葉家灣：美麗而動人的小山村

只有100多人的小山村，藏在青山中似乎秘不示人，很難想象它曾經有過的聲望。這個自然村叫葉家灣，隸屬于余姚市三七市鎮唐李張村。如今以綠色生態令人矚目。

汽車輕駛在大池墩水庫碧波旁的馬路上，一派青山綠水撲面而來，進入翠竹濃蔭深處即到葉家灣，一批新式民居隱映在綠色叢中，又有古老的石砌老屋留著歷史的記憶。一幢老式樓房五間兩弄，照壁高聳，門口立有余姚市文物保護點的標牌。房子的文物價值既在它是民居建筑，又有共產黨統戰工作的歷史亮點。屋里有位八旬老人叫葉根友，說起葉家灣往事有板有眼，聽他講來還頗有韻味：“葉家灣地處偏僻名氣大，明清兩代已住人，村莊歷史難派（記）賬?！敝v到抗日戰爭年代：“后面高山嘸（沒）平洋（原），山里開起被服廠（新四軍后勤機關），進出人員交交關，聯絡員是康先生。”

這聯絡員康先生名叫葉志康，他是共產黨三北辦事處聯系的民主人士、有名鄉紳。當時三七市一帶稱慈溪西鄉（今余姚東鄉）。新四軍浙東游擊縱隊活躍于杭州灣南岸三北地區與四明山之間，葉家灣是重要的聯絡點，何克希、楊展大等革命先輩駐點葉家灣，何克希的兩個女兒還在葉家灣讀書呢！

小山村里故事多。1943年，當時新四軍的重要將領張愛萍的夫人李又蘭，在娘家寧波北侖做產后，由浙東區黨委指派樂群姑娘護送李又蘭回蘇北新四軍機關。當時鐵路、公路不通車，要乘小火輪溯姚江而上，到羅家渡上岸后向北步行，經三七市到三北去，樂群姑娘是浙東敵后抗日根據地和寧波城鄉之間的秘密聯絡員，又和李又蘭是同鄉，她準備好出入關卡的證件，她倆到了三七市，一路上還算順利。當時楊梅姹紫嫣紅，路上與山民親切攀談隨手采摘楊梅，兩人邊走邊吃，十分快活。經過葉家灣時，不見前來接應的同志，竟撞上端著步槍的一隊日本鬼子。樂群對李又蘭說：“蘭姐，敵人已發現我們了，我們只能朝前走，不能跑，你跟住我，按我的眼色行事，我會應付?！?/p>

“站住，花姑娘的，哪里去？”鬼子吆喝著，他們正在三北地區大掃蕩。

“到親戚家里去。”樂群神態自若地回答。她拉著李又蘭朝葉家灣一幢樓房走去。

日本鬼子跟著她倆到樓屋，一進門，就看到坐著好多日本兵，原來這次日本鬼子到三北掃蕩，西南一路的司令部就設在葉志康家。葉志康見樂群和一位姑娘來到屋前，后面又跟著一隊日本兵，心中頓時明白，立即放開喉嚨說：“啊！你們這么遲才來呀，你們姨媽早就等急了?！?/p>

葉志康的妻子聞聲出來，看見緊跟的日本兵，也心知肚明，緊緊拉住樂群和李又蘭的手說：“啊呀！你們總算來了?？欤焐蠘侨??！本瓦@樣，樂群和李又蘭住進了最危險也最安全的地方。一個星期后，日本鬼子下鄉掃蕩結束，樂群就陪著李又蘭翻山到達三北根據地，見過譚啟龍后，翌日過杭州灣赴蘇北。

樂群知道葉志康的身份和表現，在葉家灣有葉志康的傳奇故事。如今村邊古樟樹旁有追思亭，亭中立有葉志康紀念碑，由慈溪市人民政府撥款建立。碑文記述葉志康“抗日戰爭初期，在中國共產黨領導下，任慈、鎮、姚抗日建國工作推進會常務委員會委員，解放后，任慈城云華救濟院院長，浙江省各界人民代表會議代表，慈溪縣各界人民代表會議常務委員會副主席”。碑文肯定其“愛國愛鄉，在抗日戰爭時期、解放戰爭時期和解放后為革命和人民做了好事”。

戰爭年代的好事，在經濟大潮中人們有些淡忘，而葉志康的生命價值卻穿越時空。每當楊梅紅熟時，回憶新四軍浙東游擊縱隊戰士和山民一起培植楊梅樹、采摘楊梅的日子，大家記憶猶新。位于余姚、慈溪、鎮海三縣交界處的這個小山村，當年日本鬼子掃蕩，土匪、偽軍勒索，山民苦不堪言，葉志康總是從中周旋，使山民渡過難關。葉家灣緊依余姚楊梅的發源地石步村，村民主要靠楊梅和竹筍為生。從前楊梅時節，山民天微微亮就上山采摘楊梅，到中午時分挑到十里路外的羅家渡上航船，再轉到寧波水果行銷售，三轉六回，價格低廉。

