This novel won the first World Chinese Literature Award and Mao Dun Literature Award in China in 2000. It is called "Modern Shanghai Epic" because it has a strong old Shanghai style and looks back for more than half a century from the 1940s to the 1990s.
Wang Qiyao, the daughter of Shanghai Beach, has a beautiful face and is deeply loved by her classmate Wu Peizhen. Wu Peizhen took her to audition on the set where her cousin worked. Unexpectedly, due to the failure of Wang Qiyao's audition, their friendship gradually drifted away.
Although the audition failed, the director introduced Wang Qiyao to Mr. Cheng, who loves photography. The unique beauty of the photos published by Mr. Cheng in Shanghai Life has won everyone's attention. The name "Wang Qiyao, Shanghai Academy" spread all over the school.
As long as a person's appearance attracts people's appreciation and attention, her identity, status and even daily interpersonal relationships will change.
Integrating into the new circle, at the suggestion of Mr. Cheng and Mr. He, she ran for "Miss Shanghai" and won the third place. Her image is deeply loved by the public, and her third young lady's name can best reflect public opinion. The first lady and the second lady are idols, their ideals and beliefs, while the third lady is related to daily life and is a person who reminds people of concepts such as marriage, life and family.
What they need in life is people like Miss San.
The daughter of the Wangs grew up in a boudoir. After her beauty was discovered, it became the glory of the whole city. That kind of glory transcended Wang Qiyao itself and changed her fate.
Opportunities in life are always full of magic. Many times, a casual choice is enough to change her life. Wang Qiyao's election as "Miss Shanghai" means that her life is doomed to be extraordinary.
With the aura of "Miss Shanghai", Wang Qiyao is like a peony in Leng Yan. She knows that Mr. Cheng likes himself and her friend Jiang Lili likes Mr. Cheng. She has a crush on Mr. Cheng, but she is not the most suitable person for her. She skillfully shuttled between three people, leaving no trace.
She may think so, to say 10 thousand steps back, and finally there is Mr. Cheng; Nothing, and finally a Mr. Cheng.
Wang Qiyao needs to leave room for three points in everything he does, so that he can recover his body and mind. Just do his own seven points. Her character is less sincere and more wary.
Soon, she was invited to cut the ribbon and met Director Li, who was in her forties. Director Li publicly said that he liked her. When we met for the second time, he gave her a inlaid gem ring. Director Li's aura and extraordinary skill captured her heart.
In this comparison, there is a big gap between Director Li, who holds power, and Mr. Cheng, an ordinary citizen. Wang Qiyao chose Director Li as his outer room.
After adoption, just like Yang Guifei, Tang's favorite concubine, "God will not hide it, and one day he will be elected to the royal family." In Alice's apartment, director Li stuffed vases, jewelry boxes and wardrobes with money and time.
Wang Qiyao and Director Li like these things together. She is the queen of Alice's apartment, dressed as a princess with lace. Unfortunately, fate played a trick on people. It wasn't long before Director Li was killed. "The earth lasts forever, and the sky lasts forever; One day both will end, and this endless sorrow will continue forever. " Yang Guifei bid farewell to Tang again. For thousands of years, the phrase "beauty is unlucky" has become a prophecy, and fate is such a coincidence.
In great pain, I took the gold bars in a mahogany box that Director Li gave her and said goodbye to Alice.
The ending of Wang Qiyao's love is unexpected and understandable. The experience of selecting "Miss Shanghai" broadened her horizons and inflated her vanity. She chose the powerful director Li Lai to enjoy the splendor. But in turbulent times, checking power is also unreliable.
Of course, she failed Mr. Cheng's infatuation. Mr. Cheng was disappointed and sad when he learned that it used to be the outer room of director Li. Jiang Lili lost no time in pursuing him, thinking that they could be together, but there was always a Wang Qiyao in their hearts. In the communication, Jiang Lili's unwarranted suspicion, I don't know how to advance and retreat, and slowly pushed Mr. Cheng farther and farther, all of which ended in a sad end.
There are different opinions about which is more important, money or love. There are always women in life, Rainbow Seven Demons, who are based on material things and take feelings as chips. Be rich, be a mistress, and squander your youth. Shamed, spurned, wait until the face is old, regret it.
Wang Qiyao is invincible, and the city of Shanghai endows her with a tough character. She regained her good mood and returned to Li Pingan from Suzhou Wuqiao. In the past, the secret of Miss Shanghai was to keep herself. The familiarity of peace is not very understandable, superficial and noisy, but the loneliness below is unknown to people, and neither do they.
