We are all time travelers

Text: NINI

"I used to think that travel was a movement of space. Gradually, I realized that whether it is travel or life, it is actually the movement of time. We are only travelers in time, and we pass by the will of time."

In the early summer when I couldn't go out at will, I re-opened the book " #Time Traveler ", whose words were even better than the pictures. As I read it, my heart gradually became less anxious. Epidemic, lockdown, nucleic acid testing, and the unblocking that I don't know when to come, every key word is full of helplessness and exhaustion, but in "Time Traveler", I found a peaceful habitat.

Friends who are familiar with me know that I am a super fan of Long Yingtai. But in addition to Long Yingtai, #zhangmanjuan is also an author that I like very much and have followed for a long time. "Long Yingtai and Zhang Manjuan, the two favorite women in Taiwan" I wrote this sentence in my diary.

Different from Long Yingtai's sharp and straight-forward style of writing, Zhang Manjuan's writing is more delicate, gentle and beautiful, and he always lingers between the lines after reading it in one breath.

Follow Zhang Manjuan and keep walking, her delicate and gentle mind is light and humorous, as if she is traveling with her to every scenery, every city, and eating local specialties. At this moment, we are all travelers who are led by her texts to travel. With her texts, we truly walk in the past, in the present, and in the future with her. Flicking through every page of the book is like opening a real time of perception...

1. go, travel

The book "Time Traveler" is divided into three chapters. The first chapter is each titled "Go to ××", such as "Go to Shanghai to cut new clothes", "Go to Jinan to fry whole chicken" , "To pick up dolls in childhood", "To be reincarnated in second-hand bookstores", "To carry lanterns in Hong Kong"..., 14 themes, each of which is moving forward while reviewing, sometimes staying, sometimes chasing, and walking lightly. Go to an unfamiliar or familiar place.

I really like a passage in "Reincarnation in a used bookstore": "Every book in a used bookstore is waiting for another reincarnation, isn't it? When they are taken down, they are gently opened, when they feel To the breath of reading. If a book has the opportunity to circulate, it can have more readers, and it is fortunate that it is reincarnated again and again.” I think I have a different kind of emotion for second-hand books and used bookstores. .

2. This city and the other city

In the second chapter of the book, the author takes us to a Hong Kong where things big and small surprise her, and compares it to a "lover in a previous life". "Sometimes, one's feelings for a place are indescribable, just like I have for Hong Kong."

Many writers have mentioned the term "cultural desert", and many media have also described Hong Kong as a cultural desert. Like Long Yingtai, writer Zhang Manjuan also held a government official position for a period of time - director of the Guanghua News and Culture Center, whose office is located in Hong Kong. So why choose a Hong Kong known as a "cultural desert" to spread culture?

In addition to liking Hong Kong's trams, ferries, subways, buildings, and some old things, such as the pawnshops called "Da Yat" (the tradition has never disappeared while it is now moving fast), but also because she has seen many Hong Kong Caring people have worked very hard to cultivate oasis after another. Their efforts should receive more encouragement and applause, and should not be ignored.

"I am a person who grows flowers in the desert. How can I plant flowers if I don't crawl? I still insist that Hong Kong is not a cultural desert because I was in an oasis and the cool wind was blowing; Leave the scent of flowers on your sleeves." Zhang Manjuan said.

3. Clenched hands

The third chapters of the book, "Love Letter to Dad" and "Fairy Tale to Mom" are the parts that touched me the most and made my eyes red. Every word is filled with the warmest and most sincere emotions between parents and children. As written in the book, "Returning to the beginning of life, to the first encounter of every fate, there are too many coincidences and choices, some are due to the arrangement of time, and some are between our own thoughts. Going back to the starting point, there are It is no longer regret, but gratitude.”

In addition to describing the most affectionate bond between father and daughter, "Love Letter to Dad" also recalls his father's past growing up in war, famine and poverty. "Can an unloved child grow up to be a loving parent? Not just lack of love, but neglect, which I later found was deeply traumatic."

Reading these words, I can't help but think of my father. It may be hard to imagine that the father who was born in the 1950s was actually an "only child". Although there is an older sister (deceased) and two younger brothers (basically no feelings, and half-mother, the father is deceased). Through Zhang Manjuan's writings, I can see the humbleness and strength of my father growing up, and the endless love of unloved children when they grow up.

Although I grew up on the ruins of my unhappy and happy childhood, it made me grow up full of love and hope. In the days to come, let the two of us who look alike continue to write the story of "love". And trying to make yourself better is also the source of your happiness.

"A fairy tale for mother" is actually a family history of refugees, a childhood filled with war and famine, how could it be a fairy tale? But in the midst of adversity, the true feelings between sisters, mothers and daughters, and relatives, are beautifully messed up!

Two sisters, Mo Feng (the author's mother) and Qiao Feng, who have been enemies since childhood, were waiting for the escape boat that would come, Zhang Manjuan described, "Mo Feng wanted to raise her hand to wipe her tears, only to realize that she Qiaofeng held her hand tightly. In her memory, Qiaofeng had never held her hand so tightly, as if she would disappear if she loosened it a little."

As I get older, I gradually understand that there will always be some people in life, and it is you who are still willing to hold their hands tightly and never let go in the flow of time. In the domain of time, we have been with each other for so long. Because of them, we are never alone.

After reading Zhang Manjuan's "Time Traveler", I suddenly understood the sentence on the cover of the book, "We are all time travelers, traveling in every stage of life, trying to repair ourselves in every landscape of memories." And the road leading to the future, whether it is sunny or rainy and snowy, must keep moving forward with confidence.