1977年，我进入新闸中小学的初中部学习，那时候我爸已经到北港中学任生物老师了。1977年最重要的一件事情就是恢复高考。这让我爸敏锐地感觉到我必须换个地方学习，在新闸中小学这种地方是考不上大学的。他和我妈妈那时候经常商量，看看是把我转学到哪个学校好。我妈当然想到了二中，不过她的老师都已经退休，这几年她在新闸小学教书，人事关系简单。我爸则有很多战友老师是做官的。比如我爸在铭山中学时候的同学兼战友金益铭（也是地下情报工作者）当时是常州师范学院物理教研组的组长，后来升任师范学院的副院长，常州市高教局局长。
这里提一下金老师，为后面打个伏笔。因为正是金老师找到常州中学的史绍熙校长，在1979年把我搞进了江苏省最好的四所中学之一常州中学，所以金老师是我的大恩人。当然金老师和我父亲是几十年的同学加战友。我小时候，有次金老师携全家从城里到乡下到访过我家，他儿子和我差不多大，擅长书法绘画篆刻，一看就是大户人家子弟，而我只是会模仿九成宫写楷书而已。我还带他儿子去学校那个小木桥玩。金老师的爸爸是常州著名的资本家，家里有当时常州独一无二的旋转楼，就是楼梯是建在楼外盘旋转上的。他家的大房子是当时国民党军的一个团部所在地。所以我爸利用同学和中统的身份经常出入他家搞到有价值的情报。金老师是华东师范大学物理系的高材生，这里按下暂且不表。
再说我爸想来想去，想到了他在铭山中学时期的国文老师张老师，张老师也是地下党，1977年在常州市第十中学做校长。我记得有一天，我爸在家里抓了一只母鸡，带上我，骑上自行车到了城里的张校长家。那时候我很胆怯，也不知道我爸和张校长说些什么，张校长还留我和我爸吃饭。饭后我和我爸骑车回家，在路上我爸和我讲，下个学期你就去十中读书吧。这样1977年下半年，我就转学到了常州市第十中学。常州市第十中学在常州城与西郊结合部，学校当然比新闸中小学要大得多。当时初一有三个班级。我转到了1班，班主任左榴娣老师。我小时候长得唇红齿白，属于古典文学里的那种有点神韵的小男生，所以很讨老师喜欢，其他老师也很喜欢我，加上我写的书法作业，那时候书法是一门必修的作业，让左老师惊叹不已，经常在课堂上表扬我，所以我去没多久，同学们就问我和左老师的关系，是不是干儿子啊之哦的。有些同学就直接叫我左榴娣的儿子。
我小时候长得好的另一个例子就是我跟了我奶奶去我姑姑家玩，我姑姑家的邻居们都会来围观我，说你们家侄子怎么长这么好看秀气等等，搞得我不自在。还有就是那时候常州舞蹈团的老师到十中选拔舞蹈演员，那是我初二，班主任是杨驿华老师，教数学的。那个舞蹈选拔老师就是在班级门口看了一看，就把我和高建亮两个人叫了出去测试舞蹈功底。但我对舞蹈不感兴趣，而杨老师认为我是农村户口，实际我是城镇户口，就误以为舞蹈学校老师不用招我。其实我对舞蹈一点也没有兴趣。高建亮去了市舞蹈团，年龄大离开舞蹈团正好碰上改革开放，结果在家卖烤鸭，现在是不是还在卖烤鸭不得而知。
在十中的时候，那时仍然在批判四人帮，因此班级里学校里有很多黑板报的工作就落到我头上，这就是写字好的副作用，其实我一点也不想做，但是没办法，老师们还觉得是重视我，这就是中国式教育的弊病。那时候学校已经开始重视文化学习了，78年常州的中学系统搞了一次数学竞赛，学校是杨老师组织的，他没看上我，觉得我语文写字不错，数学一般。没想到我去单独找杨老师，积极要求参加竞赛。由于张校长的关系，杨老师同意了，没想到那次竞赛我积极准备，虽然没取得名次，但是确实在十中参赛选手里考得最好。这是杨老师亲口告诉我的。所以从此以后让杨老师刮目相看。因此当初三时，我要转到省常中去的时候，杨老师和学校教务处都不肯写转学介绍信，他们想要把我留在十中。
上文讲到金老师受我父亲的委托，在1979年的暑假某一天，带了我父亲和我就直接到省中的操场找到了时任省中的史绍熙校长。史校长当时是行政13级干部，做过很多年的省常中的校长，又在常州师范学院的副院长，金老师是物理教研组组长，所以他们很熟悉。史绍熙后任常州市人大副主任。顺便说一句，史绍熙的双胞胎兄弟也叫史绍熙，是当时天津大学校长，著名的内燃机专家，科学院院士。很显然，金老师和史校长并没有预约。当时史校长在操场打太极拳，金老师就凑近和史校长打招呼，估计我爸的地下工作者身份还是起作用的，史校长当场就点头让我转到省常中的快班之一当时的初三二班学习，班主任王森老师。
