That day, my friends and I took a walk in Gulangyu Island, Xiamen. Blue sea and blue sky, tree-lined, warm sunshine, breezy, what a pleasant place. Being wrapped in a down jacket for a winter seems to wake up quietly. I like this light and comfortable feeling.
I bought a tourist map of Gulangyu Island and confirmed the place I want to go. Lin Yutang's former residence, oh, of course, is the place I must go. He is a famous modern writer, argumentative scholar, advocate of humorous sketches, founder of Cosmic Wind of Life magazine, and author of biographies of Yanyun and Su Dongpo in Jinghua. . . In college, I read Lu Xun, Shen Congwen and Zhang Ailing, of course; Reading Lin Yutang and Liang Shiqiu is of course the proper meaning in the title. I don't think there is a student in China who hasn't read his book. His book is a kind of green nutrition. We accepted his gift without any difficulty and moved on with joy and deep thought.
Take the map and go straight to the place marked "Bride of Lin Yutang" where Lin Yutang and Liao Cuifeng got married. Many people talk about Lin Yutang's love story before marriage. They obviously like A, but suddenly they married A's good friend B, which is too dramatic. However, Lin Yutang's actions after marriage have another kind of romance and affection. With the consent of the bride, Lin Yutang burned the marriage certificate and said, "The marriage certificate is only used for divorce." Since then, the couple have been together for life and love each other. Such a plot always makes women move.
Teams of tourists holding flags and shouting "cough" rushed past us. They are all determined and in a hurry, while my friends and I look around, looking for and hesitating. Obviously, Lin Yutang's former residence is next to Li Jiazhuang, but Li Jiazhuang has arrived, but Lin Yutang's former residence has still not been found. He must have missed it, so he turned and left again. At a secluded alley, I stopped to observe. The alley is quiet, without any former residence and tourist signs. It looks ordinary. At the end of the alley, you can see that it is an old house, but it is not elegant. I hesitate to go to the alley. Deep in the alley is a big yard. Several dilapidated houses seem to have been abandoned for a long time, and there is silence around the empty yard. There is a place near the house that looks like a kitchen. A woman came out to hang clothes and looked at us. Oh, so people are still alive. I took out the map and compared it again. It turns out that this dilapidated courtyard is No.44, Zhangzhou Road, the former residence of Lin Yutang. Cheer up and have a look. Indeed, the "long steps" described in the guidebook are still there, but the decline of this house is beyond my imagination. Walls and dirt are peeling off, windows are broken and haunted, and the gate has long been closed, so tourists are not allowed to visit. Of course, I still have to go up and have a look. In fact, even looking inside is very laborious. You need to bend down and look in through the broken glass window hole for a long time, but there is nothing in the dark room except a wall, a narrow corridor and accumulated debris.
I stood at the gate of Yutang's former residence, looking at the yard. Two tall magnolia trees cover the house, and the long bluestone steps extend all the way to the hillside, vaguely revealing the neat style of the villa. Now it's all over.
Suddenly, an old voice came from behind. I turned back to the closed door, bent down again and looked through the window. This time, I saw an old lady with gray hair sitting on a stool in the left room, with her back to the door, talking loudly. Who is she talking to? There seems to be no one else in this room. Is she talking to a cat or a dog? But I haven't even seen a cat. Is she talking to herself? There are some old furniture and sundries around. Maybe, she is a descendant of Liao Jia? No, she looks more like someone from an old house forgotten by history. That afternoon, the picture of the old lady and the old house faded away, which made me a little uncomfortable. For example, in the evening or rainy night, such a living environment is a bit infiltrated at first glance. I turned and walked down the steps.
Just then, a middle-aged man came in from the alley, looked around with a map in his hand and slowly approached the house. I want to laugh. When my friends and I first walked into this alley, I must have had the same look. Fortunately, the noisy tour group just rolls along the main road and won't turn here, and the silence and depression here are just suitable for everyone to look for it sincerely. Tourists ask us where Lin Yutang used to live. After reading the map, he looked up at the house on the slope and walked slowly up the long steps like a sleepwalker. Similarly, he bent down in front of the closed broken house, looked around, then turned and walked down the steps and out of the alley.
Perhaps this is the general experience of every reader of Lin Yutang after coming to Gulangyu: looking for, secretly disappointed, knowing that there is nothing to see, and the host does not welcome it, or going up those "long steps" to see the place where the writer once lived.
According to the guidebook, the "Lirenzhai" next to it is the writer's study. Liren Zhai is now completely closed and uninhabited, leaving only an empty shell. I sat on the steps that I hadn't cleaned for a long time, picked up the camera and took some photos.
From Lin Yutang's former residence, I didn't see the celebrity's former residence in my imagination, but at least I have been there, and I feel very glad that you came. I hope that one day, this place can meet seekers from all directions in a better way.
Interestingly, about Lin Yutang, there is even the following. On the highway back from Xiamen, a huge billboard suddenly passed in front of me. That's a real estate advertisement for an upscale villa. Next to the landscape picture of the real estate, the words "Lin Yutang" are written. Every word is a story high, like a shocking exclamation point, which quickly rushed to my eyes. I wonder, Lin Yutang, why are you so close to a luxury real estate advertisement? Does Lin Yutang have anything to do with this property? Are there any historical anecdotes or anecdotes? After a while, Lin Yutang's huge advertisement passed again. I suddenly realized that this Lin Yutang is not another Lin Yutang. What I think in my mind is the writer, Lin Yutang, who may be advertising beside the expressway, but it is the name of the real estate! Yes, the name of this building or community is Lin, Yu and Tang!
I have no heart. Lin, Yu and Tang, what wonderful real estate names! I have to marvel at the inspiration of the real estate agent. I remember that many years ago, there was an advertisement for a real estate in Shanghai, which directly quoted Heidegger's famous saying that "people live poetically" and earned a lot of fame. Now, Heidegger's philosophical significance has a more wonderful version: "Lin Yutang". As described in the real estate advertisement, the green environment is as dense as the virgin forest, and birds can be heard. Oh, people live in harmony with the environment; Sitting quietly in Huatang, you can listen to the natural language of the forest and enjoy everything without leaving home; Not only that, you can also imagine a poetic person whispering to you. . .
I believe that with the help of Lin Yutang's light, this building in Xiamen will easily win a lot of attention. I tried to pronounce the name Lin Yutang from a brand-new angle, and found that it was really smooth, rich and had great potential for commercial packaging. I searched my mind for the names of other famous modern writers. After thinking about a dozen people, I still can't think of anyone more suitable for advertising than Lin Yutang. Oh, all this must be beyond the imagination of writer Lin.
Alas, Lin Yutang's former residence has declined. It doesn't matter. After all, what Lin Yutang left in the minds of future generations is mainly his works, not the real estate he once lived in. I'm just worried that when Xiamen people mention the word "Lin Yutang" in the future, they will first think that they are talking about a real estate, and then suddenly remember that there used to be a writer with this name.