我叫傅平，生于1964年6月18日，出生在中国常州一个普通的干部家庭。我的父亲傅春煊，生于1929年，于2005年去世。他曾是北港中学的生物老师。母亲柏小琴，生于1932年，于2001年去世。她在生前是常州新闸中小学的一位老师。我有三个妹妹。
大妹傅和平，又名傅丽，生于1967年。她曾在武进化肥厂工作，现已退休。二妹傅红于1989年从苏州蚕桑专科学校（现并入苏州大学）水产养殖专业毕业，被分配到常州新闸乡水产公司工作，现在是常州市钟楼区政府的一名公务员。她曾担任过区妇联、档案局、红十字会和卫健委的副职，目前在单位担任科级职务，再过两年就可以退休了。三妹傅逸萍，英语专业毕业后曾当了一年老师，后来到我在无锡的表哥的公司工作了一段时间。再后来又回到常州，创办了一个小型贸易公司，目前在印度尼西亚从事商贸工作。
我的爷爷傅福春，出生日期不详，被苏北的王姓大户家族收养，也就是我的继曾祖父。王曾祖父曾在国民革命军第19路军蔡廷锴处担任中级军官，因此我的祖父也在19路军领取过饷金。1949年前，他一直在国民党军中服役，但1949年后便失踪。有传说说他去了台湾，也有传说说他在上海死亡，但我父亲在1949年随中共20军进驻上海，并没有见到我祖父的尸首。我的奶奶王玉珍，生于1898年，在上海当佣人谋生。在抗战前夕，她随王姓曾祖父（当时已经七十多岁）带着我父亲回到了常州老家，也就是位于常州西郊的新闸镇下塘傅家塘，因为那里有祖上留下的一间老屋。傅家曾祖父有四个儿子，1930年代建有四开间二层木楼一栋，一个儿子一间。另外有个前屋做厨房和柴房，楼房和前屋当中一个小院子。49年后因为我父亲被中共派回家乡搞土改，奶奶还担任过村妇联主任，她于1983年去世。
在我父亲这边，我有一位姑姑于2020年去世，享年90岁。另外一位叔叔名字不详，于1949年17岁时在上海车祸身亡。在我母亲那边，有兄妹7人。外婆外公一共生了12个孩子，存活了7个，其中两个是男孩，五个是女孩。七个兄妹中，有七人相继去世，现在只有最小的姨妈还健在。我母亲热爱学习，在1950年，18岁时加入了识字读书的活动。后来上了小学、中学，毕业于常州市第十中学。接着被学校保送到常州师范中专部学习，中专毕业后一直在武进北港乡新闸中小学工作。值得一提的是，常州新闸乡也有一个新闸小学，两校相距几公里，现在已经合并为一所学校。
我母亲通过学校的同事吕老师认识了我父亲。吕老师是幼儿园的老师，她的丈夫是傅家塘的人。吕老师住在我家对门，她介绍了我妈妈和我父亲认识。我父亲在1958年从江苏农学院本科毕业后，被分配到江苏高淳县（靠近南京）农业局工作。由于我奶奶住在傅家塘，所以我父亲会回来探望。我爸妈在1963年结婚，当时我父亲已经35岁，母亲31岁。次年1964年我出生了，因此我的父母算是大龄父母。当时我爸妈都是国家干部，一个是大学生，一个是中专生，再加上我奶奶，一家四口有三个城镇户口，一个农村户口，因此当时的经济条件还算过得去。后来陆陆续续又添了三个妹妹，再加上我父亲因病退休在家，他每个月只有45.5元的工资（当时是国家23级工资，属于三类地区），母亲是小学老师每月只有34.5元（属于25级工资），因此经济压力比较大。
我的童年是在常州武进北港乡蒋家大队的傅家村度过的。童年的回忆基本上就是整天在外面瞎玩。我爸在集市上买了几只兔子放在家里养，他让我带着两个妹妹去给它们割草。那时候小妹妹还没出生，小妹妹是在1971年才出生的。有时候我一个人在田埂边割草，一边在水田里抓鱼抓青蛙玩。当时水田的水是从运河里抽上来的，没撒农药前，稻田里小鱼特别多，还有很多泥鳅和青蛙等。我一般玩到太阳落山，然后匆匆忙忙割一点草回家。最值得回忆的是，当春天油菜花开了，我会钻到油菜地里割草，感觉到了另一个神秘的世界。当时的天气特别好，我会看着白云发呆，因为我奶奶告诉我神仙都住在云里。在60年代后期和70年代初，中国农村实行人民公社制度，土地是公有的。我家只有奶奶是农村户口，所以只有一小块自留地。我妈把那块自留地看得很重，因为全家的蔬菜供应都靠那块地，我妈每天下班后都带我去劳动，我一般是帮我妈妈一起担水浇菜。
我爸年轻时曾患过肺结核，颈部还有肿瘤，不能太过劳累。尽管是农学院毕业，但我从未见他亲自在自留地里种过粮食或蔬菜，地里的活都是由我妈妈和奶奶包揽了，我爸有时也会来帮忙浇水。我爸从高淳县调到武进县后，就在北港公社担任农技员，仍然是国家干部编制，相当于现在的公务员。公社里哪里需要育种了，或者农忙了，都是找他，他一早骑个自行车出去，很晚才回来，我奶奶总是在村口眺望等我爸回家。我妈每年春天还要养一群鸡，二三十只左右，等公鸡长大了会鸣叫了就杀了给我们补身体，母鸡则养大了生蛋。养鸡的事我爸很上心，让我们把割的青草晒干了，然后去农机站磨成糠，作为鸡和兔子冬天的饲料。他还会把吃剩的骨头敲碎了喂鸡，所以我们家的养的鸡特别会生蛋。
然而，我父亲的健康状况逐渐恶化。他之前曾患过肺结核，颈部肿瘤让他痛苦不堪。最终，由于健康原因，他不得不在家长期休息。随着我父亲的病休和三个妹妹的加入，我们家面临着财政困境。我妈作为一名老师，为了养家糊口仍然坚持工作。尽管面临着困境，但我父母决心为我们提供教育。他们非常重视教育，认为这是通向更好未来的关键。
我的童年回忆充满了家庭的温馨、农村生活的简单喜悦以及父母的爱和牺牲。家庭所面临的挑战只是加强了我们的联系，那些早年培养的价值观仍然影响着我们今天的人生。
My name is Fu Ping, born on June 18, 1964, in an ordinary cadre family in Changzhou, China. My father, Fu Chunxuan, was born in 1929 and died in 2005. He was a biology teacher at Northport Middle School. His mother, Bai Xiaoqin, was born in 1932 and died in 2001. She was a teacher at Xinzha Primary and Secondary School in Changzhou during her lifetime. I have three sisters.
