作 者：龔如仲（美國）
海外頭條總編審 王 在 軍 （中國）
海外頭條副編審 Wendyh溫迪（英國）
海 外 頭 條總 編 火 鳳 凰 （海外）
圖片選自百度
【歲月如重】第二章：大學年代
第二部分：清苦而快樂的大學生
文/龔如仲（美國）
作為父母的獨生子，我在上海過慣了“飯來張口，衣來伸手”的日子。所以初到北京，乍一投入到有著各種規(guī)定和約束的集體生活里，我有太多的不習慣。在這里，沒有了父母的照顧，任何事情都得親力親為；八個同學擠住一間小小的宿舍里，又要遵循嚴格的作息制度，早上的懶覺是睡不成了。還有，一日三餐，飯?zhí)玫闹魇忱锖苌僖姷缴虾Ｈ隧汈щy離的大米飯，替而代之的是饅頭、面條和難以下咽的玉米面窩窩頭。然而，最難熬的還是周六和周日，因為北京有家的同學都回去了，我們這些無家可回的外地人只好留守宿舍，“享受”著孤單和落寞。
不過，這樣的煎熬很快就被我克服了。因為在我的心里始終有一個堅定的信念，那就是：我是個因家貧而每月獲得國家發(fā)放助學金的特困生，“唯有用功讀書，方有出頭之日；唯有成績優(yōu)秀，才對得起父母、對得起政府”。這樣想著，清苦的生活和想家的煎熬立刻化作學習的動力，讓我更加全身心地投入于學業(yè)之中。
說起來您可能不相信，大學的幾年里，我?guī)缀醢阉袠I(yè)余時間都用在了學習上。大學校園里的那一片小松林，就曾是我背誦英語單詞或課文的好地方。甚至有一段時間，同宿舍的同學們半夜里常常被我大段的英語夢話所驚醒。功夫不負有心人，幾年下來，我的學習成績在班上一直名列前茅。尤其是英語語言能力，更是被老師和同學們所稱贊?？梢哉f，我是一個刻苦用功的好學生。
當然，艱苦的大學生活里也充滿了快樂的回憶。
首先，集體生活帶給了我之前從未領略過的溫暖和愉悅。
在我發(fā)育成長時，恰逢中國最為嚴重的三年自然災害時期，所以初到北京的我明顯帶著營養(yǎng)不良的痕跡：一米七五的大個子，體重剛過一百一十斤，人瘦得象根“麻桿兒”。而在大學里，雖然吃不到什么好茶飯，但起碼一日三餐可以吃個飽。更值得一提的是，我們班上的女同學都特仗義，她們經(jīng)常把省下來的“主食券”、“菜金券”送給我們這些“餓狼”似的男同學。所以大學期間，我也沒少得那個后來成為我妻子的女同學的救濟。因此，到北京一年多之后，我就變成了一個壯實的小伙子。
其次，同學之間彼此和諧相處，其樂融融的氛圍讓人難忘。
我們幾個同居一室的同學相處得很是快樂。每逢周六晚上，北京籍同學早都回家了，我們幾個外地同學就會不時地舉行個“派對”（英語的PARTY）。盡管大家都是些囊中羞澀的窮學生，但一人出一毛錢還是出得起的。我們就用這些湊起來的錢到學校的小賣部買幾個皮蛋（就是“松花蛋”），再派一個同學到學校飯?zhí)谩巴怠?/span>點兒醬油和米醋。還有一位同學負責把皮蛋切成薄片，放入我們常用的搪瓷碗里，接著倒上些許醬油和米醋。之后，大家就圍坐一起，以茶代酒，一邊興高采烈地享用著美味的“皮蛋大餐”，一邊海闊天空地說笑、聊天。那個時候，彼此的心中都洋溢著一股幸福的暖流。這種由我們宿舍所創(chuàng)造的“星期六皮蛋派對”很快在同年級外地同學中流傳開來，一直延續(xù)到很久很久，，，，，
當然，我也不是個苦行僧，只要有可能，只要有機會，我也會特意去逛逛北京的名勝古跡，去下下北京城里的小館子。記得有一個星期天，班上一個叫馬亞川的同學請我們班長傅維元去逛動物園。而傅班長平日里又對我這個外地人相當照顧，所以他就建議馬同學把我也拉上，一塊出去玩玩。馬同學欣然同意后，我們三個人就坐著公共汽車到了動物園。那是我頭一回游玩北京動物園，開心是自然的，當然也開了眼界。游畢動物園，大家都覺得不盡興，于是又坐公交車去了頤和園。說句心里話，那是我到北京后玩得最痛快、也是最開心的一天。
更值得一提的是，那天馬同學還請我們下了館子。
記得那時，“高干”（高級干部）出身的馬同學（他的父親是一位縣委書記，在我們眼里，“縣委書記”當然是“高干”）從他口袋里掏出一張五元錢的大票子，說是“這五元錢足夠咱哥兒仨好好吃一頓了”。他那份豪爽讓我這個窮學生大長了一回見識，因為那時侯的五元錢，在一般的大學生眼里簡直是就是一筆巨款。
記得我們當時點了兩個炒菜，一個辣子雞丁，一毛六分錢；一份京醬肉絲，也是一毛六分錢；三碗米飯共一毛五分錢；三大碗散裝啤酒，計三毛錢；外加一大碗一毛錢的“甩果湯”（北京人叫蛋花湯為甩果湯，因為當時的北京大老爺們忌諱用“蛋”字兒，他們把雞蛋叫做“雞子兒”，他們認為開口提“蛋”這個字兒不文明）。三個人吃得心滿意足。后來一算帳，共化了八毛七分錢。雖然這八毛七分錢在家境殷實的馬同學看來不算什么，但對于一個月固定零化錢僅僅一元錢的我而言，卻算是一大筆錢財了。我得用這一元錢置辦我日常所需的肥皂、牙膏、筆記本，甚至給父母親寄信用的郵票。
這就是我大學生活的真實寫照。
***本文選自拙作【歲月如重—兼談華國鋒】之第二章：大學年代
Chapter 4: University Life
Part 2: Poor but Happy University Student Life
Posted by Ralph Gong
As the only son of my parents’, I was accustomed to a life with everything ready for me. But this privilege no longer existed after I went to Beijing, leading an independent life. At the university, there was no offering of direct parental assistance. Everything must be handled by myself.
