海外头条总编审   王 在 军   （中国）

海外头条副编审 Wendy温迪（英国）

海 外 头 条总 编   火 凤  凰 （海外）

图片选自百度

英文诵读：龚如仲（美国）

中文播音：琬   乔（中国）

《My Life – Family, Career & VIPs》 

Chapter One: Fate Transformation

Posted by Ralph Gong

Fatalists believe that the fate of a human being is absolutely predestined. Fate is decided by mother nature or God, and it could never ever be changed. But my thinking towards this theory is entirely different. I know a boy, whose fate was transformed in three days after he was born.

One autumn evening many years ago, the rain was drizzling, chilly gusts of autumn wind were blowing. At the entrance space of an old and shabby building in an alley of XiangYanQiao Road, Hongkou District, Shanghai, a middle-aged couple were sitting there face-to-face, sighing again and again. The husband was Mr. Chen A-Jin, who was an ordinary coolie (a bottomed labor). A-Jin was short and small, but he was an honest man. In character-wise, he was a little bit meek. Sitting in front of him was his wife who was pregnant, expecting a baby shortly. Unfortunately, they were a very poor couple, and they already had two boys. Facing the reality that the third child was going to come into the world in the near future, the poor couple were very much worried. The reason was obvious: as a basic coolie, A-Jin’s monthly income was very limited. It was already difficult for A-Jin to keep the existing 4-member family alive, how could he manage to feed the third child who would be born soon?

The couple were hopelessly discussing what and how they should do next when a door-knocking sound came. A-Jin stepped to the gate and opened the door. It was Elder-Brother Gong who was Chen Family’s near neighbor.

Elder-Brother Gong’s full name was Gong Yunben. Since he was the fourth kid of seven children in Gong Family (all boys, no girls), people usually called him “Gong Lao Si” Or “Lao Si” (meaning “the Forth Son of Gong Family”). Lao Si was also a coolie, as well as A-Jin’s Sworn Brother (“Sworn Brother” means that in old China, two or more men were so close to each other that they would kneel down in front of a Buddha’s portrait or stature and swear to establish the relationship of “brothers” even though they came from different families with different surnames).

By mentioning Lao Si, I ought to tell you that he was not an ordinary person. Lao Si was a handsome man in medium-height, neither fat nor thin, very witty and capable. When Lao Si was a teenager who lived in the countryside in the north of Jiangsu Province, he learned the Chinese Gong-Fu (martial arts) well. Normally, a group of three or even four strong men together would not be Lao Si’s rivals when fighting against him. Besides, Lao Si was a very generous man with a sense of justice. In order to protect his Sworn Brother A-Jin, Lao Si sometimes had to use his strong fists to conflict with those who bullied or intended to bully A-Jin

After inviting Lao Si into the room, A-Jin politely asked his Sworn Brother to sit down and offered the visitor a cigarette. A-Jin’s wife got up immediately from her chair and served Lao Si with a cup of tea. Looking at both A-Jin and his wife, Lao Si realized that his Sworn Brother must be confronted with something extremely difficult. He could actually read it from A-Jin’s face. Sipping tea, Lao Si asked A-Jin what had happened. A-Jin trusted his Sworn Brother very much. He told Lao Si how difficult it would be if they should really decide to keep the child and raise him up.

Lao Si gave a deep thought for it and told both A-Jin and his wife that he had a good idea on mind. A-Jin and his wife could not conceal the eagerness to know about it. With emotion, Lao Si said to A-Jin and his wife: “If the born baby is a girl, you should definitely keep her because you have been looking forward to having a baby girl for a long time. Plus, girls are usually very close to their parents when they grow up. But if my sister-in-law gives the birth to a baby boy, I’m most willing to have the boy as my adopted son in order to perpetuate my Gong Family.”

