Elements of the city

How many alleys are there in this city? I haven't counted, but in the twenty days when I was sent to work in the provincial capital, I would walk back and forth along the nearby alley every time I finished eating. There are Changjiaxiang, Zhongjiezi, Xiaogoutou ... straight as a string or curved as a bow, barbershops, snack bars, supermarkets, pharmacies, vegetable shops and newsstands. These fixed elements are crowded and expanding in the alley. There are also several consignment shops and antique bookstores, where I hang out and stay.

This street has been marginalized by the city. At its south entrance, I saw the rumble of a large excavator. Maybe one day there will be towering buildings in the alley. Jingning Road, Gannan Road and other alleys are connected. The endless flow of vehicles, the tacit understanding of red taillights, a little shift, there are always impatient drivers sticking their heads out, looking around and waiting. All this is both familiar and strange to me.

I met hundreds of strangers in the streets. Maybe just passing by, maybe there was eye contact and collision. I won't remember their voices and faces after passing by, and even if we meet again, it won't change anything. I go to the streets mainly to look around, see people, see streets, see roads, see tall buildings and see those people waiting for the bus at the station. They are anxious to get home from work. And I can't, because my home is still thousands of miles away. For this city, I am just a passer-by. To tell the truth, this is a city that hides a lot of memories of youth. I have lived in this ancient and brand-new city for four years. Thirty years later, this early summer, when I was standing on the street I once again knew, decades of soup flowed away, and the old streets and alleys were torn down and disappeared. Walking in the street, I occasionally recall the past and find that those memories have faded into old photos. I am a person who likes nostalgia. People and events in the past, a conversation, a picture, a voice and some feelings are accumulated in my heart bit by bit. I remember them for a long time. They seem to exist forever. After a long time, I thought of them again, but I won't forget them.

Turn from Jingning intersection and you will get to Qingyang Road. The most popular clothes this winter are displayed in large retail malls and specialty stores on both sides of the road. In the newly opened Parkson Shopping Mall, all kinds of goods stimulate people's senses, and people's desire for money is stronger than ever and anywhere. Through the colorless glass window, you can see well-dressed men shopping with leisurely ladies. I went for a walk the other day and looked at the prices marked on those clothes. I know I can't afford to spend it here once. There are many middle and high-end hotels on both sides of the road. Buses, private cars and taxis come and go, and diners can be seen everywhere. Hotels with different styles also show the uneven status of diners. Sometimes, I will take a bus to walk around the city, and then stay at the window and watch the pedestrians on the roadside. There are many people lining up like building blocks at each site. There are several times more people in a car than seats, and the people getting on and off are expressionless. The car is also very accurate. It stops at the station, and people leave when they get on the bus. People are as mechanical as cars. Many fragments of people's lives suddenly came into my sight, and I hurried into a certain moment of their lives, then passed by and separated forever.

At Nanguan Cross, I saw a large green area, which is the absolute owner of the city. No matter how big, magnificent and modern the city is, there will always be room for green grass to grow. Without them, the steel skeleton can't support the city, nor can it make the city flexible and vivid. In the underpass leading across the street, there was a young man who dyed his hair as golden as the sun, wore a tattered cowboy, played the guitar and sang with great devotion. Singing over and over again, the hoarse voice is like an old tape recorder, a little worn out. But few people stop to listen and have a look. That song is indescribable, full of bitterness and pain. There are also some beggars from other places sitting in the passage. They either kneel or sit on the ground, with a pair of silly eyes open, and look at everyone who walks by them with begging eyes. There are some small aluminum plates in front of them, and some banknotes and cents are thrown inside. They are very old, with gray hair and many vicissitudes, just like my parents. No one knows where they came from. I don't know their last names. Whenever a cocky and proud person walks up to them with disdainful eyes, their eyes will show disappointment. Day after day, when we slowly stop and watch such a scene, those humble faces and words have become commonplace. This kind of expression of prayer and deception is really difficult to distinguish between true and false. More can't understand whether the expression The Secret Behind is simple and true! But looking at their old age, a feeling of compassion naturally rises from their hearts.

In my spare time, I will also extend my footsteps to the banks of the Yellow River, the central square, Farmers Lane, Yantan Park, Railway Bureau and Xiguan Cross. Although Zhangye Road Pedestrian Street is modern and prosperous, the only visible appearances are the foil for people to pursue material things. In an alley like Xiaogoutou, there will still be dilapidated roofs, mottled walls and crooked conjoined buildings. This is the real Lanzhou in my memory. Nanguan Cross is the center of the city, with many buildings of different shapes. High-rise buildings such as Bank of Communications, China Merchants Bank, Sunshine Hotel and Petroleum Building stand tall in the light and shadow at night, which is extremely difficult to see. These buildings with different styles have also enriched the city and made it less indifferent and impatient. Women coming and going from the five-star hotel-Sunshine Hotel are beautiful, reserved and noble. In the hollowing out of this particular building, their relationship with men is not only legal, reasonable and reasonable, but also has another way of linking. I think the service they provide is not available in this hotel. In the parking lot in front of the store, all cars and BMWs are parked. Judging from the name and license plate of the car, there is every reason to define the identity and status of his owner. In the light of the night, they remain silent like turtles, making silent advertisements for the luxury and style of the hotel.

There are many people in the street, green women and red men, always full of mature temptations. Some lazy people crossed the fence and were quickly led to another lane. Some obese people staggered past me and took out their mobile phones to answer the phone. Several vendors shouted and kept selling their inferior products to passers-by. Some women distribute napkin bags with advertisements for bathing, massage and massage to pedestrians. Looking at those confusing color pictures directly touched my inner life, and that feeling is indescribable. In front of the largest book supermarket in the northwest, two loaders were combined into a small platform, and several little girls danced to the music. Music is ambiguous. The light is blurred. The spectator's mood is ambiguous. On the stage, they twisted their bodies and restless hands, with an induced nature, and attracted people's attention with an expression that they could not appreciate. Above those girls' heads is a new bar, and such a stage and girls are just its creative advertisements. There is a big newspaper office by the roadside. In the light, some people are reading the evening paper and eating supper, while others are walking casually and joking ... My heart goes further than them. I seem to see the shadow of my son doing his homework seriously in the distant light, and the shadow of his father cooking medicine for his mother in Yintai's window ... Although it is far away, it is particularly clear, and the ordinary and simple pictures that come out are intertwined into the indispensable warmth in my life.

Supermarkets, zebra crossings, crossroads, western restaurants, bars, teahouses, KTV…… .................................................................................................................................................... Back to my room, I sat on the windowsill that was not wide enough to look at the city. There are windows outside, like countless pairs of eyes, peeping at all the spaces around the building. Most obviously, the light outside the window penetrated part of the night. Some are bright, some are black, and the life that you turn a blind eye to all night seems soft and cold. Those that are open also filter out the noise of the day, absorb the coolness of the night, and float over the city, feeling quiet and warm. Turn on the TV, a piece of Xu Meijing's Moonlight in the City slowly flows out, humming favorite lyrics, but the tone is like a cloud, and there is nowhere to catch it.

The moonlight in the city lights up the dream/please protect it/if we can meet again one day/let happiness spread all night.