Chapter 13 Chapter Twelve

Shen Li knew she was beautiful since she was a child.When she was still in kindergarten, her beauty had already been admired by adults.At that age, she felt vaguely that the hands of some uncles touching her face had a different meaning.Her face is smooth and tender; those hands are either rough or smooth, dry or wet, fat or thin, all of which leave such a feeling on her face; she can know the uncles above her head without raising her eyes What is your gaze like. She has the girl's pride for granted.This kind of pride is not only reflected in the treatment of boys of the same age, but also in the attitude towards adults.Her mother set a rule for her since she was a child, not allowing any uncles to hug her, so that she established a reserved attitude towards adult men in her young heart.She knew she was fair-skinned and beautiful, and when she was running around the kindergarten playground in a white dress, she felt like she was shining like a piece of white light.

She went to elementary school at the age of five, and when she reached the fifth and sixth grades, she knew better what kind of reaction her beauty caused in other people's hearts.The girls all looked at her from behind, envious of her, and had a look of self-conscious embarrassment.That kind of expression, after she grew up a little more, she knew how to sum them up with self-ashamedness.The boys always find reasons to get close to her, but they are too shy to please her, but they don't know how to do it.Their eyes flickered on her, and when she raised her head, they all quickly moved away.If she asks a guy to do something for her, she usually gets a jubilant response.During the sweaty operation, the boy who helped her had the courage to talk to her frankly.She learned the power of beauty without a teacher.

After entering junior high school, she realized more about the role of her beauty in the opposite sex.Not only the boys of the same age cowardly surrounded her, but also the boys of the senior grades shone their eyes evasively from all directions.When she walked around the campus, she was always delighted to feel those hot eyes.Wherever she went, those eyes followed, they followed her cheerful footsteps through the crowd, through the small trees by the roadside, and through the bulletin boards in front of the teaching building.After class, as long as she appeared on the playground, those boys who were running, playing ball, playing parallel bars, and practicing gymnastics would stare at her one after another.She does her own thing without paying attention, or does gymnastics, or runs lightly. She knows that her beauty makes those high school boys unnatural.She is like a radiant little angel. Those boys who are several grades higher than her will also feel the pressure and show embarrassment as long as they meet her gaze.

Since junior high school, her beauty and restraint have made men seldom dare to reach out and touch her face casually. She felt an irresistible desire in those kind words and smiles that seemed to be elders.Her well-trained pride and politeness, her calm self-confidence and reserve put an end to these harassments.Of course, occasionally someone would pat her face and touch her hair with a smile, and she would dodge that hand politely and reservedly, and the other party's actions would be unsustainable.She knows which action, which expression, which look in her eyes can effectively stop her.When she gets special attention from a male teacher, she always accepts this kind of extra tutoring openly, lively, happy and innocent; at the same time, according to her mother's teachings, she very tactfully refuses to go to any male teacher's home or dormitory.What kind of content is contained in the eyes of the opposite sex, she has long been sensitive to distinguish.

After high school, she began to read her beauty more with her eyes.During the vacation, she went to Beidaihe with her father. When she was wearing a swimsuit and bathed in the open sunshine on the beach, she felt that her body was slender and plump, her limbs were slender and beautiful, and her waist tightened by the swimsuit had already appeared soft and undulating. line.When she wades step by step into the warm sea water and pounces on the blue sea with waves, she is happy because of her beauty.When she takes a bath at home, she will look at the big mirror in the bathroom for a long time, admiring herself, watching herself change day by day, becoming more and more beautiful, she tilts her head sideways, and combs the long wet hair hanging on the side , has a lyrical feel.

In a blink of an eye, she grew up and graduated from the composition department of the Conservatory of Music.She has more and more mastered the ability to use beauty, and also has a more subtle understanding of the content of emotional communication with the opposite sex.At this time, she often gives birth to a calm overlooking of the man.Many times, she put Tolstoy's and Cao Xueqin's openly on her lap, lost in thought and reverie.She is on a delicate boundary: because she is rich, proud, and smart, she has already seen through the relationship between men and women indifferently; .

