Chapter 16 Part Two Aunt Sun and Mei Niang

Liu Qing's mother, I call her Aunt Sun, was and still is called that.During this period, one day I suddenly found out that she was a famous writer in the 1930s and 1940s—Mei Niang. The first time I heard about her was at the end of 1972.At that time, I was living in the hospital, and I couldn't move a single step. There were only two hopes every day, one was death, and the other was that my classmates came to visit me.The students are still jumping in the queue in northern Shaanxi. It is almost the Chinese New Year, and they have returned to Beijing one after another. People come to see me every day.One day, they told me about Aunt Sun.

"Who is Aunt Sun?" "A relative of Ruihu's family, an old lady." "A wonderful old lady, 57 years right." "Rightist?" "Now she doesn't even have a job." Fortunately, we already had an understanding of the right at that time.The times are approaching a moment of great change. "Her daughter is out of town, and her son has been sick in bed for several years." "She can only secretly find some work outside to support the family and treat her son's illness." "But the neighbors say that they have never seen her frown and sigh."

"Ruihu said that if she is worried, she will sing alone in the room." "When you leave the hospital, you have to go see her." "I promise you have never seen such an optimistic person. That old lady is much harder than you." I could hear them saying "the old lady is much tougher than you".I know that my classmates are trying their best to encourage me and stimulate me, hoping that I will live no matter what.But this time they didn't exaggerate. Aunt Sun's difficulties have reached the point where it cannot be exaggerated. At that time, we didn't know she was Mei Niang, or rather, we didn't know who Mei Niang was; people of our age knew nothing about Mei Niang and her works at that time.History is often cut off and annihilated in this way.Mei Niang never seemed to exist.Alone, the most beautiful time in life seems to disappear without a trace.A person's fertile heart and soul can be silent to the point of silence.

When I met Aunt Sun two years later, history had not yet awakened. One Sunday, I went to Ruihu’s house in a wheelchair—Dongsiliu Tiao Liushui Lane, a narrow and winding alley, with a dilapidated and old courtyard house in the middle of the alley.My wheelchair couldn't get in, so I called Tiggo out.In spring, it’s not cold anymore, and the sun is particularly bright near noon. Tiggo and I were chatting in the sun field in front of his house.At that time, everything in Beijing was very quiet, and there were almost no people in the alleys, except for the whistling of pigeons, or one or two monotonous and tireless calls.At this time, along the street wall, at the junction of the wall's shade and the sun, an old lady walked up, and she was already smiling at us before she approached.Ruihu said that this is Aunt Sun.When Ruihu wanted to introduce me again, Aunt Sun said: "Never mind, don't introduce me. I already guessed it." She was already standing behind me stroking my shoulder.At that time, she was in her fifties and close to sixty years old, her hair was black and thick, but the wrinkles on her face were many and deep, as if carved by a knife.She asked me about my illness, and what else do I usually do besides writing?She knew that I was learning to write a novel, but she didn't give me many specific pointers. She only said to me: "The most important thing about writing is not to rush. Sometimes you have to wait." If it were now, I would definitely be able to hear it. She is a real connoisseur; more than twenty years have passed, and now if I have a piece of advice for those who are new to writing, I think this is the same sentence.The reason why she didn't say much, and because she still didn't want people to know about the cloud-covered Mei Niang.

She joked with us for a while, patted me on the shoulder and said, "I have something to do in the afternoon, I have to cook." After speaking, she jumped up the steps and walked into the courtyard.Ruihu said that she had just returned from working on the street and had to go to help a family in the afternoon. "What can I help you with?" "Actually, it's a babysitter." "A babysitter? Aunt Sun?" Ruihu said that she had to keep it a secret, so she went to a place far away from home to be a babysitter, as far away as possible. If no one knows her history, who would dare to hire her?

What's her history?Tiggo didn't say anything, and I didn't ask.People in that era knew that it is best to stop talking here; history, these two words, may contain any imaginable and unexpected dangers, and may bring you any imaginable and unexpected disasters.Speaking of that era, even the pronunciation of the word "history" becomes gloomy and depressing.So much so that when I write here, and look at that alley from my memory, I can't help but see another scene-the sun dimmed, the pigeons crouched shyly on the dark eaves, and the spring wind stirred up dust and rolled up the paper. crumbs, rolling up the sound of immortal hawking and running in the alleys; if there are one or two hunched old men struggling to clean the street, no need to ask, it must be the "five black categories", such as the rightists, For example, Aunt Sun.

