文/Gisselquist Graham Gilbert（美） 譯/張佳藝

2011年1月，適逢我在新疆石河子大學學習漢語的假期，新疆正天寒地凍，于是我選擇了南下。從烏魯木齊到上海的火車長達44小時，多虧一位友善的乘務員幫我將無座票升為硬臥票，漫長的旅途才好過些。我還記得她用英語低聲說“請保持安靜”“不要說話”，因為如果所有無座乘客發(fā)現(xiàn)有空余臥鋪，那占位場面就太壯觀了。在上海和浙江短暫停留、拜訪過老友和學生后，我立即踏上了開往福州的火車。

在這趟火車上，我遇到了一位黃姓朋友。他四處奔波，兜售各類水龍頭。他精力充沛，語速很快，談天說地，還告訴我K次列車為什么安全。聊到生日時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他只比我大幾天，但已經(jīng)結婚了，有一個兩歲的女兒，卻還全國各地四處奔波。他讓我叫他黃哥，后來我便這么稱呼他。我們互留了電話。他還邀請我去他泉州的家，這讓我感到很不錯也很方便，因為泉州是我去福州后的下一站。

我在福州時，經(jīng)常和黃哥發(fā)短信，他非常期待我去泉州找他。去泉州前，我們一起制訂了去他家的計劃。我一直以為他住在市里，但實際上他住在市郊（不清楚離市中心究竟有多遠）。我坐上出租車，給司機看黃哥發(fā)來的地址。司機開了很久，最后停在兩條主路的交叉路口。我心里有些忐忑，但司機堅定地說就該停在這兒。我給黃哥打了一通電話，他說馬上就會來接我。大約一個小時過后，黃哥開著朋友的車來了。繼續(xù)開了半小時后，我們終于到了他所在的村莊。

第一晚我住在旅館，次日清晨，黃哥騎著摩托車來接我。我還記得支付費用時，真的很難理解前臺說的方言，更別提辦理流程了。我買了一箱罐裝飲料，然后和他一起回家。黃哥和他的爸爸、媽媽、妻子和女兒一起住在一棟兩層農(nóng)舍中。房子很大，一層有廚房、浴室、客廳和兩間臥室。二層是一間很大的貯藏室。我不太清楚墻體材質(zhì)是什么，可能是刷有砂漿的石頭吧。屋頂是露天的，約20厘米見方、幾米長的石板只是簡單搭在了墻上。顯然這不是一棟防震建筑。

黃哥的祖父母為我騰出了臥室。第二天早上，我和他的祖母去挖淀粉類的塊莖，然后磨碎，用水攪拌，等待淀粉沉淀，倒出水，攤開晾干。

那天，黃哥接完電話后很生氣，他的商業(yè)伙伴沒有支付所售零件的款項，而他還需要付款給零件廠。記不清是當天晚上還是第二天晚上，黃哥去索要欠款。那天晚上愁容不展的妻子和母親告訴我黃哥拿到了支票，但因為太晚了，所以支票無法兌現(xiàn)?？蓡栴}是，工廠在催這筆錢，如果他不付給工廠錢，廠長就會報警將他逮捕。他家里人想讓我借給他25000元，雖然我心存懷疑，但面對才把我?guī)У郊依镒隹偷娜?，實在不忍拒絕。

我們坐上了家用摩托車。車子一路咆哮沖進城，路上停在一戶人家那里，他借了一沓現(xiàn)金。很快，我們又再次駛向自動取款機。我取出錢后，他的妻子把錢存到了黃哥的銀行賬戶?；氐剿液螅麄兿蛭冶ＷC，黃哥第二天會帶著支票回來，我也將拿到我的錢。

第二天晚上，黃哥回來了，蓬頭垢面，疲憊不堪。他告訴我支票還有一點問題，但我會很快拿到錢的。當晚是除夕夜，本該愉快的夜晚顯得有些壓抑。但我們后來還是去了當?shù)厮聫R，看著煙花從山谷中升起、綻放。

接下來的幾天，黃哥家門庭若市。這是春節(jié)期間的傳統(tǒng)，源源不斷的親戚到訪，但沒人帶著好臉色，黃哥遭到了劈頭蓋臉的數(shù)落。每個人都用閩南語講話，讓我也覺得很不自在。

正是在這期間，我愛上了“鐵觀音”。每次有客人來家里，他們都會打開一包茶葉，倒進茶具里泡茶。我聽不懂方言，也沒什么能做的，所以就為他們倒茶。我慢慢輕車熟路，用壺蓋把握倒出的茶量。倒茶時用食指抵住壺蓋，確保每人杯里都有茶。

