Listening to Books | Reading Zhang Ailing's "The First Incense": Money or Love?

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Hello everyone, welcome to listen to the fifth lecture of the classic Zhang Ailing’s "The First Incense".

In the last lecture, we mentioned that Ge Weilong spent three months in Liang's house, and learned the sensuality and operating rules of the upper class, so we began to re-evaluate the path of realization of his future future, whether it depends on reading or getting married ? If you want to maintain the current standard of living, you will definitely not be able to find a job by studying, but it seems like a lively social scene with my aunt, but finding a reliable marriage partner is actually not so easy. . Why does

say that? Let's first take a look at what kind of role does Ge Weilong play in Liangzhai?

Mrs. Liang got Ge Weilong into the house and invested in her. Naturally, she was not allowed to be the eldest lady. So what does she need Ge Weilong to do? One of the important purposes is to win over young people for Mrs. Liang herself. How to win over the law? The novel reads: "For those who pursue Weilong, Mrs. Liang is very critical, even more demanding than the imperial recruits. It is the seven or eight people who were lucky enough to be selected. If the pursuit is too ardent, Mrs. Liang is a stranger. , It is easy to not allow them to approach Weilong. Once he was allowed to approach, Mrs. Liang crossed the line to kill him, and used his social skills to take the person away. The person and Mrs. Liang had friendship, which was meant to be a drunkard It’s not in the wine, but in the end, it always turns out to be true and falls in love. Weilong is used to this kind of trick, but he doesn’t mind.” Mrs. Liang has money but love is missing, so she put young girls out as Fishing bait is mainly to snare a lover for yourself.

So Ge Weilong thinks that although her aunt is a social occasion, there are many people who come here, but it is really difficult to find a reliable marriage partner. "It is not a young man who is like a slick dancer, or the master of the six men in San Gong. They are British soldiers. But officers above lieutenant are still unwilling to deal with the yellow race!" This is the bleak reality of Hong Kong.

There are three men mentioned in the book who have trouble with Weilong in such an environment. One is called Lu Zhaolin, one is called Situ Xie, and the other is Qiao Qiqiao. Let's take a look at each of the three men's roles. The first one of

was called Lu Zhaolin. One of the roles of this boy was to demonstrate to us how Mrs. Liang used Ge Weilong to win over young boyfriends by fishing.

Lu was originally Ge Weilong’s friend in the church choir. He should be a college student with outstanding family background and personal conditions. He should have belonged to the husband candidate whom Ge Weilong was trying to fight for—this level is also mentioned in the novel. Because Ge Weilong himself is not a religious believer, and because he is too busy every day, he has to participate in choir activities, so it is more or less for the purpose of interacting with Lu Zhaolin and increasing his goodwill.

As we said before, Liang's House is a very closed space, which is not only symbolic, but also physical. Suier analyzed Ge Weilong and Mrs. Liang would never let you join the choir for no reason. "She can't let you make friends outside alone; you can't even sing and sing together in the church. That's the rule here. People who want to see you must come to visit, and it's easy to do if they come in. "And this time Mrs. Liang didn't object to Ge Weilong's going to the choir. In fact, she liked this college student named Lu herself, so she was very enthusiastic about having a garden party, so she asked Ge Weilong to invite friends from the choir to play. In fact, there are so many guise, mainly for this Lu Zhaolin. Here we can see that Ge Weilong thinks she is her own master, but in fact, what she is doing, what activities she participates in, and who she associates with are still controlled by Mrs. Liang behind her back. When she joined the choir, she thought she was planning for her own future, but in fact, it was just a long line for Mrs. Liang to fish. This is also a small mockery of Zhang Ailing towards self-righteous people like Ge Weilong.

