Chapter 20 1. Gather in America

Childhood is the most beautiful period of life.The most memorable thing is also my childhood. Treat naivety with naivety, and treat sincerity with sincerity.Don't ask about the world, and the soul is not dusty. The childhood of the three Song sisters was carefree and their playmates were never alone. The eldest sister, Ai Ling, left home to study in the United States earlier, and the young Song Meiling felt a longing in her heart. The second sister, Soong Ching Ling, will also go to the United States to study. The younger sister does not want to stay alone in Song's house, and firmly asks her parents to accompany her.

Thus, the three Song sisters reunited in a foreign country. In 1907, a morning at Yinglian Wharf in Hongkou, Shanghai. The sea breeze was refreshing, and the sun, which had just revealed its red and fat round face and had not yet released its lustful power, was hanging on the sea level in the distance.An ocean-going ship "Manchuria" whistled, slowly turned, adjusted its rudder, and left the pier; people on the shore were tearfully waving their hands to see off relatives and friends. Once we break up today, we will march thousands of miles away.Song Jiashu and his wife Ni Guizhen, standing by the pier, waved their sleeves and waved goodbye to the two daughters who traveled far away—Song Qingling, Song Meiling, and their escort Uncle Dai Bingzhong. The couple stared intently at the passenger ship "Manchuria" away.Soong Meiling, leaning on the railing, waved her hands to bid farewell to her relatives.At this moment, she forced herself not to shed tears.

Standing next to Soong Meiling was the quiet Soong Ching Ling, unlike her younger sister, who had been crying for a long time.From childhood to adulthood, perhaps a person's character will not change throughout his life.Soong Ching Ling has been delicate, delicate and quiet since she was a child, with gentle, reverie and sentimental expressions in her eyes. In Song Meiling's eyes, she is like Miss Lin in the novel, and also like a hostage imprisoned in a tower in the Middle Ages, as if she is sadly observing the world and human conditions from a distant place.To be honest, Soong Meiling was full of sympathy for her sister at that time.If separation is painful, then reunion is sweet.The two sisters left their parents in order to reunite with their eldest sister.Say goodbye affectionately, like a red velvet rope holding you and me, connecting me and him; like a kite rope that can't be pulled, tied to the heart of a wanderer.When the passenger ship gradually went away, people withdrew their gazes from a distance, lowered their heads, and felt a little sad.That's right, children are mother's darlings. It's the first time for Soong Ching Ling and Soong Mei Ling to leave home overseas! In 1904, his father sent his eldest daughter Song Ailing, who had just turned 14, to study at Wesleyan College for Women, an aristocratic church school in Macon, Georgia, in the southern United States.Three years later, he sent 15-year-old Qingling and 10-year-old Meiling to join his eldest sister.

Originally, Song Jiashu only planned to send her second daughter Qingling to the United States this time, but Meiling insisted on going with her second sister and threatened her with the promise her parents had made to her when she was sick. At that time, her parents promised her that she could do whatever she wanted.Besides, Song Jiashu had already participated in Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities. Once the Qing government found out, he would flee abroad. He would send his children away first and make arrangements to avoid worries.The eldest son Song Ziwen is also about to graduate from Shanghai St. John's Middle School, and Song Jiashu plans to send him to Harvard University for further studies.

a month later.American pier. A beautiful Chinese girl has been waiting anxiously on the pier for 3 days. Today, when the ship "Manchuria" just landed, two lively and lovely Chinese girls jumped out of the cabin, ran straight to the shore, and hugged tightly with the Chinese girls on the shore.They are the three Song sisters who later influenced the modern history of China. The three sisters met each other with deep affection, and everyone present was moved. They poured out their parting thoughts, conveyed the greetings of relatives, and told childhood jokes. ... After Qingling and Meiling came to the United States, they first studied French and Latin at a private school in Summit Township, New Jersey.

"Two Chinese Golden Flowers" were on the campus, and there was a real stir among the teachers and students of the school. They accepted the pair of sisters with a friendly attitude.The two sisters also left very different impressions on the teachers and students: Qingling is solemn and quiet, and generally does not participate in "the play and frolicking of those children"; while Meiling is naturally lively and cheerful, and is a bit boyish. .Perhaps because of these, she is more popular than her sister Qing Ling, and everyone is willing to play with her. The two sisters shouldered the mission of their parents, and they immersed themselves in their studies as soon as they entered the campus.Facing the morning light, there are often figures of them reciting words; the closing bell of the Summit City Library has already rung, and the sisters are still unwilling to leave.

