Original text of Golden Carp's Pleated Skirt

The golden carp has a 100-pleated skirt

The golden carp has a 100-pleated skirt, a bright red one, with "Magpie Climbing Plum Blossoms" embroidered on the front. Golden carp likes plum blossoms, but they are not embroidered with plum blossoms. After counting, there are ninety-nine flowers. Two magpies sat on the plum branch in pairs. Their posture and color couldn't be better matched. Their long tails were raised high.

The head is dark brown, the back is green with purple, and the belly is white. The plum blossoms look like they were sprinkled with flowers. The next two pictures are embroidered with butterflies and flowers, and the surroundings are all embroidered with Ruyi patterns.

The skirt had just been taken out of the old camphor wood box, and it was spread out on the big sofa in a shiny red light. Shanshan didn't know how to appreciate it. She put her hands on her chest and sighed excitedly: "Oh! Incredible, incredible, I have never seen such a beautiful pleated skirt!"

She bent down and reached out to touch those plum blossoms, those flat pleats, and those delicate laces. She touched it gently, as if the delicate petals would be scattered if she applied force.

Then she tilted her head again and asked her mother coquettishly: "Mommy! Is this pleated skirt your wedding dress?"

My mother smiled and shook her head. . Dad happened to come in at this time. Mom glanced at dad and said to Shanshan: "Mommy is already wearing a new dress for the wedding!"

"Then whose does this belong to?" Shanshan whispered again. asked while stroking her skirt.

"Ask your dad!" Mom said.

Dad didn't pay attention to what the mother and daughter were talking about. He came in to get the evening newspaper to read. At this time, he turned around and noticed something on the sofa. He adjusted his glasses and looked carefully, but didn't see anything.

"Dad, whose pleated skirt is this? Wasn't it the one Mommy wore when she married you?" Shanshan asked again.

Dad just shook his head slightly and did not answer, as if he couldn't figure out what clothes Mommy wore when she got married. But after a pause, he seemed to remember something again, turned his head, glanced at the skirt, and asked his mother: "Where did this come from?"

"Where did it come from?" Mommy riddled She smiled and said to Shanshan: "It belongs to your grandmother!"

"It belongs to your grandmother? It was the wedding dress of your grandmother!" Shanshan was even more surprised and became more interested.

Hearing that it belonged to my grandmother, Dad stretched his neck again, put down the newspaper, and said to Mommy:

"What are you doing with it?"

< p> "Ask your daughter." The mother says "Ask Dad" to her daughter, but she also says "Ask Daughter" to her father, always telling riddles.

Shanshan shrugged and winked, with a bright expression on her face. She said with a smile:

“Our school’s graduation party has a costume show. I'm wearing a bridal outfit from the early Republic of China!" ②

"Is this what the brides from the early Republic of China wore?" Dad didn't understand and asked his mother.

"Who knows! Anyway, I haven't worn it!" Mommy was a little angry at Dad's confusion. He seemed to have forgotten everything.

"Dad, have you forgotten?" Shanshan said honestly and politely:

"You only got married in the tenth year of the Republic of China! Once you get married, you will be alone. I went to Japan to study, and it took me ten years to come back, which made me and my brothers ten years younger (she pouted). If you had given birth to your eldest brother ten years earlier, wouldn’t he have been 40 years old this year? He’s twenty-eight years old!”

After hearing what his youngest daughter said, the father laughed and did not express any opinion. Mom also laughed and didn't express any opinion. Then her mother wanted to fold up the pleated skirt, and Shanshan was anxious. Said: "Don't take it, I will take it to school tomorrow, wear it so I can practice walking!"

My mother said: "I think you should find another way! I can't bear to let you take it." Wear it randomly, this is an antique that has been stored for more than 40 years!"

Shanshan still refused, she twisted her waist and said coquettishly:

"I want to take it! Show it to your classmates.

I want to tell them that this is the pleated dress my grandmother wore on her wedding day! ”

“Who told you this was what your grandmother wore for her wedding? Your grandmother never wore one! "My mother said this casually. Shanshan stared at her mother in surprise, but her father blamed her mother impatiently and said:" Have you told the children this? What do you want to do? ”

But my mother will never forget her grandmother. She often said that because of her relationship, my father finally came back from China after ten years. Otherwise, Shanshan’s three brothers might not have been there, let alone Shanshan’s.

