A glimpse ｜ ＂Two Bombs＂ Deng Jiaxian’s wife Xu Luxi calmly spent her 95th birthday in a 70-square-meter old house.

August 11th, 2023

Is a member of the ninth Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference,

"Two Bombs" Deng Jiaxian’s wife Xu Luxi

95th birthday

the same day

Xu Luxi is in Huayuan Road Community, Haidian District.

In an old house less than 70 square meters

Spent his birthday peacefully.

A peaceful birthday

There were no flowers and no birthday party. The only birthday present was a few birthday calligraphy and paintings created by some comrades from China Academy of Engineering Physics and Jiu San Society, sent by my nephew Xu Jin, a member of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

After Deng Jiaxian died in 1986, Xu Luxi never celebrated his birthday again. This time, she still declined the proposal of relatives and friends to celebrate her birthday.

On the same day, the reporter of the People’s Political Consultative Conference Network promised to go to Xu Luxi’s residence to take photos of her 95th birthday.

Xu Luxi is in a wheelchair, with a thin face and gray hair, but in good spirits. Seeing her nephew coming with a reporter, she folded her hands and smiled and said, "Thank you, you have worked hard."

"You can take photos with these calligraphy and paintings and us. I’ll send them to others later and thank them." Xu Jin suggested.

Accompanied by his son and nephew Xu Jin (first from the right), Xu Luxi took a group photo with the birthday calligraphy and painting.

"good! Good! " Xu Luxi nodded and said to his son around him, "Let’s take a picture in front of your father’s bronze statue and let him have a look."

For nearly 20 minutes, accompanied by her son and nephew, Xu Luxi took photos with every calligraphy and painting. Until the reporter got up and left, she did not forget to say goodbye.

"My aunt has asthma and hasn’t been downstairs for 10 years. Like her uncle, she only talks about dedication, but she has no requirements for the country and doesn’t want others to worry more about her. " Xu Jin told reporters.

When coming downstairs, the reporter heard Xu Luxi’s small but clear voice in the room: "Xiaojin (Xu Jin’s nickname), remember to send me the photo on WeChat!"

The reporter said to Xu Jin in surprise: "Does the old lady still play WeChat at such a big age?"

"People are not old, she relies on WeChat to contact the outside world!" Xu Jin’s words amused the reporter.

As always, home furnishings

Xu Luxi lives in an old community built in the early 1960s. Xu Luxi lives on the second floor of a four-story old building. The corridor is dimly lit, and he walks up the concrete stairs, with thick pipes exposed on the wall. Her residence is a three-bedroom apartment with a small living room, only about 10 square meters. There is a simple dining table against the wall, on which are two steamed buns and some bananas that my son just bought. The bedrooms on both sides have little space, and the furnishings are simple and clean. The middle bedroom has been transformed into a living room, and the furniture and bookcases inside are very old and even a little rustic.

Since Deng Jiaxian left, Xu Luxi has been living in this old house for a long time. Although she has the conditions to live in a better house, she is unwilling to leave. The furnishings in the home are as usual. She marked all her husband’s utensils with the date of use, even the towels on the sofa where he sat were not changed.

Xu Luxi pasted the words "Deng Jiaxian’s former residence" on the wall of the house door. In this way, she wanted to keep half a century’s time and the short time she had with Deng Jiaxian.

There are two wooden sofas in the middle of the living room. According to Xu Jin, these two sofas were visited by Yang Zhenning when he returned to China for the first time in 1971, and his uncle specially borrowed them from the unit.

There are several personal photos of Deng Jiaxian on the desk near the east wall, all covered with plastic bags to prevent dust. There is a bust of Deng Jiaxian on the right side of the desk, which is illuminated by the roof light. On the wall above the bronze statue, there is a yellowed paper with the words "Two Bombs, Founding Father Deng Jiaxian" written by General Zhang Aiping.

"I support you!"

Deng Jiaxian was able to become a "two-bomb father" because of his wife Xu Luxi’s silent support.

Xu and Deng are family friends. In 1953, Xu Luxi and Deng Jiaxian, once childhood friends, got married, and they lived a quiet and happy life for five years.

One day in the midsummer of 1958, Deng Jiaxian came home later than usual. After a hasty meal and sitting in silence for a while, he went to bed alone, tossing and turning, but he couldn’t sleep.

