作      者：龚如仲（美国）

海外头条总编审   王 在 军     （中国）

海外头条副编审 Wendyh温迪（英国）

海 外 头 条总 编   火 凤  凰    （海外）

图片选自百度

 第二章：大学年代

第一部分：北京，一个让我倾心的城市

文/龚如仲（美国）

在一个炎热的夏日午后，我坐上开往北京的列车，准备离开上海，离开与我共同生活了十八年的父母。就在汽笛鸣响、火车徐徐开动的那一刻，专程到车站为我送行的父亲突然间痛哭失声。透过车窗，我看见父亲急切地挥动着的双手，他一边哭，一边拼命追赶着越开越快的列车。在那一瞬间，我的眼泪抑制不住地涌出眼眶，心也被深深地震撼了。因为在我的记忆里，硬汉的父亲是从不掉泪的。看着车窗外父亲越来越小的身影，我的心一阵阵地揪痛。

于此同时，我猛然想起了家中的母亲，此时此刻她该是多么伤心和难过啊！十八年了，和她朝夕相处了十八年、被她像宝贝一样疼惜了十八年的儿子，如今真的离开她，到很远的地方去了。想到这里，我的心情久久难以平静。也就是那个时候，我在心里暗暗地告诉自己：一定要好好读书，将来“挣大钱孝敬父母”！ 就这样，我告别父母，坐了几十个小时的火车，来到了北京，从此开始了我不同寻常的大学生活。

     在那个年代，大多数的上海人都有一种“上海情结”，就是那种与生俱来的优越感。在他们的心目中，“精明”的上海人总是要比外地人更胜一筹，而上海这个他们所居住的城市又是任何其它中国大城市无法比拟的。这一点，就连那些常年栖身于夏天如蒸笼、冬天似冰库的“棚户区”、早餐只能享用“泡饭加萝卜干”的贫民们也不例外。在有些上海人看来，身为上海人就是一种荣耀。为此，无论面临多么优厚的条件诱惑，他们都会毫不犹豫地选择一生厮守上海、永不离开。

在去北京求学之前，这种井底之蛙式的上海情结也一直存在于我的心间。然而随着时间的推移，随着我对北京这个城市的日渐了解，我心中的这种﹁上海情结﹂被彻底地动摇了。北京在我眼前展示的是一个全新的世界，北京是一个让我倾心的城市。

如果没有走进北京，我体会不到何谓中华文明的恢弘和博大。无论是那金碧辉煌、气象万千的故宫，还是雄奇磅礡、巍峨屹立的长城，都让我惊叹不已。 而“天下第一广场”的天安门和“世界最大园林”的颐和园也让我由衷地折服。再想想被上海人引以为傲的人民广场和豫园，它们在北京的天安门广场和颐和园面前显得是何等的微不足道。到了北京，我终于领略到“人外有人、天外有天”的真正含义。总之，我深深体会到了北京的大气和厚重。

不光是北京的建筑，甚至就连生活在这个城市的北京人也让我有一种别样的感觉。或许是长年生活在﹁皇城之内，天子脚下﹂的缘故吧，那时候的北京人观察世界也有他们独特的视角。无论是为国为民、日理万机的达官要人，或者只是些“凭力气干活、挣工资吃饭”的升斗小民，都无一例外地对国内外的政治大事抱有特别的关心和热情。北京人所特有的“国家兴亡，匹夫有责”的胸怀确实让我感动。

而我生活在上海时，我感到绝大多数上海老百姓们最关心的无非是“怎么过好小日子”，琢磨着“那一天有钱了给老婆孩子添置几件新衣”。身在北京、耳濡目染，我发现自己了解社会和世界的视角也在渐渐被改变，人也变得成熟了许多。

要说我最喜欢的，还是北京这个城市的人文环境。有了空闲时，不妨去转一转专卖字画古玩的琉璃厂，逛一逛游人如织的天桥、大栅栏，看一看老北京人的民风民俗，听一听当地人的京腔京韵。这一切都让我从心里头透出一股子新鲜感，我真切地感受到京城文化的深厚底蕴。

说到这里，我忽然想起了两件关于北京方言和习惯的小趣事。

有一回我上街办事，口渴了，正好看见路边有个卖冰棍儿的。我正想上前买根冰棍儿解渴，不承想那卖冰棍的老太太突然吆喝了一声“冰棍儿，一毛俩”。我一听，急忙止步了。同时在心里暗想：“这北京的冰棍儿怎么这么贵？一根冰棍儿得让我掏一毛俩分钱？在我们上海，一根奶油棒冰才五分钱”。要知道我当时可是个穷学生，兜里没有什么钱，想到买瓶北冰洋牌的汽水恐怕价钱更贵，于是就只好忍着口渴、回到了学校。

后来我特意问一位北京籍同学：“为何北京的冰棍儿这么贵”？他一听就乐了，说我是外地人听不懂北京话，“一毛俩”的意思就是一毛钱可买俩根冰棍。他这么一解释，我才知道自己闹了个大笑话。

