The Complete Works of Lu Xun's Novels

Chapter 11

At this moment, his thoughts swirled in his mind like a whirlwind again.Four years ago, he met a hungry wolf at the foot of the mountain, and he followed him at a distance, wanting to eat his flesh.He was so frightened that he almost died, but luckily he had a hatchet in his hand, which gave him the courage to support him all the way to Weizhuang. But he will always remember those wolf eyes, fierce yet cowardly, gleaming like two will-o'-the-wisps, as if From a distance, it penetrated his flesh.And this time he saw the most terrifying eyes that he had never seen before, blunt and sharp, not only chewing his words, but also chewing his flesh and blood, always following him at a distance.

These eyes seemed to be connected together, already biting his soul there.

"Help,……"

Ah Q, however, did not say anything.His eyes had already turned black, and there was a buzzing in his ears, and he felt his whole body explode like fine dust.

As for the impact at that time, the biggest one was Master Juren, because the stolen goods were finally not recovered, and his whole family was wailing.Next is the Zhao Mansion, where a non-special scholar had his pigtails cut off by the bad revolutionaries because he went to the city to report to officials, and he spent another [-] rewards, so the whole family wailed.From this day on, they all gradually smelled old.

As for public opinion, there was no disagreement in Weizhuang. Naturally everyone said that Ah Q was bad, and being shot was evidence of his badness: if he wasn't bad, why was he shot?But the public opinion in the city is not good, most of them are dissatisfied, thinking that shooting is not as good-looking as beheading; and what a ridiculous death row prisoner he is. Follow up.

This article was serialized in Beijing's "Morning News Supplement" from December [-], [-] to February [-], [-], published once a week or every other week, signed by Ba Ren.

dragon boat festival

Fang Xuanchuo likes to say the word "almost" recently, almost like a "mantra"; and not only said it, but it is also entrenched in his mind.What he said at first was "all the same", but later he probably felt that it was not appropriate, so he changed it to "almost", which has been used until now.

Since he discovered this ordinary aphorism, although he has aroused many new emotions, he has also received many new comforts.For example, seeing the elders oppressing the young, one would be angry at first, but now he thinks that when the young man has children and grandchildren in the future, he will probably put on airs like this, so there is no more injustice.Another example is when seeing a soldier beating a coachman, he would have been angry at first, but now he has changed his mind and said, if the coachman becomes a soldier and the soldier pulls the cart, he will probably just beat him like this, and he doesn't care about it anymore.When he thinks like this, he sometimes suspects that it is because he does not have the courage to fight against the evil society, so he deliberately created a way of escape without knowing it, which is very close to the "heart of right and wrong", and it is far better to correct it. good.However, this opinion always grew in his mind.

The first time he announced this "almost" was in the lecture hall of Beijing Shoushan School. At that time, he probably mentioned something about history, so he said that "people from ancient to modern are not far from each other" and that people of all colors are equal. "Sex similarity" finally involved students and bureaucrats, and they made a lot of comments:
"Nowadays it is fashionable in society to scold bureaucrats, and students scold bureaucrats especially well. However, bureaucrats are not born with a special race, they are born from ordinary people. Nowadays, there are many bureaucrats who are born as students. How are they different from old bureaucrats? "It's the same if you change places" ②, there is no big difference in the abundance of ideas, speeches and actions... Even many new businesses started by student groups have inevitably suffered from problems, and most of them have disappeared? It's almost the same. But the future of China That's all there is to worry about..."

Some of the more than 20 listeners sitting in the lecture hall were disappointed, or thought that the words were right; It was he who defended himself: because Fang Xuanchuo also worked as a bureaucrat.

But it's all wrong.This is just his new injustice; even though it is injustice, it is just a kind of peaceful empty talk.Although he didn't know whether it was because of laziness or uselessness, he felt that he was a very law-abiding person who didn't want to exercise.The chief accused him of being insane, so as long as his status was not shaken, he would never speak up; the teacher's salary was more than half a year in arrears, and as long as he was not supported by an official salary, he would never speak up.Not only did he not open his mouth, but when the teachers joined forces to ask for salary, he secretly thought that he was too yelling and inconsiderate; it was only when he heard his colleagues ridiculing them too much that he felt a little bit emotional. , and other officials do not also serve as teachers, so I feel relieved.