转学后我学习很努力，在转学后的第一个学期，我获得了初三2班的总成绩第一名。我们年级当时有几个学霸，初三1班班有几个，张雷，黄浩东等。好像8班和9班也是重点班，但我不熟悉。一个年级一共有16个班级。1班之所以熟悉，是因为初三的时候我通过赖的方式进了1班。初三一开学，我就自己跑到1班去上课。学校教务处几次劝我回2班，我就是不回去。1班班主任张湘湘老师，是我们的英语老师，其实张老师是学俄语的，从上海外国语大学下放回常州，后来政策落实她又回到了上海外国语大学俄语出版社工作至退休。张老师当时对我印象还不错，最后学校也同意了，就留下了我，结果我当年总成绩成了班上第二，仅次于学霸张雷（现在英国华威大学经济学教授）。张雷后来成了我的好朋友，有次还骑车到我家乡下看我。我也去过他家。他父亲是牙医。
到了高中，原来的1班2班的尖子合并为高一3班，另外从全省招来的同学组成高一1和高一2班。高中3班班主任是卜振扬老师，也是英语老师，卜老师后任江苏国际经济技术合作总公司党委书记副总经理，现已退休。卜老师一直跟我们到高二毕业。高二的时候，学校经常请校友回校作报告，是不是招生宣传我不知道。印象深刻的有南京古生物研究所的校友，还有上海光机所的王之江校友，王当时是中科院学部委员，现在叫院士。省常中西北工业大学的校友也不少，有次来了两位，一位叫董秋庭，时任西工大航空发动机系副主任，副教授，一位叫周凤岐，时任西工大副教授，是反坦克导弹专家，他们两人在西工大当时都是有名的人物，两位教授做了场报告，那是我第一次听说了西北工业大学这个国防院校。这直接导致我81年高考填报志愿的时候报了西北工业大学位第一志愿。那一年是考前填报，我就报了西工大导弹专业，因为住在学校里，也没和爸爸妈妈商量。星期天回家和爸爸一讲，我爸只是轻描淡写地说那你将来一辈子就在山沟沟了。被我爸这么一讲我就回校改了志愿，把第一第二志愿倒填了一下，改成了电子工程系计算机软件专业为第一专业，导弹专业第二。在中学求学期间，我得到了很多师长和同学的照顾和关怀，让我永存一份感恩之心。
n 1977, I entered the junior high school section of Xinzha Central Elementary School. At that time, my father had already become a biology teacher at Beigang Middle School. The most significant event in 1977 was the restoration of the college entrance examination. This made my father keenly aware that I needed to study elsewhere, as places like Xinzha Central Elementary School would not lead to university admission. He and my mother often discussed where to transfer me. My mother naturally thought of Erzhong (Second High School), but her former teachers had already retired. In recent years, she had been teaching at Xinzha Elementary School, where personnel matters were simpler. On the other hand, my father had many comrades who were officials. For example, a former classmate and comrade of my father, Jin Yiming (also an underground intelligence worker), was the head of the Physics Teaching and Research Group at Changzhou Normal University at the time. Later, he was promoted to vice dean of the university and director of the Higher Education Bureau of Changzhou.
