Chapter 11 Romance in Shanghai

It was an afternoon in late spring, warblers were flying, grass was growing, and the sun was warm.Accompanied by Qing'er, Ruomeiying got off the car slowly. When the car door opened, a pair of high-heeled shoes in black satin inlaid with rhinestones appeared first, then the half of the calf covered by the cheongsam, and then the whole body came out, which immediately attracted the attention of the whole street. Hu Lizi, the owner of the "Rouge Workshop", had already stood in front of the door with his hands in his arms, his melon skin hat with a coral top was shining in the sun, and half of the gold was falling out of the pocket of his black kudzu vest. The watch-chain, on which hung the little gold pound, jingled incessantly with his excitement;

The gentleman in the tuxedo stopped his cane—Steek at the time—and stood under the shade of the street trees looking out, sighing why it was a noisy street instead of a waltzing ground, so he could You can walk over to ask her to dance generously; The girls dressed as schoolgirls or female clerks were jealous, and avoided the other side of the street, bargaining with the vendors selling sugar-fried chestnuts, scolding: "What are you looking at? That's not counted." Money?" But took the opportunity to grab a few more chestnuts and put them into a paper bag; The hawkers looked over the girls' heads, and packed chestnuts in a hurry, only to realize that they had been duped, and thought: "It's only half a catty here, miss, don't be too generous, just add some money..." As they said, their eyes But I just couldn't control it, and still floated upwards, floating out...

At this time, Qing'er also got out of the car from the other side, and raised her umbrella to cover Mei Ying's whole body, and then Mei Ying walked gracefully, stepping forward. And the people in the whole street couldn't help sighing softly... Shanghai, at the intersection of Chenghuangmiao Street, Xiao Wan watched the imaginary Ruomei Ying slowly approaching, and couldn't help but sighed softly.This is the situation written in Han Yuefu's "Moshang Sang": "The traveler sees Luofu, puts down his shoulders and strokes his mustache, and the young man sees Luofu, taking off his hat and wearing his head. The tiller forgets his plow, and the hoe forgets his Hoe. Come and return with resentment and anger, but sit and watch Luofu."

A woman's beauty, to such an extent, is considered to be the end, no wonder she will be envied by heaven. Suddenly, seeing Ruo Meiying stop, she turned her head, smiled sweetly at herself, and beckoned. Xiaowan was in a trance, and instinctively went to meet her. Zhang Zhi also called: "Hey..." But it was too late. Xiaowan chased after her and bumped into an oncoming small cart. The owner pushed the cart, and the contents of the cart rolled down, silver ear picks, embroidered purses, Swiss watches, enamel plates... The sometimes real and fake Xibei goods rolled all over the ground in bits and pieces, a dazzling array of beautiful things, really beautiful.

The owner of the car was a short Shanghai woman, and she immediately yelled and relentlessly threw a tantrum, holding Xiao Wan to curse and claim compensation. Xiaowan was extremely embarrassed, and while apologizing, she bent down to help pick it up.Zhang Zhi also hurriedly stopped in front, pointed at the woman and said, "I clearly saw that you bumped into me on purpose, and you are still relying on others! Let's go to the management office and explain clearly." He showed his press card. The woman resented: "What's wrong with the reporter? The reporter can smash things and not pay for it?" While chattering, she picked up things resentfully and prepared to turn the car around and leave.

Xiao Wan's body froze suddenly, tightly clutching a bottle of silver photo frame with photos embedded in her hand, she stood blankly, as if she was lost, Zhang Zhiye's quarrel with the Shanghai woman was actually deaf to her. The woman was about to turn around when she saw the photo frame and grabbed it with her hands: "Return my things! If you break it, you will pay for it." Xiao Wanru woke up from a dream, grabbed the woman and said, "I'll buy you this photo frame!" "You buy it?" The woman stood still, looked Xiao Wan up and down again, deliberately pretending to be disdainful, "Can you afford it?"

"A broken photo frame, at most 50 or 60 years old, is not considered an antique. If it costs 10 or 8 yuan, why can't you afford it?" Zhang Zhi also knew that women would ask for prices, so he hurriedly sealed his words in advance. Sure enough, the woman yelled: "Ten eight yuan? I'll give you ten and eight yuan, and you find me such a photo frame! You can see clearly, this is silver, sterling silver, carved, at least a hundred years old... ..." "Hundreds of years? Don't you look at the clothes she wears? It's a dress, from the 1940s..." "I didn't tell you about the photo, I said about this photo frame..."

