Before being kicked out, she lived in a red phone booth for a month | New World

Originally made by Mr. Pang Li2022-05-01 10:06

On April 1, the first day of the lockdown in Puxi, Shanghai, she led a dog in red clothes, carrying a bag and carrying some things, and walked into the red phone booth opposite the community.

For a whole month, she lived in it.

On April 29, two men in hazmat suits kicked her out of the phone booth. She took nothing when she left, hugged her puppy, and walked barefoot to the south.

Writing aside

Editor Liu Min

April 1

Shanghai Puxi was officially closed. There is sunshine, the streets are empty and there are no pedestrians.

In the afternoon, Li Bai stood by the window and saw a woman. The woman was leading a dog in red, carrying a bag and carrying something in her hand. She stopped in front of a phone booth. Then, she walked in.

Around four o'clock, a small ginger quilt appeared on the drying rack outside the phone booth. At night, the shelf is replaced with a blue and white blanket.

Five meters behind the phone booth is the primary school, with signs of socialist values hanging on the wall.

Next to the phone booth is a tree with no leaves on it.

April 2

Since March 27, Li Bai has been shopping for vegetables every day, and after buying the vegetables, he will divide the vegetables. She felt relieved after the lockdown in Shanghai. She was very tired from grabbing food for several days. Now she can't grab food in all of Shanghai, so she can finally rest.

She stood by the window again. The woman still lives in the phone booth. How did she sleep last night? The phone booth is so small that it can't be stretched out, it can only be curled up. Many people in the building noticed the anomaly in the phone booth. They began to guess the identity and age of the woman in the phone booth in the WeChat group. She looks very fashionable and has a ball head. Some people say it should be a young girl. But Shanghai is closed, what is she doing here? People focus on that dog, yes, it must be to be able to walk the dog, she gave up the comfort of the home and came to the phone booth, maybe, just to allow the dog to walk outside?

At 5:30 in the afternoon, a police car appeared next to the phone booth, and two police officers walked down. They were wearing white protective suits and said something to the woman living in the phone booth. It seems that they are emotionally stable, like daily communication. After 10 minutes, the police drove away.

Someone in the group said that the police didn't intend to arrest her, did they?

April 3

For the first time, the street where Li Bai was located distributed supplies, vegetables, and pork hind legs. No one can go out in this building, anxious, bored, and the presence of that woman excites people. People began to speculate how long the woman would live in the phone booth. She changed her clothes every day and looked like a decent person, not like a wandering person.

She walks the dog every day, with a very small range, just at the entrance of the primary school and the phone booth, within 10 meters, and walks back and forth for half an hour. The dog was small, probably a dachshund. In the afternoon, it pulled a piece of shit on the ground, and the woman walked over and wrapped it in a tissue and put it in the trash can next to it.

Shanghai is still a bit cold in early April. Forget about taking a shower. But she has all kinds of containers and basins to hold water, and a big trolley and black trash can. People evaluate her, this woman has a strong survival experience.

Someone in the building said that she had two words with her before the closure, but she only knew that she did not have a mobile phone.

April 4

According to the news, medical personnel from other places came to help Shanghai, and one province supported one district. Li Bai saw that many people were discussing the concave shape of Shanghai people going downstairs to do nucleic acid, and she also planned to dress better. The notice said that he would go downstairs to do nucleic acid testing at 6:00 in the morning, and at 5:50, Li Bai began to wash and dress up. The buses drove downstairs one by one, but it wasn't until 8 o'clock that it was Li Bai's turn to do nucleic acid.

There was a European family living in the building, and the host was very angry. People show their nucleic acid results in the group solitaire. The European is very puzzled. He thinks this is private information and should not be publicly displayed in the group.

The weather is still fine. The woman living in the phone booth was drying the quilt again, and the drying racks turned with the sun, facing northeast and southwest.

April 5

At 9:30 a.m., there were two police officers standing outside the phone booth, wearing uniforms and N95 masks. The woman was wearing a purple top, jeans and white shoes, and she was half a metre away from the police. A pink quilt was drying next to it. Soon, within ten minutes, the police were gone.

Li Bai grabbed a few sausages and two boxes of tofu on the grocery shopping app.

April 6

More people in the building started talking about the lady who lived in the phone booth, and someone was watching every day, making videos, "like a TV series." Some people wonder where she got her clothes from, and some call her "the goddess of the phone booth". She was seen drying the quilt, walking the dog and taking off her shoes before entering the phone booth.

She changes clothes almost every day, sometimes wearing a purple top, jeans, white dress and white sneakers, sometimes a brown top, black pants. And most of the time, she and the dog are in the phone booth.

Li Bai's building started group buying.

April 7

Li Bai kept the root vegetables bought from the group in a vacuum bag with a quilt at home, and she did it all afternoon. Her husband said it was pseudoscience, and she took it down one by one.

Community concert at 7:30pm. This is the first time that the community has played music. It was played for an hour. The music was played in the opposite building. There were many young people living in that building. People are excited, people are happy. It was a bit noisy with only some older people coming to protest. The sound quality is mediocre, but the sound is best when playing Michael Jackson's "We are the world", someone whistles, someone shouts, and more people sing together, but only in the chorus part, we are the world.

