陳宇浩

不久前，在中央電視臺(tái)的一檔訪談節(jié)目中，西湖大學(xué)校長施一公深情講述了西湖大學(xué)的辦校故事。

施一公提到了一位長期居住在南美洲法屬圭亞那的溫州華僑周先生，輾轉(zhuǎn)33小時(shí)，取道巴黎、趕到杭州。他帶來了當(dāng)?shù)?0多位華人華僑的捐贈(zèng)款，帶來了他們助力祖國強(qiáng)大的殷殷期盼。

幾天后的一個(gè)上午，我通過電話聯(lián)系上了這位周先生。

周先生，大名周學(xué)兵。當(dāng)?shù)睾贾莸墓P者電話打通時(shí)，他那邊的時(shí)間是晚上10點(diǎn)半左右，“我只是一個(gè)小商人，做了點(diǎn)小事情，真的不用采訪我。”整個(gè)聊天過程中，這是周學(xué)兵最常說的一句話。

翻看周學(xué)兵的微信朋友圈，近一個(gè)月來，60%的內(nèi)容都是關(guān)于西湖大學(xué)規(guī)劃、教研等，“相信不久的將來，展現(xiàn)在華人華僑面前的西湖大學(xué)，一定是一所創(chuàng)新務(wù)實(shí)的學(xué)府，也一定是我們浙江人的家鄉(xiāng)金名片?！敝軐W(xué)兵說。

一

2018年10月，周學(xué)兵坐了33個(gè)小時(shí)的飛機(jī)，到了杭州。

從南美洲到杭州，這是全世界最漫長的航線之一。正常情況下，打一個(gè)來回，需要三天三夜。

從商近30年的周學(xué)兵說，他已經(jīng)習(xí)慣了這樣的長途跋涉。因?yàn)樵诜▽俟鐏喣情_了一家書店和百貨批發(fā)行，每年他都要去兩次義烏，進(jìn)貨，成了周學(xué)兵和祖國的某種穩(wěn)定聯(lián)系。

在西湖大學(xué)成立大會(huì)的現(xiàn)場(chǎng)，施一公校長當(dāng)面向周學(xué)兵表示了感謝。在那之后的幾個(gè)小時(shí)里，周學(xué)兵被不同的人拉著合影，這讓他有些緊張，但也從內(nèi)心感到自豪。

周學(xué)兵1964年出生于浙江溫州平陽，1985年畢業(yè)于中國海洋大學(xué)，而后在杭州工作過兩年。1987年，周學(xué)兵去了法國，1988年自費(fèi)入學(xué)巴黎第六大學(xué)，1990年到法屬圭亞那工作，定居。

周學(xué)兵說，早期的留學(xué)生，可能都有一些共同的經(jīng)歷——兩手空空，奮不顧身出國闖世界，“幾乎都有過囊中羞澀的時(shí)候，靠打工攢學(xué)費(fèi)。由于各種原因，最終呆在海外的比例也很高。”

雖然常年生活在海外，但周學(xué)兵一直對(duì)國內(nèi)的情況很關(guān)注。

去年4月的一天，他在網(wǎng)上看到教育部批準(zhǔn)西湖大學(xué)成立的消息，當(dāng)天就在微信群里告訴了同鄉(xiāng)，并查到了通過微信二維碼捐款的方式，他呼吁大家去了解和支持西湖大學(xué)，“畢竟浙江是我的家鄉(xiāng)，而且我很早就在關(guān)注施一公教授的科研成就?！?/p>

之后一個(gè)多月，周學(xué)兵在網(wǎng)上不斷搜集西湖大學(xué)的信息，甚至連新引進(jìn)一位教授，他都會(huì)去“深扒”一番?！拔疫€比較了南方科技大學(xué)、上海紐約大學(xué)和西湖大學(xué)的不同點(diǎn)，覺得按照西湖大學(xué)的戰(zhàn)略規(guī)劃，遲早能走出一條不一樣的路。”

二

法屬圭亞那，位于南美洲北海岸，屬熱帶雨林氣候，常年氣溫在24～30°C。人口基本集中在沿海地區(qū)，再往里走，就是大片的原始熱帶雨林。同時(shí)，法屬圭亞那也是歐洲航天發(fā)射中心的所在地。

居住在那里的浙江華僑大概有3000人左右，他們從事著不同的工作，也和國內(nèi)同胞一樣，熟練地使用著微信。

周學(xué)兵決定就從微信入手。他在5個(gè)當(dāng)?shù)氐奈⑿湃豪锇l(fā)了關(guān)于西湖大學(xué)的詳細(xì)介紹，然后放上了官方捐贈(zèng)二維碼，呼吁大家“發(fā)揚(yáng)僑胞捐資助學(xué)、愛國愛鄉(xiāng)的傳統(tǒng)”。

當(dāng)天，就有不少人捐了錢。有年紀(jì)大的華僑急匆匆跑來找周學(xué)兵，說自己不會(huì)弄二維碼，要他“務(wù)必想辦法幫幫忙”。周學(xué)兵就讓他們發(fā)紅包過來代為捐贈(zèng)，同時(shí)把支付截圖發(fā)到朋友圈，“當(dāng)?shù)厝A人圈子小，很快大家都會(huì)知道這件事”。

