Chapter 41 Section 41 How to Eat Anti-Japanese Peas

When interviewing Dongchang Street in Qizhou, I interviewed Mr. Wang Puhuan, the former vice principal of Qichun No. 1 Middle School. Mr. Wang has retired and studied in Wuzhuang, Caohe, Qichun. He has quick thinking and clear memory. When thinking about the cause of this, a thought suddenly flashed in the author's mind: What did middle school students eat during the Anti-Japanese War?I asked Mr. Wang about this question, and Mr. Wang blurted out, "Eat boiled peas in salt water". "July 7th" Incident Japan launched a full-scale war of aggression against China. In order to save the crisis of the Chinese nation, the KMT and the Communist Party cooperated for the second time and put forward the guiding ideology of "building the country through the war of resistance, rejuvenating the nation and education are important weapons", July 1938 , Hubei Province held a wartime education conference for secondary schools, established the Hubei United Secondary School (Hubei Lianzhong), the chairman of the Provincial National Government Chen Cheng also served as the principal, and all counties set up Lianzhong branch schools. . On September 18, 1939, Qichun County and Guangji County (now Wuxue City) established a joint middle school named "Qiguang Lianzhong". The two counties of Qiguang and Guangxi shared the share, and "Chongyi" hired more than 20 teachers including Professor Sun Minzhi who graduated from the University of London and taught at Wuhan University.Later, 14 students and 1 staff member of the Qiguang League were enlisted in the Youth Expeditionary Force of the Nationalist Government to fight in the India-Myanmar battlefield.

Mr. Wang Puhuan recalled that during the Japanese invasion at that time, middle school students were in danger of ruining their country and their families, and they were very enthusiastic about learning. Apart from pulling the air defense alarm and escaping collectively, they spent most of their time studying and exercising. All night and early in the morning, I did my homework under the oil lamp of Muzi.Muzi oil is obtained from the wax layer of the white fruit of the Muzi tree in the south. The oil is white and solid, like wax. It uses a cotton rope as a wick. It is red hot and thick black smoke.Meals are provided, and they are eaten in collective student cafeterias. The meals are rice and porridge, and the main dishes are peas boiled with salt.The salt-boiled peas are not served in bowls, plates, bowls, or pots. The utensils for holding peas are bamboo tubes.The bamboo tube is generally thick from top to bottom, and stands upright. The beauty of using it to hold salt-boiled peas is that no matter who picks up the vegetables, you can’t use the chopsticks method of holding the chopsticks horizontally or picking them up. When the bamboo tube is clamped vertically, only one pea can be clamped, which can be described as "a bamboo tube with beans - straight up and down".Wang Pu also recalled that action.He said, eating a meal with this pea is delicious.

After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Mr. Wang Puhuan entered Wuchang Linzhong (temporary high school) to study. Mr. Wang believes that the spirit of learning has never surpassed that of Qiguang Lianzhong.Mr. Wang Puhuan never left Qichun in his life. He returned to his alma mater Qiguang Lianzhong to teach in the current Qichun No. 1 Middle School.The waves behind the Yangtze River drive the waves ahead, and the Qihe River produces great talents. Mr. Wang's students are distributed in all continents of the world, and some of them are well-known professors and doctors.When the author interviewed in Beijing, Wuhan, Huangshi and Qizhou, Mr. Wang's students still mentioned him.