<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > preamble</h1>
On September 13, 1989, Ye Yonglie came to the Chen family and visited Chen Boda. Since the two have had several contacts before, the relationship between the two people at this moment is not like "interviewer" and "visitor", but more like a year-old friendship.
The two talked for an afternoon, and when they left, they gave Ye Yonglie a picture, but they did not expect it to become Chen Boda's masterpiece.
And Ye Yonglie could never have imagined that the person who was still good at that time had only passed a week and said that it was gone.
This man, too fragile, always quietly extinguished the candlelight.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7">01</h1>
On September 13, 1989, the weather was very hot, and Ye Yonglie wore a short-sleeved shirt to visit Chen Boda.
The Chen family lived on the sixth floor, and the distance between the sixth floor made Ye Yonglie sweat a lot. He gently slammed the door, and after a while, someone inside opened the small endoscope, saw that the person coming was Ye Yonglie, and opened the door.
Chen Boda (first from right) and Ye Yonglie take a group photo
The person who opened the door was Zhang Lanhua, Chen Boda's daughter-in-law, who handled the suspension of pay and stayed at work, and concentrated on taking care of the old and the young at home.
When Ye Yonglie entered the room, he felt very stuffy, it turned out that all the windows were locked, probably the elderly Chen Boda, who could not accept the wind blowing, so he locked the windows.
Ye Yonglie was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, while Chen Boda, on the other hand, was wearing a long-sleeved shirt inside and a dark blue Zhongshan suit on the outside; he also wore a dark blue hat on his head, and compared with Ye Yonglie, the two seemed to be separated by a season.
As usual, the conversation between the two was still in Chen Boda's study, which had undergone a more elaborate arrangement.
Inside was a pair of sofas, with a dark green carpet on the floor, and this study was usually a place for his guests.
Above Chen Boda's desk, as usual, was full of open books, and Ye Yonglie had long been accustomed to this scene.
The first time Ye Yonglie came to the Chen family before, the first meeting with Chen Boda, both of them seemed a little angry, especially Chen Boda, psychologically more defensive.
As the number of meetings between the two increased, that little bit of life was eliminated, and the two became friends for a long time.
Once, Ye Yonglie came late, and the two were more appropriate than visits as chats. The conversation was speculative and self-forgetful, and the time was unconsciously late at night.
At this time, the last bus to go back was gone, and Ye Yonglie lived in the Chen family.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="21">02</h1>
"Are you practicing calligraphy?"
Seeing that there was a brick platform on the desk and a roll of rice paper, Ye Yonglie asked.
Chen Boda responded in his thick Hokkien dialect: "Exercise and exercise."
As he said this, his eyebrows rose upwards, and the tip of the eyebrow had an eyebrow that was five centimeters long, and it hung down from the bend.
At this time, Chen Boda was not sick at all, so that a week after the two of them met, when he heard the news that Chen Boda was absent, Ye Yonglie was very surprised, and even a little incredulous.
Chen Boda in the sixties
If you have to say that Chen Boda at this time has any disease, it is amnesia, which is also a common disease of the elderly.
For recent events and people, Chen Boda is easy to forget, and for the bits and pieces of the past that happened in the past, he remembers very clearly, and even some details that others have forgotten, he also remembers.
"Do you still know who I am?" Ye Yonglie asked again.
"Remember, Ye Yonglie of Shanghai," Chen Boda added, "My novel 'Cold Winter', or you helped me find it."
The novel "Cold Winter" was written by Chen Boda when he was 21 years old, when it was published in the magazine Modern Review (1925).
This novel was the only novel he had written in his life, and Chen Boda had entrusted Ye Yonglie with his help in finding it.
When Ye Yonglie returned to Shanghai, he helped him find the novel.
Perhaps it was not long after he took a nap, Chen Boda's spirit head was better, his mood was good, and the atmosphere of the two chatting was very harmonious.
