Big car, small car. Trolley cars and bicycles. Whistling and laughing. The night in a big city has the most vitality and characteristics of a big city. Sparse but striking neon lights and flying flowers began to appear in front of the barber shop. There are perms and long hair. High heels and half heels, sleeveless pullover skirt. The smell of toilet water and vanishing cream. Cities and women have just begun to dress themselves up simply, and some people can't sit still. This is very interesting. For more than 20 years, Gao Chen has been inferior to this big city.
Here comes the market. For more than 20 years, he has been staying in a remote town in a remote province, where one-third of the street lamps are turned off and two-thirds of the light bulbs have no electricity at night. I don't know if it's forgetfulness or fuel allocation disorder. But it's not a big problem, because people there generally live according to the ancient system of sunrise and sunset in rural areas. After 6 pm 10, offices, factories, shops and canteens are all off work. People stay at home at night, holding their children, smoking, washing clothes and saying things they forget.
Here comes the bus. It is blue, and its body is connected. It's very big. The conductor spoke into the loudspeaker. People squeezed out of the car. Gao Chen and others crowded into the bus. It was crowded and there were no seats, but it was very enjoyable. The conductor is a red-faced, articulate and loud girl. In the remote town of Gao Chen, it is strange that such a girl is not selected for the art troupe. She expertly pressed the switch, and the small ticket-watching lamp covered with the lid lit up. After tearing up a few tickets, DuDu, it went out again. Many street lamps, trees, buildings and pedestrians passed by and arrived at the station. The crisp voice announced the name of the station, the hood light came on again, and people began to jostle each other again.
Two young men dressed as workers came over. They were talking excitedly: "... the key lies in democracy, democracy, democracy ..." A week after arriving in the big city, Gao Chen heard people talking about democracy everywhere. Talking about democracy in a big city is as common as talking about leg of lamb in that remote town. This is probably because the meat supply in big cities is relatively sufficient, so people don't have to worry about the leg of lamb. This is really enviable. Gao Chen smiled.
But democracy and leg of lamb are not contradictory. Without democracy, the leg of lamb will be taken away from you. Democracy that can't help people in remote towns get more and fatter legs of lamb is just talk. Gao Chen came to this city to attend a seminar on the creation of short stories and plays. After the downfall of the Gang of Four, Gao Chen published five or six novels in succession. Some people praised him for his more mature writing style and wider ways, and more people said that he had not recovered to the level of more than 20 years ago. People who pay too much attention to leg of lamb will lose their novel skills, but it is a great progress and gain to understand the importance and urgency of leg of lamb. I was invited to a meeting this time, and the train stopped at a small station for 1 hour 12 minutes, because a man had no hukou, only a leg of lamb, sold it at a high price and was run over. In order to sell the leg of lamb early, the man got off the stopped train regardless of his life. As a result, the brakes failed and the train slipped a little, and the poor man was finished. This has always made Gao Chen feel heavy.
Just as he used to be the youngest one in such a forum, he is now old, looks rustic and has dark and rough skin. A comrade younger than him, with broad shoulders, tall man and big eyes, expressed many fresh, bold, sharp and vivid ideas in his speech. Very enlightening, refreshing, sober and exciting. As a result, literary and artistic problems are out of the question. Although the people who presided over the meeting tried their best to guide everyone around the center, the most talked about was the soil on which the Gang of Four lived, anti-feudalism, democracy and legal system, moral atmosphere, and how more and more young people in the park gathered to dance ballroom dancing and accompany electric guitars, and how park managers tried their best to fight this disaster. From broadcasting a notice prohibiting this dance every three minutes, fine measures to clearing the scene two hours in advance. Gao Chen also made a speech at the meeting. Compared with others, his speech is very low-key. "Bit by bit, start from your feet and start from yourself." He said. It would be incredible if half, no, one fifth, no, one tenth of the speeches at this meeting could be realized! This makes Gao Chen very excited, but also very confused.
The bus arrived at the terminal, but the passengers were still full. Everyone was relaxed, indifferent to the conductor's appeal for ticket collection and inspection, and the conductor's voice was a little angry. Like all foreigners, Gao Chen held the whole ticket in his hand early, but the conductor didn't even look at him. He offered the ticket to the conductor, who didn't answer it.