幾天后，黃哥從親朋好友那里借了錢來還我。那段期間，我目睹了鄉(xiāng)下的婚禮與葬禮。兩者都很有趣，婚禮比我在城市參加的要更為傳統(tǒng)。

總而言之，這是一次充滿趣聞逸事的鄉(xiāng)下經(jīng)歷。雖然美好的春節(jié)留有遺憾，但人們的善良毋庸置疑。

It was January 2011 and I was on break from studying Chinese at Shihezi University in Xinjiang. Xinjiang was freezing cold and I was headed south. The 44-hour train ride from Urumqi to Shanghai went relatively smoothly thanks to a very friendly train stewardess who helped me upgrade my noseat ticket to a hard sleeper. I still remember her telling me, in English and under her breath, to “Be quiet” and “don’t talk” because if all the other noseaters found out that there were sleeping berths available there could have been a scence. After a few quick stops in Shanghai and Zhejiang to visit old friends and students I was on train to Fuzhou.

On the train to Fuzhou I met a guy named Huang. He was traveling around selling faucets and other water spigots. He was full of energy and talked quickly about everything under the sun including why the K train we were on was very safe. We compared birthdates and it turned out he was only a couple of days older than me, but he was already married with a two-yearold girl. He asked me to call him Huang Ge and so I did. We exchanged telephone numbers and he invited me to his house in Quanzhou which I thought was very nice and convenient because it was my next stop after Fuzhou.

HuangGe and I texted back and forth while I was in Fuzhou and he seemed really keen on having me come visit him in Quanzhou. Once I got to Quanzhou we made plans for me to go to his house. I had always assumed that he lived in the city, but as it turned it he lived somewhere outside of the city (how far outside the city wasn’t clear). I got in a taxi and showed the taxi driver the address HuangGe had sent me. The taxi drive was long and the driver dropped me off in the middle of nowhere at the intersection of two major roads. I was a bit worried, but the taxi driver insisted this was the correct place and I called HuangGe and he said it was fine and he’d be there soon to pick me up. I waited for about an hour at this place until HuangGe showed up in his friend’s car and we continued the drive another 30 minutes to his village.

I spent the first night at a hotel and in the morning HuangGe came and picked me up on his motorcycle. I remember trying to pay for the hotel, but it was really hard to argue when everyone is speaking in a dialect you can’t understand. I bought a case of canned drinks and we headed over to his house. HuangGe lived with his mom, dad, wife and daughter in a two story farm house. It was big with the kitchen, bathroom, living room, and two bedrooms on the first floor. The second folor was used for storage and was just one big room. I don’t know what the walls were made up of, but it was probably stone covered in mortar, but the roof was exposed so I could see that. The roof was made up of these stone slabs about 20 cm square and several meters long that looked to be resting on the walls. This was not a building built to withstand earthquakes.

HuangGe’s grandparents gave up their bedroom for me and the next morning I went out with the grandma to dig up some starchy tuber. I helped the family grind up the tuber and mix it with water. We waited for the starch to settle out before pouring off the water and spreading the starch out to dry.

During the day HuangGe was making angry phone calls and told me that, not only, a business partner hadn’t paid him for some parts that he had sold, but that the factory he bought the parts from needed to be paid to. Whether it was that night or the following night I can’t remember, but HuangGe left to go and try and get a check for the money that was owed to him. On the night he left his very nervous looking wife and mother told me that he got the check, but HuangGe was unable to cash it because it was late. The problem was that the factory was demanding the money now, and if he didn’t give it to the factory owner the boss would have him arrested. They asked me to loan him 25,000 RMB, and while I was a bit skeptical it is difficult to turn down the people who have taken you into their house for the past few days.

We got on the family motorcycle and roared into town stopping along the way at someone else’s house to pick up a wad of cash. After the quick pit stop we raced off again to the ATM where while I withdrew money the wife deposited it into HuangGe’s bank account. We went back home and I was assured that tomorrow HuangGe would come back with the check and I’d get my money.

In the evening of the next day HuangGe came back looking tired and disheveled. He told me there was some problem with the check and I would get my money soon. It was Chinese New Year’s Eve and what should have been a fun night was very subdued, but we did go to the local temple and

watched fireworks being set off valley.

The next several days in the house were very tense. A steady stream of relatives came in to visit as is tradition after Chinese New Year, but no one was happy. HuangGe got yelled at a lot and I felt very out of place because everyone was talking in MinNan dialect.

It was during this time that I fell in love with Iron Buddha tea. Every time a visitor came over they would open up a little packet of tea, pour the tea leaves into the covered bowl, and start brewing tea. Because there wasn’t anything I could, or understand, I poured tea. I got pretty good at smooshing the tea down with the lid, holding the lid on with my index finger while maintaining pouring tea, and making sure everyone’s cup always had tea in it.

After several days HuangGe was able to borrow enough money from friends and relatives to pay me back. While I was waiting there was a wedding and a funeral in the village. The wedding seemed much more traditional than the weddings I have attended in cities.

All in all, it was very interesting experience in the countryside. The people were incredibly kind.