Now, let me mention Mr. Jin here, laying the groundwork for later. Because it was Mr. Jin who found Principal Shi Shaoxi of Changzhou Middle School and got me into one of the four best high schools in Jiangsu Province in 1979, Changzhou Middle School. Therefore, Mr. Jin is my great benefactor. Of course, Mr. Jin and my father have been classmates and comrades for decades. When I was young, Mr. Jin once brought his whole family from the city to visit us in the countryside. His son was about the same age as me, skilled in calligraphy, painting, and seal engraving, clearly coming from a wealthy family. In contrast, I could only imitate the Nine-Palace Style to write regular script. I even took his son to play on the small wooden bridge near the school. Mr. Jin's father was a well-known capitalist in Changzhou, and their unique rotating building was a landmark. Their large house used to be the headquarters of a Nationalist Army division. Therefore, my father, using his classmate and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) connections, often visited their home to obtain valuable intelligence. Mr. Jin was an outstanding student in the Physics Department at East China Normal University, but I'll leave that aside for now.
Back to my father's considerations, he thought of his Chinese teacher, Mr. Zhang, from his time at Mingshan Middle School. In 1977, Mr. Zhang became the principal of the Tenth Middle School in Changzhou. I remember one day my father caught a hen at home, took me on his bicycle, and rode to Mr. Zhang's house in the city. I was quite timid at that time, not knowing what my father and Principal Zhang talked about, but Mr. Zhang invited us to stay for dinner. On the way back home, my father told me that I would be attending the Tenth Middle School next semester. So, in the second half of 1977, I transferred to the Tenth Middle School in Changzhou. Located on the outskirts of Changzhou, the school was much larger than Xinzha Central Elementary School. At that time, there were three classes in the first year, and I joined Class 1 with Mrs. Zuo Liuyi as the homeroom teacher. As a child with rosy lips and white teeth, I belonged to the classical literary type, somewhat charming. Consequently, teachers liked me, including Mrs. Zuo. In addition to being the homeroom teacher, she also taught Chinese. My good handwriting, a mandatory subject at that time, often impressed Mrs. Zuo. Therefore, soon after my arrival, classmates started asking about my relationship with Mrs. Zuo, wondering if I was her godson. Some classmates even directly called me Mrs. Zuo's son.
Another example from my childhood was when I followed my grandmother to my aunt's house. Neighbors there would gather to watch me, saying, 'How come your nephew looks so handsome and delicate?' This made me uncomfortable. Additionally, at that time, the dance troupe from Changzhou came to the Tenth Middle School to select dancers. This happened when I was in the second year, and the homeroom teacher was Mr. Yang Yihua, who taught mathematics. The dance selection teacher just took a look at our class and picked me and Gao Jianliang to test our dancing skills. However, I wasn't interested in dancing, and Mr. Yang, thinking I was from a rural household (though I was from an urban one), signaled to the dance school teacher not to admit me. In fact, I had no interest in dancing at all. Gao Jianliang joined the city's dance troupe, but with the arrival of the reform and opening up, he ended up selling roast duck at home. Whether he is still selling roast duck now is unknown.
During my time at the Tenth Middle School, the criticism of the Gang of Four was still ongoing. Therefore, many blackboard-related tasks in the class fell on me due to my good handwriting. This was a side effect of having good handwriting. Actually, I didn't want to do it, but there was no choice. The teachers thought they were valuing me, which was a drawback of the Chinese-style education. At that time, I was also the squad leader in the class, displaying organizational talents. I organized the Red Guards to go to the Changzhou Bus Terminal on weekends to learn from Lei Feng, do good deeds, and help wash buses. The school had begun to emphasize cultural studies by 1978. In that year, the middle school system in Changzhou held a mathematics competition, organized by Mr. Yang. He didn't select me initially, thinking my Chinese and handwriting were good but my math was average. Unexpectedly, I went to Mr. Yang and actively asked to participate in the competition. Due to my father's connections, and with the approval of Principal Zhang, Mr. Yang agreed. Surprisingly, in that competition, I prepared diligently. Although I didn't win a prize, I performed the best among the participants from the Tenth Middle School. This was confirmed by Mr. Yang himself. From then on, he began to take notice of me. Therefore, when I wanted to transfer to the Provincial Changzhou Middle School in the third year, neither Mr. Yang nor the school's academic affairs office wanted to write a transfer recommendation letter for me. They wanted to keep me in the Tenth Middle School.
