In 1993, an old man walked slowly in the Lu Xun Memorial Hall in Shaoxing, his eyes firmly glued to Lu Xun's manuscript, with infinite attachment.
Just a few hours ago, the old man had just submitted his retirement application, and he was Zhang Gui, the deputy director of the Lu Xun Memorial Hall.
Speaking of which, Zhang Gui has a deep relationship with this place, because his grandfather is a famous figure in Lu Xun's pen- Yan Tu.
The young Lu Xun and the teenager Lu Xun formed a deep friendship, but unfortunately, the later experience made the two become strange.
A breeze brought the old man back to reality from his memories, and unconsciously, he had walked to Lu Xun's former residence.
I wonder if my grandfather had a little difficulty with that childhood playmate?
Fortunately, this friendship was not completely severed, and he re-established contact with Lu Xun's son Zhou Haiying and became a good friend.
Thinking of this, the old man suddenly quickened his pace, and he remembered that he had received a letter this morning, perhaps sent by the sea baby.
People who are familiar with Lu Xun's novel "Hometown" will definitely have a very deep impression of the young man who was hedgehog under the moon and wore a bright dangling silver collar around his neck.
His father's name was Zhang Fuqing, and their family lived in Dupu Village around Shaoxing, working as farmers for a living.
One year, Zhang Fuqing was introduced to the Zhou family to work, and the Zhou family saw that he was diligent and loyal and honest, so they left him behind. Later, his wife also entered the Zhou family and became Lu Xun's nursing mother. Although the two families are master and servant, they get along very well.
Probably Lu Xun and Zhang Yunshui were about the same age, so Zhang Fuqing would bring him some home-grown vegetables every time he came home, or tell him interesting stories about his son in his free time, and then weave some toys made of bamboo for him.
Gradually, Lu Xun became deeply interested in this little brother he had never met before, and always looked forward to having the opportunity to meet him.
During the New Year's period of 1893, Lu Xun's great-grandmother died and needed to prepare a great sacrifice. After obtaining the consent of Lu Xun's parents, Zhang Fuqing called his son Zhang Yunshui to help take care of the sacrificial vessel, so the two met for the first time.
Although they met for the first time, they were very close, and they were brothers in each other, and they had long forgotten their original identities.
Lu Xun accompanied him to the streets and enjoyed the scenery, and Zhang Yunshui told Lu Xun stories of scavenging the countryside with his stomach full of stomachs, such as catching birds in the snow, collecting shells by the sea, forking badgers in the watermelon field, and so on.
Both children opened the door to a new world for each other, so much so that after the sacrifice, they cried out in a hurry because they did not want to be separated.
However, this friendship is like a line of intersection, and eventually drifts apart.
At first, Zhang Yunshui had been in touch with Lu Xun, and he had plans to go to school, and Zhang Fuqing also agreed to this request.
However, on the eve of entering school, Zhang Fuqing suddenly fell ill.
At this time, Lu Xun's grandfather was sentenced to beheading for cheating in the imperial examination, and his father suffered from edema and was misdiagnosed by quacks, and since then, the Zhou family has fallen into the middle of the road, and the family has had to move to the countryside.
Zhang Yunshui and Lu Xun thus broke off contact and cut off the source of livelihood.
After the funeral for his father, there was almost nothing left in the family, Zhang Yunshui worked hard to support the family, and his life was only in front of him.
In 1919, Lu Xun returned to Shaoxing to move, and specially asked his brother to tell Zhang Yunshui, but no one expected that this was the last time they met.
When they met again, both of them had entered middle age and were no longer what they remembered.
Zhang Yunshui was tortured by reality and lost the aura of his childhood, his face was gray and yellow, his wrinkles were very deep, his eyes were swollen and red, he wore a torn felt hat, and he only wore a very thin cotton coat.
On the other hand, Lu Xun, despite the hardships at home, he was famous in the society at that time, and he was considered to be a superior class.
The huge identity gap has made the childhood friends much more angry.
Zhang Yunshui's respectful and clear "old master" completely cut off the beauty of the past, and what Lu Xun wanted to say was as if he was "blocked by something, circling in his head alone, and he couldn't spit it out."
After calming down a little, Lu Xun and Zhang Yunshui talked about their current lives and tacitly avoided the past.
He smoked the worst cigarette, with a desolate look, told the experience of these years, gave birth to 5 children, due to the large population, the harvest is not good, often eat the last meal without eating.
After speaking, Zhang Yunshui called out the fifth son, Shui Sheng (real name: Zhang Qisheng), who was hiding behind him, and let Lu Xun know.
The child in front of him, his eyes were simple and clear, Lu Xun seemed to see the former Zhang Yunshui.
A few days later, Lu Xun set off for home, and Zhang Yunshui specially rushed to see him off.
