Star of the Week
Zhang Sushan
Zhang Sushan is from Raoyang, Hebei. He served in the military for 25 years. After changing his career, he worked at the Tianjin University of Political Science and Law. In recent years, he went to Danchang, Gansu Province to work as a poverty alleviation worker. After decades of continuous writing, literature has become an emotional comfort and soul mate. Many poems and essays have been published in literary newspapers and websites.
House Hunting in Beijing
Reader: Hu Qi, Xinhuanet "Xiaomei Reading" column anchor, the audio of this column is produced by Xiaomei Reading Studio. Recital fragments are in green font.
Young Bai Juyi went to Beijing to rush for the exam and met with the great poet Gu Kuang. Gu Kuang warmly received this talented young man, predicting that the young man would succeed and have a bright future; he also warned Bai Juyi in a slightly joking tone that "it will be difficult to live in peace for a long time."
Huiyi went to Beijing twice to take the exam and studied in the capital for five years. Xijun accompanied him throughout the whole process, so he stayed in Beijing for ten years. We followed Hui Yi's footsteps and rented a house in the city. We rented nine houses successively. Most of them were low and old bungalows in the city. They were small in size and had simple facilities. We could barely make ends meet and were just for shelter. Another reason why it is not convenient to rent a building is that there is a piano at home. Hui Yi plays the piano for several hours every day. Before the exam, she played for eight or nine hours continuously. There was no room for negotiation, so we had to choose a bungalow. Even for a bungalow, the rent is very high, and the rent for a building is one or two times higher than that for a bungalow.
Ten years later, I finally understood that what Gu Kuang said was not a joke. Just like a fish drinking water, you know whether you are warm or cold. Only those who have experienced it will have a deep understanding. Living in a big city means a lot of money, and rent takes up most of the daily expenses. It is not easy to enjoy the prosperity of the city! It relies on getting a not-so-rich salary on time every month, which is enough to meet expenses. If you are short of money, it will be even more difficult. Even if you have a little money in your pocket, it is not easy to find a satisfactory house. Sometimes it takes you several days to find a rental house with reasonable rent and good living conditions. It all depends on luck.
Preparation: Xiajia Hutong in the West Third Ring Road and the Printing Factory Family Courtyard on Naoshikou Street
The winter in Beijing in 2012 was particularly cold. Although there was no snow in the entire twelfth lunar month, it only occasionally caught up with the foggy days, early in the morning. A flurry of snowflakes fell from the gray sky, but the wind was biting and the temperature was getting colder day by day. By the end of the year, it should be the coldest time of the year.
Hui Yi signed up to apply for the piano department of Central Conservatory of Music and China Conservatory of Music. As the exam period approaches, she has to go to Teacher Tong’s home for piano lessons twice a week. It takes several hours to travel to and from Beijing and Tianjin. Besides, it’s really not cost-effective to travel all day just to take a class.
In order to save time, go to the capital to rent a house. Teacher Tong’s home is in Beijing New Town near Wanliu Bridge in the West Third Ring Road. Xijun went to Beijing alone to look for a house. After searching everywhere, he finally found a bungalow in Xiajia Hutong . I also rented a piano from a piano store, but the room was too small. After putting the piano in, I couldn't put a bed in it. There was no choice but to find a smaller house nearby, and the mother and daughter squeezed into the same bed to spend the night. The landlord's own boiler was used for heating. The heater was not very hot, but it could barely withstand the cold at night. There was no heating in the room where the piano was placed. An electric heater was bought from a nearby supermarket, and the room was finally warm. Huiyi played the piano for a while, stopped to warm her hands on the electric radiator, and then continued practicing.
This place is very close to the teacher's home, just a few minutes' walk away. There is also a large supermarket and vegetable market nearby, making life very convenient. Xijun goes to the vegetable market every morning to buy vegetables and non-staple food. After dinner, he goes to the supermarket to pick up discounted bread for breakfast the next day. In this way, he can save a lot of living expenses through careful budgeting.
plays the piano every day, takes piano lessons, teaches himself music theory and sight-singing ear training, and goes all out to prepare for the exam... Everything was going well, but the landlady's nephew came to the door and stopped him from playing the piano.He lived in a house next to each other, worked the night shift somewhere, and slept during the day. He really couldn't bear the sound of the piano being played non-stop for more than ten hours a day. She had no choice but to return the rented piano, and Huiyi took the bus to the piano store to practice piano every day. It just so happened that the first test was getting closer and closer. The teacher asked me to play the grand piano , and I slowly found out the feeling. Because the exam room uses a grand piano, there are still differences between the keyboards of the upright piano and the grand piano. There is also a certain gap in the timbre. I gradually adapted to the grand piano before the exam, and then I can perform well during the exam.
