Past events in Beicheng

The tense atmosphere of the exam finally faded at the end of January. The winter vacation came, and the school soon became empty. Wang Yao met with his tutor again. The tutor tried his best to arrange him into the project, but because Wang Yao didn't The foundation is still difficult for the time being.Wang Yao had no choice but to comfort himself, relax his mind and take up the basic courses first, and then mention other things before it's too late.Fortunately, two of the students will stay in school, and they still have to ask for advice when they encounter problems they don't understand.

Ivan didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave. After he sent Torris away, Wang Yao saw him send away several classmates, but he himself stayed in the dormitory as if it was a matter of course, without even packing his luggage.

For three days in a row, there was only the sound of the clock ticking in the room. Wang Yao was sitting at the desk reading a book. Sometimes Ivan was reading, and sometimes he was lying in front of the window looking at something in a daze.

Ivan is very satisfied with this kind of living conditions, and he enjoys this kind of life: canteen-dormitory-canteen-dormitory.

On a comfortable afternoon, after eating, Wang Yao seemed not ready to return to his desk. He put on his coat again and held his hat in his hand.

"Where are you going?" Ivan asked lying on the bed with a book in his hands.

"I'm going to the city."

"Are you going to the city?"

"Yes, it's time for me to get a haircut." Wang Yao put on his hat and pulled out his leather gloves from under Ivan's body.

"Your hair is very long? Why don't I think so?" Ivan sat up curiously.

"Because I tied up the back!" Wang Yao pointed to the back of the hat.

Ivan closed the book he hadn't started reading and stood up: "How long has it been since you cut your hair?"

"From the time I set foot on the land of the Soviet Union to the present." Wang Yao sighed: "It's really embarrassing."

"If you don't have a guide, Len/Nin/G/Le's barber will make you even more embarrassed."

"Ok?"

"You can call me." Ivan took out his coat: "You know, I have been in this city since I was born, and you might not even find a bus or subway station if you go there by yourself. "

"You make sense, thank you." Wang Yao felt that this was an excuse for the other party to go shopping, but he didn't seem to expose his reason, after all, the place name of the barber shop that Torres wrote to him before was really too vague .

February is the coldest time in Lening/Ning/Ge/Le, two people stood at the station opposite the school gate and waited for the bus.Before they could freeze, a bus full of mud spots pulled in.

"Look, if I hadn't waved, this car wouldn't have stopped at all, because the students had already left, and the driver wouldn't have noticed you if you didn't wave."

"Boy, I noticed you, your fashionable hat is as useful as a night light." The driver joked in a Soviet/Union style: "My only passengers, where are you going? "

"Nevsky Prospekt."

The driver looked back at Wang Yao: "Are you a foreigner? The way you play your tongue is really heart-palpitating."

"Ah, Comrade Driver, I have already given up, the Russian tongue is really too difficult." Wang Yao shook his head helplessly.

"That's because you don't love the Soviet Union enough, but don't you guys go to Nevsky Prospekt? You'll love the Soviet Union after you've been there. If you want to learn, I think your friends will teach Your."

"Until you learn it." Ivan read it again deliberately: "Невский проспект (Nevsky Prospect)."

Wang Yao wouldn't read the same place name with Ivan on the bus, he held back his smile, and turned his face out of the window.

The bus station is very close to the subway station, but there is still a distance from the subway station to Nevsky Prospekt.

"That barber shop is at the entrance of Nevsky Prospekt. When I was a child, my family often took me across the street to get a haircut here." Ivan pointed to the highly unified building in the distance: "It will take another quarter of an hour to get there."

Len/Nin/G/Le at three o'clock was already dark, but there was no heavy wind and snow today, and the streets that had been cleaned looked very tidy.Because there are no festivals, the atmosphere on the street is relatively deserted, and the street lights reflect a completely different street scene from Mo/S/Ko.

"In summer, there will be White Night Festival, and the opening and closing bridge of Lie/Ning/Ge/Le will open at midnight, Wang Yao, you must prepare for a sleepless night, let me take you here to watch this scene, I saw it Haven't gotten tired of it for many years."

Wang Yao just looked at him and smiled, thinking that maybe the dormitory will be changed when the school starts, and Ivan Ivanovich Braginsky will gradually become blurred like those former friends. An unidentified silhouette...

"Wait." Ivan stopped suddenly: "Come in, you come in."

Wang Yao, who was in a daze, was dragged into a small shop by him: "What? What?"

"Why didn't I find out that there is a photo studio here before!" Ivan took off his coat and put it on the hanger at the door.

The owner of the photo studio is a typical Russian operator, with a cold expression on his face: "Because it's newly opened, comrade."

"Can I take a portrait?"

"Okay, do you want gray, green, or brown photos? I'll pick them up after a week of photos today."

Ivan pushed Wang Yao: "Let's take a picture!"

"Why?" Wang Yao showed a embarrassed expression: "Let's find the barber shop quickly! Too much time wasted outside today!"

