04 The Love in That Summer　愛在那個夏天

She was fond of Strauss, KFC, and Brazil Espresso. Dressed in decent gray skirt suit, she was busy working in a modernized office.That was her life before meeting me.Ever since our dating all those have vanished.

It was in 1997 when I started my so-called"great business”. She followed me wholeheartedly.That summer came early.Flowers dyed the town dazzlingly red.We stayed in the outskirts, in a small room of a condo known as an illegal structure of this city.Wind blew through all the four walls into the room, the temporary home of her and me.

In order to save money, we walked to our store downtown every day. Lunches were always simple like doggie food, worth no more than 1.5 yuan for each of us.We walked back home at the end of the day, so beat that all we wanted was collapse into bed.It seemed that we made it through one whole year this way.

Those days were bitter. Business was my totem;love was her belief.Both supported us from falling apart.

We walked home late one day. She sat at the bed edge, washing her feet in a bucket on the floor. I went to the landlord for boiled water to make instant noodles.When I got back carrying a thermos bottle, she had fallen back into the bed, sound asleep, feet in water.She must had been extremely exhausted.One of her hands was under her body.I heard her light snore.I tiptoed to the bed and tried to flip her over so that she would be in a more comfortable position.I stared at her face, which was a young and pretty one and yet so wearied and exhausted.I saw one mosquito on this pretty face.

That summer my city was like a huge steamer box. We put off one day to another plan to buy a mosquito net, just to save money.I knew mosquitoes were flying all about in our room, but I seemed not to be bothered.So exhausted when I got back each day, I doubted if I would wake up even though someone cut a piece of flesh off my body, let alone mosquito bites.

That mosquito stayed at her forehead, sipping her blood greedily. She was still sound asleep, not feeling anything.Perhaps she was in a sweet dream in which our business was turning better.There came an abrupt throb of my heart.I reached to wave my hand at the mosquito.But it was not at all scared.I wanted to bat it to death.

I raised my hand up high, but it could not descend-I was afraid of waking her up, she was really worn out. There lay a weak mosquito between her and me, doing harm to her right now.I froze there, hand in the air.I did not know what to do.I was worried.Suddenly, I began to get deeply fed up with myself.I hated myself.On the night of that summer, I stood by her side, feeling extremely guilty of her, of our love.The mosquito finally flew away.I forgave it, but I could never forgive myself.

In the daytime I went by a peddler's stall and saw a pink mosquito net priced 16 yuan. That amount could be spent on a lot of other things.I headed back home without buying it.After she fell asleep, I got out of bed, stood by her side, and waved away mosquitoes with a hard paper board as a weapon.I was her temporary mosquito net all that night through.After a while she woke up to find what I was doing.She gazed at me, and ten seconds later tears flooded her face.

The next day saw a pink mosquito net in my room. We were both silent working together to fix it on our bed.In my mind I had presented the net as a gift to her.But I did not tell her that it was a gift.I was feeling that it was like a rose in full bloom.It was my compensation to love.Then I realized that nothing could really make it up. It was her birthday that day.

Years went by. I earned 160,000 yuan, or precisely we earned 160,000 yuan.We did a lot of shopping, but never a mosquito net anymore.We did not need any mosquito net, living in a very well decorated apartment, where no mosquitoes could fly inside.Nevertheless, I always feel that all my money, and all my belongings are far less important than the16-yuan mosquito net, which was invaluable to her, to our love.

她喜歡聽施特勞斯的樂曲，喜歡吃肯德基，喜歡喝巴西的濃咖啡，穿著得體的灰色套裙在現代化的寫字樓里忙碌。那是她遇見我之前的生活。自從她與我約會之后，這一切便消失了。

那是在1997年，我開始了我所謂的“大事業”。她死心塌地跟著我，義無反顧。那個夏天來得很早，花兒染得城市一片彤紅。我們住在市郊，那是一個屬于該城非法公寓的小屋，四面透風。那是我倆暫時的家。

為了省錢，每天我們步行至市區的店鋪。午飯總是像狗糧一樣簡單，每人不超過一塊五毛錢。晚上再步行回來，疲憊不堪只想倒在床上好好休息一下。整整一年，我們都是這樣熬過來的。