"I'll just buy this photo." Xiao Wan interrupted her, "You take this photo frame back, how much is this photo for me?" Zhang Zhi also laughed angrily: "Xiao Wan, what do you want to buy for the pearls?" "Buy a photo?" The woman rolled her eyes: "That's not okay. My photo and photo frame are matching, and I have to sell it as a set. I don't have two hundred yuan, so I won't sell it." "Two hundred yuan? I think twenty is about the same. Xiaowan, let's go to another place to look for it. I've seen a lot of photo frames like this from the 1940s and 1950s..."

Before Zhang Zhi could finish speaking, Xiao Wan had already withdrawn the money: "It's only two hundred, I'll buy it." Zhang Zhi was also taken aback, looked at Xiao Wan, as if realizing something. The woman didn't expect Xiaowan to be so happy, so she hesitated: "Actually, two hundred yuan is considered cheap. This photo frame, this workmanship, and this pattern are going to be stored abroad, and those that should go into museums should be sold to foreigners. Two thousand yuan He has to take out too..." This time, even the onlookers laughed and joked: "Okay, sister, isn't this in China? Who doesn't have old photos in old photo frames? Two hundred yuan is a lot, so don't be greedy for cheap and buy them again." Be good!"

The woman sneered: "It costs me a lot to buy this, how cheap do you think it is? This is an object that the owner of the Xinglong Hotel kept privately in the early years. His grandson was doing renovations a few days ago and smashed out the treasures of his ancestors. It only arrived at me last month. In hand." "Xinglong Hotel?" As if a needle had been pierced into her heart, Xiao Wan suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Isn't the building she saw in her dream the Xinglong Hotel?At this moment, she already clearly understood that it was Ruo Meiying who led her here and let her approach the truth of the story step by step.

