When I first saw the title of this book, I thought it was probably using a rural Chinese story to illustrate a principle. One piece of good advice is worth ten thousand rambling words, and This wise saying can make readers suddenly realize the medicinal effect. But I was wrong, completely wrong.

The background and characters in the book indeed have strong characteristics of the times. It tells about the lonely life in a specific era, but the story is extremely simple, as simple as telling us about the things around us. It's like people's affairs. After finishing the gossip, one person will continue to talk about the next person's gossip. From Henan to Shanxi to Shandong, the fates of tofu sellers, donkey sellers, pig butchers, mourners, water carriers, and steamed bun makers... these seemingly unrelated people are intertwined. After reading the whole story, it is a bit heavy to read, but also somewhat understandable.

There is only one theme in the whole novel, which is "being able to speak well and being unable to speak well". One sentence with someone who can speak well is more useful than ten thousand words with someone who cannot speak well. This is probably what the title of the book means. I have selected two parts from the book that I personally find particularly interesting and would like to share them. They may sound like old sayings, but they reveal unexpected new meanings.

1.

Confucius once wrote a sentence two thousand years ago, "It is a joy to have friends come from far away." We all thought it was old friends coming from far away. Come here, I feel very happy. But a private school teacher in the book explained it this way, "You all don't understand what Old Master Kong is thinking. You have to debate whether this person from afar is a friend. On the contrary, it is because he has nothing to do with you that you can feel free to speak your mind." Let him hear it. I feel relieved now that I have said it in my heart."

Whether this explanation is counter-intuitive or not, we can find some examples in and out of the book to support it. First of all, the protagonist Niu Aiguo in the second half of the book thinks that there are three people in the world who he can point to. “The meaning of being able to refer does not mean that you can go to them to borrow money when you are short of money, or you can go to them to do things when you have something to do. It means that you can go to them to discuss something that you can’t think about or understand, or you can’t make up your mind. Or if you don’t have anything specific to say and you feel sad, you can sit with them for a while. When you sit down and talk about your worries, a lot of the burden will be relieved. He just said nothing, just sat for a while, or said something else, and felt much more relaxed. "One of these three people was Feng Wenxiu, a young boy who lived in the same town as him, and one was a local. One of Du Qinghai's comrades in the army was Chen Kuiyi, the resident cook during his part-time job.

Later, when Niu Patriot reached middle age, he did not point to Feng Wenxiu, who was closest to him, to talk about something in his heart. Instead, he chose Du Qinghai, who was more than a thousand miles away, to express his sorrow. The reason is not stated clearly in the book, but it can be seen from the words of Master Kong and the reason why he and Feng Wenxiu completely broke up. Feng Wenxiu was two people when he was drunk and sober. Once he was drunk, he had no control over his words. Therefore, Niu Aiguo usually would not go to Feng Wenxiu and have an intimate talk with him when he was drunk. Later, Niu Aiguo's mother passed away and he bought ten kilograms of pork from Feng Wenxiu's pork shop. He forgot to pay for it. That night, Feng Wenxiu's wife, who was good at making claims, came to ask for money. Niu Aiguo had a prejudice in his heart. . First, he forgot to pay at that time just because he was pretending to have something wrong. He really forgot, and it was not that he didn’t pay on purpose. Second, even if he didn’t pay, wouldn’t the friendship he and Feng Wenxiu have shared for so many years be worth ten pounds? Pork? So that night, when Niu Aiguo got drunk, he talked about his grievances with the people around him, and these words reached Feng Wenxiu's ears through other people, which naturally gave him a different taste. The two people went back and forth, and one thing was related to other things. One thing can be related to eight things, and some of the thoughts that the other party had sincerely put aside with themselves over the years were revealed. People stopped interacting with each other because of this.

This is the best explanation of what Confucius said in the book. Whether a person from afar is a friend or not is another question. Just because he comes from afar has little to do with you. It doesn't hurt to say something from your heart. The relationship between Feng Wenxiu and Niu Aiguo has naturally brought a lot of personal entanglements since they were young. It is expected that if they have a bad relationship, they will be in trouble. Next, let’s take a look at the recent examples around us to see what Confucius’ words mean.

