#1#
My hometown Nanchang is a heroic city.
As the saying goes, "Heroes emerge in troubled times." Nanchang people like to boast about themselves: Nanchang's hooligans are unstoppable. Hooligans, also known as street thugs and gangsters. Similar to Mountain Chicken and Haonan Brother, Nanchang hooligans have a wide range of combat capabilities, ranging from targeting elementary school students to wielding machetes. In Nanchang, the most famous gathering place for hooligans is Dashiyuan. When I was young and ignorant, I once mistakenly entered there and had 5 yuan stolen from me. It wasn't until I grew up that I learned that Dashiyuan was named after Guanyin Bodhisattva. It turns out that Nanchang is not only a heroic city, but also a city with great wisdom.
Nanchang Bros are unfuckable
Next to Dashiyuan is a middle school called No. 11 Middle School, which was later renamed No. 81 Middle School. There is an inscription by an elder on the wall at the school gate. Across from No. 81 Middle School is the alley where I used to live. At the entrance of the alley, there is an elementary school called Jihong Elementary School. Jihong, inheriting the red, the vast rivers and mountains, never fade.
In addition to the motorcycle taxi drivers at the entrance of the alley, there is also a fool. Yes, a real fool. Since I can remember, he has appeared at the entrance of the alley every day, looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, shouting "Father, father" as if he were an NPC.
He is not wrong in shouting, there are indeed many fathers on the street. Everyone can criticize everyone, and everyone should learn from each other. For example, Nanchang's taxi drivers always hold the steering wheel with one hand, with a cigarette in their mouth, speeding through life and spraying every car they pass at a faster speed; for example, Nanchang's motorcycle taxi drivers, always young and never wearing helmets, starting at 5 yuan and traveling all over the place faster than taxis.
Nanchang, my hometown, a heroic city.
#2#
I don't actually want to badmouth my hometown, let me make it clear, I love my hometown.
In the past, Nanchang did have poor public security, with rampant burglary. Thieves always broke in through the windows, so the residents on the first floor installed anti-theft windows and isolated themselves at home. However, this led to an unexpected chain reaction. The flying thieves easily stepped on the anti-theft windows on the first floor and entered the second floor, so the residents on the second floor also installed anti-theft windows; then the residents on the third floor... then the residents on the fourth floor... then the residents on the fifth floor... then the residents on the sixth floor... oh no, the houses in that era were only up to six floors.
During the May Day holiday this year, Nanchang stayed still for three days and successfully controlled the epidemic, winning a great victory. Recently, I had the opportunity to return to Nanchang and found that the isolation iron walls in many communities had not been removed. The small roads that I knew but were not marked on the map were also blocked by roadblocks, which easily reminded me of the anti-theft windows in my childhood.
Observing the closure measures in various communities, it seems that it is similar to installing anti-theft windows back then. If Community A is closed and Community B is not, then the pressure... oh no, the virus... will come to Community B, so Community B says: check. AB then looks at C, and C has no choice but to follow. And once A raises, BC has no choice but to follow. In the end, everyone goes all in together.
Either burst out in action or escalate in silence.
Actually, it's not all bad. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty in our country, in the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City was divided into 110 neighborhoods, and there was no unnecessary passage between neighborhoods. The recent measures are just allowing everyone to experience the prosperous Tang Dynasty. This is a good thing, let's enjoy it secretly.
Sui and Tang are one family
Speaking of the Tang Dynasty, there are always people who want to dream back to the Tang Dynasty. Last year, elephants in Yunnan traveled north, and experts said that ancient Henan was much warmer than it is now, so the abbreviation of Henan, "Yu," means "one person leading one elephant." Now that global warming is happening, the elephants can't stay in Yunnan anymore, and we are about to relive the prosperous Tang Dynasty.
Nonsense. I think the experts' brains are overheated.
#3#
Everyone has had moments of hot-headedness.
My first love had natural curls. In 2008, I spent the most beautiful summer of my life. We went to New Oriental together every day, studied together after class, and ate coconut milk turtle jelly together during self-study.
At that time, the carriages were slow, the motorcycle taxis were fast, and the coconut milk turtle jelly was cheap.