According to Xu Luxi’s recollection, "At that time, he told me that he wanted to transfer his job, and I asked him where to transfer. He said that he could not say that, nor could he say what he was doing. I said you give me a mailbox number, and I’ll correspond with you. He said it wouldn’t work. I was very sad at that time. I was 30 years old, he was 34 years old, and his children were very young. I didn’t know what he was going to do, but he was very determined. He also said that if he did this well, his life would be very valuable. After listening to what he said, I felt at that time that he had made up his mind, and then he suddenly added, it is worth dying for it. I cried when he said this. I said, why are you going? What should you make up your mind to do? Although I later knew that he was engaged in the research and development of’ two bombs’, when he said that he couldn’t manage things at home and entrusted everything to me, I answered him, I support you! "

Then, like into thin air, Deng Jiaxian plunged into the isolated and desolate Gobi Desert. And he didn’t tell his parents about his whereabouts, nor did he tell his wife and children. In 28 years, he led the team to develop China’s first atomic bomb, first hydrogen bomb and first neutron bomb under extremely difficult conditions. In 1964, China’s successful atomic bombing shocked the whole world. On June 17th, 1967, China’s first hydrogen bomb successfully exploded in Lop Nur.

During the secret course of Deng Jiaxian’s nuclear weapons research in China, he was uncertain about his life and death for a long time, and he didn’t know where to go until his last breath. His wife, Xu Luxi, always kept her parting promise and waited without any regrets.

Until 1985, the husband and wife were finally able to stay together for a long time, but Deng Jiaxian was seriously ill because of work. On July 31st, 1985, Deng Jiaxian was diagnosed with rectal cancer and returned to Beijing for hospitalization. On August 10th, Xu Luxi waited with tears in her eyes. A few days later, because the white blood cell count was too low, the treatment had to be interrupted, and the doctor suggested that Deng Jiaxian go home to recuperate.

This year is also the last time for Xu Luxi and Deng Jiaxian to get along. On July 29th, 1986, Deng Jiaxian passed away in his wife’s arms at the age of 62.

Climb the medical peak

As Deng Jiaxian’s wife, Xu Luxi is also a female scientist. She has never given up her love for medical career. She has been engaged in the teaching and research of human anatomy and neuroanatomy.

Xu Luxi has made great achievements in the field of neuroanatomy. As early as the early 1960s, he translated Strong’s book "Human Neuroanatomy" with his colleagues, which played a good role in promoting the development of neuroanatomy in China. In the early 1980s, neuroimmunocytochemistry was just emerging in the world. After visiting and studying in the United States for three months, Xu Luxi immediately organized the first domestic workshop on neuroimmunocytochemistry technology. She not only invited Swanson, a famous American scholar, to give lectures in China, but also personally organized technical teaching. Xu Luxi’s research work involves many fields, such as the morphology of acupuncture anesthesia principle, the regulation mechanism and fiber connection of the brain to the autonomic nervous system, the chemical anatomical construction of the brain visceral regulation center and the distribution and changes of various neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. She won the first prize of Beijing Science and Technology in 1978, the second prize of National Excellent Book in 1990 for her book Neuroanatomy, and the "Peach and Plum Award" of Beijing Medical University in 1999. She has successively published dozens of papers and trained dozens of masters and doctors.

Even in his later years, Xu Luxi insisted on teaching seven-year undergraduate and graduate students. She also pays special attention to the guidance and training of young teachers. In order to improve young teachers’ professional level and independent teaching ability as soon as possible, Xu Luxi gave careful guidance while pushing young teachers to the front line of teaching. Revise the lecture notes of young teachers word by word and personally guide the trial lecture.

"The highest state of love is mutual support."

After Deng Jiaxian’s death, Xu Luxi compiled the 1.01 million-word Collected Works of Deng Jiaxian. Xu Luxi is a medical scientist, and he is not very proficient in the theory of nuclear physics. In order to sort out Deng Jiaxian’s manuscripts before his death, she repeatedly studied two English books sent by Yang Zhenning, starting with the concepts of nucleus, neutron and chain reaction. She said: "I am just like a primary school student who starts to learn the basics like three in one, six in two, and nine in three, but these things must be done." If Deng Jiaxian were alive, he would also publish his academic achievements. "

Xu Lu Heezen said: "The highest state of love is mutual understanding and mutual support, because only in this way can we get up the courage in difficult times and cross all obstacles!"

"There are half of you in the military medal,

It’s half mine, too,

To grandma Xu Luxi.

Happy birthday, health and longevity.

And pay high tribute to the elderly.

Editor | Mari

Comprehensive | People’s Political Consultative Conference Network Beijing Evening News China Nuclear Industry News Xinhua News Agency Voice of Jiu San Society

Original title: "A glimpse |" Two Bombs "Deng Jiaxian’s wife Xu Luxi calmly spent her 95th birthday in an old house of 70 square meters.

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