Chapter 588 Memorial to the Female Soldiers of the Art Troupe
Ning Ming was in the southwest of Green City, close to the border. Fang Minghua took the train for more than four hours before arriving at the county seat. It was already five o'clock in the afternoon.
The county town is much more prosperous than ten years ago. In the past, there were soldiers wearing 65-style military uniforms walking around on the streets. The county town was almost a barracks. But now all these have disappeared, and it is no more than an ordinary county town in the mainland. the difference.
Fang Minghua found a state-owned hotel to stay at, and chatted with the waiter at the front desk about his grave sweeping.
When the waiter heard that Fang Minghua came to pay homage to his friend, he smiled and said: "In recent years, many people from all over the country have come to pay homage. The graves of the comrades in the art troupe you mentioned are probably no longer at the foot of Faka Mountain. It has been moved to the Martyrs Cemetery. You’d better go there and have a look.”
It turned out that in 1988, Ningming built a martyrs' mausoleum, and all the remains of martyrs who died in the self-defense counterattack and were buried in the three cemeteries of Tongmian, Zhilang and Beishan on the border, as well as the loyal bones of all revolutionary martyrs buried in various places in the county, were preserved. Relocated to the cemetery for burial.
"The Martyrs Cemetery is right next to National Highway 322, on Nala Mountain behind the County Transportation Bureau. You can see it when you go south from here and leave the county." The girl pointed to the road enthusiastically.
"Thank you."
Fang Minghua decided to rest for one night and go back the next morning.
Unexpectedly, it started to rain the next morning.
It wasn't raining heavily, so Fang Minghua went to the department store on the street and bought an umbrella, and then walked out of the city according to the waiter's directions.
After leaving the city, I quickly saw the Martyrs Cemetery on the side of the national highway, halfway up Nala Mountain.
Walking upward, you will soon arrive at the gate of the cemetery. The main entrance is a tall and majestic antique archway facing south and north.
Finding the cemetery management office, Fang Minghua found out the information about martyr Yang Xiaohong of the Southern Xinjiang Cultural Troupe, bought another bouquet of flowers, and walked south according to the address given. The martyr’s tomb area is located at the south end of the cemetery. Fang Minghua went over to the entire The whole area is densely packed with tombstones.
He found that although it was raining today, there were many people coming to the cemetery to pay their respects, and many of them spoke with accents from all over the world, including gray-haired old men and children.
Finally, in an inconspicuous corner, Fang Minghua found Yang Xiaohong's tombstone. There was a portrait of a girl on the tombstone, wearing a 65-style military uniform, smiling with a pair of cute little tiger teeth.
Fang Minghua remembered that the girl was less than 20 years old when she died.
Place a bouquet of white chrysanthemums, white lilies, and calla lilies gently in front of the tombstone, and then bow respectfully three times.
Looking at the girl's portrait, Fang Minghua's memories suddenly came back to that summer ten years ago.
"Hey, great writer, you will follow wherever Tangtang goes? Are you worried?"
"Fang Minghua, I didn't expect you to be good at singing."
"Fang Minghua, you can write poems and novels, and you can dance and sing. You are such an all-rounder. What else can you do?"
>The girl's voice and smile appeared in front of her eyes.
If you don’t sacrifice, you will be the same as Tangtang and become a mother and have a happy family, right?
Fang Minghua thought to himself.
Somewhat uncomfortable.
At this time, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the sky and the earth were shrouded in mist.
Fang Minghua was holding an umbrella and was about to leave when he suddenly discovered that at some point, there was a woman holding an umbrella and wearing a white shirt standing next to her, holding a white chrysanthemum in her hand.
The two met each other.
A woman in her thirties with short hair.
"You are Fang Minghua, right?" the woman asked in a tentative tone.
"I am Fang Minghua, you are." Fang Minghua looked at this familiar woman and suddenly remembered a person's name.
“You are Meng Hongxia! Tangtang’s comrade.”