But now, the same turtle jelly has increased in price by 10 times. Damn it, the sinful capitalism, or rather, socialist axi.
Can't afford coconut milk turtle jelly anymore
However, I know that memories are filtered. The so-called "the most beautiful summer of my life" actually exists in my imagination. When looking back, I habitually only keep the beautiful memories, such as that head of natural curls.
Why do people miss the past? Ultimately, it's because they have too much free time. For example, during the Chinese New Year, when everyone is free, the elders in the family like to drink and brag together, recalling the glorious years of the past, such as ration coupons, the units' large courtyards, how beautiful the 1980s were. But once someone sends a red envelope in the group chat, they run faster than Western journalists.
#4#
Many people miss their past lives. The post-pandemic world is too big, too big to be frightening. People's communes can give them enough sense of security.
In fact, it's not difficult to experience life in that era, just go to North Korea. For my college graduation trip, I chose North Korea as the destination in a unique way. I remember the streets of Pyongyang were straight, the buildings were tall and orderly, and the whole city was full of Bauhaus beauty. When the pandemic just started 20 years ago, I stood on the overpass of the Fourth Ring Road facing east, and the straight and wide road extended to the unseen distance, reminding me of the fat guy on Mount Baekdu in the far east.
The whole trip was quite good, after all, there was good food, good drinks, and North Korean beauties dancing to liven up the atmosphere. But as soon as I returned to the embrace of my motherland, everyone couldn't wait to take out their phones and catch up on their friends' moments. My last WeChat moment was secretly posted using the super strong signal from China Unicom when I just entered North Korea. The picture was a sneak shot of a twin-engine propeller aircraft of Air Koryo, with the charm of Mount Sen and the suspense of Alfred Hitchcock.
It's said to be 50 years old
Taking photos was not allowed in North Korea, but I took a lot of sneaky shots. The residents of North Korea indeed have portraits of the great leader in the position of their hearts, and we used to make fun of them. Five years later, I realized that I was wrong. They quickly discovered that the virus that Western Korea treated as a major threat was just a common fever. Ah, those who have been abroad are different.
Later, people asked me if North Korea was fun. I said, "It's quite interesting." "Quite interesting" is equivalent to "interesting" in English, which translates to "quite good." Whoever wants to go can go. I think the past China was quite interesting too.
Forrest Gump said, "Life was like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get." In fact, there is a more concise way to say this: Shit happens. Sometimes, life is like that, you don't know when your home will be robbed, you don't know when you will be executed by Kim Jong-un, you don't know when you will be taken away and put under quarantine.
I hope everyone has good luck and can say when someone knocks on the door: Ivan is next door.
World-famous painting: Brezhnev in Poland
My hometown has developed rapidly in recent years. Now, let's not mention Nanchang hooligans. It claims to be the Venice of the East to the outside world. Not boasting or criticizing, it has indeed become very beautiful and livable.
For example, when crossing the road now, all cars, including taxis, will stop and give way to pedestrians; motorcycle taxi drivers have disappeared, and shared electric bicycles are available everywhere, and everyone has their beloved little motorcycle, and the most important thing is that everyone wears helmets. No one installs anti-theft windows anymore. Even the gathering place for hooligans, Dashiyuan, has opened literary bars. After a meal and a drink, the Buddhas in their hearts have become more compassionate.
Nanchang has become a city without heroism, but a ordinary and beautiful city.
But I think the world is like this, without oppression, without being oppressed, and naturally, there is no need for heroes.
Everyone is a good citizen, everyone is a law-abiding citizen, everyone is equal, content and at ease, and there is no need for a father.
Progress is essentially the process of eliminating fathers.
#5#
I also passed by the alley of my childhood.
Actually, not much has changed, time seems to have stood still here.
But there have been some changes. Jihong Elementary School has become Peizhi School, specializing in the education of intellectually disabled children. The fool at the entrance of the alley is gone, and no one shouts "Father, father" anymore.
#6#
In the song "Ordinary Road," Pu Shu sings, "Keep moving forward, just keep going."
Keep moving forward, just keep going, don't look back.
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2022/05/31 @Nanchang