Text/Chen Honghua

01

On this day, the rain kept falling with no intention of stopping. On duty on campus, I held an umbrella and walked around the bamboo forest path. On the way back from Rongjiang, I haven’t had time to get close to him yet.

The rain in early summer has almost soaked the vegetation here.

A square pond with little ripples in the water. Several koi carps were breathing and breathing next to the stone ridge. They moved slowly, holding the fallen leaves against the stone steps or the dragon gate. The lingering rain vividly awakens these free creatures. And the water seemed to become clearer with every ripple.

Trees full of loquats and branches full of plums, bathed in the drizzle, shimmering, satisfied all my expectations for the sweet and sour taste. Vibrant colors are the most pristine reward for soil.

"Sadness is like a handful of dirt." I suddenly remembered the message Zhen Shui, the editor-in-chief of "Feilaifeng", gave me. In a classroom on the third floor of the East Building of Hangzhou Dadong University, I once thought about this famous saying. ", "a handful of soil" is given by the earth; "sadness" is also a very strong metaphor. I don't understand it, but I always remember it.

Regarding "earth", people born in the 1970s have their own experience of sticking to the ground. On my desk, I happen to have a copy of "Born to the Mud" written by Qiu Xianping (pseudonym "Qiu Ping"), and the "Wind in the South" series edited by Mr. Lu Chunxiang. Not long ago, I just attended the launch ceremony and met my literary friend Qiuping. I just happened to read it today.

The rain outside the window keeps falling. In my heart, "Being behind closed doors is a deep mountain, and reading is a pure land."

02

In just half a day, I finished reading the first volume of "Chronicles of Rouge Lane", which is also the second volume of "The Chronicle of Rouge Lane". My favorite chapter in "Born from Mud".

"Rouge Lane is a 200-meter ordinary alley in Tianshui Community, Hangzhou." In Qiu Ping's eyes, "Rouge Lane" is her "home". No wonder, she is as familiar with this place as she is with the vegetation of her hometown.

Master Pu, the owner of the retail newsstand at the same table as Ma Yun, and the Shaxian snack "Little Zhuge" vividly appear in Qiu Ping's writing.

Obviously, her world is one of listening, acceptance, and therefore integration. I have no reason to guess that these memories are also a period of sensitive, rich and peaceful time in "Qiu Ping's" heart.

"Nostalgia at the Xiyu Restaurant", Xiao Fang from Fuchun River in Tonglu, a large number of diners basking in the sun, and "a table of good dishes in Tonglu" that everyone came to, left a lasting impression. I thought about "When will I go to the Xiyu Restaurant to eat fish heads?"

"The Happy Life of Foreigner Wang Patriot" is a relatively complete biography. From the curiosity and entanglement when he first arrived in Hangzhou, to the "smooth" bargaining when Si Jiqing met by chance, to the son-in-law of a tea farmer in Meijiawu, it was like a foreigner's version of China's inspirational story.

Qiuping's narration is calm and tender. With parallel eyes and a calm attitude, she stops and walks through the city alleys, watches and thinks in the daily fireworks, and captures some touching moments in life.

For example, "His stall is under a French plane tree, with a sun umbrella. Under the umbrella, there is a broken chair and an old stool. There is often a purple clay pot and a thermos on the stool. Sometimes, there is a birdcage on the steps next to it. There is a cheerful starling in the cage. His handsome black bird has a collar around his neck. Every time the uncle sees Xiaohei coming to see handsome black, the uncle gets very angry. , a fierce pursuit, saying that Xiao Hei seduced Handsome Hei. "Qiu Ping playfully reproduced the real scene, and the original taste of life came to his face like dirt.

The emotions expressed by the writer are both popular and personal. Qiuping has long been familiar with this, so she abandoned the emotional "just because she was in this mountain" and maintained the calmness and determination of the present world.

Zhuang Xiaoyao in "Three Drinking Friends in Taoyuan", "Can you move the dimples on your face/and the wine jar in the shop/to my house?" Poetry and wine seduce girls and win true temperament. When she was happy, she saw "Sister-in-law Zhuang was holding the ground with both hands, and her feet flipped straight to the wall with a 'snap' sound. Her already tight clothes shrank up, revealing a round belly, like a swimming ring."< /p>

If Qiu Ping is crawling on the soil of the earth, then she must be lonely, free and lucky.

03

In the second volume of "The Boy at Lake Baikal", Qiu Ping shared with readers his daughter Xiaohe's reading time and the delicious food during his travels.

"Shanghai's Beef Vermicelli" costs 12 yuan a bowl; "Hong Kong's Barbecued Pork Rice" is the kind of street snack in "God of Cookery"; "Osaka Oden" is a popular snack in Japan. Shaped like a pancake, cabbage, pork slices, shrimps, eggs and batter are grilled on an iron plate. There is an internet celebrity shop called "Chitose Okonomiyaki", which has super large fresh shrimps, tender abalone and cuttlefish, and tastes good.

