Chapter 3 garden dream

The antique gramophone bought from Liulichang sang an opera inarticulately, and Du Liniang went to the garden to have a dream. It is said to be an antique, but in fact it is only in its sixties at most, not as old as grandma.There are many old objects of the same age as gramophones in Xiaowan's house, old photo albums, comic books, chairman's badges, and camphor wood boxes, but they are of the same age but have different fates.The phonograph is an antique, but the little Maza is trash, and the mouthless pot, enamel jar, pickle jar is even worse, it can only be regarded as rubbish. "It turns out that the colorful flowers are blooming everywhere, like this, and they are all ruined. What a beautiful day, what a beautiful day, whose home is a place to enjoy the pleasure! Morning and evening rolls, clouds and green pavilions, rain and wind, smoke and waves painting boats——Jinping people It's such a cheap time..."

The lily needles are spinning round and round, and the same tune has been sung for more than half a century. The beautiful scenery on good days has long been in ruins. "The tile houses in the Liyuan disappear together, and the Yanyue Qing Dynasty and the Shang Dynasty disappear." Xiao Wan couldn't help but think of her father's poem again, and only then did she feel that it was really a good poem. On weekends, Xiaowan didn't have to go to work, and Xiaowan slept until the sun was three. When I woke up, I heard the next door singing "Garden Tour", knowing that my father stayed up all night again.

This is my father's water-soluble work habit. Before writing a screenplay, he always plays old records on the phonograph, saying that it is to create an atmosphere and find inspiration. Cigars, black coffee, and old records are the three major props for water-soluble writing, all of which are indispensable.Therefore, Xiaowan often joked that her father's scripts were not written with pens, but cigars and coffee were poured on the phonograph and ground by himself. But don't tell me, although this method is a bit of a show, it really works.Whenever Dad draws the curtains tightly and turns on the desk lamp in broad daylight, and puts on the old records and writes, Xiao Wan feels that she has entered a time tunnel, and her mind is dizzy and unclear.She absolutely believed that San Dao had a hypnotic effect, but she just couldn't figure out how Dad could stay awake and write the script in this situation.If it was her, she would have already gone to find Zhou Gong to play before she finished listening to the song.

Xiao Wan stretched her waist and was about to get up, but when she turned over, her hair was caught by the wind chimes hanging from the tent, and she immediately wailed. Wind chimes are made of copper. In the past, families used them to ward off evil spirits under the eaves. After a long period of wind and rain, they were covered with green patina. They were picked up by the father as treasures and hung on the daughter's mosquito net as decorations.Xiao Wan said that it would be fine to hang it here, and wiped off the rust.But my father refused to let it, saying that it would have charm, ancient meaning and aura.As a result, he was so clever that he hooked his hair every day.

My mother rushed in like a fire engine, yelling: "Oh, what's wrong? I got my hair hooked again? How many times have I said, be careful when you get up, forget every time, don't know if you eat a hundred beans It smells like beans. So does your father, who picks up scraps of iron and treats them as treasures, making the family dangerous and fearful." Xiaowan tilted her head, feeling her mother's fingers smoothing out strands of her hair, making it comfortable to scratch. She hummed and asked, "Dad didn't sleep last night?" "That's right, I've become the Chen Bailu in the movie." My mother raised her head and imitated Xu Fan's tone in the TV series and said the lines with a sigh, "It's dawn, we're going to sleep."

Xiaowan laughed and fell on the bed clapping her hands and kicking her legs like a baby. There are few housewives who are as tolerant as my mother, who neither prevents her husband from driving late nor interferes with her daughter's late sleep.Except for nagging and cleanliness, it can be called loving and perfect. Every time Xiao Wan sees her father, she always thinks that the wife he should marry should be such a woman: wearing a silk embroidered nightgown, lying on Dr. Evening Bell on the Screen and Spring Dream in Beijing, while lightly flicking off the cigarette ash in the celadon carved dish; but when I saw my mother, I felt that the man she should marry was just like my father.

It seems that there are many styles of women, but the only man who can marry is father. Mom also smiled, and suddenly cried out in a fuss: "Hey, why is there blood on this bell?" "Blood?" Xiaowan leaned over in surprise, and saw that the dark green copper bell was indeed covered with spots of black and red bloodstains, which were eerie and eye-catching, as if entangled with a long hair of her own. Mom became nervous: "Wan'er, did you get hurt somewhere? Are you hurt? Let Mom see." "No." Xiao Wan stretched her arms and kicked her legs, "I'm not broken anywhere. Mom, look carefully, the blood on it is completely dried out, maybe it's already on the bell, and I don't usually pay attention to it." That's all."

