Chapter 4 Part 1 Talented Boys and Smart Boys

Xu Zhimo is the only child of the Xu family, the jewel in Xu Shenru's palm, and the darling of his grandmother and mother. But Xu Shenru, who has a successful career, knows that he must strictly control his son as soon as possible, otherwise he will easily appear the prodigal habits of the children of rich families.Therefore, he has very strict academic requirements for his son. In 1900, Xiao Zhimo was sent to a private school by his father.He followed Sun Yinxuan and Zha Tongzhen successively to live in the family school for 7 years. When Xu Zhimo was 4 years old, he entered the Kaimeng family school, and his teacher was Sun Yinxuan, who was from Qingyunqiao in the same county.At that time, it was the period of the alternation of the old and new educational systems in China.The imperial examination has been abolished, and a new type of enlightenment education has been implemented in Shanghai before the opening of the fashion, but the new local schools have not yet opened, and the traditional kindergarten is still dominant. Therefore, most children still study in private schools.

Like all scholars, Sun Yinxuan gave Xu Zhimo and others the traditional "Zhihu Zhe Ye" enlightenment education.The husband was very absorbed in reading, shaking his head and reading "Yellow Bird Yellow Bird" in a drawn-out tone, and the children followed suit and chanted loudly.The teacher also let them know the square characters such as "Wen Xing Gao Zhao", "Soon Foot First", and "No. 1 Scholar".These obviously cannot attract Xiao Zhimo who is curious and loves nature.When he started class, he was distracted, staring blankly at the blue sky and white clouds outside the window; sometimes he would make a face, poke his companion secretly, or imitate a few cat meows.Listening to the class irregularly, two cold lights shot from behind the two round gold-rimmed glasses of the husband, and the nanmu ruler in his hand slammed on the desk with a "slap".Looking at the wide and extremely elastic ruler, the naughty children were suddenly frightened and quiet.The youngest, Zhimo, is usually very clever and is very popular with his husband. The way to punish Du Miaomiao, the richest man in Xiashi, is to let him read or recite articles.Xiao Zhimo can always read or memorize it in a well-tuned manner. Therefore, his extensive knowledge and strong memorization impress my husband very much.The mischievous, lively and active Xiao Zhimo is very clever and savvy, although he sometimes doesn't study hard.Sun Yinxuan admired him very much, praised him as "a beginner who is smarter than his peers", and concluded that he has a bright future.

A year later, the family school changed its teacher, and Zhimo began to learn ancient Chinese from Zha Tongzhen, also known as Tongsun.Cha Tongsun is from Yuanhua Township in this county.Yuan Huacha's family is a well-known family in Haining.Mr. Cha is a tribute student, with a solid foundation in ancient prose and a good knowledge, but he is a bit old-fashioned and very strict.This Mr. Cha is a strange person, with high ability, full of knowledge, and has the medical skills of rejuvenation, but he is an old man who is so dirty that he can't be dirtier. According to Xu Zhimo, when Mr. Cha was born, his parents were afraid that the child would catch cold, so they didn't bathe him, just like Zhimo's mother did.For decades until his death, Mr. Cha never took a bath.I usually neither brush my teeth nor wash my hair, and it is rare for me to even wipe my face.He likes to smoke, and when he opens his mouth, his black teeth are exposed, and the stench hits his face.Xu Zhimo once self-examined himself in this way. Mr. Cha was obviously lazy because of laziness, but others praised him as unrestrained and uninhibited, thinking that extraordinary people should have that kind of virtue.He always couldn't figure out why his own parents were diligent and self-motivated, but his son was so lazy?He came to the conclusion that he was influenced by Mr. Cha?

For six full years, Xu Zhimo lived a monotonous, boring, rigorous and fulfilling family school life with this strange man.It is this kind of strict traditional education that laid a solid foundation of "old learning" for him to become a modern intellectual who is proficient in both Chinese and Western cultures. In 1907, 11-year-old Xu Zhimo ended his family life and entered Xiashi Kaizhi School.This is the first new-style school opened in Xiashi Town after the abolition of the imperial examination system.The courses offered by the school include Chinese studies, English, mathematics, nature, self-cultivation, physical education, etc., which made Zhimo very fresh.Life here is much more interesting, and he is deeply attracted by many wonderful knowledge.Zhimo is talented, intelligent, receptive, and has a good memory, so he quickly stood out.He has a wide range of interests and has a strong interest in natural science.Although he didn't spend much time on textbooks, he was always the first in the class.

Thanks to the good foundation of Chinese studies laid down by 6 years of private school study, Xu Zhimo's Chinese scores are particularly outstanding.His Chinese teacher was Zhang Zhongwu, and his achievement was the deputy list of the provincial examination, that is, Juren.Teacher Zhang often praised and commented on his compositions in class.Xu Zhimo's "On the Defeat of Brother Shuhan Tongguan" written by Xu Zhimo in his graduation year was especially appreciated by Mr. Zhang. This article also best shows his solid foundation in Chinese studies.Mr. Zhang's red face and wide eyes when he excitedly commented on his composition in class is something he will never forget.