The reason why Lao Si had such a suggestion was due to an incident two years ago. Back then, Lao Si’s wife, Mrs. Gong, did give the birth to a baby boy. But the baby died of meningitis when he was just two years old. As Mrs. Gong suffered from postpartum hemorrhage after the baby was born, she lost the ability to have children again (even though her postpartum trouble was later relieved by the doctor). To have a foster son was a long time dream for both Mr. Gong Yunben and his wife.

After listening to what Lao Si suggested, both A-Jin and his wife lowered their voices for a detailed and serious discussion. And then they came to the conclusion that it was a good proposal put forward by Elder-Brother Gong. On one hand, Chen Family was too poor to feed the child. On the other hand, the two Families of Chen and Gong were so close together that the child would for sure be treated very nicely after adoption.

In that unusually cold autumn evening, the would-be born boy’s fate was thus decided.

As expected, Mrs. Chen did give birth to a baby boy one month later. Coming into the world with a cry, the baby enjoyed three days’ breast-feeding by Mrs. Chen. Three days later, Mrs. Chen sent the child to Gong Family in indescribable pain.

The fate-transformation of this newly-born boy was significant. It changed his whole life dramatically!

It was said that Mrs. Chen was very regretful after giving the boy to Gong Family. She kept crying for a few days after the boy was gone and even had a big quarrel with her husband, Mr. A-Jin Chen. With the time passing by, though, both Mr. and Mrs. Chen found out that Mr. Gong Yunben and his wife had been trying their very best to give their full care to the child. Mrs. Gong was so busy with taking care of and feeding the child that for 20 successive days, she was neglecting her own washing and dressing. In order to earn more money to feed the child, Mr. Gong Yunben voluntarily worked over-time. Discovering that both Mr. and Mrs. Gong were so whole-hearted to the boy, Mrs. Chen felt consoled and relaxed. She cooperated with the couple and went to give the boy breast-feeding from time to time.

Gradually, the two families reached an agreement: Mrs. Chen, the natural mother of the child, became the child’s foster mother. She is entitled to frequenting the couple in order to visit her natural son.

Reading up to now, you may think that this is only a fictitious story. It is not. The baby boy was nobody else but me myself.

《岁月如重—兼谈华国锋》

第一章、第一节：命运被转移的男孩

作者：龚如仲

宿命论者认为，一个人的命运在他（她）出生之前就被牢牢地锁定了，要想改变冥冥中被“主宰者”安排好的命运是不可能的。然而我宁愿相信人的命运是可以改变的。至少，有一个男孩就是如此，从他出生后不久，他的命运就得到了转移。

在许多年前的一个秋天的晚上，天空中飘洒着沥沥细雨，秋风吹过，送来阵阵凉意。在旧上海虹口区香烟桥路的一个弄堂里，一对中年夫妇正坐在一幢老式房子的门厅里面对面地不断叹着气。这个男人姓陈，叫阿金，一个普通的苦力工人。阿金身材瘦小、老实巴交，一副忠厚相。坐在他对面的妻子正挺着个大肚子。这是一对已经有了两个儿子的贫苦夫妻，一家四口仅靠阿金每月所得的有限工钱勉强糊口。眼看着又有一个孩子即将出世，这往后的日子怎么过？

正当二人愁眉苦脸、不知所措之际，突然间响起了敲门声。阿金开门一看，原来是同住一个弄堂里的龚家大哥前来串门。龚家大哥大名叫云本，兄弟七个，他行四，所以大家都叫他四哥，或者干脆叫他老四。老四也是一个干苦力的穷工人，与阿金是拜把子兄弟。

说起这位龚老四，他可不是个一般人物。老四中等个儿，不胖不瘦，极为精悍，人看上去英气勃勃、相貌堂堂，一双虎目炯炯有神。老四少年时在江苏老家练就了一身好功夫，寻常里三五个大汉近不了他的身。老四为人仗义，但性如烈火，又好打抱不平，常常为了保护义弟阿金而不得不对别人施展拳脚、大打出手。看到义兄四哥来了，阿金夫妇连忙起身让座、敬烟倒茶。一见兄弟、弟媳心事重重，老四忙问原因。于是，阿金便把“很快又添一口人，家中却有困难把孩子养大”的实情说了一遍。

