Chapter 884 883 [Lay in Peace]

At its peak, Southwest Associated University had a total of more than 8,000 students, but now in 1939, the number of students on campus is less than 2,000.

Sun Yongzhen and Zhu Guozhen helped school staff carry the boxes. The pens and notebooks inside will be distributed to students tomorrow. There are definitely some gifts left over that can be given to professors at the school.

Mei Yiqi accompanied Zhou Hexuan to visit the school. As he walked, he said: "The final exam is coming soon, and the students are taking the time to review."

"Then don't disturb them. Let's go check out the cafeteria and dormitories first." Zhou Hexuan said.

The dormitory is also a bungalow with mud walls, but it is worse than the school building. The roof is directly covered with thatch. Moreover, each dormitory is large and can sleep 40 people. There are no dormitory administrators who choose the beds to sleep in, and there are even cases where people from outside the school have come to sleep here for several years.

The most speechless thing is that the student dormitory doesn't even have a door, it's open for anyone to come in and out at will.

There are three layers of cardboard boxes on many beds. Mei Yiqi explained: "Those are soap packaging boxes bought by students. Books and clothes can be placed in the boxes, which are regarded as bookcases and wardrobes for students. The upper layer of cardboard boxes is padded with newspapers. , it becomes a desk and you can write on it.”

"The conditions are very difficult." Zhou Hexuan nodded.

Although he had seen relevant descriptions in books before, seeing it with his own eyes at this moment still made Zhou Hexuan's eyes sore.

I remember that there was a very famous Spring Festival couplet in the student dormitory of Southwest Associated University.

The first couplet is: Hey! Where to shoot?

The second line is: Oh! People celebrate the New Year!

Zhou Hexuan walked around the dormitory, and it was almost lunch time. Mei Yiqi took Zhou Hexuan to the cafeteria to eat.

Before I even reached the cafeteria, the bell rang for the end of get out of class, and the students rushed over like runners.

When some students saw Mei Yiqi, they stopped and shouted: "Chairman!"

In fact, Southwest Associated University does not have a president, only the chairman of the school committee, but later generations generally regard Mei Yiqi as the president.

Before Mei Yiqi could nod in response, a student recognized Zhou Hexuan and shouted: "Mr. Zhou is here, Mr. Zhou is here!"

"Where is Mr. Zhou?"

"Which Mr. Zhou?"

"Mr. Zhou is really here!"

"..."

Zhou Hexuan instantly turned into a giant panda and was surrounded by students. He smiled and waved: "Let's go eat together, don't be stunned."

Students crowded around Zhou Hexuan to the cafeteria, chatting while queuing, and many asked him for advice.

There were only tables and no benches in the cafeteria. The students prepared their own meals in wooden buckets and then ate while standing around the table. No one dares to fill up the bowl because they have to finish it quickly so they can have a chance to add a second bowl. The slow second bowl of rice will be gone.

"Dangdangdangdang..."

The first thing students do when they pick up their rice bowls is not to eat, but to knock the bowls. There was a tinkling sound in the cafeteria, as if a concert was being played or an amphibious dojo was being held.

Why knock the bowl?

Because the rice contains a lot of gravel and even rat droppings, it is nicknamed "Eight Treasure Rice" by the students. If you want to eat quickly and comfortably, you must use a certain force and rhythm to knock out the debris in the rice and push it aside. This is a technical job.

Zhou Hexuan also received a bowl of eight-treasure rice, and they followed the same example and knocked on the bowl together. But his bowl-breaking technique was very poor, and it was of no use to him after knocking for a long time. He could only swallow it wholeheartedly, with all kinds of sand and barnyard grains mixed in. Even if he ate rat droppings, he could only continue to swallow it.

Today's dish is boiled kidney beans, which are cheap. It's hard to say what the taste is. It's boiled in plain water, not oily, not even salty enough.

The proud men of China did not dislike the food at all. They devoured it one by one, for fear that they would be too slow to finish the second bowl. The same is true for female students. In an era when there were no snacks and meat, girls had no right to be pretentious, and even a delicate girl could eat two large bowls.

