She was startled. When had she become a prostitute? She had always refused to sing for Jin Xiaofeng, never had. When she finally agreed, she sang a folk song, an old tune unintentionally etched into her heart—a song the "Cut Cake Brother" had taught her. After he finished singing, they were still in Beiping, in Rouge Alley. Huaiyu said solemnly, "No matter what happens to the three of us in the future, we must never change! We'll share happiness and hardship!" She then extended her hand, letting the three of them shake hands. They mischievously squeezed each other's hands so hard they hurt.
If we could remove a segment of time from the middle, and live each night to the fullest, cut it off immediately—that's how movies are. The cut film reel is tossed aside, and the story flows smoothly again. If only it were like a movie…
Or perhaps she had simply dozed off, opened her sleepy eyes, and realized it was just an incomprehensible dream—not a nightmare, so she wouldn't die. She woke up in Beiping, at Tianqiao, Yonghe Temple, Guanghe Tower, Dong'an Market, and Taoranting Park.
However, she had already sold her time. In fact, when she woke up, what had been taken away were her days in Beiping, her blossoming days.
The frozen moon has disappeared into the night sky.
The air was unusually cold and thin, the room was grayish-blue, and there was even a stench of corpses, which was an olfactory abnormality.
Dandan struggled to get down and poured the entire bottle of "seasoning" onto the noodles that had just been heated over the tap. She ate the noodles and drank the soup, one bite at a time, her hands moving slowly and deliberately. The eel paste wasn't mushy anymore, just old; old fish have a dull, clumsy quality. She finished the noodles and the soup. ...Later, Shi Zhongming arrived, and she had already collapsed motionless in his arms.
Shi Zhongming frantically called out to her: "Dandan! Dandan! Dandan! Dandan! Dandan! Dandan!"
Autumn of 1935, Beiping
"Alright, now let me test you. What does it mean that 'Beauties, like famous generals throughout history, are not allowed to grow old in this world'?"
Zhigao, with his long arms and legs, squatted on a small wooden stool, scooping up the little goldfish with a funnel-shaped net made from a bean bun, all the while thinking with a grin.
"Don't be lazy, answer the teacher's question quickly, don't move! I have a 'perm' on my tail! It's sick, don't disturb it."
The little girl snatched the toy back and pressed for more information:
"Speak quickly! If you can't even recite it, surely you can solve it too!"
“I understand. Beauties and heroes are the same, they can’t have gray hair. This is an advertisement for Shuangmei hair dye – use Shuangmei and you’re not allowed to have gray hair.”
"Why are you doing this?" The little girl casually shoveled the notebook in her hand, about to ask another question.
Zhigao changed the subject: "Where did this tattered book come from?"
"I bought it at a bookstall in Liulichang the year before last. It was still on display at the temple fair in Changdian during the first month of the lunar calendar. My dad saw that the stalls were quite shabby, and only this book was still in print—"
"The year before last? I didn't even recognize you two years ago."
"Let me ask you again: 'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, lest they wither and the branches are bare.'"
"That means that if you see a flower in full bloom, you have to pick a few. If you arrive late, someone else will have already picked them all, so you have to break off a branch to use as a broom."
"Hey, look at you, you have no learning at all. A leopard can't change its spots. Dad even said I should teach you to recite Tang poems."
"I'm a dog, so what? Okay, I'm a dog, and you're bubble-eyed."
"Bulky eyes are the most valuable! Look at these few of mine, I wouldn't even sell them. They're quite precious."
Zhigao looked at the small carrying pole. The wooden basin was half-filled with water, divided into four sections by a cross-shaped wooden divider: one section for large goldfish, one for small goldfish, one for dark, splashing fish, and one for emerald green algae. Hanging beside it was the shovel she had just snatched. Indeed, of all the goldfish ponds southwest of Chongwen Gate, this young lady from the Long family possessed the most precious treasures.
She was a chubby little girl, very cheerful. She had round, slightly protruding eyes, like the bubble eyes of a goldfish.
The little girl specialized in selling goldfish, specifically dragon eyes and bubble eyes. Her true nature was dragon, hence the name Long Xiaoqiao (Dragon Little Tall). Perhaps her parents never imagined she would end up selling goldfish; otherwise, they would have changed her name to "Xiaojing" (Little Eyes), or Long Xiaojing (Dragon Little Eyes), which would have sounded nicer. She disliked "Xiaoqiao" (Little Tall), as "qiao" means "twisted braid," which is considered very unlucky.
Dragon Eye goldfish are the representative type of goldfish, belonging to the slender, round variety. The two spheres (eyes) are firm, large, symmetrical, and upright, making them the highest grade. If you can't be a Dragon Eye, you can only be a Bubble Eye.
The bubble was also quite nice; it had two soft, translucent, floating bubbles on top, round in shape, with a long body and a large tail. When it swam, its tail swayed like a large, blooming flower; when it was still, its tail drooped down like a hanging sutra. There was a kind called "cinnabar bubble," which was entirely silvery-white, except for its two large bubbles, which were orange-red. Therefore, she also loved to wear clothes with pale yellow flowers.
From afar and up close, it's nothing more than a small goldfish.
Zhigao teased her mischievously, "Hey, you puffy-eyed girl, if we threw you into the river, how would you swim?"
She blinked her round eyes. She didn't answer.
“Like this ‘hot tail’? It’s no good if it rots, there’s no way to fix it.”
"It will be fine. Don't look down on it. Once it loses its color, put it back in the old water, and it will look even better after a while."
"Spray, spray, spray, too bad you're not it."
Before he could finish speaking, Bubble Eyes splashed water all over Zhigao's face. Zhigao then ran away.
Seeing that he had left, Xiao Qiao had nothing to do, so she continued to call out: "Squeak—a big goldfish—a little goldfish comes—hey—"
It attracted some playful children who gathered around to watch.
Just as she was engrossed in scooping up the bright orange-red goldfish with its flipped gills, she heard a loud voice cheering her on: "Hey—look!—big goldfish—little goldfish—bubble-eyed—bubble-eyed goldfish that can't be sold!"
Xiao Qiao threw down her tongs and chased after him. Zhi Gao warned, "The stall collapsed, the fish were stolen—" which frightened her so much that she let go and walked back.
Zhigao bumped right into someone.
"Zhigao, when will you ever get to Guanghe Tower? You're always asking your junior sister for things, still so fickle?"
"Soon, soon. Uncle Tang, has Huaiyu's letter arrived yet?"
"No letter arrived, but the money came. It's enough, more than we can use. I don't care about anything else; it's better for the child to stay with me. Have you heard anything?"
"No. I haven't heard of any more movies coming out. But maybe it'll be one of those big-budget films that only comes out once every year or two. As long as it's not a huge hit, that's fine. Money talks."
Indeed, news of Huaiyu faded, and even news of Dandan faded. Zhigao believed that no matter how many forks there were, and whoever went in would get lost, whatever happened was just the afterglow of filming. Sound movies, a world of sound, were far superior to him, and he felt quite at ease.
Isn't it said that fish don't need to cling to each other in hardship, but rather forget each other in the vast ocean? That's because each has found their own path, which is something to celebrate.
Shanghai is far away, and the news was deliberately blocked for a very long time, remaining undiscovered. Big cities have their own power.
Zhigao's teacher's surname was Long. He was originally a musician for the famous opera singer Fu. He had been playing the erhu with Fu for 26 years. Fu had a bright and clear voice with a beautiful, clear and pure tone. He was once a top opera singer in the early Republic of China. However, such a good voice is often not easy to maintain. By middle age, his voice had "collapsed" and his tone had become dull. He also retired from the opera world.