Back to the Work Unit
In September of 1973 without explanation or warning, I received orders to go back to my work unit.
Before parting I said good-bye to the farmers since this was a very uncertain journey and I did not know if I would ever see them again. We all wept and I especially cried bitterly because I had found that I never deviated in my character and heart from my good and honest farmer-brothers. The truck was waiting for me. The farmer-brothers gave me steamed bread; sweet potatoes, pomegranates and some gave me raw eggs. But it was decided at the last minute that I could not travel on such a long trip with raw eggs without breaking them. So the truck had to wait longer while the eggs were boiled. The Farm Leader got angry that this “rightist” was so cared for by the farmers. He felt that the farmers should pay closer attention to others’ political points of view.
On returning to my work unit I was assigned the job of being a grit cleaner which means that I used a pneumatic shovel to remove grit from big castings. So it was considered that in the steel-casting workshop, I did “penal labor under surveillance by the masses.”
My first night back at the Company, I was put in the guesthouse. My friends secretly came to see me and each narrated his hard luck in the past years. They also told me of the great efforts that were taken in order to uncover the facts of our “counterrevolutionary group.” I was told that each of my friends was locked up apart from the others.
The official story went that one man among us had his family threatened. He was unable to bear up under the threats and afflictions so he confessed that I was the commander and he was the minister of foreign affairs and others held various positions. But, he never had any evidence for his accusations because obviously there couldn’t be any for the stories that he had fabricated while under duress.
I thought into the night about all the things I had been told that evening. I remembered that this man was a native of Shanghai and really wasn’t very close with any of us. When we were ferreted out he was as proud as a peacock to be with us and he never seemed cold and indifferent. One day he was ferreted out and then became closer to us. He built ties of friendship and had a closer hand in our lives. But it turned out it was only to betray us. As soon as he exposed us and he thought he had rendered a service, he never showed interest in us again. It seemed like he was almost planted as a spy or quickly took that position when threatened.
I could not believe that our having an active counterrevolutionary group was tenable to anyone. Consequently in our company everybody was talking about this matter. Actually the organization of the Communist Party knew that it all was an out-and-out fabrication. They were accustomed to embellished reports, which they often required of people. They did this to play with us and to see how much pressure a person could stand. But, I was concerned that they had heard of another matter and might pay attention to it. Someone had also said that I had wanted to go over to the enemy. And this really had happened.
I had at one point told others that I had been thinking about the possibility of hiding in a cave in Changan county, which was 20 km from Xian . At the time, we had all been expecting a war with Russia. My idea was that when USSR would storm into China, I would go to their side. I knew enough Russian and that my engineering background would be valuable. Apparently the man from Shanghai had produced a photograph, which showed a bed, and a military can in it. The proclaimed photograph was a counterfeit. I had never been to the caves, but just had heard of them and that others were thinking of going there. I had been a close friend of an apprentice from Changan, who worked on the same scaffold team. In 1969 relations between China and USSR were strained. In 1970 our government started to move criminals that had been relocated to Qinghai back to the east. I was certain that once USSR invaded China, they would be sure to kill the “5 kinds of elements” that were being held in Laogai because they knew we would defect. I made up my mind to escape from Xian one step ahead. This apprentice knew there were caves in Changan. He was willing to help me to succeed in escaping this catastrophe, to tell me where I might hide myself and he even got things prepared for me. As for this military can, he was borrowed from me easily. This matter was ferreted out as front-page news. Before I returned to my company, I was absolutely ignorant that these ideas had been exposed.
I always was solicitous about the “4 kinds “of people that Mao said that he wanted were landlords, slaveholders, capitalists and party chieftain of forces of darkness. Why was I not exposed with the facts about my crime. You know this would cause me to be put to death. Originally they took the same action or view without prior consultation. Attributing all this to a traitor, because he betrayed us. From this, let me succeed in escaping a deadly blow.
Afterwards, I knew, when I came far from jail, for the sake of my wage. On the meeting of part community, this new secretary of office Wang had vowed this former secretary of capital construction section, now is the director of political department, Gou up, because he proposed omitting my wage, substituting living expenses for yuan. Wang firmly believed this would be harmful, remold my ideology, and he finally would have won. when I have held if yuan. It is not no good person in the party, for my problem I found not only one least, but they are in sorry plight, they are forever a lower officer, they had be promoted, most of these members were provided with real warrism-lenism conviction. They can’t fawn on, this make them short of winning promotion condition. Some time I have very sympathy for those communist party’s officers, even if they had done bad things, provided it is not a seriously ill, or evil mind, I am willing to forgive them, because if not, he must not continue at his post.
What wrong has the theory and purpose? She did not ask communist member to persecute masses. Contrary, she hopes to build a no class, no country earthy paradise, but careerist made use of it in the name of revolution as measure (because it is rich in appealing) gaining power. After gaining the power then that is another thing. The real communist member would not forget what had their took the oath on being admitted to the party.