Of course my father will never forget his grandmother. Because of her relationship, he decided to go to Japan to study.

There are very few people here. I knew my grandmother back then, but of course I didn’t know the story about the golden carp having a pleated skirt.

I came to the Xu family at the age of six

Mrs. Xu often liked to point at the golden carp. People say: What will happen to her when she comes to Xu’s house at the age of six? I have to braid her hair every day and take care of her!”

Mrs. Xu’s braids are very neat. Tight, she is also very tight on Golden Carp. No one knows where the golden carp's natal family is, but they know that Mrs. Xu bought the golden carp when she was serving as Mr. Xu in Chongming County. But Jin Carp is not from Chongming County. I heard that someone brought her there from Zhenjiang. A six-year-old girl.

So he moved away and was sold to the Xu family. She is smart and loved by everyone. Although she was a girl, Mrs. Xu kept her in her room and treated her like a daughter. There are many girls in the Xu family, but who has such a popular golden carp? She was originally called Carp. Because she was favored, the meddlesome man added the word "gold" to her, and from then on she became known as "Golden Carp, Golden Carp."

Mrs. Xu gave birth to many daughters, the eldest daughter, the second daughter, the third daughter, the fourth daughter, the fifth daughter - still the daughter. When the fifth lady arrived, she simply stopped having children. Everyone in the Xu family is very anxious. Mr. Xu's official position is so big. It would be very awkward for her not to have a son.

So the old lady has to consider taking a concubine for her son. Mrs. Xu is good at everything except giving birth to a son. She looks at her litter of daughters, each one is more beautiful than the other. What a difference it would be if one of them was a son and looked like a baby boy!

That day, Mrs. Xu took her five daughters and the golden carp to work as a hostess in the flower hall. She invited Sister-in-law Gong to teach her daughters how to embroider. Sister-in-law Gong is from Hunan. She came to Beijing and specialized in embroidering for the palace. She also taught embroidery to women in the boudoir outside.

Mrs. Xu knows a little bit about embroidery. She said that although Gu embroidery is all realistic with feathers, flowers, landscapes and figures, Hunan embroidery also has its own specialties. Because Hunan embroidery refers to foreign embroidery methods, it looks fresh and lively, so she invited Gong Embroidery. My sister-in-law comes to teach embroidery.

When Sister-in-law Gong comes, she will not be lonely in the boudoir. She often brings anecdotes about the palace, which are not known to the outside world. So when she came, in addition to teaching, she also had a new friend to chat with.

That day Mrs. Xu and Sister-in-law Gong talked again about the master’s desire to take a concubine. Sister-in-law Gong suddenly glanced at the golden carp, pursed her lips, and said nothing. The golden carp is lowering its head to draw patterns on the white satin. She was sixteen years old at this time, and she was not that big. She was as small as a bean. Mrs. Xu understood what Sister-in-law Gong meant. She wondered why Sister-in-law Gong's mind was spinning so fast. Why hadn't she thought of a sixteen-year-old girl in front of her before?

The golden carp is her own, obedient and unable to escape from her grasp. The only solution is to take the golden carp into the house and give it to the master as his concubine. She thought well and felt much more at ease. At these times, she was almost bored to death because the old lady wanted to marry her husband a concubine! ”

I came to the Xu family at the age of six. At the age of sixteen, I moved in and became Mr. Xu’s concubine. The height of the golden carp is not even as high as the height of the small bookshelf in the master’s study! It doesn’t matter, she is Sixteen years old, she is still growing! However, she bought a house at the beginning of the year, and she became a mother at the end of the year. The whole family was very happy, but they all came to Xu Da. Mrs. Xu congratulated her, and Mrs. Xu was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth.

Mrs. Xu didn't want the golden carp to suffer. She had already hired a wet nurse and took her to her room to raise her. Mrs. Xu has nothing to worry about. Mr. Xu, just let him be the golden carp! It's enough for her to have Zhenfeng - the name given by her grandfather.

With a big lady like Mrs. Xu, no wonder people would say: "Golden Carp, you are lucky to have met this big lady."

Golden Carp also feels that I am indeed blessed. But when people said this to her, she just smiled. People thought that smile meant her agreement and satisfaction, but no, she didn't mean it that way. She thinks she is lucky not because she met Mrs. Xu, but because she has a strong belly and will give birth to a son. So she smiled, neither denying nor admitting.