Every Saturday and Sunday, after I go to Beijing, I take Hui Yi to the piano store. But the grand piano is really too old. It’s like an antique. The sound doesn’t seem to be accurate. It probably hasn’t been tuned for half a year. . There is only one pedal left, and the delay pedal is long gone. The piano store charges by the hour, and there are beginner piano boys and many students from other places who come to Beijing to take professional examinations, all of whom come to the piano store to wait for practice.
Xijun trains every day. He is focused and focused. He works so hard that he can't sleep at night. He has to swallow a sleeping pill before going to bed every day to fall asleep. Mother and daughter accompany each other, practicing the piano hard, day after day, year after year, exhausted. After Hui Yi fell asleep, a dull snore sounded immediately. Xijun tossed and turned, taking a long time to fall asleep. In the middle of the night, she would mutter to herself in her sleep, and sometimes she would shout, "Slow down! Rhythm! Wrong notes! Chords harder!"
She was still instructing her daughter to practice the piano in her dream, Like a table tennis coach, he provides on-site technical guidance while playing with the players.
During the Lantern Festival, I participated in the preliminary examination of the Central Conservatory of Music. I got up early in the morning to make preparations. I took Huiyi and I got on the bus from Jijiamiao and rushed to Fuxing Gate. When we were approaching Fuxing Gate, we were stuck in traffic and felt extremely anxious. What if we were late? The exam starts at eight o'clock. Anyone who exceeds fifteen minutes will be disqualified. Fortunately, the bus finally started moving, and I arrived at the piano major examination room in the teaching building of the Central Academy of Sciences ahead of time, and successfully passed the first level of the preliminary examination. After returning home, I quickly prepared the repertoire for the retest. The initial test mainly tests basic skills, while the second test will test the performer's artistic skills. The repertoire becomes more difficult, usually a designated composer and his works, a movement of a sonata, and a work created by a Chinese composer. During the exam, the examiner may only listen to the candidate play a section and then stop playing. Because there are too many candidates, the exam time can only be compressed in this way. In fact, the examiners are all professional teachers in the piano department of the school. They can judge the professional level of the students by listening to the candidates play a few phrases. Although the curtains were drawn on the bandstand, each examiner could accurately tell which candidate was the student he taught.
A week later, the results of the re-examination were announced in the window in front of the old teaching building of the Central Academy. After looking carefully at the list of candidates, Hui Yi's name was not seen, and her name was lost to Sun Shan.
had no time to feel disappointed and melancholy, so he hurriedly went to the Chinese Academy of Sciences far away in the North Fourth Ring Road to take another exam. Take the circle double-decker bus from Xiajia Hutong along the West Third Ring Road to Madian Bridge on the North Third Ring Road, then go north along the Beijing-Tibet Expressway, walk to Qijiahuozi, and take the reverse bus It takes only one bus to reach the China Conservatory of Music near Jianxiang Bridge on the North Fourth Ring Road.
During this period, in order to ensure that I could be admitted to a college, I took my son back to Tianjin to take the preliminary examination of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music. However, the re-examination time conflicted with the Central Conservatory of Music, so I gave up on my own initiative.
In the end, the two music conservatories in Beijing failed to pass the professional examination. Fortunately, Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou recognized the examination results of the Central Academy. The admission announcement information on the school's admissions website showed that Hui Yi had been admitted. And ranked first in the major. So, should we go or not? After three people discussed it, they decided not to go and apply for the Central Conservatory of Music next year.
Ten years later, when I returned to Xiajia Hull, the landscape had changed drastically. A large area of bungalows had long since disappeared, and what appeared in front of me was a green park with lush vegetation. Many citizens wandered around and took a leisurely stroll. The children wore roller boots and slid on the flat road, bursting into laughter.The scene from ten years ago no longer exists, and everything has faded into a dream.
