Silkworms eat their fill of mulberry leaves in spring, and then begin to molt.abnormal.Silk.With all his life, he spun silk, spitting out his whole body transparently.The shiny silk spit out one by one, smooth, soft and white.Like snow, like jade, like moonlight.Thousands of pieces, vertical and horizontal, entangled, bound around, form a warm cocoon to surround oneself, like healing a wound. They lie quietly, hoping to have a good night's sleep, recharge their energy, and become moths, so that they can choose a foggy morning to break out of their cocoons and fly to a higher and farther world-but people don't allow it to do so. , They pierce the cocoon shell with a needle, kill the sleeping chrysalis in the flying dream, then boil it thoroughly in boiling water, break the cocoon to spin silk, and then spin it into thread for weaving, embroidery, cut shirts.

Luo, damask, silk, gauze, crepe, qi, brocade, embroidery, silk, silk, satin... Every piece of Chinese clothing, every piece of embroidery is made of thousands of "spring silkworms until the silkworms die". A wordless tragedy, full of poignancy, pain, and unresolved dreams. Later, when Zhou Ziheng remembered the scene of meeting and acquaintance with Luo Hongchen, he had to believe in fate—it turned out that everything was preordained. The first time he saw Luo Hongchen, he was astonished. Confucian Temple Gongyuan West Street, bustling and noisy downtown, pedestrians coming and going, pedicab drivers impatiently honking their horns, peddlers and foreigners haggling with half-baked English words, freshly baked roasted chestnuts and restaurants pouring swill The taste of each other is in harmony... and Luo Hongchen sits in a corner of the market, quietly embroidering shoe patterns.

Plum blossom heels, white silk base, satin surface, red, yellow, green, purple, are the most vivid colors, embroidered with peonies, spring and autumn grass and insects, nailed on the velvet cloth, in pairs In pairs, one step at a time, enchanting and fragrant.There is a red silk rope hanging directly above the counter, and it is also covered with embroidered butterflies and various small shoes. Some of them are deliberately worn out and slightly worn. Dust, by adding a vicissitudes. And among the embroidered shoes of different fragrances and colors, Luo Hongchen sat silently, with his head half bowed, his front bangs were curled to cover his forehead, and his long eyelashes cast half-moon shadows on his eyelids, coiled like flowers. The embroidered Tang suit with half-buttoned sleeves and pinched waist suddenly confuses time and space.

The sun is shining brightly, the cicadas are screaming in the depths of the tree, and the half-melted asphalt road is moaning weakly: it is about to melt, it is about to melt.But Luo Hongchen, she was so silent, so shady, so self-forgetful, there was no sweat on her face, and her hands were quickly threading needles, but she gave people a sense of tranquility, as quiet as an embroidery. In Zhou Ziheng's eyes, Luo Hongchen is not like a real person, but more like a movie set or a calendar card, or, it is a dream from the old times, coming out of the Tang and Song rhymes, and at any time when he raises his sleeves, he will come back at any time. The wind goes away and escapes into the former dynasty.

The legendary girl Mo Chou looks like this, right? However, at the same time, she gave him an extremely familiar feeling, like an old spirit on the Sansheng Stone—Jia Baoyu said: I have seen this sister before. Zhou Ziheng was fascinated for a moment, and stood blankly in front of the embroidery shop, neither knowing to go in nor leaving. The name of the store is "No Needle", which means No Needle Embroidery Workshop. Thinking about it is very difficult, how to embroider without needles?But Zi Heng thinks this name is very appropriate, this name is like Luo Hongchen compared to this store, it is lively but cold, bright and clean, full of contradictions.

Life itself is contradictory, all feelings, all fate, all separation and reunion are also contradictions. Ziheng stood in the sun like this, standing in front of Wuzhen Embroidery Workshop, dazed for no reason amidst the sounds of the city and cicadas, vaguely thinking about the big issues in his life. It was Mei Qi who gave him a hand and woke him up: "Zi Heng, can you buy me an embroidered shoe?" "Can I buy a pair of shoes too?" Zi Heng laughed, not knowing whether it was Mei Qi or himself, "Don't you want to buy a pair?" "It's boring to be in a pair. Anyway, this kind of shoes are just handicrafts, and I don't buy them seriously. I want to buy something different." Mei Qi said, lying on the counter and pointing, criticizing the embroiderer of this one. Not delicate enough, the fabric of that one was too rough, and he thought to himself that he didn't see Luo Hongchen at all.

