Chapter 11 my civilian friend

Some critics pointed out that my works often reflect a kind of "civilian nature".Leaving aside, for example, my novella "Little Dunzi" published in a magazine in 1992 was made into an eight-episode TV series by the China TV Drama Production Center in 1993. After it was broadcast in early 1994, some critics said, As a writer, I really can’t change my “old habits”—there are many “skyscrapers” in Beijing now, and there are many magnificent shopping malls such as Yansha Friendship Mall and Scitech Shopping Center. How many have appeared outside the third ring road? In the new residential area full of high-rise buildings, there are many entertainment venues like Beijing Amusement Park, World Park, and Kowloon Amusement Park. However, the ups and downs of your life written in "Little Dunzi" are still things in small alleys and courtyards. Your characters and stories clearly reflect the light and shadow of the times, but the ones dangling in front of readers and audiences are still "Hutong Chuanzi" and "Tubiepoer"...Why are you so interested in them! 

Yes.I do have a strong interest in these so-called low-level people, and not only interest, but I also have feelings for some of them. Yes, the relationship between us has reached mutual "iron buddies" Degree.  Once, an acquaintance in the literary circle happened to see me sitting and chatting with a strong man on a curb at a street corner. He was not surprised, but greeted me, and instinctively smiled at me and said : "Experience life!" Then he walked away without stopping.Later, when he was still in a certain circle, he said to others: "I saw Liu Xinwu experiencing life on the street that day!" Naturally, he meant to brag.But to me, it is really "where do I start from?", because that man is my friend for many years, and my relationship with him has nothing to do with writing. Maybe my novels will have some invisible things he gave me. Influence, but I haven't used him as a model to write a novel so far, he is a person who never reads novels.

Ever since I became a writer, I have really experienced life for the creation of specific works. In the process, I have also established a deeper relationship with some people, including grassroots workers, peasants and soldiers, as well as cadres and intellectuals. molecular.I still keep in touch with a few of them until now, but we can't call them friends.  How did my commoner friends get handed in? Generally speaking, it was because I was originally a commoner.As you all know, I was a general teacher in a secondary school for 15 years.The social status of middle school teachers is still "cork cypress chime hammer - decent on the outside but bitter on the inside".I once lived in a hutong courtyard for ten years. Although I later "come out" from the group of teachers and moved into a building, I even enjoyed the so-called "bureau-level treatment". Well, I'm a "corner", but I still like to associate with what people call "common people".As for how each specific civilian friend was made, that is the secret of my friends and me, and I am reluctant to disclose it.

I have also written about some friends like this.For example, a friend of mine who is a shoemaker, I call him Big Brother Xie, I wrote about him directly in "Private Photo Album", printed his photo, and used him as a model to create a Xun Xun in the novel. The image of the master.It has been more than ten years since he passed away unfortunately. Now, recalling the many trivial past events in our relationship, I still can't calm down.For example, when our two brothers drank a few cups of "Erguotou", he would unreservedly confide to me the unspeakable annoyance in his heart. Sometimes, he would tell me the dream of the previous night. Less superstitious.In fact, I am also the same. I have no religious beliefs. Although I am basically inclined to atheism, I am not yet an "atheist".So in that situation, he asked me to analyze his dreams, and I devoted myself to analyzing his dreams, and I even thought about the solution, so we clarified. 

Later, I saw an article commenting on my novel "The Wind Passes the Ears". The reviewer noticed that although my novel mainly wrote about "confucian scholars", it also wrote a lot of "common people". .He thinks that the characters at the upper and lower levels can still be described vividly, but he thinks that I failed to entangle the characters at these two levels with more conflicts and conflicts, which is a structural failure.In my novel, I wrote about a driver who drives for the head of a large technological and cultural unit. He lives in a "civilian" settlement. In this way, I interweave the two levels of life through him.But this critic is still not satisfied. He believes that the successful structure should be to directly form a "play" between the main characters of the novel, such as cadres at the deputy bureau level, and the lowest-level characters.I would like to refer to the opinions of critics, but as far as my own life experience so far is concerned, I feel that between the "upper" and "lower" of the metropolis of Beijing, the interaction between individual people and individual people In terms of, it is rare.Of course, the so-called "upper class", "upper middle class", "lower class" and "bottom class" are all borrowed words, because in a country like ours, people should not be divided into ranks or grades.Not only are all citizens equal in theory, but in specific living conditions, such as those who live in a wide building or a small and dilapidated one-story house, they all have the same big color TV imported from Japan at home and share the reform. Some of the achievements of opening up are rare sights in other developing countries.But after all, people live their lives at their respective levels, and to a considerable extent, they are not directly related. Not only is it difficult to get entangled together to form a "drama", but sometimes it is simply not clear about the people on other levels. What are you doing.For example, an old university professor, because of an accidental reason, entered a five-star hotel and entered the "Enkatai" in it, he couldn't help being dumbfounded, especially when he thought that there are some people in this society, Soaking in such places all day long consumes their lives, and they can't help but sigh again and again.Similarly, some big money jump out of the luxury car, enter the five-star hotel, and open a bottle of "Louis XIII X·O" at every turn. They also don't understand why there is no such thing as a Decent furniture, but there are some "torn books and papers" lying around!