In 2013, Hui Yi took the second professional examination of the Central Academy of Sciences. That year, Hui Yi only applied for the Central Academy of Sciences. She was desperate. There was no way out in this battle. After a year of hard training in
, all the technical problems have been solved. The test repertoire has been practiced repeatedly and it is close to perfect. It depends on the on-the-spot performance in the examination room.
After the Spring Festival in a hurry, he rushed to Beijing and found a house close to the east gate of the Central Academy. This was very convenient for attending classes before and during exams, and saved him the pain of traveling on the road. The distance from the rented dormitory to the Conservatory of Music is only four to five hundred meters, and you can walk there and back. Moreover, Teacher Tong has moved to , Daxing District, and now takes classes in the piano room of the college. After dinner every day, after a short break, Huiyi and I went for a half-hour walk on the campus of the Central Academy.
The rows of bungalows here are adjacent to Naoshikou Street . It used to be the family home of a printing factory, but now few people know its details. Each row of houses is arranged back-to-back facing north and south. The one we rented is on the shady side, and the landlord lives on the shady side. The house is very spacious, with two rooms inside and outside, and a kitchen. There is a water heater installed on the wall, so you can take a bath, but it is too cold in winter to wash it. In order to save electricity bills, the water heater was not turned on, so Xijun insisted on taking cold water baths.
found a piano store in Tianjin and shipped his piano over. The space in front of the door was narrow, so he reluctantly carried the piano into the house after disassembling the door. Everything is ready, let’s practice the piano quickly.
found a junior student from the piano department of the Central Academy of Sciences to come to the apartment to practice for an hour every day. I also found a fellow from Tianjin who graduated from the composition department to teach music theory every week.
There was still a week before the first test, but Huiyi fell ill. As the exam approaches, I play the piano for more than ten hours every day. In addition to eating and sleeping, I just play the piano. I play the exam repertoire hundreds of times, striving to be perfect. After playing the piano for a long time, I was under a lot of mental stress and my immunity was reduced. In addition, I went out to swim at night. I caught a cold on the way home, felt dizzy, had a fever, and lay down to sleep for a day. I went to the emergency room of Xuanwu Hospital in the evening and had a blood test. The doctor said there was nothing serious, just a cold. Go home, take medicine, sleep, drink more water and eat less. When Teacher Tong gave her the last lesson before the exam, Huiyi was weak because of a fever and played the music poorly. Teacher Tong was anxious and angry. How could you take the exam in such a state? The day before the initial test of
, Huiyi's cold symptoms miraculously disappeared completely as if by divine help. She quickly adjusted her condition and walked to the examination room full of energy. I passed the preliminary examination of
successfully and re-examined a week later. Every minute and every second was very precious. Xijun sat beside the piano stool to practice together. The mother and son polished the examination repertoire carefully, not missing a single note, especially the entire song. The artistic expression of the music. When taking Teacher Tong's class, she would not focus on technical details such as wrong sounds, fingerings, key touches, and use of pedals. Teacher Tong repeatedly emphasized that "music" was the key point. She told Huiyi that in the end, Good music is like a drop of fresh blood. On the day of the
exam, Hui Yi came to the examination room early and brought an electric heater to cover her hands. After entering the teaching building, check your admission ticket and ID card, then go to the concert hall on the tenth floor to prepare for the exam. Xijun wandered under the dry ginkgo tree on the east side of the teaching building, silently praying for his daughter in the cold wind. When Hui Yi walked out of the teaching building and walked toward us, she saw her daughter's bright smile and knew that she must have done well in the exam today. The results of the
retest were announced, and Hui Yi ranked second from the bottom. I suddenly felt panicked. At this time, a parent from Baoding came to accompany the exam and said that the re-examination list is arranged in descending order according to the test scores. Your child is great! When I heard this, I was so excited that I quickly called the mother and daughter to tell them. The subjects of the third test of
are music theory and sight-singing and ear training. Xijun played a few bars of the music score, while Huiyi modeled singing at the piano and wrote the score silently on the staff. Day after day, without interruption, it has become an indispensable homework every morning. If it is not accumulated over time, temporary attacks will have no effect. As long as the effort is deep and the iron pestle is ground into a needle, this is the basic skill of a musician. .
