Lu Xun's words dispelled Xiao Jun's misunderstanding

◎ Cheng Jian

"After seven or eight o'clock, more and more people came to mourn... Suddenly, I heard a loud bang of the stairs, I didn't have time to guess, the sound followed, only to see a big man, no hesitation, no pause, no courtesy and socializing, straight to the front of my father's bed, fell to his knees, and cried like a lion. He lay on his father's chest for a long time without getting up, and the hat on his head rolled rapidly along his father's body until he reached the edge of the bed, all of which he could not care about, but only issued a cry of grief from the depths of his lungs. I looked through the tear-filled eyes and saw that it was Xiao Jun. ”

This is the scene that Zhou Hainian recalled on the day of Lu Xun's death, Xiao Jun rushed to say goodbye after hearing the bad news.

Lu Xun's interaction with Xiao Jun began on October 9, 1934, and Lu Xun replied that night after receiving Xiao Jun's first letter. The letter answered two questions about literature, including promising to see Xiao Hong's manuscript of the novel "The Field of Life and Death" and instructing them to register the manuscript so as not to lose it. Lu Xun's concern for literary youth has always been meticulous, even if he did not know each other, he was just as enthusiastic.

Soon, the "Erxiao" came to Shanghai from Exile in Qingdao, and they had no relatives in the Ten Mile Ocean Field, and they were strapped for money, so they had to take the liberty of telling Lu Xun that they were in a hurry, asking him to introduce him to the work and borrow some money. Lu Xun wrote back during his illness: "It is difficult to find a job because I have not communicated with others. "About money," I can prepare, not a problem. ”

On November 30, Xiao Jun and Xiao Hong met with Lu Xun for the first time at the Neishan Bookstore, and Lu Xun did not have any extra greetings, and then led them to a nearby coffee shop for a closer talk. Along the way, looking at the back of Lu Xun who was walking in front, he was so sick and thin, "Erxiao"'s heart could not help but feel a pang of bitterness. Time passed quietly in a pleasant conversation, and when they were about to break up, Lu Xun took out the 20 yuan he had prepared for them, and when he heard that they did not even have the change to go back by car, he took out some silver horns and copper plates from his pocket.

In the thorny old China, Lu Xun traveled from north to south, read countless people, and had his own scale for social interaction. He hated the youth of the city government, and "hated Jiangnan talents the most, twisting and pinching, unpopular, not human-like." Lu Xun extended a warm helping hand to Xiao Jun and Xiao Hong, because he liked "Erxiao" full of childish personality and restless soul in his heart. Xiao Jun was reckless and rough, spoke bluntly, acted impulsively, and some literati on the beach did not like him, calling him a "bandit" behind his back. Xiao Jun was very distressed about this, and Lu Xun repeatedly reminded him that there were a group of "literary scholars" in Shanghai, who were very sinister and liked to spread rumors and slander, or it was better not to know these people.

It is difficult to achieve perfection in getting along with each other, and no matter how harmonious the relationship is, there will be some knots. Once, Xiao Jun visited the Zhou Mansion, and when he was chatting with Lu Xun, he saw a child's fishing toy on the table, and as soon as he pressed the mechanism, the fishing rod was raised, and the small fish on the thin line would be caught. It was a gift from a Japanese friend to the sea baby, Xiao Jun felt strange, after repeated fiddling, and then wanted to try how strong the fishing rod really was, who knew that it would "click" and break with a force. Lu Xun subconsciously glanced at him, Xiao Jun thought that this was an angry "staring" at him, felt that his self-esteem was hurt, and did not go to the door for many days in a row, but Xiao Hong did not make a mistake as always. Lu Xun quickly became aware of it, so he asked Xiao Hong, "Why didn't that one come for several days?" Xiao Hong replied, "He said you stared at him, and he didn't come." Lu Xun smiled broadly and said, "Tell him, come on!" I didn't 'stare' at him, I saw people like that... Come on! Xiao Hong went back to relay the news, Xiao Jun immediately felt relieved, and the next day he ran to Lu Xun, and the two of them talked and laughed as before.

In this way, Lu Xun and Xiao Jun, despite differences in age, experience and personality, looked after each other and formed a sincere friendship. Under the care of Lu Xun, Xiao Jun and Xiao Hong gradually adapted to surviving and struggling in a dangerous environment, and published their masterpieces "The Countryside in August" and "The Field of Life and Death", which quickly emerged in the literary world. These two works poured a lot of effort into Lu Xun, and in addition to helping to revise the proofreading, they also wrote prefaces separately. In particular, when "The Countryside in August" was maliciously criticized by some literati in Shanghai, Lu Xunfen wrote an article to fight back. From October 1934 to February 1936, Lu Xun wrote as many as 53 letters to Xiao Jun or "Er Xiao", giving them sunshine-like warmth and hope. In the eyes of "Erxiao", Lu Xun was their loving father and teacher.

On October 14, 1936, Xiao Jun visited the Zhou Mansion and presented his recent work, and during the conversation, he felt that Lu Xun's condition seemed to be improving, and he was very relieved, but he did not expect that only 5 days after this meeting, a generation of great masters had passed away unexpectedly. Xiao Jun participated in the funeral affairs with great sorrow and served as the commander-in-chief of the funeral procession of 10,000 people. Lu Xun generously helped many young people, and was deeply disappointed by the betrayal of some young people, but he did not misread Xiao Jun.