那是一段艱苦的日子。那時，事業是我的圖騰，愛情是她的信仰。事業和愛情支撐著我們，讓我們緊緊相連。

有一次，我們很晚才到家。她坐在床邊用水桶泡腳，我去房東那里討開水泡面。當我提著暖水瓶回來時，發現她已經躺倒在床上睡得很香，雙腳仍在水里泡著。她一定是累壞了，一只手還壓在身子底下。我聽見了她輕微的鼾聲。我躡手躡腳地走到床邊，想給她翻下身，好讓她睡得更舒服點。我盯著她年輕美麗卻疲憊不堪的臉，在這張精致的臉上，我發現了一只蚊子。

那個夏天，我所在的城市像個巨大的蒸籠。我們把買蚊帳的計劃一拖再拖，只是為了省錢。我知道屋里蚊子到處亂飛，可我似乎并未受其干擾。每天回來后拖著那樣勞累的身體睡下，別說是蚊子，就算有人從我身上切下一塊肉，我都懷疑自己能不能醒來。

蚊子落在她的額頭，貪婪地吸食著她的血。她依然睡得很香，毫無察覺。也許她正做著夢，夢見我們的生意有起色了。我的心猛地抽搐了一下。我伸出手驅趕蚊子，但蚊子對我的恐嚇毫不理睬。我想用手拍死它，手揚起來，卻不忍落下。我怕驚醒了她，她是真累壞了。我與她之間，有一只弱小的蚊子，此時此刻正叮咬著她。我僵在那里，手舉在空中，可不知該做些什么，內心焦慮著。突然間，我覺得受夠了，受夠了這樣的自己。我恨自己。那個夏天的夜晚，我站在她身旁，感到內疚，對她的愛極度羞愧。蚊子最后飛走了，我原諒了蚊子，卻永遠不能原諒我自己。

白天我經過一個小攤，注意到一個粉色的蚊帳，標價16元。16元在當時可以做許多事。我回了家，但卻沒有買它。那天在她睡著后，我起床站在她身旁，把一個硬紙板當作武器一樣揮動著，不讓蚊蟲靠近她的身體。那整晚，我便是她的臨時蚊帳。后來她醒了，看到我的行為，盯著我，10秒鐘后，淚流滿面。

第二天小屋里掛上了粉色的蚊帳。一起掛蚊帳時，我們都保持著沉默。在我心里，我是把蚊帳當成禮物送給她的，但我沒這樣說。我覺得那像一朵盛開的玫瑰，就算是我對愛情的補償。但后來我意識到，其實什么也補償不了她的愛。而那天恰巧是她的生日。

多年過去了，我賺了16萬，或者確切地說是我們賺了16萬。我們買了很多東西，卻沒有再買一床蚊帳。我們已經不再需要蚊帳了，住在精裝的公寓里，已經飛不進任何一只蚊蟲。可是我總覺得，我所有的錢、所有的這些東西，都遠不如那個曾經只值16元的蚊帳重要。那對她、對我們的愛都是無價之寶。

單詞解析 Word Analysis

espresso[e?spreso?]n.濃咖啡，蒸餾咖啡

例　She orders a green tea, and I choose espresso.

她點了綠茶，我點了黑咖啡。

modernized[?m?d?（?）na?zd]adj.現代化的

例　She Iived in a modernized hoteI.

她住在一家十分現代化風格的酒店。

wholeheartedly[?ho?l?hɑ?t?dl?]adv.竭誠地；全心全意地，全神貫注地；真心誠意地

例　I can endorse their opinions whoIeheartedIy.

我全力支持他們的意見。

outskirts[?a?tsk??rts]n.郊外；邊緣；市郊，郊區；從外圍經過

例　We bivouacked on the outskirts of the city.

我們在市郊露營。

condo[?kɑ?ndo?]n.<口>各戶有獨立產權的公寓（大樓）

例　I remember my first condo.

我記得我第一個公寓。

doggie[?d?gi??dɑgi]n.小狗，狗，汪汪

例　That’s the pIace where I Iived with my doggie.