There were 75 candidates who applied for the piano department that year, 55 qualified for the re-examination, and 20 were planned to be admitted, including 2 who were exempted from the examination and recommended by the High School Affiliated to the Central Academy. Finally, 25 candidates who passed the re-examination competed for 18 places. The admission ratio Very low and competition is fierce. Each candidate's score is calculated by converting the three test scores according to a certain ratio to obtain a comprehensive score, from which the admission range is determined.
In mid-March, a hint of spring seems to be felt in the capital. The weather is gradually getting warmer. The willow branches beside the Fuxingmen Overpass have sprouted tender green buds, and the green peaches are already in bud, showing a soft spring color. , the cold winter is finally coming to an end.
The admission results of the Piano Department of the Central Academy of Sciences were announced, and Hui Yi was among them. After passing the professional examination, I quickly returned to Tianjin. There are still three months left to focus on reviewing middle school cultural knowledge and prepare to take the national college entrance examination in the summer. If the college entrance examination score does not meet the cultural class score of the music school, I will not be admitted. In the spring Professional exams will be a waste of all your previous efforts.
A few months later, I went to the west gate of the Central Academy of Sciences to check the admission results, and then walked from Fuxingmen to Beijing Railway Station, passing by Tiananmen Square. The sun filled the wide Chang'an Street, and there was a thriving scene everywhere.
Reading: Xirongxian Hutong, Dongzhiyi Hutong, Naoshikou Street and New Culture Street intersection
In the autumn of 2013, Huiyi went to school in Jinjing, and Xijun went to study with him. I rented in Xirongxian Hutong. There was a kitchen at the back door of the house, but there was no place for the fumes to be emitted, so Xijun still set up the stove outside the door to cook every day, and then moved the cooking utensils back into the house after cooking.
All classes in the school use a grand piano, and each student only has two hours of practice time per day, and it is difficult to make an appointment in the piano room when the final exam is approaching. Xijun went to a second-hand piano processing factory in Shunyi and bought an original Japanese Kawai grand piano. From then on, Huiyi was able to practice piano at home.
The house is located deep in a winding alley, and most of them are tenants from other places in Beijing. To the east is a middle school, and to the southwest is the detention center of the Public Security Bureau. There is a row of police cars parked at the entrance of the detention center, most of which are out-of-town vehicles. These police officers are also dining in a nearby small restaurant. Almost every day there are people shouting, loud and noisy in the shelter.
Such a noisy environment is good for us. The neighbors naturally have no objection to the sound of the piano. They can even set up the piano board and let the sound of the piano fly freely to the street.
The east wing is a small grocery store, but there is also a young couple living in it. There is only a double-decker iron bed in it, and there is almost no place to turn around. The couple usually get up in the middle of the night and go out to make a living, reportedly selling gold jewelry in the free market. One day after dinner, several police officers came and took them away. They were probably selling fake goods and suspected of fraud.
Xirongxian Hutong is adjacent to Xidan and about three kilometers away from the Central Conservatory of Music. Huiyi rides a bicycle to and from there. She only attends classes at the school and goes home to practice piano and eat at other times.
Opera was Hui's elective course. This may have been influenced by me, because I often listened to opera selections sung by Pavarotti and Sutherland at home, and bought many tapes and records. One night in midsummer, Hui Yi bought two opera tickets online, and we watched " Aida " together. The heroines in the first half were played by sopranos and Hui , enviable Indians. Conductor Zubin Mehta served as the band conductor, and the performance was very exciting.
Go east to Dongrongxian Hutong and you will arrive at the National Center for the Performing Arts. I roam under a tall ginkgo tree outside the south gate of Grand Theater every morning and evening. Sometimes we walk in a large circle around Zhongnanhai . It takes more than two hours to walk back. Along the way, we can admire the royal buildings with red walls and green tiles, as well as the color of the lake in the pond.
Xijun bought two sofas and used them as beds at night. Just after falling asleep at night, several mice began to run happily in the gaps under the wooden floor, squeaking and screaming. Xijun was prone to insomnia, so he couldn't fall asleep like this, so he had to find another place to sleep.
There is an alley very close to Naoshikou Street called Dongzhiyi Hutong.There are bungalows on both sides, most of which are self-built by old residents. The area is not too large, and most of them are rented out to outsiders. Xijun found a house in a small courtyard in this narrow alley. After putting down the piano, he could barely set up a folding bed . The east neighbor is where the landlord and his sister live, and the kitchen is on the west corner. The landlord said he could share it with him.