"Excuse me, where is Xinglong Hotel?" "That's an old name. It's been overturned now. Are you here to find the old Shanghai? I know that there are a lot of people who come to Shanghai to nostalgia..." The woman took the money, her attitude was much better, and she was enthusiastic. After clarifying the route, he added, "Ah, now it's changed to a hotel, called Hailan Hotel." Sea blue? !Zhang Zhiye and Xiao Wan looked at each other in blank dismay, chilling suddenly——Isn't the Hailan Hotel the hotel they just booked? Zhang Zhi also remembered: "Xiao Wan, why are you so concerned about this photo?" "Didn't you always want to see Ruomeiying?" Xiao Wan stared at Zhang Zhiye, "This is it." "Ruo Meiying?" Zhang Zhi was also shocked, and looked carefully, "Is there such a thing?" In the photo, there is a man and a woman. The woman combs the famous Aisi hairstyle at that time and smiles at the camera. It looks like it came out of the photo; the man is wearing a long gown, holding a top hat in his hands, elegant and heroic, elegant and elegant, and the tree is facing the wind. Zhang Zhi also praised: "It's really a pair of Bi people." "If this man is Zhang Chaotian, I will understand Meiying's heart." Xiaowan still couldn't get out of the shock just now, pointing to the intersection and said: "It was Ruomeiying who led me here. I saw her just now. Standing there, and my grandma..." "Your grandma?" "My grandma sixty years ago was Qing'er." "Nonsense again, your grandma is not a ghost, how could you see it?" "But I did see it. There's Hu Lizi. His shop is there. The name of the shop is 'Rouge Square'. I can even see the brand clearly. Opposite is a shop that sells sugar-fried chestnuts..." Xiao Xiao Wan suddenly came to her senses, "Yeah, I didn't see a ghost, but saw the truth—the truth from sixty years ago!" Zhang Zhi didn't say a word of nonsense, he pulled Xiao Wan up and walked over, and asked the boss directly, "May I ask if this place used to be a cloth shop?" "That was fifty or sixty years ago." The shopkeeper chuckled, "Since the liberation, this place has changed to selling pastries." "What's the name of that cloth shop, do you know?" "I know, the name is really nice, it's called Yanzhifang." ... Zhang Zhiye and Xiao Wan looked at each other, and she actually saw, saw the old romance that happened in Shanghai sixty years ago.how come?Could it be that her eyes can travel through time and space? Xiaowan stood on the street in a daze, speechless for a while.Zhiye was silent for a while, and reluctantly said: "Ignore this for now, let's find Lin Juying quickly and talk about it." It is a typical Shanghai alley house. It is cold, humid, and cannot see full sunlight all year round.Between buildings, people on the opposite side lean out the window to shake hands—but Shanghainese are not used to shaking hands. They live in the most crowded places and live the most private life. As soon as Zhiye and Xiaowan walked into the entrance of the hall, they could clearly feel the eyes of the people washing dishes and vegetables on both sides of the hall. The eyes were mixed with the hostility of the people in the alley looking at the people in the building, and the hostility of the locals looking at the outsiders. Contempt, a kind of peeping, a kind of resistance, a kind of hesitation lingering between enthusiasm and indifference, it seems that I don't know whether to turn a blind eye to these two well-dressed outsiders, or to greet them as the master. The wet clothes hanging in the air are dripping with water, which also makes people feel a kind of fear and vigilance for disasters from outside, and they don’t know whether to focus on their heads or their feet. Xiaowan asked about the house number of a middle-aged woman who was sitting on a low stool picking beans: "Excuse me, is number 25 here?" "Here it is. Who are you looking for?" "Grandma Lin Juying." Zhang Zhi also spoke, and took out his business card, "I'm from Beijing. I called." "Ah, you're the reporter who said he wanted to interview our grandma?" The woman looked at the business card, then at Zhang Zhiye, then turned quickly around Xiao Wan's face, raised her head and said loudly: "You guys These reporters have traveled all the way to Shanghai to interview our grandma, one today and one tomorrow, grandma is old, how can she afford it? Seeing that you are from Beijing, it’s hard not to let you see..." Luo Li was wordy, looked at the idlers in the alley and heard clearly, then brought Zhiye and Xiao Wan upstairs, and called out: "Grandma, we're here." In Xiaowan's mind, she always thought that since Lin Juying was a famous old artist, her family must be quite luxurious.Unexpectedly, when I entered the door, I realized that it was a cramped and shabby appearance—a sporadic mahogany furniture, chipped glasses, no air conditioner, only a floor fan was shaking, and posters on the wall were stacked on top of each other. Covering the loopholes... The only thing that reveals the identity of the owner are a few stills inlaid in a wooden photo frame, and a half-tortoiseshell inlaid old painting screen that has been mottled in color. Just looking at it, Lin Juying came out from the back room. She was clean and refreshed, her hair was scrupulously brushed, and she was in good spirits. She was not like an old man in his 70s or 80s who immediately became excited when he mentioned the past of "Qunyinghui". Typical theatrical character, behavior and speech are more exaggerated than ordinary people: "Nowadays, there are not many people who know the 'Qunyinghui' and I, Lin Juying. In those days, the 'Qunyinghui' ran to the pier and hung out the flower cards, three days earlier. To book tickets..." "There are a lot of people who know you now." Zhang Zhi also took out his housekeeping skills and complimented him with a smile on his face, "You are a famous Peking Opera artist, otherwise how can we find you with a newspaper?" "Artist. Huh..." Grandma Lin smiled, "Let's talk