He took out his "address book" notebook, opened the blue-gray plastic skin, found the address and began to interrogate with torture. He asked a person, but several people showed him the way. It occurred to him that people in this big city still retain the tradition of "good gifts". He thanked him, left the brightly lit passenger station, turned three times and turned two times, and walked into the maze of new residential areas.
It is said to be a maze not because it is complicated, but because it is simple. Every six-story residential building is no different from every one. Many balconies are full of clutter, and many windows are flashing with the green light of fluorescent lamps and the yellow light of ordinary bulbs. Even the sound from the window of each building is similar. The international football match is being broadcast on TV, and the China team scored a goal. The audience on the court cheered with the audience in front of the TV screen, and people shouted enthusiastically. Applause and cheers flooded in, and Zhang Zhi, a well-known old sports announcer, shouted desperately. In fact, the explanation at this time is redundant. In addition, some windows heard the sound of a hammer knocking on the door and cutting vegetables, the noise between children and the threat of adults.
There are so many sounds, lights and sundries standing in the building like matchboxes; Gao Chen felt a little strange, unaccustomed and even ridiculous about this tense life. The shadows as high as buildings have paved a thin layer of mystery for this life. Dogs bark the most at night in remote towns. He is so familiar with the barks of these dogs that he can tell which sound comes from which coat dog and who its owner is. Then there is the sound of heavy trucks driving at night, and the lights stimulate people's eyes. You can't see anything when the car passes by. The house facing the street swayed with the bumps of the car.
Walking in this labyrinthine residential building, Gao Chen seems a little regretful. I really shouldn't have left that bright street, that busy and happy bus that was crowded and jostled, and it felt so good for everyone to walk along the road together. But now, he came alone. Or stay in the hostel and never come out, so much the better. He can argue with his younger friends all night, and everyone is scrambling to publish their own prescriptions for treating the sequelae left by Lin Biao and the Gang of Four. They talked about Belgrade, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore. After dinner, they can also buy a plate of fried shrimp slices and a plate of boiled peanuts, and order a liter of beer, which will cool down and help Tan Xing. But now, he has been driving for a long time inexplicably, trying to find a puzzling person to do an inexplicable thing at an inexplicable address. Actually, it's not puzzling at all. It's normal and justified, but it's not appropriate for him to do so. He went on stage to dance ballet, and it was better to play the prince in Swan Lake. He walks with a slight limp. Of course, he can't tell without paying attention. This is a small souvenir left by "sweeping everything"
This disgusting feeling reminds him of leaving this big city more than 20 years ago. That is also a kind of sadness of leaving the group. Because he published several novels that he thought were too many at that time, but now it seems not enough, which made him swing between 95% and 5% for a long time. This is really a dangerous game.
According to people, it is the building not too far from here, but it is under construction here. There seems to be some pipes to be installed here. No, not only pipes, but also bricks, trees and stones. It may be necessary to build two bungalows, possibly a canteen, and of course a public toilet. In a word, the ditch is very wide, and he probably can't jump over it. He may have jumped before being washed away, so he must find a bridge. No, he can't get used to being old, so he stepped back. One, two, three, no, one leg seems to be stuck in the sand, but he jumped up, not flying, but fell into a ditch. Fortunately, there is nothing hard and sharp at the bottom of the ditch. But it took him nearly ten minutes to wake up from the pain and fear. He smiled, patted the dirt on his body and limped out. Who knows that just after climbing out, he stepped on a rainwater puddle, and he quickly pulled his feet out of the puddle. His shoes and socks are all wet, and his feet feel as bad as when he eats rice with soil. He looked up and saw a solitary orange light bulb on a curved pole at the edge of the building. The existence of this light bulb here is like drawing a small question mark or exclamation mark on a big blackboard.
He approached the question mark or exclamation point, and cheers mixed with whistles came from the upstairs window. Probably the foreign team scored another goal. He approached the entrance, carefully examined the handwriting on the entrance and concluded that this was the place he was looking for. But he was not at ease, standing at the entrance of the building waiting for a passer-by to inquire again, and he was also embarrassed.