"Why don't you say that your father is messing around, and hanging such an unlucky thing in your room is scary. You have to take it off today." "Okay, I'll take it back to Dad." Puppy Dongdong has been waiting outside the door for a long time. When he saw his little master getting up, he immediately came up to him wagging his tail. run. Xiaowan was surprised: "Dongdong, come here! Come here!" Unexpectedly, the more he yelled, the farther Dongdong ran, barking and screaming, as if he had been beaten violently. Shui Rong's writing has just come to an end. Hearing the voice of his precious daughter, he opened the door to say hello: "Xiao Wan, come in and see how my writing is going. The opinion you gave me last night was great. The artistic conception of "Dream" is added to "A Chinese Girl's Soul", sleepwalking and soulwalking echo each other, adding to the psychedelic color, it really feels very good, and I wrote it very smoothly."

"My advice to you?" Xiao Wan was startled, "When did I give you my advice?" "Last night. You came here in the middle of the night to give me the record. Let me listen to this piece of "A Dream in the Garden" to get my feel. , a bit of Kunqu opera, if you learn Beijing opera again, you will get twice the result with half the effort, even more powerful. I just didn’t expect that Ruo Meiying’s Kunqu opera could be sung so well.” Ruo Meiying?Xiao Wan put the bell down, took out the record and flipped through it, seeing Ruomeiying's words printed on the cover, she was even more dazed: "Where did this record come from?"

"What's the matter with you, Xiao Wan?" Shui Rong looked at her daughter in surprise, "You gave it to me, and said it was dug out from your grandma's pile of antiques." "Grandma?" Xiao Wan held the record in a daze, feeling a sudden rush of cold air from the top of her heels.Last night, I obviously went to bed very early, and I listened to a pop song before going to sleep. When did I go to Dad's room?And how could he be given such an old record?Besides, I never knew that my grandma had a copy of "A Dream in the Garden" by Ruo Meiying.Could it be that he was sleepwalking?