The boss was holding the camera and flicking the reel, a little impatient: "Comrade, please make a decision as soon as possible."

"Okay!" Ivan had already taken off Wang Yao's coat.

"Oh, why?" Wang Yao had already been pushed into the photo studio while Wang Yao was speaking.

"Please sit here." The boss pointed to the chair in front of him.

Wang Yao had no choice but to sit there, the boss adjusted the light and picked up the camera.

"Wait!" Ivan yelled suddenly.

"What's the matter, comrade!" The boss felt his patience limit was challenged again.

Ivan walked over quickly, picked up the hair that was tied up at the back of Wang Yao's head, put it on the left shoulder, looked at it, put it on the right shoulder, looked again, and put it back on the left shoulder superior.

"Okay, take a picture."

The boss pressed the shutter.

"Comrade! You didn't tell him to smile?!" Ivan was surprised and dissatisfied with the boss's speed.

The boss ignored him, just pointed to the various awards on the wall, and then walked out of the photo studio.

When Wang Yao came out, Iwan had already paid the money, and was in a dilemma about the choice of photo color.

"Let the comrades in the photo studio decide." Wang Yao took the change, stuffed it into Ivan's pocket, and dragged him away.

"Comrade Wang Yao," Ivan caught up with the other party: "Don't you want to leave some memories in Le/Ning/Ge/Le?"

"But I haven't finished reading the book of the basic course yet." Wang Yao didn't slow down: "In ten days, the professor will be back."

"Passed...Passed! Wang Yao!"

Stores in Lening/Ning/Ge/Le have inconspicuous signboards and gates, but behind the gates are often spacious and grand.After sitting down, the barber untied Wang Yao's hair and fell into deep thought.

"What's the matter, comrade, is there any difficulty?" Wang Yao turned his head.

"Don't worry, tomorrow isn't the end of the world." After the barber answered Wang Yao seriously, he turned his head and said to Ivan, "Your friend is really impatient."

Ivan nodded: "I want to stop by Yeliseyev Food Store later, please help me convince him."

"If you don't even have time to browse the food store, I think the best haircut for you is a bald head." The barber put down the scissors and picked up the clippers.

"Hey!" Wang Yao was finally amused: "I give in, please give me a haircut that can match that food store."

"Very well, I always thought that orientals have no sense of humor." The barber made the first cut.

"I still have a sense of humor, but I don't have a tongue." Ivan picked up a pictorial magazine.

Wang Yao saw his snickering face behind the pictorial in the mirror, and the wall clock behind him had pointed to 04:30.The darkness outside the window gives the illusion of midnight.Wang Yao closed his eyes a little bit, recalling the past, and suddenly felt a bit regretful that he couldn't remember too many people and things.

When walking out of the barbershop, Ivan felt Wang Yao slow down: "Are you tired?"

"No," Wang Yao looked at the Nevsky Avenue in front of him: "I just think of my childhood."

"Nan/Jing? Is it called Nan/Jing?" Ivan curiously guessed what made him suddenly forget his textbooks and professors.

"Yes, it's very similar to Len/Ning/Ge/Le. There is also a big river running through my hometown." Wang Yao looked at the Neva River across the street: "Let's go, go to the food store you want to go to."

The food store that can make a person in his 20s still miss it really lives up to its reputation. The display in the window is very charming. Walking in is like entering a shrunken Tsarist-style palace.One can imagine how attractive this place is to children.

"What was your favorite food when you were a child?" Wang Yao looked at the various cakes in front of him, and his heart was filled with warm emotions.

"I used to have one of everything when I was a kid."

Wang Yao ignored him and just pointed to the cherry cake: "Comrade waiter, please help me get two pieces of this cake."

Ivan was very surprised: "How do you know that I like to eat this?"

"No, it's just that I like to eat." Wang Yao deliberately teased him.

"Ah." Ivan took the cake from the waiter a little disappointed.

The waiter was a middle-aged aunt with blond hair. She winked at Ivan: "I think it's because you stare at this place as soon as you enter the store. Anyone can tell that your favorite is cherry cake, young man." people."

"Oh," shrugged Ivan who had cracked the secret, "Next time I must know how to hide myself."

"Hide it well, don't forget that one piece is mine." Wang Yao wrapped his coat tightly again, and pushed open the door of the mall.

Next door to Yeliseyev's food store is a small stationery store. It seems that it is tacitly indulged today, so Wang Yao followed Ivan into it.

"This book is very suitable for you, Wang Yao." Ivan took a fancy to a dark red hardcover notebook, and the cover of the cowhide was rolled with a classical style of gold: "This small notebook is very suitable for memorizing words."

"No need, no need," Wang Yao saw the price of the notebook: "It's too expensive!"

"Because this is a special craftsmanship, comrade." There were few customers in the store, and the clerk took the initiative to come over: "This notebook will not break after 100 years. The outer leather is specially tanned cowhide, which will never fade."

