Author: Midnight Paper

Categories
Movie

The Crossing of Civil Society

It’s unclear whether the director is young or if it’s intentional, but The Crossing gives the audience a sense of detachment even during the most vital action, as if each character is just “passing through”. The most impressive part of the movie is the “brotherhood” Peipei felt in the smuggling gang.

Many years ago, I was invited by a friend to participate in a “cooking exchange,” where a dozen people took turns cooking in an apartment, judging each other and eating together, and the lively atmosphere is still unforgettable. Of course, as the event progressed, it became clear that this was not just a weekend party, but that each of the “brothers and sisters” was also an Amway distributor. Although I never contacted them again, I still believe that the enthusiasm I felt that day was not just about sales.

As Xiong Peiyun writes in his book Rediscovering Society, “Civil society is a good thing,” and whether for Peipei, young people involved in direct marketing, or older individuals “working for” health care companies, there is an urgent need for a healthy civil society. Sometimes people take risks or get stuck in the mud just to get recognition and respect when they should have better options.

Categories
Life

The Story of Bicycles

British singer Katie Melua once wrote a song called “Nine Million Bicycles,” which begins, “There are nine million bicycles in Beijing, a fact, something we can’t deny, just like I’ll love you till I die.” The juxtaposition of the two, I don’t know if it’s because they’re both surprising or both irrelevant. In any case, in 2005, when the song was released, the streets of Beijing had not yet been taken over by bike-sharing.

My earliest memory of bicycles is probably sitting on the back of one as a child, staring at the sun with unblinking eyes, thinking I could practice my golden eyes. At that time, my parents took me to kindergarten on their bikes, and as I watched the traffic, I felt sorry for the passersby who were commuting to and from work for the first time. Later, when I was in elementary school, I accidentally put my foot on the wheel one night on my way home from Go lessons. The pain was long forgotten, but the look of panic on my parents’ faces was still fresh in my mind.

Then I learned to ride a bike myself and soon lost my first one. I still believe that people wouldn’t rent a shared bike if they weren’t afraid of losing their own. During the time I lived in the city, I bought a racing bike and spent my nights riding up and down Chang’an Street singing: “On this Chang’an Street, he’s as lonely as I am. He’s like my friend, we cry together.”

Categories
Books

Hastily Coming and Going Without Knowing Why

At the end of “This Is a Land of Wonders,” Liang Xiaosheng reflects, “We have endured the immense hardships and joys of cultivating this miraculous land. From now on, whether we leave or stay, no hardship or adversity will ever strike fear into our hearts, nor will it make us surrender…”.

Shi Tiesheng, in his narrative of the rural re-education movement, “The Story of Being Sent Down,” touches on a poignant truth when he addresses skepticism about the feelings of educated youth. He writes: “When you search your conscience, you are at a loss for words. What can you say? That ‘I would go back if my legs weren’t paralyzed, or I wouldn’t have left in the first place’? Such statements would not convince anyone. It is this frankness that carries through to his later work, “Me and the Temple of Earth,” and gives his stories a profound impact on readers.

Although “The Story of Being Sent Down” is a novella, its depth often causes readers to pause and reflect deeply. Wang Xiaobo and Ah Cheng may weave stories with more legendary elements, but the characters penned by Shi Tiesheng are compelling in their authenticity. Coupled with his occasional poetic or critical observations, his writing skills are undeniably impressive.

To the post-80s generation, the educated youth movement may seem like a distant legend, and to those born in the 2000s, it’s even more of a myth. Shi Tiesheng observed, “History moves forward on its own terms, oblivious to others. If you’re interested in our past, in rural life, or in thinking about our origins and our future, The Story of Being Sent Down is a novel not to be missed.

Categories
Movie

The Teacher You Will Never Forget

I watched Dead Poets Society while in college, on the recommendation of a roommate whose high school teacher had shown it to the class. The only entertainment available on the small TV in front of our classroom was the World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

I think maybe it was because our middle school was so small that only when there were a certain number of teachers could one or two outsiders appear. However, one of the male teachers who taught us labor class seemed to be different. Simply put, the class consisted of listening to him talk about Jack London’s Love of Life and analyzing the concept of advertising design, in short, interesting topics outside the textbook. After all these years, the faces of many of the “regular” teachers are fading, but the look on his face when he was teaching is still vivid in my memory.

My roommate went to New Oriental right after graduation, and I am not sure if he played Dead Poets Society in his class or if he is still a teacher.

Categories
Life

Things Scarier Than Bungee Jumping

I’m not really afraid of heights, but I am a little afraid of objects that sway in heights, like suspension bridges. The first and only time I went skiing was just out of curiosity. I took the cable car to the intermediate trails, but I was so afraid of jumping off that the foreigner sitting next to me turned a circle with me in vain.

A few years ago, I went bungee jumping in Shidu with two friends. We had to take the cable car up first, and it was a bit shaky. I bought a Superman T-shirt just for that. When the staff saw Superman coming, they pushed me straight down.

The free fall seemed slower than expected, and the weightlessness is not as strong as on a roller coaster.

This summer, we went to Shidu again to see other people bungee jumping. There were so few people that it took a long time for anyone to go down. There was also no DJ like before.

I bought two boxes of bang snaps from a small store down the street, and the old store owner was thrilled.

Then we went to Sandu. When we got there, there was a suspension bridge and there was no other way to go. The bridge swayed too much and it was hard to reach the middle of the bridge, so I shouted to the man in front of me. “Don’t shake it.” He was not shaking, it was his child who was afraid to go and stopped there.

About fear, I always think of the claustrophobic Chen Jianbin’s monologue in Chicken Poets.

“Tight spaces, closed planes, swaying fuselages, I’ve never been afraid. What I was afraid of was something else. Not being taken seriously, being abandoned by the crowd, having no talent, being a loser. Who wouldn’t be afraid of that?”