On August 27, 1920, a group of young people dressed as students gathered at Taipingmen Pier in Chongqing. They are 83 graduates of the Chongqing French Work-Study Preparatory School. They will go to Shanghai from there and then go to France to work-study. Among the crowd, a short, delicate-looking young man was reluctantly saying goodbye to his family. He is Deng Xiaoping (Deng Xixian), who is only 16 years old.
When he learned that his son was traveling abroad, his father Deng Shaochang (Deng Wenming) rushed from Guang'an to Chongqing to see his son off. On the first day before leaving, the father and son came to a small restaurant near Taipingmen. Facing his son who was about to travel across the ocean, Deng Shaochang cried when he picked up his chopsticks and could not eat a bite. Looking at his father's tearful eyes, Deng Xiaoping couldn't control his emotions and knelt down in front of his father with a plop...
At about three o'clock in the afternoon, Deng Xiaoping and other work-study students in France boarded the "Ji Qing" ship. The father and son, one on the dock and the other on the boat, kept waving their arms to each other. Among the heavy luggage, there was a large bag of Guang'an beef jerky made by his mother... At that time, Deng Xiaoping never imagined that it would be this farewell that would become his eternal farewell to his parents: his mother died of illness soon after, and his father also died in 1936. passed away. It was this farewell that became his eternal farewell to his hometown of Guang'an. For the rest of his life, Deng Xiaoping never set foot on the land where he was born and raised.
After staying in Shanghai for more than ten days, on September 11, 1920, Deng Xiaoping and his classmates boarded the French mail ship "Antrepon" at the "France" pier in Huangpu Beach, weighed anchor and headed west. The sound of the whistle broke the hearts of everyone, and as they gazed at the far away motherland in the heavy rain, tears welled up in their eyes. This voyage covered nearly 16,000 kilometers and took a total of more than 40 days. The voyage across the Indian Ocean from Singapore to Africa was the longest, and everyone suffered a lot: sometimes while sleeping, a huge wave suddenly hit, and the whole body would be soaked; the ship shook violently, and many people got seasick and vomited... …
On October 19, 1920, Deng Xiaoping arrived in Marseille and began his life in France. Students from Chongqing Preparatory School were sent to middle schools in various provinces of France. Deng Xiaoping and his uncle Deng Shaosheng came to the "Baye School" in Normandy in western France to learn French. Unfortunately, Deng Xiaoping only studied here for 5 months, and after that, he never entered the school again. Economic constraints caused Deng Xiaoping to lose the opportunity to study in the school system. Deng Xiaoping raised 300 yuan for travel expenses when he came to France, but the ship fare alone accounted for 100 yuan, plus another 50 yuan for accommodation in Shanghai and meals on board. At that time, the living expenses in France were at least 40 yuan per month (at that time, 6 silver dollars were exchanged for about 70 francs). At this time, no matter how frugal you are, you won't be able to cover the tuition fees, and continuing to study is tantamount to sitting back and waiting to die. Moreover, the school also decided to close classes due to insufficient tuition fees for most students.
On March 13, 1921, Deng Xiaoping left Baye Middle School, went to society, and entered the suffering world, beginning the most hesitant years in his life. Deng Xiaoping first drifted to the overseas Chinese community in La Garena and Cologne, located in the northwest suburbs of Paris. At that time, the post-war economic crisis swept across Europe, and more and more students were out of work and out of school. The overseas Chinese community became a refuge for work-study students. Due to limited space in the community, those who had neither work nor money to study had to live in cellars, and some simply lay on the lawn in the garden for long periods of time. Many people's legs were swollen due to dampness, making it difficult to walk. But this is not the worst day!
In April 1921, Deng Xiaoping came to Crousseau, located between Paris and Lyon, to work in the Schneider factory. Here, Deng Xiaoping and other apprentices were engaged in the work of "pulling red iron": putting on asbestos gloves, pulling out the red steel plates and rolling them. Due to the high temperature and extremely high labor intensity, all the Chinese students working here look as haggard as prisoners released from prison. After working for three weeks, the seventeen-year-old Deng Xiaoping was exhausted, so he came to Mondani from Crusoe and resumed work at the Hutchinson Rubber Factory in the city.
Compared with the Schneider Rolling Mill, although there is a bit of rubber smell here, it is not so dirty and tired after all, and the food is much improved. In addition to eating as much bread as possible, there is meat for lunch and dinner. Deng Xiaoping's health gradually recovered and his mood became optimistic. Once, to watch an international football match, he was so cruel that he bought the cheapest ticket for 5 francs. From then on, Deng Xiaoping had an indissoluble bond with football. It was also in the shed of the Hutchinson Rubber Factory that Deng Xiaoping met revolutionaries such as Zhou Enlai, Cai Hesen, and Zhao Shiyan, and began to understand communism and embark on the road of revolution.
After that, Deng Xiaoping successively worked as a stoker on a motorcycle, a kitchen helper in a restaurant, and a cleaner picking up horse manure... During the five years and two months he stayed in France, he worked in more than a dozen hard jobs. . Turmoil, fatigue, poverty, and the hard life while studying in France left a deep mark on the young Deng Xiaoping and tempered his steely will. With the support of this will, a generation of great men opened a new spring for a nation in their later years!
(The picture comes from the Internet, if there is any infringement, please contact the author to delete it)
