Liu Benhai's My Years in the Wind

I often think of the thrilling years I spent in Fengkou in those years, and I still have a lingering fear.

I grew up in Guanzhong Plain, which is called Bali Qinchuan and has a pleasant climate. When I graduated from college, inspired by the clarion call for the development of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China's western region, I also decided to make contributions to the places where the motherland needs it most. I left my parents and Guanzhong Plain alone and came to Turpan, Xinjiang, thousands of kilometers away. Later, I applied to teach in Toksun County, the hardest place in Turpan. Before I came to Toksun, my understanding of her only came from an article "March into the Desert" by Mr. Zhu Kezhen in junior high school Chinese textbook: ... such as Xingxingxia, Toksun and Dabancheng in Xinjiang are all famous outlets. "I think, what's terrible about the wind? For me who has never experienced any strong wind, I also want to see the power of the wind! I want to experience the feeling of dancing in the wind.

I was arranged to teach in a school called Lake Ira Township, which is more than ten kilometers away from Toksun County. Lake Ira, the name sounds beautiful, but there is no lake here, but it is a vent! At noon that day, I went through the formalities in the county education bureau and got on the bus to Lake Ira excitedly. I didn't expect the wind to scare me on the first day of teaching! Starting from the county seat, along a simple country road, the wind gradually grew stronger. When I got off the bus, I felt the power of the wind. The wind wrapped in sand and hit me in the face. I dare not open my eyes. I suddenly felt helpless and scared. I hurried to a sheltered place and looked around. I can hardly see the street. Rows of dilapidated storefronts are closed, and awnings built with rafters and straw mats outside the storefronts whine in the wind, like ghosts crying and wolves howling. From time to time, there will be a strong wind blowing, only to hear a "sudden" sound, then see the straw mat was lifted up, and then fell down with a bang. ...

I walked into the school with my head down and the strong wind, and my heart was a little calmer. According to the school teacher, the wind is not too strong, and sometimes it can blow people to the sky and uproot trees! They told me that there is a piece of Guaishi Forest in Toksun, which is located on the Geshan Ridge in Richardt of Toksun Pan, and is located in the 30-mile wind zone in the west of Turpan Basin. The wind is strong and fast, and windy days with magnitude 8 or above account for one-third of the whole year. After hundreds of millions of years of intense wind erosion and rain erosion, Pan Jianxin's Geshan gradually formed a strange landscape full of potholes and strange rocks, just like a "ghost town"! If there is a strong wind in Ghost Town, it will definitely make you feel scared and scared out of your wits ... I just heard that it has begun to change color.

Later, the school leaders arranged for me to live in an adobe house. The adobe houses here are all square, with thick walls, up to half a meter thick! Are clods made of raw soil; The roof is a rafter shed covered with mud and grass. School leaders must have thought that I would find it rustic, so they smiled and said to me, don't underestimate this rustic hut, it is the best place to prevent sandstorms!

Since then, day after day, I can only curl up in this small hut and spend it in fear.

The weather was fine just now, and suddenly a wisp of wind swept across the ground, as if a horn sounded. Soon, the wind began to dance on the ground and the sky began to get dark. People hide in the house and close the doors and windows. The wind is blowing harder and harder, like drums and neighing horses! It galloped and waved, blowing dust all over the sky, covering the sun; It growled, vented, screamed, one by one, rolled up sand and hit everything that stood in its way. It seems that there is a great anger in its heart, and it is necessary to tear everything up and make the whole world submit to its feet! At this time, people dare not walk on the road, cars dare not walk in the wilderness, only trees, bent desperately, almost touching the ground! People have no choice but to stay indoors and can't watch TV, because in such windy weather, the power department must cut off power first for safety; Hungry, dare not make a fire to cook, can only eat cooked food, because in such windy weather, a little spark may cause a fire, causing incalculable losses; I can't even sleep. Maybe you just fell in love with your eyes, and suddenly a whistling wind surprised you into a cold sweat. When the wind is tight, people's hearts are tied together with the wind. You will worry that the wind will lift the roof and blow down the house, and the dust will break the window and block the door. Your heart is shaking and the house is shaking in the wind! I think everyone who stays in the house at the moment is nervous and frightened. They all pray over and over again in their hearts: the wind, be smaller, be smaller, don't destroy my house and my crops; I still have a lot of urgent things to do. Don't let me suffer in a dark room. ...