April 8

Li Bai played a Bach piece at home.

The weather is great.

At 12:30 noon, the woman in the phone booth took out the quilt again, and she also brought out a purple bucket. She put the drying rack on the campus wall.

The tree next to the phone booth was beginning to sprout, its trunk leaning and its branches rushing upward.

Li Bai made a stir-fried dried tofu with cress. The cress was sent by her mother-in-law before it was sealed. After 9 days, she was reluctant to throw it away, but the fried vegetables were bitter and unpalatable.

On a platform called I Love SHANGHAI, Li Bai transferred 388 yuan to a working man who was trapped in the Jinjiang Inn in the Shanghai Wanshi Center. The man said he had nothing to eat and no money.

April 9

The community began to make nucleic acids again. At 3:30 in the afternoon, people went downstairs and found that the flowers in the community were all blooming, but they were not in full bloom, but sporadically blooming. There were rhododendrons and unknown purple flowers, and the leaves of all the trees were much greener. Li Bai said that this is the best time in Shanghai. In the past, people would go to the wild and go for a walk in the park. But now she doesn't even dare to turn around in the community, although she is well dressed and wears a sun hat.

April 10

The situation inside the Nanhui cabin was spread, and Li Bai joined the discussion. She was anxious and angry. In the afternoon she sorted out the freezer.

April 11

There is an autonomous "elevator mini-market" in the building, where you can pick up your own supplies, including oranges, green grapes, red wine, colostrum and beer. Everyone is very excited. Someone put the treasured Maotai wine in the elevator. He said that everyone poured a little and had a drink together. Li Bai's husband took a few cans of Coke from it and put in hanging ear coffee and a few packs of Zhonghua cigarettes. Many people say that this is the happiest day since the lockdown.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, the woman in the phone booth wore a pair of bibs, a ball head and white shoes to start walking the dog. She only walked for 10 minutes. She doesn't come out very often, she comes out to throw out the garbage, to dry the quilt, and to take the tub outside.

There is no one on the street. I didn't see anyone delivering supplies to her.

April 12

Li Bai tried to ask the errand to deliver supplies to the woman in the phone booth, but the errand brother said that he was going to Jiading now and there was no way to get there.

The European in the building started talking again. He asked in the group, how many minutes do these Longxu noodles take to cook? There were onions in the building, and when he saw the onions, he said, I want green onions, I don't want green ones, I want round ones. The people in the building replied, oh you mean onions. Sorry, no onions.

April 13

I have to go downstairs to do nucleic acid again. The cherry blossoms have already bloomed, but it rained today, and the cherry blossoms, mixed with peach blossoms, fell to the ground in piles.

The phone booth woman has been in the phone booth. She didn't come out to walk the dog.

April 14

It was raining again, and there was thunder. Li Bai received a lot of supplies. She also bought ten catties of Australian citrus for 150 yuan. The community organized Daily Fresh Milk. Although Li Bai never drank any products from Mengniu, she couldn't control it now.

Someone in the building called Dapuqiao Police Station. It was raining these days. They were very worried about the woman in the phone booth and hoped the police would find a place for her to settle.

April 15

Sunny day. Li Bai cooked the dishes, and she received the supplies, which were a bunch of drinks.

The phone booth woman is out walking the dog again. The leaves of the tree beside the phone booth have grown, turning from bright green to turquoise.

April 16

The woman in the phone booth started packing outside the booth, two big bags, one red and one blue, and a shared bicycle parked next to it. She was wearing a white jumpsuit and was in and out of the phone booth.

April 17

The whole building began to pay attention to the woman in the phone booth. But the community is still completely closed, and no one can approach the phone booth.

Someone flew a drone, and it was the first official greeting from the building and the phone booth lady. The meeting was made into a video, accompanied by music, with the opening subtitle: "The daily life of the phone booth - the neighbors on the road that neighbors pay attention to."

The leaves grew bigger, and the sun shone through the leaves to cast shadows of varying lengths next to the phone booth. The woman in the phone booth was wearing a plain one-piece suit with a ball head and a pair of boots. She was stooping to organize things. Then, when she saw the drone, she was stunned for a moment. She raised her hands and shook it from side to side. He jumped again and greeted the drone warmly.

At the end of the video, the road next to the phone booth is full of sunshine and empty.

The head of the building said that the woman in the telephone booth was living very well, moving freely and without any fatigue.

At five o'clock in the afternoon, a police car pulled up next to the phone booth. The phone booth woman squatted outside and continued to organize things.

April 18

Li Bai received a lot of pork. She sent supplies to a 93-year-old teacher who lives on Fuxing Middle Road.

In the elementary school next to the phone booth, people came in and out wearing protective clothing, and some people were brought inside. Some people speculate that the primary school may have become a temporary shelter.

April 19

There was an abnormal nucleic acid in the building, and everyone was nervous. Everyone said it was incredible.

Residential self-governing elevator supermarkets are closed.

The foreigner said in the group: "We would try everything so that nobody from the neighbors had to be sent to the camp." Someone replied: "Totally agree."

