Chapter 20 my middle school days

junior high school I had no big ambitions when I was young, and I thought I was just a bird, and I didn't dare to have "big ambitions".It was 1923 when I graduated from elementary school, and I was twelve years old.At that time, Shandong Provincial No. 1 Middle School was famous and envied by everyone. I didn’t even have the courage to apply for it. I only dared to apply for Zhengyi Middle School. "Pair each other in pairs. But this "broken" school dared to take the English test in the entrance examination. I was "a blind cat met a dead mouse", and I actually answered the English test paper quite well. Therefore, I was admitted not as a first-year freshman, but a year and a half. , You only need two and a half years of junior high school to graduate.

Po Zhengyi is indeed a bit "broken". First of all, the level of teachers is not high.There is a biology teacher who pronounces "rose" as jiukuai, which is evident.But it's not all broken.The principal, Mr. Ju Simin, is an old-timer in Shandong's education circle. His character and morality are well-known; his national integrity is spread far and wide.He lived a very frugal life, clothed and ate poorly, and did not change his enjoyment.He set a rule: every Monday morning before class, all the students of the school were called together on the playground to listen to his speech.What he talks about is the principle of being a human being, patriotism and hometown, and he never stops.I think it will have a good influence on students in a subtle way.

The teachers are not all Mr. Jiukuai, and some of them are well-educated.There is a Chinese teacher surnamed Du who is quite old.Because of his big belly, his classmates gave him the nickname "Du Big Belly", but the name was hidden and not obvious.He is very knowledgeable, and has a deep knowledge of ancient prose and even "Selected Studies".I once had the audacity to write a composition similar to a parallel prose.He revised the composition in correct small letters, and the comment he gave was: "If you want to write fancy articles, you must memorize more classics." Poor me, I was only thirteen or fourteen years old at the time, I didn't read much, and my stomach was barren. How classic!

There is also an English teacher named Zheng Youqiao, who is from Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and has a very high level of English.When he corrects students' English compositions, he often does not modify them based on the students' articles, but writes another one himself.This situation only appears in the composition books of students with high English proficiency.His intention is probably to give them a chance to think concisely, so as to improve their level, and his intentions are well thought out.The level of English readers is not low, most of which are "Arabian Nights", "Shakespeare and Music Bureau", "Fifty Anecdotes from Taixi", "Nastler's Grammar" and so on.

From elementary school to junior high school, I was not a hard-working student. I never got the first place in the first class in the exam.I also have no desire to dominate at all.After arriving in Zhengyi, the environment here provided me with the best place to play.The school site is on the south bank of Daming Lake, with clear streams running through the school and shaded by green poplars.Behind the school is the "lake" of "lotus on four sides and willows on three sides, one city with mountains and half city with lake".The lotus ponds on the shore are dotted with green and lush reeds, and there are many fish, shrimps and frogs in the water. It is the paradise for me to play and play.My family lives in Nancheng, and I don’t go home for lunch. My family is poor, and I only give a few copper coins for lunch every day.I bought a pot cake for a copper coin, and a bowl of croquettes or tofu nao for a copper coin. I stood by the burden and ate them in a hurry, and then rushed to the lakeside behind the school to catch shrimp and frogs.The shrimp is the one described by Qi Baishi. It has two long clips, but the shrimp is an idiot in the aquarium. I just need to tease it with a reed, and the shrimp will open a clip to hold the reed. don't relax.It is also very easy to catch frogs. You only need to bend the needle used for making clothes, catch a fly, put it on, and shake it back and forth towards the frog squatting on the lotus leaf. The fly was immediately caught alive by me.I am addicted to this kind of game, and I have a lot of fun.As for the examination of A and B, it is like floating clouds to me, "don't care about it".

However, my uncle is very strict with me.Zhengyi has a teacher who teaches Chinese for the senior grades, Xu (probably) He Zhai, who is very accomplished in ancient Chinese.He held a workshop after class, specializing in ancient books such as "Zuo Zhuan", "Warring States Policy", and "Historical Records". He charged a few dollars a month for tuition, and the learning time was after class at 4 pm.My uncle asked me to sign up too.After the main class is over every day, I have another one or two hours of class to study the ancient classics mentioned above. Now I can't remember exactly how long I studied, it seems that the time is not too long.I can't tell how much I have gained.

At that time, there was a well-known Mr. Feng Pengzhan in Jinan, who was originally from Guangdong and lived in the north.He has a very high level of English. He teaches English in several middle schools during the day and teaches at Shangshi English Institute founded by himself at night.He lived in a big house with two courtyards at the south entrance of Yanchasi Street. The academy was set up in a few rooms in the front courtyard. Sir, I have a job during the day, and I come to the club for classes from 7:00 to 9:00 in the evening.At that time, the diagram (diagram) English teaching method was popular, and we also used this method to learn English, which was quite new.The school charges a monthly tuition fee of three yuan, and there are dozens of students.I have probably studied here for two or three years, and I believe there are some gains.

In this way, although I am not diligent in my studies, I am busy enough anyway because of the pressure of the environment.Every day when I returned home from Zhengyi, I had a quick dinner and then rushed back to the city to learn English.Only thirteen or fourteen years old at the time, she had more energy than needed.After running around all day, after class at 9 o'clock every night, I didn't rush home, but looked at the shop windows on the brightly lit Ten Mile Long Street, and walked home slowly.Even if you have no money in your pocket, you can experience the "eye addiction" and feast your eyes on seeing a wide range of products.

Uncle obviously thinks that this is not enough pressure on my study, so I have to add more.He personally selected some ancient essays for me, most of which were about Song and Ming Neo Confucianism, and copied them into a book in block letters with a brush, called "Selected Essays of Class Nephew". , one stop is one or two hours.It would be a lie to say I was genuinely interested.For me, these articles are far less interesting than the "Peng Gong Case", "Ji Gong Biography" and so on, which my uncle called "idle books".I often hide in bed and use a flashlight to peek at these books.

I graduated from Zhengyi Middle School after studying for two and a half years.During this period of time, I was ignorant, vague, between understanding and not understanding; subjectively not diligent, but objectively must be diligent;Finally left my prawns and frogs and I graduated. I bid farewell to a rather memorable phase of my teenage years and moved on to a new phase of my life.I was 15 years old and it was 1926.