Zhu Ziqing eulogized spring in his prose, describing it as a girl dressed in colorful clothes. However, such spring probably only exists in the gentle and beautiful water towns in the south of the Yangtze River. The spring in Beijing is not so gentle. The spring in Beijing is austere, with the harshness of winter and the rugged temperament unique to the north. The unmelted spring snow in the corner of the wall reflects the light brightly, and the bare branches of the peach tree in front of the yard hang down listlessly. You have to get very close to see the new leaves.
Le Jing was lying on the bed, and he could see the gloomy peach tree if he raised his head. Just like him at this moment.
When he woke up from Li's house, it was still late winter and there was dazzling new snow on the road. Now it was early spring and all things were reviving, leaving only him and the peach tree frozen by winter.
He coughed quietly for a while, then tried to sit up, gathered his strength, and moved step by step to the desk not far away. Le Jing couldn't help but gasp as soon as he sat down. His lungs squeaked in his chest like an old bellows, and a familiar itch spread from deep in his throat. He swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva to moisten his throat, and resisted the discomfort. He picked up the pen and began to write. The ink spread on the crooked words like a hideous centipede. He closed his eyes and pretended not to see it. He ignored all the discomfort in his body and firmly left lines of ugly words on the white manuscript paper with strong willpower. Then a more intense itch crawled out from the depth of his throat. This time Le Jing finally couldn't help it. He leaned over and coughed heartbreakingly. He thought to himself with a smile, Nabokov's old saying is indeed true: there are three things that people can't hide: cough, poverty and love.
Li Shuran ran into the room following the sound of coughing, and saw her elder brother, who was still seriously ill and should have been bedridden, sitting at the desk with a pen in his hand and coughing. Her face turned pale, and she quickly ran over to pat his back distressedly, scolding him, "Brother, you are such a jerk. You are still not well, and the doctor has told you to rest well." She glanced at the manuscript paper spread out on the desk and advised, "How can you write a good article in your current health? You should take your time with writing, it won't be too late when you are well again."
I'm afraid... no.
Le Jing finally stopped coughing, and his pale face became more rosy. He knew the truth in Li Shuran's mouth. He just forced himself to write an article. Not to mention the content, the handwriting was so ugly that he dared not read it for too long. If possible, he would also like to rest well.
Unfortunately, he didn't have time.
Le Jing never thought that one day he would be associated with the word burden. Although he didn't want to admit it, he was indeed a burden these days.
He fell ill almost as soon as he rented a house. The acute illness was so fierce that it was hard to resist. Although Li Jingran was the same age as Le Jing, he had long been drained of his body by alcohol and sex. In addition, he was a heavy smoker, so his body was just a shell of paper. It is no exaggeration to say that Le Jing really spent half his life to quit drugs this time. Then, in order to get out of the fire pit with Li Shuran as soon as possible, he did not even have time to recuperate and began to write and submit articles non-stop. Then he took a train for several days and nights to come to Peking. Even a strong man could not bear it, not to mention that Li Jingran was in poor health. It can be said that it was a blessing from God that Le Jing could hold on until they rented a house and had a place to stay before he fell ill.
Then they went to seek medical treatment and medicine without stopping. Medicines in the Republic of China were undoubtedly very expensive, which can be seen from an article written by a certain literary giant who gave up medicine to pursue literature. When the literary giant was young, his family was also wealthy in the local area, but because of his father's long-term illness, his family fell into poverty. It can be seen that medical expenses in the Republic of China were expensive. Although Le Jing's illness was not serious, this kind of illness caused by physical reasons is difficult to treat. In addition, Le Jing fell into a coma due to a high fever. Li Shuran, a little girl, had no backbone, so naturally she used whatever medicine was expensive. Le Jing was ill for only half a month, and the 215 yuan they brought with them when they went to Beijing had shrunk to 30 yuan. After deducting the 20 yuan rent for next month, their total assets were only 10 yuan.
Le Jing originally thought that he brought Li Shuran to Beiping to help her escape from suffering, but he didn't expect that the little girl would now have to worry about his broken body, suffer from lack of food and clothing, and even risk living on the streets... He had never felt so humiliated at such a moment.
So don't say he's just unwell now, even if his hands are broken, he will finish the article with his mouth and feet. Let him lie in bed as a burden? It would be better to kill him.
So in response to Li Shuran's persuasion, Le Jing just smiled indifferently, "I'm in much better health now. It's useless to lie in bed. I might as well find something to do." Seeing that Li Shuran was going to persuade him again, he changed the subject calmly, "I'm sick now. It's not good for you to be alone at home. I'll ask the landlord tomorrow to see if he can introduce us to a reliable maid." These days, the brother and sister have been lonely and helpless. Li Shuran was a young lady who had never done housework before. It was only with the help of neighbors from time to time that they could barely hold on until now.
