While his parents were busy building a bamboo fence, Ashan began exploring his new environment. He walked around the village, encountering a few children. Gathering his courage, he greeted them in Taiwanese, only to find that most of them didn't understand it. "So, they're the real mainlanders," he thought to himself.
Ashan was enrolled in the fourth grade, second semester, at Dalongtong Elementary School (later renamed Dalong Elementary School). He noticed that several of his classmates were also mainlander children and overheard someone saying, "Another 'A-Shan' has come!"
Gradually, Ashan got to know about thirty children in the village. Interestingly, the oldest was only in the fourth grade. Soon, they were going to school and playing together, becoming good friends.
At that time, elementary students in Taipei were required to wear uniforms. However, for the military dependents' children, the yellow khaki uniforms were a significant burden on their military parents. So, Ashan's father, who was elected as the village head, went to the school to negotiate. He asked if these village children could wear green uniforms made from their parents' military uniforms instead. The school kindly agreed, so Ashan and his peers went to school in their green uniforms.
Unexpectedly, this led to problems. Amidst a sea of yellow khaki uniforms, the children in green uniforms quickly became a distinct minority. The green uniforms became a mark of being "A-Shan."
In school, it was common to see students in yellow khaki uniforms looking down on and taunting those in green uniforms, calling out, "A-Shan, A-Shan, selling dried tofu!"
Conflicts were inevitable. The green-uniformed children, always outnumbered, had to endure the insults and sometimes even physical abuse. Ashan felt puzzled: "Why didn't this happen at Sanxia Elementary School? Why am I called 'A-Shan' despite speaking fluent Taiwanese?"
當爸媽忙著圍竹籬笆的時候，阿三也開始了認識環境之旅。他把村子從頭到尾走了一遍，看到了些小朋友。他鼓起勇氣用台語向他們打招呼，才發覺他們大多聽不懂台語。「原來他們才是真正的外省人。」阿三心中不免作如此想。
阿三被送到大龍峒小學 (後來改名為大龍國民小學)，插班四年級下學期。他也注意到班上有好幾位外省小孩子，也發覺有人在背後說道：「又來了一個 “阿山”！」
慢慢地阿三在村子裏認識了近三十位小朋友。說也奇怪，最大的就只是唸四年級。很快地大家一起上學一起玩耍，而熟稔了起來。
當時台北小學是要穿制服的。但是對這批軍眷學生來說，黃卡其布制服是軍人家長們的一個大負擔。於是被選為村長的阿三爸，只好到學校去交涉，是否可以通融讓這批眷村小學生，穿草綠軍服改成的綠制服上學。學校也很開明地接受了，於是阿三這批小學生，就身著綠制服去上學了。
但是沒想到的事情發生了。因為在一大堆黃卡其布制服的學生中，穿綠制服的小朋友，很快就變成了特異的少數。於是綠制服就成了「阿山」的標誌。
在學校裏，常常可以看到著黃卡其布的小朋友，用不屑的眼光及言語，對著綠制服的小朋友叫道：「阿山，阿山，賣豆乾！」
偶爾的衝突總是難免的。每次屈於少數的綠制服小學生，也只有容忍挨罵，甚至挨打的份。阿三這時覺得很納悶：「為什麼在三峽小學裏，這些事都不會發生？為什麼他說得一口流利的台語，還會被罵作 “阿山”？」