In life, we are not like this. When talking to acquaintances, we have to think carefully about whether to say something or not. It is not that we are afraid that after hearing it from him, we will worry about the words coming out of his mouth. But we don’t know what people think in their hearts, so naturally we don’t dare to tell the truth. On the contrary, chatting with strangers on the Internet is called a warm conversation. Anyway, no one knows anyone, so I dare to say whatever is on my mind. In the past, Renren and Xiaonei.com were very popular, and a large school could maintain contact with each other in full swing under the guise of its arrogant alumni. But look at the real-name system now, which has forced the relationship between netizens to become a circle of acquaintances. So everyone started to speak more cautiously, but they had to say something, so they took selfies, posted stickers, and put them on After all, these things really occupied a lot of my thoughts, so naturally my desire to speak my heart out and say something intimate was temporarily blocked. Then do you think those netizens on Xiaonei.com and Renren.com can really be considered your friends? I don't think so.

But you can tell him what's on your mind. Are you happy? That would be absolutely fun. Then do you interpret Lao Fuzi’s words in this way?

2.

Next, let’s talk about things that can be said and things that cannot be said. In fact, the book is also divided into two types: things that can be said and things that cannot be said. One kind is easy to talk to with friends, and the other is easy to talk to women. But even if you meet someone who is worthy of you, you won’t always be worthy of it, because people change; sometimes even if you meet someone who is worthy of you, you will miss it due to various unexpected or not unexpected reasons. . These words have been held back in my heart, slowly accumulating, and in the end they consume life and corrode people. I have to keep wandering and searching.

Niu Aiguo thought he had three good people to talk to, but later he couldn’t even talk to one of them. With Feng Wenxiu, it was because of a series of reactions caused by the stubble of ten pounds of pork; with old comrade Du Qinghai, it was because the advice he gave to himself and his wife Pang Lina was wrong and nothing happened; with the acquaintance of the cook Chen Kui Yi also broke up as time went by and people naturally changed. Of course, Niu Aiguo later met some other people he could talk to, but these three people who were the most trustworthy in his mind are no longer talkable. It is inevitable that there is some sadness in the changing times.

There are long paragraphs in the book describing the things that can be said with friends. Let’s take the first paragraph to let people taste the stories between the things that can be said and those that cannot be said.

"When Niu Aiguo was serving as a soldier in Jiuquan, he met Du Qinghai on guard duty in the middle of the night. One patrolled from east to west, and the other patrolled from south to north. They met at the entrance of Jiji Town, and they met each other. The password was to borrow a fire for smoking. The two got to know each other, and they chatted casually. The more they talked, the more they had something to say. After the first conversation, the two of them talked until late at night and until dawn. The wake-up call was blown to the camp, thousands of troops came back to life, and bloody red clouds poured out from the east.

Niu Aiguo has been a bit messy in his speech since he was a child. When he says one thing, he doesn't know where to start. It's easy to say one thing into another thing, or one thing into two things, or two things into one thing. Although Du Qinghai speaks slowly, he is organized and can put one thing into another. After that, let’s talk about another thing; when talking about one thing, the bones are bones and the meat is meat, and they are stacked neatly. Niu Aiguo encountered troubles in the army. He couldn’t figure out whether it was feasible or not. , I couldn't make up my mind, so I saved up the matter; I could always save a few annoying things in a week; on Sunday, I went to find Du Qinghai, and the two of them were on the Gobi Desert, driving a car or sitting on the Ruoshui River. On the other hand, Niu Aiguo told them one by one, and Du Qinghai peeled off the meat and bones one by one, helping Niu Aiguo to sort things out clearly. When Du Qinghai encountered something troublesome, he also said that Niu Aiguo could not sort it out and could only talk about it. : "What do you think? "Du Qinghai had no choice but to stack it by himself. After stacking one section, he asked Niu Aiguo again, and Niu Aiguo said again: "What do you think? "Du Qinghai took matters into his own hands. After a few "What do you think" questions, Du Qinghai also made his affairs clear, and both of them felt much lighter.