The eldest sister Fu Heping, also known as Fu Li, was born in 1967. She once worked at Wuhan Fertilizer Plant and is now retired. The second sister, Fu Hong, graduated from Suzhou Sericulture College (now merged into Soochow University) with a major in aquaculture in 1989. She was assigned to work at Changzhou Xinzha Township Aquatic Products Company and is now a civil servant in the Zhonglou District Government of Changzhou City. She has served as deputy to the District Women’s Federation, Archives Bureau, Red Cross Society and Health Commission. She currently holds a section-level position in her unit and will retire in two years. The third sister, Fu Yiping, worked as a teacher for a year after graduating with an English major, and then worked for a while in my cousin’s company in Wuxi. Later, he returned to Changzhou and founded a small trading company. He is currently engaged in business in Indonesia.
My grandfather Fu Fuchun, whose date of birth is unknown, was adopted by a wealthy family surnamed Wang in northern Jiangsu, and he is also my step-great-grandfather. Great-grandfather Wang once served as a mid-level officer in the Cai Tingkai Department of the 19th Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, so my grandfather also received pay from the 19th Route Army. He served in the Kuomintang army before 1949, but disappeared after 1949. There are legends that he went to Taiwan, and there are also legends that he died in Shanghai. However, my father entered Shanghai with the 20th Army of the Communist Party of China in 1949 and did not see my grandfather’s body. My grandmother, Wang Yuzhen, was born in 1898 and made a living as a servant in Shanghai. On the eve of the Anti-Japanese War, she and her great-grandfather surnamed Wang (who was already over 70 years old at the time) took my father back to her hometown in Changzhou, which was Fujiatang, Xiatang, Xinzha Town, in the western suburbs of Changzhou, because there was an old house left by her ancestors. Room. The great-grandfather of the Fu family had four sons. In the 1930s, a four-bay, two-story wooden building was built, with one room for each son. There is also a front room for kitchen and woodshed, and a small yard between the building and the front room. 49 years later, because my father was sent back to his hometown by the CCP to carry out land reform, my grandma also served as the director of the village women’s federation. She died in 1983.
