The layout of hotels in Luzhen is different from other places: they are all big counters facing the street, with hot water inside, which can warm wine at any time. People who go to work often spend four coppers to buy a bowl of wine after work in the afternoon and evening. This was more than twenty years ago, and now every bowl has to rise to ten pence. Standing outside the cupboard, they drank hot drinks and had a rest. If you are willing to spend an extra penny, you can buy a dish of salted bamboo shoots or fennel beans as a drink. You can buy a meat dish for a dozen pence. But most of these customers are short-sleeved gangs, and they are generally not so rich. Only people in robes walk into the house next to the shop, ask for wine and vegetables, and sit and drink slowly.
I have been working as a waiter at Xianheng Hotel in Zhenkou since I was twelve years old. The shopkeeper said, I'm too stupid to wait on customers in long gowns, so I'm going to do something outside. Although the customers with short coats outside are easy to talk to, they also have a lot of nagging, which makes people confused. They often have to watch the yellow rice wine scoop out of the jar with their own eyes, see if there is water at the bottom of the pot, and then put the pot in hot water, and then rest assured that it is difficult to mix water under such serious supervision. So a few days later, the shopkeeper said * * * was dying. Fortunately, the person in charge of the recommendation was very generous. Without being dismissed, he changed to a boring position specializing in warm wine.
I have been standing at the counter all day, taking charge of my duties. Although there is no dereliction of duty, I always feel a bit monotonous. The shopkeeper looked at lost face, and the customers had nothing to be humorous about, which made people look lively. Only Kong Yiji could laugh when he got to the store, so he remembered.
Kong Yiji was the only one standing drinking and wearing a gown. He is very tall; Blue and white face, often with some scars between wrinkles; A shaggy gray beard. Although I am wearing a robe, it is dirty and torn. It seems that it hasn't been mended or washed for more than ten years. He is always full of big talk when talking to people, which makes people half understand. Because his surname is Kong, others gave him a nickname, Kong Yiji, which comes from the semi-understood word "Shang Da Ren Kong Yiji" on red paper. As soon as Kong Yiji arrived at the store, all the drinkers looked at him and smiled. Some shouted: "Kong Yiji, you have a new scar on your face!" He didn't answer and said to the cupboard, "Warm two bowls of wine and have a plate of fennel beans." I will pay a lot of money. They deliberately shouted, "You must have stolen from others again!" "Kong Yiji opened his eyes wide and said," How can you defile people's innocence out of thin air ... ""What innocence? I saw with my own eyes what book you stole and hung up the day before yesterday. " Kong Yiji blushed and the veins stood out on his forehead, arguing that "stealing books is not stealing ... stealing books! ..... Can the scholar be stolen? The incomprehensible words such as "Mr. poor" and "people poor" attracted everyone to laugh: the air inside and outside the store was filled with joy.
Listening to people talking behind their backs, Kong Yiji also read books, but in the end he didn't go to school and couldn't make a living; So I became poorer and poorer, ready to beg. Fortunately, he wrote a good hand, so he cashed books for others in exchange for a bowl of rice. Unfortunately, he also has a bad temper, that is, he is lazy to drink. After sitting for less than a few days, people disappeared with books, paper, pens and inkstones. If so, several times, no one called him the note book. If there is no law in Kong Yiji, it is inevitable to do some stealing occasionally. But in our shop, his character is better than others, that is, he never defaults; Although there is no cash occasionally, it will be temporarily recorded on the chalk board, but it will be paid off within one month, and Kong Yiji's name will be erased from the chalk board.
Kong Yiji drank half a bowl of wine, and her red face gradually recovered. Then someone asked, "Kong Yiji, can you really read?" Kong Yiji looked at the person who asked him and showed disdain.
They went on to say, "Why can't you even get half a scholar?" Kong Yiji immediately a face of depression, face was full of gray, he said something. This time, it's all nonsense, and some don't understand. At this time, everyone laughed: the inside and outside of the store were full of happy air.