"Haidilao in London" is not cheap. It can be a carnival for a group of people or a feast for one person. But for Qiu Ping, it is clearly about the incomparable comfort and happiness of being with Xiaohe. . To express it in an impromptu poem written by Xiaohe, "The lone wild goose flies across the sky, and the long pavilion is covered with wild grass. Once I am shocked to realize that I am painting in my dream, it is not as easy as floating clouds to swim freely." The artistic conception is broad, Xiaohe has revealed its sharp corners, and there are Talent.

04

Bei Dao said, "We had dreams at that time, about literature, about love, about traveling across the world. Now when we drink late at night, when the cups touch each other, they are all The sound of broken dreams."

In the third volume of "Born to the Mud", Qiu Ping stands on the journey of memory, and those cascading mountains and clear rivers are always beating in the dead of night. The window to her heart.

She carefully picked up "Old Mother's Old House and Laifu". Her mother's hot temper and aggrievedness had long been dissipated in her heart. She learned to report good news but not bad news, learned a person's patience and loneliness, and learned to share worries with others. With gratitude and comfort, she talked about unforgettable scenes one after another: boiling tofu in oil at the end of the year, watching "Fearless Fearless", throwing steamed buns and candies on the beam, brother frying two pig ears and drinking wine, and marrying Laifu a wife ...

"The Boss's Dinner Party", "If You Are the One", "Nothing Matters", "You Liar", "Fucking the Mother-in-law", etc., these are small scenes and stories in the eyes of reporter Qiuping. All living beings, human beings and sophisticated people can be seen at a glance. The playful Qiuping shows off his skills so well that you can laugh about it while reading it.

05

The fourth volume, "Rivers "Born from the Mud", collects and sorts out some of Qiuping's words published in "Zhejiang Economic News". With the reporter's writing style, It outlines the "rise from the mud" of Zhejiang's manufacturing and regional economy. As a witness and participant, the power of promotion and interpretation is obvious. I'm still quite interested in some of the chapters.

For example, in "Who Paints Water Towns in Dreams", the famous Chen Yifei, the water towns in the south of the Yangtze River, Zhouzhuang and Tongli in southern Jiangsu, Nanxun, Wuzhen and Xitang in Zhejiang, in his paintings, the poetic Nostalgic, the rich cultural characteristics of the ancient water towns have been selected into the World Cultural Heritage List in a clustered manner.

"Perhaps I came to the ancient town of Shuixiang just to feel the parting Shengxiao and the silent Cambridge, and to recite: 'Gently I leave, just as I came gently; I wave gently "Farewell to the clouds in the western sky." The fresh and playful Qiuping in my mind appeared in front of me again.

I was delighted to discover that "How Many Times Can I Circle the Equator" shows the block economy of my hometown, Fenshui Town, the hometown of pen-making in China. "Everyone in the world has a water-dividing pen", "townships divide water", the "group dance" of meager profits, the "domino" effect, the courage and foresight of water-dividing people, and the leverage power generated by a small pen are Not to be ignored. Qiu Ping inadvertently wrote the legend of a ballpoint pen, which promoted the economic development of my hometown.

"Growing Pains of an "Empire"", Qiu Ping carefully sorted out and thought about the "Wenzhou Model", from "the troops approaching the city" to the "soul of the city", to the "ten-year breakout", The unique experience of "Nirvana and rebirth" and now its rise due to the restoration of credibility. What the "Wenzhou Model" leaves to people is far from being a sigh and emotion, but the enlightening value contained in tears and laughter, desires and dreams.

06

Mr. Lu Chunxiang commented on Qiu Xianping's "Born to the Mud" in "General Preface: Ten Thousands of Spring Lives": It has a strong metaphorical and symbolic meaning. Everything on the earth is given by the soil, laughter and romance, embarrassment and anger, sorrow and pain, prosperity and decline, rebirth and death, all happenings have become the past on the vast land. To understand the land is to understand life. Pay homage to the dirt.

The "Postscript" of "Born to the Mud" says "The sadness of middle age is out of reach", and the postscript of my next collection of essays says "The Subtlety of Living", which seems to echo brought up the topic of "middle age". There is the power of loneliness in Qiu Ping's middle-aged embarrassment, which allowed me to see her warmth and enthusiasm that she silently persists in and faces the sun. She is rooted in the earth, as simple and quiet as soil. I look forward to this kind of Qiuping, where I can take a break from the hustle and bustle of the world, settle myself, and still have flowers blooming in my heart.

I am also willing to say, "Middle age is like a handful of dirt." You can live elsewhere and still be a native of your hometown when you return.

Get close to nature and what you love, keep your passion for the world at any time when you are infinitely close to the land, cherish every encounter, believe in the power of love and freedom, and remain high even while carrying the burden. Head down.

The wind is blowing in Jiangnan, let’s set off together.