wu qiaofeng: steak from the south
2024-09-26
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my best friend from high school, nan jin, later became an ornithologist. nan jin became seriously ill overseas and returned to shanghai ten years later. his condition recurred and he ended up in a wheelchair.
when he was in his forties, his wife, who was also a biologist, wanted to invite nan jin to taste steak at a michelin-starred restaurant. he was very interested. unfortunately, the door curtain of this restaurant stood on 20 steps. without the help of several strong men, it would be difficult to enter in a wheelchair. nan jin refused to be carried to the restaurant.
the wife did not try to persuade him, but she still did not give up. she learned that the bar back to back with the restaurant was equipped with a mini elevator. she went to check it out and found that after the wheelchair went up, there was still no external route to the western restaurant. she sat on a high chair sipping a drink, and a small bulge on the trousers was the tape measure in her pocket. she had figured out that after removing the wall panel of the bar, the side dish room of the western restaurant next door was behind it, and the wheelchair could reach the dining space from there.
she knew that she would be misunderstood as ignoring the interests of others, but she still wanted to try. when negotiating with the two owners, she did not care too much about the cost of temporarily demolishing the wall, nor did she complain. she looked sincere and calm, and her request was finally granted.
after the meal, nan jin returned in his wheelchair. he knew that envious eyes were coming from everywhere. his face was slightly radiant, and he stroked his wife's hand on his shoulder. when he passed the junction of the two stores, the wheelchair made a thump. looking back, he saw the workers immediately began to restore the wall panels. nan jin smiled. this faint smile was very much like the steak just now, with a complex taste that did not need to be concealed, even though it was dotted with tempting rosemary.
i asked nan jin on the phone how well-done he wanted his steak. he told me and said that he was thinking about the incident in middle school and asked me to find the other protagonist.
when i was in middle school, nan jin and i walked the same road, sat at the same table, and had lunch together for four years. in secret, we compared ourselves with each other. once we saw something good in the other that we didn't have, we wouldn't say it out loud, but would silently admire and learn from it. i have only had one or two such friendships in my life.
i was an eyewitness to the incident that nan jin was referring to. he still couldn't forget the grudge from more than 30 years ago, and even wanted to reconcile with the person involved. some people care more about some trivial grudges that everyone has almost forgotten than ordinary people; those people may have known their return date.
before the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination was announced, the life of middle school students was empty and scattered. in those years, a large amount of chinese and foreign literature was falsely accused of being pornographic, which in turn stimulated young readers to develop abnormal reading and searching habits. that day, whether in class or during breaks, nan jin never raised his head. he read a tattered book without recognizing anyone, which was feng deying's novel "bitter cabbage flowers". at that time, it was identified as the first of feng's "three flowers" of pornographic novels.
nan jin's concentration was soon discovered by a classmate nicknamed "wan wan lun". he was called "wan wan lun" because there was a "wan" in his name. his bones developed early and he was the main center of the school basketball team. his semi-adult physique and mind gave him many advantages. for example, to summarize how music at that time expressed suffering, "wan wan lun"'s golden sentence was - "when the erhu was played, the old society came." most students could not associate and express it so humorously.
the "10,000-ton ship" would not let nan jin go. he demanded in a very oppressive manner that nan jin lend him "bitter herbs" for one night, but nan jin declined for various reasons.
"wan wan lun" and i were both on the school basketball team, and nan jin was a member of the school fencing team. that day, after school, the basketball team finished their routine training. i saw "wan wan lun" hurriedly putting on his sleeves and running all the way to the gymnastics room. when i arrived, he and nan jin were already arguing at the door of the gymnastics room. i heard nan jin say, "really, the borrower took the book away." wan said, "bullshit, impossible." as he said that, he started to check nan jin's schoolbag, but there was nothing. the three of us walked towards the school gate together. nan jin seemed to be restraining his pride, while wan felt very depressed.
suddenly, "ten thousand wheels" picked up a book without a cover on the ground, and his eyes immediately lit up. it was the book "bitter cabbage flower" that slipped out of nan jin's military pants. it was obvious that the book was first inserted into nan jin's waist, and then it came loose. nan jin rushed forward in anger and a fierce scuffle was inevitable. i heard nan jin say to "ten thousand wheels": "you should be more calm, and don't you think about why i don't want to lend it to you."
in the end, both of them had clouds of cotton wool stuffed in their nostrils, and watched in frustration as bitter cabbage flowers was confiscated by the school. the beginning of their breakup was in the spring of 1975.
one saturday in 2005, mrs. nan jin called and said, "come and see him." so i went, knowing that this was most likely a farewell.
his wife led me to nanjin's bed at home and then left.
i brought a chair and sat down close to nan jin. i put my right hand on the back of his hand. this was the first time we had put our hands together since we met. on his expressionless face, there were two eyes that were almost motionless. two weeks ago, he could no longer speak. a line of tears flowed quietly from his right eye socket. i couldn't say a word. this was a real conversation, about life and death and other things.
five days later, nan jin passed away.
i tried, but failed to make him reconcile with "ten thousand wheels". in the few days of his last years, nan jin was more affectionate than most people. i didn't understand the reason, and wanted to ask him, but he was gone. for a long time, the eager eyes of "ten thousand wheels" hoping to get the "bitter cabbage flower" and the last tears of nan jin often appeared in front of me.
those were the eyes of 1975 and the tears of 2005. (wu qiaofeng)
