Chapter 6 1. From Porteven to Piedmont

Song Jiashu and his wife had made up their minds long ago to send all their children to study in the United States and receive American education. In May 1904, the second year after Meiling entered the Trinity Girls' School, the eldest sister Song Ailing went to the United States in advance. In 1906, their father made a trip to the United States.In the United States, their uncle Dai Bingzhong accompanied their father to visit a small town in New Jersey—Summit Town, and visited a school founded by Russian expatriate Miss Clara Portvin. Song Jiashu was very fond of this school. interested.Because this school is unpretentious, but the students it cultivates are all enterprising.

He decided to send the other two daughters here. In 1908, his uncle Dai Bingzhong went abroad to inspect embassies in various countries on behalf of the Qing government, planning to bring their second uncle Ni Xichun to study in the United States.When Qingling and Meiling heard the news, they clamored to follow. This year, Qingling was 15 years old, while Meiling was only 11 years old. In August of this year, Meiling and her second sister boarded the "Manchuria" cruise ship to the United States on the other side of the ocean under the escort of her uncle Dai Bingzhong. With a long cry of "Woo", the "Manchuria" sailed away from Shanghai Hongkou Yinglian Wharf.

The sisters waved goodbye to their parents tearfully. Facing the morning glow and facing the distance, the "Manchuria" sailed on the vast Pacific Ocean. This is the first time in the life of the little sisters to travel far, and it is also the first time in their life to travel in the vast sea. If you don't see the sea, you don't know yourself like a drop.Once you enter the sea, you will know the vastness of the sea.They suddenly felt that they had grown up, and their minds seemed to be much broader! Cruising in the sea, everything is so magical, so fresh, so exciting, so unfathomable.

Little Meiling is lively by nature. She sometimes jumps on various floors of the cruise ship, running through the cabins; sometimes she jumps on the deck, chasing groups of seagulls... "Do you want to be that pure little angel?" The questioner was a British girl with blue eyes and yellow hair.She has long been eyeing this lovely little Chinese girl.She likes this lively and lovely little Chinese girl. "Think!" Xiao Meiling didn't think about it. "So, what do you want to be when you grow up?" "I want to be a doctor." That's an amazing ambition.

The answer of the beautiful little Chinese girl surprised the British girl. "Being a doctor, my God. I don't think you should do that. You know? It's about amputating people's legs, you know?" The pretty girl said unconsciously. "Really!" Xiao Meiling was surprised. She has been obsessed with cleanliness since she was a child, and she is most afraid of dirt, noise, and chaos.She thought that doctors in white coats were the cleanest. "Okay then, I won't be a doctor anymore." ... Just before Qingling and Meiling came to Summit Town, there were rumors in Porterton School that two Chinese girls would come to school here.

One morning, the legendary Chinese girl came to the school. The owner of the school, Ms. Portwen, organized the students to warmly welcome the little Chinese sisters. Until a long time later, when Meiling’s classmate Emily Downer recalled her initial impression when she saw Soong Ching Ling and Soong Meiling, she described it like this: “The older one is very solemn and quiet, about 15 years old, and looks younger than We were both much older. We were around 9 years old and her Chinese name was Qingling. But, for some reason, we always called her 'Rosamonde', we didn't see her very often, due to age and personality difference. Of course she does not come to join in our little children's play and romp.

However, a lovely little girl named Mei Ling also came at the same time.She was about our age, very lively and hilarious, and quite mischievous... She looked like a round little butter ball doll, and she was very interested in everything around her, whether it was novel flowers and trees, or houses and people, She has to ask the bottom line and find out clearly. " In Portwen, little Meiling is pleasant. One day, Meiling received a package from China, which was full of colorful clothes of her and her second sister. Among them, the beautiful black silk suit for Meiling is particularly eye-catching: a pair of black silk trousers and a top embroidered with a blue dragon pattern.Meiling put on this suit, she was very airy and beautiful, and all the students were envious of Chinese silk.

Meiling doesn't care.Wearing this silk suit, she actually went to climb a tree, and she climbed to the top of the tree and couldn't get up or down. Qing Ling hurriedly tried to find a way to get her down. "We all stood under the tree in fear, hoping that the beautiful clothes would not be torn." Later, the second sister recalled. In a foreign country, Meiling still has not changed her naughty character. However, Mei Ling, who has a playful and lively appearance, often misses her hometown and her loving parents. Especially when I put on this set of black silk clothes and trousers from the East, my little nose feels sour.

Miss Porteven was attentive. She has been paying attention to the little sisters.Especially Xiao Meiling.She has long discovered that although this little Chinese girl is naughty like a boy, her heart is delicate and sometimes very sad. One day, Miss Potterwin stroked the two big red bows on her head and said, "Read more books and take part in more cultural and sports activities! I am Russian, and I used this method when I was homesick. !" From then on, she and her second sister often went to the Summit library.There, she read books voraciously, especially fairy tales like "Peter Rabbit".

In the study life full of magic and fantasy, Meiling grows up day by day. In the autumn of 1909, the second sister, Qingling, was going to officially go to Wesleyan Women's College in Macon. This time, Meiling couldn't go there with her second sister.Because she is young, not enough to go to college qualifications. The second sister arranges the younger sister at the home of Mrs. Moss, the mother of a classmate of the older sister, and together with her friends, enters the Piedmont School to study. Meiling quickly fell in love with Mrs. Moss, and she liked this small village very much.