In fact, Aunt Sun and Ruihu's family are not relatives. Aunt Sun and Ruihu's mother have been good friends since childhood.Aunt Sun lived next door to Ruihu's house, and the two families lived like one family for decades.Once Ruihu's family had a difficult life, Aunt Sun often helped them. Later, Aunt Sun became a rightist, and Ruihu's parents took care of Aunt Sun's children.The friendship between the two families far exceeds that of relatives. When I met Aunt Sun, her son had just died.Aunt Sun has three children, one son and two daughters.The youngest daughter died early in her labor camp.My son and my younger daughter had the same disease. I used to know the name of the disease, but I forgot it now. Anyway, it was an incurable disease at the time.The cruel thing is that this disease always occurs when people are in their twenties.Her son and daughter were all alive and kicking until they were about twenty years old, when they suddenly fell ill, and although they sought medical treatment everywhere, they died in the end.How can such a mother be ah!How did such a lonely mother survive!Such a mother who was discriminated against outside and then watched a pair of children leave one after another when she returned home, what did she rely on to survive?By her own singing voice?By what conviction in that solitary song!I really can't imagine it, and I still don't dare to ask.You know, at that time, no one could have foreseen that the rightists would be rehabilitated one day.

Nowadays, I often think of Aunt Sun when I think of my mother.I thought of my mother looking for me in the altar, and couldn't help but think of Aunt Sun, where was she and what was she looking for?Now that I am over half a century old, I realize that the deepest wish of people of this age is the safety of their families.So I felt my mother's suffering more and more deeply, and I thought more and more about Aunt Sun's time. Her suffering was only doubled. I figured that no matter how strong and legendary she was, her eldest daughter must be the reason she was determined to live and sing alone.

Her eldest daughter is Liu Qing.It is no exaggeration to say that she is the guide of my writing.It’s not that my writing is so good, or that I’ve been able to satisfy her, but that she led me to this road, and through this road, my life suddenly had a new life when it was almost withered. direction. In the summer of 1973, I left the hospital and sat in a wheelchair with tenure. I couldn't think about the future at all. All I could think about was how the tenure would end.At this time Liu Qing came.She chatted with me for a while, and then asked me: "Why don't you write something? I think you have the ability to write something." At that time, she was working as a director at Changying, so I fell in love with movies , began writing screenplays.It took almost a year, and I wrote 30,000 words that I thought I could shoot. Liu Qing read it and said no, saying that it was far from being able to shoot.But she said again: "But I think you can do it. According to my experience, you can definitely do writing." appear on the screen.I almost wrote it and sent it to Liu Qing to read it again, until one day she told me: "This draft is really good. I showed it to Ye Nan and he said it was not bad." Confidence, and since then, I stopped painting easter eggs, and I stopped learning foreign languages, and I only wanted to write wholeheartedly.

It was about this time that I found out who Aunt Sun was and who Mei Niang was; A few years later, Mei Niang's book was republished, and she gave me a copy, and said, "Now I have to let you give me advice", which made me tremble with fear.But she said it in all sincerity.When she said this, I heard her sigh for the first time, followed by a brief silence.In that silence, Meiniang's decades of ups and downs and sufferings must be staged, and China's decades of ups and downs and sufferings must be staged.The past is like smoke, and the young Mei Niang is already an octogenarian. During this time, how many works could have been published by her.

Now, Liu Qing lives in Canada.Liu Qing prepared a house and everything for Aunt Sun there. Aunt Sun had been there several times, but she still came back.There are blue sky and clear water, green grass there, spacious and bright houses, surrounded by orchards, and the air is so clean that you want to eat it.Aunt Sun said it was really nice there, but she still came back. She lives alone in Beijing now.I am far away from her, and I have limited mobility, so I can't see her, and I don't know what she does every day.Twice, she called me and said that she saw an article reviewing my novel in a Japanese publication, "Do you want me to translate it for you?" In a few days, she sent the translation, handwritten , one stroke at a time, the font is neat, and the writing style is sophisticated. Ruihu and his mother are also abroad.Ruihu's elder sister often visits Aunt Sun to help with housework.I asked her, "Is Aunt Sun okay?" She said, "I'm old, I'm old, but my mind is still so clear and energetic!"