He said, "Oh, not Wednesday, but Thursday."
I was shocked by his crystal clarity. Because he is Xia Yan, 34 years older than me, he joined the China * * * production party seven years before I was born.
He is always so agile, organized, concise, not stumbling, unambiguous, not mumbling, fast-paced, and timely and to the point. These characteristics of him make you not believe that he is a man in his nineties.
If you meet him for the first time, you may be surprised at his thinness. Just like his thoughts and language, he deleted all the branches and vines, leaving only the essence to refine. It is said that he never reached 50 kilograms. In his later years, his weight was only about 30 kilograms.
However, he always understands thoroughly and clearly.
Of course, he is an absolute elder, but he never puts on the spectrum of his predecessors. He has held a senior leadership position for a long time, but he never wears any official airs. Speaking of treatment, he said that in the 1950s, he went to a city on business, and the local authorities arranged a room for him according to his level. "This room is terrible." He seemed to have a lingering fear when he said it. In the early 1980s, Comrade Deng Youmei once called him and another old writer in a leading position "the head". He immediately interrupted and said, "Don't call them heads."
He is sincere to others, eager to absorb new information, interested in all new knowledge and trends, and humorous as a young man. In this respect, he will never be old.
The first time I heard him speak was when he made a closing speech at the Fourth Literary Congress. Unlike some red tape, Xia Lao talked seriously about anti-feudalism and studying science. Every word comes from the heart, and every word is the crystallization of a lifetime of struggle. It is exciting to have high hopes for young people.
He often has unique views on various issues. For example, he said that the biggest mistake in the first 30 years after the founding of the People's Republic of China was not to engage in family planning. After hearing this, you will be dumbfounded. On second thought, it is really profound: even such appalling mistakes as the "Cultural Revolution" can be made up and corrected afterwards. Hundreds of millions more people at once. Who can "correct" them? From then on, generation after generation, future generations will have to shoulder the burden of these extra hundreds of millions of people forever-endless future troubles.
Huayi Publishing House 1990 publishes a series of new works by contemporary famous artists. The leader of the publishing house asked me to ask Xia Gong to write a preface. Considering the age of Xia Gong, I drafted an outline for his reference. Xia Gong wrote me a letter saying that everyone's writing style is different, and the effect of grasping a knife is often not good. He won't use the outline I drafted. He wrote an insightful and clear preface one by one. He also said to a friend we are all familiar with: "Write according to Wang Meng's outline. When people look at it, it is Wang Meng's article. How can it be written by Xia Yan! " In this way, his old man photographed my outline. But perhaps to "comfort" me, he claimed that his preface absorbed my outline. I also pretended to be comforting and encouraging, secretly cheering for the elderly.
There are two lilacs, one purple and one white, in the yard where Liu Bukou lives. 1990 flowering period, I went to enjoy the flowers. I like lilacs since I was a child. Xia Lao was also very happy that day. He came out with a cane to see the flowers and watched the kitten running around the room. He also said cheerfully that it also likes pomegranate flowers. The scene is very similar to an ink painting "Happy New Year".
When people get old to a certain extent, they will have a special beauty: it is an infinitely beautiful sunset, and their personality has been completed, and they know everything about right and wrong, and their experience and knowledge are profound. Zhi Zhi has been determined and has gone through many vicissitudes. Individuals have nothing to ask for, nothing to desire is rigid, nothing to destroy, and they are detached from things. They pay attention to life, forgive all the people and things that can be forgiven, and identify all the ostentatious gestures, which are both angular and implicit reconciliation. You hit the nail on the head, every word, every smile is so sharp, wise, weighty, principled, interesting and enough is enough.
At the beginning of January this year, I visited him for the last time when he was sober. We are talking about social security and the article published by Comrade Hu Sheng in People's Daily: Marxism is developing. He was in good spirits that day, sitting in a chair laughing and laughing. At some point, Comrade Hu Sheng came to the ward to visit Xia Hong. It is said to be the best day since Xiagong was ill and hospitalized last summer.
The penultimate meeting with Xia Gong (before coma) was at the end of June last year 165438+. He was very tired that day and lay motionless in his hospital bed. He has been in bed for several days. Seeing this, I made a brief greeting and got up to leave so as not to disturb. Summer fair weakly lie to say:
"There is a worry ..."
I quickly leaned in, thinking that he had something to say to me.
He went on to say: "Now we have changed from a planned economy to a market economy, and our young writers are too unfamiliar with the market economy. Do they know the market? If they don't understand, how can they write good works that reflect reality? "
I'm surprised. In the case of bedridden, the Summer Palace still cares about China's literary career.
His departure also has its own unique style. 199565438+1October 2 1, when he got up for breakfast in the morning, he was in a bad mood, lost his temper and broke a vessel. So he realized that something was wrong, called his children and directed the funeral calmly, thoughtfully and appropriately. He said that the activities held on his 95th birthday gave him an evaluation, and he was satisfied with everything except the beautiful water. He hoped that after he left, he would stop doing any activities and scatter his ashes in his hometown-Qiantang River in Zhejiang. He also mentioned the names of Chen Huangmei and Wang Meng when talking about the funeral. Two hours later, he fell asleep and never woke up until the day after the Spring Festival holiday, when he died suddenly. He was innocent all his life, and now he is innocent.
Selected from Unit 2, Lesson 5, Grade 2, Shanghai Education Edition.