Villain books, my favorites

In the 1960s, villain books were the favorite readings of our generation. At that time, like my classmates, I could not leave the books, and I did not have ten or eight books for the little people at home, and there was no common language for communication.

It is said that the early book of villains was drawn by a painter in Shanghai with a hard pen 100 years ago, the book is mainly based on pictures, and there are some text introductions below, of which each page or shows the stories of Chinese and foreign historical figures or depicts natural forests, animals, etc. It is a pocket "pocket book" that is convenient to carry. At that time, Xinhua Bookstore had a "little person book counter", and every Sunday or winter and summer vacation, many parents would bring their children to buy books. Many of these parents often have "conditions" when buying villain books for their children, such as: "double hundred" on the exam or as a birthday gift...

My first villain book was bought at xinhua bookstore in Taiyuan Street Market after a final exam, plus my birthday, called "How Steel is Made.". At that time, I was holding the treasured little man's book in my hand, reading it as I walked, and accidentally hit the box selling ice fruits. The grandmother of the fruit stall sighed: Little students, reading villain books are enchanted!

In those days, we were not only reading books at home alone, but brothers and sisters often exchanged views. If you have a senior brother or sister, you can also borrow your classmate's villain book from school and exchange them together.

The types of things to see are ancient, modern, foreign, war, and so on. But in the process of exchanging books with the little people, my classmates and I have an unwritten rule, that is, the number of mutual borrowing must be equal, that is, you bring a few copies, I borrow a few copies from you, and the return must be punctual. At the same time, when exchanging, strictly check whether the other party's book is damaged, such as "unscathed", good to borrow and return, then it is not difficult to borrow again.

In order to facilitate students to read villain books, at that time, on the side of the road, especially in the bustling area, you can see books sold in the open air. There are hundreds of books of all kinds of villains, black and white or color, like "treasure chests", and if you say the title, there are almost all the shelves there.

At that time, the price of a villain book was only one or two cents, if you want to borrow it, the other party will charge you a three-five-point deposit, but the deadline can only be three days to return. My classmates and I watched "Armed Forces Behind Enemy Lines" and "Tunnel Warfare" on the stalls... What's even more interesting is that some adults, when they pass by after work, even ignore the darkness, and read one book after another under the dim street lamp.

From the book of the little person, my classmates and I learned a lot of ancient and modern Chinese and foreign stories, such as Yue Fei who "served the country with loyalty", Lin Zexu who sold cigarettes in Humen, as well as "Chicken Feather Letter", "Liu Hulan", "Lei Feng" and so on... These inspire us and set an example for us to learn from.

Today, although there is no villain book on the shelves of the house or on the roadside stalls, it has accompanied us all the way and told us what is true, good, beautiful, ugly and evil.

Author: Fang Qingzhong

Source: Shenyang Evening News