Chapter 17 Wives and concubines

Gu Hongming has one wife and one concubine, and enjoys the blessings of all people.He once said happily: "My wife Shugu is my 'stimulant'; my concubine Rongzi is my 'sleeping pill'. These two beauties can help me write and lull me to sleep. Inseparable." Gu Hongming's wife, Shugu, is his ideal wife: small feet, willow waist, thin eyebrows, gentle and virtuous. Gu Hongming and Shugu have a very close relationship. From the day they got married, Gu regarded his wife's little feet as treasures.In his spare time, Gu took off his wife's embroidered shoes, untied the smelly and long foot wrap layer by layer, lowered his head, put his nose close to his little feet, and smelled the meat.When there is no inspiration for writing, he always calls Shugu to the study, and asks her to put her sheep-like feet on the stool beside him, hold the pen with her right hand, and caress Shugu's little feet with her left hand, pinching and pinching, like playing bergamot .At this time, his writing and thinking are like a spring, and he writes a thousand words.

Gu Hongming was very afraid of guilt, he said: "My wife is not afraid, is there still a king's law?" Gu Hongming was poor in his later years, but he was kind and generous. His wife was very annoyed by this.Zhenying once recalled that Gu Hongming once told them that there are many beggars in Beijing.Once, the beggar came to the door again, and he gave the money as usual, but the wife threw the rice bowl at his head.Gu explained that it was because she opposed this kind of unbridled philanthropy, just like Nietzsche. Gu Hongming once published an article in the newspaper saying: "My wife is from Hunan, and she has a very strong sense of responsibility. She spared no effort to save money in order to support my family of sixteen. I am amazed and respectful to her, My friends laughed at me for being afraid of her more than I was afraid of Wu Peifu coming with the whole army."

But Gu Hongming said again: "However, her sense of responsibility sometimes embarrasses me. For example, when I went to listen to the singer singing, she would question me a lot, make me sleepless, and even cause pneumonia." Gu Hongming's concubine Yoshida Rongzi (one name is Sadako) is a noble family in Kagoshima, Japan.His parents came to China to do business, but there was no news, so Rongzi went to China alone to find his parents.Unexpectedly, she failed to find her parents, but instead was abducted and sold to a brothel in Hankou, where she became a maid serving tea.Because she insisted on refusing to receive guests, she was often beaten and scolded by the madam, and her life was very difficult.Gu Hongming felt sorry for her, so he let her live in his home temporarily.After getting along with Rongzi for a period of time, Shugu felt that she was well educated and reasonable, respected herself very much, and liked her very much.With Shugu's help, Gu Hongming married this foreign concubine.

Gu Hongming helped Rongzi find her parents, who wanted her to return to Japan together.After much consideration, Rongzi still decided to stay with Gu Hongming.Gu loves Rongzi very much, and is also very dependent on Rongzi. He asks Rongzi to accompany him almost every night, so that he develops the habit of not being able to sleep without her company. Once, Gu Hongming offended Rong Zi for some reason, no matter how Gu made amends, Rong Zi just ignored him, and for two or three days in a row, he closed the door of the room and went to sleep on his own after dinner.Lacking "sleeping pills", Gu Hongming suffered from insomnia all night, and he was so anxious that he didn't know what to do.That evening, he took a fishing rod and put it through the window into the goldfish bowl on the table in Rongzi's room, fishing.Seeing this, Rong Zi hurriedly shouted: "Why did you catch fish in my goldfish bowl!" Gu Hongming smiled and said: "Good man, you are finally willing to talk to me! I am not fishing, I am fishing for your words." Then he said in a low voice: "Okay, okay, don't be angry with me now!" Rongzi laughed out loud, and the two reconciled as before.

According to Satsuma Yuji's recollection, Gu Hongming was very talkative, and when he got excited, he spit all over the place, sometimes with warning words, sometimes with fierce and offensive words, which made people sweat for him.The only magic weapon that can stop his chatter is the knife-shaped gold ring worn on the ring finger of his left hand.This is a commemorative ring specially given to him by his wife Rongzi as a warning to him, worried that his unscrupulous words would cause accidents.Rongzi said: "You have made too many offensive remarks, please take a look at this ring at that time, you will remember how much I care about you and speak carefully."

Gu Hongming once proudly stated: "If you want to be loyal, filial, and romantic, you are a real hero; if you don't love money, wine, or wife, you are an old man." Yoshida Rongzi died of illness after being with Gu Hongming for 18 years. She left Gu Hongming with a son and a daughter.Gu Hongming, who had lost the "sleeping pill", was deeply saddened. He specially selected a cemetery for her in Shanghai's Wanguo Cemetery, and erected a monument to commemorate her, and wrote five characters: "Japan's filial daughter." He wrote a poem for his concubine. Poetry: "Everyone has this hatred, how many can there be in a hundred years? It hurts the Yangtze River, and the same crossing does not return."

When Rongzi passed away, Gu Hongming deliberately left a strand of her hair, and Gu Hongming, who was used to having Rongzi as company every night, had to put that strand of hair under his pillow every night to sleep peacefully.After he died, his sons and daughters buried this lock of hair with him. Two years after Rongzi's death, Gu Hongming wrote emotionally on the title page of his published English book, "This book is dedicated to his late wife Yoshida Rongzi".In his later years, he accepted the invitation of the Japan Daito Culture Association, and from 1924 to 1927 he went to Japan to give lectures many times.The first thing he did in Japan was to go to Shinsaibashi in Osaka, where Yoshida Yoko grew up, to pay his respects to his dead wife.