Just when Xu Zhimo graduated from elementary school, he was found to be suffering from congenital myopia. Coupled with his intelligence and eagerness to learn during school, his eyes were already highly myopic.Xu Shenru is very proud of his son's achievements, but he loves him very much.He took Zhimo to Shanghai to get a pair of glasses.At the time, glasses were still a novelty.Xu Zhimo mentioned in "Rainbow After the Rain" that the awareness of most of life is only the awareness of eyes and ears; while he has lived a vague life for more than 20 years, he is a suspicious creature !He remembers first discovering that his eyes were nearsighted when he was 13 years old.When the first pair of glasses was finished, it was already dark.At that time, he was walking on Nicheng Bridge with a friend.Zhimo tried on the glasses and looked up, wow!What a great, blue, and unfamiliar sky, with thousands of twinkling divine eyes, piercing through his spectacled eyes, and penetrating the depths of his spiritual mansion.Zhimo couldn't help shouting: "Good day, my rights to eyes are restored today!" Since then, glasses have become an indispensable part of Xu Zhimo.But spectacles are good, but they can only help people see things, but they cannot make people see for themselves; if people are not willing to see, know, and enjoy the natural world by themselves, then even if they wear ten or twenty pairs of spectacles, the spectacles Also invalid!It was many years before he was able to shout again: "Good heavens, I only know the right to use my life today!"

In the spring of 1910, Xu Zhimo entered Hangzhou Fuzhong School to study.Hangzhou Fuzhong School, commonly known as Hangzhou Fuzhong, is the best middle school in Zhejiang, and his cousin Shen Shuwei went with him.The school was renamed Zhejiang No. 1 Middle School in 1913, and later renamed Zhejiang Provincial Senior High School and Hangzhou No. 1 Middle School.Xu Shenru was invited to the VIP seat as the parent of an outstanding graduate at the graduation ceremony of Zhimo Primary School.He was so happy from ear to ear, but also full of ardent expectations for his son. After Xu Shenru returned home, he discussed with his wife and wanted to send Zhimo to study in the provincial capital.When Qian Muying heard this, she was worried about her son, because he had never traveled far and slept with his parents at night. She disagreed.Xu Shenru told her that the child must learn the ability to live independently, and he wanted his cousin Shen Shuwei to go with him so that the two could take care of each other.She finally said yes.Xu Shenru discussed the matter with his brother-in-law Jiang Jinzhan, and Jiang Jinzhan was very happy because he also had the same thoughts.Jiang Jinzhan adopted Shen Shuwei, a child of the Shen family, and became related to Shen Junru, who was then the deputy chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Consultative Council.Jiang Jinzhan came to Shen Junru's home with the report cards of his two children.Mr. Shen wrote a letter of recommendation to Shao Bozhen, the supervisor (principal) of Hangzhou Fuzhong.Through layers of relationships, Xu Shen's wish to have a son Jackie Chan has come true.

At that time, Hangzhou Fuzhong was a prestigious school, offering courses in Chinese, mathematics, English, physics, chemistry, geography, etc., which greatly broadened Xu Zhimo's horizons.Xu Zhimo is very proud of himself in the Hangzhou mansion.He always ranks first in grades, and is the first in every final exam in his grade, so he is always the prefect.At that time, the school stipulated that the first place in the final examination could be the senior.His classmates admired him very much and called him a "two-legged bookcase". His classmate Yu Dafu also admired him very much.

Yu Dafu also came to Hangzhou Fuzhong in the spring of 1910, but he was transferred from Jiaxing Fuzhong School. As soon as he arrived in class, he noticed Xu Zhimo.At that time, Yu Dafu was a country boy under the age of 14, and he felt both novel and scary about everything in the provincial capital.He himself was weak and timid, so in class and in the dormitory, he crouched like a snail in fear and trembling, not even daring to stick his head out of the shell.Contrary to him who behaved timidly, in the same dormitory on the same level, there were two strange people jumping around, namely Xu Zhimo and Shen Shuwei.Xu Zhimo and his cousin naturally get along closest.The two of them were classmates since they were young, and their relationship has always been very good, and they came to the mansion together, and they were inseparable.In Yu Dafu's eyes, Xu Zhimo is a child who was born with a very small body, but has a long face and a very big head.He was always thinking in his heart: "This naughty child looks really strange." Shen Shuwei was with this big-faced child day and night, and loved to do all kinds of naughty tricks.These two people, no matter in class or in the dormitory, are always whispering to each other, laughing, jumping up and down, making trouble with this and that, always making a very light and strange thing unexpectedly. Things to attract everyone's attention.

Living in a wealthy family since he was a child, Xu Zhimo, who has always grown up under the care of his family, the praise of his teachers, and the envy of his classmates, has formed a clever, playful, lively and indulgent personality; It became his sense of superiority and self-confidence.Leaving his hometown and being in the vast and free provincial capital, Xu Zhimo is like a fish in water, and his free spirit has been developed without restraint.Therefore, Xu Zhimo, who likes to stand out, tried his best to stand out from the crowd.Of course he is different from the reserved Yu Dafu. What surprised Yu Dafu was that this naughty kid with big head and small tail, wearing gold-rimmed myopia glasses, was usually so lazy and loved to read novels—he always held a roll of glossy paper with fine lettering printed on it. A small book - but when it comes to taking exams or writing essays, you always get the most marks.

In the autumn of 1911, when the Revolution of 1911 broke out, Hangzhou Fuzhong was closed, and Xu Zhimo left school at home.While waiting to resume school, he learned a lot of revolutionary news through newspapers, and was influenced by new trends of thought such as democracy, freedom, and fraternity.What he especially admired was Liang Qichao, a representative figure of the Reform Period of 1898.Liang Qichao's enlightenment thoughts and literary talents were popular all over the world at that time.Xu Zhimo was deeply fascinated by his personal charm.