She is hardly satisfied with the real stories. The college students she saw or the men in the society all made her read the kind of eyes she was familiar with since she was a child: surround her, follow her, carefully please her, and cowardly. Don't dare to look her in the face.There were also men who appeared in a dramatic way, and there were hugs and kisses. Under the lure of lust, she also had impulses, but she never went deep, and she didn't want to just bloom and bear fruit in such a boring way. At the age of twenty-two, she had experienced everything and despised everything because of her beauty and wealth.Far from losing her reverie, of course, she waited dimly, with what seemed to be a idling pleasure, and she waited for her story.

When the tall and handsome cousin Shen Xia came to her side and flattered her in every possible way, there was only a trace of tolerance in her heart.There is no story here, or in other words, there is only one story that can be seen through at a glance.A story that can be seen at a glance will not be a story. She knew from her father who studied architecture that the ingenious ancient Chinese garden architecture can construct an endless world in a limited space. From the screen and rockery at the entrance, these settings can be seen at a glance. Even inside The same is true of the Grand View Garden.At the age of twenty-two, she learned that a book can really stand reading, because it can never be seen at a glance.My father said a word very early on: "No matter how magnificent a building is, it is the most boring building." My father also extended it into a life motto: "A person is not interesting if you see everything at a glance." Shen Li now deeply understands this.Neither father nor mother, nor anyone else, knew that she had lived through so many stories at such a young age.And no matter how tempting the beginning of those stories, they will soon end with a glance.I was too smart, too superior.She often thinks that her life is either the best or the most boring. "It used to be difficult for the sea to be water, but Wushan is not a cloud", these two lines of poems often surfaced when she smiled faintly.

At this time, she couldn't stop wanting to go to Beiqing University to read big-character posters.This earth-shaking social turmoil implies unfathomable stimulation.You can wear a raincoat when it rains, and you can wear a hat and a mask in winter, but there will be many inconveniences in sunny summer.She knew that her beauty was eye-catching, and she didn't want to cause any trouble for herself and her father.Is it appropriate for women to dress up as men?Thinking of this, she smiled amusedly, and the scene of reading big-character posters with her father in the rain that day resurfaced.

On the campus of Beiqing University, herringbone-shaped canopies were erected on the endless big-character poster mat canopies on both sides of the road to protect them from the rain. The pouring rain caused the canopies to hang water curtains one after another.Looking at the big-character posters through the water curtain, and walking step by step, there are still sometimes sparse and sometimes dense people on the road between the big-character posters reading the big-character posters in the rain. You will feel that the social life is very dense.Because of the hazy rain and fog and the squirming crowd, you can't see the scenery that could be seen at a glance.In the misty, raindrops hit your face, making you feel that the big-character posters and crowds around you form a vast and bottomless world.

