Good Days and Bad Days

By Wu Wenning

Michel de Montaigne,the famous French writer,once said that bad days should be spent quickly while good days should be savored.

However,there’re no fixed criteria to identify good or bad days;the judgment only comes from one’s own experience.

After graduation,I was assigned to work in a remote mountain area.My girlfriend’s family thought I was good-for-nothing and forced her to break up with me.One night,at just past twelve,one of my childhood friends,Erwa turned up at my door at the school where I worked.He seemed to have walked a long mountain road,hair tangled and face dirty.He was wearing an old military coat,hands deep in his trouser pockets.

I froze for a moment and then came back to my senses.I teased him,“You came all this way to see me empty-handed?”

He produced a bottle of wine from his coat pocket,slammed it on my table.“Well,we’re the same now,” he said.“So,let’s have a drink.”

It seemed he must have lost his girlfriend as well.At that moment,we were in the same boat:sad and lonely.

We were going to drink,but where could we find some appetizers?

There was nothing in my dormitory to go with the wine.Nothing! You couldn’t even see a mouse,let alone food.In the end,I found a pair of chopsticks and a jar of chili paste.

We sat down on the floor,chili paste between us,one chopstick each.Every time we had a sip of wine,we’d dip the chopstick into the chili paste.

法国作家蒙田说过，坏日子，要飞快地“度”；好日子，要停下来细细地品。

其实，好日子与坏日子没有固定的标准。我的体会缘于我的经历。

我大学刚毕业时，被分配到一个偏僻的山区，女朋友家嫌我没出息，断了我和她的联系。

有一天晚上，大约十二点以后，我的发小二娃居然找到了我所在学校的单身宿舍，敲响了我的门。当时的他，仿佛走了很长的山路，蓬头垢面，着一件半旧不旧的军大衣，两手吊儿郎当地插在裤兜里。

我先是一愣，继而缓过神来，打趣他：“大老远的空手来看我？”

他从大衣口袋里掏出一瓶口子窖，“砰”，顿在我的桌子上：“好了，我现在和你一样了，起来喝酒吧。”

不用多说，他一定也失恋了。此时此刻我俩是真正的难兄难弟，形影相吊了。

那就喝吧，可是哪有菜呢？

Soon,the wine was gone.We dug out a half bottle and continued to drink while pouring our hearts out.

That night,the whole world shrank into a cup and we slipped into a drunken stupor on the floor.When the dawn chorus started,we were sound asleep and didn’t know the day had come.In the days that followed,I often drank alcohol at social occasions,where the food was always good.However,something seemed to be missing and I’d be drunk after less than half a pint.The feeling I experienced that night never came back again.

Then I got married.

We didn’t even have money to have a proper wedding and,when my wife and I moved in together,we were so poor that,apart from the full cabinet of my books and her flowers—which covered half a wall—there was hardly anything decent in the house.A student desk served as our cooking bench and the bed was a hand-me-down sofa.

But surprisingly,those hard days didn’t seem to bother us that much.

When the moon was up,and the breeze blew gently,we talked to each other affectionately.We looked to the future.The only annoying thing was that there were mice under our “bed“ and,in the dead of night,I often heard them carrying on like they owned the place.At first,we turned on the light,got up,and chased them.But,eventually,we simply forgave them—we were all the same;why couldn’t we be more tolerant?

When our son was around six or seven,I went to a neighboring city for my postgraduate studies.For convenience,I sent him to a private school in the city and my wife became a teacher there.

I was already in my thirties and our family was still poor.We were living a plain life,but we were happy.

I remember one day,when I was back home,I’d been thinking of taking my son to the city to have a look around.He asked me softly,“Daddy,would you take me to McDonald’s?” I felt in my pocket;there was seventy or more yuan in there—but there wouldn’t be much left over for bus fares if we went there.

I lowered my head and whispered in his ear,“McDonald’s is so expensive.Both of us are studying and we don’t have money for that.”

“How about we just go in and have a look? No one knows we don’t have money anyway,” he said.“Maybe if you can afford something,you could squeeze my hand and let me know?”

Seeing his clear and innocent eyes,I agreed and gave him five.Sure enough,almost everything was out of our price range.But fortunately,my son’s little hands stayed in my pockets,warm and sweaty.

