Chapter 36 Thirty-Three Life Questions

Dear Andre: I went to buy a new mobile phone today.At the counter, the salesman guy asked me "what kind of phone are you looking for", do you know my answer? I said, "I don't want any complicated functions, just big characters." Without thinking about it, he skillfully took out a three-star brand and put it on the stage, saying, "This character is the biggest!" Obviously, there are quite a few people who put forward the requirement of "big characters". Your set of rhetorical questions really scared me.These questions are questions that most people would not ask, for fear of offending the other party.I put it away for a long time and dared not answer, but it is going to be assembled, so I have to answer.

Rhetorical question 1: How do you face your "oldness"?I mean, as a famous writer, approaching sixty--you can't think: What's ahead in life? I visit your grandmother, my mother, every two or three weeks.At the age of eighty-four, she was surprised when she saw me: "Ah, you are here? Why are you here?" She was very happy.I reported as usual: "I am your daughter, you are my mother, and my name is Long Yingtai." She was even happier, "Really? You are my daughter, that's great." Walk with her, take her to restaurants, buy her new clothes and shoes, and hold her hand tightly when crossing the street.However, I went to the small shop opposite to buy a newspaper and came back to her. When she saw me, she was surprised, "Ah, you are here? Why are you here?" I reported as usual, "I am your daughter, are you My mother, my name is Long Yingtai." She smiled happily.

She is simply my "gerontology" power point demonstration performance. I have been enlightened on the subject of "oldness" and have a keen observation.I see old people everywhere. The old writer, on the dining table, opened the long medicine box, a row of colorful pills.Bai, so that he does not get dizzy and falls.Yellow, so that he is not constipated.Blue, so that his joints do not hurt.Red, make sure he's in a good mood and doesn't think about suicide.Pink, let him sleep. The old hero, ninety years old, speaks at the commemoration, and people want to know his brave deeds in the jungle.He stood up tremblingly, his hand holding the microphone was trembling, and he said, "Old, there are three characteristics. The first characteristic is forgetfulness, the second and third—I forgot."

His humor earned the audience roars of laughter.Then he began to talk about the deeds of 1940, talking about the speaker, the fifteen-minute speech turned into twenty-five minutes, the people in the back row began to slip away, and at thirty-five minutes, the people in the middle row began to move their chairs Turning around, fidgeting. The old hero's face is covered with brown stains, and he has a variety of equipment on his body. Instead of the pistol, bayonet, and listening device of his youth, he has false teeth, reading glasses, and a hearing aid, plus a replacement pelvis and crutches.

The old man, halfway up the stairs, forgot whether he wanted to go up or down. Elderly people, when they are not speaking, may also make a sound like a coffee machine boiling and puffing. When the old man does not eat, his mouth can't help but wriggle, like sucking. Elderly people shed tears even when they are not sad, and there may be more eye feces than tears. The old man is always hungry and can't eat, tired and sleepless, sitting down and standing up, standing up and forgetting where to go, what he doesn't remember no longer exists, and what exists no longer remembers. The old man is in pain all over his body.Fortunately, "wrinkles" are not painful, otherwise...

How do I face my old age, Andrei? I've already started, my dear.I was sitting in front of the computer and writing, and suddenly wanted to make myself a cup of tea. Halfway there, I saw yesterday’s newspapers spread out on the floor. , it seems that something happened just now... but I can't remember it. So you want to use "wisdom" to deal with "old". "Aging" is actually a process of corruption. How do you deal with corruption with wisdom?Andre, the question you asked me is the big question that all religious people have to ask in life and death. I dare not have any answer to this ultimate question.I just started to think about personal corruption treatment technical issues, such as whether to use first aid when unconscious, whether to perform tracheotomy and intubation, such as the way to dispose of my own body.You will probably be on the scene for all these treatments──I will trouble you, dear Andre.

Rhetorical question 2: You are a person who is often under the spotlight.How do you want people to remember you when you die?Especially how it is remembered by: 1) your readers; 2) your countrymen; 3) me. How is it remembered by readers?not give a damn about. How is it remembered by the Chinese people?not give a damn about. How were you, and Philip, remember? Andrea, imagine a trek through snow and ice, you and Philip arrive at a log cabin, and a fire suddenly rises in the cabin, lighting up the whole room and warming your chests.The next day, you continued on the road at dawn, full of courage and strength.In fact, the firewood has been extinguished, and what you take with you, which will never be extinguished, is the heat and light in your heart to face the frosty road ahead.Who needs to remember firewood?The firewood itself, why do you care how you remember it?

