Her unit is farther away than his, she has to get up earlier. So of course she should go to bed earlier. But tonight she doesn't go to bed early or wash her feet either. She just sits on the bed, deep in thought. Whenever his wife has something on her mind like this, Young Lin feels scared, not knowing what new topic she will bring up.
They were tired with all the work and Young Lin's wife gradually became garrulous. It was then that he found his wife's sleeping habits an advantage, something he could look forward to when they were at odds with each other. The internal war would stop when her head touched a pillow. Young Lin realizes that there aren't absolute merits or demerits in the world. They can transform themselves into their opposites.
"See? You should not have asked about my poems! I have seen through the way the world works. It's more comfortable to drift along with the crowds without wild fantasies, or the desire to stand out among your fellows, not to think too much about anything.
Who cares about face-saving anywhere these days? With it you look poor and affected; without it you enjoy wealth and glory.
If you say at first "can't" and "hard" but finally the job is done, people will feel indebted. If you give a ready promise but for whatever reason you fail to fulfil it, people will blame you.
In the office, he receives a letter from the son of his primary school teacher who once came to Beijing for medical treatment. It says that three months after the Beijing trip, his father passed away. Before his death, he asked his son to write to Young Lin to thank him for the hospitality he showed him. The letter makes him sad throughout the day. When he was ill he came to Young Lin's place but he did not help him find a hospital or let him wash his face, yet this teacher once took off his own padded coat to wrap him in when he fell through a hole in the ice when he was a child. At the end of a miserable day, in the shuttle bus going home, he suddenly remembers that his stack of cabbages is getting too warm. He ought to take them apart when he gets home. The thought of his teacher is thus pushed out of his mind. The dead is already dead and there is no use thinking about him; the living had better think of cabbages first. Young Lin also says to himself that he will be well-content if his wife roasts some more chicken and gives him another bottle of beer.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
প্রাত্যহিক মধ্যবিত্ত ছোট্ট পরিবারের টানাপোড়েন, ছলচাতুরি করে টিকে থাকা আর জলের মতন সকল পাত্রে নিজেদের মানিয়ে নেয়ার গল্প। চীনা লেখকের কালিতে উঠে এসেছে চিরচেনা মধ্যবিত্তের সংগ্রাম। রাস্তার ধারের মুখরোচক খাবার দেখে মুখে পানি আসলেও ফিরে তাকাতে হয় অবশিষ্ট মাইনার দিকে। নষ্ট হয়ে যাওয়া দই নিয়েও মন কষাকষি চলে দিনকে দিন। আত্মমর্যাদার মুখোশ পড়েও চুরি করতে হয় পানির মতন সামান্য জিনিস। দিন শেষে গল্পগুলো সব একই, যতই জাতি ও জাতীয়তার পার্থক্য থাকুক। সমকালীন চীনা সাহিত্য সম্পর্কে আমি সম্পূর্ণ অজ্ঞ, তাই কালবিলম্ব না করে সেই অপূর্ণতাকে ভরাট করার প্রচেষ্টা হিসেবে এই বইটা পড়া। অচিরেই হয়তো আরো খানিকটা চেখে দেখতে পারি।
I like how the book comprises of the original Chinese version and the English translation. It’s a good tactic of placing the English translation before the Chinese original, I’m not sure if I will even read the English translation if the sequence was otherwise.