Reading the book "Hou Family Road", I seemed to have become a reporter, and Zhou Guoping was also fully prepared to be interviewed. Then I made up an interview scene in my mind, and Zhou Guoping’s answers were mainly based on the original text.
Xiao Yunyun: Hi, Zhou Guoping, you graduated from Peking University and are a famous contemporary scholar and writer. Can you tell me your story?
Zhou Guoping: Let’s talk about my childhood.
Xiao Yunyun: Okay, what do your parents do?
Zhou Guoping: My father is a grassroots cadre, and my mother worked in a pharmaceutical factory in her early years. Later, she resigned and took care of us at home.
Xiao Yunyun: Turns out he is half a "second-generation official"?
Zhou Guoping: No, no, absolutely civilian! We live in a pavilion room in the old town of Shanghai, with only a few square meters. The whole family of 7 was crowded inside. In the summer, the room is extremely hot. It can be said that it is a quasi-slum.
Xiao Yunyun: I didn’t expect to be so poor! Did your parents have any influence on you?
Zhou Guoping: They are all responsible people and don’t know how to play tricks at all. The five of us brothers and sisters are all bad at fighting with others and appear to be useless to varying degrees. Later, my so-called success made up for my weakness.
Xiao Yunyun: I read your words and feel that you are very sincere. What books did you read when you were a child?
Zhou Guoping: I liked reading "The Red Chamber" and "The West Chamber", and I also liked watching plays about talented people and beautiful ladies. Occasionally when I go to the theater with my parents, and the beautiful lady's eyes meet mine on the stage, I become so sentimental that I even want to rush up to the stage and let the beautiful lady see me. After the show ended, I felt so lost that I couldn't recover for several days.
Xiao Yunyun: Did you have good grades when you were a child?
Zhou Guoping: His grades in elementary school were mediocre. He liked to do little tricks in class and was not the teacher's favorite. You know, teachers, regardless of their stupidity, can become an authority by virtue of the power to distribute honors. I rarely receive honors, which to a considerable extent has caused my current lack of confidence.
Xiao Yunyun: I can understand. Let’s talk about something fun. What did you play when you were kids?
Zhou Guoping: A lot, raising silkworms, raising tadpoles, collecting match labels and candy wrappers, going to the Chenghuang Temple to watch puppet shows and monkey shows...
Xiao Yunyun: Sounds interesting, have you ever done anything bad?
Zhou Guoping: There are two.
1. I scalded my sister’s goldfish to death with boiling water, because all the goldfish I raised were dead, but hers was still alive. Jealousy can make a child do crazy things.
2. He also stole things from his classmates, including a wind-up tin frog and a book called "The Story of Timur".
Xiao Yunyun: What do you think of these bad things?
Zhou Guoping: I am glad that my occasional misdeeds were not discovered, otherwise I would be hit and humiliated, which would have a psychological impact. Just like a person who occasionally sleepwalks, his illness can be completely cured on his own, but if he is awakened, serious consequences will occur.
Xiao Yunyun: Do you think there were any shortcomings in your childhood?
Zhou Guoping: I may not have received proper art education, which is reflected in the fact that my body and personality tend to be rigid. My writing is also restrained, lacking the freedom of color and rich rhythm. Describing scenes and imagining are neither my strengths, so I have no choice but to write philosophical prose.
Xiao Yunyun: So that’s it. I thought you didn’t bother to write, but it turns out you don’t know how to write! Can we talk about middle school?
Zhou Guoping: In junior high school, I was often bullied. Because I am weak and introverted. They often locked the door to prevent me from entering, or hid my belongings. When I finally found them, they would rush in to snatch them, or even take advantage of the situation to beat me.
Xiao Yunyun: This is campus bullying! How did you handle it?
Zhou Guoping: I never complained to anyone, and I never thought of complaining to my parents or teachers. I told myself that these boys and I were different people, and I would definitely be more promising than them in the future. I held back my secret energy and studied harder and harder. By the third year of junior high school, I was doing very well in all subjects, and the people who bullied me in the past became very friendly.
Xiao Yunyun: You are great! When you were in school, was there any girl you liked?
Zhou Guoping: When I was in the second grade of junior high school, I had a crush on a girl. Every day after school, I deliberately delayed the time, waiting for her to go out first, and then followed her from a distance. When I came home, I always thought of her and beat her countless times. He wrote a love letter, but as soon as he saw her, he didn't have the courage to say a word to her. There was a boy in the class who was her neighbor. He dared to talk to her casually. I admired and was jealous of that boy.
Xiao Yunyun: What then?
Zhou Guoping: There was a parent-teacher meeting later. I originally expected her mother to be a beautiful lady, but what I saw was an old and ugly woman who looked like a man. I was completely disillusioned and my secret love for her cooled down. .
Xiao Yunyun: You are really honest.
Zhou Guoping: The secret love for her is a precursor to sexual awakening. Later, I found a way to masturbate. I often peeked at books on health knowledge, feeling ashamed and remorseful. A boy's sexual awakening is a painful process. So I sympathize with puppy love.
Xiao Yunyun: You are the only writer in the same series of books who tells this matter directly. Thank you. How did you get admitted to Peking University?
Zhou Guoping: Due to my good grades in junior high school, I was admitted to Shanghai Middle School, which is the best middle school in Shanghai. The learning atmosphere in the class is very good, everyone keeps up with each other, and I am very good at mathematics. Of course, it is not easy to get into Peking University.
Xiao Yunyun: Why did you choose the Department of Philosophy?
Zhou Guoping: I chose philosophy because I didn’t want to be restricted by a certain major. I believe that philosophy allows me to stay on both sides of the liberal arts and sciences, and never give up on either.
Xiao Yunyun: Thank you, is there anything else you want to say?
Zhou Guoping: My childhood stories are all written in "Hou Family Road". You can show it to your children if you have nothing to do.
Xiao Yunyun: No, what you wrote is too boring!