At these times, I can echo the smile, and the owner will never blame me. And when the owner sees Kong Yiji, he often asks him this question, which makes people laugh. Kong Yiji knew he couldn't talk to them, so he had to talk to the children. He once said to me, "Have you ever read a book?" I nodded briefly. He said, "After reading this book ... I will give you a test. How to write fennel for fennel beans? " I think, do beggars deserve to test me? I turned my back and ignored it. Kong Yiji waited for a long time and said earnestly, "Can't you write? ..... I'll teach you, remember! These words should be remembered. When you become a shopkeeper in the future, you should use it to write accounts. " I thought to myself that I am far from the level of the shopkeeper, and our shopkeeper never takes fennel beans; Funny and impatient, he replied lazily: "Who wants you to teach? Isn't it just a word from the grass? " Kong Yiji was very happy when he saw it. Two fingers' long nails knocked on the counter and nodded and said, "Yes, yes! ..... There are four ways to reply words, do you know? " The more impatient I became, I walked away with my mouth pursed. Kong Yiji just dipped her nails in wine and wanted to write on the counter. When he saw that I was not enthusiastic, he sighed again and looked sorry.
On several occasions, the children in the neighborhood laughed and rushed to the scene and surrounded Kong Yiji. He gave them fennel beans, one for each. After eating the beans, the child was still wandering, staring at the plate. Kong Yiji panicked, held out five fingers to cover the plate, bent down and said, "Not much, I don't have much." Straightening up, I looked at the beans again, shook my head and said, "Not much, not much! how much is it? Not much. " So the children got separated in laughter.
Kong Yiji is so cheerful, but without him, others will live like this.
One day about two or three days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the shopkeeper was slowly checking out, took off his pink board and suddenly said, "Kong Yiji hasn't been here for a long time. I still owe nineteen dollars! " I also think he hasn't come for a long time. A drinker said, "Why did he come?" ..... he broke his leg. "The shopkeeper said," Oh! " "He's still stealing. This time, I lost my mind and stole it to Ding's house. Did you steal anything from his house? " "What happened later?" "how about it? Write a defense first, then fight, fight until midnight, and then break your leg. " "What happened later?" "Then I broke my leg." "How about a discount?" "Why? ..... who knows? Maybe it's dead. " The shopkeeper stopped asking, but slowly calculated the account.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the autumn wind is getting colder every day, and it's almost early winter. I have a fever all day, so I must put on a cotton-padded jacket. There were no customers in the second half, so I sat with my eyes closed. Suddenly I heard a voice: "Warm a bowl of wine." Although the voice is extremely low, it is very familiar. No one was there when I watched it. Standing up and looking out, Kong Yiji sat on the threshold under the counter. His face is black and thin, and his figure is out of shape; Wear a worn-out jacket with legs crossed, put a cattail bag under it and hang it on your shoulder with a straw rope; When he saw me, he said, "Heat a bowl of wine." The shopkeeper also poked his head out and said, "Kong Yiji? You still owe nineteen dollars! " Kong Yiji was very depressed, and replied on his back, "This ... will be paid next time. This time it is cash, and wine is better. " As usual, the shopkeeper smiled and said to him, "Kong Yiji, you stole again!" But this time, he didn't make a very clear argument. He just said, "Stop joking!" "Make fun of? How can you break your leg if you don't steal it? " Kong Yiji whispered, "Break, fall, fall ..." His eyes seemed to be pleading with the shopkeeper, so don't mention it again. At this time, several people had gathered, and the shopkeeper smiled and said, I'll heat the wine and take it out and put it on the threshold. He took four pence out of his tattered pocket and put it in my hand. When he saw that his hand was covered with mud, it turned out that he had come with this hand. Soon, after drinking, he sat and walked slowly with this hand in the laughter of others.
I haven't seen Kong Yiji for a long time since then. At the end of the year, the shopkeeper took off the powder board and said, "Kong Yiji still owes nineteen dollars!" On the Dragon Boat Festival the following year, he said, "Kong Yiji still owes nineteen dollars! "I didn't say anything until the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I didn't see him at the end of the year.