Shui Rong saw her daughter's face turn pale in an instant, and stood up uneasily: "Xiao Wan, is there something wrong with you?" However, Xiaowan turned her head, turned and left, and hurriedly said: "I'll ask grandma." Pressing her hand on the handle of grandma's door, Xiaowan felt a deep chill in her heart. Ever since she opened the "Meiying Suitcase" and put on the layered set of "Lihun Clothes", she seemed to be the same as Ruomei. Ying is inextricably linked, and she can't help herself in everything she does, as if she is stepping into a trap step by step.Familiar people and things on weekdays are suddenly strange and distant—the accountant is originally a comb girl, the blind luthier actually "saw" the figure, sheltered from the rain and escaped an inexplicable "Zhihu Zheye", and the grandmother turned out to be Mei English coating. Everything and everyone seem to be unrelated on the surface, but they are connected together by an invisible thread, forming a trap, waiting for Xiaowan to drill into it. No, she doesn't want to, she hopes that she is still the carefree, heartless and innocent girl Shui Xiaowan from a week ago, who would jump for joy when she sees a new dress, and is only a game if she gets caught in the rain .Instead of being sentimental and suspicious like now, this is not like Xiaowan's character! She said to herself: Stop!STOP THIS!Don't say anything, don't ask anything, act like nothing happened.There are no costumes, no records, no blood on the wind chimes, and no "Amazing Dreams in the Garden". Don't pursue anything, and nothing will happen... But, how can you bear it? The door opened, and grandma was burning incense on grandpa's spiritual tablet. The room was filled with misty sandalwood smoke, and there was a fishy-sweet aroma, as if freshly cut fish were placed on the mat.Hearing the sound of the door, grandma turned her head slowly: "Xiao Wan, I'm sleeping late again." Xiao Wan was in a daze, she rarely went into grandma's room because she hated the fishy smell of agarwood.Especially in broad daylight, the cigarette seems to be particularly lingering, as if the ghost is still there.She sat down on the chair sullenly, and didn't know where to speak for a moment, but grandma seemed to have a foretelling: "Do you want to ask me about Ruo Meiying?" "Yes, how do you know?" Xiao Wan raised her head, "Grandma, tell me, what kind of person is Mei Ying?" "Beauty." Grandma praised, with a look of admiration and nostalgia, "I have never seen a more beautiful woman than her. Her gestures, demeanor and figure are really beautiful. Every expression and every movement is beautiful, and the voice is beautiful. When you look up, your eyebrows are crooked, not like those self-proclaimed beauties nowadays, who use eyebrow pencil and lipstick twice to go to the beauty pageant, bah, you don’t even deserve to lift Miss Ruo’s shoes!" No matter how bored Xiao Wan was, she couldn't help laughing. Grandma's tone of evaluation of beauties was like that of an old man with a weak heart, quite a bit of obsession.From this she knew a truth - it turns out that a real beauty can not only fascinate men, but also fascinate women. Grandma, however, looked serious and looked at Xiaowan intently: "Speaking of which, your appearance, facial expressions, and expressions are somewhat similar to Miss Ruo." "Really?" Xiao Wan suddenly felt kind, "Then I can also be a star? How popular was Mei Ying at that time?" "How popular is Mei Ying? At that time, there was a saying called 'Wu Tingtian, Wen Tingmei'. This 'Tian' refers to Gai called Tian, ​​and 'Mei' refers to Ruo Meiying. One meaning is that watching martial arts dramas requires If you watch Gai Jiaotian, you should watch Ruo Meiying when you watch literary dramas; the other meaning refers to the audience, which means that those vulgar warriors like to watch Gai Jiaotian's plays, but most of the gentlemen like Ruo Meiying." Once grandma opened the chatterbox, she couldn't close it again, and the past came out one after another, as if it happened yesterday, and the memory is as dear as it was yesterday. There is a story that once Ruo Meiying performed "The Drunken Concubine" for the first time on a Sunday, but that day a famous professor was invited to give a lecture at the university. Ruo Meiying? Guess what happened?" Xiao Wan's heart was in a mess, and she guessed casually: "Then there is no need to ask? They must have come to listen to Ruo Meiying and left the professor aside." Grandma smiled and shook her head: "You are a college student, how can you be so ignorant?" "Then... you still listened to the professor's lecture, and didn't go to the theater?" Grandma still shook her head: "If that's the case, how can we see that Miss Ruo is popular?" Xiaowan didn't understand: "Could it be that half of the people listen to lectures and the other half listen to plays?" Grandma smiled: "Neither. It turns out that on Saturday, the school suddenly announced that the professor had some important business to attend, and the lecture will be rescheduled for next Monday." "That's right." Xiao Wan also smiled, "Aren't the students right?" "The story isn't over yet—those students were also thinking at the time, what a coincidence, just like what you said, it was just right in their arms. On Sunday morning, they washed up one by one, with greasy hair, powdered face, long robes and green shirts, and ran to the theater in unison. Come in, dressed more neatly than in class. Sit down and take a look, and guess what? It turns out that the one sitting in the first row of VIP seats is the famous professor who changed the lecture date because of something important!" "Really?" Xiaowan's eyes widened, "This is too dramatic! Grandma, you didn't make it up, did you?" "Hey, how could I make it up? It's all written in the article." "Also wrote an article?" "Yes, at that time there was a famous reporter named Zhang Chaotian who came to praise Miss every