But Zi Heng knew that these words were just for the shopkeeper, in order to pave the way for the bargaining later.This is what he has always been dissatisfied with Mei Qi. Every time he buys something, he can't wait to devalue the other party's goods, as if he carries deep sorrow and troubles. If the rent is not paid back, she seems to want to get it back now. What he is most afraid of is going shopping with Mei Qi, but Mei Qi's favorite games are shopping, shopping, and bargaining.And Zi Heng firmly believes that "complimenting women is the minimum virtue of a man", so he restrains himself with amazing perseverance, and never says anything about Mei Qi's evil deeds of shopping.Perhaps, it was precisely because of this perseverance that Mei Qi became more and more arrogant and reckless?

The strange thing is that despite Mei Qi being picky and harsh, Luo Hongchen, who bowed his head while embroidering, just stood still, as if he didn't care about this business, and seemed to be sure that Mei Qi would definitely buy it after criticizing it.Her quietness is in stark contrast to Mei Qi's noisy, which made Zi Heng secretly marvel at how the Creator made them into such absolute two extremes as they were also women. Mei Qi finally chose the three shoes she liked and asked the price. Luo Hongchen finally put down the embroidery in her hands and greeted her. Mei Qi's words were completely expected: "So expensive? It's not gold or silver thread, nor is it a real antique. It's just a decoration. Why do you need so much money? Hey, I just want to buy one, you Of course you have to give me a 50% discount. You can sell the remaining one, it won’t fail to sell. Even if you can’t sell it, you can embroider another one. Isn’t it the same?”

Luo Hongchen's performance caught him unexpectedly, she just smiled quietly, and waited for Mei Qi to finish complaining, then gently re-quoted the price just now.Mei Qi was annoyed, and gave more reasons to explain that those embroidered shoes were not worth that price, and pointed out that she had seen the same goods somewhere, and the price was at least twice as low as here.However, whatever she said, Luo Hongchen still only had that smile and that price. Mei Qi became a little anxious, she pretended to be leaving, and warned unwillingly: "Nowadays, how many people would have the leisure to buy these frivolous things, and if you make my business, you'll be making money to some extent. I'm leaving, you'll be opening a shop in vain for a day, and the rent, water and electricity are all in vain, which one is the best deal?"

Zhou Ziheng couldn't help laughing at her heart-to-heart remarks.Luo Hongchen also laughed, and then quoted a slightly lower price. Mei Qi knew that this was the final result, and she was still not convinced, but she finally got a little sweetness, so she made a deal. It was the first time since Heng saw someone beat Mei Qi in terms of price, and he was deeply surprised.In particular, Luo Hongchen's neither humble nor overbearing attitude made him feel fresh. It was the first time he saw such a calm and cold woman in the world of mortals.In a strange way, after paying the bill, he couldn't help asking: "May I know your name?"

