Explore Chapter 11 of '老张的哲学' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
Go back home? Tuck my tail and go back? I can't! Hey! Li Ying! People in the city all have a second name. I've met several who ask me "your courtesy name" upon meeting. We should have a "courtesy name" too.
Maybe once you have a "courtesy name," you'll get a job right away. So, you'll be Li Wenjing, and I'll be Wang Bujing. It means: you want to be a patrolman, I don't. How about that?
Ha! The soldiers with guns on the streets, the Foreigners in motorcycles, white-faced, black-faced... and the young women at the temple fair. Father said they're all tigers.
Since coming to the city, Li Ying and Wang De have been staying at Li Ying's aunt's house. They provide their own meals, go out to look for work during the day, and return to sleep at night. The two of them share a small north-facing room in Li Ying's aunt's house. Food is easy to come by, money is easily spent, but work is hard to find. Li Ying has grown much thinner from anxiety, his brows and heart knitted together in worry. Wang De, however, remains optimistic.
Can't be arbitrary. If you go east, and I go east too, won't we end up on the same path? At least if you go east, I'll go west.
Li Ying's aunt lives on Huguo Temple Street. After exiting the west gate of Huguo Temple, Wang De hesitated again: south or north? South? That's Xisi Pailou, where aside from people slaughtering live sheep with big knives by the roadside, there's nothing particularly bright or glorious. North? That's Xinjiekou, Xizhimen. It's where the poor live; how could one find work there? Wang De thought for a long time: "Going north, I might see something new."
The alley was narrow and long. On both sides were walls built of broken bricks. The south wall rarely saw sunlight. A thin layer of green moss grew on it, with faint silver trails left by snails crawling higher up. Further in, it felt slightly more spacious, but the walls on both sides were even more dilapidated. To the north of the path, a short wall had been washed down by rain, allowing a view of everything in the courtyard from outside. In the yard stood three low houses, with dried red chili peppers hanging under the eaves. On the steps were piled many corn cobs covered in pink moss. On the east wall, a few morning glories climbed lazily, sparsely blooming with pale blue flowers. In the middle of the yard, a woman with disheveled hair squatted under the east wall, humming nursery rhymes while nursing a thin child, as thin as a small yellow leather bag wrapped around some bones.
After waiting for a long time, Wang De changed his mind: "The recluse might be dead, and this is his orphaned widow. That would be too pitiful! Everyone has to die, but a recluse might die faster because before his time, his spirit has already died! Humans are strange creatures, born to die. And when dead, they're carried in small wooden boxes to parade on the streets."
Wang De leaned over and peeked stealthily into the yard. The woman had already gone inside, and the child was sleeping on a small wooden board. Then, with a sense of melancholy, he walked out of Baihua Shenchu.
Wanted: one clerk, proficient in writing, with clear handwriting. Monthly salary negotiable. Zhang Residence, Finance Ministry Street.
He stood up and headed east to the city. He walked until he was sweating profusely. Upon reaching Finance Ministry Street, he saw a red building with a green iron gate. Hanging from it was a brass plaque inscribed 'Zhang Residence.' Wang De climbed the steps, stamped the dust off his shoes, and peered inside. In the gatehouse sat an old man with kind eyebrows and eyes, looking like a hereditary servant. Lying there was a young man with a face washed snow-white and hair oiled jet-black. Wang De gently pushed open the door and said, "Hard work."
Our boss hasn't gotten up yet. Even if he did, he wouldn't see you first. Even if he saw you, with that robe of yours, if the boss is in a bad mood, he might sentence you to five years in prison.
I'll go and announce you. Our master really hasn't gotten up yet. I'll take you to see our young master. Come!
Wang De followed the old man into the yard. They passed through corridors and gates until they reached three small rooms behind the building. The old servant told Wang De to wait a moment while he went in to announce him.
Wang De entered and saw that the room had little furnishings, as if it wasn't meant for living. Against the wall was a Western-style recliner, where a young man lay斜躺着. He was holding a copy of "Leisure Record," engrossed in reading. The young man wore gold-rimmed glasses. Between his lips, which revealed gold teeth above and below, he held a "Luzon cigar" about half a foot long, as thick as a small yam, with a gold band in the middle. (If it weren't that thick, Wang De wouldn't have been able to see the man's gold teeth.) On his hands were thirteen gold rings. On his feet were soft-soled shoes trimmed with gold. Across his chest hung a gold watch chain thicker than an old scallion. On his front-buttoned jacket was a string of gold buttons as big as garlic heads, weighing about one catty and twelve taels in total.
Come at eight in the morning, leave at eight in the evening. Lots of work, overtime at night. Sweep the study, copy documents, and when the concubine goes out, stand by the car.