Because Chen Boda's memory of the past is relatively clear, Ye Yonglie mostly remembers the past with him.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="35">03</h1>
"My mother said that it was a cave man in Chongwu County, Fujian Province", perhaps because he was afraid that Ye Yonglie would not be able to hear the place name, Chen Boda also deliberately wrote the words "otter cave" on the paper.
"When I was young, according to our local customs, I called my mother Niang and my grandmother Ama", when he said this, Chen Boda laughed: "When Zheng Chenggong recovered Taiwan, he went to the sea from Chongwu."
As soon as it came to family affairs, Chen Boda's mood was very good, and he immediately couldn't stop talking.
He talked about his first love, how he met his first love Chu Youren on the train to Moscow, and how he fell in love in a foreign country.
In 1981, Chen Boda, who was on medical parole, lived in the cadre ward here
After returning to China, he was arrested in Tianjin, lost contact with his first love, and later continued the frontier at the Tongxiang Guild Hall.
While the conversation was speculative, a knock on the door interrupted Chen Boda's chatter.
It turned out that there were three guests who came to visit, and the daughter-in-law Zhang Lanhua led them in, and these three people were colleagues of the Museum of Literature and History of Chen Boda's unit.
Headed by these three people was a cadre-like man, about fifty years old, dressed in a light gray Zhongshan suit, carrying two boxes of mooncakes from "Daoxiang Village" in his hand.
He was followed by a man and a woman, dressed in a dress, a secretary,carrying a bag of apples. The last one was the driver, carrying a bucket of water in which several fish were wagging their tails.
The middle-aged man who was the leader first opened his mouth to show his intentions: "Elder Chen, Ming'er is the Mid-Autumn Festival, we are here to send you mooncakes."
The forgetful Chen Boda, who couldn't remember that these three people were colleagues from his own unit, looked confused, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he asked three times: "Which unit are you from?" Hospital's? Why send me mooncakes? ”
The three of them were obviously also accustomed to Chen Boda's forgetfulness, and the woman replied, "Elder Chen, we have been here eight or nine times, and you don't remember?" Every month I send you a salary."
The woman then pointed to the middle-aged man: "This is your leader, and he has been here several times." ”
It turned out that this middle-aged man was the director of Chen Boda's unit, surnamed Xu.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="50">04</h1>
Director Xu looked at Chen Boda and said, "Elder Chen, in October last year, when you completed your sentence, you were assigned to our unit, and I also made a speech at your completion ceremony." ”
After this reminder from them, Chen Boda slapped his head: "Oh, really damn, really damn, I actually forgot my boss", he opened his mouth, everyone laughed, and the atmosphere instantly became better.
Chen Boda and Ye Yonglie took a group photo in color
Immediately, Chen Boda immediately adjusted his face and said very seriously: "I am old, my memory is not good, please forgive me a lot, I am a person who has committed a major crime, living in the world is superfluous, why do you still send me mooncakes?" ”
"You have completed your sentence and are assigned to our unit, and we have the responsibility to care for you and help you."
Hearing Director Xu say this, Chen Boda couldn't help but be a little moved, and his eye sockets became moist.
"For so many years, for the first time, someone sent me a moon cake, thank you, thank you for your concern", at this time, Chen Boda, the words can not hide the excitement.
"This mooncake is soft, suitable for the elderly, and has brought you fish and apples, wishing you a happy Mid-Autumn Festival," said the accompanying woman.
"Thank you so much! I am really ashamed in my heart", Chen Boda responded, at this time he looked normal, completely unexpected that just one week, he died of myocardial infarction, it is really impermanent life!
Speaking of this, Chen Boda once again expressed his apologies: "I used to be under the management of the Public Security Bureau, and they often came, so I recognized them." Later, after you were put under your control, you came back and forth every month, plus I had a bad memory, and even forgot my own leadership, so sorry."
In order to ease the atmosphere and turn the topic away, Director Xu asked how his body was doing recently.