She couldn't help thinking, where is her story? On this day, a lot of guests were coming to Shen Li's house, and most of these guests were relatives of her mother's natal family.The reason for the reunion is very simple - today is Shen Hao's birthday.At three or four o'clock in the afternoon, the house began to be lively, and the three-story small western-style building was filled with joy.The first group of guests was Uncle San, a tall old engineer with a gentle smile that made his silver hair shine.The third aunt and the third uncle look a bit alike. From her happy face, one can imagine how beautiful she was when she was young.Followed by two sons and three daughters, as soon as the group came in, talking and laughing, the living room on the first floor immediately became lively.Shen Li's mother, Du Rong, is from Shanghai. As soon as her Shanghai relatives arrive, the space is densely covered with dense words unique to Shanghainese.Du Rong was born in a rich family in Shaoxing. She has ten brothers and sisters. She is the fourth eldest and the second among the sisters. Therefore, the elder among the brothers and sisters is called her second sister, and the younger one is called her second sister. As usual, Du Rong was in charge of the kitchen. When the guests arrived, she showed her face first, and held hands with a smile, so that everyone could feel at home.As soon as the words came out, they were always affectionate, kind and thoughtful, and the seven members of the third uncle's family were all smiles in a blink of an eye.She has a good memory, remembers the names of each junior clearly, and grasps the characteristics firmly, just like playing the piano, pressing all the keys that should be pressed.She named the five juniors one by one, and teased and praised them one by one.Brother Mao’s eyes have grown bigger and more beautiful; Gengen is taller than his elder brother, and he is even better at playing basketball; Fangfang is fatter than before, and her dimple is bigger. There are dimples, but there are no dimples on the right side, and now there seems to be dimples on the right side.Everyone laughed.Wenwen looks more like her father, her mouth is still like her mother's, combining the advantages of her father and mother.Maomao still blushes when she smiles, she is still shy at this age, she will be embarrassed when she falls in love in the future.After calmly brushing the juniors comfortably, she said to the two adults: "Third brother, sit down with Baozhen and let Shen Hao chat with you." The third aunt Baozhen then said: "I will help you." Let's cook together." Du Rong said: "It's okay, but it's almost ready." After saying that, she went back to the kitchen, and with the cooperation of the nanny, she started cooking dishes in a beautiful, delicious and delicious way.There is a nanny who buys and washes vegetables, and she does everything by herself when cooking.In the past, among the ten brothers and sisters, she was the most eloquent and good at doing things. She not only won the favor of her parents, but also protected her brothers and sisters.In the big family in Shaoxing, she is the central figure, and her beauty is well-known for dozens of miles around. The fourth uncle's family also followed, another engineer's family.Although the fourth uncle was not as tall as the third uncle, he was upright and looked energetic.The fourth aunt is very virtuous at first glance, her plain clothes, speech and behavior are very similar to a housewife from working people.The fourth uncle's family has two sons and a daughter.The third uncle, fourth uncle, and Shen Hao's family gathered together, making it even more lively. The third group of guests was a family called Wumei by elders and Aunt Wu by Shen Li.Fifth Aunt is a doctor. At forty years old, she still looks young and beautiful, with a pair of almond eyes on her bright face, full of kindness.Seeing her, Shen Li would think of her mother.From the beauty of the mother's family and the majesty of the father, one can think of what kind of inheritance he came from. The fifth uncle is thin and tall. Among the relatives who came today, he is the only one from the north, which shows a difference in temperament from this family. In addition, his occupation is the deputy editor-in-chief of the "Literary Newspaper", so he is also a member of this large family of engineers. Be different.The two daughters they brought with them have always been the topic of discussion: the eldest daughter is nicknamed Yeye, and the younger daughter is nicknamed Honghong.Ye Ye looks like a little porcelain figurine, white and tender, slender and quiet, in Du Rong's words, don't touch her too hard, otherwise our little porcelain figurine will be broken.It caused everyone to burst into laughter, and Ye Ye's face flushed red.My younger sister, Hong Hong, is fat and strong, with a round and red face.Du Rong teased kindly: "Hong Hong will spend a few feet more than Ye Ye for fabric tickets, and distribute them according to needs."Everyone laughed again.Looking at these two cousins, Shen Li really felt that it was the wonder of the Creator.The two girls looked like their parents separately, but they were completely different standing together. All together, there are four families of host and guest, plus cousin Shen Xia, there are about 20 people, and the noise reverberates the three-story small building.At this time, what Shen Li admired most was her mother's ability.She calmly arranged the living room and the kitchen in an orderly manner, inside and out. The cousins ​​and sisters were all amused, and the adults even sat around in a joyful atmosphere, chatting in a cloudy atmosphere.The mother can always put the father in the center of the stars and the moon without showing any signs of expression.The atmosphere in the big living room was disturbed very harmoniously by the mother's words when she came in and out. The adults talked happily around the father, and the father played a humorous and witty talk with