In 1991, Teacher Su Tong published the novel "Red Pink", which depicted two low-level women in the old era, Qiu Yi and Xiao Calyx, who had very different personalities, one was resolute and brave, the other was timid and weak, and they were completely different in the choice of life path, but in the end, they all went to the same destination, and under the changes of the times, they both embarked on an irresistible compromise path.
The background of the novel is set in the period of the alternation of the old and new societies, the government transformed the prostitute Congliang, Qiu Yi and Xiao Calyx of the Xihong Building, forced to sit on the truck to the labor training camp, the bold and thoughtful Qiu Yi was unwilling to accept the transformation, found the opportunity to jump off the truck, fled back to the Xihong Building, the timid and unassyed Xiao Calyx, was sent to the training camp to be reformed, and the fate of the two of them began to change from here.
1, to strengthen the sober autumn ceremony
Back to Qiu Yi in the Xihong Mansion, she found that her house had long been looted, the gold and silver jewelry she had accumulated had been privately swallowed by the old duck, Qiu Yi, who had a strong personality, set fire to take back the money and jewelry belonging to her from the hands of the old duck, and when she had nowhere to go, she chose to turn to Xianghao Laopu, a stupid boy who grew up in a pile of fat powder, and the wind was small, Lao Pu had some feelings for Qiu Yi and hid her at home to take care of her, but Lao Pu's mother could not tolerate Qiu Yi, and it did not take long to issue an eviction order, and qiu Yi, who wanted to be strong, quarreled with Lao Pu. Tearing up the money given by Lao Pu, she also did not accept his care arrangements, packed up her things and left, Qiu Yi, who came out of Lao Pu's house, returned to her poor and dirty hometown, saw her blind father intently peeling broad beans, she threw a generous ring into her father's bowl and quietly left, Qiu Yi understood that her home could not go back.
Qiu Yi, who left her hometown, chose to become a nun in the suburban nunnery, and after Lao Pu learned of her news, he went to the nunnery to find her and begged her for a long time, and she did not want to see Lao Pu.
Soon, after learning that Lao Pu was actually married to her good sister Xiao Calyx, she left the nunnery for the first time and sent gifts and blessings to Lao Pu and Xiao Cai, the gift was a pair of gold bracelets, and the blessing was an "umbrella".
When the blind father died, she left the nunnery for the second time, the night of the vigil, she cried all night, for her father and for herself, after taking care of her father's affairs, she fell asleep at home for two days and two nights, after waking up, her aunt told her to leave, when she returned to the nunnery, there was no room for her, the nuns all knew Qiu Yi's past, Qiu Yi who was driven away could only return to her hometown, her father died, her aunt and cousin could not tolerate her, the neighbors around her gossiped, and Qiu Yi, who had nowhere to go, accepted the arrangement of fate and married Feng Laowu of East Street. A man with a chicken breast and a hunchback, the sisters in the past are sorry for Qiu Yi, if it is not Xiao Calyx, perhaps Qiu Yi will marry Lao Pu.
Qiu Yi is strong, has been resisting the fate of the arrangement, so she jumped off the truck, from the old duck to get back her jewelry, after living in Lao Pu's house for a while, Lao Pu's mother mocked the expulsion, Lao Pu did not protect her, but embarrassed to let her leave, to find another place to live, Qiu Yi did not compromise but tit-for-tat, packed up things and quarreled with a person, after becoming a nun in the nunnery, no matter how Lao Pu begged her, she no longer changed her mind, she understood that knowing that feelings were fake, flattery was fake, Men are unreliable, only money is the most real, but in the end she has nothing but money, her family can't tolerate her, good sisters robbed Lao Pu, nunneries all drove her away, they all said that their families were compassionate, but they did not have compassion for Qiu Yi.
Be strong, have ideas, have feelings, and how can it be, in the end, Qiu Yi still compromises in the face of reality.