The landlord lives alone and drinks three meals a day. His face is red, his head is like a drunken jujube, and his cloudy eyes always look like he hasn't woken up. I heard from his sister that the daughter-in-law that my brother later married lived in the countryside of Huairou. She lived with her parents' family most of the time, and occasionally came back to the city to stay for a few days.
Just a few days after we moved in, the landlord repeatedly urged me to buy electricity. I felt something was a little strange. I carefully checked the power box in the corner of the house and found that there was a very thick cable passing through the wall and entering the landlord's room. It was a hidden wire. Trying to steal electricity, this must be connected to the electric heater. After turning off the power switch , the lights in the landlord's room and the kitchen were turned off at the same time, indicating that the circuits in the three rooms were connected to the electricity meter in the room where I lived. The ruse was exposed, and the drunkard became so angry that he even said that this was his family's house and he could connect the wires however he wanted, and he acted recklessly. How can
and such a scoundrel be neighbors? After living there for a month, I had to move out quickly.
This small courtyard at the intersection of Nao Shikou Street and Xin Wenhua Street is on the roadside of Nao Shikou Street. It has a single courtyard with two houses. There is also a bathroom in the courtyard. Outside the door is a row of tall and lush ginkgo trees on the street. The environment is elegant, and you can play the piano at any time without being disturbed by neighbors. In addition, across Naoshikou Street is the student dormitory building where Hui Yi lives and the newly built concert hall of the Central Academy.
A heavy rain in the summer caused many leaks on the roof, and a hole collapsed in a corner of the roof. I asked the landlord to repair it, but he kept delaying it. Later, I reported the situation to the city government's citizen service hotline. The staff at the housing management station contacted me the next day and immediately sent someone to repair it. The mother and daughter went to stay in a nearby hotel for a few days and came back after the house was repaired. While
was living here, Hui Yi graduated from University and took the postgraduate entrance examination at the end of the year. His cultural standards were met, but his professional achievements were not enough. After Xijun learned the results of the postgraduate entrance examination, he was filled with worry and anger. He stayed up late at night and lost his mind.
has no choice but to take the exam again next year. After listening to Teacher Tong’s suggestion, I changed my major to piano accompaniment. So, I transferred to Teacher Wang to continue my professional studies. Although I have graduated and left school, I still have to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination next year. I still go to the school's teaching building every week to take professional classes, and sometimes I also go to Teacher Wang's home. At the same time, Huiyi signed up to take classes at the School of Continuing Education of the Central Academy of Sciences, where she taught students who wanted to learn piano as part-time students. Sometimes she teaches a few piano boys in her apartment, and the income is not much, just enough for her own pocket money.
Going abroad: Changchun Street, Yuquanying Decoration City, Majialou, South Fourth Ring Road
The houses on Changchun Street are very spacious, with kitchens, gas tanks, and toilets, making life convenient. It used to be a supermarket, and there were still many shelves in it when we moved here. Next door to the south is a restaurant, which is open until midnight every day. The exhaust fan in the operation room makes a continuous noisy roar. At dawn, gas cylinders are delivered, which happen to be loaded and unloaded in front of my house. The cylinders make a banging sound every day. We woke up.
Xijun went to Xianghe and bought a pair of fabric sofas and a utility cabinet. He also brought back an oil painting, which showed a bouquet of blooming flowers.
The room is too big and only has one set of heating packs. It is still a bit cold in the winter. Huiyi sleeps soundly in bed next to the heater every night, while Xijun still sleeps on the sofa. After
moved to Changchun Street, they prepared intensively for the postgraduate entrance examination. However, Teacher Wang suggested studying abroad for graduate school. She believed that studying for graduate school in China was not very valuable, and there were so many people applying for the steel partner major that everyone was queuing up, and if they didn’t get their turn in one year, they would have to wait another year.