The young girl at the counter kept recommending set meals and my son kept shaking his head.Then we found out that we could get French fries by themselves for only a dozen yuan.My heart almost missed a beat,and my son felt my excitement and looked up at me.I squeezed his little hand without saying anything.

That day,we got an order of fries and some ketchup,for fourteen yuan.My son was only seven years old then.

Gradually our life was becoming better and,sometimes,the three of us would go to upscale restaurants.However,French fries have always been my son’s favorite,and nothing else can compete.French fries are pretty ordinary,but to my son and me,they are part of our precious memories;they are cherished.

So really,it’s hard to simply distinguish good days from bad days.If your life is full of passion,warmth,and affection for your family,then why are you unhappy?The reason I tell you these stories isn’t to win sympathy,but to recall and savor the good life.

(FromXin’an Evening News.Translation:Liu Lili)

单身宿舍，没有什么佐酒的东西，连老鼠都没有，能有什么？关键时刻，找到了一双筷子，半瓶辣椒糊。

我们席地而坐，辣椒糊放在中间，筷子一人一支，然后是喝一口酒，蘸一点辣椒糊。

一瓶口子窖喝完了，又扒出大半瓶柳浪春，继续喝，相互倾诉。

那一夜，世界浓缩到杯盏之中，不知不觉，两人就在席上睡着了。当鸟儿在窗前啁啾的时候，我们相互枕藉而眠，不知东方之既白。

后来的日子，我应酬时也常喝酒，酒菜也算丰富，但总觉得应酬的酒少了点什么，大多喝不到半斤就醉，再也找不到那晚的感觉了。

后来，我终于结婚了。

我和妻子搬到一起的时候，还没有条件举行婚礼，依然是家徒四壁。除了我满柜的书和她半墙的花，家里几乎没有什么像样的东西。灶台是一张学生课桌，床是别人送给我们的一张旧沙发。

但那段日子似乎也没有增添我们的苦痛。

每当明月半墙、风移影动之时，居然也有不少悄悄话，更有对未来的憧憬。只可气沙发床底下竟然是老鼠窝，常在夜深人静之时，听到它们吱吱地打情骂俏，仿佛它们才是家的主人。我们先是掌灯起来驱赶，后来索性原谅了它们，都是贫贱夫妻，何苦不能相容？

后来有了儿子，他六七岁时我又去邻城的大学读研究生。为了方便照顾，我把儿子送到一家私立学校，妻子也跟去做了老师。

那时的我已经三十好几，家里不说是瓶无储粟，也好不到哪儿去。日子艰辛，但我们依然开心快乐地生活着。

记得有一天，我从学校赶回去，准备接儿子去市里逛逛。儿子对我小声说：“爸爸，你带我去麦当劳吗？”

我摸了一下自己的口袋，里面还有七十几块钱。如果扣去坐公交的钱和我去学校的路费，估计不会剩下多少了。

我低下头在他耳边小声说：“麦当劳的东西好贵，你在上学，爸也在上学，家里没钱。”

儿子却说：“我们就去看一下，不买。别人又不知道我们没钱。要是你能买得起，就捏一下我的手呗。”

看着儿子那清澈如水的眼神，我们击掌为盟。

麦当劳的东西当然在我们的承受能力之上。好在儿子的手一直在我的裤兜里，都焐出了汗。

吧台的小姐姐推荐一个又一个套餐的时候，儿子一直在摇头，直到我们发现一款炸薯条可以零卖，而且只要十几块。我的心几乎跳了起来，儿子也感受到了我的激动，抬起头看看我。我没说话，只是捏了捏他的小手。

那天，买了一份炸薯条，外加一份番茄酱，花了十四元。儿子那年才七岁。

后来日子好过了，我们一家三口也去过上档次的酒家，但儿子一直都说，其他东西他不太稀罕，就是特别喜欢炸薯条。炸薯条只是一份普通零嘴，但我知道，在我和儿子的心中，那可能是一份难忘的回忆。

所以，好日子坏日子很难区分，假如你的生活充满激情、温情和亲情，那又有什么不快乐呢？今天，我把这些当作故事来说的时候，并不是为了博取别人的同情，更多的可是对生活的回味与品尝呢。

（摘自《新安晚报》2021年4月26日）