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张欣丨《狐步杀》

推荐理由

《狐步杀》最早发表在《北京文学》2015年第8期，后于2016年1月由上海文艺出版社出版。这是一部比较新的小说，它的“新”更体现在他为当代文学贡献了多个鲜活的城市角色，例如护工、代驾等。

张欣是一个能够极敏锐感受到时代痛点的作家，这部《狐步杀》反映的是我们当下时代表面繁花似锦欣欣向荣实则充满紧张和戾气，在某一个瞬间，人性中蕴积的压力在欲望的挑战面前，全部化成尖利的戾气，正如小说中所说的“这是一个特殊的时代，每个人都在跟自己做斗争”。而在这个戾气四溢的时代，依然有可贵的静默与坚守——“总有一些笨人忠于职守，总有更多的人选择正直、善良、是非分明，专注”。看似平淡的案情下的暗流汹涌，山重水复中的柳暗花明，出人意料又情理之中的结局，还有美丽的爱情——隔山隔水、重重障碍下的向往、吸引和绵绵爱恋。

文中有多条主线，案情交错出演，人物之间联系层层浮出水面，情节设计巧妙，引人入胜。然而这还不是小说最大的好处，反倒是一些不太刻意的细部，比如物质细节、人物设定，因凝结着复杂丰沛的现代都市经验，而彰显着文本强劲的独立性。活动在故事里的人，大部分是地道的都市土著，自如地生活在茶餐厅、山本耀司、古籍善本、交响乐和暗物质中间。随着狐步舞曲的进行，曾被有意回避的物质细节得到凸显并得以放大。在都市经验中，值得称道的物质细节往往不动声色地构成景深，扎实地参与到都市的诸多面向与层次中来。

评论家贺绍俊曾提到，张欣的小说始终有一种贵族气质在荡漾，她在书写世俗生活时仍然保持着高贵气质，流露出她对贵族精神的追慕。《狐步杀》就是这样一篇小说，特别是小说中的两个警察形象，虽然家境不同，但他们因为内心都有一种高贵气质而惺惺相惜。周槐序的高贵透着典雅，而忍叔的高贵则蕴藏着孤傲，他们真像小提琴与黑管的二重奏。在当代小说的园地里，从来还没有过这种精神气质的警察形象。

Reviews

Originally featured in the eighth issue of Beijing Literature in 2015, this novella later came to be published by Shanghai Literature & Art Press in January 2016. This novella is quite original in that it contributes so many vivid urban characters to contemporary literature such as health care workers and designated drivers.

Zhang Xin is a writer with a keen eye for the pains of our generation. From this novella, we can see two sides of society: one where prosperity and brilliance cover the world, and one where tension and cynicism lurk with growing hostility. At one point, humanity’s pent up stress transforms into piercing hostility in the face of desire. Just as the author mentioned in this novella, “in this particular era, everybody is struggling against themselves.” In this age of overflowing hostility, some are commendable in their steadfast, tranquil stance against it all – “there are always some stupid people who devote themselves to their work, who choose integrity, kindness, concentration and fairness.” And what’s found lurking beneath the surface of a straightforward medical case is unexpected; yet the light at the end of the tunnel is always there to comfort us, even with the book’s unexpected but reasonable conclusion. On top of this, love’s beauty adds weight to this novel, as reflected by longing in times of difficulty and the innocent, reserved feelings shared between Su Erji and Little Zhou.

Different threads run through the novella; the case moves forward in a zig-zag pattern where peoples’ relations are gradually unveiled. And with this artful design, the novel comes across as both charming and marvelous. However, this novella is not impressive for the plot itself, but rather the unintended details and descriptions that lie on its outskirts. In the descriptions of materials and character personalities, you can find a complex and vivid urban life, revealing the strong independence of Zhang Xin’s novel. The characters are all urbanites who enjoy themselves at tea houses, Yohji Yamamoto clothing stores, antique book stores, symphony concerts and other peculiar places around town. And as the foxtrot plays through, these specific details become prominent and even significant to the plot. The novella is praiseworthy in its soft focus on the mundane as well as the factors involved in life’s various aspects.