Studying abroad for graduate school is not easy, but at this time I have no choice but to take this path.
chose two conservatories, Emperor's and Birmingham, , both of which happened to have enrollment points in Beijing.In accordance with the professional admissions requirements, I prepared the repertoire, practiced repeatedly, prepared carefully, and successfully passed the professional test. Due to my outstanding performance in the performance, both schools agreed to admit me on the spot, and both gave me the highest standard scholarship of 9,000 pounds. The next step is to cope with the study and examination of IELTS . I found an English training institution in Chongwenmen and took one-on-one classes, mainly to learn IELTS answering skills. Because English courses were ignored in middle schools and universities, the foundation was very weak. It was too late to learn the courses step by step. I could only Look for shortcuts. In three months, Huiyi stopped playing the piano and concentrated on solving key problems. She studied IELTS courses day and night, filled in previous IELTS test papers, explored the rules of answering questions, and became familiar with the test methods. She got a good score of 5.0 in the first time she took the test. score.
The admissions staff of Birmingham Conservatorium of Music replied that an IELTS score of 5.0 would be enough for admission. Huiyi was a little tempted. She probably didn't have enough confidence in getting a score of 6.0. Xijun insisted that it would be better to go to King Kong and work harder to choose the best school. Afterwards, I took the test twice, and both scores were 5.5. Three months later, my score finally reached 6.0, which meets the language requirements for a visa to the UK. What followed was an excruciating time. Although it was only two or three months, it felt very long, and I spent every day with uneasiness.
finally got an offer from RAM, the Royal Academy of Music. After a while, I received CAS from the school and started preparations for applying for a visa. When I finally got the visa in hand, I was so excited that I hurriedly took it home to show it to Xijun and share my daughter's happiness together. At this time, my daughter was in Xuzhou, because the pianist of the Central Orchestra was ill, so she found Huiyi as a substitute, and she went to perform with the orchestra.
The next step is a relaxing and good time, booking a flight to England, preparing the items to bring, spending a month leisurely, waiting for the departure moment.
Huiyi got the RAM admission notice and stopped taking studies and exams. The rent on Changchun Street was too high, so she moved to Yuquanying Decoration City on the South Third Ring Road.
This place is close to the Yuquanying overpass. It is the backyard of Decoration City. It is a large yard with a row of bungalows and a patch of poplars . The wind blows and the environment is pleasant. A dozen steps outside the door is the wall, and outside the wall is the railway. Trains pass by day and night, and long whistles are sounded from time to time. All the people passing by this railway are ordinary passengers and trucks, while in the south of the decorative city are intercity trains. The wind was blowing fast, and the roar of a speeding train could be heard from time to time.
Most of the tenants are people doing business in the decoration city. When they saw us moving in, the neighbors came over to say hello and asked what my business was. When they learned that we were accompanying students, they all said, "It's not easy to just spend money and not make money." There is a Jingdezhen porcelain shop in the city, and Xijun found a pair of blue and white porcelain vases and two general jars from there. Move it home and put it on the piano for viewing.
Decoration City Flower Market opened. In our free time, we crossed the overpass and went to the flower market across the bridge to enjoy the flowers. I once bought a handful of seven or eight Lucky Bamboo , with green leaves and green leaves, full of life. Unfortunately, in winter, the room was cold, and the Bamboo was frozen to death.
After a heavy rain in summer, the water in the courtyard could not be drained out, and suddenly it became a vast ocean, and people had to wade in and out. There were frequent water and power outages, but power outages were easy to deal with. They were just the refrigerator out of service, and there wasn't much food in the refrigerator anyway. The weather is hot, but water is indispensable. Whenever there was a water outage, I would carry a bucket and go to the courtyard of the city to get water.
lived in this small courtyard for a year, and the rent had to be increased, so he finally looked for another place.
After Huiyi went to England, Xijun was the only one left to live in the capital. He moved to Qingxiucheng community near the Majialou overpass. This place belongs to Huangtugang, Huaxiang, Fengtai District. To the north is Caoqiao subway station, and to the south is Caoqiao subway station. Half of the residents in Xinfadi Agricultural Products Market are migrant workers from other places in Beijing.
It is convenient to live here. I ride to Xinfadi Market to buy non-staple food and fruits. The items are rich and cheap, which saves daily expenses. In front of the door is a fitness equipment court, where you can exercise every morning and evening.A group of children played and cheered. Across the road is Qingxiucheng Park, which is full of plants and trees. Strolling through it is relaxing. Going further, you can roam in the park of Caoqiao , climb the mounds, wander the winding paths, and enjoy the seasonal changes of flowers and trees in the four seasons. Spring flowers and autumn moon, butterflies dancing gracefully and birds chirping, are quite interesting.
