Xu Yu'an, born in the third year of the Republic of China, was born in a wealthy family in Hangzhou, and his family has been a scholar for generations, and his grandfather was a jinshi in the Guangxu years. At the age of five, when he officially entered the private school at the age of eight, the elders of the family took the word and called it as such. Xu Yu'an, Xu Ruzhi, the family prayed for him to be safe and happy, and to be an innocent scholar for the rest of his life.

I looked at the old man in front of me. A class of names will be popular in an era, and Xu Yu'an is the name of that time, with polite literary quality; The same face will also be popular in an era, the kind of clear, straight nose bones, narrow eyes, full of silkworms but a little sad face, Xu Yu'an also has that face. Although his face was wrinkled and his cheeks were shriveled, he could still see what kind of era and what kind of family this face came from.

He sat down in front of me, resting a wooden cane on the edge of the coffee table, taking off a woolen hat and placing it on the table, and finally resting his hand on the table. The arms are also thin, but the cuffs are rolled up and are very neat.

I asked him, "Coffee or tea?" ”

"Coffee," he said. ”

People like him would never say anything casually. He always has a choice.

After a pause in ordering, he took out a large crisp brown paper document bag from his black bag, opened it and took out a book, and a dozen pieces of paper clamped in clips. He took out another dark blue glasses case, took out a pair of reading glasses wrapped in the glasses cloth, and put them on for himself. He flipped to a certain page and handed it to me.

I asked, "What is this?" ”

He told me: "This little friend, this is a biography written to me by someone two years ago, and I have written it all my life, and you should have all the questions you want." ”

He handed me the wad of paper again: "I've written a little bit before, talked about some important things, and it's all here; There are also some other people who have written about me, whether they like or dislike, and they are also in it. ”

I hurriedly thanked him, and the page he turned to me was a chronology of his experiences. The first 30 years were just a passing stroke, such as being born in Hangzhou and going to private school, going to Shanghai to study, etc., at the age of 30, less than 30 words.

I looked up at him in amazement.

He looked at me from behind his reading glasses for a moment, squinted his eyes, and then asked, "Kid, what else do you have to ask?" His eyes looked at me kindly from behind his reading glasses.

I replied, "Earlier...... I mean, what happened when I was on the mainland. ”

He was silent for a while: "These things are almost the same as everyone else, and there is nothing worth talking about." ”

I was afraid that he would back down, and I was a little anxious: "Grandpa, when you were young, it was the time when the times were up and down, and the stories of young people were naturally different. ”

He listened to me call Grandpa, looked gentle, and asked me, "How many people have you interviewed?" ”

I said, "Twenty-three." ”

He nodded, "That's a lot." ”

My heart is empty. I interviewed 23 elderly people, and it is true that their life experiences are different, but after some ups and downs, their feelings are very dull, they do not have much sense of their past, and their memories have become confused. But Hsu Yu-an is different, he is well-educated, almost 80 years old, his ears and eyes are clear, his waist is straight, and he is a well-known figure in Taiwan. For me, he was a very important interviewee.

I persuaded again: "Grandpa, I just want to record the story of that year, over there, your life, your family, that's all. All kinds of history are always passed by individuals, but the joys and sorrows of personal fate are also very important. ”

He remained silent for a long time, and finally said softly, "I know." But my business may be different from what you want to know. ”

I hurriedly said, "No matter what kind of story I want to hear, I will write it objectively." ”

"No, no, it's true, it's not the story you want to hear." His eyes looked out the window, it was a very blue sky today, and large cumulus clouds were spreading like castles.

He said it anyway.

It turns out that the reason why this story is different is because of a man named Yusheng.