Before he left, in that remote place, a leading comrade he knew very well and respected asked him to go, gave him a letter and asked him to go to a big city to find a company leader. "We are old comrades-in-arms," said the leading comrades familiar with the local Gao Chen. "I have written in the letter that the only Shanghai brand sleeping car in our unit is broken, and the managers and drivers have gone to several places. It seems that this province can't be repaired, and several key parts are missing. I am an old comrade-in-arms in charge of the auto repair industry. I have been promised that it is' I am responsible for repairing cars'. You go to him, contact him and send a telegram ... "
This is such a common thing. Find a private person, an old friend, a leader with status and power to repair a state-owned car for another unit with status and power that can be called a respected leader in the local area. There is no reason to refuse the entrustment of old comrades, and Gao Chen, who knows the importance of leg of lamb, does not doubt the necessity of bringing a letter to find someone. By the way, it is of course his duty to do something for the local area. But after accepting this task, he always felt as if he had put on a pair of shoes that didn't fit, or put on a pair of trousers and found that the two trouser legs were different in color.
Comrades in remote towns and villages seem to have "insight" into his psychology, so he received a telegram from the town soon after he arrived in the big city, urging him to have a result quickly. I'm not doing it for anyone anyway. Anyway, I have never entered that Shanghai brand, and I will never enter it in the future. He encouraged himself to walk through the road with street lights like Sichuan, leave the terminal with bright stage and enthusiastic passengers, make a detour, fall into the ditch and climb out, covered in mud, and arrive.
Finally, the two children proved the correctness of the building number and the door number. Then he quickly walked to the fourth floor, found the right door, calmed down first, adjusted his breathing, and then knocked at the door, as quietly as possible, civilized but loud enough.
Nothing happened, but there seemed to be a voice coming from the door. He put his ear on the door panel as if there was music, so he abandoned the fluky psychology of "Oh, I'm not at home" and resolutely knocked at the door again.
Knocked on the door three times, there was footsteps, creaked, turned the lock and the door opened. It was a young man with unkempt hair, bare upper body and bare thighs, wearing only a pair of white cloth shorts and sponge slippers, and his muscles and skin were shining. "Who are you looking for?" He asked, in a tone of impatience.
"I'm looking for Comrade XX," Gao Chen said according to the name on the envelope. "He's not here," the young man turned to close the door. Gao Chen took a step forward, introduced himself with the most standard spoken pronunciation and the most polite words in this big city, and then asked, "Are you the family of Comrade XX?"? I guess it's XXX's son, but your younger generation doesn't need to be used at all. ) Can you listen to me and tell me something about me?
I can't see the young man's expression in the dark, but I can intuitively feel his frown and indecision. "Let's go." He turned and left without saying hello to the guests, as if the nurse in the stomatological hospital had informed the patient to have his teeth extracted.
Gao Chen followed him. Young people's footsteps-knock, knock, knock. Gao Chen's footsteps-Cha, Cha, Cha. A dark corridor. A door on the left, a door on the right, and a few doors passed. There used to be so many doors in one door. A door was opened, and soft lights, soft songs, and soft and hot alcohol came to my face.
Spring bed, an apricot silk quilt, not folded, piled upside down like a big steamed dumpling. Floor-standing desk lamp, the light from metal pillar keeps people away from thousands of miles away. The cupboard door of the bedside table was half open, revealing the marbles on the door. Many friends in remote towns entrusted Gao Chen to buy marble for them, but they didn't. There, the climax of the wardrobe is in the ascendant. Move your eyes again. Rattan chairs, reclining chairs, round tables and tablecloths are those laid in the living room of Hatoyama in the fourth scene of the model play "Hanging the Red Lantern High". Imported four-speaker pocket recorder. Hong Kong singers have soft voices, hard articulation, big tongues and soft voices. It always sounds funny. If you take this tape to a remote town to play, it may be even scarier than invading a cavalry regiment. There is only a glass with half a glass of water on the bedside table, which makes Gao Chen feel familiar and cordial. Seeing this glass is like finding an old acquaintance among strangers in a foreign land. Even people who don't know each other well or have bad feelings will become good friends on that occasion.
