On the back cover of the collection "Silence and Leisure" there is a sentence:
The human mind is sensitive and fragile, and the reality of life is both frank and cruel.
In a few words, it tells the heart-piercing truth of life.
This collection of novels, nominated for the 8th Lu Xun Literature Award, consists of 5 novellas + 5 short stories.
The book writes about the love-hate entanglement of ordinary people, allowing people to appreciate the various forms of the world in the trivial fireworks of the world.
Some people praise this book as "the sincerity of life in the subtleties of human nature";
There are also countless people who see their own shadows in the rich and thick stories in the book.
It is said that "look at other people's stories and taste your own life".
When you are stuck in the difficulties and confusion of life, you might as well calm down and read this book "Silence and Leisure";
You may be surprised to find that this collection of novels nominated for the Lu Xun Literature Award actually hides a good medicine for curing spiritual internal friction.
In the novella "Silent History", the heroine Lin Anping was recognized as a "disaster star" because when she was born, the hen in the family crowed on the tree:
My sister had a strange disease, it was Lin Anping who "grammed", and the pig in the family died, which was "harmed" by Lin Anping;
The accidental death of her father confirmed her identity as a "disaster star".
She had just turned 12 years old, but she was kicked out of the house by her mother, lived in a dilapidated small temple, and slept in the open every day, snatching food from wild dogs.
Lin Anping was also particularly eager to get out of this desolate situation.
Seeing her mother busy in the fields, she would rush to help every time in the hope that she would change her mind, but her mother would always push her away with a cold face.
She tries to curry favor with the villagers to get help, but they avoid her and throw stones at her when they see her.
Lin Anping found that no matter how much she tried to please her, she couldn't change the fate of being disgusted and hostile, so she could only choose to remain silent.
In order to survive, she went from eating snowy tree roots to learning to cultivate grain;
In the cold winter, it was as cold as an ice cellar outside, so she slept with the cattle and sheep that the villagers put in the cave to keep warm;
In order to ensure the stability and health of these "heaters", she also takes special care of them.
After a long time, everyone finally discovered that the cattle and sheep that were mixed with Lin Anping, the "disaster star", not only were not "killed", but also grew stronger.
All rumors have since been self-defeating.
There is a saying on the Internet: "Time is silent, but it gives all the answers".
When Lin Anping no longer struggled to force others to accept him, but silently did his true self and handed everything over to time, things took a huge turn for the better.
There is more than one such story in this book.
is like the female advocate Han in "Flesh and Bones", after learning the truth that her mother eloped with her biological father and left her young self to be raised by her adoptive father, she couldn't help but scold her mother in her heart for being shameless and inferior to a beast.
She thought that she would resent her mother for the rest of her life, but when she saw that she and her biological father were far poorer and sloppy than her adoptive father, but they were still happy, she realized that the person who really matched her mother's soul was this seemingly "unpopular" biological father.
She couldn't completely forgive her mother, but she finally let go of the self who had been insisting that "mother can't have moral flaws".
Some people say that all hard work is forced.
When a person has the obsession to force, he plants the seeds of pain in his heart.
In this long life, who can avoid encountering those bad things that can't be angry and can't figure it out?
Instead of forcing one's own happiness in other people's lives, it is better to be like Lin Anping and finally understand "rely on yourself in everything";
Instead of forcing the perfection of others in resentment, it is better to let go of expectations like Zhang Han and give all the pain to time.
When we truly understand the true meaning of "not demanding", time will give all the answers.
Zhou Guoping said:
Life has inherent shortcomings, refuses to compromise, and can't get along with yourself, which is actually a kind of foolishness.
There are two stories in "Silence and Leisure", which portray the world's obsession with fulfillment.
In the novella "The Rider on the White Horse", "I" met the son of Lao Jing, the gatekeeper of the villa, in the forest in order to find Tian Lisheng, who was running away from building a leisure villa in his hometown.
The other is middle-aged, missing an arm, and his eyes are gloomy and fierce.
Faced with "me" who came to inquire about the situation, he first squinted his eyes and ridiculed "my" brand shoes if they were fake;
Then he asked "me" what was the purpose of running back to my hometown in the mountain village?
Between the words, he made no secret of his deep malice towards a stranger he had just met.
"I" was wondering how this man was so weird, and Lao Jing came over to solve the mystery:
It turned out that Lao Jing's son had gone down to work in the mountains twenty years ago and earned a lot of money.
But then he not only lost all his money in business, but also lost an arm, and his wife also ran away.
The huge gap made him completely fall into the rumination of "why is it only me who suffers like this", so when he sees who scolds whom, and when he sees someone who "mixes well", it is easier to lose control of his emotions.
The glory of the past has not only not become a good memory, but has become a cage that imprisons his life.
And Liao Xiang, the wife in the short story "Wife on the Tree", also experienced a life similar to Lao Jing's son.
