Deep Lane: Amazing Feeling of Chinese New Year 巷子深深年味浓 | Monthly Review

When I go downstairs I see the alley is full of red color, does have it a few days ago? Under shining the Chinese red color is so warm the alley is becoming one color: A red world! Red lantern, Chinese knot, bunch of peppers, wood engraving picture and spring festival couplets, are full of the whole alley. The New Year is really coming. Often most old persons buy spring festival couplets, choose their favorite. Each booth seller would send them “Fu” freely. Everyone is smiling to others how lively it is. The long alley is so splendid because of all everything.

A heavy snow takes more inconvenience for going out. After work, I would like to stay at home to enjoy the house warm, except must need to go out, otherwise I never go downstairs. The wind out of window is strong and heavy. The year of the lunar calendar never stops step, we even have not any feeling about it. What numbs my nerve and what makes us ignore the flavor of the New Year.

The business street is open for many years under our housing estate. Different from night market, their business hours are from 8:00am to 19:00pm, in order to don’t disturb residents’ daily life. Passing by this street every day and going across the busy cars and people, gradually is it true that certain nerve has been erased?

My wife is cleaning the house at home and arranging daughter’s room. Students will begin their winter holiday after several days. Let them have a wonderful rest. It is so hard to prepare for the college entrance examination. My wife is nagging, I just enjoy myself to drink green tea without any conceptual work. Unexpectedly, I seem to be numb and sluggish only sitting there, for a while I seem can’t hear any words of my wife. It seems like freezing time and everything around me. What kind of mind for me in this busy city? Be caught in my own trap or gestate a pair of open wings?

South lake neither too big nor too little is across the street of our housing estate. There are numerous other housing estate around it. Naturally more and more people form congestion every day. The alley under our housing estate has lots of seller, from hardware and electrical equipment to odds and ends of sewing, from pots and pans to students’ supplies. Really we even remain within doors can get everything that we expect to find. Come and go, you can see busy figure. Recently during this period the alley isn’t more fluency, becoming so crowded. This is very like the flavor of our native place going to market. The trumpet of selling sticky rice dumpling is louder and clearer than the trumpet of selling New Year cake, the voice rings from the alley until the end of it.

In my eyes an old bike in the alley is the beautiful scenery, two little girls hold sugar-coated haws and massing their hands to enjoy laughing and sweet honey time. Really envy them, envy young vitality. I am too old, a mouth of old teeth, don’t dare to eat. They are my beauty in my heart. No matter that old bike or young handsome and pretty! The atmosphere of the New Year is not just lively or busy. The yell of selling the New Year cake, the crisp sound of firecracker, the noise of children playing happily, the messy of houseful toys, all are the same like the crowded alley. Because of the New Year we are more tolerant, due to the New Year our face are full of smile.
My desk is confused and disordered, the books accumulated are like the little mountain. A set of Chinese Zodiac made of clay sculpture hasn’t been put on the shelf. Now and then I pick up one of them to blow out loud sound, is it the child’s time naughty sound? The precious wood engraving picture also needs to be arranged. I have written several summary articles towards the last year, I think my desk needs my summary too. But I like this messy and crowded feeling. My wife never helps me to clean my desk, she said my desk was my little lover, including my writing paper she would never move them. She said that she dares to break the privity between me and my desk and disorganize my missing emotion.

The messy things in life, the huddle of the alley, sometimes it looks so disordered, if becoming accustomed to it we can’t live without it. It just like the New Year, sometimes it is so crowded, sometimes it so noisy but it has the sweet like ice-sugar gourd moment. Think of remain in the memory, aren’t exactly the most common and ordinary trivial time?

The deep alley is the way which I must pass everyday in my live.
The world’s confusion is my necessary practice lifetime in my life.

I like the alley, love all person passing through the alley. The red color lights up my quenchless fireworks. Come on! The New Year! Although, the fast speed of the coming New Year isn’t my hope, I still love it deeply forever….