This time my aunt used the same method to snare Lu Zhaolin. For Ge Weilong, this is nothing more than a failure. Weilong's mentality is very subtle. The failure of Lu Zhaolin's struggle is not only a setback in love, but also a failure between female fighting methods. Weilong originally looked down on Mrs. Liang, and felt that the way her aunt got love was really ridiculous. From a young person's point of view, there is no such thing as love, it is naked seduction and carnal desire. Weilong thinks that she is younger than Mrs. Liang, has more ideas, is more advanced in concept, understands love better, and has a longer time with Lu.Many interactive foundations, but with such a good hand, he was still defeated in front of Mrs. Liang. This is Ge Weilong's first failure in front of Mrs. Liang.

"Agarwood Crumbs-The First Incense (Film on Paper)" illustration

was at this failed stall. At the same garden party, Ge Weilong met Qiao Qiqiao. Qiao Qiqiao is a mixed-race, with a very strong family background. His father was knighted by an Englishman, so he should be an official and business person. As soon as this person appeared, he got all the attention of Ge Weilong. So what is the attraction of Qiao Qiqiao?

tells us at least three things in the novel.

First of all, others are handsome and attractive. The novel says: "The lips are pale, like a plaster cast. Under the black eyebrows and eyelashes, the eyes are like Waseda fields blown by the wind, sometimes showing the blue light of the water under the rice, flashing and dimming. Going down. He is tall and he was born evenly, but his clothes are so docile and casual, making people forget the existence of his body. Compared with him, Lu Zhaolin looks a lot stupid."

Ge Weilong uses now In other words, it is probably also a Yan control. Moreover, Qiao Qiqiao is handsome and dressed appropriately, which makes people feel like a graceful son. So Qiao Qiqiao had a huge influence on her the first time she met. "After Qiao Qiqiao shook hands with her, she still put her hands in her trouser pockets, standing there smiling, looking at her up and down. Weilong was wearing a magnetic blue chiffon cheongsam that day and gave him green eyes At first glance, she felt that her arm was like hot milk, pouring out of the cyan jug. She couldn't control her, and her whole self was spilled out." It's another very dynamic metaphor, this This kind of excitement that is hard to control is probably love at first sight.

Qiao Qiqiao is handsome, and she is especially sultry, especially for contributing a lot of local love words. For example, he said that Ge Weilong was a thorn in the eye and had no hope of pulling it out, and he also used Portuguese to express love to Ge Weilong. In this way, although love words are earthy, they still really work. The second point of Qiao Qiqiao’s attraction comes from his relationship with Mrs. Liang. how to say? As the saying goes, the enemy of the enemy is a friend, because Qiao Qiqiao made her aunt suffer a loss. In the eyes of Ge Weilong, whose boyfriend had just been cut off, compared to the stupid Lu Zhaolin who fell under his pomegranate skirt, he could see through Mrs. Liang’s tricks and even Those who can beat Mrs. Liang are naturally more like their own allies.

Qiao Qiqiao’s third attraction lies not in his strengths, but in his weaknesses. He is a mixed-race, and his mother is humble, and he is not favored. The book says that he is a bastard boy with a gloomy temper. He has no place in a place where racial discrimination like Hong Kong is severe. It was precisely this that caused Ge Weilong's sympathy. It is also written in the novel that Weilong particularly likes to watch Qiao Qiqiao do an action. He always likes to bury his face in his arms when he uses his brain a little. This gives Weilong a kind of close to maternal love. reaction. There is no perfect person in Zhang Ailing's writing. Even if the author promises readers that this is a rare and beautiful woman, she will add a sentence or two to explain her flaws. Or like Fan Liuyuan in "Love in the Fallen City", who is as self-confident and romantic as Fan Liuyuan, in fact he is not handsome, and the novel just says that he is careless. We are now accustomed to watching TV, and we feel that we have to be beautiful men and women to be able to watch. In fact, a seemingly perfect person must also have a small weakness in order to be close to others or make people feel good about him. look forward to.