那就是我和我的小狗住的地方。

totem[?to?t?m]n.圖騰；圖騰形象；崇拜物

例　This opera is one of the cuIturaI totems of Western civiIization.

這部歌劇是西方文明的文化標志物之一。

landlord[?l?ndl??rd]n.房東

例　My IandIord charges me for 500 yuan per month.

我的房東每個月收我500元的房租。

thermos bottle[?θ??rm?s?bɑtl]n.暖瓶；暖水瓶

例　I bought a new thermos bottIe yesterday.

我昨天買了一個新的熱水壺。

tiptoe[?t?pto?]v.踮著腳走，躡手躡腳地走；轉彎抹角地談論

例　He tiptoed out of the ward.

他躡著腳走出病房。

mosquito[m??ski?to?]n.蚊子

例　Mosquito is one kind of pests.

蚊子是害蟲的一種。

steamer[?stim?]n.蒸鍋；汽船，輪船；蒸汽機

例　When does your steamer saiI?

你們的輪船什么時候啟航？

put off 延期；敷衍；使分心；脫去（衣、帽等）

例　My pIane was put off.

我的航班延期了。

throb[θrɑ?b]n.脈搏；跳動，悸動 vi.抽痛；（心臟、脈搏等）跳動

例　His head throbbed.

他的頭陣陣作痛。

fed up with 受夠了

例　I fed up with your disguise.

我受夠了你對我撒謊。

peddler[?p?dl?]n.不法商販，（尤指）毒販

例　PeopIe Iaughed at the peddIer’s extravagant praise of his goods.

人們嘲笑這個小販過度吹噓他的商品。

compensation[?kɑ?mpen?se??n]n.補償，賠償；修正；補救辦法

例　He received one year’s saIary as compensation for Ioss of office.

他得到一年的工資作為失業補償金。

precisely[pr??sa?sli]adv.精確地；恰好地；嚴謹地，嚴格地；一絲不茍地

例　ChiIdren come to zoos preciseIy to see captive animaIs.

孩子們到動物園就是為了看圈養的動物。

語法知識點 Grammar Points

①Dressed in decent gray skirt suit, she was busy working in a modernized office.

這個句子中有一個結構“be busy doing something”，表示“忙于做某事”。相當于be tied up with sth.。

例　Tony was busy doing his homework.

托尼正忙著做作業。

②In order to save money, we walked to our store downtown every day.

這個句子中有一個結構“in order to”，表示“為了”。相當于to或者是so as to，但是so as to一般不放于句首。

例　In order to win, she practiced for 5 hours a day.

為了能贏，她一天練習五小時。

③She must have been extremely exhausted.

這個句子中有一個結構“must have been/done”，表示“過去一定做了某事”。該句中exhausted表示extremely tired，極度疲勞。

例　He must have Ioved her because he did so much for her.

他曾經肯定是愛她的，為她做了那么多。

④So exhausted when I got back each day, I doubted if I would wake up even though someone cut a piece of flesh off my body, let alone mosquito bites.

這個句子中有一個結構“let alone”，表示“更別提”。

例　I wiII eat aII the things, Iet aIone this piece of bread.

我會吃光所有東西，更別提這片小面包了。

⑤I was afraid of waking her up, she was really worn out.

這個句子中有三個結構“be afraid of”“wake somebody up”和“be worn out”，分別表示“害怕做某事”“叫醒某人”和“疲乏，磨破”。of是介詞，后面需要加-ing形式。

經典名句 Famous Classics

1.Where there is great love, there are always miracles.

哪里有真愛存在，哪里就有奇跡。

2.Love is like a butterfly.It goes where it pleases and it pleases where it goes.

愛情就像一只蝴蝶，它喜歡飛到哪里，就把歡樂帶到哪里。

3.If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden.

假如每次想起你，我都會得到一朵鮮花，那么我將永遠在花叢中徜徉。

4.Within you I lose myself, without you I find myself wanting to be lost again.

有了你，我迷失了自我。失去你，我多么希望自己再度迷失。

5.At the touch of love, everyone becomes a poet.

每一個沐浴在愛河中的人都是詩人。