No Effort Goes Unrewarded

I met Wu the year I moved to Beijing.

An Unconventional Existence

As I walked out of the subway exit every night after work,I would pass a vibrant night market buzzing with hustle and bustle.I enjoyed watching the street vendors—there was an elderly woman selling special delicacies by the roadside,a man named Zhang drumming up business for designer discount clothes,a boy with cropped hair sitting behind a small blackboard peddling cellphone screen protectors,and my favorite girl who sold different flowers with the change of seasons.

You can only see those people outside the Fifth Ring Road in Beijing.

A man named Wu,who left an indelible impression in my mind always read books while waiting for customers.From his beige van overflowing with CDs on a mounted rack,the music he played to attract customers was far different from what the middle-aged women use for square dancing that emanates throughout the streets and alleys every evening,which is why it drilled itself so deep in my memory.

Wu’s CD player meted out medleys of mellifluous music,lively American country music on sunny days and soft music on cloudy days.I can’t recall the names exactly,but those beautiful strains could really brighten up an otherwise dreary day of gray skies whose melancholy hues could penetrate a person right down to the soul.

One day,a sudden gust of wind sent the dust on the ground billowing in the air causing the pedestrians to scurry away.Knowing the drill,the majority of the vendors gathered their wares lickety-split,ready to head back home.Surprisingly,a potent tune drifted along with the dust-filled wind,coming from Wu’s stand.The song was “Ten Thousand Hippies” by renowned Chinese rock band,Omnipotent Youth Society (OYS).As an expression of cynicism and bewilderment that modern young people harbored about their dreams,the song was favored by many rock fans.I was drawn to it like moths to a flame,only to find Wu leaning casually against his van,reading a book as always.He looked so dug in that even the high wind didn’t seem to disturb him.

遇見阿五那年，我剛到北京。

另類的存在

每晚下班從地鐵口出來后，會經(jīng)過一條人聲鼎沸、洋溢著煙火氣息的夜市。我喜歡觀察這條路上的攤販：賣特色食品的大媽，賣品牌折扣衣服的張哥，立著一塊小黑板貼手機膜的男生梳著圓寸頭，還有我最喜歡的應(yīng)著時節(jié)輪換的鮮花小妹。

這些人，是在北京五環(huán)之外才能打著交道的存在。

給我印象最特別的攤販是夜市末尾處的阿五，他總是一邊看書一邊賣碟。他那輛香檳色面包車上裝滿了車載CD，播放的卻不是國內(nèi)大街小巷常聽到的那些廣場舞旋律。

阿五的CD 在不同風(fēng)格的音樂間靈活切換，晴天時會放輕快的美國鄉(xiāng)村音樂，陰天時是輕音樂，我叫不上名字，只覺得應(yīng)著灰蒙蒙鉛色的天景，叫人心頭格外透亮。

一天傍晚，狂風(fēng)突至，地面上的灰塵被翻卷起來，行人紛紛快速掩面而去。附近的攤販都麻溜兒地收拾好手邊物件，打算回家。阿五那邊卻突然傳來搖滾樂隊“萬能青年旅店”的《十萬嬉皮》，這首歌唱出了現(xiàn)代青年對于理想近乎極致的幽困，是很多喜歡搖滾的青年的最愛。我忍不住走過去，看見阿五一如既往倚靠在車旁看書，神色淡然，完全沒有受到大風(fēng)催促的跡象。

聽到我要買萬青的CD，阿五開始主動和我搭訕。這一聊我才知道，原來我們差不多大。他平時不茍言笑的模樣，總讓我覺得他應(yīng)該年長我很多。

Wu struck up conversations with me when I showed my interest in OYS’s albums.After some small talk,I realized that he was about my age.However,his pervasive solemnity had left me an impression that he was much older than me.

An Ambitious Goal

Born in a village in southwestern China,the fifth child among the siblings in the family was always dismissed as a cipher.Since childhood,he had known that his family remained in such dire poverty that it was financially difficult for all of them to finish their college education.Despite his outstanding performances in high school,he decided to leave his hometown for Beijing looking for jobs,in the hope of applying for his dream university through hard work as well as earning more money.

“Any choices?” I asked.

“The University of Illinois,”he said,his eyes flickering with bright light.After he came to Beijing,he visited some education consulting agencies who told him that he needed to pass the TOEFL test and some other various and sundry tests,as well as a hefty sum of money to live abroad.With three part-time jobs,he shuttled between workplaces every day.However,he earned money by the sweat of his brow due to his poor educational background.Thanks to his diligence and kindness,he soon demonstrated his competence in each job.Through his CD business at night,he discovered that those living in the neighborhood were young people just like himself,who weren’t particularly fond of the mouldy oldies that accompanied the nightly square dancing ritual.