今非昔比。如今公路通到山村里，再也不用肩挑手拉去山外賣楊梅。顧客采購楊梅的汽車進山多多，尤其是雙休日，小山村里熙熙攘攘人氣旺，有位村民小組長一家三口，楊梅年收入近6萬元。葉家灣的楊梅銷路特別好，楊梅的品質優異，果粒大，水分足，甜度高。同樣是原產地的荸薺種楊梅，葉家灣山地上種的優于他鄉，這與適宜楊梅樹的土質相關。山下是大片竹林，遠眺山腰上有深綠色的樹叢，那是大片楊梅林。山民勤于培植楊梅樹，楊梅未熟呈小青果時，山民便上山疏果，就是把擠生在一起的四五粒青楊梅刪掉一大半，剩下的楊梅承受陽光雨露，營養充足，自然長得特別甜美可口。

葉家灣許多年來，還只有100多人，外人不大理解，卻又是事實。如果從戶籍上查核，當然不止100多人，因為不少年輕人走出山外，有的從事外貿行業，有的開設民營公司，還有的參與金融和其他行業，一些人成了銀行骨干、企業領導。楊梅時節，主人帶客人，客人帶游人，來村中的人比春節來的客人還多！

葉家灣的居民中還有從外地退休回老家的，82歲的葉建華從上海退休，腰板硬朗，氣宇軒昂。兩夫妻住宅寬敞，有五間臥室。他說，楊梅時節和節假日，親友常來葉家灣，這些常客往往下午5點在上海下班，開車過來，7點多便可到葉家灣用晚餐，親友們贊美葉家灣是世外桃源、天然氧吧。

葉家灣平時顯得靜謐、清幽，一俟楊梅紅了，郁郁蔥蔥的楊梅樹狀似云朵，楊梅綴滿枝頭，燦若紫霞。前人寫有《楊梅贊》詩：“五月楊梅正滿林，初疑一顆值千金，味勝河溯葡萄重，色比瀘南荔枝深?！?/p>

葉家灣，一個美麗而又使人思念的小山村!

（本文攝影：楊瑞軍）

Small Mountain Village: History and Waxberry

By Hui Quan

Yejiawan is a small village snuggled in a mountainous suburb of Yuyao， a county-level city in eastern Zhejiang. The village is now home to about 100 residents. It is well known for two things: it has a revolutionary history and it is widely known as a producer of waxberry.

Far away from anywhere and hidden in mountains， Yejiawan is now accessible by a highway， which zigzags all the way through mountains and flanks a large reservoir. An old house in the village is now designated as a historical heritage under the protection of Yuyao City Government. The house was once owned by Ye Zhikang， a country gentleman who worked as an undercover agent for the revolutionaries in the 1940s especially when Japanese soldiers came frequently to drive away resistance guerillas. Zhang Aiping (1910-2003) was a high-ranking commander of the communist-led New Forth Army during China’s resistance war against Japanese aggression and was China’s defense minister from 1982 to 1987. His wife Li Youlan was a native of Ningbo. After giving birth to a baby in 1943， Li was to return to her husband in the headquarters of the New Forth Army in Jiangsu Province. She was escorted by a young woman who was an undercover Communist. Yejiawan was a stop-over midway place on their route to the north. While approaching Yejiawan， they ran into a group of Japanese soldiers on a mission to search guerillas. The liaison woman asked Li Youlan to follow her and they pretended to be visiting relatives in Yejiawan. When they came to Ye Zhikang’s house， Ye took them in as visiting relatives. It turned out that Ye’s house was used by Japanese army as the temporary headquarters for the military campaign. Li Youlan and her escort stayed in the house safely and waited for the Japanese to go away. During the war， Ye Zhikang was trusted by the Japanese and this gave Ye opportunities to help the resistance guerillas. During the war， Yejiawan was， for a while， home to a military garment factory secretly operated by the communists. During the Liberation War (1946-1949) and in the early years of the 1950s， Ye did a lot to help the revolutionaries and the government. That is why there is now a monument and a pavilion standing in memory of the country gentleman.

Waxberry and bamboo shoot are the mainstays of the village’s economy. In the past， villagers got up early in the morning when it was time to harvest waxberry. After picking waxberry for hours， they walked five kilometers carrying the tasty but highly perishable fruit to a river port. They then traveled by boat to Ningbo and sold fresh waxberry to retailers there. Nowadays， a highway reaches the small mountain village. When it is waxberry season， people travel all the way to Yejiawan to buy the new crop. The big， juicy and sweet waxberry at Yejiawan sells well.

Of course， Yejiawan has a registered population much more than 100 people. Many， however， work and live somewhere else. Many work in banking and trade business. They usually come back for the Spring Festival. And they come home during the waxberry season， bringing guests and treat them with waxberry.