peace of mind, which made the guests laugh constantly.Although my mother is busy making arrangements in the kitchen, she never forgets to take care of it.She introduced Shen Xia to the guests of her natal family, and then introduced the guests of her natal family to Shen Xia. After all, Shen Xia felt a bit like an outsider in this family atmosphere.She smiled and said to Shen Xia: "Didn't you study architecture? These uncles will all be able to help you in the future." With such a small question, Shen Xia naturally blended into the conversation. Shen Li admired her mother's talent from the bottom of her heart. Whether she was talking in the living room, cooking in the kitchen, or arranging the nanny's work, there was absolutely no fuss or embarrassment at all.She always has a smile on her face, and the vortex of life revolves around her calmly, and there is no one person or corner in the whole building that is not surrounded by the vortex stirred up by her. After the sumptuous dinner was prepared, Shen Li, like everyone else, began to praise her mother's cooking.Twenty people crowded around a huge long table, adults and children were not separated, eating lively.My mother cooks all kinds of Shanghainese dishes by herself.Braised pork in brown sauce is a must. It is served with dried tofu and shiitake mushrooms. Served in a few large bowls, the sauce is bright yellow and fragrant. In the words of my father, this is "the best dish in the world".Then, one dish after another was put on the table one after another.Braised yellow croaker with potherb mustard, served in two large blue and white porcelain soup pots, one on the left and one on the right.The stewed bamboo shoots with bacon even aroused the admiration of relatives in Shanghai. This is their favorite dish during Chinese New Year since they were young.The bacon was marinated by my mother herself, and the dried bamboo shoots were stewed in advance after soaking for several nights. The mixed fragrance is full of praise.Boiled chicken is a must-have dish for my mother to entertain guests: the tender chicken is stewed out of high heat, cut into pieces, placed on two large plates, dipped in soy sauce, it is extremely delicious.Then there are braised fish, fried eel paste, eggs and meat dumplings, fried shredded tofu with potherb mustard, cuttlefish shredded meat soup, braised shrimp, fried tofu with rapeseed, shredded pork with green beans, all kinds of flavors filled the table. The birthday party started lively like this. It was only then that Shen Li discovered that the conversations of the elders and younger generations upstairs and downstairs all revolved around one theme, which was the current Cultural Revolution in China.This is a movement sweeping society, and everyone is in this storm.Her attention was diverted from her mother to this topic.At this moment, my father said with a smile while eating: "Our 'cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party' today is talking about the Cultural Revolution." The whole table burst into laughter.Almost all uncles, aunts, aunts, and uncles are members of the Communist Party, and only his father is a member of the Kuomintang, so "KMT-Communist cooperation" is a term he often uses in such friendly gatherings.When it comes to the Cultural Revolution, everyone has endless topics to talk about.While eating, Shen Li thought interestingly that no matter how many different families there are in this society, they are often drawn together by a major social problem.Think about world history and Chinese history, it's all like this. In a world war, everyone in the participating countries cannot escape the vortex of the war.Just like during the Anti-Japanese War, which Chinese can escape the impact of the war? Thinking in this way, I thought of the stories in literature again.like anna.The stories of Karenina, Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu can develop in an environment that has nothing to do with others.It didn't make sense to think so. Amidst the chopsticks and spoons flying around, she didn't have time to think more deeply. She just felt that talking about the Cultural Revolution in this family gathering was a bit like "hiding in a small building and becoming unified". . Shen Hao has always been good at grasping topics that attract everyone's attention. He said: "That day in the Sun Moon Temple Park, Lili and I saw with our own eyes that the students from Beiqing Middle School beat one of their teachers to death, and another one was beaten to death. Seriously injured." Shen Hao vividly described the process at that time, and talked about how Shen Xia pulled the teacher who was beaten to death from the fountain with his own hands. At this time, everyone realized that Du Xiaodi, the child of the fourth uncle's family, was a senior high school student in Beiqing Middle School. Shen Hao looked at Du Xiaodi who was sitting diagonally opposite and asked, "What's the problem with those two teachers who were criticized?" Du Xiaodi raised his handsome face and replied: "The male teacher is called Jia Kun. There is nothing wrong with him. He was beaten to death." Yes. The female teacher only heard that she often went to dances on weekends, and she didn’t catch any specific problems, so she was beaten up as a hooligan.” Shen Hao asked again: “How is it now? The two students brought these two people back." Du Xiaodi nodded and said, "Yes. After getting them back, Jia Kun was cremated in a muddle-headed way. Someone from the Public Security Bureau took a look, but he didn't seem to say anything. I heard There are many units in Beijing that beat people to death. Mina is still like that, and there are more people beaten in the school now, so she is not the focus." While gnawing on the chicken leg, Shen Hao asked, "Do you know the classmate who brought the two teachers back to school that day?" Du Xiaodi nodded and said, "Yes, I'm not familiar with them. One is Lu Xiaolong and the other is Li Daiyu." Shen Hao Hao