Our reporter Wu Zhi, Tan Yuanbin, Le Wenwan
She was one of the first female paratroopers of the new Chinese airborne troops.
She is a moral model for donating her life savings to the development of education in her hometown.
She is an old Communist who never slackens.
At the age of 88, Ma Xu's steps became a little faltering, and the thin and thin she took firm steps and walked on the path she chose.
She still insists on exercising, studying, and scientific research day after day, and even strongly hopes to "dive again".
If you don't change your original heart, you can't help it, so it's perfect for this old grandmother.
Endless love for home and country
"Grandma, grandma!" In Ma Xu's hometown of Mulan County, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, when the children saw her, they screamed and surrounded her, making the old man bluntly "feel like a star."
At the end of June this year, Ma Xu returned to his hometown.
Speaking of the great changes in her hometown, the old man’s joy was beyond words. She successively used words such as "earth-shaking" and "unimaginable" to describe what she saw and heard.
"In my hometown, people are very energetic, with happy smiles blooming on their faces; the road is wide and flat, with trees on both sides, tall buildings one by one, let alone compare with the past, even with me in 2019. Time is different," she said.
The reason for this trip was that the Mulan County Ma Xu Wenbo Art Center built with donations from Ma Xu and his wife Yan Xueyong was completed in the first half of this year. The couple were invited to go back and have a look.
Wearing a blue camouflage uniform, Ma Xuying has a cool posture. She personally pulled down the red ribbon to unveil the centerpiece.
Life-long frugality is only a luxury.
In 2018, Ma Xu and Yan Xueyong donated 10 million yuan to the Education Bureau of Mulan County, their hometown.
This huge sum of money is the salary, financial management and patent income that the two elderly people have accumulated over their lives.
In order to round up the whole number, they also borrowed some money.
The Ma Xu Wenbo Art Center, covering an area of 4,679 square meters and exhibiting an area of 2,735 square meters, displays Ma Xu’s life deeds, the combat experience of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces in Mulan County, and Jinyuan Culture in Mulan County with text, pictures and old objects. And the customs of Ma Xu's second hometown, Huangpi District, Wuhan.
Since its trial operation on May 1 this year, Ma Xu Wenbo Art Center has become a well-known red education base and youth off-campus activity center.
The third floor of the building is an off-campus activity center for young people, which contains an instrumental music room, a vocal music room, a multi-functional classroom, a multi-functional rehearsal hall and a library. The library contains nearly 6,000 books and is open to students for free.
In summer, many children come here to read books, learn piano, dance and cut paper.
"The amount of material wealth is not important to the happiness of our two elderly people. Happiness lies in contributing to the people. I am a small person, but donate the money to the development of education in my hometown to help the children understand history, Cultivate hobbies and learning skills, and they will be able to build their hometown and motherland better in the future. I think it is worth it.” When talking about the charitable act of saving money and donating money, Ma Xu said that he and his wife “never regret it”.
"The idea of donating money is not temporary. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, people could not have enough food and clothes, and I almost starved to death. The Chinese Communist Party changed China's destiny. Following the party and enlisting in the army changed my personal destiny. I want to repay my favor," she said.
The incomprehensible love of paratroopers
"My body is tough. If I have the chance, I would like to parachute again." Ma Xu's eyes were bright and his voice was high when he said this.
The old man who is nearly 90 years old is not as good as before, but her faith and lofty aspirations have not diminished in the slightest.
Now, more than 70 years have passed since the day Ma Xu bid farewell to his mother to join the army.
Ma Xu heard her mother tell the legends of heroines such as Mu Guiying and Hua Mulan when she was a child. In addition, she was influenced by the history of the Northeast Anti-Japanese War in her hometown. She had a special yearning for joining the army since she was a child.
In 1947, Ma Xu, who was only 14 years old, joined the army in his hometown.
Soon, she got the opportunity to study at Northeast Military and Political University.
