C4 (2/2)

At this point in time, this recruitment form had not died prematurely. Not long after, Wang Wen had gone to work at Wu Dao River Coal Mine for two years, and the hidden pain from the recruitment was still tormenting him. This caused him to feel disheartened and dispirited. He was unable to persevere any longer. He thought:

”Wasn't it because he was a Party member that he had been captain for so many years in Team Six? Then, if the Party members were gone, the Captain would naturally be gone, so he thought of leaving the Party. When he could not sleep, he thought: ”The Party raised me, educated me, made me serve the people, gave me honor, and gave me power. How could I not be grateful?” How can I eat water and forget to dig a well? On the other hand, he thought: If I am not a member of the Party, can you not let my uncle give me a job offer? If we continue to work like this, when will we be able to take the lead? ” The more he thought about it, the narrower his heart became. Thus, the latter conquered the former, and he finally made up his mind to leave the Party.

It was a night in the late autumn of 1975 when Wang Zipeng wrote a thick application for retirement. He imprinted three copies on paper. One copy was given to the Erdaojiang Rural Party Committee, one copy was given to the Taoyuan Village Party Branch, and the other copy was kept by himself. The current Secretary of Erdaojiang Rural Party Committee was called Ma Gui Xiang, nicknamed Blind Ma. After Wang Zipeng submitted his application for retirement, his heart became much more relaxed. He felt as relieved as he did; he was also mentally prepared for a decision to be made by the Party committee.

The days passed one by one until finally, on the eighth day, a Saturday afternoon, the secretary of the Erdaojiang Rural Party Committee, Ma Gui Xiang, came to Zi Peng's house alone. Ma is in his forties, is a little fat, wears a pair of glasses, speaking slowly. Secretary Ma asked as soon as he entered:

”Is this Wang Zipeng's home?” Zi Peng walked out of the house and said,

”Yes, I am Wang Zipeng. Ouch! Isn't this Secretary Ma? How could a dignified Party Secretary walk into a valley? What brought you here? ”

”Isn't this all your doing, brat?”

”Secretary Ma, didn't I quit the party already? You can just notify the Party branch of the Taoyuan Brigade. Why walk so far? ”Look at how tired you are, hurry up and come in. Let's sit and talk.”

”Since I'm here today, I don't plan on leaving. Tonight, I'll stay here and have a good chat with you.”

Wang Zipeng saw that Secretary Ma was already over 40 years old, but being so concerned about a normal Party member who was about to fall behind, being so protective and being so stubborn, his eyes became moist.

At night, Secretary Ma and Wang Zipeng slept in the same room, and the two of them talked to each other for an entire night. Secretary Ma finally convinced Wang Zipeng with sincere examples. Wang Zipeng expressed:

”Secretary Ma, thank you for your concern for my political life. Thank you for your love and care for an ordinary Party member. It was you who extended your hand of fraternity, saved me, saved a member of the Party who was about to fall behind, saved my political life. Secretary Ma, punish me. No matter what punishment, I will accept it. ” Secretary Ma laughed and said:

”Foolish brat, if I wanted to punish you, why would I waste so much effort? A single sentence from the party assembly can solve the problem. Why pursue so far away? ”As long as they don't mention leaving the Party, working well as the captain and serving the people, then it would be as if nothing had happened.”

With that said, he took out the 'application to leave the Party' from his backpack and handed it over to Zi Peng.

The second day was Sunday. Wang Zipeng led Secretary Ma to walk around production team and visited a few farmers. In the afternoon, Secretary Ma walked back. The Secretary Ma left, but Wang Zipeng thought long and hard about it: For a member of the Communist Party to be so passionate about his work and so concerned about his comrades, it was truly admirable, truly worthy of respect. In comparison, Zi Peng felt very ashamed and small. For his own self-interest, he had even abandoned the Party members. How could he be worthy of being groomed by the Party for so many years? At this moment, Zi Peng secretly made up his mind that he would not let down the efforts of the Party to cultivate him, that he would not let down the efforts of the Secretary Ma, that he would not let down the trust of the entire team. From now on, I have to do my job well and show them what I can do...

”Dad, it's time to eat.” Her daughter's shout broke Wang Zipeng's train of thoughts.

The sun had already risen very high, and the thick morning mist was being scattered by the ten thousand golden rays of the fiery sun. They turned into steam and floated into the air, gathering into white clouds.

The fog dispersed, the sun's strong light on the ginseng, see each curtain of ginseng growth good, lush green. Under the light of the sun, it radiated a green lustre. The most attractive part were the ginseng seed s. Each ginseng had 5 forks, the middle one was dried, and each stem was more than a foot tall. At the top of the stalk was a completely red ginseng seed. Right now, the ginseng seed was about to be harvested. The ginseng seed was fiery red and the ginseng leaves were emerald green. At a glance, it was truly beautiful, truly beautiful, truly beautiful. It was as if they had arrived in a fairyland …