about singers. The current actors are called singers who just debuted, and singers who became famous. Those who have to retire are called artists. If I could choose, I would rather be a singer." Xiao Wan laughed, the grandma was so humorous.Although he complained and complained, he didn't feel sour. Instead, he had a kind of detached ridicule that saw through the world. "Nowadays singers spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per show, but Beijing opera actors only pay one hundred yuan for a performance. How do you compare? Ordinary extras earn only six or seven hundred yuan a month, which is not enough for living expenses. But what about the suffering, it is many times more painful than singers and movie stars. Every day on TV, movie stars are interviewed, saying how hard and tiring they are in acting, what is it compared to actors?" , "Take our martial arts as an example, play is life. No matter how hard or sick, once you hit it, you have to come to work. If the work is good, you can say anything; You are panting loudly. The big stage of the drama, the small life on the stage. The morality of drama is the morality of human beings, and you can’t be sloppy.” Zhang Zhi also comforted: "But Peking Opera is indeed an art and an important heritage of Chinese culture. For those famous old artists, the common people are still household names, such as Mei Lanfang, Zhou Xinfang, Cheng Yanqiu, Ma Lianliang... ..." Step by step, she lured Granny Lin back to the past, and gradually attracted Tan Xing, reenacting the old days one by one. "I remember the day most, August 15th, when I sang Mu Guiying, leaning all over my body. When I first came on stage, the audience suddenly became chaotic. I didn't know what was going on, but I kept on singing. The boss came on stage and pulled me away. Come down and tell me that the Japanese surrendered. Oh, we are so happy, hugging and singing and shouting, at this time the audience kept shouting, "Mu Guiying come out! Mu Guiying come out! Mu Guiying come out!" I again Re-enter the stage and sing for everyone. I sang a sentence, and the audience shouted hello. They are not watching a show, they are venting. They are so happy. They don’t know how to celebrate. Throwing it on the stage, it was flowers, candy, and gold and silver jewelry. I have never won so many red awards. I was really happy to sing in that scene. It was the happiest and most beautiful performance in my life..." The topic gradually deepened, and the old man was immersed in the memories, all of which came to his mind: "Life is like a play, and it makes fun of the world. This play has never been separated from history. I think Ma Lianliang once played "Hai Rui" "Dismissed from Office", an inconspicuous play, and it is not Ma Lianliang's masterpiece, but it actually triggered an "unprecedented" event. It involved many things, so many actors and actresses died unjustly... Ah , At that time, they were already called people's actors, but now, they are called artists. What's the use? Come to a movement, and they are not the first batch of cannon fodder..." As he talked, the old man became excited, his hands trembling, like Dou E crying for grievances: "What a tragedy, that is really a tragedy! I will never forget it in my life. It was August 23, 1966, at the Taimiao Temple in Beijing. , Hundreds of intellectuals were fighting collectively, Xun Huisheng, Lao She, Ruo Meiying, all were held in front of the Taimiao and were criticized on their knees..." "Ruo Meiying?" Xiao Wan and Zhang Zhi suddenly became nervous: "Ruo Meiying is also in there?" "Yes, how could you not be here? Hundreds of cultural celebrities! Kneeling together in front of the Taimiao, watching the costumes being set on fire in piles and burned to ashes, it is the painstaking efforts of the theater people all their lives. Her head was pinned down by others, and when she saw that the burning clothes were burned to her own box, she cried so badly, such a proud person became soft at that time, and kowtowed vigorously, shouting, "Don't burn it!" My costume, burn me, don't burn my box!'” After nearly thirty years, the old man was still terrified when she recalled the tragic situation. She threw her hands together, raised her head, and imitated Ruo Meiying's pitiful cry back then, which was extremely cold. Xiao Wan couldn't help shivering. There seemed to be a fire burning in the eyes of the old man, which lit up strangely, and his emotions were completely immersed in memories: "Sister Ruo seemed to have gone crazy at that time, ignoring the whipping of the young Red Guards, rushing into the fire again and again, trying to To save those costumes, the more she charged, the more fiercely those young generals would fight... It was not only Senior Sister Ruo who was forced to death in that big burning of clothes, but also countless cultural celebrities who committed suicide because they could not bear the humiliation. The great writer Lao She, too. Throwing it into Taiping Lake the day after the big burning of clothes..." "Ruo Meiying also died during the criticism?" "That's right, and it's not." The old man frowned, "How did Senior Sister Ruo die? When she was wearing clothes, the Red Guards beat her, and I begged for mercy. But then, Zhang Chaotian suddenly appeared..." "Zhang Chaotian?!" Xiao Wan and Zhang Zhi also yelled together again. "You also know Zhang Chaotian?" The old man raised his eyes. "Is he Ruo Meiying's lover?" "How do you know?" Lin Juying was surprised, "Not even the troupe knew about the two of them. She told me in private, and it was because she had no choice but to ask me to deliver the letter for her." How do you know that it’s impossible to post these things on the Internet?” "I..." Xiao Wan hesitated, "My grandma was Ruo Meiying's suitcase back then, and her name was Qing'er." "Qing'er?" Lin Juying frowned and thought bitterly, "I seem to have a little impression of a very sensible little girl. It was common for