Li Shu: Shanghai Girl
2024-08-08
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Only love can heal suffering, and only kindness can breed such love.
After getting Chen Chong’s new book “Cat and Fish”, I didn’t go out for several days as I was fascinated by it.
Chen Chong's writing is calming. I quickly got into it, like I was in my childhood summer vacation again. The slightly damp wooden floor had just been wiped by my mother. The electric fan was shaking gently. A little bit of bright ice was waiting for me in the blue-rimmed porcelain bowl. The smell of vanilla came with the swing of the electric fan, with a faint sweetness and a little temptation. But I know that if I can't resist this temptation and eat it all at once, I will face endless emptiness in the afternoon. Although this emptiness is bound to come, I would rather resist a little at this moment, when the fragrance floats into my nose. Only in this way can I prolong this sweetness for a little longer. Just like reading this book, I don't want to finish it.
Before we knew Chen Chong's writings, we were more familiar with Chen Chong as an actress. I still remember the first time I watched the movie "Little Flower". It seemed like it was a Sunday, and I watched it with my parents. The Radio and Television Weekly was flipped through that day, and my father checked the time when "Little Flower" was broadcast again and again. He couldn't miss it, even the opening credits, because Chen Chong was in the opening credits.
I don't remember the plot of the movie anymore. It was about Tang Guoqiang looking for his sister. Chen Chong was the fake sister and Liu Xiaoqing was the real sister. I think this movie is not suitable for children to watch, especially the scene where Liu Xiaoqing was kneeling and carrying a stretcher with blood all over her knees. It was really scary for me. But my father didn't care about it. He didn't even teach me to "never forget the revolutionary ancestors" during this scene. When Chen Chong appeared in the scene, he showed a special warmth. Generally speaking, my mother would express contempt at this time, but she didn't. She obviously agreed with the smile on my father's face. It was not until much later that I realized that it was a sweet memory they had in their youth. But at that time, I said a little unconvincedly that I thought Liu Xiaoqing played well. And my mother's answer was, you will know when you grow up. Chen Chong's beauty can only be known by grown-ups.
I have to say that the movie "Little Flower" really opened my eyes. When I watched "Titanic" later, I saw the scene where the hero and heroine were holding hands and spinning around. The first thing I thought of was, isn't this the scene when Chen Chong and Tang Guoqiang reunited? And I did not realize Chen Chong's beauty until I watched "Red Rose and White Rose" later. It was a kind of coquettishness, a kind of foolishness, but the foundation was sad, a kind of fragile sadness.
Stills from the movie "Little Flower" starring Chen Chong
After reading the first chapter of "Cat and Fish" "The Old House on Pingjiang Road", I understand that Chen Chong's beauty is unique to Shanghai girls——
A girl whom everyone calls "sister" appeared in front of me, lying on the window in a daze. Spring, summer, autumn and winter, no one knows what she is waiting for, what she is thinking about - those long afternoons... ——"Catfish"
Only Shanghainese people would call a little girl like this, just like Jia Baoyu calling Lin Daiyu in Dream of the Red Chamber. When you hear the words "Sister" on the radio, you need to have a little pity and appreciation to know how good Shanghainese girls are. Shanghainese girls are coquettish, but if you think Shanghainese girls are only coquettish, you are totally wrong. Girls have dreams in their hearts. Some dreams are for a bright future, and some dreams are for a peaceful life. Some girls chatter, and some girls are silent, but dreams are always there and will not disappear so easily. Even if the girls have white hair on their heads and wrinkles on their faces, it will not change. This is the character of Shanghainese girls. Sweetness is their face, but their core is hard. Even if there are cracks and they can be broken, they will never compromise.
Chen Chong is a representative of this kind of Shanghai girl. So she would describe the memory as "the soft concave mark on the pillow after separation". She saw the golden ring wiped with flannel flashing in the sun. Her grandmother said that this "symbolized that they belonged to each other from now on". In those words, she was full of enthusiasm and did not escape her ideal - love. Although this is an emotion that has been ridiculed in modern times, Chen Chong still praises it and believes in it.
Where does this sense of belief come from? I also found the answer in "Cat and Fish". When her father was at his lowest point, her mother walked over and said to him: "Don't tell me! Don't worry, no matter how they beat you, I will only marry you!" Yes, only love can heal suffering, and only kindness can breed such love. And such kindness was once firmly rooted in the hearts of many Shanghai girls.
In "Cat and Fish", natural beauty is concrete, both in people and in words. (Li Shu)
