Week 4 北京折叠

清晨4:50，老刀穿过熙熙攘攘的步行街，去找彭蠡。

It was 4:50 in the morning. Dao went through the bustling walking street to meet Peng Li.

从垃圾站下班之后，老刀回家洗了个澡，换了衣服。白色衬衫和褐色裤子，这是他唯一一套体面衣服，衬衫袖口磨了边，他把袖子卷到胳膊肘。老刀四十八岁，没结婚，已经过了注意外表的年龄，又没人照顾起居，这一套衣服留着穿了很多年，每次穿一天，回家就脱了叠上。他在垃圾站上班，没必要穿得体面，偶尔参加谁家小孩的婚礼，才拿出来穿在身上。这一次他不想脏兮兮地见陌生人。他在垃圾站连续工作了五小时，很担心身上会有味道。

After his work at the dump, Dao went back home to take a shower and get changed into a white shirt and brown pants. These are the only decent suit he has. Even after the cuffs of the shirt got frayed, he would roll up the sleeves whenever he wears it. He’s 48 now, still unmarried. Forty-eight is an age when he would pay least attention to his own appearance. And failing to get married means there is no one to take care of him. So he has to take care of himself. He kept the suit for many years, each time wearing it a day and then putting it aside folded at home. He works at the dump, so there is no need to dress up; only weddings of friends’ kids ask for it. But this time, the reason he wore the suit was that he didn’t want to give a bad initial impression to a person he knew not of. After all, after five hours of work he was very likely to get all dirty and stinky.

步行街上挤满了刚刚下班的人。拥挤的男人女人围着小摊子挑土特产，大声讨价还价。食客围着塑料桌子，埋头在酸辣粉的热气腾腾中，饿虎扑食一般，白色蒸汽遮住了脸。油炸的香味弥漫。货摊上的酸枣和核桃堆成山，腊肉在头顶摇摆。这个点是全天最热闹的时间，基本都收工了，忙碌了几个小时的人们都赶过来吃一顿饱饭，人声鼎沸。

The walking street was stuffed with people just out of work. Men and women, squeezing each other, bargained loudly for local specialties around stalls. Eaters, sitting at plastic tables, buried themselves in spicy and sour noodles whose white steam successfully hid their faces. A smell of fried food filled the street, sour fruits and walnuts were piled on booths and cured meat hung over people’s heads. This is the busiest hour of the day, for most people stop work at this time. People often choose here for a good meal after hours of hard work, making the street crowded and noisy every day.

老刀艰难地穿过人群。端盘子的伙计一边喊着让让一边推开挡道的人，开出一条路来，老刀跟在后面。彭蠡家在小街深处。老刀上楼，彭蠡不在家。问邻居，邻居说他每天快到关门才回来，具体几点不清楚。

It took Dao tremendous efforts to get through the crowd. He managed to follow a dish-serving waiter who made way for himself by shouting and thrusting people aside. Peng Li’s sat on the deep end of the street. Dao went upstairs, just to find that Peng Li was out. He asked the neighbors, but they told him Peng Li came back home around the closing time every day, but no exact hour.

老刀有点担忧，看了看手表，清晨5点。他回到楼门口等着。两旁狼吞虎咽的饥饿少年围绕着他。他认识其中两个，原来在彭蠡家见过一两次。少年每人面前摆着一盘炒面或炒粉，几个人分吃两个菜，盘子里一片狼藉，筷子扔在无望而锲而不舍地拨动，寻找辣椒丛中的肉星。老刀又下意识闻了闻小臂，不知道身上还有没有垃圾的腥味。周围的一切嘈杂而庸常，和每个清晨一样。

Dao got a bit worried, and he consulted his watch. 5:00 am. He went back to the entrance and started waiting. Beside him were some hungry teenagers wolfing food, two of whom he met once or twice at Peng Li’s. Each one of them placed a plate of fried noodles or rice noodles before them, and they shared the only two dishes. Food on the plates were almost grabbed, but their chopsticks kept looking, desperately and endlessly, for any meat in chili. Unconsciously, he took a sniff of his arms, wondering if he still smelt of waste. Everything around was quite as usual, just noisy and ordinary mornings.

    “哎，你们知道那儿一盘回锅肉多少钱吗？”那个叫小李的少年说。

“Hey, do you know how much is a double-cooked pork slices out there?”, asked the kid named Li.

    “靠，菜里有沙子。”另外一个叫小丁的胖少年突然捂住嘴说，他的指甲里还带着黑泥， “坑人啊。得找老板退钱！”

“Damn it! Sand in the dish!” A plump boy called Ding suddenly said behind his hands, with black mud in his fingers, “what a rip-off! I must get refund from the restaurant!”

    “人家那儿一盘回锅肉，就三百四。”小李说，“三百四！一盘水煮牛肉四百二呢。”

“A mere double-cooked pork slices costs 340 over there,” said Li, “three hundred and forty! And a boiled beef in chili oil even takes four hundred and twenty!”

    “什么玩意？这么贵。”小丁捂着腮帮子咕哝道。

“What the hell? That’s too much.” Ding mumbled, his hands still covering his mouth.

另外两个少年对谈话没兴趣，还在埋头吃面，小李低头看着他们，眼睛似乎穿过他们，看到了某个看不见的地方，目光里有热切。

With no interest in such discussion, the other two boys were still working on their noodles. Li looked at them from above, but his eyes, with enthusiasm, seemed to have seen through their body and reached someplace yet to be seen.