actors at that time to go to pawnshops for the first time. , just use the outfits you don’t need in front of you for emergencies, and then redeem them when you need them, or use another set of outfits as collateral. In the entire "Qingyinghui", only Senior Sister Ruo has never been an outfit once. Er'er's girl is more expensive than her, and she really treats the young lady's things as treasures. Once a Huadan from the Zhejiang team came to Beijing to run on the pier, and was short of money, so she borrowed the luggage from Senior Sister Ruo. We sent people away. We all admire the eagerness to protect the Lord. How come everyone has a suitcase, but the person who is treated by Senior Sister Ruo is so shrewd. But if Senior Sister gets married, Qinger also leaves The theatrical troupe, and later said that she went to Beijing, but there was no news. It turns out that she is your grandma, and you can be regarded as the descendant of an old friend. Do you know where Senior Sister Ruo's daughter is now?" "Does Ruo Meiying have a daughter?" Even Zhang Zhi was shocked this time. Lin Juying nodded: "Sister Ruo is pitiful. Because of Zhang Chaotian's betrayal, she married that Guangdong warlord in a fit of anger, and went to Guangdong with her. The eldest wife did not allow her, and tried every means to design her. It doesn't matter if Senior Sister, except for smoking cigarettes all day long. Reason. The warlord soon got tired of her, but before he let go, he fell ill and died. While still in Xiaoli, the eldest wife kicked Senior Sister Ruo out of the house. Poor Senior Sister Ruo had just given birth and had to throw the child away. I left in front of the Guanyin Hall..." "Avalokitesvara?" Zhang Zhi was also surprised, "Where is the Avalokitesvara? What year is it?" "I can't say the exact time. Before liberation, it was either 1948 or 1949. I remember the address, it was Zhaoqing, Guangdong." "Zhao Zi and Nanny!" This time, it was Xiao Wan and Zhang Zhi who also spoke together. Zhang Zhi also asked more nervously: "Is that a Guanyin hall where self-combing girls live?" "Yes, how did you know?" Grandma Lin was even more surprised, "You two little people seem to know more than me." Xiaowan covered her face, and the development of the situation was more and more unexpected, even more legendary than she imagined. It turned out that Madam Zhao was Ruomeiying's daughter. No wonder she said that she would feel heart-piercing pain when criticizing Ruomeiying. Disastrous.When she raised the whip at Ruo Meiying, she didn't know that it was her own mother who she whipped and criticized.If she told her this fact, how could she bear it? ! Zhang Zhi also asked: "Did Ruo Meiying meet Zhang Chaotian again?" "No." Lin Juying said affirmatively, "If my senior sister came to Shanghai after leaving Guangdong, she would lose her voice, her work would be useless, and she would not be able to play anymore, so she would just follow me around in the theater and ask around about Zhang Chaotian. But no one knew about it. It wasn’t until Taimiao Dashaoyi that we were called to Beijing to be criticized, and we met at the criticism meeting that we didn’t know that he was in Beijing.” "Has Zhang Chaotian been criticized too?" Xiao Wan vaguely hopes that something happened to Zhang Chaotian during the "Cultural Revolution". Then, it can explain why he met Ruomeiying but did not end up with her.She still didn't want to believe that he was cheating. However, Lin Juying said: "No. Zhang Chaotian is a royalist, he is not included in the fight, but let's kill the chicken for the monkey to see, he is the monkey. He and a group of royalists are pushed out. If the senior sister sees him, She suddenly lost her mind, but rushed forward, shouting: 'I want to ask you something! I want to ask you something!' Those teenagers grabbed her hair and pulled it back, and the hair was pulled bloody When she got down, she didn't care about it, and still rushed forward, shouting, 'I want to ask you a question! I want to ask you a question!'..." I want to ask you a question.Xiaowan couldn't help covering her face and crying.Only she knew what Ruo Meiying was going to ask. Lin Juying sighed: "Sister Ruo really hasn't had a good few days in her life. She has been looking for that Zhang Chaotian for the rest of her life, and she finally met him, but in such a place and at such a time, the two of them In this life, it is either life or death. At that time, Senior Sister Ruo and Zhang Chaotian, one was on this side and the other was on the other side. Following many people, the meeting place was in chaos, some were shouting slogans, some were pulling the two of them apart, and some were helping Senior Sister Ruo to intercede, Senior Sister Ruo was crying and shouting, with her hair disheveled, just rushing forward desperately, suddenly there was a person Hitting a sap from behind, Senior Sister Ruo fell down and was carried away..." "Where was it carried?" "I didn't know at the time, but it was rumored later that he was carried into a small building where the Revolutionary Committee was stationed, interrogated for several days, and then jumped off the building... People said that when he jumped off the building, That Zhang Chaotian was downstairs, watching her fall into eight petals, the way she was when she died, that way, that is no longer the way it is! Poor senior sister Ruo Ruo, a beautiful woman, died so tragically on the street, with a whole body They didn't stay, and they were still shouting in their dying mouth: Don't go, I want to ask you a word..." The old man burst into tears while talking, but Xiao Wan was already sobbing. The tragedy of more than 30 years ago is vividly reappeared in the old man's narration, and the thrilling scene is still so heart-piercing when it is brought up to this day! History is just a story to those who have nothing to do with it, but to those who have experienced it personally, it is full of scars that will never heal.