2. Weak and heartless calyx
Xiao Calyx accepted the fate arrangement, was sent to the labor training camp to receive labor reform, sewed thirty bags a day, she could not eat such suffering, could not complete the task, and finally wanted to hang herself, fortunately was found in time, she was different from most of the women who fell into the dust, she was voluntary to fall and sell herself to receive customers, sixteen years old father died, her mother remarried, no one raised her, only to support herself, Xiao Calyx did not want to suffer hardships, did not want to be a factory worker, she went to the Xihong Building to sell herself from a prostitute, she did not have the concept of courtesy, righteousness, and shame, As long as the material life satisfaction can be, the original hard days in the training camp made her willing to die, but when she received the package given to her by Qiuyi Tolaopu, a toffee awakened her confidence in life, after the training period expired, she also only wanted to do the easiest work, washing bottles in the glass factory, obviously in order to find Qiuyi in contact with Laopu, but the result was to take Laopu naturally, robbing the lover of the good sister Qiuyi, regardless of the sisterhood.
And she also does not really love Lao Pu, just want to cling to Lao Pu, enjoy material life, meet their own desires and needs, but at this time Lao Pu family property has been confiscated, huge deposits have also been frozen by the bank, becoming a poor egg, but Xiao Calyx does not consider his situation at all, the two still live a luxurious life before, soon Xiao Pu is pregnant, Lao Pu took the last bit of the family's property from his mother, six gold bars, they have a grand wedding, there is wine and drunkenness this morning, Do not care about the living expenses after marriage, the original gentle and obedient xiao calyx, with the decline of Laopu's economy, the days are boring and lonely, the personality is more and more willful and brutal, a little dissatisfied with the search for death, with the birth of his son's tragic husband, the days are even poorer, in order to enjoy the luxurious life of the past, Lao Pu chose to embezzle public funds, and also embarked on a dead end.
After Lao Pu's death, the grief-stricken xiao calyx blamed herself for a long time, and made up her mind to pull her son Sadfu to grow up, she carried her son back to the glass factory to wash the glass bottles, at first she still lived in the rental house, not long after because of the fornication with Mr. Fang, mrs. Zhang was beaten out, a scar fell on her face, and she could only move to the dormitory of the glass factory, the next year, she gave her son Sorrowful Husband to QiuYi for adoption, she still couldn't do without men, in order to marry someone, she was willing not to have a son, but also to leave with a northern man, and after leaving with a northern man, Xiao Calyx also sent a few letters to Qiuyi in the first few years. Later, there was no more news, and no one knew what the fate of the little calyx would be, but clinging to the man to survive was doomed to be a hopeless road.
Qiu Yi, who lives soberly and strongly, has always resisted in her own way, she understands that feelings are the most hypocritical, afraid of being hurt and dare not touch easily, she actually has the heaviest feelings, only wants to have a belonging, even if she is a nun in a nunnery, and finally she marries an ugly man, adopts Lao Pu and Xiao Cai's son, Sad husband, and finally has a complete home.
And weak and unthinkable little calyx, in fact, the most heartless and lungless, like willow hair drifting with the wind, she does not like labor, does not care about emotions, does not understand dignity, just wants to cling to men to enjoy materialistic needs, small calyx has been reformed by labor, but she still misses the past days of red wine, good sister QiuYi, husband Lao Pu, son sad husband, before her own interests she can abandon betrayal, she is not deliberately scheming, she also tried to rely on herself, but still can not, can only rely on men to live, Live as you please.
Qiu Yi and Xiao Calyx are both girls from poor families, because they have not received education, and their knowledge is lacking and distorted.
Although Qiu Yi has a strong personality and will resist, after taking back his own jewelry from the old duck, he only thought of turning to the old friend Lao Pu, after leaving the old Pu family, there was a home that could not return, he was driven out as a nun in the nunnery, returned to his hometown for a period of time, the family could not tolerate her, Lao Pu and Xiao Calyx were married, love and friendship were betrayed, Qiu Yi, who did not receive the invitation, sent a congratulatory gift dragon phoenix bracelet and a cursed umbrella, the blessing is real, the curse is also real.