Luo Hongchen and Mei Qi were surprised at the same time.Luo Hongchen hesitated slightly, Mei Qi glared at her, feeling a little embarrassed, took the change and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry." The moment he turned around, he heard Luo Hongchen answer clearly: "My surname is Luo, from Luoyang Zhigui, Luo Hongchen, I fell into the world by mistake." Everything is silent, and there is a faint fragrance.I was so shocked that I couldn't help myself.Luo?Where have you heard this surname? Her name is Luo Hongchen. Fall into the world of mortals by mistake. However, she is so independent from the world, untouched by the world. That was Zhou Ziheng and Luo Hongchen's first meeting. He always deeply remembered that it was a hot afternoon, he remembered the sound of cicadas and the smell of roasted chestnuts that day, he remembered the colorful pictures, and the people in the colorful scenes were as light as chrysanthemums. He looked forward to meeting Hong Chen again. But I don’t know why—being busy is just an excuse, if you are willing to look for it, there is always time to go to Guanqian Street for a walk—for the next two months, Ziheng never went to the “No Needle Embroidery Workshop” again, Although he often thinks of her in a certain unguarded moment, thinking of the buttons on her Tang suit chest, and the exquisite and delicate embroidered shoes in her hands, Luo Hongchen and the embroidered shoes have become a thorn in his heart, which cannot be pulled out. . At night, he had a strange dream. He dreamed that Luo Hongchen was holding him and crying, crying until his eyes bled, dripping on the embroidered shoes. Those embroidered shoes were placed between him and Luo Hongchen. on, but only clean and white, without shoes. The embroidered girl Luo Hongchen's bare feet without shoes gave Zhou Ziheng a deep stimulation. He asked his grandfather one day: "What does it mean to dream of a woman without shoes?" Grandpa used to be an apprentice to a fortune teller before liberation, and he learned some Zhou Gong's dream interpretation and five elements and gossip. Although he didn't really practice it, he gave his neighbors a horoscope or a quiz from time to time for fun. He got the nickname "Zhou Gong".He didn't answer his grandson's question directly, but said with a smile: "It's time for you to get married." Zi Heng asked, "Is this what Duke Zhou said in Interpretation of Dreams?" "It was Floyd." Zi Heng laughed: "Duke Zhou also watched Freud?" Grandpa gave the best answer: "Keep pace with the times." Ziheng is more joyful. Grandma took up the conversation and said, "Ah Heng, speaking of which, you are already in your thirties. The eldest is not young, so it's time to get married early." Because of my grandfather, my grandmother got the nickname "Zhou Po" unjustly. It sounds gossip, but she is actually a serious and upright little old lady. , and thin, the whole person seems to have shrunk, always accompanied by coughing when talking, as if there is phlegm blocking the words. "Ah Heng, cough, your partner, cough, Miss Mei is not bad, she also knows how to be filial to the elderly, cough, your grandpa has counted for her, she is very suitable for you, and has Wangfu's life." "Really?" Zi Heng laughed, a little interested, "Grandpa, tell me, how is Mei Qi so good at work?" Duke Zhou pinched his fingers and said: "I did the calculations that day, Miss Mei was born in the year of Bingchen, the five elements belong to the sand, the earth, and the dragon in the sky." Zi Heng interrupted: "This doesn't make sense. It's the life of the earth and the dragon. It's definitely not good. Dragons travel in the sky, they should be high above the sky, and they move clouds and rain. The so-called divine dragon sees the head but doesn't see the end. An earth dragon, counts what?" "What do you know?" Zhou Gong glared at his grandson, and slowly explained, "This man is smart and has a good reputation in the world. He has endless wealth in his life, has a leisurely body and mind, is easy to make friends, has a prosperous career in his middle age, and prospers in his later years. A woman is virtuous. life." Zhou Gong said while Zhou Ziheng memorized it, and laughed when he heard the last sentence: "Mei Qi's 'able' is capable, but 'virtuous' is not necessarily. But it is true that 'smart and easy to make friends', otherwise it would be impossible. Don't let her be a public relations manager. Is it "middle-aged career is prosperous, and wealth is prosperous in the evening", but it's hard to say, who will be able to do things in the future? In short, give it a score of 75 points, and nothing more. " The Duke of Zhou ignored him and just said to himself: "You are a tiger, she is a dragon, and they are very compatible. You are a tiger born in January, and you are most suitable to marry a dragon born in September. If you do this, you will be united forever and have high morals." , a life of Shunchang.” Zhou Po hurriedly asked, "Is Miss Mei's birthday in September?" Zi Heng smiled: "What you are talking about is the lunar calendar, who can figure it out." Poor Zhou was dissatisfied: "Why don't you pay attention to the big