下楼来小巷里居然是满眼的红，前几天不就有了吗？在阳光的照耀下中国红是那样的温暖，整条巷子成了一个颜色，一个红红的世界！大红灯笼，中国结，成串的丰收的辣椒，木版年画和春联，摆满了雪后的街头巷尾！年！真的就要来了！买春联大多老人比较多，挑选着自己喜欢的对联，每一个摊位免费送着“福”字！张张笑脸迎来送往的热闹着，绚烂了午后长长的小巷！

一场大雪把出行的脚步拖延，下了班早早的窝在家里享受一屋的温暖，除非不得已懒得连楼也不下，窗子外面的风叫的起劲，阴历的年却一步没有停歇的悄悄走来，没有一丝的感觉。是什么麻木了我的神经？又是什么蒙蔽了熟视无睹的年味呢？

小区楼下本就是一条多年的商业街，不同于夜市，早八点晚七点开门关门，是为了不影响小区居民的正常生活吧！天天路过这条巷子，人来车往的忙碌，久了真的抹灭了某根神经吗。

妻子在家大扫除，整理女儿的房间，再几天孩子们就放假了，让孩子回来舒舒服服的好好歇歇，备战高考肯定不轻快啊！妻子唠叨着，我自顾自的喝着清茶，没有一丝的思维活动，竟然麻木到老婆大人的话一时之间也似没听到般呆滞在那里。凝固了时间，凝固了周围的一切，身处闹市这是怎样的一种心绪呢？作茧自缚还是孕育一对张开的翅膀呢？

小区外面的马路对面就是那个不大不小的南湖，周边分布着众多的小区，自然人就多的成了天天的拥堵，小区下面的巷子卖什么的都有，五金电器到针头线脑，锅碗瓢盆到学生用品，真的是足不出户应有尽有！出出进进都是忙碌的身影，最近也就是最近的几天里出入不再那样流畅。拥挤！像极了老家赶集的味道，卖糯米粽子的卖年糕的喇叭声一个比一个嘹亮，从巷子这头一直响到巷子那头。

一辆老旧的自行车在巷子口成了我眼里好看的一道风景，两个小姑娘搓着手拿着糖葫芦，嬉笑着享受嘎嘣脆的甜蜜！真的羡慕，羡慕年轻的活力！我这老牙老口算是不敢吃了啊！他们成了我心中的靓丽，不管是那老旧的自行车还是年轻俊逸的潇洒！年的韵味里不只是热闹，不只是忙累！那流动的卖年糕的吆喝声，爆竹的清脆声，孩子们开心的打闹声，就是满屋的玩具的凌乱，也像极了巷子里来来回回的拥挤，因为年，多了宽容的心，多了一脸的笑容！

凌乱，我的书桌更是凌乱的没了形体，一本本书籍堆成了小山的模样，一套泥塑的十二生肖还没来得及摆上架，居然时不时的拿起一个就能吹出响亮的声音，是儿时顽皮的声音吗？那套珍贵的木版年画也需要整理。一年的总结写了好几份，自己的书桌也需要一个总结了，不过就是喜欢这拥挤的感觉，妻子从来不去动我的书桌，她说那是我的小情人，就是一张练字的纸也不去给我动，她说怕凌乱了你们俩的默契，打乱了你那思念的情绪！

生活中的凌乱，小巷子里的拥挤，有时看似杂乱无章，习惯了适应了竟然成了离不开的模式，就像这年，有忙碌有拥挤不堪，有嘈杂的纷扰，也有糖葫芦般的酸甜！想想记忆里留下的不就是这些琐碎的最最普通的碎片吗？

小巷深深，生活中我来来去去的必经！
世事纷扰，是我生命里必须的修炼真经！

我爱小巷！我爱小巷里穿行而过的你，红红的颜色点燃我不熄的焰火，来吧！年！虽然我不想你匆匆的脚步，我依然爱你这深深地久长……

译者:@sunnyjolly
原作者: @xiaoshancun