Seeing that Zhou Hexuan was in pain after eating, Mei Yiqi advised: "Mr. Zhou, if you can't swallow it, don't swallow it. Come to my house and cook some home-cooked dishes for you."

"It's okay, can't waste it." Zhou Hexuan gritted his teeth and finished the remaining half of the bowl of rice. He ate cleaner than the students, at least the students would have a lot of gravel and mouse droppings left.

The fast students had already finished their second bowl and came to talk to Zhou Hexuan. At this moment, the air raid siren suddenly sounded in Kunming.

"Run the alarm!"

The students have become very proficient, even to the point of taking it for granted. Some even ran with their rice bowls in hand without even leaving the food bowls behind, eating and laughing while running.

Mei Yiqi's expression suddenly changed, and she pulled Zhou Hexuan and said, "Mr. Zhou, run quickly, the Japanese plane is coming!"

After the fall of Guangzhou, Kunming began to be bombed continuously by the Japanese army, and the Southwest Associated University was one of the main targets of the Japanese bombing.

Zhou Hexuan ran for his life with the crowd. From the back gate of the school and across the railway, there was a wilderness. He could just find a grave in the woods to take shelter - there was no air-raid shelter built on the school side.

He met an acquaintance before running far. Jin Yuelin greeted and introduced his friend as he ran: "Mingcheng, you are here too. This is Wen Yiduo."

Zhou Hexuan didn't expect that his first meeting with Wen Yiduo would be in this situation. He smiled and said: "Hello, Mr. Wen."

"Hello, Mr. Zhou, when did you come to Kunming?" Wen Yiduo asked.

"This morning." Zhou Hexuan said.

Wen Yiduo was originally very weak, but he participated in the "Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan Tour Group" last year and has become black and strong.

At that time, teachers and students from the three schools moved from Changsha to Kunming and marched in three directions.

Wen Yiduo's team consisted of 11 teachers and 267 students, as well as 4 military instructors and team doctors. Military management was implemented throughout the process, and the leader was a lieutenant general. They crossed the three provinces of Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan, climbed over Xuefeng Mountain, Wuling Mountain, Miaoling Mountain, Wumeng Mountain and other lofty mountains, and walked 3,600 miles. It was called a "Civilian Long March".

Teachers and students are not only rushing, but also practicing the teaching practice of "society is school, life is education".

When passing by Wuling Mountain, Wen Yiduo taught the original meaning of the place name of Peach Blossom Spring, guided students to collect folk songs and study local languages. Professor Li Jitong introduced the social conditions of rural areas to the students, and Professor Yuan Fuli explained the structural deformation of river landforms...

After running for a while, Zhou Hexuan met a few acquaintances again. He asked, "Where are Sicheng and Huiyin?"

Jin Yuelin explained breathlessly: "They are inspecting ancient buildings in Sichuan and Kangxi, not in Kunming. Huhu, don't run away, just this tomb. The tombstone looks quite strong."

Why choose a graveyard to hide from the bombing?

Because there are tombstones as a barrier.

Wen Yiduo said quickly: "Run forward. There is a cave ahead, which is safer than the cemetery."

Zhou Hexuan could only keep running, and soon arrived at the cave Wen Yiduo mentioned. This place can only accommodate seven or eight people. It is said to be a cave, but in fact it is just a large pit on the mountain wall.

Zhou Hexuan took out his cigarette and spread it around. Using the light of the match, he saw a few lines of text embedded in stones on the ground. They were probably used by a student to relieve his boredom when he was hiding from the bombing last time.

If you look closely, you will see that there are actually two couplets.

The first picture should be the masterpiece of a sultry science student.

The first couplet is: What is the geometry of life?

The second line is: Love triangle.

The second couplet is a realistic portrayal, probably made by a liberal arts student.

The first line is: act according to circumstances.

The second line is: Rest in peace.

They came to the cave to hide from the bombing, weren't they just acting according to the situation and settling in their graves?