But I know you will remember, as I remember my dead father.One day, you may be walking on the streets of London or Hong Kong, the crowds are coming and going, maybe it is a burst of children's laughter, maybe it is a redbud full of pink flowers swaying in the wind, you suddenly think of me , slow down, and then hurry to your meeting.At that time, I have been in the void for a long time.It's a pity that you can't really become a star in the sky like a fairy tale, and continue to overlook your future. However, if all the loving people turned into stars in the sky and continued to look down—wow, it’s terrifying.Isn't life and love so precious because of the ultimate extinction, don't you think?

If you keep writing like this, you will be included in the "Kitsch Top Ten" list. Rhetorical Question 3: What is the one thing that annoys and regrets the most in your life?What event, or decision, would you wish you could start over? Andre, you and I often play chess.Did you know that the most "mysterious" game rule in chess is "pawn".Once a pawn crosses the river, there is no turning back.One decision in life affects another decision, one accident is doomed to another accident, so accident is never accidental, one road is bound to lead to the next road, and there is no turning back.I found that all the decisions in life are actually "pawns" who have crossed the river.

Rhetorical question 4: The last time you wished you could beat me up, when and what happened? Sorry, every time you smoke, I think so. Rhetorical question 5: How do you cope with people's expectations of you?People always expect that what you say and what you write must be unique.But, maybe you're thinking, "Oh my god, I'm stupid—I don't know," or maybe you just want to be naughty. Basically, I want to know: How do you deal with the reality that people always expect you to be thoughtful and intelligent? Andre, while half the people are praising me, there is always the other half criticizing me.I've had ample opportunity to learn how to "leave it alone".As for people's "expectation", it is something that you must learn to "resist", because that thing is the easiest trap to tie you to death.If you don't know, don't talk, if you are stupid, don't pretend to be smart.You now understand why I turn down almost all invitations to speak, talk, appear on TV, right?I didn't have that much knowledge and wisdom to talk about every day.

Rhetorical Question 6: Who do you respect most in this world?Give an unnamed one and a famous one. No name, I respect those who help the poor and the weak, I respect those scientists who work silently in the laboratory, I respect those who resist the power and insist on recording history, I respect those who are poor and sick but still firmly raise their children , I respect those who still maintain independent thinking despite the clamor of the masses, I respect those who are willing to share the last candle with others, I respect those who still choose to live honestly in an era that encourages lies, and I respect those who have People with power who can still kneel down and kiss the toes of the poor... famous?Unable to answer.From Sima Qian to Spinoza, from Socrates to Gandhi, from Washington to Fukuzawa Yukichi, there are too many people worthy of respect.If you are still alive, you know that I am still a fan of Tony Leung. Rhetorical Question 7: If you could take a "time shuttle" to another time, where would you like to go?Future, or past?Why? Well, I want to go to the "past", to see China in the time of Confucius, and that is Europe in the time of Socrates.I want to know, how do people make great ideas under the pure starry sky?I want to travel all over the country where Confucius traveled, to walk through every alley, to listen to the voices of every family coming from the kitchen, to watch every meeting between the king and counselors; I want to listen to He talked with students and friends, observed the debates of politicians and citizens in the square, attended every performance in the amphitheatre, and watched every execution of a prisoner.I want to know, in a land without technology and lights, between heaven and earth in a simple prototype, how do people make love, how do they produce, how do they debate, how do they think, how do they surpass themselves, and how do they create civilization? However, I also think about the future, by 2030, when you are forty-five years old, you are forty-first years old.I want to take a peek and see if you guys are happy. However, it is better not to.I will - dare not look. Rhetorical Question 8: What are you afraid of? The most mundane, commonplace fear, right?I fear losing what I love.When you were young, if you didn't get home on time after school, I would imagine if you were kidnapped or run over by a car.You grow up and I'm afraid you'll get depression or do drugs or fall off a plane. I'm terrified of losing everything.Able to walk, see flowers, admire the moon, drink alcohol, compose, meet friends, think, feel, remember, persevere, distinguish right from wrong, do something wrong, and love.Everything is an ability, and each ability can be lost in an instant. Obviously I have a fear of losing. And the process of the corruption of life is actually the process of losing.Therefore, the so-called facing corruption with wisdom refers to your attitude towards aging and death.Does this go back to your question one?Can a twenty-one-year-old talk to his parents about this at the dinner table? MM