Since there is still a piano, Xijun will guard it and wait for Huiyi to return and continue playing. That swallow that flies across the ocean and flies far away, when will it return after learning?
Ten years are fleeting and time flies.
Comments on this issue 1:
Chen Yueban
Two recent works on the subject of Beidiao were selected into the "Star of the Week" column of the original channel of China Writers Network. "The Old Man Who Drifted to Beipiao" tells the story of an old man from other provinces who adapts to metropolitan life and how he adapts to it. Free, "House Hunting in Beijing" records the story of Hui Yi, a young piano student, who went to Beijing to study art. The two novels have different focuses. The former has a rarer perspective, revealing the real corner of the spiritual wanderings of the elderly; the latter focuses on studies, ideals, parents' expectations, trivial difficulties, and the incomprehensible nature of human nature...
Please allow me to make something up front: the morning I read "House Hunting in Beijing", I had just returned to my residence from outside, recharged the electricity bill for the prepaid electricity card, and then inserted it into the rickety meter box on the outer wall. A second later, the beeping of the arrears alarm that lasted all night suddenly stopped. I felt relieved and was stunned by the dull silence. Then I turned around and entered the room, watching the high-priced purified water that had filtered out the astringent smell. Bring to boil.
This may be the daily routine that every young person living in the North has had. Normally, I would not be depressed by this, but this morning, I was temporarily paused by Hui Yi’s fate. Hui Yi is similar to us, accepting pressure, holding back complaints, turning to many teachers, and finding the meaning of life in Mi Zhu Xin Gui. Her piano teacher, Teacher Tong, is very knowledgeable and believes that although detailed performance techniques are important, they are not the core of the proposition. Those mispronouncements, fingerings, key touches, and the use of pedals are of little significance compared to the key to the problem - "She The repeated emphasis is on 'music'. She said to Hui Yi that the best music is like a drop of fresh blood. "Perhaps on purpose, the author did not focus on how this drop of blood takes shape and becomes alive." On the book, what is highlighted is the perspective of my mother Xijun. Each of the nine houses she has rented has its own story. While I was reading, I searched for the locations and distances of these alleys and courtyards on the map. It was really not easy - in the past ten years, the family had been fighting in and out of the west side of the capital several times, and the daughter's pain was ultimately the eyes of her parents. tears.
In a sense, Hui Yi is luckier than most people. She received all the support from her family in the process of growing up. She stayed in the capital for ten years, and her parents accompanied her throughout the whole process. After graduating from university, she was able to study abroad with the support of love. This is a beautiful era for Hui Yi. She can bend her dreams as much as possible and temporarily turn her back on the price of her dreams. But reality is often cruel, especially after accepting the romantic illusion of "art", cruel thunderstorms often choose to come with a vengeance. Hui Yi's understanding of that drop of "fresh blood" is rarely mentioned in the novel. All we know is that she passed exams again and again. She was very diligent and did not let anyone down. However, I'm afraid the real test has yet to come, when this swallow that has traveled across the ocean has learned its lesson and returns home, dismantling the piano and dismantling the door frame while continuing to search for a house - "all fixed and rigid relationships and their The corresponding concepts and opinions that have always been revered have been eliminated, and all newly formed relationships will become obsolete before they can be fixed. "The reshaping and challenges of daily life to Huiyi will be revealed at that time, and the modern individual will be revealed. The experience can only be truly completed in the transient urban life. "House Hunting in the Capital" is a story about the tossing and turning of the Xijun generation, and it may also be an ordinary prophecy of the Huiyi generation buried in the bustling city.
Of course, facing the shocking whirlpool of modernity, one must maintain constant patience. Please let us bless her for the future, and hope that her piano sound can be as clear and complete as Teacher Tong's: "Like mountains and rivers, smooth and free, and like rolling waves, passionate and shocking to the soul."
Comment 2 for this issue:
Lu Jing
Starting from Looking for a House,
Ten years are fleeting.
