Shuangling: Braving the Rapids

The moon hangs high in the sky, and the Milky Way shines brightly.

Looking up at the starry sky, Cheng Dong's mood instantly improved. He slammed his fist on the concrete railing, then belted out a Cantonese ditty: "Waves rush... waves flow..."

After those two shouts, all the dogs in the village erupted in a cacophony of barking and howling.

The Qin family next door were enjoying the cool air in their yard when Cheng Dong's wailing startled them. Ding Lingfang and her youngest daughter, Yue Shan, craned their necks to look up at the roof.

At this moment, Ding Lingfang nudged her husband with her elbow and whispered, "Honey, the three of them have drunk so much, aren't you going to try and stop them?"

"Don't worry about it. They're all young people. Let them do whatever they want." Qin Shuangling leisurely exhaled a smoke ring. Beside him was a pack of filtered cigarettes, which Cheng Dong had specially brought to him before the meal.

Ding Lingfang was dissatisfied with her husband's attitude of turning a blind eye to everything. She kept nagging him incessantly, and she would go on and on unless he took any action.

Qin Shuangling was getting annoyed. His eyes darted around, and he gave his wife a bad idea: "You cook some peanuts and take them over. Once they've sobered up, your precious son will be back."

"Aren't peanuts supposed to be a snack with alcohol? How can they help you sober up?" Ding Lingfang's eyes widened like saucers, and she even forgot to fan herself with her palm-leaf fan.

Looking into his wife's clear, innocent eyes, Qin Shuangling stubbed out his cigarette, suppressing a laugh as he continued to coax her, "It works! If you also give her a plate of spiced edamame, she'll wake up even faster."

Ding Lingfang muttered "nonsense" under her breath. She rubbed her lower back, stood up, and really went to the kitchen in the dark. She really is a simpleton!

"Forgive me for my unruly and free-spirited life, for I am also afraid, afraid that one day I will fall... Oh oh..." The evening breeze made Cheng Dong even more intoxicated, and at this moment, he twisted his body and sang loudly.

Seeing that Cheng Dong's actions were becoming increasingly exaggerated and to the point of being unbearable to watch, Ai Min and Yue Chuan worked together to drag him to a room on the west side of the second floor.

Upon entering the room, Cheng Dong was still fiddling with the tape recorder on the windowsill, casually inserting a Leslie Cheung album cassette.

What he sang wasn't important; what mattered was the atmosphere. Cheng Dong found the feeling of running wild in the open-air venues of Dongguan! He twirled his hands, wiggled his hips, and took a few steps forward and backward, and he really had some of Leslie Cheung's style.

Yue Chuan had never seen "Days of Being Wild," so he naturally didn't know that Cheng Dong was imitating "Brother." He only found Cheng Dong's actions ridiculous and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Aimin seemed unfazed by this. He calmly walked to the bookshelf in the corner and said to Yue Chuan, "Chuan'er, come over here for a moment."

Yue Chuan was laughing so hard he was practically a bellows, but when he heard his uncle's greeting, he stopped laughing, straightened his back, and moved closer to Ai Min.

"Wow! When did they put so many books here!" Yue Chuan exclaimed in surprise. He carefully examined the huge bookcase in front of him, and then said, "No wonder Second Master had such a big cabinet made a while ago; it turns out it was for making a bookcase!"

This bookcase is very large, divided into two parts: the upper part is an open "cubicle" and the lower part is a double-door cabinet.

The cabinet was locked, but Yue Chuan didn't pay any attention to it. He was too busy looking at the various books in the "cubicle" to notice them. Before long, he figured out the pattern of the books' arrangement.

It turns out that the "cubicle" was divided into three areas from left to right. The left side was filled with foreign language books, including hardcover, gold-embossed books such as "And Quiet Flows the Don" and "Resurrection". The middle section contained Chinese classics, including the Four Great Classical Novels and the Analects. The right side was piled high with teaching materials, with math Olympiad materials alone stacked up to half a person's height!

Yue Chuan was awestruck by the collection of books. He smelled the fragrance of the books, and a silly grin suddenly appeared on his lips. He would sometimes stand on tiptoe, and sometimes bend down to stare at them, just like a starving person pouncing on a loaf of bread.