Later, two people were demobilized, and one was in In Shanxi, in Hebei, Niu Aiguo married and had children. His wife Pang Lina had an affair with Xiao Jiang from Dongya Wedding Photography City on West Street. Feeling depressed, he took a car over a thousand miles to Hebei to find Du Qinghai. At night, Du Qinghai changed into clean clothes and led Niu Aiguo to the bank of the Hutuo River. It was the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, and the moon in the sky was so big that the water of the Hutuo River flowed quietly under the moonlight. Only then did people go back to five years ago, when they were sitting by the Ruoshui River in the army, talking to each other.

It was only three years later that Niu Aiguo found out about Pang Lina. , Du Qinghai’s idea for him was fundamentally wrong.”

Another way to talk about it is to talk about it with women. Niu Aiguo doesn't like to talk, and his wife Pang Lina doesn't like to talk either. Everyone thinks they have bad tempers. They had been together for two months and felt they had the right temperament. They got married, had children, and started seeing each other without talking. At first I thought the lack of anything to say was because the two of them didn't like to talk, but later I realized that not liking to talk and having nothing to say were two different things. When you don't like to talk, you still have something to say in your heart. When you have nothing to say, you have nothing in your heart. Pang Lina had an affair with Xiao Jiang and was caught by Xiao Jiang's wife Zhao Xinting. She told Niu Aiguo that she waited outside the hotel room for half the night and heard everything. "What they said in one night was better than what they said to me in a year." There are many."

It wasn’t until Niu Aiguo met Zhang Chuhong that he knew what he was talking about with the woman. At that time, Niu Aiguo left home and drove a long distance to Cangzhou. Zhang Chuhong was the daughter-in-law of Li Kun, the owner of a restaurant on the way, "Lao Li Food City". She was in her mid-twenties, with almond-shaped eyes, a high nose bridge, a raised mouth, and a fat figure. , full of breasts, often went to Dajian to eat, and became familiar with them. Once, the car's water tank broke and he had to stay. Li Kun was not here, and the waiter was off work in the evening. Zhang Chuhong asked him to drink together. It was the 15th day of the lunar calendar, and there was a big moon above. The two of them drank and chatted. They were half-drunk and chatted for a long time. Later, they talked in bed. The moonlight shines on the bed, feeling as hot as the sun.

In the future, when Li Kun is away, Niu Aiguo will stay overnight. Being together is not only for sleeping, but also for the two of them. Not just for talking, but for the intimacy when we are together, the atmosphere and taste when we are intimate. At the end of the night again, the two of them had to make out three times. After making out, they still didn't go to sleep, holding each other and talking.

What Niu Aiguo can't say to anyone, he can say to Zhang Chuhong. If you can't remember it when you are with others, you can remember it when you are with Zhang Chuhong. The way he speaks is different from anyone else's, they are both unique. The two talked about happy things and unhappy things. When talking to others, happy things can be said cheerfully, and unpleasant things can be said in a negative tone; but when Niu Aiguo and Zhang Chuhong are together, unhappy things can also be said happily. After finishing a paragraph, he was about to go to sleep. One person said: "We are talking about something else." Another person said: "Just say something else."

Later, Zhang Chuhong wanted Niu to Aiguo took her away from this place. Niu Aiguo was timid, afraid of losing his life, and afraid that he could not support two people by himself, so he secretly ran back to his hometown alone. Later, Niu Aiguo figured it out and became bolder, but he could no longer find Zhang Chuhong. He continued to search because there was something he wanted to tell her. Even if someone lost his life, it was worth it. Although I don’t know what this sentence is, and I don’t know if Niu Aiguo has found Zhang Chuhong, this sentence has gone from being something that no one can say.

How many people have not been able to meet someone who can talk to them in this life? How many people have met them but not recognized them? How many people have recognized it but are not sure? What happens when you wake up and the person is no longer where you were? Therefore, it is so important and so lucky for a person to meet someone who can agree with him or her in this life.