Movie "Allure of Love" stills

Just when Ge Weilong paid more attention to Qiao Qiqiao, Suier came to mention Ge Weilong again, saying that Qiao Qiqiao could not be touched, why? It's not that because he is a playboy, he is unreliable to make women everywhere. The biggest problem is that he has no money. It is really an extremely realistic consideration! His father, Sir Joe, disliked this ineffective son most. Now he is still alive, he is already very tight. He always fights famine. In the future, I will die. He will leave his wife and wife for 20 years, more than a dozen sons, and even the celebrity in front of him can’t share much furniture. Got him? He doesn't have any abilities other than play, and he will suffer in the future.

Weilong was silent after listening. Heartbeat is heartbeat, but obviously Qiao Qiqiao is not an ideal target either. So she deliberately became indifferent to Qiao Qiqiao and kept her distance.

Next, let’s talk about the third man. This man is called Situ Xie. In the novel, he is said to be a "skinny old man, a small rich man in Shantou, who owns an enamel toilet."factory. It was originally the only one among the countless lovers in the heyday of Mrs. Liang." Situ Xie and Mrs. Liang have been together for more than 20 years. They are familiar with each other and help each other. They have developed a cooperative relationship from outside their lovers, and each learns from each other. Yes.

Mrs. Liang, Situ Xie and Ge Weilong took the car home together. Mrs. Liang showed Weilong in the car the diamond bracelet Situ Xie gave her. It was three inches wide and there was no electric light in the car, but the bracelet was brilliant. It shines brightly, but it illuminates Mrs. Liang’s red nails.

"Weilong dragged Mrs. Liang’s hand, just tut to praise, not wanting to click, saying that it’s too late, then soon, Situ Association has already reached for her hand to wear it to her. Putting on the same diamond bracelet, the process was as quick as the detective had unexpectedly handcuffed the prisoner. "

Weilong was naturally taken aback. To give such a generous gift for no reason, this kind of loss-making business is obviously not the job of this lean Shantou businessman. Situ Association must give him gifts for her in return. , The reason why Situ Xie would give Mrs. Liang a exactly the same bracelet in front of Mrs. Liang was obviously that she had negotiated terms with Mrs. Liang. She was arranged by her aunt for Situ Xie to act as Mrs. Liang’s replacement. Why does

have this? This arrangement? Of course, first of all, because Situ Association has always coveted Ge Weilong. On the other hand, the novel actually hints at the possibility that Mrs. Liang’s recommendation of Ge Weilong to Situ Association may also be related to Lu Zhaolin. She is working with Lu Zhaolin. The fight was fierce, but it was inconvenient to offend the old love of Situ Xie, so he sacrificed Ge Weilong to win over and appease Situ Xie.

Ge Weilong could not get rid of it, but returned to the house wearing a bracelet. Accepting the bracelet means accepting the terms and falling. Entering the trap Mrs. Liang dug and completely became her puppet. This time, we should not only help her win over the newcomers, but also help her to appease the old ones. In the past, winking over the newcomers was actually just acting, and the latter had to sacrifice hue. From Weilong's point of view, it was naturally very scary. So she went back to the room and quickly opened the closet, put the bracelet away, and returned it if she had a chance. The image of the

cabinet door appeared here again. Three months ago , The air inside the cabinet door is quiet, long-lasting, full of flowers and scent, and is a confined space that can escape the cruel reality outside. But now it seems that the cruel reality has long penetrated into it. The dampness in the wardrobe. It is compelling and full of stale air. My aunt is certainly not an old-fashioned family here. In an old-fashioned family, the only way out for girls is to be arranged by the family to be a qualified female marriage partner to seek some benefits for themselves and the family. But aunt It seems to be trendy here, the bones are still the same, even more naked, Ge Weilong was arranged to a rich man, to a greater extent in exchange for some benefits for his aunt.

Situ Association, Association, the "threat" of the same threat. It was this threat from Situ Xie that made Wei Long feel that there was not much time to hesitate. Perhaps reality simply did not allow her to choose a suitable husband slowly. She had to speed up the realization of her plan to marry a rich man and leave. Liang’s house, escape from the fate of sacrificing the color and enveloping men.