Proud and narcissistic, she made a shell to defend herself, which contained her self-esteem But what's in her bones can't be hidden. She always wears a plain cheongsam with relics from the last era, which is both ancient and modern. Go to an old movie, drink tea and read the newspaper. Wang Qiyao met Kang Mingxun, who was curious and appreciative of this beautiful Wang Qiyao living alone. Finally, one day, he found the old Wang Qiyao in an old publication, and the mystery was solved.
Cummingson fell in love with Wang Qiyao. Wang Qiyao was half awake and half confused. Cummingson is unemployed, but his family background is good and high. They can't be together aboveboard. But now she just wants a man's care and the warmth of lying in her arms. She loves Kang Mingxun. Even if Kang Mingxun doesn't marry her, she is willing to be a pair of wild mandarin ducks with him.
Wang Qiyao was pregnant, which caught Kang Mingxun off guard. He is selfish. He doesn't want to put pressure on his future because of this child. He was sober and intoxicated with Wang Qiyao.
Wang Qiyao thought of Cummins friend Sasha and came up with a way to save Cummins. She had sex with Sasha and said the baby was his. Sasha was dubious and finally escaped.
Wang Qiyao's pursuit of love, but not enough, is not so much fate as wrong choice. Her tragedy again and again is that she always dreams of love, knowing that the ending is fixed, but she still falls into it without hesitation.
When Wang Qiyao saw Mr. Cheng again, she was pregnant. Mr. Cheng, who lives alone and is still single, takes care of her sincerely until the arrival of a new life. Everything is changing, but Mr. Cheng is still Mr. Cheng. He spent half his life caring about Wang Qiyao.
Several experiences made Wang Qiyao feel guilty. She felt that she was not worthy of Mr. Cheng, so she called a spade a spade and hoped that Mr. Cheng would let her go completely. If Wang Qiyao really regards Mr. Cheng as the "bottom", then she will be with him at any time and her life will develop in a good direction. Too bad she didn't. What she sees now is the box of gold bars left by Director Li.
Gold bars can be exchanged for money, but not for lost years.
In Shanghai in the 1980s, a romantic figure appeared, who kept the old fashion of old Shanghai and persisted in radicalism, so-called "old carat". At that time, there were some articles about old Shanghai, and Wang Qiyao's name appeared. More than forty years ago, this aura returned to the aging Wang Qiyao.
Wang Qiyao was invited to various parties, and her brilliance added a strange color to the party. In the dance music and Christmas candlelight, she returned to Alice in a trance.
Wang Qiyao met Clara, 26, at a party.
When old Clara saw elegant Wang Qiyao, his nostalgic heart was deeply touched, just like a painting on the wall, it faded and never faded.
They gradually got to know each other, and the clever Wang Qiyao grabbed his heart and showed him the Spanish woodcarving box that had been locked for several years. In Wang Qiyao's memory, Old Clara even regarded Wang Qiyao as a Hollywood star.
They are together. Wang Qiyao seems to be back when she was seventeen or eighteen. She wants to hold the hand of this elegant young man and walk all the way.
Wang Qiyao had another dream. She forgot her age, the difference of their times, and once again fell into the dream of love.
For Lao Kela, Wang Qiyao, the former Miss Shanghai, has the charm of an old Shanghai movie. He was infatuated with the amorous feelings in the film that was stained by the aura of time, and when the film ended, his nostalgia ended. Forty years ago, old Clara was preaching, but now she is still a heart.
Lonely Wang Qiyao thought he had found something to rely on, so he took out his own "bottom" and showed it to old Clara. She asked the young man for a love to accompany her, but old Clara left in a hurry without opening the box.
People have ulterior motives, and the long feet that often come here smell the information of "bottom". In the dark, he came for money and strangled Wang Qiyao. All sounds are swallowed up by death, and silence is better than sound. This hatred is endless.
In the novel, we can appreciate the luxury and interest of the city from Wang Qiyao's eyes. Shanghainese Wang Qiyao is very clever. He missed Mr. Cheng because he was clever and reserved. She thought she could rely on wealth, but she still fantasized about men and changed her fate by love. Wang Qiyao lived in her dream all her life.
Can fate really be grasped? The change of social environment, the change of city, and the times are pushing fate. But as long as you have the will to control your own destiny, don't rely on it, don't rely on anyone, isn't this a colorful life challenge?