The past memories of Huiyi persevering in learning the piano, and her family devoting their efforts to accompany them to read, are like a spring plum, with a lingering fragrance. Xijun concentrates on sparring every day, studying so deeply that he can't even sleep. In order to save money, the mother in the shabby room insists on taking cold water baths in the cold winter and buying discounted bread in the evening. The parents also spend nights together. The sofa that squirms under the floor has been immersed in the good news of the Central Conservatory of Music, and has been moved nine times for some reasons. In the sojourn life of being like a fish in water, knowing whether it is warm or not, the author's writing is sharp and rebuking at the same time. Undesirable phenomena, such as the smell of brass and indifference at the sewer outlet.
In fact, looking at the uploads of Zhang Sushan, who embraced philosophy, the memories are not just about his daughter learning piano, but also lead to relatives and the place where he lived in the army. Valley, and even a small cotinus in my university career, I want to return my soul to my hometown. "Especially during the season of pawn planting, you can't imagine not seeing wheat in the fields of your hometown. If there is no wheat, you will be with the earth." If you sink, you will be lost and at a loss. "Thinking back and forth, realizing it thoroughly, dismantling the magic thread of time, and realizing the perfection and sublimation of life step by step.
Sure enough, the author who explores the true meaning of life can be called an infatuated person viewing the mountain "In one day, I saw I’ve seen all kinds of mountain scenery, but I’ll never tire of it. If you know the mountains, you should also laugh at my infatuation, right? "
The characteristics accumulated by traditional Chinese culture make the plant imagery very rich. Zhang Sushan walked past a tree, a poplar, a willow, a vine, and a micro leaf in early winter. In the cause and effect of the cycle of all things, it was like listening to the words of relatives and the blood. Being more integrated into the wheat fields of my hometown, "I have become a simple and unpretentious wheat tree, and the fate of the wheat is your destiny." In Tibet, it seems that I have become a highland barley "closest to the sun". The skylark flies by. Determined to analyze the principles of all things and judge the beauty of heaven and earth.
Along with the sound of exploring the historical and cultural tunnels, Zhang Sushan left 17 travel notes for the original channel. , writes that busy people often forget to look for a ladder to go up to the roof for viewing, and quickly leads us to the roof of the world. With his always good artistic sense, he opens a heart-stirring picture, like looking up at the sky. The Himalayas, which are always silent, and the two sections of the Brahmaputra River dancing hand in hand with the mountains, reveal his broad vision, heroic spirit and broad mind. He traveled north and south, talked about the past and the present, became inspired by the scenery, and expressed his views on the historical changes, politics and military affairs. Various opinions. In some parts of
, the appeal of the text needs to be enhanced, and clichés are used. With the author's thoughtfulness and careful observation, he can write with more originality and let the great ones fly to the horizon. The subtle ones are pervasive, diverse and profound.
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Learn more about Zhang Sushan's personal works
Past recommendations:
Star of the Week | Liu Rong: Essays about the Village
Star of the Week | Wang Jiangang: The Old Man in Beidiao
Star of the Week | Dong Xinpan: Secret Medicine (Poetry)
Star of the Week | Bodhi Blossoms: Bright Things (Five Poems)
Star of the Week | Yang Fan: Snail Post Office
Star of the Week | Tashi Cairang: Them (Excerpt)
Star of the Week | Clay Text: and the Night Sky Six opposite poems
Star of the Week | Pisces: Old Stories from Yimeng
Star of the Week | Luo Guoxiong: Recalling Lotus Under the Moon (Poetry)
Star of the Week | Gangjie Suomudong: Double Ninth Festival (Two Poems)
Star of the Week | Mirror Commandment: The camel that strayed into the forest
Star of the week | Lubei Mingyue: Walking along the blind road
Star of the week | Zhang Manchang: Attack in the middle of the night
Star of the week | He Junxiong: The adolescence of crops (poems)
Star of the week | Xishou: Glass, ruins and Other
Star of the Week | Ren Lu: Give me a cigarette
Star of the Week | Mao Yinpeng: Moments from the World
Star of the Week | Mu Yu: About Susie (Excerpt)
Star of the Week | Zhongming: The Purple Smoke of Iron (Poetry)
Star of the Week | Ye Lao: Philosophy of Waves (Nine Poems)
Star of the Week | Liu Qinghua: "The Son Returns to Zigui·Drunk Gourd" series of essays
Star of the Week | Lin Shuo: The Hundredth Head Shaving
Editor: Deng Jiechan
Second Review: Liu Ya
Third review: Chen Tao, Wang Yang
