The story of "water spinach with soy sauce" with the General Secretary for 6 years of an old classmate

1 vs 5 exam to get into Nguyen Gia Thieu school, go to the riverside to study foreign languages

Mr. Vuong Khac Tang was born in 1942, from Lai Da village, Dong Anh, and was a classmate of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong during his 6 years of high school at Nguyen Gia Thieu school.

Those 6 years were the whole vibrant youth, passionate about studying in difficult and deprived circumstances of the General Secretary and his fellow countrymen.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong as a student (Photo: Provided by Nguyen Gia Thieu High School).

Dong Anh land formerly belonged to Tu Son, Bac Ninh . In 1957, Mai Lam dike broke, the school in Tu Son was flooded, the facilities were not guaranteed, Dong Anh students had to register to move to Thuong Thanh commune, Gia Lam district (now Thuong Thanh ward, Long Bien district) to take the entrance exam to Nguyen Gia Thieu school.

"At that time, there were about more than 500 students from 7 districts taking the entrance exam to the school including Gia Lam, Van Giang, My Hao, Van Lam, Gia Luong, Tu Son and Dong Anh. The school only accepted 3 classes, 150 people, each class had 50 students. Passing the exam was extremely difficult.

Yet, although our brother Trong was the youngest, he was among those with the highest scores. In all, 7 people in my village passed the 5th grade exam," Mr. Vuong Khac Tang recalled.

Overcoming hundreds of students, two teenagers Vuong Khac Tang and Nguyen Phu Trong entered class 5C at Nguyen Gia Thieu school. Two rural teenagers went to the city to study for the first time, wearing brown shirts and brown pants but "studying very well" (Mr. Tang's words).

Late General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (far left) and two classmates at Nguyen Gia Thieu School (Photo provided by the school).

At first, they walked to school. The distance from home to school was long, they had to wake up early in the morning to wait for the ferry to Da Quat village, to Gia Lam station and then into the city to get to school.

Then, through an acquaintance of the General Secretary's family, the group of 7 people rented a house in Bac Bien village (now Ngoc Thuy ward, Long Bien district) for convenience in studying.

Mr. Tang said that life in boarding school was very poor. A meal consisted of boiled water spinach with soy sauce. Rice and soy sauce were brought from home. Every time they came home from school, they divided the work between people: one went to the market to buy vegetables, the other stayed home to wash rice and cook rice.

However, the lack of money did not hinder their passion for learning. Every afternoon, they invited each other to the Red River to learn foreign languages.

"At that time, the foreign language we studied was Chinese. The riverbank was so wide that we could write Chinese freely without wasting any money on paper and ink," Mr. Tang recalled.

In high school, out of 7 people, only 3 remained. Difficult circumstances forced the 4 friends to go their separate ways. Only Nguyen Phu Trong, Ngo Ba Duc and Vuong Khac Tang remained. Vuong Khac Tang was the class monitor of class 9A, and Nguyen Phu Trong was the class monitor of class 9B.

The intelligence of his classmate Nguyen Phu Trong still makes Vuong Khac Tang admire him. "Mr. Trong is very good at literature, he took the literature exam for the whole North, then passed the Literature exam (now the University of Social Sciences and Humanities). I joined the army. From then on, we went our separate ways."

"A humble and honest man to the core"

Commenting on his classmate for 6 years of his youth, Mr. Vuong Khac Tang said: "He is a humble and extremely honest person."

In Mr. Tang's memory, during the period when General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong was still Editor-in-Chief of Communist Magazine, then Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, or later Chairman of the National Assembly, if there was a funeral in the village or a neighbor passed away, he was rarely absent.

To his childhood friends, the late General Secretary always considered himself just a poor student. In 2011, when he became General Secretary, he still attended his secondary school reunion, still friendly, gentle, and humble, because he was the youngest among his friends.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong receives former classmates, Mr. Vuong Khac Tang stands on the far left (Photo provided by Mr. Vuong Khac Tang's family).

However, despite his gentleness and modesty, Nguyen Phu Trong is known for being a steadfast and honest man. It is difficult for anything to make him deviate from his revolutionary ideals and his ideals of service.

"Everyone in the village knows the story of our brother Trong refusing to support his nephew.

When his sister offered to help her nephews with their work, he told her, "Just let them strive on their own, I can't help them." When he became Chairman of the National Assembly, many leaders in his hometown wanted to ask for help, but he refused convincingly. He spoke softly but firmly.

Everyone has their own perception and opinion on this matter, but we agree with him very much," Mr. Tang shared.

General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong during a vocational training session in high school (Photo provided by the school).

Mr. Le Trung Kien - Principal of Nguyen Gia Thieu High School - when talking about the school's special former student also confided: "He was very tactful and honest. He never used his role to bring anything back to the school.

Up to now, there are three things that he has supported the school. One is 70 scholarships for poor students who have overcome difficulties, which he gave to his children from his own pocket. Two is the Barringtonia acutangula tree that he planted himself in the school grounds in 2014. Three is the gratitude of a former student.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/chuyen-rau-muong-cham-tuong-cung-tong-bi-thu-suot-6-nam-cua-ban-hoc-cu-20240719202756076.htm