things in life? Cough, Miss Mei has been with you for so many years without a name or a relationship, so you should get married as soon as possible. Cough cough, don't delay her." "What do you mean delaying others? You make it sound like I'm taking advantage." Zi Heng smiled wryly, "The times are different, grandma. Now it's called a trial marriage, and it's very normal." "What trial marriage, cohabitation, cough, sexual experience, one-night stand, don't think I don't know, cough, your new terms, cough, the truth is the same after all, cough, it's a waste of other people's yellow flowers Girl, cough cough, there will be retribution, cough cough cough." Zhou Po pouted her lips, coughed, and scolded, the more she spoke, the more she hated her, the bun on her head was bit by bit, as if to support her words. Grandma wears a bun all the year round, and her hair has long since fallen out, but I don't know what is stuffed in it, and it has always maintained the plump and round surface.She is very concerned about her hair bun, and never allows others to see the secret of her hair, and in order to defend this secret, she insists on dyeing her hair, and gets up every day before dawn to comb her hair. By the time she meets people, her bun is already tightly tied , nothing messed up.Such a long-lasting persistence is actually very respectable. I doubt it, even my grandfather has never seen my grandmother comb her hair, and I don't know whether the stuffed bun is cotton or wood shavings.Grandma used to like to use water shavings to comb her hair. Since she was very young, she knew to pay attention to who the neighbors built a house and made furniture, so that she could ask someone to bring home a whole basket of shavings to soak in water for grandma.Come or steal.Self-stealing shavings is very quick.The experience of stealing shavings brought Ziheng many interesting childhood memories.Until now, as long as he thinks of his childhood, the first impression that pops up in his mind is the sky full of shavings. What is the relationship between those shavings and the embroidery on Luo Hongchen's shoes? Grandma insisted on combing her hair with water shavings for decades, believing that it would make her hair black and moist, but her hair still fell out, dyed black, and stuffed. This is a career; as for Luo Hongchen, she embroidered a pair of embroidered shoes that can only be seen but not worn, but in her dream, she is a pair of bare feet. Is there any connection between these two? Just ask Floyd. "Ah Heng, are you listening to me?" Possess Zhou scolded in dissatisfaction. She usually doesn't preach, but as long as she opens her mouth, she will talk at length, "Ahem, you have no parents since childhood, but It’s not that you’re uneducated. Cough, don’t say that grandma didn’t teach you, there is an old saying, cough, it’s called ‘Wife and daughter of an adulterer, cough, wife and daughter must be adulterous’, cough cough, the cycle of nature, the retribution is not good.” "Grandma, the more you talk about it, the more serious it is." Ziheng exaggeratedly sighed, "Why do the words of the Chinese ancestors sound like curses? What about 'whoever prostitutes his wife and daughter, his wife and daughter must be adulterous', what 'circulation' , "Retribution"? It's clearly revenge and self-hypnosis. Why don't you say that those girls ruined me? Nowadays, it's rare for a girl to have no sex before marriage, or she's too ugly. No, they are country people. Anyone who has a little knowledge, who has not been in love ten times or eight times, and when everyone walks together, let’s make it clear first, get together and leave easily, how can there be any retribution or not retribution?" The third sister, the nanny who was invited to take care of the two elders, was a middle-aged country woman. When she heard this, she nodded and said, "When I first entered the city, I also heard people say that now, all the girls in the city are waiting for you." It's too late, if you don't get married, you dare to settle in the man's house when you pack up your bed. Some even have two or three children, and they still don't get married after seven or eight years as a partner. It's trendy. It's an old maid, Instead, he was laughed at for not being open-minded, he is a countryman." Zhou Po didn't believe it: "Then there is no real girl in this city of Nanjing?" Zhou Zi suppressed a smile, and said solemnly: "Hey, don't tell me, I really have a buddy who claims to have dated more than a dozen girls, all of whom have not budded. We all wonder why he is so lucky. Guess what happened in the end?" Seeing the eyes of grandparents, grandma, and third sister all gathered, she pretended to shake her burden casually, "As a result, we only found out later that the job of that buddy is the principal of the kindergarten." Duke Zhou laughed and scolded: "You little bastards, don't be afraid of losing your life." The third sister still didn't understand, and she just asked Mrs. Zhou: "What's wrong with the kindergarten director? Kindergarten directors are especially easy to find a partner?" Grandma put on a straight face, forgot to cough, and sternly said: "If you are