I didn't see him at last-maybe Kong Yiji really died.
1965438+March 2009
Guide reading
A puzzling novel.
Excellent works are like whirlpools, which are sucked in as you read them. Kong Yiji is such a novel.
The big counter, fennel beans, wine, shorts and robes are full of laughter. Needless to say, Kong Yiji must have come to Xianheng Hotel. Look, how many "smiles" are written in the novel? Kong Yiji was surrounded by other people's laughter from appearance to departure, until he was drowned by laughter.
Customers including the "short coat gang" are laughing: "When Kong Yiji arrives at the store, all the drinkers look at him and laugh"; "It made everyone laugh"; "At this time, everyone laughed"; "After a while, after he finished drinking, he sat and walked slowly with this hand in the laughter of others." It is immoral, or immoral, to base one's happiness on the suffering of others. Robes may be condescending, thinking they can mock Kong Yiji. The "short coat gang" is a group of workers, who are at the bottom of society. Why did they tease Kong Yiji?
The shopkeeper smiled: "The shopkeeper smiled and said to him as usual:' Kong Yiji, you stole again! " "; "At this time, several people have gathered and laughed with the shopkeeper"; When the shopkeeper saw Kong Yiji, he often asked him this way, which made people laugh. The shopkeeper is a serious and greedy person, thinking that "I look too stupid" can't do the work of pouring water and wine, "so I changed to a boring job specializing in wine warming" "The shopkeeper is a fierce face, and the customer has no good voice, which makes people watch the fun; Only Kong Yiji can laugh a few times when he arrives at the store, so I remember. " Why does the shopkeeper suddenly "change his face" and become lax?
The children are "laughing": "Several times, the children in the neighborhood listened to the laughter and ran to join in the fun and surrounded Kong Yiji"; So the children got separated in laughter. "I" is also a child, and I am also laughing: "At these times, I can echo the laughter, and the shopkeeper will never blame me"; Funny and impatient, I replied lazily. Compassion is human nature, and sympathy should also be the most basic emotion of children. Why do these children also play tricks on Kong Yiji? "I" and other children "laugh" is exactly the same? What is the role of "I" in the novel? After more than 20 years, am I still a buddy? Why is it "twenty years later" to recall the past?
Kong Yiji is being "teased": "Just said,' Stop joking!'" "; Manned, "make fun of? If you don't steal, how can you break your leg? "Why is Kong Yiji so weak and repeatedly laughed at? Isn't there a better way to "fight back"
The novel is written twice that "the atmosphere inside and outside the store is full of joy". Why "inside" and "outside"? What are the "laughs" in Kong Yiji?
Kong Yiji owes "nineteen dollars" for wine, which is mentioned three times in the novel. How many times did Kong Yiji owe this "nineteen dollars"? Can you arrange it in order? At the beginning of the novel, why do you talk endlessly about the prices of salted bamboo shoots and fennel beans, and the price comparison between the past and the present?
"The gentleman is poor" and "How much?" Not too much ","who to pay attention to ","who to pay attention to "and so on. Under what circumstances does Kong Yiji say "old saying"? Why is this happening? "The gentleman is poor", from The Analects of Confucius Wei Linggong: "Confucius said," The gentleman is poor, and the villain is poor. " Although a gentleman is poor, he can still stick to his ambition. If he is a villain, he will do anything. Kong Yiji even stole, and really became a "villain". "How about zai? Not much. " The Analects of Confucius Zi Han: "As soon as I heard it, I said,' Know me! I am cheap, so I can despise. How many gentlemen are there? "Not much." "Kong Yiji misinterpreted the meaning of protecting himself. It was "shooting yourself in the foot", and the irony came to my face.
Who will miss Kong Yiji after he disappears?
Also, is his name really "Kong Yiji"? Who the hell is Kong Yiji? !