Gao Chen found a broken stool in front of the door, so he moved over and sat down by himself. He is dirty. He began to describe his purpose, said a few words and waited, hoping that the young man would turn down the tape recorder. After several times, he found that it didn't make any sense, so he went on. Strangely enough, Gao Chen, who has always been taciturn, seems to have been stolen from his mouth. He stammered, his preface was incoherent, and some words were used inappropriately. For example, he originally said, "I want to ask Comrade XX to contact me." As a result, he actually said, "Please take care of me." It seems that he came to apply for this young man's subsidy. I was going to say "I'll contact you first", but I actually said "I'll contact you." Even the voice has changed. It seems that it is not his own voice, but the sound of a blunt saw sawing elm trees.
Say that finish, he took out the letter, the young man leaned back and sat motionless on the couch, and Gao Chen, who was about twice as big as the young man, had to go over and send a personal letter from the leading comrades in remote areas. By the way, he saw that the young man's conceited face was full of boredom and stupidity. A face of acne and youthful acne.
The young man opened the letter, glanced at it briefly and smiled very contemptuously, but his left foot beat with soft songs and hard songs. Tape recorders and songs by Hong Kong "singers" are still new things to Gao Chen. He doesn't hate or object to this kind of singing, but he doesn't find it interesting. There was an involuntary contemptuous smile on his face.
"This XXX (referring to the leader in a remote area) is my father's comrade-in-arms (according to him, he hasn't introduced himself so far, and theoretically he can't prove who his father is)? Why haven't I heard from my father? "
This sentence gave Gao Chen a sense of humiliation. "You are still young, your father may not have told you ..." Gao Chen no longer polite, replied. "My father did say that as long as he was allowed to repair the car, he would become his comrade-in-arms!"
Gao Chen face fever, heart chug jumped up, beaded with sweat on his forehead, "your father didn't know XXX (head of remote areas)? He went to Yan 'an 1936 and published an article in Red Flag last year. ...
His brother is the commander of XX Military Region! "
Gao Chen hurriedly talked about such newspaper names, especially when he mentioned the famous big shots and the commander of XX Military Region. When he brushed the floor, his eyes were dizzy and sweaty.
The young man responded with a contemptuous smile 20 times more than before, and he smiled.
Gao Chen was ashamed. He bowed his head.
"Let me tell you," the young man stood up and made a summary. "There are two main things to do now. One is that you have to have something. What can you get? "
"We, what do we have?" Gao Chen asked himself, "We have leg of lamb ..." He said to himself.
"No leg of lamb," the young man smiled again, because excessive contempt turned into pity. "One more thing, simply to tell the truth, it depends on bluffing ... why do you have to find my father? What do you have, who can do things, in whose name. " Then, he said, "My father went to Beidaihe on business ..." He didn't say "rest".
Gao Chen was in a daze. When he walked to the door, he suddenly stopped and couldn't help pricking up his ears. The tape recorder plays real music, the dance music of Hungarian composer Vicar. A leaf is spinning and flying on the blue water of a mountain lake with three snowy mountains. Their remote town is just beyond the Alps Lake. A wild swan perched on the lake.
A dark corridor. Gao Chen rushed down like a drunk, running and jumping. Knock, knock, I don't know whether his footsteps or his voice is more like a drum; As soon as I stepped out of the stairs, I looked up. God, that dim light bulb like a little question mark or exclamation point suddenly turned red, like a devil's eye.
What terrible eyes, it can turn birds into mice and horses into bugs. Gao Chen ran and jumped, effortlessly jumping in front of the dirt ditch, and the game was over. The TV announcer predicted the weather the next day with a gentle and kind voice. He soon came to the terminal of the bus-the starting station. There are still many people waiting for the bus. A group of young women workers go to work in the factory at night. They are talking noisily about awards in the workshop. There is a pair of young men and women, even when waiting for the bus, holding hands and pulling their waists. Mr. Siming will go into shock again after reading it today. Gao Chen got on the bus and stood by the door. The conductor is no longer young. Her figure is so thin that you can see her prominent and hard shoulder blades through her shirt. After 20 years of ups and downs, 20 years of transformation, Gao Chen learned a lot of valuable things, but also lost some things that should not have been lost. However, he still loves lighting, night shift workers, democracy, awards and leg of lamb ... The bell rang, three doors closed, and the shadows and lights began to retreat. "Do you have tickets?" Asked the conductor. Before Gao Chen took out his change, he slammed off the ticket light. She thought the passengers were all night workers with monthly tickets.
1979