胡堡胡同 Huburg Hutong：002 第二章：赵莉俐 Lily

第二章：赵莉俐

像妈妈、姥姥和太姥姥那个年代一样，我也留着又黑又多的头发，青丝如瀑。二十九岁那年，我把头发剪短了。

长头发那么重。

后来，我做了一个我不应该做的决定。一直回头看，想要明白是怎么走到这一步的。就只是一个发型。

那时候，我在我们胡家和林家、王家一起开的公司白龙兴业集团做律师，忙得没有很多时间刷手机。

集团里的事情很复杂。我压力很大，大部分时间都在工作。但是，一切都在我的控制中。

大约一年前，当我在白堡最大的超市排一个少见的长队时，手里拿着一个购物筐，购物筐里有鸡蛋和足够好的寿司，我在手机上看到了一个亚洲模特儿的照片。那个模特儿和我一样有圆脸和宽鼻子，但是那个模特儿有空气刘海短发。

突然，我有一种奇怪的熟悉感，好像我已经认识那个女人，好像我在胡堡胡同的一条山路上往上走，她也在同一条路上往下走。但是，像前几代女性教我的一样，我没直视那个女人的眼睛，而是低下了头，好像我正从她身边走过去一样，然后把手机收了起来。

但是，当我在自助结账台扫鸡蛋和寿司，用手机付钱的时候，我记得当时在想：那样的发型让我自由。

Word List

长 cháng long, length, lasting; 长 zhǎng grow, develop, elder, leader,
chief
姥姥 lǎolao maternal grandmother
太姥姥 tài lǎolao maternal great-grandmother (外曾祖母 wàizēngzǔmǔ maternal great-grandmother)
留着 liúzhe to wear, to maintain (a hairstyle, beard, etc.), to keep
青 qīng dark green, blue-green, dark, blackish
瀑 pù waterfall, cascade
青丝如瀑 qīngsī rúpù black silky hair like a waterfall; hair flowing like a waterfall of black silk
剪 jiǎn cut, clip, trim, snip, shear
型 xíng model, type, style, shape, form, pattern
发型 fǎxíng haircut
这一步 zhè yí bù this step, this stage, this point in a process or situation
集团 jítuán corporation, group, conglomerate, enterprise group
白龙兴业集团 Báilóng Xīngyè Jítuán Bright Dragon Development Corporation
律师 lǜshī lawyer, attorney
刷手机 shuā shǒujī scroll on a phone, swipe through phone content
白堡 Báibǎo Brightsburg. More about Brightsburg is in Places and Characters.
亚洲 yàzhōu Asia
寿司 shòusī sushi
模特儿 mótèr model
圆脸 yuánliǎn round face
宽 kuān wide, broad
宽鼻子 kuān bízi wide nose, broad nose
空气刘海短发 kōngqì liúhǎi duǎnfǎ see-through “air” bangs with short hair
熟 shú familiar, practiced, skilled
悉 xī know, understand, be aware of
熟悉 shúxī familiar
熟悉感 shúxīgǎn sense of familiarity, familiar feeling; sense of recognition
胡堡胡同 Húbǎo Hútòng Huburg Hutong. More about Huburg Hutong is in Places and Characters.
直视 zhíshì look directly
正 zhèng right, correct, proper, exactly, directly, currently, in the middle of, upright, main, positive
正从 zhèng cóng currently from, right from, in the process of coming from, just now from
自助 zìzhù self-service
结 jié tie, settle, close
账 zhàng account, bill
结账台 jiézhàngtái checkout counter
扫 sǎo sweep, scan

Chapter 2: Lily

As did my great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother before me, I also wore my hair in a long waterfall of black silk. When I was twenty-nine, I cut it.

Long hair is so heavy.

Afterwards, I made a decision I shouldn’t have made. I keep looking back, trying to understand how I got here. It was just a haircut.

Back then, I was too busy working as an attorney for our family, the Hu family, and for the Bright Dragon Development Corporation, owned by the Hu family and two other families, Lin and Wang, to spend much time scrolling on my phone.

Matters at the corporation were complex. I was under a lot of pressure and spent most of my time at work. I had everything under control.

But about a year ago, as I waited in an unusually long line at Brightsburg’s largest grocery store, eggs and adequate sushi in my basket, on my phone I noticed a photograph of an Asian model. She had a round face and a wide nose like mine but wore short hair and “air bangs.”

Suddenly, I felt a strange sense of recognition, as if I already knew this woman, as if I were walking up one of the mountain trails in Huburg Hutong and she was walking down the same trail. But, as taught by the generations of women before me, instead of looking her directly in the eyes, I lowered my eyes as if I were walking right by her, and put my phone away.

Still, I remember thinking as I scanned my eggs and sushi at the self-checkout, then scanned my phone to pay, That haircut would set me free.

Notes

1. Lily is 赵莉俐 Zhào Lìlì Lily Zhao. More about Lily is in Places and Characters.

2. In 枝丫1, we used 熟悉 shúxī familiar in the phrase 熟悉的矛盾心理 shúxī de máodùn xīnlǐ “a familiar sense of ambivalence.” In 枝丫2, we used 熟悉 shúxī in the phrase 她熟悉的脸的曲线 tā shúxī de liǎn de qūxiàn “the familiar curve of her face.”

3. 空气刘海 kōngqì liúhǎi air bangs are also mentioned in 枝丫2：19：第十九章: 两个走失的人.

4. A microstory about 付钱 is here.

Huburg Hutong 胡堡胡同 is a serialized novel written at the intermediate level in both Simplified Chinese characters and in English. Chapters are published weekly. The novel is written by Anne 安妮 Giles, edited by 侯慧颖 Hóu Huìyǐng “Mary,” and illustrated by Lear.

Huburg Hutong: Start Here
Huburg Hutong: Table of Contents
Huburg Hutong: Background
Huburg Hutong: Places and Characters