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Because my family was poor, I was too shy to go to buy tofu on the street.To tell the truth, schooling was never an option for me, but I learned to use an abacus and bookkeeping from my father with great care.
My father had only gone to school for a few years.He learned all these by practice.His handwriting was very beautiful, and people asked him to write couplets for special festivals, marriages, and funerals.Later, he opened a store for mounting paintings and calligraphy.I learned to write from my father when I was very young.Before I went to school, I could already write some words, and I knew some simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.Decades later, I could still write calligraphy.People complimented me saying my writing was in style, not like from someone who didn’t finish primary school.It’s all from the practice when I was a kid.
My father didn’t have much schooling, probably because he wasn’t able to attend due to the circumstances of his time, but he wanted his children to be educated, at least his sons.None of my three sisters went to school at all, except for my younger sister, who went to school for a few years after 1949.He may have valued sons more than daughters, but the major reason was the poor family situation.Otherwise, my brother wouldn’t have dropped out after primary school.
My elder brother’s name is Wenhao, my name is Wenrong.After we moved to Hengdian, I had a little brother whose name was Wenyin.Wenyin was four years younger than me but died of illness at the age of six.We three all had the word “Wen” in our names.People later guessed it was my father’s hope for us to become cultured men.It might be the truth, or just the coincidence that the middle name for my generation was “Wen”.
At that time, there was a village school in Hengdian, called Fenglu Primary School, on the south side of Phoenix Mountain.My older brother, Wenhao, was 9 years older than me.When he sent me to meet his teacher at Fenglu Primary School, he had graduated from primary school several years before and was no longer in school.So, at that time, I was certainly happy to be able to go to school, but when I thought of my older brother, who had to give up his studies because we couldn’t afford the tuition fees, I lost my interest in school.
After I entered the school, regardless of Chinese or arithmetic, I was always number one in the class.In addition to the practices from younger years, I worked very hard.At that time, the primary school had four year grades, two semesters a year, for a total of eight semesters.From the first semester to the seventh semester, I was always top one.I was smart and hard-working.I had a friend named Lu Mugao, who was my desk mate in the class.While I was always the top student, he was always last in all the exams.Teachers always spanked his hand.I had never been spanked.
After the seventh semester, because of the accidental death of my younger brother, Wenyin, I was also seriously ill.I did not attend the eighth semester.After staying at home for six months, I went to the upper grades of the Yuyang Primary School directly.
Yuyang Primary School was five li from Hengdian.The higher grades had two years and four semesters, but unfortunately.I fell sick only a few days after the first semester started.I had to stay at home.When it was the time for the second semester, my body was still not fully recovered, a classmate who was older than me, encouraged me that I could catch up because I was very bright and hard-working.I did work hard, and did catch up.I was ranked 6th for the second semester and 3rd for the third semester.Maybe I had worked too hard.After the third semester, I was sick again.Also I needed to help my family during that time, so I didn’t attend school for the fourth semester.
By the second year, the situation at home was somewhat better, and my health condition was also better.I went back to school for half a year.The students in the class all had similar situations, and they were older than the other classes.I was friends with two students at that time.One’s family ran a pharmacy, and the other’s family owned a noodle shop.The three of us often played together after school.Their families were better off than mine.They often stole some money from home and I would steal a little brown sugar from home.We went to Xialishu Street to buy tangerine candies and cakes with the money.A group of younger students always followed us, and we always shared some pieces with them.Sometimes we ended up having nothing left.
I remembered an anecdote of us.One day someone found a picture in a gazebo on the way from school to Hengdian City, with the words, “The mouse steals the oil.A teacher steals the woman.” The teacher who was implicated tried to find out who had written it and someone indicated it was us.The teacher called us to his office one by one.He whipped a friend of mine first, who didn’t confess nor cry.He was about 13 years old and had a wife who was 5 years older than him.His wife heard about this and came to school to rescue him.The teacher whipped my another friend then, but he cried so loudly that the teacher refrained a bit.When it was my turn, after I told the teacher I didn’t do it, I turned about and ran away, shouting for help.The teacher didn’t want to make a stir and spared me.It wasn’t us after all.We didn’t know who was behind this.
After six months of tutoring, I passed the exam and graduated.The good news was sent to my family.
My family paid for a graduation uniform for me.I was so happy that I wouldn’t take it off until it was badly worn.But this was the end of my schooling.