interrupted him: "What Lin Daiyu?" Du Xiaodi shook his head and said, "No, her surname is Li, her name is Li Daiyu, and she went with Lu Xiaolong." Shen Hao asked again: "Why did Lu Xiaolong do such a thing?" ?" Du Xiaodi thought for a while, and said: "That's not very clear. I heard that there is something about the relationship between Lu Xiaolong and these two teachers." Shen Hao asked: "What could it be?" Du Xiaodi said: "Who knows! People are also blind Guess." Shen Hao put down the leftover chicken bones, wiped his hands with a towel, and then asked: "What kind of person is Lu Xiaolong?" Du Xiaodi frowned and thought for a while, then said: "This person is a bit strange, quite stubborn. Yes, I usually don’t like to talk.” Shen Hao shook his head: “Why is he the only one who does such a thing with so many students in a school? There should be a reason for everything!” Du Xiaodi took a few mouthfuls of food and replied: “This kind of thing In our school, it is likely that he does it and others don't." "Then why?" Shen Li asked this time.That's the way things are, when you hear a person's name over and over again, and what people say about him, you start to be interested.Du Xiaodi happened to be next to Shen Li, so he turned his head and said, "He is like this, he doesn't talk much, but sometimes he does things that everyone doesn't expect." Shen Li was eating fish, carefully picking the fishbone from her mouth and asking: "What does he look like? I didn't pay attention that day." At the same time, he tried his best to recall the vague appearance of the boy named Lu Xiaolong in his memory. After dinner, the adults went to a room to play mahjong. Of course, the gossip on the mahjong table is often inseparable from the Cultural Revolution.Young people naturally gathered in Shen Li's piano room. According to the usual practice, they talked, played, played chess, and played poker.Whether they were holding a violin or erhu, playing the piano, or playing chess or poker, they all chatted about the Cultural Revolution with each other.Except for the youngest two who were primary school students, the rest were middle school students and college students. All schools were in full swing of the "Great Revolution", so they all had political topics of common concern.When this kind of conversation progressed to a relatively heated level, the violin bow, erhu, and flute in his hand became props for gesticulating.Shen Li couldn't help thinking of a great man's maxim that her father said: Politics is the greatest game of mankind.Even Hong Hong, the youngest cousin, is full of enthusiasm for this topic. She said that their Hongxing Primary School also started the Cultural Revolution.Shen Li asked: "Did the student hit the teacher?" Hong Hong raised her chubby round face and said, "Yes." Shen Li asked, "Did you hit me?" Hong Hong said, "No." Shen Li asked, "You agreed to hit me?" Is it?" Hong Hong said: "Of course I agree." Shen Li asked: "Why?" Hong Hong said: "Some teachers are too bad, they leave so much homework, and they don't let us go home after school." A cousin standing by the window pointed to the light in the distance outside the window and said, "Is that the Beiqing University over there?" Shen Li said, "This is the Sun Moon Temple Park, and a little further there is the Beiqing University. Someone suggested: "Let's stop playing and go to Beiqing University to read big-character posters!" Immediately there was a unanimous response, and Hong Hong and another little cousin clapped their hands happily. They had long thought of Beiqing University. I read big-character posters, but my parents never brought them here.More than a dozen people rushed downstairs, huddled together. Shen Li thought, surrounded by these brothers and sisters, it would be quite convenient to go to the big-character posters in the middle of the night. Beiqing University has become a revolutionary holy place open to the outside world day and night.They came to the central area of ​​the big-character posters of Beiqing University. This is a straight road leading to the south gate. The big-character posters on both sides are covered with big-character posters, and the electric lights hanging on the tents illuminate the place brightly. .There are not as many people at night as during the day, but it is not rare either. The occasional and sometimes thick flow of people shows the unique tranquility of night.Some people read while copying, some stood still in front of a certain big-character poster for a long time, and a few students squatted and used a broom to dip the paste brush in the paste bucket to paste new big-character posters. Shen Li and all her brothers and sisters walked and watched, when her cousin Du Xiaodi who went to Beiqing Middle School suddenly touched Shen Li with his arm, and said in a low voice, "Look, that person is Lu Xiaolong." Shen Li looked in the direction of her finger I went, and sure enough, I saw the young man who had been forgotten but was still familiar at first sight.This time, she observed it carefully from a distance that was not too far away. This is a young man with a very ordinary appearance, a wrinkled short-sleeved white shirt, and a pair of gray trousers.At this moment, he was concentrating on looking at the big-character poster, moving slowly while reading it.If you are not particularly caring, you will not notice him in the crowd.However, once you pay attention, you can find something special about him.The special thing is that his expression shows that he is very focused on the world.When he looked at the big-character poster with his protruding forehead raised, it could be seen from his profile that he was thinking very seriously.His gloomy eyes showed that this kind of thinking was indeed different from ordinary people. Lu Xiaolong's focused and gloomy expression gave Shen Li an indescribable special feeling, as if he saw a rough stone in a pile of gorgeous and exquisite arts and crafts, of course, it was not exactly the same.