No matter how well Mrs. Xu treats her, she is still a golden red fish. In addition to Zhenfeng calling her "Mom", the Xu family also called her Jin Carp. The old lady calls her Golden Carp, the eldest wife calls her Golden Carp, and the ladies also call her Golden Carp. She is the Golden Carp of the family for three generations! Golden carp, golden carp, she has been thinking about how to make this golden carp jump over the dragon gate!

When Zhenfeng was eighteen years old, the family had not changed much. However, it was already the Republic of China, and the eldest son of the Xu family had already retired to be a widower at home.

At the end of this year, Zhenfeng will be married. Zhenfeng himself thought it was too early, but it was hard to disobey his parents' orders. He was the only son and the youngest of the family! The other party is the fourth young lady of the Duanmu family in Jiangning, and she is only sixteen years old.

The two families have been preparing since spring. My son was born from a golden carp, and now he is getting a wife. What does it feel like to be a golden carp? What are your plans?

One day, she came to Sister-in-law Gong’s house alone.

Embroider a magpie climbing the plum blossoms

Sister-in-law Gong is no longer the Sister-in-law Gong who walked around the palace back then, but the lingering shadow of the royal family has also brought her a lot of luck. She lives at Hadmen. Although she is old and her eyesight is bad, so she cannot embroider by herself. However, she has accepted some female apprentices, and while teaching, she also accepts some customized embroidery work. The business is very good, and people know it from far and near. . Foreigners in Jiaomin Lane often came to her house to buy embroidery goods.

Sister-in-law Gong was surprised but very happy when she saw the golden carp coming. She finally watched Jin Carp grow from a little girl to a big girl, and then from a big girl to take over a house and become a aunt. What's more, more or less, she was the one who gave Jin Carp a house.

The golden carp is destined to have a son, so he deserves to enjoy the blessings in the future! She also heard that Golden Carp was going to marry her daughter-in-law at the end of the year, so when she met her, she congratulated Golden Carp first. The golden carp thanked her, and the two of them sighed that life passed by so fast. Then, Jin Carp got to the point. She said: "Sister-in-law Gong, I came to see Sister-in-law Gong to embroider something today."

So she unpacked the bag and spread out a big red ocean It's made of satin, and I said I was going to make a pleated skirt, embroidered.

"What are you embroidering?" Sister-in-law Gong asked.

"Just embroider a magpie climbing on the plum blossoms!" Jin Carp said, and then pointed at the arrangement of the patterns. She wanted a "magpie climbing on the plum blossoms" embroidered with plum blossoms. She said she loved it. A plum blossom, I have loved plum blossoms since I was a child, and I love them to death. She asked Sister-in-law Gong what she thought of her design. "

As Sister-in-law Gong listened to what Jin Carp said, she was wondering, who is this hundred-pleated skirt for? Is it for the new daughter-in-law? No. The new daughter-in-law does not wear "The Magpie Climbs the Plum Blossom" dress. There is no need for the Xu family to make the patterns. The Duanmu family is in the south, and they will bring more or less embroidery work from the south! She couldn't help but ask: "Who is wearing this skirt?" "

"Me. "Golden Carp's answer was very natural, simple and firm. It's just the word "I", which carries a lot of weight.

"Oh——" Sister-in-law Gong was stunned for a moment and couldn't answer. I'm thinking, is Jin Carp going to wear a red pleated skirt? Is she worthy of it? The rules of the Xu family are so big, how can the aunt who takes over the house wear a red pleated skirt?" Even if she gave birth to a son.

But in the Xu family, she knew very clearly that sons should be sons, and golden carps should be golden carps! She was puzzled. But she still followed the pattern designed by the golden carp with a smile on her face - embroidering a whole picture of magpies climbing plum blossoms. She promised to finish the work in half a month.

The embroidered red 100-pleated skirt of Magpie Climbing the Plum Blossom is ready, and it was delivered by Sister-in-law Gong herself. Who is as sensible as Sister-in-law Gong? She knew what to do, so she went straight to the golden carp's room.

After opening the baggage, Jin Carp looked at it and expressed that she was very satisfied, so she folded it and wrapped it up. Her stable and unconcerned look really surprised Sister-in-law Gong.