“Yes, I am Meng Hongxia. I stood here and looked at you for a while. It looked like you, but I didn’t dare to recognize you. ." Meng Hongxia said. Meng Hongxia was also Song Tangtang's comrade-in-arms in the Southern Xinjiang Art Troupe. They lived in the same dormitory at the time and the two had a very good relationship.
Fang Minghua met this girl when he was collecting music in Southern Xinjiang, and later when the Southern Xinjiang Song and Dance Troupe went to Yanjing to report on their performances.
Fang Minghua explained that he came to Greentown for a meeting, and Song Tangtang asked him to come to Ningming to pay homage to the sacrificed Yang Xiaohong.
"You did get married to Tangtang. At that time, Xiaohong and I both said that you and Tangtang are a talented couple, a perfect match," Meng Hongxia said.
"Thank you, are you also paying homage to Yang Xiaohong?" Fang Minghua asked.
"Yes." Meng Hongxia gently placed the chrysanthemum in her hand in front of the tomb, bowed three more times, and then said to Fang Minghua:
"My home is in Longzhou, just west of Ningming. Sometimes I come to see Yang Xiaohong when I come to Ningming for business."
The two left the Martyrs Cemetery together and each talked about their own experiences.
It turns out that in 1985, Meng Hongxia transferred from the Southern Xinjiang Art Troupe and returned to her hometown. She was assigned to work in the county theater troupe. Later, she married a man and had a child.
"I guess you don't know very well. In recent years, theater troupes in the county have generally been closed down due to poor performance. Our county is also the same. The troupe has closed down. The members of the troupe have to find their own way. My husband and I started a small business. I came to Ningming today to buy some goods, so I came to visit Yang Xiaohong, and I didn’t expect to meet you," Meng Hongxia said at last.
Fang Minghua also discovered that he remembered that Meng Hongxia and Song Tangtang were the same age, and they were very beautiful at the time, but this time when they saw her, she was obviously much older than Song Tangtang, and she actually had white hair when she was less than thirty.
What happened in the meantime?
Although Meng Hongxia didn't explain it in detail, Fang Minghua could also think of it.
"Hey, I remember that there was a fellow from Xijing in the art troupe, named Zhou Shunlai, who played the trumpet. Later, he broke an arm. What is he doing now?" Meng Hongxia suddenly asked.
Of course Fang Minghua knew Zhou Shunlai.
When I went to southern Xinjiang to collect stories, it was this fellow who took him with him in the military camp. The male protagonist who wrote the book "Youth" was combined with Liu from the original movie "Youth". It is written about the deeds of Feng and Zhou Shunlai.
Now when Meng Hongxia mentioned this matter, she said: "He was demobilized from the army and assigned to the Security Section of our Zhouzhi Agricultural Machinery Factory in Xijing Suburban County, but I haven't seen him in the past few years."
" Oh, he plays the trumpet so beautifully.”
“Yes”
The two of them went down the mountain and said goodbye to each other on the side of the national highway. Fang Minghua told Meng Hongxia Song Tangtang’s contact information and said that if I have the opportunity to visit Xijing.
Meng Hongxia smiled and agreed.
Fang Minghua didn't waste any time when he returned to the county town. After checking out at the guest house, he rushed to the train station with his travel backpack and returned to Nanning.
This time I stayed at the Nanfang Building on Chaoyang Road, which was known as the tallest building in Greentown at that time. The main reason was that the guest rooms had telephones. You could call Song Tangtang at night. I haven’t heard from him for more than a week after I left.
At around eight o'clock in the evening, Fang Minghua estimated that his wife had already answered, so he dialed his home phone number.
"Tangtang, I am in Greentown now. I went to Ningming yesterday to pay homage to Yang Xiaohong. Guess who I met?"
"Who?"
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"Meng Hongxia."
"Hongxia? We haven't seen each other for almost ten years. How is she now?" Song Tangtang's tone was full of surprise.
Fang Minghua told her what happened today at the Martyrs Cemetery.
On the other side of the phone, Song Tangtang listened and sighed quietly but said nothing.
The two chatted for a few more words. Fang Minghua asked about the situation of the two children and then hung up the phone.
(End of this chapter)