Watching his waving figure getting smaller and smaller, Lu Xun sighed in his heart, maybe the next generation will have a real "new" life.
Since then, they have not interacted with each other.
In 1921, Lu Xun created the classic novel "Hometown", in which the leap soil and aquatic life are based on Zhang Yunshui and Qisheng, which left a deep impression on posterity.
In 1933, Zhang Qisheng's son Zhang Gui was born, and he himself died of overwork.
Then there was a flood, and several acres of the Zhang family's cornfield were washed away by the water, and natural disasters and man-made disasters undoubtedly made the family's life worse.
Zhang Qisheng's daughter-in-law went to Shanghai to work as a nanny for others, his eldest son went out to work as a child laborer, and the younger son was also sent to a neighboring village to work as a small worker.
It is said that the rain leak is partial to the overnight rain, Zhang Yunshui has abscesses at this time, because there is no money to treat, resulting in inflammation, three years later, Zhang Yunshui died of illness at the age of 57.
In the same year, Lu Xun died of lung disease in Shanghai at the age of 55.
When Zhang Gui grew up, he recalled the past and said with emotion: "My grandfather and Mr. Lu Xun both died in 1936. ”
After liberation, the Zhang family was freed from the sea of suffering, but Zhang Gui had missed the opportunity to go to school and was an authentic illiterate.
But he was not reconciled, and he sold his brother to give him a souvenir before he went to work as a child laborer, a cotton belt, as tuition, and signed up for night school.
Zhang Gui works in the fields during the day and goes to class at night, although it is hard, but life has hope.
Zhang Gui seized all the time to read and study, and even made himself tear in his throat and could not make a sound.
Of course, his hard work finally brought about a change.
In 1954, Zhang Gui was transferred to work at the Lu Xun Memorial Hall and could also enter the vocational school.
He cherished this hard-won opportunity, so he worked harder, not only got rid of the hat of illiteracy, but also worked better and better.
In 1956, Lu Xun's son Zhou Hainian went to visit Lu Xun Shaoxing Memorial Hall.
There, he met Zhang Gui, the grandson of "Leap Earth", and as soon as they saw each other, the friendship between the two families was renewed.
The story of his father's generation made Zhang Gui have different feelings for Lu Xun. Since 1956, he has devoted himself to the study of Lu Xun's works, published hundreds of thousands of words in various newspapers and magazines, and became a director of the China Lu Xun Research Society.
In 1976, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Lu Xun's death, Zhang Gui and Zhou Hainian went to Japan to attend commemorative activities.
Zhang Gui said: "Because he is older than me, it is like a big brother taking care of his little brother." Sometimes when crossing the street, he would pull me along, afraid that I would hit the car. ”
After that, their interactions became more frequent.
Zhou Hainian loves photography and takes photos of Zhang Gui as soon as she has time. Those photos recorded their friendship.
When they could not meet, the two relied on writing letters to understand each other's recent situation.
Their friendship is as close as that of the young Lu Xun and the young "LeapIng Earth", and so are the children and grandchildren.
When the Zhou family returns to Shaoxing, or the Zhang family goes to Beijing, they will inevitably go to each other's homes and reunite like family.
In Zhang Gui's words: "From my great-grandfather, it has been four generations now, but we are family friends." In the future, my children and grandchildren and Zhou Haiying's descendants will continue to have a relationship, and they will have a long history! ”
Sometimes, I have to sigh the magic of fate. In one encounter, a novel can change a person's fate.
With his own efforts and fate with the Zhou family, Zhang Gui successfully counterattacked and avoided the tragedy of the previous generation.
He also lived happily in his old age, living with his wife in a three-bedroom house with no worries about food and clothing. His son Zhang Zhou became an economist, and his daughter became a kindergarten teacher.
In 1982, Zhang Gui was promoted to deputy director of the Lu Xun Memorial Hall in Shaoxing. After retiring in 1993, he was rehired back to work in the museum and continued his relationship with Mr. Lu Xun.
Now, the descendants of the leaping earth not only have a happy childhood, but also have hope for the future.
I remember that at the end of "Hometown", Mr. Lu Xun had pinned his hopes on Hong'er and Aquatic. He didn't want the end of himself and the leap earth to continue to the next generation.
In addition to the change of the current social situation, Mr. Lu Xun hopes that the relationship between people will be broken.
In this way, he can finally get his wish:
"Hope is that there is nothing to have, there is nothing to do, this is like the road on the earth; in fact, there is no road on the ground, and the more people who walk, the more they become the road."
Resources:
"The Grand View of Archives": Guan Jie, the Generational Love Affair between the Yan Tu Family and Lu Xun (2008)
This article is written by Kyo sauce rose
Editor-in-Charge: Willow Leaf Nagging