The president of the Municipal Speech Association came to the countryside to buy persimmons, and Liao Xiang climbed the high persimmon tree to pick persimmons, but unexpectedly saw the scenery and moved that he had never seen before.
With the help of the president, Liao Xiang participated in the city's speech contest with a speech written with this experience, and unexpectedly won the first prize.
The huge glory made Liao Xiang a "news figure" in the village, but she didn't expect that when she participated in the provincial speech contest again with confidence, she fell behind Sun Shan.
From a well-known news figure in the village, to a mediocre village woman, Liao Xiang's heart can never go back to the past.
She climbed the two-story persimmon tree again, trying to find inspiration, but in vain.
Lao Jing's son and Liao Xiang are not like countless ordinary people who pursue perfection in life?
We always take it for granted that if there is a give, there must be a return;
If you stand on a high place, you will never fall.
But I don't know that the cruelty of life often lies in the fact that there will always be some people who try their best, but there may not be results;
And there has never been a never-ending glory in this world, nor has there ever been a so-called true consummation.
Instead of obsessing, it is better to see clearly; Instead of dwelling, it is better to let go.
Only by letting go of the greed for perfection can we truly achieve inner peace and peace.
In the novella "Octatun", the male protagonist Writer Li has become increasingly indifferent and numb because he has seen too much impermanence and betrayal.
The thought of "clearing the past and changing the way of life" often springs up in his heart.
Therefore, when the leader came to mobilize him to go to the unit's poverty alleviation point "Badutun" to alleviate poverty, he readily agreed.
The villagers of Badutun are well-known as "Diao Min" and often go to the government departments to make trouble.
But when Writer Li walked into Badutun, he found that under the surface of "poor mountains and bad waters come out of the people", there was a sad core left over from history.
This originally bustling village is full of scars left by mineral development:
Of the 157 households, 60 of them have sunk foundations and become dilapidated houses;
All sorts of strange ailments are also commonplace here – psychosis, cancer, femoral osteonecrosis, gout......
Every villager seems to have their own sorrows.
In order to dispel the stereotype that "poverty alleviation is to go through the motions" of the villagers, as soon as Writer Li entered the village, he used his connections to solve two "old and difficult" incidents for the villagers:
The first is to help Zhongtao, the poorest poor household, obtain the status of "poor household", so that he can smoothly enjoy the preferential policies of the state;
Second, through a friend from the Public Security Department, he shocked the "land snake" pine forest in the village, and asked him to take the initiative to put away a pile of bricks blocking the villagers' way.
These two things were successfully accomplished, making Writer Li famous, and he immediately became the "leader" of the villagers.
Everyone put the headaches one by one on the table.
In the process of helping the villagers to "clean up the mess" again and again, Writer Li deeply experienced the struggle and tenacity of the people at the bottom in hardship, and realized another vastness of life.
The indifference and numbness in his heart melted little by little, and while helping the villagers, Writer Li also completely healed himself.
Writer Li's experience has made many people see their own shadow.
In everyone's life, it seems that there will always be a time when they are in a difficult situation, unable to get rid of and unable to cross;
Instead of being stuck in the same place every day, it is better to try to change the environment, and perhaps, there is another possibility in life.
is like the story of the heroine "me" in "Getaway".
If life is a rise and fall, then "my" life is constantly falling-
From the beginning of severe kidney disease and dialysis, to the sudden divorce of his parents, to the unexpected death of his mother......
Tribulation after tribulation, crit hit after crit.
"I" also hated this sudden and inexplicable suffering.
But after several struggles, I finally found that no matter whether you are resentful or hateful, you can't escape any of the hardships you should endure and the sins you deserve.
After going through many hardships, "I" finally decided to let go of my grievances and go on a trip with friends.
There is a saying on the Internet: "Focusing on the present is the best way to solve the tangled".
When we walk in the dark night of life, unable to dispel and unable to get rid of, then the only thing we can do is to let go of everything and focus on the present moment.
The difficulties of life are never opened because of anyone, and few people can escape the hardships of life.
Rather than sinking repeatedly in sorrow, it is better to stay sober;
Instead of continuing internal friction in the entanglement, it is better to choose relief.
After all, being able to move forward firmly in the midst of regrets is also another kind of bravery in life.
The 10 stories in "Silence and Leisure" write all the joys and sorrows of the little people at the bottom, and also write through the tenacity and open-mindedness of ordinary people.
Every wonderful life in the book allows us to see the impermanence of fate, and also see the most touching brilliance of human nature that shines on ordinary little people like you and me.
When you are confused in life, you might as well try to read this book, maybe you can get the sobriety of "not forced" in the chaos of thoughts;
When you fall into the trough of life, you must not forget to read this book, and you may be able to have the power of "not tangled" in the boundless night.
Life is a sea of seas, and the years are long.
When you cultivate the calmness and sobriety of "not demanding", the calmness and open-mindedness of "not being greedy", and the letting go and relief of "not being entangled", you will truly have your own "silence and leisure" life.