Aimin carefully observed Yue Chuan. Clearly, he saw a reflection of himself in his nephew. After a long while, he smiled reassuringly and solemnly said to his nephew, "Chuan'er, congratulations on getting into Yanghe No. 1 High School. I'm your uncle and your teacher, so I should give you something. How about this, you can pick any two books from the bookshelf to take home!"

"Really?" Yue Chuan was quite excited. He pointed to the shelves on the left and right and said, "I want this one, and that one too!"

It must be said that the uncle and nephew had a certain tacit understanding. Without asking any questions, Aimin stretched out his arm and pulled out two books from between the pages—"Selected Problems for the High School Mathematics Olympiad" and "Selected Poems of Pushkin".

Here, that's for you!

After saying that, Aimin directly handed the book to his nephew, Yuechuan, who immediately perked up. He had participated in many math competitions during his three years of junior high, so choosing this type of book wasn't surprising. However, Aimin was a little surprised by this poetry anthology—as an educator, he knew that the younger generation had little interest in Russian literature anymore. Why had his nephew chosen this one?

Out of curiosity, Aimin couldn't help but ask, "Chuan'er, why did you choose this book, 'Selected Poems of Pushkin'?"

Yue Chuan didn't answer the other person directly. He smiled slightly and asked in return, "Uncle, do you still remember the poem you read aloud to the whole class on the first day of junior high school?"

"Which one? 'To Chaadaev'? Or...?" Aimin really couldn't remember. He had a strong attachment to the Soviet Union and would often recite Russian poems to his classmates. Even now, the accordion solo he played is still a staple of the school's cultural performances.

"No, it's that poem, 'The Monument.' Uncle, you probably don't know how shocked we were when you read that passage aloud in Russian!" Yue Chuan replied, his eyes shining.

Hearing this, Aimin smiled and nodded, then casually asked, "So that's when you fell in love with Pushkin..."

"No...we not only like Pushkin, we also like to hear you sing old Soviet songs."

"Really! Shall I sing you another song tonight?" Aimin said, taking out a bunch of keys with a red Chinese knot hanging from his pocket and bending down to open the cabinet door under the bookshelf with a click.

When the old accordion reappeared, Yue Chuan's eyes lit up. He stared intently as Ai Min slung the strap over his shoulder, watching the accordion box bulge and deflate with each movement of his arm, every action captivating the mountain boy.

Fingers danced across the keys, the bellows breathed in and out freely, and the exotic notes echoed in the air.

Always on our minds

It's an ordinary wish.

May my dear hometown be beautiful.

May our motherland live ten thousand years!

Listen, the wind and snow are howling, watch the shooting stars fly by.

My heart calls to me, to the turbulent distance...

When the piece ended, Yue Chuan was completely captivated, but Cheng Dong seemed unimpressed by the soothing and melancholic melody. He clicked his tongue and said to Ai Min, "It's nice to listen to, but it lacks passion! I'll go get a cassette tape from the car later; I guarantee it'll suit your taste!"

After saying that, Cheng Dong rushed downstairs in a hurry. About two minutes later, he burst into the study, panting heavily, with a Tang Dynasty band cassette tape in his hand.

With a click, the recorder was pushed in, and the play button was pressed. The most "explosive" track from the entire album resounded throughout the room.

Arise! You starving and freezing slaves!

Arise, oh wolves of the world!

My blood is boiling with passion; I must fight for the truth.

The old world is utterly destroyed! Slaves, rise up!

Don't say we have nothing; we want to be the masters of the world.

……

Aimin was very familiar with "The Internationale," but the explosive electric guitar arrangement still made his head spin. Compared to the desolate tune of the Soviet folk song, the rock-accompanied version was practically tailor-made for a chorus!

The three of them, their necks red, roared, the sound waves making the glass windows rattle. This passionate scene was truly exhilarating and unforgettable!

The three men were shouting so loudly that their veins were bulging when the wooden door suddenly creaked open, and a small head with pigtails popped in.

"I...I didn't come here to eavesdrop!" Xiao Yueshan bit her lip, the pot of boiled peanuts trembling. "My mom sent me to bring peanuts and chrysanthemum tea...and told you to drink more water to sober up, and to go to...go to sleep!"

Before Yue Shan could finish her stammering, the three of them broke down in laughter. The little girl's ears turned bright red, and she slammed down the plate and ran away, while a long burst of laughter filled the room...