At the age of 8, he became a primary school student for the first time. He was full of curiosity about the world of knowledge, brushed a brand-new Title book, and looked forward to his future study and life;
At the age of 14, he became a junior high school student for the first time. At that time, youth pain literature was rampant. In the inconspicuous teaching auxiliary materials, there was a bronzed cover of “small times”;
At the age of 17, I became a high school student for the first time. I tasted the pain and fatigue of learning. On the night of burning the midnight oil, May 3rd witnessed all your efforts;
At the age of 20, will you step into the old bookstore full of memories of your school days?
Twenty years ago.
A Xiaoqiu bookstore opened in Xiaonong on Guanqian Street. The thick walls and red window frames are the characteristics of the times at the beginning of the millennium. The store is not big. It specializes in teaching auxiliary books. It has a space of less than 30 square meters, but it can almost be used to describe the congestion of books.
Because of the booming business, four or five years later, a second branch was opened in the prosperous section of Guanqian Street, about 50 meters away. The vermilion facade and the traditional character “book” was originally intended to integrate with the surrounding architectural characteristics, but did not want to create such a vital evaluation as “old and beautiful”.
Twenty years later.
The second branch of Xiaoqiu bookstore has been shut down because it can’t afford the high rent. It’s like a mottled empty shell sitting and attracting onlookers, leaving the only sighs.
Fortunately, there are still traces to follow at the old site. At a distance of 50 meters, several tips are placed along the road to let people follow the traces. You can find this small bookstore in the alley at once.
It is not much different from 20 years ago. The bold red word “book” is outlined with a row of yellow light circles, illuminating the narrow alleys and the way customers are looking for.
Opening the door curtain and entering the store is like walking back to the time 20 years ago.
It seems to have changed, and it seems that nothing has changed.
It is a popular dialect teaching portable book, which teaches you to learn Shanghai dialect in a second;
Lu Yao is still depicting the ordinary world, and William Somerset Maugham created the secret garden of the moon and Sixpence;
Junior high school students buy the required reading books with unified typesetting, and cardamom young girls are infatuated with gorgeous romantic novels;
Large discounts, as in the past, can enjoy long-term discounts by holding a membership card;
“Top students’ study plan” is listed by subject, and there are piles of “five-year college entrance examination, three-year simulation” at the foot.
The boss is still the same boss, but there are more chairs than twenty years ago. At this time, he is sitting leisurely. The squeaking fan above his head is the only echo in this space.
The only thing that doesn’t change in the world is to change forever. 20 years has made people grow up and Xiaoqiu Bookstore has become old. When talking about the passage of time with the boss, he mostly smiled helplessly.
Just ten years ago, the Xiaoqiu bookstore, which opened at 8:00, would be crowded at 7:30. The boss couldn’t rest all day and was so busy that his mouth was dry.
Xiaoqiu bookstore will be open until new year’s Eve. It is only two days in the new year, and the door is often opened again.
But now this situation can not be compared with the past, and the income is much lower than before. No one can resist the changes brought by time and the regrets left, so the boss frankly accepted the current situation and said “just don’t lose money” and “just find old customers”.
Speaking of former customers, a happy smile finally appeared on his face. There are all kinds of people who come to buy books, including parents, students, and teachers. However, those children are still impressed——
A girl with mature ideas in the international class of Suzhou senior high school, a long-haired girl who once loved romantic novels, and a gentle boy specially recruited by Tsinghua University…
It seems to be a memory many years ago, but it is so familiar, because these children will come in and have a look as long as they pass by, and they will talk to their boss without buying books.
It has become their habit and the concern of the boss.
To some extent, Xiaoqiu bookstore is also a witness to the growth of children. Like customer evaluation, it is a carrier with vitality. However, those with vitality can not escape growth and aging.
When e-books gradually replace paper books, when teaching methods become more and more intelligent when paper guidance books are no longer needed
There are few bookstores that sell books.
The boss said that an old couple who used to know each other closed the bookstore two years ago. Another former employee of Xinhua bookstore opened a bookstore himself, which disappeared after only half a year.
Similarly, if it is really impossible to operate, what will the outcome of Xiaoqiu Bookstore be? The boss smiled and said, “if you really can’t operate, you’ll have to close the door…”
From the prosperity 20 years ago to the solitude now, on Guanqian Street, Xiaoqiu bookstore is like an independent island. The surrounding world is surging and rolling in the torrent of time, and it sticks to it alone. The old bookstore around it comes and goes, only it is still in place, waiting to meet the old people.
This is a doomed difference, but both the boss and the original customers hope that this difference can come later and later…
There are too few old bookstores left in Suzhou. The old wenwenshanfang bookstore in Niujia lane, Qinchuan bookstore in Shantang street, Hugo bookstore in Shiquan Street, and the blue bookstore on Minzhi road stand on all fours.
But now the blue Bookstore left “goodbye, Suzhou” disappeared;
Hugo bookstore has also closed;
The grandparents of wenwenshanfang secondhand bookstore have been sticking to it day by day for decades;
Qinchuan Bookstore enjoys silence in the noisy Shantang Street.
Time flies, but the Xiaoqiu bookstore has been there for 20 years anyway.
Although the light at the door is weak, it is often on, so that those who still have expectations get a sense of peace of mind.
Then don’t be afraid to move on. Suzhou people who have grown up should remember to often come back to the old bookstore in Suzhou.
