Among the leaders of New China, Deng Xiaoping was relatively short, less than 1.6 meters.
On the issue of height, Deng Xiaoping once joked in his later years: "This is the result of overwork and malnutrition when I was working in France when I was young." ”
So, what did Deng Xiaoping do in France back then?
In October 1920, Deng Xiaoping and a group of Chinese students went to France to study, when he was only 16 years old.
There are three types of international students: the first is government-funded students, whose tuition and living expenses are paid by the government, the second is loan students, who can borrow money from the government to pay for tuition, and the third is self-financed students, who are completely responsible for their own expenses.
Deng Xiaoping belonged to the third type, so during his time in France, in addition to studying, he also had to work in factories to earn some money to make ends meet.
The first factory Deng Xiaoping went to was the Snyder factory, the largest military factory in France, and Deng Xiaoping was assigned to work as a steel rolling worker in the rolling mill.
In this factory, the rolling workers are the most labor-intensive and the most difficult environment, and they need to run back and forth in the workshop at more than 40 degrees, with iron tongs clamping steel bars, such a job is difficult for even strong European adults, let alone Deng Xiaoping, who is short in stature and has not yet reached adulthood.
Moreover, Deng Xiaoping's salary was pitiful, he could only eat a few pieces of dry bread at each meal, which was not enough for Deng Xiaoping, who was extremely physically exhausted and his body was in the period of development, and he later said with emotion: "Whenever I can afford a croissant and a glass of milk, I always feel happy." ”
It was during this period that Deng Xiaoping's body was greatly damaged, his physical development was also affected, and he could no longer grow tall.
After working in the factory for a few months, Deng Xiaoping couldn't take it anymore and left, and later went to the Hutchinson factory, a rubber factory that worked much less intensively than before.
Deng Xiaoping's work is mainly to make shoes, glue the soles, insoles, and uppers together, this work does not require a lot of physical strength, but requires quick eyes, which is not a problem for Deng Xiaoping, others can make more than a dozen pairs a day, Deng Xiaoping can make more than 20 pairs a day, and the money he earns is naturally more.
However, Deng Xiaoping's purpose in France was not to work to earn money, but to pursue further studies, so after earning a sum of money in the factory, he resigned and went back to continue his studies.
After the money was spent, Deng Xiaoping went to the Renault car factory and was arranged in the fitter workshop, mainly responsible for machine assembly and machine parts maintenance.
Renault still exists, is still the second largest car company in France, and still retains Deng Xiaoping's work card, the number is 82409A, the nationality is Chinese, lives at No. 27 Travesil Street in Yangur City, the level is a skilled worker, and a photo of Deng Xiaoping is pasted.
In 1988, Deng Xiaoping's daughter Mao Mao went to visit Renault and saw her father's work card.
There is another detail, the name written on this work card is "Deng Xixian", that is, a name before Deng Xiaoping.
Deng Xiaoping's earliest name was "Deng Xiansheng," but when he later went to a private school, Mr. Confucius was taken aback, and Confucius was the teacher of all scholars, and this child dared to be called "Xiansheng," and he was even ahead of Confucius and disrespected Confucius too much!
Therefore, during his study in France, Deng Xiaoping still used the name "Deng Xixian".
As for the name "Deng Xiaoping", it was changed after returning to China to participate in the revolution, which means that in the future, he will stand with the common people, not become some "sage".
In addition, the experience of working in France also made Deng Xiaoping have a great change in his thinking.
Before coming to France, Deng Xiaoping was full of beautiful yearning for the Western world and was determined to learn various advanced ideas and systems of the West, but during his work in France, he saw the cruel other side of capitalist society, the people at the bottom are just tools for capitalists to make money, and there is no dignity at all, and the so-called advanced life in the West is just a game for capitalists.
Therefore, after Deng Xiaoping saw the essence of capitalism, he decided to go to the Soviet Union to study communist ideology, and since then he has become a staunch communist fighter and dedicated his life to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese people.
(Reference: "Biography of Deng Xiaoping", "Deng Xiaoping Yearbook", "Deng Xiaoping's True Record")