The critic He Shaojun pointed out that Zhang Xin’s writing is always brimming with noble qualities, and though her writing focuses on secular life, she always maintains a longing for nobility. The Foxtrot Murder is just the same, and what’s worth mentioning is that the two policemen in this novel become kindred spirits sharing the same ideal of nobility despite their different family backgrounds. Little Zhou’s nobility has a tint of elegance, while Uncle Ren’s, loftiness. They are just like a duet of the violin and clarinet. Never before have noble images of policemen gained a place in the garden of contemporary Chinese literature.

作家简介

Author Profile

张欣，女，江苏海门人。1990年毕业于北京大学中文系。1969年应征入伍，历任卫生员、护士、文工团创作员，《羊城晚报》资料室、广东《五月》杂志编辑，广州市文艺创作研究所专业作家，文学创作一级。1990年加入中国作家协会会员。

1978年开始发表作品，著有长篇小说《一意孤行》，中篇小说集《岁月无敌》《此情不再》《爱又如何》《你没有理由不疯》《张欣文集》(4卷)，中篇小说《伴你到黎明》(已改编为同名电影文学剧本并拍摄发行)、《岁月无敌》(已改编为同名电视连续剧剧本并录制播出)等。中篇小说《绝非偶然》获上海首届长中篇小说优秀作品二等奖、1995年庄重文文学奖。

张欣素以创作都市言情小说著称，中篇小说《狐步杀》为其沉寂数年后的一部新作。

Zhang Xin is a writer from Haimen, Jiangsu Province who graduated from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature in Peking University. She was drafted into the army in 1969, working successively as a medical orderly, a nurse, cultural troupe writer, reference room official for Yangcheng Evening News, editor of Guangdong province’s May magazine, and a professional writer at Guangzhou Literary and Art Creation Research Institute. She became a member of the China Writers Association after graduating from Peking University.

Her early works include the novel Single-minded Pursuit, several novella collections such as Invincible Time, Love’s End, So What About Love?, You Have No Reasons Not to Go Insane and four volumes of Collected Works of Zhang Xin. Some of her works have been adapted for film and television such as the novella With You At Dawn (film) and Invincible Time (TV series). Her novella Certainly Not by Coincidence was also important, winning second prize for The First Shanghai Excellent Novels and Novellas and Zhuang Zhongwen Literatuer Prize in 1995.

Zhang is known for her brilliant writing of urban romance, The Foxtrot Murder being her newest work after going on hiatus.

中文概要

Synopsis

小说的故事发生在一个广州的城市。

茶餐厅里，警察曹忍冬（忍叔）和周槐序（小周）正在茶餐厅讨论最近发生的一起命案，78岁的老王虽然老年痴呆但是身体还算硬朗，但却离奇死在医院里，尸检过后，却发现护工之间的分派和矛盾直接导致老王被憋死。在医患纠纷之后，小王得到了医院的赔偿，但是却没有得到父亲老王的房产，遗嘱里，老王将自己的房产留给大王，而把自己的藏书留给生前一直偏爱的小王。乖张跋扈的小王不服从父亲的遗嘱，要从大王手中夺回房产，在一次纠纷中，一向温和老实的大王杀了小王。

忍叔和小周来到服装设计师柳三郎的工作室询问线索。两年前，柳三郎和苞苞结婚，但由于三郎身体原因，两个人一直没有正常的夫妻生活。柳三郎迟迟不离婚，苞苞劈腿前男友端木哲，心思缜密的柳三郎为了避免财产纠纷，试图找到苞苞红杏出墙的证据。然而艳照没拍到，端木哲由于生产的减肥产品毒死了人出了事而人间蒸发，苞苞也一同消失了。

小周在健身房对苏而已一见钟情。后来一次同学聚会后小周帮醉酒的同学叫代驾又遇见了苏而已，但是却错过了。由于老王的案子小周经常去医院，一次他在医院帮助迷路的孩子大溪，却发现大溪的妈妈正是苏而已。小周和苏而已才正式认识。而与此同时，柳三郎也与苏而已再度相逢。苏而已和柳三郎是大学时期金童玉女般的恋人，苏而已原本殷实的家境突遭变故，而她在旅法过程中得知父亲破产逃债，只能一个人靠打工生活，雪上加霜的是，她发现自己有了柳三郎的孩子……柳三郎不想再错过苏而已和自己的孩子大溪，于是向苏而已求婚。