After a long period of prayer and expectation, the wind finally subsided, perhaps because it was discouraged, discouraged and subsided. It seems that no amount of magic can do much harm to this land.

As soon as the wind stops, people immediately open the doors and windows, and then clean up all the fine sand and sundries blown by the wind in front of and behind the yard. The fresh air, the faint fragrance of flowers, and the stream flowing in the mountains that day, you really doubt that they have just experienced a thrilling sandstorm. ...

The farmers rushed to the field again to see if the seedlings were blown down by the wind and whether they needed replanting. Every April and May, when the seedlings are unearthed, but also when the wind is raging and the sandstorm strikes, few intact seedlings can be found in the field. However, farmers will never give in to the sandstorm, and their hard work will always be rewarded in autumn.

The wind left me an unforgettable memory of terror, as if the wind also wanted to stop me from pursuing love.

An enthusiastic teacher in the school introduced me to a girlfriend who teaches in a primary school in a neighboring village. Her home is in the village. When I first met her, I fell in love with her, and one day I won't feel that Sanqiu and I are separated.

It was a Sunday and the wind blew in the morning. It's boring to stay alone in an empty school house. I miss my girlfriend. At noon, I decided to go to my girlfriend's house in a sandstorm. I got on my bike and set off. As soon as I hit the road, I gradually felt the power of the wind, but the power of love is endless. I tried my best to hold the handlebar and pedal hard. However, when I passed a tuyere, I was blown into the rocky ditch on the side of the road by the strong wind. The car was pressed on me and scraped several times. I forgot the pain, got up, pushed the car into the road, bent down and struggled forward ... When I arrived at my girlfriend's house, my girlfriend's house was surprised to see my mess. I didn't expect that I dared to go out in such a strong wind! Just pour me water and let me wash my face and look at my injury carefully. Later my girlfriend became my wife. Once, she told me with a smile that she decided to marry me because of that move.

In the married life after the separation of the two places, the wind not only did not dilute our love, but also made us realize the beauty of missing and the sweetness of reunion. Later, due to work needs, my wife and I transferred from Toksun. The day I left was also a windy day. I don't know if the wind came to see me off or if you want me to see its magic again! When life is finally calm, I will always think of the days and nights spent in sandstorms in those years. ...

The other day, I went back to Toksun on my way to work in other places. Toxon in front of me has completely erased the memory in my mind. She has become modern, fashionable and energetic, no less than the county towns in the mainland. Once, Toksun was just an ancient road station connecting the north and south of Tianshan Mountain. "The Western Regions" Volume II, "Hui Yu, Tok three, ninety also. Ninety families live in it, hence the name. Transliterated as Toksun. " There used to be only 90 families, only a few hundred people. Now, she has developed into a Pearl of Silk Road with a population of over 100,000. The wind may think I can't blow anything here, but it gives in and flinches. People not only gradually conquered the sandstorm, but also began to use it. The wind disaster makes people feel frightened, but the powerful energy contained in the wind makes Toksun people more excited!

I went back to Lake Ella, but I didn't expect this once desolate town to take on a new look.

Facing the happy people in this stormy place, the wind had to leave the mark of the grotesque forest for tourists to enjoy.

Liu Benhai

Deputy editor-in-chief of Turpan magazine Member of China Prose Society, member of Xinjiang Writers Association, and the first batch of contracted writers of Xinjiang Electronic Audio-visual Publishing House. More than 600 literary works have been published and reprinted in hundreds of newspapers and periodicals across the country, and their works have been compiled into 100 series, extracurricular reading materials for middle school students, and have been compiled into Chinese test questions for senior high school entrance examinations in some provinces and cities.