"It's been a long, long time since anyone invited me to drink coffee." Ivan handed the notebook to the clerk and asked him to wrap it up: "Mr. Wang Yao, can you buy me coffee later?"

"Student Braginsky," Wang Yao took the notebook wrapped by the clerk: "You don't want to recommend the Literature Cafe to me, do you?"

The Literature Café may be the only full-sold shop on Nevsky Prospekt today, and it seems that Push/Sch/Kin is indeed the favorite writer of the Soviet Union.The two even waited for a while to get their seats. This cafe is not much different from Wang Yao's previous cognition. It seems that there are also main meals here besides desserts.

"It's been ten years since I came to Nevsky Prospekt last time." Ivan looked at the occasional passers-by outside the window: "And this is actually the first time I've come to this coffee shop. My home is here At the end of this street, the end of this street is connected to Lenin/Great University. My father was a soldier, and my mother was teaching at Lenin/Great University. We lived in the faculty dormitory , just cross a bridge to get to this street."

In fact, it was time for dinner. There was a piano playing in the middle of the cafe. Wang Yao stirred the coffee in the cup: "I was thinking, why don't you go back to Moscow? The winter vacation is one month long."

Ivan turned his eyes back from the street: "There is no one in Mo/S/Ko's family. My sister is in very poor health. Everyone will accompany her to the south every winter."

You can also go to the south together, Wang Yao thought, but he felt that this must be a stupid question, so he didn't ask it.

"Your sister, has been in poor health since she was a child?" Wang Yao asked cautiously.

"My sister was ten years older than me. When I was 14, she was 24, the same age as I am now. My father made sure to choose a farm job for her. That year's work experience seriously damaged her. So healthy that she has to pay the price of her life. Before the age of 24, Anya would take me to the Nevsky Prospekt on her off days, buy me some sweets at the grocery store, and sometimes take me to take a photo, But after she turns 24, none of that will happen again."

"..."

"..."

"Ivan."

"Ok?"

"I'm sorry, I'm the only child in my family. I may not understand your feelings. But... when I bought cakes for you just now, I seemed to be able to experience a little bit of the feeling of being an older brother." Wang Yao handed the menu to he.

"Wang Yao! Master! Teacher!!" Ivan covered his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Wang Yao looked at him with a smile.

"The feeling now is very similar to the feeling when I learned that you poured water into my wine." Ivan glanced at the other party through his fingers.

"Well, Russian food is the same as German/national food, and there are very few vegetarian dishes." Wang Yao pointed to the menu: "Assuming you are ten years old now, what dishes would you like to order?"

"I definitely wouldn't order the pickled cucumber you mentioned." Ivan finally took the menu: "If I were ten years old."

"Hehe, not to mention the ten-year-old me, even the 26-year-old me doesn't want to order this dish."

"Then I'll have some pickles."

"Маринованныеогурчики (pickles), is my tongue a little more flexible?"

"The vibrato р is pronounced wrong again."

……

Ivan couldn't remember where they talked afterwards, it seemed that it had nothing to do with literature, but he just felt that the depressed mood disappeared unconsciously.Are Soviet/Union people gloomy?Sometimes he asks himself that.Is the USSR/people really different from the rest of the world?Sometimes he kept asking himself this question.What about the Chinese?Wang Yao, who speaks German, and Wang Yao, who speaks Russian, he is an out-and-out Chinese. Although he is the only Chinese he has ever met, he is almost sure that such a person is a Chinese, not optimistic. , not simple and straightforward, but a kind of gentle flexibility, which makes people unbearably emotional.

Tonight's night sky is exceptionally clear, and the dark night makes the stars even more dazzling and bright.

"Galaxy!"

Hearing Wang Yao's emotion, Ivan stopped and turned his head.

The street lamps shrouded him dimly, and the surroundings were so quiet that people forgot that this was the street. Wang Yao raised his head and looked at the densely covered stars in the sky: "Is it snowing?"

The little snowflakes glowed softly under the light, just like the stars falling from the sky.

He saw him lift his hands up, wanting to keep them between his fingers, like it was something to let go or a feeling of incomprehension.

A thought flashed through Ivan's mind, not Pushkin, but Dostoevsky—"It was a wonderful night, my dear, and we can only have it when we are young." night.

The author has something to say: Note: Nevsky Prospekt was built in 1710 and is the most famous avenue in Len/Ning/Ge/Le (St./Peter/De/Fort).

Note: The Yeliseev Food Store opened in 1901, and the most romantic thing is that she still exists today.

Note: Cherry Cake and Black Forest Cake are representative desserts in Germany.

Note: The Literature Cafe is not only the coffee shop that Push/Kim often visits, but also the last stop before he embarks on the road of duel. The meaning of literary feelings is far greater than the drink of coffee.

Note: "That night..." is selected from Dostoyevsky's "White Night". In order to cater to the plot, it has been slightly modified from the original text.