还有一回，我应邀到一个北京籍的同学家做客，同学的父母热情地招待了我。吃完午饭后，大家就坐下来喝茶、聊天、话家常。在谈话间我不经意地问了一句：“阿姨，你今年几岁了”？没想到同学的妈妈听了这话后当时就一愣，接着脸上显出了很不高兴的样子。我正纳闷，不知道自己哪儿出错了，只见我同学急忙向他妈妈解释道：“上海人就这习惯，问人家年龄时不分老少都说你几岁了”。然后他又告诉我，北京人问年龄得分长幼。问小孩子你几岁了当然可以。但问大人，尤其是问长辈，一定得说“您多大年纪了？或者是“您老今年高寿”？我这才明白，同学的妈妈当时一定在想：“这小子怎么这等没礼貌”？自打那一回出洋相，我再与北京人打交道时就学乖了：弄不明白的先别乱开口，实在想弄明白的就勤着点儿向人多请教。

在北京读书期间，我就是这样，渐渐地喜欢上了北京，也喜欢上了北京人。我喜欢他们的包容、大气和厚道，喜欢他们的实在、直爽和幽默。

 Chapter 4: University Life

Part 1: Beijing, the City I Liked Very Much

Posted by Ralph Gong

When I was eighteen years old, I passed the entrance exam and became a university student.

On the eve of leaving from Shanghai for Beijing to start my university life, a certain Mr. Chen Chuande suddenly came to see me. Claiming to be my natural elder brother, he told me that I was his natural younger brother and my real biological sir name should be Chen, not Gong. He repeatedly said to me that my natural father, Mr. A-Jin Chen, passed away a few years ago while my natural mother had always loved me and kept me in her heart.

As a matter of fact, I began to doubt about my birth truth when I became a senior high school student. At that time, I had a feeling that I might not be a natural son of the Gong Family because the age difference between my parents and me seemed to be too big (when I was born, my foster mother was already 44 years old). But even so, I was still caught off guard and totally shocked at the words of my natural brother. After my elder brother bid good-bye to me, I could not calm down for a very long time. Yet, my mind was clear: I had to accept the reality!

Telling myself that I ought to follow the Chinese saying that “the favor of a drop of water should be repaid with the gratitude of a fountain of water”, I decided to continue my relationship with my foster parents and treat them nicely. I must admit that it was my foster parents who had been providing me with the best food and clothes they could find, and it was they who were raising me up. Deep in my heart, Mr. and Mrs. Gong were my real parents. I was very thankful to them because they changed my fate completely. If I were still living in the Chen Family, I imagined, I would probably have become an ordinary worker, just like my two natural brothers.

Coming to this conclusion, I was determined to do my best in the future to pay my foster parents back. I told myself that after my graduation from the university, I would try to get a decent job and give my foster parents the best possible life. In addition, I would also like to take care of my natural mother and two brothers within my capability.

I had never told my foster parents about the fact that I had doubt about my identity or later the realization of the fact. I did not want to hurt their feelings. After all, my foster parents were the dearest ones to me in this world.

 One hot and humid summer afternoon, I, a newly recruited university student, was sitting in a train ready to leave Shanghai for Beijing soon. I was trying to continue a conversation through coach windows with my father who came to the railroad station to see me off. The reality told me that I would definitely part with my foster parents, who had been living with me for eighteen years.

A few minutes later, a whistle blew and the train began to move. I tried to lean out the coach window to signal to my father for a safe trip back home. I was still waving to him when I saw him suddenly began to run desperately to catch up with the fast-moving train, no, to catch up with the fast-moving me… He was waving his two hands in the air and crying out loud. At that very moment, tears welled up in my eyes. In my memory, my father was a tough guy who never shed tears.

As soon as the train left the railroad station, I suddenly thought that my mother, who chose to stay at home in order not to lose her control when bidding farewell to me at the railroad station, must be feeling very sad and even weeping painfully. She could not accept the fact that her son, who had been under her care and love for so many years, had really left home for a place far away. With complicated feelings beyond the words, I sat in silence in the train for hours.  When calming down, I began to tell myself again that I must study hard in the university and try to be an outstanding and promising student. Only by so doing could I get a better job after my graduation, making enough money to support my family.

After a long train ride of over 30 hours, I finally got to my destination: Beijing, the capital city of China. There, an unusual age started.

 It might sound strange to you but in the 1960s, Shanghai was already considered a well-developed and industrialized municipal city in China. Shanghainese had then already a sense of pride. In their eyes, they as “smart” Shanghainese were superior to the “ordinary” people living in other parts of China. They also assumed that Shanghai where they lived in was the best in the nation. Those residents who were very poor and had to shelter in the shanty town also showed tremendous respect towards Shanghai. Shanghainese typically would not leave Shanghai even if they were offered a good opportunity of going somewhere else for a much better life. They were willing to “enjoy” very simple meals every day as long as they could stay in Shanghai.