Truly,the essential art of doing business was to read people’s minds and satisfy their needs.Every evening after 6 pm,when people flooded out of the subway exit they were most likely to listen to music with a whole day’s pentup emotions seething underneath the surface as they made their way to their stuffy,florescent-tinged offices.Wu always saw customers arriving in an unbroken stream.

From then on,whenever I passed by his place I would stop over and make small talk with him.

難及的目標(biāo)

阿五出生在西南某地的農(nóng)村，家里兄弟姊妹眾多，他是老五，很容易被大家忽略。打小阿五就知道，自己家的情況實在糟糕，怕是很難供所有孩子順利讀完大學(xué)。所以盡管在學(xué)校里成績優(yōu)異，高考之后，他還是決定離開家鄉(xiāng)，一路北上，來到京城，既為了多賺點錢貼補家用，也是想通過自己的努力考上心儀的學(xué)校。

“那你想考哪個大學(xué)呢？”我問。

“美國的伊利諾伊大學(xué)?！卑⑽逖劬α辆ЬУ摹０⑽鍋淼奖本┲?，去留學(xué)機構(gòu)咨詢了情況，得知出國留學(xué)除了要學(xué)英語考托福、專業(yè)考試，還要有一筆不菲的生活費。他一天打三份工，輾轉(zhuǎn)在不同的場所，因為受著學(xué)歷的限制，所以工作起來算不得很輕松。好在阿五做事勤快，與人為善，在幾個打工的地方都很快干得得心應(yīng)手。夜里就來夜市賣碟，他發(fā)現(xiàn)這片區(qū)域生活著的大都是和他差不多的年輕人，這些人喜歡的音樂多半不是廣場舞神曲之類的。

懂得觀察和對癥下藥，是做生意的基本道法。每晚6 點鐘之后，地鐵口會涌出大量人流，在辦公室里壓榨了一天的干渴之心，最易被音樂點燃。阿五的攤子前總不缺生意。

從那之后，走過路過，我總會上前和阿五聊那么幾句。

不覺得自己窮

他每晚都是最后一個收攤兒的，收攤之后就回到自己租的小隔斷間。隔斷間沒有窗戶，一個月800 塊錢。他去宜家買了盞性能好、耗電量低的臺燈，夜里就在那盞燈下學(xué)習(xí)。為了不打擾合租室友，他背單詞從來不出聲，僅僅是嘴巴在張張合合。

北京的冬天不好過，阿五的房子是自采暖，為了省錢，他舍不得開暖氣，就往被子上加蓋衣服。他窩在被窩里，數(shù)著當(dāng)天賣碟所得的現(xiàn)金，把每張鈔票的邊角處都扯平整，然后在睡覺前給家人發(fā)個短信，報個平安，告訴他的爸爸媽媽：“我在北京很好，吃得好，穿得暖，合租的室友非常友好，要是缺錢就和我說。”

阿五把這些轉(zhuǎn)述給我，語言之間盡顯平淡，我卻聽得心頭發(fā)熱，忍不住反問道：“那你覺得，在北京這樣的生活好嗎？”

他點點頭：“我喜歡賣碟，也喜歡賺錢。喜歡看書，也喜歡和人交流。可能在大家眼里我很窮，但我從來不覺得自己窮。我有童年時下河捉蝦的快樂，有阿弟阿妹純真的笑容，有這滿滿一車擁有奇形怪狀靈魂的音樂。我所享受到的世界，早已超過我為這世界所做的一切，我還有什么不滿足呢？”

和尖毛草一樣

2015年的一天，阿五的攤子突然不見了，之后再沒有出現(xiàn)。后來，我搬了家，那條夜市上所發(fā)生過的故事也離我越來越遠。

直到上周，因為實在想念夜市上的那碗烤冷面，我重回夜市，不經(jīng)意間看到旁邊那輛熟悉的香檳色面包車，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)賣碟的小哥操著一口流利的東北腔。不是阿五，車上放的CD 也不再是《十萬嬉皮》。賣碟的小哥告訴我，一年前，阿五就轉(zhuǎn)手把這輛二手車賣給了他，還送了他很多碟，不過那些碟他不是很喜歡，就壓在了箱底。

“那他人呢？你知道他去哪兒了嗎？”