Chen Boda said in a loud voice, "It's almost over!" It's almost over! When he said this, he laughed at himself as he said it, and did not think about this joke, since it had become true.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="63">05</h1>
The person who came sat and gossiped with Chen Boda for a while, and then got up to say goodbye.
Chen Boda stood up, bent over, and slowly moved his steps. When Director Xu walked out of the door, he turned back and said a kind of greeting: "In some days, we will see you again."
I never thought that the next time I came to see Chen Boda, it would be at the farewell ceremony of his body.
After sending the three people away, Chen Boda returned to the study, sat down on the sofa, and then talked to Ye Yonglie about his past.
When the conversation was almost over, Ye Yonglie asked if he could take a few photos. He knew that Chen Boda was a person who did not like to take pictures, and originally thought that he would also be rejected, it may be that the guests just visited, which made him feel very good, and in the face of Ye Yonglie's request to take pictures, he agreed this time.
The last time he took a photo, Chen Boda was wearing a hat, and this time Ye Yonglie wanted to take a few photos of him not wearing a hat.
At first, Chen Boda refused, unable to resist Ye Yonglie's repeated requests, plus his own mood at the moment was more wonderful, this time he actually agreed to take off his hat to take pictures.
Chen Boda has a habit that no matter whether it is cold or hot, indoors and outdoors, he always wears a hat.
In fact, he is not a bald man, but like other old people, his head cannot stand the cold, even on hot days, he always wears a hat.
Chen Boda took off his hat, put on his reading glasses, picked up the newspaper on the coffee table, leaned back on the sofa, and after posing, let Ye Yonglie take a picture.
The photos taken at that time
After taking the photo, Ye Yonglie asked if he could write a poem to himself.
Chen Boda then used the Analects. Such a poem from the "Chu Crazy Reception Song" in "Weizi" was given to Ye Yonglie:
"Those who go to the past cannot be advised, but those who come can still be pursued"
This poem, on the contrary, accurately expressed his repentance and self-renewal mentality at that time.
The signature of this inscription poem is not the word "Boda", but "Zhong obscure", which is not the official pen name of Chen Boda, but only when it is written to others, the two words "Zhong obscure" will be used.
Since the 1950s, Chen Boda has written inscriptions to others, and the signature of the money is "Zhong obscure".
Among them, "Zhong" and "Bo" correspond, and "Obscure" and "Da" correspond.
After the inscription of the poem, Chen Boda did not stamp the inscription poem on the spot. This was his previous habit, the works written on the spot would not be stamped on the spot, only if his works were framed and sent over, he would personally see it correctly before he stamped his own seal.
Some people said that he was afraid that others would "make an article" with his inscription, and some people said that this was a manifestation of his valuing his own works, as for what the real reason was, Ye Yonglie did not ask too much, and Chen Boda did not make any explanation.
Unfortunately, chen Boda gave Ye Yonglie this poem, and after Ye Yonglie found someone to frame it, Chen Boda had already died, and this masterpiece did not have his seal.
The two kept talking about the coming of twilight, and Ye Yonglie got up to say goodbye.
On the occasion of parting, Chen Boda to Ye Yonglie gave a help to do something, asked him to return to Shanghai, looking for a collection of essays on the "Pursuit of Truth", there is a "On Tan Si Tong" in the book, if you find it, you have to ask him to help copy a copy, bring it to yourself, or send it to you.
A week after this meeting, Chen Boda died of a heart attack, which became a regret in his life.
Chen Boda's brilliant poems
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="84" > postscript</h1>
The color photos that Ye Yonglie took for Chen Boda became the last photos of his life;
The sound he recorded on the tape also became the last voice left for the world;
The "Chu Crazy Public Opinion Song" he gave away has become the best pen in his life;
"Those who have gone before cannot be advised, but those who come can still be traced" - is the farewell speech left by Chen Boda.