For some writers, the homeland belongs only to one's own childhood; it is the nest of one's own life, where life is born; once it grows up with full feathers, it flies away. But I'm not, I've never left my hometown.
I am all too familiar with the feeling of returning to my homeland again and again, from the north and south of the world, or even from a trip to the ocean. Just see the sign "Tianjin" on the highway, or hear the aviation lady say its name. The heart is filled with a kind of steadfastness, a kind of warmth, and a kind of complete relaxation.
I like to go home at night and see the lighted windows in my house in the distance, getting closer and closer. At one point, a reporter from Life Magazine asked me to define "family." I immediately thought of this brightly lit window, the soft light coming out of the curtain, quiet and serene. I couldn't help but say, "Family is the only place in the world that can be undefended." ”
My hometown has given me everything.
Parents, families, children, confidants and friendships that cannot be forgotten. Everything about me starts here. Whether it's learning to speak and writing a work of hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands of words; whether it's a dreamy first love or stepping into a society as vast as the sea.
Of course, it also gives me another side of my life. It was frustration, poverty, coldness and torment, and unexpected disasters. Like a sharp axe, it has left a scar in my heart that will never be healed.
I've moved in the city at least ten times. Sometimes it's really like a rat being yelled at and beaten at the same time. I also had a very brief insanity that was miraculously corrected if miraculously. For many years in my life, I have regarded dinner stuffed with an extra dime of meat as a good meal, and I have recognized those who help me say a few good words as nobles.
However, it was in this predicament that I came across the true meaning of life. From this, the weight of all kinds of emotions is extracted, and the other face behind some faces is also seen. We always say that life does not treat people badly. That is to say that when life covers you with boundless cold, it will definitely give you a match. It depends on whether you know the goods, whether you can wipe it, warm and illuminate your heart.
Writing this, I am very worried about the misfortunes that I have imposed on me by fate and life, and the fault is given to me by my hometown. I understand that in an age when there were no dead ends in disaster, even if I lived in any city, I would have endured all this. For I believe in A. Tolstoy's saying that before we pick up the pen, we must burn it three times in fire, soak it in blood three times, and boil it three times in salt water. Only at the bottom of the human world will we understand that only the concept of life explanation is the most credible.
However, no matter what life tastes like. When it disappeared, it all quietly remained in the city. Because many of my warm stories are wrapped in the wind of the Haihe River. A street corner, a bridgehead, a crooked old tree, will awaken my memory. It made me suddenly "see" the image of yesterday. It often makes me proud to feel that I have such a rich and deep life, and my life is all in this huge city.
What's more, millions of people in this city, as well as countless people of our ancestors, have written their life stories in this city. How can a city have such a Pombo bearing and memory? Don't forget – the city has its own extraordinary experiences and encounters!
What fascinates me the most is its character. This character is half externalized in its form; half is latent in its territorial temperament. This second half seems to be difficult to see, it is deeply embedded in the commonality of the people here. The personality of the city is inadvertently shaped by local people from generation to generation. However, once the character of the city is formed, it will in turn assimilate everyone in the city. What's in me that comes from the culture of the city, which is better or worse? Good roots and bad roots? I can't say well.
I felt like I was one with the people of the city. I share a similar breath with them, understand each other, and sometimes don't even need to communicate verbally. I believe that for your hometown like a person who truly loves you, you must not just love its merits. Or, when you don't even find its flaws cute – it's your true love, your hometown.
Once, in France, my wife and I went south to Marseille. The Chinese consul in Marseille told me that there was a gentleman named Qu here, a native of Tianjin, who heard that I was coming and had to drive me around. When he saw Mr. Qu, he couldn't help but say two or three Tianjin words, and suddenly a wave of enthusiasm and righteousness that only Jinmen could have rushed into his heart. As soon as Mr. Qu stepped on the accelerator, he ran from Provence to Barcelona, Spain. Along the way, all I said was the news and old news of my hometown, strange people and interesting things, straight to the point that I was hot and spicy, the five bodies were smooth, and the long road of thousands of kilometers was completely unconscious. What is it that makes us so affectionate and unsentimental?
The hometown raised everyone in its arms as its own son. It feeds me not only the blue water of the Haihe River and the sparkling rice station, but also its colorful and unique culture. It transforms us into the same cultural blood type. Its mental factor has been injected into my bloodstream. That's why I care so much about its historical heritage, its urban form, and even every monumental building. I see them as where their spirit and character lie, not just their use value.
I know that half of man's fate is in his own hands, and half of it must be resigned to fate. Whether I will continue to live here in the future is not known. But wherever I go, I'm a native of Tianjin. Not only because Tianjin is the place of my birth – it is not just the nest of my life, but the nest of my soul.
How to live your life the way you like
If you don't know what you want, don't know what you should do, read those good books, communicate with those great souls and the wisdom of the sages, and give yourself a good foundation to cultivate your own concentration in the world.
The examination paper of life is placed in front of everyone, no one can avoid it, and everyone must write their own answer sheet. So, needless to say, the so-called answer is just an answer sheet I wrote. I never believed in the so-called life coach, and I would never be ridiculous enough to want to be myself. In the examination hall of life, we are all students, I may be a more diligent student, then, my answer sheet may be for the reference of students, only this is enough.
——Zhou Guoping