As mentioned earlier, Mr. Jin, commissioned by my father, took me and my father directly to the playground of the Provincial Middle School one day in the summer vacation of 1979. There, we found Principal Shi Shaoxi. Principal Shi, at that time, was a level 13 administrative cadre. He had been the principal of the Provincial Middle School for many years, then became the vice-dean of Changzhou Normal University. Mr. Jin, as the head of the physics teaching and research group, was familiar with him. It seems they did not make an appointment. At that time, Principal Shi was practicing Tai Chi on the playground. Mr. Jin approached him to say hello, and I guess my father's identity as an underground worker still had an effect. Principal Shi immediately agreed and nodded, letting me transfer to the Provincial Middle School to study in Class 2, one of the top classes in the third year. The homeroom teacher was Mr. Wang Sen.
After the transfer, I studied very hard. In the first semester after the transfer, I ranked first in Class 2. In our grade, there were several top students. Class 1 had Zhang Lei and Huang Haodong. It seems Classes 8 and 9 were also top classes, but I'm not familiar with them. There were a total of 16 classes in one grade. I was familiar with Class 1 because, in the third year, I managed to get into Class 1 through some means. At the beginning of the third year, I went to Class 1 for class by myself. The school's academic affairs office tried several times to persuade me to return to Class 2, but I refused. The homeroom teacher for Class 1 was Mrs. Zhang Xiangxiang, our English teacher. Actually, Mrs. Zhang specialized in Russian and was transferred back to Changzhou from Shanghai Foreign Language University. Later, after the policy changed, she returned to work at Shanghai Foreign Language University's Russian publishing house until retirement. Mrs. Zhang had a good impression of me at that time, and the school also agreed to let me stay. As a result, I finished the year with the second-highest total score in the class, second only to the academic ace Zhang Lei (now a professor of economics at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom). Zhang Lei later became a good friend, and he once rode his bike to my countryside home to visit me. I also went to his home. His father was a dentist.
In high school, the top students from the original Classes 1 and 2 were merged into Class 3 of the first year. Additional students recruited from the entire province formed Classes 1 and 2 of the first year. The homeroom teacher for Class 3 was Mr. Bu Zhenyang, also an English teacher. Mr. Bu later became the Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Jiangsu International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation and is now retired. Mr. Bu stayed with us until we graduated from the second year of high school. In the second year of high school, the school often invited alumni to give lectures, perhaps for recruitment purposes. Memorable alumni included those from the Nanjing Institute of Paleontology and Wang Zhijiang from the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics. Wang was a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences at the time and is now an academician. There were also many alumni from the Northwest Polytechnic Institute. Once, two alumni visited—one named Dong Qiuting, then the Deputy Director of the Aerospace Department at Northwestern Polytechnic Institute, and the other named Zhou Fengqi, an associate professor at Northwestern Polytechnic Institute and an expert in anti-tank missiles. They were both famous figures at Northwestern Polytechnic Institute. During their visit, they gave a presentation. It was the first time I heard about Northwestern Polytechnic Institute, a military academy. This directly led to my filling out the college entrance examination application in 1981, listing Northwestern Polytechnic Institute as my first choice. That year, the application was filled out just before the exam, and I applied for the Missile Department because I lived on campus and did not consult my parents. When I went home on Sunday and told my father, he casually said, 'So, you'll be stuck in the mountains for the rest of your life.' With just a few words from my father, I returned to school and changed my application. I switched the first and second choices, making Computer Software Engineering my first major and Missile Engineering my second. During my high school years, I received a lot of care and concern from teachers and classmates, for which I am forever grateful.
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