April 20

Abnormal neighbors are formally reviewed as positive.

The foreigner asked in the group not to go out and do the antigen test in his own room. Someone replied "you're absolutely right", "by your side".

April 21

The sun is shining, the weather is great. The lady in the phone booth continued to dry the quilt and walk the dog.

The foreigner sent WeChat in the group no longer in English, and no longer angry, "Received the group shopping funds (two thumbs up symbols) Thank you for your help! (Two hands folded symbols)"

April 24

A strange man approached Li Bo and said he wanted to help place the woman in the phone booth. He asked Li Bai to contact her and wanted her to walk two kilometers to his unit. He also said that he would take her for nucleic acid testing, let her live in his spare office and walk the dog on the roof of the office building. Li Bai was very vigilant. She thought that the woman in the phone booth had lived here for three weeks. Compared with living here, it was the real danger that she might follow a strange man.

April 25

Shanghai suffered a terrible thunder and lightning. At around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the sky was completely dark, and you looked into the distance, and a white light appeared on the top of the tallest building, which was the dividing line between black and white clouds. But soon, the line disappeared, and the entire sky turned black. The clouds were getting lower and lower, and the heavy rain soon fell, and it was impossible to see what the phone booth looked like at the moment.

Li Bai has a friend who lives in the cabin, and they urgently evacuate. They have a special name for this behavior: "Yi Yang Qian Xi", which means that 100 million heads of yang are migrating.

Li Bolin's husband said how the woman in the phone booth should live now, not knowing whether the water flooded in.

April 26

After heavy rain comes light rain.

At ten o'clock in the morning, Li Bo found that the woman in the phone booth suddenly left the phone booth. She was leading the dog, carrying a schoolbag and a bag. And around her was a police car. She seemed a little angry and walked straight forward, the police car was driving slowly, and occasionally the woman turned her head and muttered a few words at the police car. Then her voice became louder and louder, and Li Bo vaguely heard her say, "Do you want me to die?" The police replied, "The whole process was recorded and videotaped, and nothing was done to you. This is a matter of law."

In the past two days, nearby residents began to "knock on the pot" every day. After dinner, at six or seven o'clock, people picked up the pot and knocked it for a while, and some even blew horns. Li Bai, a friend who teaches percussion, joked that the rhythm of knocking the pot still needs to be learned.

April 27

A friend of Li Bai, who lives in Xujiahui Community, lifted the lockdown. He rode a bicycle with fruits and instant noodles, and arrived at the phone booth at 8:30 pm. There are many things outside the phone booth, mineral water, rice, bright milk powder, instant noodles, pineapples, oranges, detergent. But there was no one in the phone booth, only her clothes, which she hung neatly on hangers.

Received snail powder in the building. The foreigner said, "I think we are going to Guangxi this weekend. See you next week."

April 28

At ten o'clock in the evening, Li Bo's friend rode to the phone booth again. When he was waiting for the traffic light, he saw a police car. He followed behind the police car. He didn't expect the police car to go to the phone booth. The police car drove slowly, as if surveying the terrain, but just took a look and left.

The woman is still in the phone booth. When a friend saw the police car leaving, he went up to communicate with her. Li Bai's friend said that she looked in her forties, not a young man anymore. She said that she was a foreigner and had been doing odd jobs in Shanghai before, working intermittently and doing a little bit of work. She didn't have a fixed place to live. She was going to close the city at the end of March and couldn't pay the rent for a long time, so she found this phone booth and stayed there. She has a clear mind, and she emphasizes that she needs to eat directly, bread, biscuits. rather than rice noodles. Li Bo's friend said that you can exchange these things with others, keep them for now, and give the puppy some ham tomorrow.

April 29

At twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, Li Bo was about to fall asleep, and she put on her earplugs and an eye mask. Suddenly, her husband got up and said why it was so noisy outside. They went to the window and found a loud quarrel in the phone booth. Li Bai immediately took out her mobile phone and started shooting. She also reminded her husband to turn off the lights in the room, to have anti-reconnaissance awareness, and not let people know that we were shooting.

Many people in the building got up, and everyone heard the quarrel. The head of the building said: "Da Bai has come to find the lady in the telephone booth."

The police car stopped by the side of the road, and two men in protective suits first pressed her to the ground. She cried out loudly and said in a crying voice, "Why did you hit someone." The man got up, walked to the phone booth, and put the Throw her things out one by one and tell her to move out tonight. The woman stepped forward to try to stop her, and she screamed with excitement. Seeing this, one of the men was furious, stepped forward and knocked her to the ground and pressed her hard. They went to another door of the phone booth, opened, entered, cleared.

In the end, the woman in the phone booth didn't take anything. She just hugged her puppy, walked barefoot, and went south.

It was raining at the time.

At more than two in the morning on the 29th, someone in the building saw the police coming again. They asked the security guards at the elementary school to pack the scattered items into protective suits. The phone booth was quickly cleared.

April 30

The inside of the phone booth was empty, and there was a blue seal on the outside of the phone booth.

The above three photos, photography: Yu Guang

All images provided by interviewees except attribution

At the request of the interviewee, Li Bai is a pseudonym

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