The original article @ Inariju is published in the Middle Reading App
The green papaya tree grew outside the window of Xiaomei's bedroom. Xiaomei is a new servant invited from the countryside by the owner, Xiaomei is probably only about ten years old, and looks like a child. Xiaomei's life is a bit thin, her father died three years ago, and there is still her mother and sister in the countryside. Xiaomei came to the owner's house on a summer night, the first morning woke up, full of birds, the first thing she saw was the green papaya tree outside the window, straight and dry, large palm-shaped split leaves, and many huge green papayas hung on the top of the tree. The old maid came to the tree, cut down a papaya, the milky white sap at the fracture dripped on the green leaves, slowly flowing, crawling in front of the window Xiaomei, staring at it, showing a slight smile on her face, feeling as if time was flowing. Green papaya can be made into a cold dish, the old maid washed the green papaya in a porcelain basin filled with water, shaved off the green skin, revealing the white flesh, and then used a knife to repeatedly gently cut on the papaya, cut into jade-like filaments, poured with ingredients, pleasing to the eye. The remaining papaya was cut open with a knife, and inside lay silently grains as pure as pearls.
The old maid began to teach Xiaomei to cook and stir-fry, the verdant little rapeseed, the sound of the pot popping, the big water tank where the water was stored, the reddish carbon fire, the steaming rice in the crock pot, and the pots of green plants around it, the painted vase, all of which made people feel that the earthly fireworks could be so beautiful.
The film brings us a long-forgotten poetry through the country girl Xiaomei's childlike heart and kind eyes. While eating, Xiaomei held a bowl and watched indifferently as an ant carried a grain of rice larger than its body; while working, watched a frog slowly climb ashore from a pool of duckweed; listen to the clams chirping happily in the tile jar, and then use a straw stick to tie a small cage to raise them and feed them water. Doing this, Xiaomei always smiled slightly, with ignorant benevolence and inner joy. The two little boys in the host family always do something a little out of the ordinary, with the stubbornness of a boy. The Second Young Master used white candle oil to drip ants on the windowsill and watched as the ants struggled to suffocate one by one. The little young master is too naughty, always likes to tease XiaoMei, Xiaomei wiped the floor, he swung out the dirty water in the bucket. Xiaomei washed clothes at night, and he used a bamboo pole to pick a live gecko to scare her. When Xiaomei washed the vase, he pulled pee into the washed vase. Once, when Xiaomei was wiping the vase, a gecko came out of the vase, and Xiaomei was frightened and broke the vase with her hand. Everyone's childhood may have experienced this, we may be Xiaomei, or we may be Xiao Young Master.
If time is a silent stream, then under the silent water surface is often covered with undercurrents.
The story takes place in Saigon, Vietnam in the early 1950s, after the war, Vietnam has not yet completely calmed down, in this quiet courtyard, every day will hear the sound of whining and piercing alarms, the years are not quiet. On a hot summer night, Xiaomei listened to the old servant talk about the old affairs of the family: the man of the family, in the early years, ran away from home several times, took the family's money out, squandered the essence, and then came home. Now the family road is in decline, sitting in the room all day repeatedly dialing Ruan, not asking about the world, Ruan Sheng Ding Dong sound, slightly cool sadness, it seems that there are many unspeakable things in it.
The hostess, a middle-aged lady, is the backbone of the family, operating inside and outside, running a cloth shop, the business is not good, barely supporting this declining family. When the business was in trouble, there was no money to buy rice and vegetables. She had a daughter, Ah Tao, who fell ill and died seven years ago. The old lady, a widow, died when she was young and has been widowed until now. An old man named Ah Shuang had been in love with the old lady since he was young and had proposed marriage to the old lady, but the old lady did not agree. Since then, the infatuated Ah Shuang has secretly followed the old lady to move many times in order to see her from a distance. But the old lady had never gone down to the pavilion, and she sat alone all day knocking on the wooden fish. In the film, Ah Shuang asked Xiaomei about the old lady many times, and once, with the help of Xiaomei, he saw the back of the old lady knocking on the wooden fish in the attic. This back makes people feel a little desolate.
These intertwined undercurrents of life, in the tragic and poetic aesthetic perspective of director Chen Hero, have been diluted, becoming vague, hazy, and suffering-ridden human experience, no longer so sharp, but bring people a kind of sad, warm and sad beauty.
After all, the man's nature is difficult to change, and he once again swept away all the money and left with other women. The hostess tasted this heavenly bitter fruit of fate alone, and wept darkly in the middle of the night. The days will continue, the business of the cloth shop will still be done, and she will still have to hold this home, or it will collapse. This is the unique toughness and forbearance of oriental women. I don't know how long later, the man dragged a body back with an illness. The family did not have the money to treat him, so the hostess had to sell the old antiques in the house. However, the man still passed away.
The camera turns to 10 years later, Xiaomei has become a big girl, the hostess has two sideburns, the eldest son has also married his wife, the eldest son seems to be his father resurrected, indifferent to family affairs, stroking his father's Ruan. Household practices were declining, and servants were not allowed. Only the hostess suffered, the hostess said, for many years, Xiaomei was treated as a daughter, giving her a lot of relief, and now he has to personally send her away, how difficult it is to give up. When leaving, the hostess gave a set of wedding costumes to Xiaomei, who was afraid that her wife would be upset and decided to leave alone in the early morning with her suitcase and cage, but the wife still found out and cried and fell on the bed.
XiaoMei's new owner is a friend of Mrs. Older Son, named Ah Quan, who is a pianist and has a fashionable and open girlfriend. Xiaomei silently did her own thing, cooking, watering flowers, cleaning, and occasionally listening to the sound of the piano from the living room like a spring. Ten years later, Xiaomei still retains her simple curiosity, listening to the cries of clams in the cage and watching a frog surface. When countless cool waters glide through Xiaomei's smooth skin, the natural beauty of women is so moving. But such beauty, no one has found. Until one day, when Xiaomei put on the costume given to her by her wife, it made people feel beautiful and dazzling, but she accidentally bumped into Ah Quan, and from then on, Ah Quan could not forget. In fact, in Ah Quan's heart, she has long lived in a classical shadow, she is shy, quiet, and peaceful. On a stormy night, ah quan and his ex-girlfriend's fate flower withered away. Xiaomei and Ah Quan lived together, and Xiaomei began to read and read with Ah Quan, and the picture was warm and touching.
It's summer again, the green papaya is ripe, Xiaomei cuts down one, peels off the green skin of the cooked barley, shaves it into silk, and then plates it and mixes it with condiments. After doing this, as before, I cut open the papaya, and the grains inside were crystal clear, and Xiaomei gently touched it with her hand, warm as jade, and there was a soft time of summer inside.