同時(shí)，周學(xué)兵也鼓勵(lì)家長用小朋友的名字捐贈(zèng)。對(duì)于小朋友，周學(xué)兵會(huì)寫上很多贊美和鼓勵(lì)的話，比如“好好學(xué)習(xí)，長大了你也可以成為出色的科學(xué)家”等。

通過轉(zhuǎn)發(fā)和擴(kuò)散，為西湖大學(xué)捐贈(zèng)這件事很快就傳開了。周學(xué)兵來自美國、澳洲、歐洲的親朋好友、同學(xué)，都加入了進(jìn)來。他們，也成了西湖大學(xué)在海外的第一批捐助人。

西湖大學(xué)成立大會(huì)結(jié)束后，西湖教育基金會(huì)特地精心制作了80本捐贈(zèng)證書，送給法屬圭亞那的熱心華僑們。漂洋過海，證書去了法屬圭亞那。

今年2月份的中國春節(jié)，除了傳統(tǒng)的唱歌跳舞，法屬圭亞那的華人們多了一項(xiàng)特別的歡慶儀式，就是領(lǐng)取這些沉甸甸的捐贈(zèng)證書。

雜貨店老板娘、飯店廚師，還在念書的小朋友……每個(gè)拿到證書的人，都在鏡頭前露出了發(fā)自內(nèi)心的微笑。

周學(xué)兵說，關(guān)于幫西湖大學(xué)在海外“吆喝”這件事，自己還會(huì)繼續(xù)，希望有更多的人通過捐贈(zèng)了解西湖大學(xué)。

“如果有一天，我們這些華僑的孩子中有人能回國上西湖大學(xué)，不是一件很酷的事么？”

Chinese in French Guiana Donate to West Lake University

By Chen Yuhao

At a press conference at the annual session of the National Peoples Congress on March 3， Mr. Shi Yigong， president of West Lake University founded on October 2018， expressed his gratitude to donors from across the world for generous donations to the private， research-oriented higher education institute in Hangzhou. In particular， he mentioned a group of Chinese donors in French Guiana. When mentioning a Mr. Zhou， a native of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province， flew around the world in a 33-hour trip from French Guiana and brought the donation to Hangzhou， Mr. Shi was almost choked with tears.

A few days ago I contacted Zhou in French Guiana and talked with him on phone. Mr. Zhou is Zhou Xuebing. He was born in Pingyang， a county in Wenzhou in southeastern Zhejiang. After graduation from Ocean University of China in 1985 he worked in Hangzhou for two years before he went to France in 1987. In 1990 he went to French Guiana for a job and eventually put his roots down there. He has been in business for 30 years.

It was in April 2018 that he first learned online that the Ministry of Education had given green lights to the founding of the West Lake University in Hangzhou （the official approval was granted in February that year）. He soon informed his circle of friends on WeChat， a Chinese social media， in French Guiana about the approval and the QR code for donation. In French Guiana， there are about 3，000 natives of Zhejiang and they use WeChat to talk to each other just as their counterparts do back home in Zhejiang. He reached out to these fellow Zhejiang natives in five WeChat groups and called them for supporting the new institution in the home province. “After all， Zhejiang is my home province and I have been aware of Professor Shis achievement for a long time，” says Zhou. His friends responded quickly and enthusiastically.

First donations came in on the day the call was made on WeChat. Some seniors visited Zhou personally asking him to teach them how to use the QR code to donate. Zhou asked them to send him red envelopes on WeChat and he then transferred the amounts to the university through his account. Zhous friends donated generously and they were recognized by the university as the first group of donators.

In October 2018， Zhou flew 33 hours to reach Hangzhou. Flying from South America to Hangzhou is one of the longest air trips in the world. Normally it takes three days and three nights to fly a round trip. Zhou has long since got used to the long flight. In French Guiana， Zhou operates a bookstore and a wholesale business. He visits Yiwu， the worlds biggest marketplace for household commodities in central Zhejiang， twice a year to do buying from his suppliers. He attended the opening ceremony of the West Lake University. Shi Yigong met Zhou and said thank you personally. In the next few hours， many people sought Zhou out to shake hands and take photos with him. The VIP treatment made Zhou a little bit nervous， dizzy， and tremendously proud.

After the founding ceremony of the West Lake University in October 2018， the West Lake Education Foundation made 80 donation certificates for the overseas Chinese in French Guiana. As his suitcase wasnt big enough for all the certificates， Zhou packed them into one of the containers to be shipped from Yiwu to French Guiana. It took about 2 months for the containers to reach French Guiana.

At one of the Spring Festival events in French Guiana in February 2019， a special ceremony was held to distribute the certificates to the donors. Among the donors attending the ceremony were a woman who operates a grocery store， a restaurant chef， and some schoolchildren. It turns out that some families donated money to the West Lake University in the name of their children. “Wouldnt it be cool if one day some of our children can go back home and study at the West Lake University？” enthuses Zhou Xuebing wistfully.

Zhou concerns himself with the university in the capital of his home province. He browses news about it online. He does some researches about the professors in its employment. He studies its guideline and， after comparing it with its counterparts in China， concludes that West Lake University will definitely make a difference in the future.