I don't think that a person in our society has to go beyond his own level to make friends.It is a writer, he can go deep into life and meet some ordinary people in order to write a work that expresses the "lower class", but he does not necessarily have to make friends in life.Therefore, I want to make it clear that I did not show off how I "maintain the true nature of common people" at all, or implicitly deny that other writers are "not common people".I remember that in 1993 I wrote an article about my current situation for "Children of China". The editor highlighted my words "I will not go to sea for the sake of dignity", and as a result, someone came to ask: "Is it because people don't want dignity when they go to sea?" Actually I'm just talking about myself and not referring to others.I mean, I now rely on writing

I can still maintain a dignified and elegant life by working, so I don't plan to go to sea.Now that I am writing here, I am just admitting that I have made some friends in the market. This may not be my advantage, and my creation may not be better because of it. Readers, just know a little bit more about me.  In summer, under the street lamps in the streets and alleys, there are people squatting poker players. Many people who are higher than them have seen this scene. If you find that I am also enthusiastically mixed in, you will be surprised. Strange.My friend and I, plus his neighbors, once set up a small kang table in the elevator corridor of a high-rise residential building, sat on a small mazar, and played mahjong all night.Small losses and small wins, gags, let the wind blow leisurely, I am afraid that not many "scholars" can know about that scene.There is a lot of trouble there, one is that the houses are not spacious, and the other is that the electricity consumption of corridor lights and elevators is not related to the electricity meters of each household.You can despise as much as you like, anyway, when I am with them, I feel that I am in a natural state where there is neither great evil nor great good. This state is very suitable for me, and it can adjust my sometimes heavy thoughts. Anxious mood. 

Cycling to the wild to find some wild fun is a common hobby of me and one or two civilian friends.But now the wild land has shrunk to nothing. In 1992, we also found an abandoned kiln pit outside the Third Ring Road. There were many reeds growing beside the pit, and some rushes grew in the water. I like reeds and rushes, so they helped me pick them out.One of them stripped naked and jumped into the water in order to pull out cattail grass.The kiln pit had a funnel-shaped bottom, and the water was full of water plants. He sank as soon as he went in, and his feet were entangled by the water plants, which scared us to shout on the shore.But he finally floated up, got rid of the entanglement of aquatic plants, and pulled out some cattail grass for me that couldn't be bought at any cost.I also noticed that, generally speaking, gestures are the most used body language of cultural people, while the body language of my civilian friends is often manifested in the shaking of the head and neck.I really like the way a brawny friend of mine shows his big head boldly when he speaks of interest.All in all, the pleasure of "reading" a writer friend lies in reading his articles, while the pleasure of "reading" a civilian friend often lies in his vivid body language besides the spoken words.For example, a friend of mine who was a firefighter, when he talked about injustice, or just heard me talk about grievances, he refastened his belt every few minutes, and every time his chest and arm muscles swelled up, he said Simple words are rare, but the expression of body symbols is rich in meaning. 

It is not so easy to maintain a long-term relationship with these friends.The main reason is me, I have too many things to do, and these things of mine are often not on the same social level as the things they are busy with, and there are too few intersections.So, some friends like this, I don't always go to him, and gradually alienate them (although I don't forget them).For example, some time ago I went to Nancheng to look for such a friend, and found that the area where he lived used to be dilapidated bungalows, but now they have been transformed into a brand new residential building. I went to the neighborhood committee to inquire. It is said that only 3/10 of the original demolition households returned to live here, and the rest were scattered to five or six new residential areas. Where can I find out!Of course, I am happy for that friend, he must have greatly improved the living conditions.Or someone will ask: When you don’t meet, don’t you communicate? Don’t you call? Yes, I never communicate with such friends, and they rarely call me.You see, if I moved or he moved, we'd probably lose touch as well.If you ask: Are you friends if you associate with each other like this? Then I want to tell you that friends who have no interest in each other are often like this, and it is also the same among cultural people. If you lose contact, you still forget no.Occasionally recalling, the taste of friendship is undiminished. Once we meet again by chance, the joy of reunion is indescribable. 

A commoner friend said to me seriously one day: "I always hear you say, this friend and that friend, it seems that you just take advantage of (meaning you have a lot of) friends. Let's wait and see, when you get sprained, you can go back Turn your head around and see how many friends you have!" When I got sprained, I turned my head and saw that there were a lot fewer so-called friends in the circle, and most of the ordinary friends remained the same. Of course, if we want to take the standard of truly deep friendship, being able to understand each other and get along with each other happily, then I have very few so-called common people friends after all. 

Friendship is a delicate feeling, and it should not be called a friend.What civilians are not civilians, since we are friends, there is no distinction between peace and injustice.A stream flows long and clear, passing through the world, regardless of the years, and full of goodwill. This is the symbol of friendship.