Those who were considered poor in Shanghai would be offered “Paofan” for breakfast (Paofan is kind of very simple, but broadly loved food in Shanghai, the recipe being as follows: pour enough boiling water into the steamed rice already left cold to warm it up. Leaving the water in it, one consumes it as rice soup. When I was living in Shanghai, Paofan was also my favorite food to enjoy at breakfast). The side dishes they could afford to get were only some pickled radish. The houses they lived in were shabby and old. And the temperature inside was extreme, cold in winter and hot in summer. So long as they could continue to live in their “dream city” of Shanghai, they had no complains.

Before I left Shanghai and started my new life in Beijing, I was also a typical Shanghai resident who regarded the city as China’s best. But with time passing by, I began to know the city of Beijing better and better. After living in Beijing for a fairly long period, I realized that my “Shanghai Fever” cooled down gradually until gone completely. Beijing, the capital city of China, was displaying a brand new world to me.  Even today, after so many decades, Beijing is still a city that I love so much!

If I did not have the opportunity to come to and live in Beijing, it would be impossible for me to know how great and magnificent this ancient city was! Just by looking at the resplendent Forbidden City and the majestic Great Wall, you would get an incredible sense of pride. I was also utterly astonished by the world’s largest square, Tiananmen Square and the biggest park, Summer Palace. Recalling the time when I was in Shanghai, I was so proud of the People’s Square and the Yuyuan Garden. To compare those two “fabulous” Shanghai scenic spots to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and Summer Palace, you would easily find out that the former was ridiculously tiny. It was only after I settled down in Beijing that I realized how vivid a Chinese Proverb is: a frog underneath the well. When I was in Shanghai, I could be called such a frog, knowing nothing about the outside world.

As time went on, I came to know the local people in Beijing better and better. People who lived respectively in Beijing and Shanghai were like from two different worlds.

I found that Beijingers viewed the world from a new and unique perspective. In Beijing, no matter who they were, whether they were prominent officials, eminent personalities or the peck and hamper people who earned their living with a poor monthly income, almost everyone showed enthusiasm on current issues, both domestic and international. I was deeply impressed by their philosophy of “the rise or fall of the nation is the concern of every citizen”.

I still remember that when I lived in Shanghai, the local people only concerned about their daily life matters, such as “buying some new clothes and shoes for my wife and kids after getting the monthly pay”, or “how to arrange a better and cozier life after a remarkable money saving”.

After a few months’ stay in Beijing, I discovered that my perspective of looking at the world and the nation had been changed and broadened, getting me more and more matured.

Beijing’s humanistic and cultural environment delighted me a lot. At leisure time, I loved to visit the place called “Liulichang”, where numerous antiques and paintings could be found or purchased. I also loved to make casual tours to such places as “Wangfujing” and “Tianqiao”. There I could enjoy looking at all kinds of commercial products, always surrounded by big crowds of visitors.

But one thing is for sure: the biggest attraction of Beijing for me was the local people’s living traditions as well as their music-like dialect. How deep Beijing’s cultural heritage was!

(END)

About the Author:

Ruzhong Gong (Ralph Gong), born in Shanghai, China, now living in the USA.

Graduated From the English Department of University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China

Before retirement, President of an USA overseas company under China National Light Industrial Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of a joint-venture company in USA, jointly owned by Australia’s Lief Group Company and China National Chemical Products Imp. & Exp. Corp.; President of an American Brach Corp. under China National Foreign Trade Bases Corp.; Chief Representative in Beijing Office under Trade Am, an American Carpets Wholesale Company.

Author of 6 books, including “My Life—Family, Career & VIPs”, “How to Do Business in Mainland of China”, “My Leisure Time”, “My Leisure Time—Poems & Articles” , “Poems and Essays from Leisure Chamber” and “Flowers By My Side”.

Member of the Chinese Poetry Society (CPS), Free Lance Writer for Austrian Sinopress, and Senior Consultant for Taiwan Caiwei Publishing House.

 【作者簡介】

龚如仲（英文名ralph），生于中国上海。中国对外经济贸易大学英语一系毕业，毕业后在铁道部援建坦赞铁路工作组任英语翻译（曾在非洲工作四年）。中国国际广播电台英语部英语播音员、记者，外贸部中国轻工业品进出口总公司出口二处业务员、副处长，外贸部轻工业品进出口总公司驻美国公司总裁（处长）。2012年至2016年，台湾采薇出版社出版自传《岁月如重》《东西南北中国人---细谈如何在大陆做生意》《悠然时光》和《悠然时光---如仲诗语》。2018年4月，中国国际广播出版社出版《悠然斋诗文选》，2018年9月，中国国际广播出版社出版《花儿在身边开放》。现为中华诗词学会会员、中国经典文学网特约作家、台湾采薇出版社顾问。世界詩會聯合總會【北歐總社】、【好萊塢總社】常務總社長。