day and wrote many beautiful articles to praise Miss, one of which was about this matter." Everything has passed the reporter's pen, but it is not so true.Xiaowan guessed that grandma didn't know the truth of the matter. Ordinary people always like to remember the beautiful side. They would rather take exaggerated stories as their true colors, but doubt their own personal experience. After a long time, they simply forget Originally, I only remember the unofficial history that was performed. "That Zhang Chaotian, you have a good literary talent!" Grandma couldn't help but said a word in Shanghai dialect, as if it wasn't enough to express her admiration, and she was afraid that Xiao Wan wouldn't believe it, so she added with confidence at the end, "Even Miss praises him!" It seems that Miss' praise is a guarantee. Xiao Wan was a little unconvinced.It's just a plague student who wrote "eel manuscripts", how could it be any better?Left is nothing but those function words to deal with.It's just that the person who was written was Ruo Meiying, so I thought it was the best.In fact, I am no stranger to the Liyuan story of that era. Although my grandma didn't tell much about it, all the old people in the troupe were full of lies and facts. For example, the allusion of "Eel Manuscript" was told by the old men of the theater troupe: in old Shanghai in the 1930s, slaughtering "eel emperor" was a big event. Treat guests, and after the reporters have eaten and drank enough, they will publish articles in newspapers for publicity.Later, people called those publicity drafts that advocated trivial and meaningless "eel manuscripts".Lace articles that praise and criticize actors are naturally included in this list. The old people also said that the relationship between the actor and the reporter was the most special at that time. When it was good, it was like a flower. If I made a mistake, made a drink and made peace, and then wrote a new article to clarify it, I would instead hype it up for the actor; if the actor didn't understand the situation and refused to follow suit, he would simply turn from the dark to the bright, verbally criticize and criticize, and say all kinds of ugly things. come out.Of course, except for those actors who have a backer behind them. In short, most actors are the confidante of a down-and-out literati; and tabloid reporters often become the guest of honor of a famous actress.The taste, bitter, hot, sour and sweet, is better than a play.As for the details, it is not enough for outsiders to know. However, the fan of the authorities, which is obviously a regular program of big routines, in the eyes of the parties, they always feel that their own is different, the most special one, extra sincere, extra confidant, and a relationship is also extraordinarily precious.It's like some ignorant girls who fall in love with married men these days. Although they have seen too many examples of old men cheating on little girls, they still want to believe that the one they love can't help it. Xiaowan was noncommittal, and asked the most important question carefully: "Grandma, do you have a Kunqu opera record of Ruomeiying's "A Dream in the Garden"?" "Yes." Grandma said proudly, "Ms. Ruo is not only excellent in Beijing opera, but also in Kunqu Opera. It is said that the master has no faction, it is true. Miss sings Danjiao, Tsingyi, Huadan, Daomadan, everything comes, sometimes she has to save the scene, even Xiaosheng also sings, and one person can support a troupe. She sang "A Dream in the Garden", and even the most serious and famous Kunqu opera performers admired her. It's a pity that I don't know where to put the records. When you get old, you can't remember things. " Xiaowan was stunned again, then, how did she get that record and give it to her father? Grandma was immersed in memories, and didn't care about her granddaughter's uneasiness. She only squinted her eyes and said in detail: "Meiying combed her hair very carefully. Her dressing table and chair are covered with leather and copper, with patterns branded on them." , and Western-style, and expensive, there is a mirror on the mirror, there is a chair on the back of the chair, all of which are brocade and embroidered. The cosmetic box is matched with the table, and there are more than a dozen head and face boxes. Which box is placed All the heads are particular, and they are never wrong. Sometimes she forgets and asks me: "Qing'er, where is my crested hairpin?" I find it for her, and she will Laughing, like sorrow and praise, said, "Qing'er, what would I do without you?"" Xiaowan suddenly felt bitter when she heard her grandma pinching her throat and imitating Ruomeiying's weak voice.It is already a story more than half a century ago, but when I mention it so far, there is still such a deep nostalgia written on my grandma's face. Perhaps, it is not only the most beautiful spring day in Mei Ying's life, but also the most unforgettable lily of my grandma. Years, right? "It turns out that grandma's nickname is Qing'er." "Miss Ruo gave it to me." Grandma smiled a little embarrassedly, squinted her eyes, and looked into the distant past, "Before I met Miss Ruo, I had been begging by the West Lake. That year I met Miss Ruo when I came to Hangzhou. The performance was also a hit-and-miss. For some reason, she took a fancy to me and asked me if I would like to be with her. I wouldn’t want to, so I kowtowed to her immediately. The lady said, when you meet me by the West Lake, it’s like When White Snake meets Xiaoqing in the West Lake, I will call you Qinger. If so, I will call you Qinger." When White Snake and Qing'er meet, then Xu Xian will not be far away. Xiao Wan was dumbfounded, it turned out that everyone's past was just an excerpt, but she never thought that grandma's life experience was so bitter and legendary. "Grandma, how old were you at that time, and you remember so many things?" "Eight years old." Grandma replied