not serious at all, you will gossip like this. I don't care what others say, so I will ask you, when will you bring me a decent daughter-in-law?" Don't just know that flirting with flowers and grass is not fixed. When the retribution comes, it will be too late!" Seeing that the limelight was wrong, he hurriedly resorted to a unique trick, and changed the subject: "Grandma, we are like this in this generation, why don't you tell me about my parents at that time? How did they meet? How did they meet for the first time? Who fell in love with whom first?" This trick has been tried and tested, and when the parents are mentioned, grandma immediately shuts up, and just sighs and remembers alone, and gradually becomes silent. Zi Heng felt that he was a bit cruel, but he really wanted to know some stories about his parents.He grew up with his father and mother-in-law Zhou since he was a child, and his knowledge of his parents is extremely limited - his mother died of dystocia when giving birth to him, but his father has seen it before, but he has always been indifferent to him, probably because he doesn't want to see himself and associate with him. Let's get up with the wife who died young. After he was fostered by his grandparents, he seldom saw each other. When he was five years old, his father remarried and married his stepmother, a quiet and demure girl who was extremely beautiful and treated her very well. She often visited her at her grandfather's house without telling her father, and brought rich gifts every time. , stroked his hair tenderly and called him "Aheng", and described to him what a good person his father was, how much he cared about him, and how much he missed him.He didn't believe it, but he was willing to believe it, and felt that having such a stepmother was already an extra blessing of fate—if fate didn't send him a vicious stepmother like those often seen in fairy tales, he wouldn't be counted A very unfortunate boy. However, the good times didn't last long. When the stepmother was nine months pregnant, a car accident happened when she crossed the road, killing two people. The father went crazy at that time, and soon died of depression.According to my grandparents, they were buried in Meihuashan Cemetery, but Ziheng has never visited the graves of his parents for more than 20 years.And I don't know which mother's father's grave is closer.Because of the remarriage of the widow, Mrs. Xianglin has been worried that she will be divided into pieces by two men when she arrives in the underworld. What about the remarried man?How should the father reunite with his two wives under the nine springs?Maybe the world of hell has already opened up sex first, otherwise how can we deal with the multiple love affairs of those idiots who hate men and women? Losing his father at a young age has become an eternal pain in Ziheng's heart, but on the other hand, he has used it as nourishment to train his calm and sensitive personality, and he can divide himself into two people anytime and anywhere: one is "Successful Net" who is shrewd, independent and assertive Jay Chou, the young CEO; the other is A Heng, a melancholy boy who is sentimental and refuses to grow up.He is at the forefront of the times with his inspiration, and he accurately captures business opportunities with his calmness. He likes to quietly imagine the stories of his parents during their lifetime in the dark night. Knowing nothing about them will only bring endless possibilities and legends to this imagination.That was the life thirty years ago, far away in time and space, but dependent on the mysterious blood relationship and his breath.How exciting! Xiaofeng came diving with the beautiful Lingbodu water of Mochou Lake. In my feeling, the moon thirty years ago was always rounder and brighter than today's, and the love thirty years ago was always brighter than today's. To soul-stirring. At that time, roses were fragrant, nightingales could sing, and strangers at that time would go through thousands of mountains and rivers when they came together. If you don’t marry, any sweet words are extremely important. Promises must be fulfilled. Dates and love letters are essential. Roses are more important than diamond rings. Betrayal will be struck by lightning—or, as grandma said, There is retribution. Zi Heng was a little envious of such feelings, but he himself never planned to be single-minded, and he had already broken through the barriers in the summer camp of the third year of junior high school, and gave up the qualification of single-mindedness forever. "Concentration" is a lost virtue in this world, it is an antique, it can be hung up like Luo Hongchen's embroidered shoes for exhibits, it has no practical value except for appreciation. ——Turning his thoughts, he turned back to Luo Hongchen. Zi Heng was a little surprised at his entanglement, such a haunting dream, isn't it a little unusual? He finally decided to see Hong Chen again. Zhou Gong warned: "Go to the Confucius Temple, don't forget to bring me fermented bean curd meat and casserole fish head, old Zhengxing, don't buy the wrong one, the fish head from other houses can't be eaten." Grandpa's