Chou attended middle school in Anyang, Henan Province. After graduating, he tested into Kaifeng's Shengli Normal High School. But, just six months later, the start of war and concerns about his mother prompted him to leave Kaifeng and return home to Yuanxi, where he enrolled at Xianglin Normal High School. When the Communists turned up just one week later, he ran away to join the army.
中學時他就讀河南安陽初中，之後考上開封勝利高級師範，半年後因抗戰事起，也因不忍心放下母親，周公轉回家鄉苑西鄉林高級師範就讀，才唸一星期，共產黨來了，只得以當兵逃生。