After the two sisters spent a year of intense and pleasant study in Summit, on September 5, 1908, Qingling got her wish and was admitted to the Literature Department of Wesleyan College for Women in Macon, Georgia.As an older sister, she discussed with her eldest sister, Ai Ling, and arranged for Mei Ling to live in the Piedmont School in the nearby summer resort city of De Ingreth, and to live in the home of Mrs. Moss, the mother of one of Ai Ling's classmates. Every week, Qingling would bring some oranges and fruits to see Meiling, and often met Ailing, the three sisters reunited, brotherhood and family affection, the sorrow of foreign homesickness was replaced by singing and dancing, talking and laughing...then the three The sisters broke up because of their different political views, but this relationship between sisters often appeared in their memories, which made them feel emotional, and they were even saddened to die. Only then did they truly realize that although there are differences in the world, family affection is precious in the world.

Soong Meiling was in the eighth grade at the Piedmont School. During the nine months she stayed here, she lived happily. What interested her was that many of her classmates in the eighth grade were grown men and women, and they came from distant places. In the mountains, she began to understand the lives of those who struggled to survive, and even to pay for primary education. Through this contact, she influenced her concern for the fate of those who were born in poverty.Many years later, Song Meiling still looked back on that period of life with great nostalgia: "If I hadn't studied in Piedmont, I would never have come into contact with them. This made me realize their true value."

Meiling and her friends like to eat the 5 cents a piece of chewing gum sold in Mr. Hunter's grocery store.She often bought such candies and invited other children to eat cheese crackers and big lollipops. Their favorite pastime is going to the forest to pick hazelnuts. On Sunday afternoons they used to skip along a long dusty road into the bushes to pick hazelnuts, and did not come back until very late. In 1909, 12-year-old Song Meiling ended her nine-month tutoring life in Piedmont Mountain City, and also entered Wesleyan Women's College with her two older sisters.But at that time, Song Meiling was too young to be a formal student.So Dean Answolf let her live in his house, and play with his daughter Eloise.

Soon, the school sent special personnel to provide individual counseling to Xiao Meiling. The Song sisters wore American-style clothing, but their clothes were all sewn from Chinese materials sent from Shanghai.Whenever she is with her second sister, she always wears Chinese clothes.If some classmates suddenly ran into Song Meiling's room at this time, they would rush into the big closet and change into ordinary Western-style clothes.However, whenever the three sisters are together, they like to wear Chinese-style dresses, which amazes the students around them with the beauty of the three Chinese girls.

There are many anecdotes about Meiling at Wesleyan Ladies College. A precocious, creative, but bad-tempered little girl comes alive on paper. Compared with ordinary people, Xiao Meiling seemed to mature prematurely.Clothes are often changed three times a day, and she is also the most sensitive about matters between men and women.She's hyperactive, gregarious, and often mischievous, but her sharp tongue can often get her out of trouble. Ai Ling welcomed her two younger sisters in the United States—the quiet Qing Ling and the lively Mei Ling.In addition to studying, she must also try her best to fulfill her responsibilities as a big sister.She introduced Qing Ling to all aspects of the school so that she could adapt as soon as possible. In the evening, the three sisters got together to discuss study problems, chat and have dinner together.The happy days passed by like this. In the blink of an eye, the eldest sister Ai Ling graduated.During the holidays, the three sisters get together again, talking and laughing is common, and the fun of recalling childhood is also indispensable... They recalled the game together when they were young, Qingling played the queen, Ai Ling played the coachman, but Qingling fell off the carriage, Ai Ling and Meiling were terrified... Memories are filled with love between sisters.In fact, it was later that the sisters separated due to different political views, but the love and care did not diminish in the slightest. During the 20-day holiday, the sisters will not just stay at home, which will bore them down.After discussion, they decided to travel to the famous Appalachian Mountains in Georgia. Traveling is a pastime for most people, either to cultivate sentiment, or to increase knowledge and broaden horizons.But Qingling is not. She has paid attention to the society and the fate of the motherland.Therefore, during this trip, in every village she lived in, she contacted the villagers in many ways to understand their conditions.She deeply sympathizes with the plight of black people.The prominent socialism trends in the United States at that time or workers' strikes and students' strikes had aroused her great interest, because she was already concerned about the future and destiny of her motherland. In 1912, Song Meiling finally became a freshman in college. At Wesleyan Women's College, Song Meiling transferred to other schools after only one year of study. In 1913, Soong Meiling transferred to Wellesley Women's University in Massachusetts so that she could get closer to her elder brother, Soong Ziwen, who was studying at Harvard University at the time, so that the siblings could take care of each other.Because at this time, the two sisters had graduated and returned to China. In his spare time, Song Ziwen often went to the school of the little girl in the suburbs to play. After Song Ziwen started working, he often went to Boston to visit his younger sister who was still studying there, and gave her some pocket money.In fact, Song Meiling was not short of money to spend at that time, but it showed the friendship between brother and sister.Therefore, Song Meiling happily accepted it every time. People at that time may not have imagined that after many years, the three Song sisters would have such great influence in Chinese society: one married the Kong family, was good at accumulating wealth, and became the richest in the world; the other became the mother of the country, loving the country and the people, All the people admire; one is married to Chiang Kai-shek, who is powerful and powerful.