superstitious belief in Lao Zhengxing's fish head is similar to that of grandma's ability to shine when combing with shavings. Everyone has beliefs, for something or someone, as big as national, ethnic, religious and political, as small as fish head shavings in casserole.Businessmen believe in money, politicians believe in power, Mei Qi believes in brand-name fashion and cosmetics, while Zhou Ziheng believes in memories.He is perpetually obsessed with what is lost or found, and disappointed with what is gained. Maybe it's because his business is too smooth and his material life is too fulfilling, maybe it's because he is an orphan and the feelings he has since childhood are too poor, who knows? Ask Floyd. Zhou Ziheng came to Confucius Temple again with an indescribable feeling of worrying about gains and losses. But the "No Needle Embroidery Workshop" on Gongyuan West Street has disappeared. It's still people coming and going, it's still sunny, it's still mixed, everything is the same as it was two months ago.However, the original gold-lettered plaque of "No Needle Embroidery Workshop" has been secretly replaced by a rolling neon light box with red stripes on a white background, which reads "Lili Hair House".Looking in through the glass door, you can see that the proprietress is also a young woman, with extremely short curly hair dyed in various colors, wearing very economical fabrics, and wearing high-soled sandals-she and Luo Hongchen, except that they are both women, have nothing to do with each other. alike. Zhou Ziheng stood in front of the hair house for a long time, with an inexplicable despair in his heart. The scent of osmanthus in the wind made him realize clearly that summer was coming to an end. There are no babbling oars and ding-dong pingtans on the Qinhuai River. Instead, there are motor boats chattering and low-quality speakers singing hoarsely: I am the one who loves you the most. How can you let me be sad... …There are melon seed husks and empty coke cans floating on the water, which unambiguously split the legendary fat and powder, leaving no room for imagination.Even the most imaginative people can't connect this narrow and crowded river with the famous Qinhuai Fengyue back then. Zhou Ziheng became more and more suspicious that Luo Hongchen was just a person in his dream, and he had never really experienced such a needless adventure. He walked past the Qinhuai River at noon with fermented bean curd meat and casserole fish heads from "Lao Zhengxing", saying to himself over and over again: "No Needle Embroidery Workshop" is closed, and Luo Hongchen will never see him again.She is like this unseen and invisible legend on the Qinhuai River, kind and distant, ethereal and real.The first glimpse two months ago has become out of print like autumn maple leaves, and will never have a chance to be popular again. However, at this moment, he nodded, and saw a small embroidered shoe lying quietly on the embankment under his feet, only half the size of a palm, obviously it was just a handicraft, not someone wearing it here. The red satin, scarlet, almost hurts the eyes, and the embroidery is very delicate. Toads, snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and spiders have been squeezed into the square inch of land-the so-called "five poisons", which are said to have the power to ward off evil spirits and dispel evil spirits. The effect of disease.But such evil five poisons are hard to come by without attracting evil spirits, so can they cure diseases?Who will believe it? But at such a time, such a place, and such a state of mind, it is always a bit of fate to meet such an embroidered shoe, right? Maybe it came from Luo Hongchen's "No Needle Embroidery Workshop".It was the embroidered shoes in the needleless workshop that fell into the world of mortals by mistake. Baoyu and Daiyu are also servants of Shenying and fairies of Jiangzhu who have fallen into the world of mortals by mistake.It has become the eternal swan song because there is only half of it.If the answer to the mystery is made public, won't it be reduced to a pile of old papers? Inspiration flashed in Zhou Ziheng's heart, and he was inexplicably excited.Every time there is a big move, there will be such excitement in his heart.At this moment, he changed from a young boy Ah Heng to a businessman Jay Chou, killing decisively and making money every day. It was the embroidered shoe that inspired him.He bent down to pick it up, and his steps gradually became brisk.When I opened the door of the Mercedes-Benz and sat in the driver's seat, my mind was completely clear. He tied the embroidered shoes in front of the car seat, regarded it as a mascot, and stared at it for a long time. The "No Needle Embroidery Workshop" is closed, and Luo Hongchen will never be seen again, so Zhou Ziheng's belief has added another color-the Hongchen who bowed his head and embroidered in the downtown will become the eternal pain and beauty in his memory. Because it cannot be repeated, it cannot be replaced. All eternity is instant. The reason why meteors and epiphyllums are so beautiful is that they are fleeting and never look back. Just like Luo Hongchen.