I lived in a dormitory room with 8 bunk beds (upper and lower). Eight classmates shared and squeezed together in this small room space. Besides, the university had a series of school rules and regulations, which must be followed strictly. As a result, I had to change the bad habit of sleeping late at night and getting up late in the morning. But the most unbearable thing to me was I could not have sufficient rice to eat for my daily meals. Beijing being a northern city, the locals are more used to eating steamed bread, dumplings or noodles. These are mostly made from wheat flour.
On Saturdays or Sundays, students like me from other cities or other provinces would have to suffer from a certain loneliness because they did not have homes in Beijing, neither relatives nor friends around. When all my classmates from Beijing went back home over the weekend, I felt somehow lonely, facing the empty and quiet school complex and the dormitory rooms.
But all these seemingly difficult or “intolerant” sentiments were gone completely once I got used to the surroundings. A very strong belief in my heart supported me: I came from a poor family and the only way for me to change my and my family’s living condition was to study hard. No bright future would be waiting for me unless I graduate from the university with distinctions. Good job opportunities would be in line for me if I graduated decently. With this belief, I was very motivated at studying and became a hard-working student.
It might be difficult to imagine but I really used up almost all my spare time for learning. The Small PineForest in my university complex was an ideal place for my after-school English reciting. More than anything else, I sometimes spoke English loudly in my dreams. When my roommates told me about this, even I myself was surprised at it. The reason for speaking English in dreams sounded like in accordance with a Chinese saying: What you think about during the day, is what you will dream of at night.
I was indeed very eager to learn English well. I also tried to learn all other subjects well. In order to reach this goal, I worked really hard at that time. English being a beloved subject, however, I dedicated almost all my spare time to English reading and speaking.
Hard work paid off finally. I became one of the best students in my class since my academic performance was excellent.
It was true that my life in university was simple and even hard because my family was not rich enough to offer me any decent financial support. As a matter of fact, my monthly food supply plus a very limited amount of pocket money were provided by the University. On the other hand, my life on campus was unusually bright and interesting. The university’s collective life-style had brought me tremendous warmth and joviality.
When I was a young adult, China had just begun to suffer from its devastating nationwide Three-Year Natural Disasters. During that period of time, food, vegetable and meat were in serious shortage. I felt constantly hungry, not having enough food to eat. My health was thus being jeopardized. I was 18 years old, a rather tall man with 1.75 meters in height. But my weight was only 55 kilograms. I was so thin that I looked like a “hemp stalk”.
But after I entered the university, I could enjoy three normal meals per day. Meals at the school canteen could not be described as wonderful. But at least the meals could curb my hunger. Enough nutritious food and good living condition helped me a lot. In two years time, I gained a lot of weight and became a quite strong young man.
Also, good relationship with my classmates cheered me up, making me feel comfortable and happy, especially over the weekends. The eight male classmates in my dormitory room were very close together. None of us had a home in Beijing. We all came from other cities or provinces. On Saturdays and Sundays when the local classmates went back home, we would find some ways to kill time. The favorite way was to hold parties on Saturday evenings. Even though we were all poor students who did not have money, we were still able to bring in a party by contributing only ten cents each (at that time, ten cents RMB could buy half a kilo corn flour).
Collecting the total amount of eighty cents (10 cents each times 8), our dormitory could prepare a Saturday Evening Party. One of our roommates would go to the school retail shop to buy several preserved eggs. Another would go to the school canteen kitchen to “steal” some soy sauce and vinegar. When the eggs and the sauces were ready, one of our roommates would use a sharp knife to slice the eggs into pieces. The sliced eggs would be put into one big plate borrowed from our school canteen. Finally, soy sauce and vinegar would be added and mixed with the sliced eggs. This was our wonderful party food!