After graduating from the Military Medical University in March 1956, she was assigned to the former General Hospital of Wuhan Military Region as a military doctor.
In 1961, Huang Jiguang's army was formed as an airborne unit, and Ma Xu was transferred from the General Hospital of Wuhan Military Region to the airborne unit for medical support.
In the airborne troops, combat officers and soldiers perform parachuting tasks, and logistical support officers and soldiers are responsible for providing all aspects of support.
But Ma Xu felt that she must be able to parachute to better provide protection for the soldiers.
However, due to her small size and light weight, she repeatedly applied for skydiving training but was not approved.
She didn't give up, insisting on practicing the skydiving by herself every night, one practice is more than ten or even dozens of times.
In an assessment six months later, she obtained training qualifications with her outstanding performance and became one of the first female paratroopers in my country.
After more than 20 years, her airborne missions covered plateaus, mountains, rivers, and forests.
After retiring, she still has an indissoluble bond with skydiving.
In 2015, when she was 82 years old, she and her wife challenged paragliding in Hengyang, Hunan.
She still loves the airborne troops, and until now, she still chats with the little soldiers to learn about the current situation of the troops.
Noting that there was an ankle injury to a paratrooper, Ma Xu and his wife designed 6 sets of plans, drew hundreds of drawings, and developed an "inflatable ankle support."
Since then, they have developed the "Individual Plateau Oxygen Vest."
Both of these achievements have obtained national invention patents.
Ma Xu and his wife also wrote materials such as "Physiology and Pathology of Airborne Soldiers" and "Basis for Physical and Psychological Training of Airborne Soldiers", which filled the gaps in related fields.
"Many little soldiers read these materials and said to me,'Grandma, these things you do are really amazing. You are our role model.' But I think that the generation is stronger than the generation, and I will continue to work hard to be young. People learn." Ma Xu said.
Relentless learning motivation
At home in Wuhan, in order to find information, Ma Xu, who was thin and dressed in military uniform, moved a large stack of books and newspapers and moved hard and persistently.
The big-toed leather shoes on her feet are particularly eye-catching.
I don't know how many years these shoes have been worn, and the soles came out of glue, so she glued them together and put them on.
For more than 30 years after retiring, Ma Xu and his wife have been living a simple life.
The furnishings in the home are simple, and they are all old-fashioned furniture.
There is a seven- or eight-story Chinese medicine cabinet in the house.
Open the cabinet drawer, there is no Chinese medicine in the cabinet, but medical books, foreign language teaching materials and party history books.
The square table in front of the cabinet is where the two elderly people study.
They regard reading and newspapers as a daily "compulsory course", and sometimes they always see the lights go to bed after 11 o'clock in the evening.
Ma Xu said: "Party history and national history are precious treasures. The Chinese Communist Party has led the people of the whole country along the way, and is now embarking on a new journey of building a socialist modern country in an all-round way. At my age, I also have to think about how to give full play to my new journey. Role."
Over the years, Ma Xu and his wife have made thick newspaper clippings.
On these several inches of paper, you can see the dense red lines drawn by the old man while reading.
The old man also opened a report this year about "Why the Mars Rover is called Zhurong", "If I were not reading books and newspapers, I would not be able to keep up with this fast-developing era."
In a bedroom, cards with Japanese words are posted on the wall, on the window, and on the head of the bed.
A few years ago, Ma Xu applied for a master's degree in pharmacy.
But for her, foreign languages have always been a big challenge.
The old man was optimistic to exchange his experience of learning foreign languages with reporters.
"I look at the words on the wall, and then I think divergently based on the words, talk to myself in Japanese, and then check whether they are using them correctly."
They designed and customized two instruments on their own and named them "rotary ladder" and "roller".
Towards the end of the interview, the golden sunset shined into the house through the window and sprinkled on Ma Xujianyi's face. "I hope that I can learn and contribute to old age, so that I can do something and have fun in old age," she said.