On my father’s side, I had an aunt who passed away in 2020 at the age of 90. Another uncle, whose name is unknown, died in a car accident in Shanghai in 1949 when he was 17 years old. On my mother’s side, there are 7 brothers and sisters. Grandma and grandpa gave birth to a total of 12 children, 7 of whom survived, two of whom were boys and five of whom were girls. Seven of the seven brothers and sisters have died one after another, and now only the youngest aunt is still alive. My mother loved learning and joined literacy and reading activities in 1950 when she was 18 years old. Later, he went to elementary school and middle school, and graduated from Changzhou No. 10 Middle School. Then he was recommended by the school to study at the technical secondary school of Changzhou Normal University. After graduating from the technical secondary school, he has been working in Xinzha Primary and Secondary School, Beigang Township, Wujin. It is worth mentioning that there is also a Xinzha Primary School in Xinzha Township, Changzhou. The two schools are a few kilometers apart and have now been merged into one school.
My mother met my father through teacher Lu, a colleague at school. Teacher Lu is a kindergarten teacher, and her husband is from Fujiatang. Teacher Lu lives across from my house, and she introduced my mother and my father to each other. After my father graduated from Jiangsu Agricultural College in 1958, he was assigned to work in the Agricultural Bureau of Gaochun County, Jiangsu Province (near Nanjing). Since my grandma lives in Fujiatang, my father will come back to visit. My parents got married in 1963, when my father was 35 years old and my mother was 31 years old. I was born the following year in 1964, so my parents were considered older parents. At that time, my parents were both state cadres. One was a college student and the other was a technical secondary school student. Together with my grandmother, our family of four had three urban registered residences and one rural registered permanent residence. Therefore, the economic conditions at that time were quite decent. Later, three more sisters were added one after another. In addition, my father retired at home due to illness. He only had a salary of 45.5 yuan per month (at that time, it was the national salary level 23 and belonged to a Category III area). My mother was a primary school teacher. It’s only 34.5 yuan (a 25-level salary), so the financial pressure is relatively high.
My childhood was spent in Fujia Village, Jiangjia Brigade, Wujin Beigang Township, Changzhou. My childhood memories are basically just playing around outside all day long. My father bought some rabbits at the market and raised them at home. He asked me to take my two sisters to mow their grass. The little sister was not born at that time. The little sister was only born in 1971. Sometimes I mow grass alone on the edge of the field, while catching fish and frogs in the paddy field. At that time, the water in the paddy fields was pumped from canals. Before pesticides were sprayed, there were many small fish in the rice fields, including many loaches and frogs. I usually play until the sun goes down, then mow some grass and go home in a hurry. The most memorable thing is that when the rapeseed flowers bloomed in the spring, I would get into the rapeseed field to cut grass and feel another mysterious world. The weather was very good at that time, and I would stare at the white clouds in a daze, because my grandma told me that the gods lived in the clouds. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, China’s rural areas implemented the people’s commune system, and land was publicly owned. In my family, only my grandma has a rural registered permanent residence, so we only have a small piece of private land. My mother values ??that piece of private land very seriously, because the whole family’s vegetable supply depends on that piece of land. My mother takes me to work every day after get off work. I usually help my mother carry water to water the vegetables.
My dad suffered from tuberculosis when he was young and had a tumor on his neck, so he couldn’t work too hard. Although he graduated from an agricultural college, I have never seen him personally grow food or vegetables in his own plot. My mother and grandmother did all the work in the field, and my father sometimes came to help with watering. After my father was transferred from Gaochun County to Wujin County, he worked as an agricultural technician in Beigang Commune. He was still part of the national cadre establishment, equivalent to today’s civil servants. Whenever there was a need for breeding in the commune, or when the farming was busy, we would always look for him. He would go out on his bicycle early in the morning and come back very late. My grandma would always look out at the entrance of the village and wait for my dad to come home. My mother also raises a group of chickens every spring, about twenty or thirty. When the roosters grow up and crow, they are killed to replenish our health, and the hens are raised to lay eggs. My dad was very interested in raising chickens. He asked us to dry the cut grass and then go to the agricultural machinery station to grind it into chaff as winter feed for chickens and rabbits. He would also break up the leftover bones and feed them to the chickens, so our chickens are particularly good at laying eggs.
However, my father’s health gradually deteriorated. He had previously suffered from tuberculosis and a tumor in his neck was causing him excruciating pain. Eventually, due to health reasons, he had to rest at home for a long time. With my father on medical leave and three younger sisters joining the family, our family faced financial difficulties. As a teacher, my mother still works to support our family. Despite the odds, my parents were determined to provide us with an education. They attach great importance to education as the key to a better future.
My childhood memories are filled with the warmth of family, the simple joys of rural life, and the love and sacrifice of my parents. The challenges our family faced only strengthened our bonds, and the values developed early in life still influence our lives today.
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