听罢阿金兄弟的诉苦，老四寻思片刻，说他有了个好主意。阿金夫妇忙问是何主意？老四这才对阿金说道，若是陈家生下千金，自然由陈家自行抚养，因为陈太太这次怀孕的初衷就是想生个女儿，将来可对妈妈亲、当妈妈的“贴身小棉袄”。倘若这一回再生个“秃小子”，老四很想把孩子收养过来，这样也可续承龚家的香火。原来两年前龚太太生过一个男孩，但出生后不久孩子便染上了脑膜炎，因医治无效，不幸去世。龚太太生孩子后月子里受了风寒，医生断定她今后不能再生养，所以龚家两口子很想把义弟的儿子继养过来。

听罢四哥的建议，阿金夫妇一商量认为这倒是个好主意。因为一来陈家贫困，再抚养一个孩子确实很难；二来陈龚两家关系亲密，孩子送过去断然吃不了亏。就在这个罕见阴冷的初秋的晚上，这孩子的命运就被决定了。

一个月后，陈妈妈果然又生了个男孩。小男孩呱呱坠地后，陈妈妈只喂了小家伙三天的奶，就忍痛把孩子送到了龚家。于是这孩子就从一个四口之家的陈家，转移到了夫妇二人且膝下无子的龚家。这次命运的转移对这个男孩而言是至关紧要的，因为这次转移将彻底改变这个男孩的一生。

据说陈妈妈事后极为后悔，呼天喊地地哭了好几天，还和陈爸爸大吵了一架。但过了一阵子，他们发现，龚家夫妇为了抚养好这个男孩，几乎把性命都拼了上去。一连三十多天，龚妈妈忙得连脸都没时间洗，头也无空闲去梳；龚爸爸起早贪黑，玩命地去挣钱，无非是为了给儿子多挣点奶粉钱。一看龚家两口子对儿子如此经心，陈妈妈的心软了。后来两家达成了正式协议：让孩子干脆叫亲妈为“干娘”。这样一来，干娘就可借机来龚家看望儿子，也可时不时地给孩子喂喂奶。

不要认为我讲的是个虚构的故事，其实这是件实实在在发生的事情，因为那个男孩就是我。

***本文选之我的自传《岁月如重—兼谈华国锋》中之第一章、第一节，此书于2012年由台湾采薇出版是出版、发行。

【作者简介】龚如仲 (Ralph) , 中国对外经济贸易大学英语系毕业。曾任铁道部援建坦赞铁路工作组总部英语翻译, 中国国际广播电台英语部播音员、记者, 外贸部中国轻工业品进出口总公司驻美国公司总裁, 澳大利亚利富集团驻美国公司总裁, 外贸部中国基地总公司驻美国公司总裁, 美国TA国际有限公司驻北京办事处首席代表。

有关作品: 中国电影出版社出版翻译作品美国动画电影小说《忍者神龟》（Ninja Turtles) 。

台湾采薇出版社出版、发行《岁月如重---兼谈华国锋》（此书已被香港中文大学图书馆、美国纽约市市立图书馆、澳大利亚国家图书馆正式收藏）《东西南北中国人---细谈如何在大陆做生意》《悠然时光》《如仲诗语》《My Life--Family, Career & VIPs》

中国国际广播出版社出版、发行《悠然斋诗文选》《花儿在身边开放》。

中华诗词学会会员、中国经典文学网特约作家、台湾采薇出版社资深顾问、奥地利英文网Sinopress特聘专栏作家、欧华新移民作家协会会员、加拿大高校文学社周同题作者、海外華英总顾问，北美翰苑社长兼总编。

琬乔：朗诵爱好者，喜欢用声音传递世间一切美好与热爱！