Sister-in-law Gong is secretly calculating, how old is the golden carp? I bought a house at the age of sixteen, and with my eighteen-year-old son, I am thirty-four this year! It has been almost thirty years since she arrived at the Xu family, and she is going to wear a red pleated skirt! She didn't know what to say. Should she wear the golden carp?

Golden Carp thinks she should wear it. If no one comes forward to advocate for her to wear it, then she should do it herself. After seeing off Sister-in-law Gong and returning to her room, she knew that the words "The golden carp has a 100-pleated skirt" must have been passed down by Sister-in-law Gong from the concierge at the front to the wife's back room.

Even in the hut where coal is piled across the courtyard, and under the lilac tree in the west courtyard, this sentence is whispered everywhere. However, she doesn't care, and the golden carp doesn't care. She wanted everyone to know that she had a red Western-style embroidered skirt.

She has been thinking about such a skirt for a long time, just like the ones worn by grandmothers, young ladies, and aunts on all festive occasions at home. She wants to connect the golden carp and the red pleated skirt one day - the day when her biological son Zhenfeng gets married. Who says she can't wear it? This is the Republic of China, and she knows what the meaning of the Republic of China is - "I can also wear a red pleated skirt." This is the Republic of China.

When the pleated skirt was stored in the camphor wood box, she did not show it to anyone, and no one asked her about it, so everyone just understood it tacitly. She hasn't tried it on yet, so there's no need to be so impatient. She was very calm, and she knew how to be calm to deal with that day - the day when she actually put on the bright red embroidered pleated skirt.

But at the end of winter, Mrs. Xu issued an order that on the day of the eldest young master Zhenfeng’s wedding, all women in the family would wear cheongsam. Because this was the Republic of China, cheongsam was already popular outside, and two The newcomers are all from the Western School, and everyone wears cheongsam, which gives them a new look.

Mrs. Xu added that she had already called the shopkeeper of Yifengxiang, and the cheongsam maker Lingluo Silk would send a cart, one for each person, so everyone can choose. When Mrs. Xu said these words to everyone, she once glanced at the golden carp. Golden Carp sat among the crowd, her eyes looking at a place where no one was around, her body motionless, she was so calm.

She also knew how many eyes were shooting at her at this moment, as if the change to a cheongsam was directed at her alone. The air was wrong, and she felt like someone had punched her to the core. She really didn't expect this move, and her heart felt as painful as being gnawed by insects. She was chained up and it was impossible to break free.

On the big day, sure enough, there was no bright red pleated skirt. Of course, there is no status difference if you don’t wear the red pleated skirt, but what if you wear it? Isn’t there a difference? She just wants this little difference! The weight of an embroidered bright red pleated skirt is much heavier than a cheongsam. Everyone can wear a cheongsam, but a bright red pleated skirt is not!

She has dreamed for many years that one day she would put on a full-pleated skirt embroidered with bright red western satin full of plum blossoms, and rustle around in the upper room, in the flower hall, and under the wedding tent. The sound of rustling came from the flat and solid skirt of the ironed skirt. That voice once made her jealous, longed for, and sad.

Ten years later

When Zhenfeng rushed home and stood in front of his biological mother's bedside, Golden Carp was already in a dying state. She seemed to have opened her eyes, and seemed to have hummed in response to her son's call, but she knew nothing.

This is the first time Zhenfeng has returned home after ten years of leaving the country to study in Japan - he was called back by an urgent call. Otherwise, how long will he stay before coming back?

When Zhenfeng was just married at the age of eighteen, he felt that the atmosphere in his home was particularly unfavorable to his biological mother, and he also fell into pain. He had a mother who raised him, a sister who doted on him, a father who cared about him, relatives, friends and servants who respected and loved him, but he also had a biological mother of that status.

He knew what kind of pain his biological mother felt, because the joke about "the golden carp has a pleated skirt" that spread throughout the whole family said it all. In this era and family where old and new ideas are alternating and conflicting, there is nothing he can do. It's better to go away, leave this boring family, and go to Japan to study!

Perhaps without him as a target person in this family, the biological mother's strong identity concept can be alleviated, and then her pain may disappear as well. He went to the country with the pain of being a son of man. Only he knew how he felt at that time. Who should he tell!

He studied well in Japan and stayed there year after year.

