Chapter 6 5

The earliest surviving photo of Lin Huiyin is the one left by him when he was three years old. He stands alone in the yard, leaning on a magnificent seat, only as tall as the armrest of the chair, staring at the strange world with hazy eyes.The next one, when she was eight years old, was a group photo of her with her younger sister Linzhi (five years old, who died soon after) and her cousins ​​Wang Mengyu (14 years old), Wang Ciliang (12 years old), and Zeng Yuer (11 years old).Lin Changmin took them shopping that day and took pictures to commemorate them.The photo is inscribed by Lin Changmin, in which he said, "Huiyin is white-shirted and black, and his left hand invites words, which seems very intimate. In fact, the two sons are cunning, and they often fight for bait. When mediating, it takes my tongue."

There are very few written materials about Lin Huiyin's childhood.Her father died prematurely, her mother was uneducated, and almost no one recorded her childhood accurately and concretely.She herself has no memory, and she has never told others, but she has not left many written traces, and even her children are not willing to look back on those past events.An essay by Lin Huiyin revealed that she had chickenpox at the age of six, a disease that every child experiences once. Her hometown is called "Shuizhu".She did not feel the unbearable pain like many children, but said: "At that time, I liked that beautiful name very much. I forgot that it was a kind of disease, so I also felt a kind of mysterious pride. As long as people pass by my window and ask 'Waterdrops'? I feel a kind of glory." This unusual feeling is her first artistic temperament revealed.

The young Lin Huiyin and a group of cousins ​​lived in the grandfather's compound in Hangzhou, enjoying the joy of young masters and young ladies from rich families.Her enlightenment education fell on the eldest aunt who lived with her, and the eldest aunt still lived in her natal family all year round after she got married.Lin Huiyin's half-brother Lin Xuan once recalled: "Lin Huiyin grew up in this scholarly family and received strict education. When his father was away, he was supervised by his eldest aunt. The eldest aunt was three years older than my father. She was honest and kind, and she was kind to us. Birth mother." (Letter to the author) This aunt made up for her mother's defects in personality and culture. At this time, Lin Huiyin's world was as sunny as his grandfather's courtyard.

His father was often away, leaving Lin Huiyin with his grandfather and a messenger.She started writing letters from her grandfather to her father as a ghostwriter when she was six years old. These letters cannot be read today. Fortunately, her family has kept a batch of letters from her father. The earliest one in this record was written when Lin Huiyin was seven years old. Huier: I am very happy to know that you have both letters.My son is good at reading, he is gentle and sensible, and I love you especially.Wen Niangniang went to Jiaxing, has she returned?Toes and toes smell very cute, do you still have a nasty temper?Please tell me.

How is your grandfather's day?You have to please the old man well.Hereby send you a tube of sweet real crispy cake.I don't have time to write a long book in this issue, so you can tell your grandparents that I am fine. Father Changmin March 20th If Lin Huiyin is still a child who needs to be coaxed by her father at this time, then it can be seen from the next letter that although she is only a twelve-year-old child, she has grown into a precocious little girl who can listen to her father's heart: Send a book today and it should have arrived.I take care of medicine at home all day long, and I also take this opportunity to sneak away.Things in the world are still uncertain, so where should I go?It's just in time for Nian Ru to study.It's my father's fault that I was wasted.Er Niang is well, I will go to Jinyi to make a plan.In deep spring, the wind is warm, and the lilacs in the garden are blooming. There are also two or three peonies showing their attitude to others, cherishing the future ears of children.Ge Leiwu's daughter thought of you all the time after seeing you at the Liuguo Hotel. Yesterday, when I returned home, I went to see her parents.Children should be educated, don't be childish, and be careful.

Huier Old Man in Guishi May 5th Lin Huiyin talked about her childhood life to her close friend Fei Weimei. Fei Weimei's words may be the record of Lin Huiyin's condition at that time: "Her precocious puberty may make her relatives at home treat her as an adult and cheat her away." Childhood." ("Liang Sicheng and Lin Huiyin") The word precocious reflects the characteristics of Lin Huiyin's childhood life.After his grandfather died of illness, his father was often busy with political affairs in Beijing, and the whole family lived in Tianjin. Lin Huiyin almost became the backbone of the family in Tianjin, taking care of the two mothers, taking care of several younger siblings, and even moving and packing. Take it up.When she became an adult, she wrote a note on a letter from her father that she kept: "Er Niang's illness is not in the hospital, and my father is worried about being in Beijing. He asked me to report the illness by express letter every day. The weather is bitter and hot, and Huan's illness is recovering. Jiheng cried impermanently. I tasted it until the end of the night, but I couldn’t sleep. The moon was bright all night, and Huan cried for a long time. I couldn’t bear to hear it. Thinking of it is hateful."

Lin Huiyin's precocity, in addition to her intelligence, should mainly be attributed to the psychological shadow cast by her almost abandoned mother.Even though she was deeply loved by her father and other elders, when she returned to the desolate backyard after being favored, facing her mother's gloomy and resentful expression, she had to experience the darkness of the world prematurely. In 1916, Lin Changmin's family began to settle in Beijing, and Lin Huiyin entered the famous Peihua Girls Middle School.Previously, the political situation in the capital was uncertain, and Lin Changmin was involved in right and wrong, so his family was resettled in Tianjin, and he traveled back and forth between the two places.The cousins ​​who took a group photo four years ago all entered Peihua Girls' High School, and Lin Huiyin took a photo with them again, all of them in uniform school uniforms, all slim, beautiful and dignified.The four sisters are as close as they were when they were children, and they are still inseparable today.The girls were especially attractive when they went to the streets on Sundays, and there were frivolous men following them, so they had to call their tall cousins ​​to act as bodyguards.

Peihua Women's High School is a noble school run by the church. The teaching style is rigorous and learned the law. Lin Huiyin, who was originally clever, was well nurtured by it, and her excellent English level started here in the future.Stepping from the old house of a big family into this new world full of vigor and emphasis on civilization has laid a solid foundation for the talented women who will soon be released.Being exposed to such an educational environment, Lin Huiyin developed cultural awareness early on. When her father traveled to Japan, she dug out a considerable number of calligraphy and paintings in her family collection, cataloged them one by one, and compiled them into a collection catalogue.Compilation must be childish. She noted in her father's letter: "Hui is confident that he can compile the catalog of calligraphy and painting, and I will return it to my father for reading. I think it is not applicable, and I am quite ashamed."

Lin Huiyin of Peihua Girls Middle School has walked out of her childhood.