In the spring of 1946, I was admitted to Tenhara Luzhou Middle School for high school. Luzhou Middle School is located on a large sandbar on the Longjiang River in Tianyuan, which was originally an ancient academy with a history of thousands of years. The classroom is located in the ancient academy, and a huge couplet is written on the wall of the academy gate:

The heron flies and vibrates and does not go up and down with the waves

The ground is lively and there is no water

The couplets full of deep meaning depict Luzhou with great spirits. Luzhou in the evening, the scenery is the most beautiful, a round of fiery red sun reclining on the mountain beam in the distance, Wandaoxia shines on the sparkling Longjiang River, standing on the Fengyue Tower of the academy and looking north, there is really a feeling of "Luoxia and lonely birds fly together, and the autumn water grows together in the sky" (Tang Wang Bo's "Preface to the Pavilion of King Teng").

The principal's name is Gu Zuyin, he attaches great importance to the style of study, attaches importance to talents, every Monday student assembly, he organizes everyone to sing the school song, promote the patriotic spirit, cultivate gratitude. The lyrics are: "Luzhou, what a beautiful picture." Look, the scenery at four o'clock, how can we not work hard! Listen, the sound of the water, how dare we stay! Let's work hard, don't stay, move forward together, don't stay. To remember the meaning of the sage's writings, we must remember the pillar of my school. Healthy physique, learning is the pursuit, and the responsibility for the revival of the world is borne. ”

It's a pity that I only studied there for a year, but the spirit of this school song has always inspired me.

Our school motto is: loyalty, courage, diligence and thrift.

In the first year of high school in Luzhou, in addition to studying seriously, as soon as school was released at noon every Saturday, I hurriedly walked 40 miles to rush home, ate some cold dishes and cold rice at home, picked up a machete and a bar, and went to Shuanglongli and Li Dongkeng on the outskirts of the city to chop a load of firewood.

In the spring of 1943, my father died of tetanus in the hospital, and the family's original savings were not only spent but also owed many debts.

In the early years, my grandfather was industrious, good at farming, taking care of housework, and his family was well-off, but later because of his grandfather's bohemianism and idleness, he lost all his family property. In order to treat his father's illness, the dowry brought by his mother when she married in and the valuable things in the family were forced to sell, and the whole family relied on doing things for others to support the family's life, so the family life was very poor.

The eldest brother and the second brother have gone to college in other places, and the elder sisters can only help their mother with some housework. Her mother was a small-footed woman, illiterate, and had to feed several children, and the burden of the family was on her thin shoulders.

When my father was alive, I still had a salary of about two quintals of rice per month, but after my father's death, my livelihood became more difficult, and the heavy burden of the family made my mother age more and more year by year. In order to share the burden of the family, in addition to chopping a load of firewood on Saturday afternoon, I also had to chop a load of firewood on Sunday morning, help my mother do some chores at noon, and rush to school in the afternoon to study on my own.

During the winter and summer vacations, I go to chop a few loads of firewood every day to prepare firewood and grass for the family throughout the year. Although I only have this ability, I have somewhat shared a little burden of the family for my suffering mother, and I feel very down-to-earth.

In the spring of 1947, with the financial support of my brother-in-law in Dayuan Village, my mother agreed that I and my cousin Zhang Shijian's son Zhang Xuexuan would go to Hongdu to study in high school.

My cousin Zhang Shijian works in Hongdu, and he is a relative we can rely on.

The day of departure is getting closer and closer, and my heart has already flown to Hongdu Academy. We took a wooden sailboat from south to north down the river, the scenery along the way is infinite, let us open our eyes, every day we in addition to reading on the boat, is to stand on the bow of the boat to enjoy the scenery along the river is not enough.

After arriving in Hongdu, Zhang Xuexuan was admitted to the private Xinyuan Middle School, and I was admitted to Hongdu No. 2 Middle School, and I started from the first year of high school.

Hongdu No. 2 Middle School is located in an alley of Hongcheng Department of Horse Pile.

At that time, only a two-story dilapidated building was left in the No. 2 Middle School, and classes were held in the third and second years of high school, and the other classes of the first and second years of high school were arranged in a small bungalow built temporarily. There are more than 1,000 students and more than 30 faculty members in the school.

The principal's name is Che Ju, known as "Dr. Che", he has served as the principal for a long time, he has served as the principal for eight years, for this school, with hard work, dismal management, in extremely difficult circumstances, hard work to support this famous school.

Because of the outstanding teaching achievements of this school, many students in the province have come to visit. The school has a famous couplet:

The name is in the second place forever

Highest performance is required

The name union hangs in front of the temporary auditorium, looking shining.