He absorbed more new knowledge and wanted to delve into more profound knowledge, so he was so selfish that he could not care about the big family in the country. Although I often feel guilty about my newlywed wife, I always comfort myself by saying that it was too early to get married anyway, and the future will be long.

Now he is back, just like he went to the country for his biological mother, he came back for her, but his mother is dead! Death, once and for all. But he knew that his mother died with hatred. He hated that he had been deprived of even the chance to wear a red pleated skirt once in his life. What a cruel thing it was to her.

Did she spend these ten years in depression? Does she hate her son too? She hates that her son will never return from a long journey, which makes her status in the family even more difficult to expand and will always stay at the stage of the golden carp. Giving birth to a son should fill a mother with pride, but she did not get it. People suppressed the pride she deserved time and time again.

Zhenfeng did not expect that his mother would pass away so early. He had always believed that one day the mother named "Mom" would be on the same footing as the mother named "Mother". Enjoying the same happiness. This was his filial piety, and he did not express regret to his mother during her lifetime, causing her to die with hatred.

Although the whole family was sad about the death of Jin Carp. , but the rules of the business must still be followed. On the day of the funeral, the problem of the door could not be solved. It was said that the door was too narrow and the coffin could not be carried through. Zhenfeng felt strange and asked which door it was. Is it too narrow?

The family told him that it was the "side door". Because the golden carp was a concubine, the coffin could not be carried out through the door, so they were planning to open the door frame next to it. A temporary strip was removed to facilitate passage.

After hearing this, Zhenfeng felt a fire in his chest, and his face turned red. He suppressed his excitement and asked deliberately: "I am." My aunt gave birth to the baby, so I can’t go through the door?

The old aunt smiled bitterly and scolded: "Silly boy, how can you say such a thing!" Of course you can go through the main door..."

Before the old aunt finished speaking, Zhenfeng impulsively ran to his mother's funeral hall, lay down on the coffin, beat it and shouted: "I can go through the gate, so let my mother go back to the gate with me! Just this once! Just this once! ”

All family members and relatives were frightened by this scene. Zhenfeng kept crying on his mother’s coffin, and others didn’t know how to persuade him because it was too unexpected. In the end, Zhenfeng still supported him His mother's coffin was carried out of the gate in a dignified manner.

He felt that he had never been able to show any filial piety to his mother during her lifetime. He was so young and so happy at that time. He was completely ignorant and lacked understanding of his mother's identity. Now that he did this, he wondered if his mother could understand his feelings. However, his heavy heart was finally relieved a lot. < /p>

It doesn’t matter now

Seeing that her mother was reluctant to give Shanshan the pleated skirt to take to school, her father interceded on behalf of Shanshan. He said to her mother: "You just Lend it to her. If the child likes it, let her be happy.

In fact, now it seems that these are nothing! At that time, was a pleated skirt so important to a woman's identity? Now that I think about it, it's incredible. Female students can wear it and show off on stage as long as they like it. well! Times..."

The words seemed to have not been finished, and they stopped abruptly with a sigh. But after Shanshan only heard the first sentence, she was so happy that she picked up the white skirt. The rest, Dad She ignored him completely.

My mother also remembered something, and she said to her father: "Zhenfeng, you know, I was very determined to put this pleated skirt in the coffin. Here, let’s just bury it with my mother. I know how much my mother likes it. But..."

Mom didn't say any more. She and dad stopped talking for a while and fell into deep thoughts.

Shanshan just held the skirt and pointed it at her body After a lot of back and forth, when the skirt was pulled apart and spread out in two pieces, Shanshan called her mother anxiously: "Mommy, come on, let's see how to wear this skirt!" "

Mom picked up the skirt and looked at it. She smiled. She opened the waistband of the skirt, pointed it out to Dad and Shanshan, and said, "I said no one has worn it. Isn't that true? Look, the straps haven’t been sewn on yet! ”

Extended information:

This is a novel that is truly moving, rich in meaning and exquisite in technique.

Through the disillusionment of the golden carp’s dream of wearing a pleated skirt, the novel shows the heartbreaking experience and miserable life of a little person who is a concubine. The feudal hierarchy pervasively penetrated into the realm of daily life.

What clothes to wear has become a symbol of social status and a politicized issue of power, thus revealing the painful spiritual trauma of women in old China.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Golden Carp’s Pleated Skirt