zhong Xingwang hurriedly took the train back home.

He would not know that the train ticket that allowed him to return home and reunite with his family had been counted in the huge statistic of "more than 100 million passengers".

What Zhong Xingwang, who was taking the train home, didn't know was that his brother Zhong Xingguo was also on the train.

What was different from his was that this was a military train, and the special train was heading south.

In front of my second brother’s house.

At the end of December last year, the second brother had made all the arrangements and was just waiting for the order to teach this "ungrateful person" a lesson.

Speaking of the feud between these two families, it is actually the story of Mr. Dongguo and the wolf.

When the Second Brother was first established, he maintained a very friendly relationship with the "ungrateful people".

Later, in the past thirty years, the second brother provided the "ungrateful wolf" with a total of about 20 billion US dollars in aid, which became an important force for the "ungrateful wolf" to win. The second brother did not make any requests for the aid to the "ungrateful wolf".

A few years ago, after the "ungrateful man" came to power, he was completely blinded by victory. He changed his previous friendly attitude towards his second brother and started to make provocations at the door of his second brother's house.

Why is the “ungrateful guy” so arrogant that he dares to challenge the big brother head-on?
The reason is that, on the one hand, the "ungrateful wolves" have won victories abroad and are complacent, calling themselves "third in the world".
In addition, the "Eye Wolves" seized a large amount of equipment at that time, and the "White-Eyed Wolves" who were originally poorly equipped upgraded their equipment overnight, which further fueled their ambitions.

On the other hand, the relationship between the two brothers deteriorated at this time. After Boss S realized the ambition of the "ungrateful man", he secretly supplied supplies to the "ungrateful man".

In this way, the "ungrateful" boy, relying on the support of Boss S, did not take his second brother seriously.

The "ungrateful bastard"'s frequent provocations against the second brother's bad behavior aroused strong indignation in the second brother's family...

One sentence: "The child is disobedient and needs to be spanked!"

So more than 200,000 troops were on high alert.

In early January, at the request of the front-line chief of staff Liu Zhiye, a unit of the Second Guard Division of the Beijing Garrison District, which entered Yunnan to participate in border operations, advanced to Hekou, Yunnan Province.

One morning, the vehicle and artillery stopped at the foot of a mountain covered with rubber trees beside the Red River.

After arriving at the designated location, the anti-aircraft artillery battalion commander Li Kangzhan led the company and platoon leaders through the rubber forest and up the mountain to select a firing position.

As the sun rose, standing on the weed-covered mountain top and looking south, the foreign landforms, people and vehicles across the river were clearly visible. Being at the forefront of the fight against the enemy, everyone felt unprecedented pressure.

After the position was determined, everyone first dug the gun bunkers, transported the ammunition, and then used shovels and pickaxes to open up and build a winding road along the hillside.

The battalion had three companies, each with six guns. They formed a group with a platoon. They tied a big rope, pulled it from the front and pushed it from the back, and moved the guns one by one into their positions overnight, completing preparations for battle.

Air defense combat is sudden, and in order to ensure the air safety of the division command post, they dare not slack off in the slightest.

Except for eating and sleeping, they spent all their time on guard duty, carrying out various targeted adaptive training while constantly improving fortifications and camouflage.

Time passes day by day in the busy and intense preparations.

After leaving the battlefield in the evening of that day, a familiar aroma of cooked pork wafted over from the direction of the kitchen squad. Li Kangzhan's mouth was immediately salivated, and he subconsciously followed the smell.

When I entered the kitchen tent, I saw a steaming dish of stir-fried cabbage and pork coming out of the pot, as well as another prepared meat dish.

"Wow! So many delicious foods!" Li Kangzhan was very surprised.

"The division logistics department has distributed some New Year's goods, and we have prepared a New Year's Eve dinner for everyone." The quartermaster introduced with a grin.

"New Year's Eve dinner?" Li Kangzhan didn't react at first.

"Battalion Commander, today is New Year's Eve!" the quartermaster reminded him helplessly.

Li Kangzhan finally woke up from his dream.

Normally, the atmosphere of welcoming the New Year is quite strong in the first half of the year, with frequent art performances and movies...

But these days, there was no movement from top to bottom, and there was no sign of the coming of the festival. Li Kangzhan, who was concentrating on preparing for war, had long forgotten about the New Year.

Suddenly holding hands with the Spring Festival, I felt like I had discovered a new world. I was surprised and happy.

When the dinner whistle sounded, each class came to the kitchen one after another and stood in a square formation waiting to eat.

Li Kangzhan stood in front of the team and said excitedly: "Today is New Year's Eve, and we will have a dinner tonight!"

There was an uproar in the team: "Already thirty? So fast!"

Some people couldn't help cheering, both for the sudden arrival of the Spring Festival and for the rare improvement in food.

Since setting up camp in the rubber forest, the three meals a day are mostly watery soups with little oil or fishy smell, and everyone has been looking forward to eating meat.

After the team disbanded, the classes formed a circle on the open space next to the rubber tree, either squatting or sitting.

The dishes were served in clean basins. The staple food was neither the dumplings loved by northerners nor the rice noodles favored by southerners. It was still the same old rice. The only highlight was the abundant meat dishes.

The head cook loudly promised: "Today, there will be enough fat and lean meat. The supply is guaranteed."

Someone responded quietly, "Eat and drink well, maybe this is the last dinner."

Comrades celebrated the New Year by drinking water instead of wine. The forest was filled with a joyful and cheerful atmosphere, but Li Kangzhan's heart was difficult to calm down.

With the war approaching, this New Year’s Eve dinner may be the “last meal” for everyone!
They are about to face the test of life and death.

What Li Kangzhan is most worried about are the new recruits who just joined the army this year.

After all, most of these people came from rural areas, received relatively little education, and encountered war as soon as they arrived at the army.

At this point, are their emotions still stable?

The sky gradually darkens, and the winter rubber forest becomes chilly at night.

Li Kangzhan followed the dispersed crowd to the main camp, where lanterns flickered and everyone was having fun. Some soldiers played chess and poker, while others chatted and listened to the radio...

Li Kangzhan called together the two new soldiers who came from Yunnan and Jiangxi provinces.

I learned in detail about their family situation, the New Year customs in their hometown, and their experience in the army.

"A war is about to break out. Are you afraid?" Li Kangzhan asked frankly.

"Don't be afraid!" The two childish faces shook their heads and answered loudly.

Li Kangzhan felt gratified. As a soldier, being afraid of fighting is the most shameful thing.

The troops had not fought in decades, and no one knew how the upcoming war would be fought. What would happen?
Just before the Second Guard Division set out, Liu Zhiye convened a meeting of the heads of various departments to arrange work, and the discussion unknowingly brought up this topic.

After the heads of each department returned, they held mobilization meetings respectively.

To say that I'm not afraid at all is definitely not true.

But the young soldiers all expressed roughly the same message: "It doesn't matter if I die, I have other brothers and sisters at home."

They are all good young men. Looking at the groups of heroic young faces, Liu Zhiye wants to be as well prepared as possible to reduce the bloodshed and sacrifice...

(End of this chapter)