without hesitation, "Miss Ruo I was with when I was eight years old. I didn't understand anything at first, so she had to be patient and teach me a little bit. When I was eleven years old, she was already her best assistant. Moment can't be separated. She started to discuss everything with me and treated me like an adult. But every time she went out of the church, she treated me like a child again, remembering to bring me food and play. Once a Cantonese The guest opened a box of mooncakes with two duck egg yolks when he was invited to the hall. I stood by and stared at it greedily, swallowing my saliva anxiously. When the lady left, she specially asked for a piece of mooncake to be wrapped so that I could eat it back. If anyone crushed it, the skin and stuffing would all stick together, and the lady even called it a pity, saying that she couldn’t taste the taste. But I still found it delicious, and I’ve never eaten such a delicious mooncake.” Gradually, grandma's voice was full of emotion and tears, and she choked up slightly: "If Miss is six years older than me, she is both the boss and sister to me. Without her, I might have starved to death." Xiaowan secretly calculated how long Meiying would live if she lived today, and asked, "Do you remember what year it was?" "That's not sure. I just remember that the train was just opened in Beijing at that time. It passed through the city wall and went all the way to the front door. It was the first time I took a train. Don't mention how excited I was. In order to open to traffic, the city wall opened The gap, many people secretly dug city bricks in the middle of the night. City bricks are good things, they can be put in the house to suppress evil and demons. ..." Seeing that grandma was pulling away, Xiao Wan hurriedly pulled her back: "You are Ruo Meiying's coat, do you know who designed the 'A Chinese Girl's Soul' costume?" "Who else can it be? If the lady is herself. The lady may have done it. She can trace flowers and embroider patterns. She draws the size pattern and sends it to the tailor to do it-most of the clothes are made in Shanghai. , there is a familiar cloth shop who sells materials and cuts clothes, the owner is surnamed Hu, he is a cripple, a bad guy, a toad wants to eat swan meat, and has been chasing the lady for a while, don't mention how much the lady annoys him - they are at the gate of the cloth shop , hung two red lanterns with the word '福' stuck upside down, half white from the rain, and the lady always said that those two stickers with the word 'Fu' were like plaster." "Were there many people who pursued Mei Ying at that time?" "A lot, a lot. That's why the young lady not only has the most costumes, but also has the most dancing skirts. Every day after the show, she either eats supper or goes dancing. The young lady dances very well and wears shoes that are one foot high. , satin surface, glass heel, large canopy skirt, when you turn around, the skirt is more than half a meter wide. After dancing, go to "Huifulou" to eat crabs. The crabs in Huifulou cost 80 cents a piece and are served on a gold tray. with..." "How do you remember it so clearly?" Xiaowan asked strangely. Grandma replied disapprovingly: "I often recall these things." Xiao Wan stopped talking.Memorizing the past too many times is like a desktop that has been wiped too many times, it will not be brighter, it will only be older.Shoes more than one foot high, skirts more than half a meter wide, crabs on a golden tray... She didn't believe everything grandma said, but she didn't dare to show it, and only continued to listen respectfully. Grandma said again: "Meiying's car is..." This time Xiaowan couldn't help interrupting: "Don't always talk about these details of food and clothing, okay? Talk about emotional and story-telling things, for example, Mei Ying's love." "Love?" Grandma frowned, thought hard and then shook her head, as if she was not sure. Xiao Wan couldn't help laughing, it turned out that Grandma Shan only liked to pick up these extravagant and exaggerated little things to recall, and she didn't care about the real Mei Ying's happiness and anger.Grandma, lovely grandma, is really a very material woman in the world of mortals. The phone rang at this time, and my mother shouted loudly in the living room: "Xiao Wan, I'm looking for you." Xiaowan answered the phone and asked, "Hello?" Suddenly remembering grandma's teaching just now, she lowered her voice softly, pinched her throat and said weakly, "I'm Shui Xiaowan, who is looking for you?" The other party seemed to be taken aback for a moment, and his voice was so gentle that water dripped out: "I'm Zhang Zhiye, the reporter who once avoided the rain with you. Do you remember?" "Oh, it's true!" Xiaowan couldn't help laughing when she thought of it, and she lost her polite attitude just now to the country of Java, and asked fiercely, "How do you know my phone number?" "Ask Zhao Zi and Nanny what they want." The "Zhihu Zheye" recruited rather quickly. "Have you interviewed the accountant?" "The interview went well...but the story in the middle seems to be more legendary. I need to check some more information. Maybe I will go to Zhaoqing Guanyin Hall." "How do you say it like a case-solving story?" Xiaowan's interest came, "tell me." "I'll talk to you slowly after we meet, okay?" "Meet?" Xiao Wan was taken aback for a moment. Zhang Zhiye's voice was even more gentle: "Is it okay to meet up? I managed to get two tickets for the premiere of "A Dream in the Garden". It's a good seat." "Dream in the Garden?" Xiao Wan was taken aback. What a coincidence, it's "Dream in the Garden" again? "Wang Zuxian and Rie Miyazawa starred, it's worth watching. Come out, okay?" "Okay." Xiaowan is not a pretentious girl, and she doesn't know how to say yes or no. The coincidence of "A Dream in the Garden" made her unable to bear to go up to see what happened.Moreover, she doesn't dislike that person.