With our party food ready, we eight people would sit in a ring and start to enjoy the sliced preserved eggs. In order to drag the party a little bit longer, we tasted the eggs carefully and slowly. Such moments became unforgettable memory for me. We drank tea as “l(fā)iquor” to the eggs, talking and laughing loudly and happily while eating.
How simple food could bring joy beyond measure in those days! With it, all our sadness and loneliness were gone!
Gradually, our Saturday evening’s “Preserved Egg Party” activity became well-known. Almost all students in other dormitory rooms began to follow the pattern, also initiating such “Preserved Egg Party” from time to time. This “Party Tradition” did not stop until the Cultural Revolution began in 1966.
I guess I was never a Hindu ascetic. Whenever there was a chance to visit beautiful places or enjoy good food, I would be more than happy to try to grab the opportunity. I still remember one Sunday morning. On that day, my classmate Mr. Ma Yachuan invited our class monitor Mr. Fu Weiyuan to a Beijing Zoo tour. As I was quite close to Monitor Fu, Fu suggested to Ma that I should also be invited. Ma happily agreed. Thus, three of us went to Beijing Zoo by bus. That was my first visit of Beijing Zoo, which housed a big variety of wild animals.
The exciting visit to this famous Zoo widened my vision indeed! We felt that the tour should be continued. So we decided to continue our tour after a brief discussion by paying a visit to the SummerPalace, the world’s largest park. We had a lot of fun there. To tell the truth, that was my most satisfying trip ever since I came to Beijing.
Not to be forgotten was also a restaurant visit. Mr.Ma invited Monitor Fu and me to a dinner at a restaurant. Ma was a rich student because of his family background. His father was a county magistrate. In our students’ eyes, a county magistrate was by all means a high-ranking government official.
Before we walked into the restaurant, Mr. Ma pulled out one big note of Five Yuan RMB from his pocket and spoke proudly: ”This Five Yuan Note should be more than enough for us three brothers to have a good meal today!”
I was really impressed by Mr. Ma’s generosity. Five Yuan! Really big money! An ordinary family could use this money to buy about 16 kilograms of wheat flour at that time. And 16 kilograms flour was more than enough for the monthly consumption of a strong adult.
Sitting down at a table in the restaurant, Mr. Ma ordered two dishes, one soup and three bowls of cold beer. The dishes were diced chicken with green pepper (0.16 Yuan), fried pork meat slices with Beijing soya bean sauce (0.16 Yuan), tomato and egg soup (0.10 Yuan), three bowls of rice (0.15 Yuan) and three big bowls of cold beer (0.30 Yuan). Mr. Ma spent all together 0.87 Yuan, or 87 Cents, less than one Yuan! But we all ate to our full satisfaction!
To Mr. Ma, the total consumption of 0.87 Yuan might not be a big deal because he had enough pocket money. But to me, it was really a huge amount of money. My fixed monthly pocket money at University was only One Yuan. And this One Yuan must cover my basic consumption of soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, notebooks and even the stamps purchased for mailing letters to my parents.
(END)
About the Author:
Ruzhong Gong (Ralph Gong), born in Shanghai, China, now living in the USA.
Graduated From the English Department of Universityof International Business and Economics, Beijing, China
Before retirement, President of an USA overseas company under China National Light Industrial Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of a joint-venture company in USA, jointly owned by Australia’s Lief Group Company and China National Chemical Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of an American Brach Corp. under China National Foreign Trade Bases Corp.; Chief Representative in Beijing Office under Trade Am, an American Carpets Wholesale Company.
Author of 6 books, including “My Life—Family, Career & VIPs”, “How to Do Business in Mainland of China”, “My Leisure Time”, “My Leisure Time—Poems & Articles” , “Poems and Essays from Leisure Chamber” and “Flowers By My Side”.
Member of the Chinese Poetry Society (CPS), Free Lance Writer for Austrian Sinopress, and Senior Consultant for Taiwan Caiwei Publishing House.
【作者簡介】
龔如仲（英文名ralph），生于中國上海。中國對外經(jīng)濟貿易大學英語一系畢業(yè)，畢業(yè)后在鐵道部援建坦贊鐵路工作組任英語翻譯（曾在非洲工作四年）。中國國際廣播電臺英語部英語播音員、記者，外貿部中國輕工業(yè)品進出口總公司出口二處業(yè)務員、副處長，外貿部輕工業(yè)品進出口總公司駐美國公司總裁（處長）。2012年至2016年，臺灣采薇出版社出版自傳《歲月如重》《東西南北中國人---細談如何在大陸做生意》《悠然時光》和《悠然時光---如仲詩語》。2018年4月，中國國際廣播出版社出版《悠然齋詩文選》，2018年9月，中國國際廣播出版社出版《花兒在身邊開放》?，F(xiàn)為中華詩詞學會會員、中國經(jīng)典文學網(wǎng)特約作家、臺灣采薇出版社顧問。世界詩會聯(lián)合總會【北歐總社】、【好萊塢總社】常務總社長。