During extracurricular activities, she often went to the nearby mountains to pick wild hazelnuts with other children. Along the dusty mountain road, singing the sweet song "Little Shepherd", I walked happily into the forest.Sometimes, if you meet someone driving a carriage, you can even take them for a mile. Xiao Meiling completely lost the feeling of being in a foreign land and the loneliness after leaving her second sister. These farmers also liked this chubby little Chinese girl. Once, a cart driver teased her with a corny joke: "Where did the little hazel come from?" "Of course it came from a tree!" "What kind of tree did the fried donuts grow from?" Xiao Meiling looked at the fried chicken legs that she had just received from the farmer.He replied, "On the Christmas tree." The farmer and the children all laughed. Although Meiling was a little puzzled by them, she was happy.She knew they liked her. But she understood a truth better, to read, to read more books, there are a lot of things she wants to know in the books. She is 12 years old, she is not a little girl anymore.At least she thinks so. There are two trees on the Piedmont School campus with a small bench between them.Since then, Meiling has become the little master of this little bench. Xiao Meiling sits on this small bench and reads books every day.At this time, she was no longer interested in fairy tales and picture books, and she was not satisfied with small books. She often held a large tome and read it fascinated. At the age of 10, she had read all of Dickens' works. "Only God knows how much she has read..." Some books about Soong Meiling commented on her at this time. But in any case, she began to really understand the world. During her 8th grade years in Piedmont, she was exposed to much older boys and girls from far away mountains.They came to Piedmont to save enough money, and many had taught elementary schools for a few years or worked as laborers.She came to understand how hard they had to fight just to make ends meet and to get access to basic education.They are poor, but they have real value. Little Meiling has grown up.She truly appreciates the superiority of her condition.She thought that in addition to studying hard, she should also do something for the poor. Since then, she has studied cultural knowledge seriously. In her later memories, she commented on her school life in Piedmont: "It was in Piedmont that I initially understood the mystery of analyzing sentence structure. At that time, I had only been in the United States for two years, and my knowledge of English was at best I know a little bit about it. I have many ridiculous little problems in expressing words, which make my grammar teacher very troubled. In order to correct these problems, she asked me to try to analyze sentences grammatically. Her efforts must be rewarded. Some effect. Because people now say I write English very well... People in the village often think of me as some kind of strange thing. But, whatever it is, I can completely agree with my partner Like us... to help poor people like them as much as we can." When Christmas came this year, Xiao Meiling invited Jenny, Heidi and other three best female classmates to propose to do something good so that others could also have a happy holiday. Each of them donated 20 cents and 1 yuan in total, and everyone wanted to keep this matter a secret.Unexpectedly, when they arrived at Henry's grocery store, the little girls were in trouble for what to buy. Jenny said, "We're going to get hamburger steaks, poor kids, they must have had it in ages." She smacked her lips as if she wanted to eat it herself. Heidi disagreed.She said: "Potatoes are the best way to satisfy your hunger, and they are cheap. You can buy a lot of them for one dollar..." Meiling loves physiology.From the perspective of physiological knowledge, she disagreed with the opinions of the two friends.She said: "Sugar is the food with the most calories. We buy more sugar so that children from poor families and their mothers can have more calories and energy." The little girls refused to give in to each other, like a flock of sparrows, chirping, their voices getting louder and louder. Old Mr. Henry looked at them with wonder and amusement.He adjusted his presbyopic glasses and said kindly: "My little angels, I think you can buy a little of everything!" The little girls felt that there was no other way, so they agreed. Old Henry made 3 packages according to the variety, tied them up, and gave each of them a package. After receiving the packet, Meiling felt that there was a fly in the ointment.I thought to myself, if only I could buy some apples or oranges, but unfortunately I have no money. Old Henry was a charitable elder. Seeing Meiling's dissatisfied expression, he smiled and said, "Don't worry, I still have a share. You little Dongyang cares so much about us Americans, can I just sit back and watch?" After speaking, he packed some fruits in net bags for the little girls: "Little angels, Merry Christmas!" Full of gratitude, Meiling bowed deeply to old Henry with Chinese etiquette. The little girls hugged the packages, feeling happy in their hearts.Just like Joan of Arc was performing a sacred mission, she walked happily to her destination.But when they came to the ramshackle wooden shed they called home, when they saw the sad-faced, exhausted mother holding her child by the hand while the child was hiding behind the mother with a disheveled face, When I peeped at their expressions, I immediately felt a little sad, and even felt an inexplicable sense of fear. The little angels were stunned. They are indescribable.I don't know what to say. Xiao Meiling, who was in the lead, put the things away, turned around and ran out of the shed. A few friends also put down their things, without saying anything, they rushed out of the door. After running for a long, long time, Meiling stopped when she could no longer see the shed she called her home. Then, facing the direction of the shed, he shouted: Merry Christmas! Following Meiling's example, several friends sent the same blessings in unison in the same direction. In this small southern town, Meiling lived in Piedmont School for 9 months.During these 9 months, she not only developed a deep affection for the United States, but also was full of love for the country in the southern part of the United States. Since then, her English pronunciation has a strong southern nostalgia.One summer, when Meiling went to a cram school in the north for summer vacation study, when the history teacher asked her to describe General Sherman’s experience of attacking the South in the Civil War, Meiling said sadly: “Teacher, please forgive me, this Questions make me sad because I'm a southerner!"