苞苞的银行账户出现了一条动态，忍叔和小周找到了苞苞，发现苞苞并没有和端木哲在一起。忍叔幡然醒悟，对柳三郎起了疑心，在调查三郎的社会关系时，他发现三郎的小叔柳森有权利调动火葬场的关系。于是他和小周开始调查走访两年前的火化记录，发现有一个与端木哲年龄相仿的青年在不同地方被火化了两次。

忍叔在追捕一个盗贼的时中弹身亡，小周在忍叔的日记里发现了一条重要线索，最终他发现死者老王藏书的秘密，原来，老王的藏书的价值远比房产的价值高，老王还是偏爱小王。但是结局是遗憾的，此时，老王的妻子已经病危，小王死了，大王面临着法律的追究；柳三郎和柳森供认不讳，三郎于两年前约端木哲见面，并杀死了端木哲，柳森利用自己的关系偷偷将端木哲火化。柳三郎的梦想最终破灭了，与此同时，苏而已也发现了自己对于小周的感情……

The background of this story is set in Guangzhou, a city in southern China. Two policemen, Uncle Ren and Little Zhou, are discussing a homicide case at a tea house, their conversation going roughly as follows:

Wang was 78 years old, and was quite fit and active for his age, despite suffering through dementia. However, he suddenly died in the hospital one day, the police uncovering the truth behind his death following an autopsy – he suffocated to death due to the health care workers arguing and splitting up into different factions. After the medical dispute was settled, his second son, Little Wang, received compensation from the hospital. In addition, according to their father’s will, Big Wang, the eldest son, was to inherit his appartment while Little Wang would gain possession of his book collection. Being almost spoiled by his father during his lifetime, the rebellious and bossy Little Wang thought the will was a load of hogwash and attempted to seize the property from Big Wang. During the fight that ensued, the mild-tempered Big Wang accidentally killed his little brother.

Later, Uncle Ren and Little Zhou approach a dress designer named Liu the Third, hoping to get more information. Liu and his wife Baobao got married two years ago and have never had sex due to his impotence, but Liu refused to end their marriage. As a result, Baobao in her loneliness started to meet up with her ex-boyfriend on the side, called Duanmu Zhe. Liu the Third could smell something fishy about their relationship, but he decided to remain discreet and find a way to avoid property disputes should they get divorced. He should first find evidence of her dishonesty to back himself up, but he unfortunately didn’t come across any nude pictures for Duanmu Zhe. At this point, the slimming products from Duanmu’s company were found to contain poison, having already killed a few consumers, so Duanmu Zhe disappeared without a trace, and Baobao was nowhere to be found as well.

Little Zhou met Su Erji at the gym, falling in love with her at first sight. On one occasion after a class get-together, he met Su again on his way home, but he didn’t find the chance to express his admiration for her. But Little Zhou would often visit the hospital because of Wang’s case and one day when he helped a child named Daxi find his way back home, his mother just happened to be Su! This moment allowed them to finally get to know each other. Meanwhile, Liu the Third and Su Erji met again, having been a perfect match for each other back in university. Su had been fairly well-off, but her father’s bankruptcy left her in dire straits. After learning of her father’s bankruptcy while she was on a trip to France, she had to start working part-time to support herself. To make matters worse, she found herself pregnant. Liu didn’t want to be separated from Su and his own son Daxi anymore, so he proposed to her.

A small amount of activity was seen in Baobao’s bank account, and following this clue, the two policemen succeeded in tracking her down. But she was not with Duanmu Zhe. It then dawned on Uncle Ren that Liu is the real suspect in this case – he began investigating all of Liu’s associates and discovered that Liu’s uncle has rights over the crematory. Following, they looked at the cremation records to find a secret hidden within them: a young man of Duanmu Zhe’s age had been cremated twice in two different places.

But unfortunately, Uncle Ren was shot dead when chasing an escaped convict. At this time, Little Zhou found an important clue in the old man’s diary: Wang’s book collections were actually worth much more than the house he had been hankering for, for he actually had a preference to his younger son. But the cat had already been let out the bag, leading to a tragic ending. The old man’s wife was dying, his second son was dead and his eldest son was facing severe punishment. Liu the Third and his uncle confessed their crime: Two years ago, Liu made an appointment with Duanmu Zhe and killed him while his uncle used his power to cremate Duanmu behind the scenes. It was with this that Liu’s dreams were shattered, and somehow at the same time, Su Erji found herself in love with Little Zhou…