Although he was also short of money, he never joined the teacher's group. Everyone decided to strike, but he stopped going to class.The government said that "the money is only given after the class", so he hated their kind of tricks like playing monkeys with fruits; a great educator① said that "it is not noble for a teacher to hold a schoolbag in one hand and ask for money in the other", so he officially issued a statement to his wife. Grumble.

"Hey, why are there only two plates?" He said while looking at the vegetables during the dinner that day after listening to the "Not Noble Talk".

They have no new education, and the wife has no scientific name or nickname, so there is no need to address them. Although they can also be called "Mrs." according to the old practice, but he does not want to be too old-fashioned, so he invented the word "Hi". .The wife didn't even say "hello" to him, as long as she spoke to him, according to the customary law, he knew that the words were addressed to him.

"But [-]% of what I received last month is gone... yesterday's rice was bought on credit with great difficulty." Yi stood by the table and said to him.

"Look, it's also said that it's despicable for a teacher to ask for a salary. This kind of thing doesn't even know that people need food, rice needs rice to cook, and rice needs money to buy..."

"That's right. How to buy rice without money, how to cook without rice..."

His cheeks puffed up, as if he was annoyed that the answer was "about the same" as his argument, almost echoing; then he turned his head to the other side, which according to the customary law, was a sign to announce the end of the discussion.

On this cold and rainy day, the teachers were beaten to death by the national army in the mud in front of the Xinhua Gate because they had asked the government for unpaid wages.Fang Xuanchuo took the money without lifting a finger, and repaid some old debts, but he was still short of a large sum of money, because the official salary was also in arrears.At that time, even the honest and upright officials began to think that their salaries must be demanded, and Fang Xuanchuo, who was also a teacher, naturally became more sympathetic to the academic world, so when everyone advocated continuing the strike, although he was not there yet, Afterwards, he was particularly convinced and did abide by the public's decision.

However, the government paid again, and the school started.But a few days ago, a student union submitted a letter to the government, saying that "teachers will have to pay back wages if they don't attend classes." Although this was not effective, Fang Xuanchuo suddenly remembered what the government said before: " When he said that the money is only paid after class", the shadow of "almost" appeared in front of his eyes again, and it did not disappear, so he announced it in the lecture hall.

Based on this, it can be seen that if we weave together the training of "almost the same theory", it can naturally be judged as a selfish injustice, but it cannot be said to be an excuse for being an official for oneself.It's just that at these times, he often likes to bring up issues such as China's future destiny. If he is not careful, he even thinks that he is a person with lofty ideals who cares about the country; people always suffer from not having "self-knowledge".

But the "almost" fact happened again. Although the government only ignored the troublesome teachers at the beginning, it later ignored the irrelevant officials. Quite a few of them turned into heroes in the salary-demand meeting.Only a few kinds of daily newspapers published some disparaging and ridiculing texts.Fang Xuanchuo was not surprised and didn't mind, because based on his "almost theories", he knew that it was because the journalists hadn't been short of pens. If the government or rich people stopped their subsidies, most of them would There is going to be a meeting.

Since he expressed his sympathy for the teacher's demand for salary, he naturally agreed with his colleague's demand for salary. However, he still sat in the yamen, and did not go to collect debts together as usual.As for some people suspecting that he is aloof, that is nothing more than a misunderstanding.He himself said that since he was born, only people have asked him for debts, and he has never asked anyone for debts, so this end is "not his specialty".Moreover, he dare not meet people who hold the power of scriptures and economics. When such people lose their power, when they hold a copy of "Mahayana Awakening of Faith" ① to talk about Buddhism, they are of course very "kind and amiable". That's right, but when he was still on the throne, he always had the face of Hades, treating others as slaves, and thinking that he had the power of life and death for you poor boys.He therefore dared not see them, nor did he wish to see them.This kind of temper, although sometimes even I think it is arrogant, but at the same time I often suspect that it is actually incompetent.

Everyone scrambled left and right, and finally got through one by one, but compared to before, Fang Xuanchuo was extremely poor after all, so needless to say, the servants he used and the shopkeepers who traded were Mrs. Fang who treated him well. He also gradually lacked respect, as long as Yi recently didn't agree very much, and often put forward original opinions and some abrupt actions, it can be understood.Before noon on the fourth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, as soon as he came back, Yi stuffed a stack of bills in front of his nose, which was not usual.

"A total of 180 yuan is enough to spend... Have you sent it?" Yi said without looking at him.