A good girl who dares to love and dare to hate, in the face of emotional despair and death, she finally broke the jar and broke, casually found a man to marry, after marriage she lived a down-to-earth life, let go of the past grudges, adopted the son of Lao Pu and Xiao Cai, Qiu Yi was obviously rich, young and beautiful, but she did not want to live by her own ability, just constantly looking for a home, she had strong self-esteem, and did not want to suffer a little grievance, but in the end, in the face of real life hurt blows, or choose to marry and form a family.
If Qiu Yi is chivalrous and tender, heavy on love and righteousness, then Xiao Calyx is naïve and simple, ignorant and shameless, surviving in a specific environment, she has long adapted to the life of selling the flesh, pampering and pampering, eating and lazy, she feels that good family women should have self-respect and self-love, live by labor, they are born a slut, they can't bear suffering, so, even if she accepts labor reform, works in a glass factory, but there is no change in thinking, she disdains the meager wage earned by work, and misses the material life of the past, Just thinking about clinging to men.
Attachment is the common problem of Qiu Yi and Xiao Calyx, they are unwilling to accept reform, unwilling to earn money by their own labor, nor can they do self-respect and self-love, but this is not their fault, now social progress, we have the right to education, understand etiquette, righteousness, shame and human morality, but women at that time did not, male superiority and female inferiority, this is a deep-rooted view for thousands of years, children are attached to adults, women are attached to men, even women from large families, still have to live on their fathers and husbands, not to mention the bottom marginal women, self-contempt and self-contempt at the same time The family members of life are also scorning and scorning them, not giving them the opportunity to start over.
Qiu Yi was insulted by Lao Pu's mother because of her identity, rejected by the nuns of the nunnery, rejected by her aunt and cousin, and finally could only find an ugly man to marry, because such a man would accept her.
Xiao Calyx because of greed for enjoyment, indirectly killed Lao Pu, but the root of the problem is still Lao Pu himself, a young master who spends days and wine, living a poor life, coveting the pleasures of the past, and finally chooses to take risks and embezzle public funds, but everyone blames the mistake on Xiao Pu alone, this is the view that has been circulating since ancient times, red face disaster, men will make mistakes are caused by women, but if women make mistakes for men, it is stupid and stupid.
In fact, Qiu Yi is good, Xiao Calyx is good, aside from the identity they are just the epitome of countless women, although the society is constantly progressing, everyone has obtained equal rights and interests, but the shackles prejudice still exists, just like the novel Qiu Yi Xiao Calyx, they are not willing to accept labor reform, covet the past life, some people will scold them for being willing to degenerate, but why did the men who cared for brothels not accept the transformation? Even if prostitutes were to be transformed to close brothels, would this trading relationship disappear?
Qiu Yi once said to Lao Pu: "Everything is fake, your kindness to me is fake, my pleasing to you is also fake, they closed The CuiyunFang is also fake, I don't believe that men don't like to visit the kiln, and scatter us in this world and clean it?" ”
It seems to be a kind of help, but in fact, it is still discrimination, and the real transformation is not only physical labor, but also ideological progress, social equal treatment, but it does not exist in the novel, and the discrimination prejudice still exists.
Mr. Su Tong is one of my favorite and most admired male writers, not most male writers, for the shallow and rigid depiction of women, condescending sympathy and pity, but with a bystander's point of view, delicate and calm depiction of all kinds of women, no criticism, no ridicule, no ruthless harm, even the most vulgar women, he also uses the most gentle tolerance understanding, men or women, are just victims of the times, each has its own problems and shortcomings, but no one is a sinner.
Qiu Yi is a strong red, and the small calyx is a delicate pink, red pink lady, who wants to be a thief!