Li Shuran was distracted, "No need for help, I can do it by myself, it's just some trivial things like washing and cooking, I will learn it soon!" She knew that because of her brother's illness, the family had no money, and now was the time to be frugal, so she racked her brains to make Le Jing give up the idea, but unfortunately Le Jing's heart was as firm as a rock and Li Shuran had to give up. Then the little girl who was worried about her brother's health brought up the old matter again: "Brother, you are not allowed to touch the pen until you recover!"
Le Jing: ...
Then there was a negotiation and a set of rules, and the final result was that Le Jing could only write for three hours a day, supervised by Li Shuran. But no matter what, Le Jing was finally able to write, which was really gratifying.
…
Le Jing thought for a long time about what to write for his second work. He even thought about writing some romantic novels that are now loved by the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School of literati under a pseudonym in order to make quick money.
Although the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School is often despised by the orthodox literary school (just like the serious literary writers of later generations look down on popular bestsellers), the books they wrote are well-deserved bestsellers. Zhang Dada, the leader of the Mandarin Duck and Butterfly School, wrote "Jin × Family" which was remade into a popular TV series in modern times.
With such predecessors as examples, Le Jing naturally became interested. He even thought of an outline. After all, he had seen classic romance films such as "Titanic" and "The Fault in Our Stars". He had also read the works of famous writers such as Stefan Zweig, Jane Austen and Duras. It was more than enough for him to write a sentimental and heart-wrenching romance novel.
However, when he met the maid recommended by the landlord the next day, he changed his mind.
Le Jing originally wanted to hire only a maid, but the landlord brought a family of three, an old couple holding a skeleton-like child, and gave him a fawning smile.
How should we describe them? The pet rats of later generations are more respectable than them.
Some tattered pieces of cloth of varying lengths were hanging on them - clothes that even beggars wouldn't wear in the future. Their faces were rough and stiff as if they were carved out of sandstone, but they still tried to squeeze out a flattering smile to him. Their children were tied with straw ropes like animals and led behind them. Their eyes were dull and blank, just like the little radishes in the concentration camp, with big heads and small bodies, and a thin layer of human skin covered on their bones.
In them, Le Jing saw the Republic of China.
It is not the prosperity and peace of Shanghai, it is not the masters of Beijing gathering to discuss the past and present, it is not the romance of iron and fire when the revolutionaries raised their arms.
The Republic of China was right before his eyes.
The landlord's words rang clearly in his ears: "This family is a refugee from famine, and they are very honest and capable. But not long ago, the head of the family fell ill, and they sold their daughter to pay for the medicine... You see, they really can't survive, so please be kind and take them in. Just provide them with food..."
Le Jing closed his eyes.
Yes. He remembered.
This is the Republic of China, a country composed of countless Sanmao, heavy smokers and prostitutes, tens of millions of poor people who are as poor as pigs and dogs, coolies with an average life expectancy of only thirty years old, and millions of refugees who are displaced and even have to eat their own children.
This is the Republic of China, a hell on earth.
Li Shuran was kindhearted, and seeing this, she begged Le Jing to keep them. Le Jing naturally agreed, but he felt a little disappointed. He could save these three people, but he couldn't save the poor people of the entire country.
Le Jing was not a sentimental person, and sometimes he could even be called cold-blooded. But now he had an impulse and an urgent desire to do something for this country and nation.
Since he has come to this turbulent era, he should not just go with the flow. He wants to turn his pen into a sword and say something.
What this country needs now is not insignificant stories about love and romance, but deep-rooted scolding and lashing. Only in this way can it learn from its mistakes and have the motivation to climb out of the quagmire.
Le Jing thought that he already knew what his second story was going to be. He turned and went into the house, and wrote down the title on the manuscript paper - "The Rat's Eyes Look Down on People".
"I am a Dutch rat from China a hundred years later." He picked up his pen and wrote the first paragraph of the article: "I don't know why I came to this poor and backward era, but a rat can survive anywhere, not to mention that I am a white Dutch rat with noble blood and beautiful fur..."
The story is about the strangeness of the Republic of China as seen by a pet mouse from the future, with thousands of people and all kinds of life. This was inspired by Natsume Soseki's "I Am a Cat".
Since ancient times, China has been full of hatred and disgust for rats, as can be seen from the fact that when a rat crosses the street, everyone shouts and beats it. In addition, there are also derogatory words such as "cowardly as a rat", "two-faced rat", "rat thief" and so on. Rats have been insulted for thousands of years.
But Le Jing chose to "look down on people with mouse eyes" this time. Just like the cat in Natsume Sakuseki's writing who was full of justice and literary temperament, but never learned to catch mice until his death, this mouse is naturally also a mouse with all the good qualities of human beings. In this way, it can make a sharp contrast with the alienated people in the distorted society.
This will be a very long story.
Le Jing will take a long time to finish writing it.
I don’t seek to leave my name in history, I just want to speak freely and with a clear conscience.
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