在上海读培成女中的时候，有位共产党的国文老师常常介绍我们读无产阶级的读物，所以我从那个时候就知道了共产党对地主的态度。1948年有很多主内的弟兄姐妹从北方陆续逃到上海。从他们口中证实了共产党对地主的清算斗争。1948年秋，时局紧急，兴华的母亲主张我们早日成婚，我们随计划在广州完婚。我们家是泗乡的地主，在共军直驱南下的当头，我打定主意要帮家里略尽绵力。
首要的是卖掉我们的地。但是在那没有同时间电视报导的时代，住在乡下的父母并没有感到情况的紧急。我力劝爸妈卖了田产搬到杭州去，在杭州他们就不会像在乡下这么树大招风，比较不会被注意到。但是我们家没有很多现款，得变卖田产才可以搬到杭州长住。在当时的环境很难找到买主。起初是没有买主，但如果有人问津，爸爸又会疑虑地自问，“人家会买，为什么我们要卖呢？”看来局势并不这么坏，还是留着吧！这样反反复复了好几回，僵持不下。我只好退而求其次，请他们运一批米到杭州去，这一点爸妈算是同意了。
我於十月回杭州，一面参加缸儿巷的特别聚会，同时留心适合的房子。我和朋友王美珍谈起，她正待产，想找个大一点的房子。他们夫妻俩就和我的父母在黄醋园合租了间三开间的房子，有六个房间。
地主没有钱，只靠米来换钱。我绞尽脑汁在杭州找地方储粮，真觉得力不能胜。起初找的是我在浙江广播电台的高中同学卢月梅和王莲芳，但她没法在宿舍里屯粮。（几十年后才从她们自己口中得知，她们根本是潜伏在电台的共产党地下党员。）我只好去找十几年都失去联络的姑妈家的表哥。我还记得那天早上到他家，他还没有起床，是他的太太先接待我的。后来表哥才下来，还穿这睡衣。那个场面是非常尴尬的，但是我为了家庭，还是老着脸皮提出要求。我肯定是情词迫切，因为表哥稍作考虑之后就答应腾出一间房间来給我们储粮。每当我想起这件事，都会觉得不好意思。我们曾经认为表哥和我们家一点情分也没有，没想到在紧急关头他却帮了我们这么一个大忙。
I was exposed to Communism early in life. A respected teacher of Chinese literature in Shanghai's Pei Chen Girls' Secondary School was a communist and often recommended socialist literature to us. So I knew how the communists felt about landlords. In 1948, many Christians moved to Shanghai from the north, trying to get away from the communists. They confirmed that communists did put land owners through all kinds of hardships. In the fall, as war raged, Charles's mother encouraged us to get married and we planned to hold our wedding in Guangzhou where he worked. As my father was a landlord, I decided to do something to minimize his risks.
The first thing I tried was to persuade him to sell the land. However, in that pre-TV era, even though he knew there was a civil war going on, his immediate surrounding in the countryside was still peaceful and he had little sense of urgency. At first we had problem finding a buyer, but then when we did find one, he would say,"If there's still someone willing to buy our land, things can't be that bad." and refused to sell. After all, the land was all we had, and he knew no other way of making a living. Who could blame him for his reluctance?
Then I tried to move our rice to Hangzhou. Landowners had little cash. We always had to sell our rice to pay the bill. So it was important to hold on to our rice. The first people I turned to was my high school schoolmates Yue Mei and Lian Yin who were radio announcers at the time. Of course, they were not allowed to keep bags of rice in their dorm rooms. (Unbeknownst to me, they had joined communist party years before and were assigned to work in Zhejiang Radio Station to spy on the establishment. They disclosed this to me when we met again in the 90's.)I had no choice but to approach a cousin whom I had lost touch for quite some time. I still remember that morning when I called on him. He was still in bed and it was his wife whom I had never met who received me first. Cousin came downstairs later, still in his pajamas. I felt very awkward to ask him for the favor, but still I had to do it for the sake of my family. Fortunately he acceded to my request and promised to give us a room to store the rice.
Finally, I found a place for my family to stay in Hangzhou. My friend Mei Zhen was expecting and wanted to get a bigger place. She and her husband ended up leasing a six-room house with my parents. It worked for both parties. This was done in the hope that my parents would acquire some anonymity in the big city and escape the Communits' attention. Only after settling my family into the new home did I leave for Guangzhou. All these efforts, in the end, turned out to be in vain.
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