Wanying Guo: What do you think of living in a 7-square-meter shack, feeding pigs and cleaning toilets in cheongsam?

People should not have pride, but they should not have pride ―― Xu Beihong

The most important thing in life is not to be afraid of wind and rain and stand up. Wanying Guo deeply implemented Xu Beihong's words. She was born in splendor and remained optimistic and open-minded in the face of ups and downs in life.

Wanying Guo received an aristocratic education when she was a child, and her tenacity was engraved in her bones. Even in the most difficult period of her life, she stood up and kept an elegant posture.

A rich lady with a rich background

At the beginning of the 2th century, when China was in a period of war, countless businessmen chose to go abroad for development. Guo Biao is a businessman who sells fruits, and his wife is the young lady of rich businessman Ma Shi.

After the couple had a little savings, the family moved to Sydney. Wanying Guo was born under such circumstances, and in order to adapt to life in Sydney, her father Guo Biao named her Daisy.

Daisy lived in Sydney until she was six years old. She can speak fluent English, but she is not familiar with Mandarin. In 1915, Daisy bid farewell to her familiar living environment and returned to Shanghai with her father.

at that time, Shanghai was the primary trading port, and there were many chambers of commerce in every street. In the center of Shanghai, there stands a six-story high-rise building, which is Yong 'an Department Store opened by Guo Biao, and Daisy is the four young ladies of Yong 'an Department Store.

As you can imagine, the living standard of the Daisy family is definitely not bad. They live in a garden house that can accommodate 37 families. Guo Biao doesn't want his daughter to be a flower in the greenhouse. He often teaches her to be as beautiful as a flower and as proud as a flower.

Daisy's name is obviously not suitable for life in China. At that time, the writer Bing Xin (formerly known as Xie Wanying) was very popular in the literary world, and she admired it so much that she changed her Chinese name-Wanying Guo.

In p>192, Wanying Guo entered the Chinese and Western Girls' School, which is a famous aristocratic school with English as the teaching medium and a completely westernized education and management mode.

Wanying Guo has benefited a lot from this school, not only learning cultural knowledge, but also learning music, science, western manners and ideas. More importantly, she learned elegant manners and a calm mind.

Wanying Guo, who successfully graduated from Chinese and Western Girls' School, is ambitious and wants to study in the United States. But her father didn't approve of her decision. In order to keep her, she was engaged to a rich boy. Freshly baked unmarried couples don't have much contact, and it is inevitable that the three views will not be harmonious.

On one occasion, her fiance gave Wanying Guo a pair of stockings and praised her that they were really strong.

This is unbearable for Wanying Guo. What she thinks is that the sky is high and the water is rich, and she hopes her fiance can be like her.

But her fiance will only talk to her about whether the stockings are strong or not. It is conceivable that they will be so boring when they get married in the future. Wanying Guo insisted on breaking off the engagement, and then she went to Peiping alone and chose yenching university to study psychology.

The married life is full of twists and turns

In Wanying Guo, Beiping, I am with my future husband, Wu Yuxiang, who is a descendant of Lin Zexu and can be regarded as a noble family.

At that time, Wu's family background was not as good as Guo's, and some gossips said that Wu Yuxiang had climbed Wanying Guo. But in fact, Wu Yuxiang graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, and he can fit in with Wanying Guo who received western education ideologically.

Wu Yuxiang worked as an executive in a foreign company after graduation, wearing a suit and looking like a successful person.

He, like Wanying Guo, is unwilling to settle for marriage. Wu Yuxiang is humorous and Wanying Guo is elegant and calm. They are attracted to each other and naturally come together.

when Wanying Guo was 25 years old, Wu and Guo held a grand wedding reception ―― the Guo family was rich and set hundreds of tables. The newlyweds haven't lived a tender life for a few days, and her husband, Wu Yuxiang, moved on.

He fell in love with a widow who was an old friend of Wanying Guo. Wanying Guo didn't cry and make a scene, but asked her friends to accompany her to visit the widow's residence at night, just plain enough to ask her husband to go home.

After Wu Yuxiang came home despondently, what was waiting for him was not his wife's accusation and reviling, but her usual breakfast and thoughtfulness.

Although life is the same for Wu Yuxiang, something has quietly changed for Wanying Guo, for example, she is no longer completely dependent on Wu Yuxiang.

She raised money with her friends to open a clothing store. The clothes are all novel styles, so they are especially popular with ladies and gentlemen.

Clothing stores bring huge profits to Wanying Guo, and she also likes the pleasure of making money by herself. This kind of life can be regarded as happiness.

during the war, life in Wanying Guo was greatly changed. In such a day, everyone is in danger, so how can I have leisure to buy clothes?

Clothing stores in Wanying Guo soon made ends meet, and Wu Yuxiang was dismissed by foreign companies for political reasons. Their family's life can only be supported by Wanying Guo's family.

Fortunately, the hard life didn't last for many years. Around 1951, capitalists ushered in a golden age of development.

Wu Yuxiang cooperated with a German company to start a medical equipment business, with Wanying Guo as his accompanying secretary.

such a busy, full and interesting life is exactly what Wanying Guo yearns for. But instead of developing in China, I chose to immigrate to the United States.

Fifteen years later, 48-year-old Wanying Guo ushered in the darkest period of his life. Because of political problems, all Wu Yuxiang's property was confiscated and he was put in prison. Wu Yuxiang also has to pay a debt of 14, yuan, which makes the family on the verge of breaking worse.

As the wife of a capitalist, Wanying Guo received "special care" and she was sent to the countryside for transformation.

Melancholy days will always pass

Wanying Guo lives with her children in a small shabby house with only 7 square meters.

At night, the cold wind slaps on their faces through the hole. Wanying Guo can only try his best to hold his children, but he can still touch a layer of frost on his face when he wakes up in the morning.

In the face of this extremely poor living environment, Wanying Guo can take pains and have fun.

In the countryside, Wanying Guo was assigned to do the dirtiest, most tiring and most bitter work, feeding pigs, cleaning toilets and digging mud ponds ...

Even though she was trampled into the dust, she still could not forget her self-cultivation and pride. When feeding pigs and cleaning toilets, Wanying Guo will wear the only cheongsam. She firmly remembers her father's teaching-flower-like pride.

Three years later, Wu Yuxiang died in prison. Wanying Guo not only has to raise children, but also has to pay 14, yuan for her husband.

She scrimps and saves, skipping breakfast, having the cheapest food in the canteen for lunch and a bowl of 8-cent meager Yangchun noodles in the evening. There is a hope in her heart that the melancholy days will always pass.

After many years, Wanying Guo was finally rehabilitated. She was invited to teach English in Shanghai Silicate Institute. She has white hair and is a delicate little old lady.

whenever a guest comes to visit, she must dress up to show her respect. She has elegant manners, and her gestures are just like those of an old aristocrat in Shanghai.

Wanying Guo died in p>1998, and she donated her body to the country for research. Some people use "forbearance and benevolence, and everyone's family is still there; Flowers bloom and fall, and the golden branches and jade leaves are unbeaten "to describe her life.

Later generations of Chen Danyan wrote a book specially for her, The Golden Branches and Jade Leaves in Shanghai. In the book, Chen Danyan called Wanying Guo the last nobleman in Shanghai. Throughout Wanying Guo's life, she really can afford this title.

Wanying Guo's indifferent attitude towards life is commendable, which reflects the calmness after years and storms, and the open-mindedness of "life is like a trip, and I am also a pedestrian".