Chapter 46 treat scars as dimples

When visiting friends in Amman, road names and house numbers are useless, and no one remembers them. They only remember which neighborhood and what kind of house they are.To send a letter, send it to a PO Box.This casual state is related to the character of the Arabs. But in this way, we have to visit Mr. Kuai's house, so we can only ask him to come and lead the way.His home is in the embassy area of ​​the third circle of Amman. The car went uphill and downhill and made many turns. When Mr. Kuai spoke, Chen Luyu and I just got out of the car when we saw a woman in red. She was Mrs. Kuai. Her real name is Du Meiru, and no one can imagine that she is already seventy-one years old.

They live in an old-fashioned apartment on the second floor, which is indeed very simple, just like the residence of Chinese old people who are still busy outside, but looking up, the paintings and calligraphy hanging everywhere are masterpieces of everyone.Several plates of pastries have been arranged in the reception room, but it is Arabic tea that is poured out. Ms. Du Meiru was enthusiastic and talkative. Chen Luyu called her auntie, and when she was happy, the chatterbox couldn't be shut down.She was born in Shanghai and didn't leave until she was twenty. I asked her which house the Du family lived in Shanghai. She took out a photo and pointed it out carefully. I saw that it was on the east side of the seventh floor of the VIP Building of Shanghai Jinjiang Hotel. that set.It happened that Chen Luyu was also born in Shanghai, so a lot of Shanghai dialect was mixed in the conversation between the three of them.Of course, we are interested in some of the circumstances of her life with her father in the early years; what she is interested in is that the Shanghai dialect that has not been spoken for fifty years can be revived today, and it takes a long time.

The following are some excerpts of her conversations. Now many readers who don’t know Du Yuesheng and his era probably don’t understand at all, but I really can’t bear to share an old Chinese woman’s story about an old Chinese family in the desert between the Mediterranean Sea and the Mesopotamia. Ramble. My mother married my father in 1928.Before getting married, in the Du mansion on Huage Ni Road, there were already Mrs. Shen, the mother of the second floor, Mrs. Chen, the mother of the second floor, and Mrs. Sun, the mother of the third floor, but only the mother of the former building was officially married. My unmarried mother said that the two people on the second and third floors had been bullying her. In order to vent her anger, she wanted to give my mother her official title as a gift.My mother was so young, she was a famous actor, and she also paid attention to status. In 1931, when the Du Family Ancestral Hall in Gaoqiao, Pudong was completed, the whole city was a sensation. My mother insisted on a principle that when the whole family worshiped the ancestors, she would take the lead.I was two years old that year, and my mother gave birth to four, and I was the oldest. After arriving in Taiwan, the Jiang family only recognized our family in the Du family.

My father is very strict, and our children have to make an appointment to approve him when we see him.When we met, we mainly asked about reading, and then gave fifty old French coins.So in my mind, he is very abstract, not a father. The father's educational function is assumed by the mother, while the mother's nurturing function is assumed by the aunt.Later, when I was in middle school, my father would ask me to come out and give a welcome speech in English if foreign guests came to the house.Sometimes I was suddenly called away in class because a distinguished guest came to my house, and my father asked me to accompany the guest's daughter.My mother told me again and again, don't rely on my father's name. Except for the word Du, it doesn't matter much. Otherwise, how will I live in the future?These words had a great impact on my life. Later, I fled and wandered again and again, even though I was a beggar, I could survive.

Father got busier as he got older, and he had to see many, many guests every day.It was only on May 19, 1949 that I hurriedly took a boat from Shanghai to Hong Kong, and the actions of the People's Liberation Army could already be seen on board.He also took a good look at a textile factory on the banks of the Huangpu River, where his mother had worked in her youth.In Hong Kong, he has been in poor health. Due to severe asthma, he needed oxygen, but he refused to wear a mask. We held up the oxygen tube and sprayed on him.His mother asked him what he wanted most now, and he said that he hoped that A-Dong would come and talk, and A-Dong was Meng Xiaodong, so his mother agreed.My father also asked me about this matter, and I said that the daughter is a junior, so I don't care.Later he married Meng Xiaodong.After the death of his father, Meng Xiaodong was only allocated 20,000 US dollars. Meng Xiaodong said, how could this be enough?

Chen Luyu interrupted, let's talk about something pleasant, for example, how did the two of you know each other? Now the two old people laughed, and it was Ms. Du Meiru who said: It was 1955, and we had reached the age of marriage. We girls from Shanghai went to Chiayi in the south to play and participated in a dance party. saw him.But I am short-sighted, and I dare not wear glasses, so I can't see clearly. I just heard a female companion tell me quietly that the fair-faced one is the best. The man dancing with my wife Of course, I finally got to know this white-faced man. After meeting a few times, he bravely went to my mother to propose marriage. He was hemming and hawing, but my mother opened the mouth first and said he was interested. Just get married, don't fall in love.It turned out that she secretly conducted an investigation

Mr. Kuai finally interjected: My wife's biggest advantage is that she can adapt to all bad situations, including me. That's right, Ms. Du said with a smile, I was in a major car accident, my bones were broken, and there was bleeding in many places, but in the end I found that the injured part of my face became a big dimple!We took a look, sure enough, this dimple trembled unnaturally in her hearty laughter. She hasn't been back to Shanghai for more than 50 years, and she has no plan to go back now, but the reason for not going back is said in the authentic Shanghai dialect: don't get tired of living here.The word disgust is difficult to translate.She said that there are only two things left in her mind. One is that the couple are both over seventy years old. Who will leave the Chinese restaurant to?Their children are not interested in this at all; second, they just want to find a Chinese wife for their son, preferably from Shanghai, but they don't know how to choose.She solemnly entrusted me with the second matter.

I looked at this old couple who suddenly became serious, and thought to myself, they also have a lot of troubles, but they have followed a principle for a long time: treat all scars as dimples. The wine was a bit bitter, and there wasn't much left. I wish them a long life, and I wish the Chinese restaurant in Jordan can continue to open for a few more years. November 5, 1999, Amman, Jordan, overnight at Arwad Hotel