"Hmph, I won't be an official tomorrow. I got the check for the money, but the representatives of the salary claim meeting didn't give it out. First they said that they didn't send it to those who didn't go with them, and then they said they wanted to go to them to kiss them." Collar. They just held the check today, and they changed the face of Hades. I am really afraid to see... I don’t want money, and I don’t want to be an official. Such infinite humiliation..."

Seeing this rare indignation, Mrs. Fang was a little taken aback, but she also calmed down.

"I think it's better to go and get it personally, what is this?" Yi said, looking at his face.

"I won't go! This is an official salary, not a reward. As usual, it should be sent by the accounting department."

"But so what if you don't send it... Oh, I forgot to mention it last night. The children said that the school has urged them several times for the tuition fee, saying that if they don't pay it..."

"Nonsense! I don't even pay for my work and teaching, but my son asks for money to study a few books?"

Yi felt that he was no longer scruples about reasoning, and seemed to want to vent his anger on himself as the principal, and if he couldn't do it, he stopped talking.

The two ate lunch in silence.He thought for a while, then went out annoyed.

As usual, in recent years, every festival or the day before the end of the year, he must not go home until twelve o'clock at night. As he walked, he took out his arms and shouted loudly, "Hey, here's the !” So ​​he handed Yi a stack of brand-new CCCC tickets①, with a rather smug look on his face.Who knew that the fourth day of the junior high school was an exception, and he came home before seven o'clock.Mrs. Fang was very surprised, thinking that he had resigned, but she secretly looked at his face, but she didn't see any particularly unlucky expression.

"What's wrong?... so early?..." Yi looked at him and said.

"I can't send it in time, I can't get it, the bank is closed, and I have to wait for the eighth day."

"Professional?..." Yi asked anxiously.

"The level of personal delivery has also been cancelled. I heard that the accounting department will still deliver. But the bank has closed its doors today and will rest for three days. We have to wait until the morning of the eighth day." He sat down and looked at the ground. After taking a sip of tea, he said slowly, "Fortunately, there are no problems in the yamen, and you will be rich by about the eighth day... It is really troublesome to borrow money from irrelevant relatives and friends. I bite the bullet and went looking for Jin Yongsheng in the afternoon. After talking for a while, he first complimented me for not asking for salary and refusing to receive it in person. He is very noble and a person should do this; when he knows that I want to accommodate him for 50 Yuan, as if I stuffed a lot of salt in his mouth, wrinkling wherever there is a wrinkle on his face, saying how the rent can't be paid, how the business is losing money, and in front of his colleagues. It's nothing to get the money, and it sent me out immediately."

"Who is willing to lend money for such an urgent matter?" Mrs. Fang only said lightly, without any emotion.

Fang Xuanchuo lowered his head, thinking that this was not surprising, besides, he and Jin Yongsheng were very estranged.Then he remembered the events of last year's New Year's Eve, when a fellow villager came to borrow ten yuan, and he had obviously received the receipt of the money from the yamen at that time, because he was afraid that this person might not pay back the money in the future, so he pretended With a look of embarrassment, he said that since the yamen couldn't receive the salary and the school didn't pay the salary, there was really "nothing to help", so he sent him away empty-handed.Although he didn't see what kind of face he was putting on, he felt very embarrassed at this moment, his lips moved slightly, and he shook his head again.

However, not long after, he suddenly had a sudden realization and issued an order: Tell the servant to go to the street immediately to credit a bottle of lotus white.He knew that the shopkeepers wanted to pay more tomorrow, so they would probably dare not refuse credit. If they did not credit, they would not pay back a penny tomorrow, which was the punishment they deserved.

Lianhuabai actually came on credit, he drank two cups, his blue-white face flushed, and after eating, he was quite happy again, he lit a large Hardman cigarette, and grabbed a copy from the table. "Experimental Collection" ① come and read it while lying in bed.

"Then how are we going to deal with the store tomorrow?" Mrs. Fang chased after him, standing in front of the bed and looking at his face.

"Store?... Teach them to come in the second half of the eighth day."

"I can't say that. They don't believe it, they don't agree."

"If you don't believe it. They can ask. No one in the whole yamen has received it. They all have the eighth day!" He drew a semicircle in the air in the tent with his second finger, and Mrs. Fang followed her finger to look at it. After turning a semicircle, I saw this hand and opened the "Experimental Collection".