“我不知道他具體要去哪兒，貌似出國了吧。賣車的那天，聽到他說去辦美國簽證什么的?！?/p>

每一種平凡，都有答案。

阿五讓我想到非洲草原上的一種奇異植物，尖毛草。其他植物迎著春天的腳步日漸恢宏的時候，尖毛草的高度始終保持在一寸左右，就像一條被上帝拋棄的可憐蟲。然而，讓人意想不到的是，半年后的一場滂沱大雨，讓尖毛草奇跡般地拔地而起，每天以一尺半的生長速度向上躥，很快就能長到一米七八。一排排的尖毛草宛若高墻，成為草原上當(dāng)之無愧的“王”。

事實上，尖毛草在早期不是沒有生長，只是它生長的不是地面上的莖，而是地下的根。長達半年的時間里，尖毛草的根會不斷向周圍和深處擴張，扎得最深處竟然可以達到20 多米。人和尖毛草一樣，想要實現(xiàn)自己心中所想，你要學(xué)會埋伏筆，要有足夠的誠意。

杰拉爾·喬德里說：“在人生的終點，人類留下的不是我們得到的東西，而是我們付出的東西?！睕]有無緣無故的幸運，亦沒有異想天開的奇跡，那些看起來遙不可及的東西，只屬于愿意為了它不顧一切努力行動的人。

（摘自《以喜歡的方式去生活》中國友誼出版公司）

Poor But Not a Pauper

He was the last one to close up his stall every night.After that,he returned to his rented space,a small compartment subdivided in a larger apartment.It has no windows,and cost RMB 800 yuan per month.He bought an energy-saving lamp from IKEA so that he could study at night.To avoid disturbing his roommate,he recited English vocabulary to himself silently.

The harsh Beijing winters posed a challenge to him.Although his room was equipped with a heating system,he never used it so that he could save money.When he went to bed he just spread out an extra quilt to keep himself warm.Tucked in his cozy cocoon,he counted the cash he earned from selling CDs as he smoothed out any bent edges.Before going to sleep,he would send a text message to his parents to reassure them that he was fine,“I am doing great in Beijing.I eat well,and wear cotton-padded clothes.The roommate is friendly as well.Let me know if you need money.”

Wu told everything to me with a calm tone and an easy-going attitude.As I listened,something inside me stirred.“Do you really like your way of life in Beijing?”I was stabbed in the belly by a burning curiosity,like a hot coal poker.

“Yeah,” He nodded.“I like my CD business,and I’d also love to make money.I like reading,and always want to communicate with other people.Maybe I’m a poor guy in people’s minds,but I never see myself as being poor.I have sweet memories of catching shrimps in the river when I was a kid.The innocent smiles of brothers and sisters.I even have a full van of special-interest music.What I have enjoyed has far exceeded what I have contributed to the world.Why shouldn’t I feel happy?”

Like a Blade of Giant King Grass

One day in 2015,Wu disappeared from the night market and never reappeared.I moved home,away from the street and its events.

But last week I made a return visit to the night market because I had a terrible craving for the grilled cold noodles there.When I accidentally noticed the familiar beige van,I found that behind the stand was a young man who spoke fluent northeastern dialect.It was not Wu,nor was the music “Ten Thousand Hippies.”

He told me Wu had sold his van to him the previous year,and threw in the CDs as a loss leader to close the deal.He wasn’t too fond of them,so they instantly wound up all the way at bottom of the case.

“Where is he? Do you know where he went?”

“I don’t know exactly,but maybe he went abroad.On the day we met for the van,he mentioned he was going to apply for an American Visa.”

No effort goes unrewarded.

Wu reminded me of giant king grass,which is an extraordinary plant that grows on the grasslands of Africa.When other plants thrive in spring,the young grass remains only about one inch long,like a poor,pathetic creature forsaken by God.However,it grows at breakneck speeds after the rains six months later,growing one foot and a half longer each day.It soon rises to the towering height of six feet.Like high walls,the rolling giant king grass emerges on the grassland as the king of the local turf.

In fact,the grass never stops growing when it’s young.It is the root rather than the stalk which experiences significant growth.Over the span of half a year,the root sprawls into all directions,sometimes even making its way to a depth of over 20 meters underground.Like the grass,people must be well-prepared and dedicated to realizing their dreams.

Gérard Chaudry once said,“It’s not what we have gathered that is left after this life,but it is what we have given.” Fantasized fortunes and magical miracles are only for those who shrink back from the hard work and challenge of building a strong foundation for success.These misguided souls childishly cling to wishes that can never come true,and then lament their lot in life when they don’t.What is unattainable on the surface becomes attainable for those who are willing to take whatever action is necessary despite any perceived challenges or difficulties.And it is by overcoming adversity that we can achieve greatness.

(FromLive the Way as You Like,China Friendship Publishing Company.Translation:Wang Wen)