Preface:
In 1958, Chen Yi was invited by the leaders of Beijing No. 4 Middle School to give a speech at the school.
In order to welcome Marshal Chen Yi, the school also specially selected a student representative to accompany Marshal Chen Yi to dinner during lunch.
But what the school leaders didn't expect was that Marshal Chen Yi was furious when he learned of the identity of the student, and said angrily: What qualifications does he have to accompany me to dinner!
So what exactly is the identity of this student representative? Why did Chen Yi say this?
In 1954, after discussion, the Central Committee decided to appoint Marshal Chen Yi, then mayor of Shanghai, as vice premier of the State Council.
A year later, Marshal Chen Yi's wife and children also followed their father to Beijing to study and live.
And Chen Haosu, as the son of Marshal Chen Yi, has been deeply taught by his father since he was a child, and never publicizes his identity outside.
Although he no longer has to keep his identity secret after middle school, Chen Haosu has always been very low-key.
It wasn't until 1958 that Chen Haosu came to Beijing No. 4 Middle School to study, and it was here that Chen Haosu felt very uneasy for the first time because he was the son of Marshal Chen Yi.
Because the leaders of Beijing No. 4 Middle School knew Chen Haosu's identity at that time, they thought about inviting Marshal Chen Yi to inspect the school and give a speech through Chen Haosu's relationship.
And also hoped that Chen Haosu could take the initiative to discuss with his father, at first Chen Haosu was very resistant, because he knew that this would cause his father's dissatisfaction, so he refused the request of the school leader.
So the school leaders had no choice but to personally invite Marshal Chen Yi, who happened to be developing education in the country at that time, and Marshal Chen Yi also attached great importance to national education.
immediately agreed to the invitation of Beijing No. 4 Middle School, and it was this decision that put Chen Haosu in a dilemma.
At that time, the school leaders thought that in order to highlight the school's educational reform achievements, they were going to select several outstanding student representatives to communicate with Marshal Chen Yi.
And Chen Haosu, as the son of Marshal Chen Yi, was naturally valued by the school leaders and was selected as the student representative.
In fact, the school leaders arranged this way, not entirely because of Chen Haosu's identity, but mainly because Chen Haosu has always been excellent in character and learning in the school and is fully qualified to serve as a student representative.
In addition, the school leaders also arranged for Chen Haosu to accompany General Chen Yi to eat together, which not only showed that the school was thoughtful, but also allowed their father and son to enhance their relationship.
But in the face of the school's decision, Chen Haosu was very anxious.
Because he knew that his father would never allow this, he thought about refusing the school's arrangement.
But the school leader said: It's just a meal, it's not that serious.
Under the persuasion of the school leaders, Chen Haosu could only agree nervously.
The time soon came for Marshal Chen Yi to inspect the speech, and Chen Haosu's worries were about to become a reality.
Chen Yi came to the school very early that day, and accompanied by the school leaders, he inspected the classrooms and library of the school dormitory.
When Marshal Chen Yi was in the library, he found that the number of books in the school was very small, so he told the school leaders to buy more books to enrich the students' spare time.
After this series of processes was over, the school leaders invited Marshal Chen Yi to inspect the restaurant, and it happened that it was close to the meal, and Marshal Chen Yi did not refuse.
And when Marshal Chen Yi walked to the restaurant, he saw Chen Haosu sitting in the cafeteria, his eyes quickly became gloomy, and asked: Who is that.
The school leader said: That's our school representative Chen Haosu, let him accompany you to dinner at noon.
didn't think about it, Marshal Chen Yi immediately said angrily: What qualifications does he have to accompany me to dinner!
The sudden anger surprised the school leaders, and soon a panicked look spread all over the school leaders' faces.
Seeing this, Marshal Chen Yi also understood that his reaction was a little excessive, so he quickly adjusted his mood and had lunch with the school leaders and Chen Haosu.
During the whole lunch, Chen Haosu did not dare to speak, and Marshal Chen Yi remained silent.
So why did Marshal Chen Yi say that Chen Haosu was not qualified to accompany him to dinner?
It turned out that in Marshal Chen Yi's view, it was actually a good thing for the school to organize outstanding student representatives to talk to him.
But if it is said that because Chen Haosu is his own child, let Chen Haosu be the student representative, which Marshal Chen Yi cannot accept.
Because there are definitely not a few outstanding students in the school, and Chen Haosu has obtained the identity of an outstanding student representative by virtue of his own identity, which is undoubtedly special for Marshal Chen Yi.
In Marshal Chen Yi's heart, Chen Haosu is not good enough, and such an opportunity should be reserved for other more outstanding students.
Marshal Chen Yi also explained to the school leaders after the meal, and the school leaders also admired General Chen Yi's spirit very much.
After lunch, Marshal Chen Yi, accompanied by the school leaders, came to the venue to prepare for a speech.
After experiencing this incident, the school leaders consciously adjusted Chen Haosu, who was supposed to sit in the front row of student representatives, to the position in the back row to prevent Marshal Chen Yi from getting angry again.
Afterwards, Marshal Chen Yi began a speech that lasted for more than three hours, in which Marshal Chen Yi shared a lot of experience about life choices.
The students benefited a lot, and their admiration for Marshal Chen Yi also increased.
In fact, from this incident, it is not difficult for us to see that Marshal Chen Yi is very strict with the discipline of children, but this is also for their good.
Under the teachings of Marshal Chen Yi, Chen Haosu, who graduated from high school in 1959, prepared to study abroad and taught himself Russian in advance.
Marshal Chen Yi was very supportive of Chen Haosu's decision, because at that time, there were many problems in the development of science and technology in China, and Chen Haosu could study abroad to learn advanced knowledge and come back to reimburse the country.
But just as Chen Haosu was about to set sail for Suzhou, an accident happened.
At that time, Sino-Soviet relations were very delicate, and the Soviet Union even reduced the number of Chinese students.
At that time, Marshal Chen Yi, as the foreign minister, was not very convenient to give opinions on the matter of children studying abroad.
So he left the right to choose to Chen Haosu, and Chen Haosu was also well aware of the situation at that time, in order not to let his father fall into a dilemma, Chen Haosu took the initiative to give up the opportunity to study abroad.
Later, he listened to his father's advice and gave up his favorite liberal arts to study engineering.
Because Marshal Chen Yi believed that the country's development at that time needed technical support, and China's political struggle was over, he hoped that his children could promote the development of the motherland as scientific and technological talents.
Chen Haosu agrees with his father's suggestion, and under his father's teaching, Chen Haosu has already taken the development of the motherland as his own responsibility.
Therefore, he gave up the liberal arts he had always longed for, and later Chen Haosu followed in his father's footsteps and devoted himself to foreign careers, serving as the president of the Chinese Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.
Resources
China Economic Weekly