Mrs. Fang saw that he was being overbearing beyond reason, so she couldn't speak for the time being.

"I don't think this situation can continue. I have to find a way and do something else in the future..." Yi finally found another way and said.

"What method? I'm not like a copyist, and I'm not like a firefighter." What else do I do?"

"Didn't you write articles for Shanghai bookstores?"

"A bookstore in Shanghai? You need to count the characters one by one when buying manuscripts, and the spaces are not counted. Look at the vernacular poems I write there, how many blanks are there, I'm afraid it's only worth [-] yuan a book. The copyright tax is collected every six months and six months. There is no news, 'far water cannot save near fire', who is impatient."

"Then, to the newspaper office here..."

"To the newspaper? It's a big newspaper here. I rely on a student who works as an editor there. This is the money for a thousand words. Even if it lasts from morning to night, can it support you? Besides I don’t have so many articles in my stomach.”

"So, what about the holidays?"

"Has the festival been over?—Still working as an official...tomorrow the store will come to ask for money, you just need to talk about the afternoon of the eighth day of the lunar new year."

He's going to watch "The Attempts" again.Afraid of missing the opportunity, Mrs. Fang hastily said:

"I think, after the holidays and the eighth day of the lunar new year, we... might as well buy a lottery ticket..."

"Nonsense! To say such an uneducated..."

At this time, he suddenly remembered what happened after being dispatched by Jin Yongsheng.At that time, he wandered through Daoxiang Village bewilderedly, and when he saw the advertisement in large characters on the entrance of the shop saying "the first prize is tens of thousands of yuan", he seemed to remember that his heart was moved, or maybe he slowed down his pace, but it seemed that he was reluctant to part with it. The only sixty cents left in the wallet, so he resolutely walked away.As soon as his expression changed, Mrs. Fang guessed that he was annoyed by Yi's lack of education, so she quickly backed away without finishing her sentence.Fang Xuanchuo didn't finish his sentence, he stretched his waist, and began to recite "Testing Collection" in a whimper.

June [-].

This article was originally published in No. 13, Volume [-], Shanghai "Fiction Monthly" in September [-].

White light
Chen Shicheng had read the county examination results, and when he returned home, it was already afternoon.He went there very early, and as soon as he saw the list, he first searched for Chen Zi on it.There are also a lot of Chen words, and they seem to jump into his eyes vying to be the first, but what follows are not the words Shicheng at all.So he searched again carefully in the circle map① of the twelve lists, and all the people who looked at him had dispersed, but Chen Shicheng finally disappeared from the list, and he stood alone in front of the screen wall of the examination hall.

Although the cool wind blew his short gray hair, the early winter sun still warmed him very gently.But he seemed dizzy with the sun, and his face was turning grayer, and from his tired, red and swollen eyes, there was a strange gleam.At this time, he had not seen any notices on the wall for a long time, but saw many black circles wandering in front of his eyes.

To be a scholar, go to the province to go to the provincial examination, and go all the way up...Since the gentlemen have tried their best to marry, people are in awe as if seeing a god, deeply regretting the previous frivolity, fainted,...drive away the renters The miscellaneous surnames in his dilapidated house - that is, they moved by themselves without any trouble - the house is brand new, with a flagpole and a flat forehead at the door... If you want to be noble, you can be a Beijing official, otherwise it is better to seek release. ... His usual plan for a stable future collapsed in an instant like a damp sugar tower, leaving only a pile of debris.He unconsciously rotated his body that felt slack, and walked on the way home bewilderedly.

As soon as he arrived at the door of his room, the seven schoolchildren let go of their throats and began to read in unison.He was taken aback, as if a chime sounded in his ears, and he saw seven heads with their braids in front of him, filling the room, and dancing in black circles.He sat down, and they all came to the evening class with expressions of contempt for him.

"Let's go back." He hesitated for a while, and then said tragically.

They packed their schoolbags indiscriminately, carried them with them, and ran away in a hurry.

Chen Shicheng also saw many small heads dancing in front of his eyes with black circles sandwiched between them, sometimes in a mess, sometimes in strange formations, but gradually decreased and became blurred.

"It's over again this time!"

He was taken aback, jumped up, and clearly heard the words in his ears, but when he turned around, there was no one there, as if he heard a chime beating again, and his own mouth also said:

"It's over again this time!"

(End of this chapter)