, but a rich and agreeable husband, is almost impossible. But find a rich, Mrs. Liang is a role model, buried in the prison of wealth Youth, when her husband dies, financial freedom, she is already old, no amount of lovers can fill the famine of love in her heart.

So Ge Weilong has her own answer, and she feels that she cannot be distorted like Mrs. Liang , Choosing a marriage with money but no love, or a marriage with love but no financial security, neither of which meets her ideals. She wants to make a compromise between love and money. She loves Joe Qi Qiao, although he is not rich enough, she hopes to influence Qiao Qi and make him positive and motivated, and the two can create a happy life together.

This may be the same as most of us People's situation is similar. There are still a few extreme materialists who can say "I would rather sit in a BMW car and cry than laugh behind a bicycle", but to completely abandon the economic foundation and pursue spiritual love, ordinary people do not have the courage to be romantic. Most people are striving for a compromise between firewood, rice, oil, salt and spiritual emotion.

Ge Weilong had this positive and motivated wishful thinking in his heart, and the situation was so similar to three months ago. Three months ago, when Ge Weilong came down from his aunt's house, he said to himself, I just read my books, I only need to behave righteously, not afraid of others gossiping. As a result, reality does not allow her to get out of the silt without being stained, nor to draw a clear line between her and Liang’s dye tank; and now she is secretly thinking that she can influence Qiao Qiqiao, she naively believes in Qiao Qiqiao.Qi refuses to be a good person because no one loves him, no one understands him, believes in him, and she can give him love and support, and she can make Qiao Qiqiao change and be a new person. This is probably a kind of Madonna complex in current terms. In fact, let's think about it carefully. It is difficult for Ge Weilong to control himself. Now he has made up his mind to change others. This is almost a more absurd and unrealistic idea. So when she made up her mind to create a better future with Qiao Qiqiao, she was directly beaten in the face.

Qiao Qiqiao said to Ge Weilong very frankly, I am not going to get married. I can't promise you to marry, nor can I promise you love, I can only promise you happiness.

This is too far from Weilong's original expectations. Her earliest expectation was a loving marriage. As for economic issues, she sought a good future by using the network of Qiao's family. In this way, two people can live a life that is not luxurious, but at least affluent. In fact, Qiao Qiqiao didn't want to work at all. He just wanted to marry a noble lady who was a big family, and then live the life of the young master easily. So Qiao Qiqiao not only never thought of marrying Ge Weilong at all, but even more exaggerated is that after a long time, she didn't even have a promise of love.

has to say, Qiao Qiqiao is really a playboy with tricks, he is not deceiving, but is very frank with shameless requests, as if it could not be more legitimate. Sometimes such scumbags are particularly concealed. If they habitually deceive women, they will be able to show that there is a character problem when they expose a lie. But now they are so shameless as to be so magnanimous, it makes people wonder if their worldview is not correct enough and not tolerant enough.

Weilong listened to Qiao Qiqiao’s words, "Trying to find his eyes in his black glasses, but she only saw her own shadow reflected in the glasses, shrunken, and defeated." It was another one. Mirror. Ge Weilong has encountered his mirror image four times in the novel. The first time, at the beginning of the novel, Weilong saw herself in the mirror, and the second time, on the second day of her stay in Liang’s house, she vaguely saw herself on the numb and expressionless face when she left. , For the third time, now, she saw herself in Qiao Qiqiao's black sunglasses, and in the future she will see herself in an inferior prostitute. This is actually a theme of Zhang Ailing. People always realize their true appearance, fragile, disillusioned, and frustrated at a certain moment, on some short and special occasions. Earlier self-confidence is not mentioned at all.

Alright, we will stop here for this lecture, and the next lecture will be our last lecture: Shanghai or Hong Kong? The home of Ge Weilong.

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