The school's motto is: Diligence, Simplicity and Perseverance. The school motto is written by Yan Fu, and the font is outstanding. This school has cultivated thousands of talents, and it is really full of peach and plum all over the world, and elites are all over the world.

At that time, the teachers did not even have a place to work, only a hut for rest. Teachers live in rented houses off campus. In the era when the salary was high, the life of teachers was also very hard, and a few meager salaries were not enough to support three people, so teachers had to teach more, and even teach part-time outside the school to supplement their families. Their dedication and dedication deeply touched every student.

One day in October 2002, I had the honor to return to Hongdu No. 2 Middle School to attend the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Hongdu No. 2 Middle School. The atmosphere of the conference was warm and grand, thousands of former alumni gathered together, and the conference held an unveiling ceremony for the bronze statues of the three old principals.

In the newly built auditorium, there are still hanging couplets of "the name will always be in the second place, and the grades must reach the highest peak" and the school motto of "diligence, simplicity, solemnity, and perseverance". A famous school, which has been around for a hundred years, still uses the school motto of "diligence, simplicity, solemnity, and perseverance", which shows its profound meaning. Looking back at the past, a hundred years of vicissitudes, today is more brilliant. Among the alumni came as far as the Americas and Europe to participate in the grand event of the century, and some were faltering and nearly 100 years old. New and old alumni sang the school song, and laughter resounded throughout the campus! We sincerely wish your alma mater a bright future and a bright future!

I studied in Hongdu No. 2 Middle School for two and a half years, and I received the teachings of teachers of various subjects, which benefited me a lot, which I will never forget.

In January 1949, the school had winter vacation, but because there was no fare to go home, he had to eat at his classmates, and later joined the "contingency committee" organized by the school to protect the safety of the school and wait for the arrival of the army.

In 1946, prices skyrocketed, life was impoverished, and the people were strongly dissatisfied. The majority of students and young people are unable to study with peace of mind, and they have set off an "anti-hunger" campaign to "want."

Democracy, freedom, and study" is already in turmoil in the Kuomintang region!

The reactionaries are in their last desperate struggle to maintain their rule. Military police, gendarmes, and spies have wantonly stormed universities and middle schools, frantically arresting progressive young students. Police cars and motorcycles with machine guns whizzed through the streets in Hongdu City, shooting at anyone they saw in a group of three or five people. At night, it is even more terrifying, the tearing siren is endless, the store door is closed early, there are no pedestrians, the citizens are huddled at home, the atmosphere does not dare to come out, the whole Hongdu City is like a death prison, full of terror.

One dark and windy night, there was a small courtyard in a deep alley near the Hongdu Horse Pile, and in the small courtyard there was a small bungalow, which was full of young students who were as revolutionary as I was. Under a bean-like light, a tall man wearing a peaked cap, overalls, and a worker's costume was explaining Ai Siqi's "Popular Philosophy" to the audience. This is the fourth lecture. His voice was small, but his reasoning was clear and thorough, and everyone listened attentively, nodding their heads from time to time. For the sake of safety, he asked everyone to only listen and not record, and the room was solemn and silent, without any noise.

Sitting next to the tall man was a white-faced scholar who looked like a "professor", wearing deep myopic glasses, but his eyes were shining. He watched everyone listen attentively, and smiled knowingly from time to time. Whenever the big man finished the lecture, the white-faced scholar always said: "I hope you think about it seriously......" and then three or four students surrounded them and walked through the back door first, while the other students scattered through the front and back doors and disappeared into the black night.

It was another rainy night. "The army crossed the Yangtze River last night!" The tall man waited for everyone to sit down, and reported the big news to everyone in a low and excited voice. His joy greatly infected the students, and everyone cheered and hugged them excitedly, and everyone hugged them in a ball, like a big blanket, and surrounded them breathlessly.

After everyone's mood calmed down, he took out a booklet entitled "Carry the Revolution to the End" from his underwear, selected the key content and organized everyone to study, and then studied the key passages in "On Unity**". At this time, people kept coming in, and the room was crowded with progressive young people who had come to listen to the lectures. Everyone listened to his explanation and continued to exclaim with joy.

The white-faced scholar's eyes were bright, and he solemnly glanced at everyone and said, "We are about to win, and the end of the reactionaries is near."

"......The most urgent task at present is to return to the schools and factories, organize everyone, set up a 'contingency committee', defend the schools and factories, protect all property, and actively prepare for the liberation ......of Hongdu."

His words were sonorous and powerful, everyone's blood was boiling, and they all clenched their fists, determined to take action to welcome the arrival of the army.