Back to the Republic of China to open a department store

Losing a lot of money at the beginning of the new year, Luo Xiazhi originally thought that this year was destined to have a bad start, but he didn't expect that the turn of events would turn around, and another village would be brightened.

Opening the New Year's newspaper, seeing companies declaring bankruptcy in the newspapers, even the most ordinary people in Shanghai feel the economic depression.

I went to the famous main street to see for myself that the three major department stores that used to stand on top of each other are now open except for Shimai Department Store, and the other two are still closed.

Half of the warehouse of Modern Department Store was burned down and half was robbed, causing heavy losses.The eldest brother of the Li family, Li Zhaoji, passed out in a hurry, and he couldn't pass the year, and he is still lying in the hospital for rescue.

The younger brother Li Zhaoye returned to Guangzhou a few days ago to transfer goods from the Guangzhou warehouse and the Hong Kong warehouse to raise money.

The loss of Sakura Department Store was even more serious. In addition to burning down the entire dock warehouse, even a freighter they had parked on the dock that had just landed was also burned down.

After investigation by the Bureau of Industry and Customs, it was discovered that all of this was actually an internal employee of Sakura Department Store, working with refugees at the wharf to commit the crime!

It turned out that Luo Muze had been smuggling high-priced goods privately between Japan and China using the shipping of Dachun Trading Company.Moreover, he concealed and missed reports in the accounts, and after importing a large number of Japanese goods, sold them to the black market in Shanghai, thus enriching his own pockets.

In Sakura Department Store, there are dozens of employees working together with Luo Muze.

When Luo Muze was here, he was in charge of falsifying accounts and covering up black market sales.After he died, gradually those things that had been submerged under the water could no longer be held down.

In addition, they already knew that Tsubaki Yingzi decided to count the warehouses, so they simply did not stop doing anything, united with the gangsters and refugees on the pier, and set up a scene of robbery and arson.

Originally, they just wanted to annihilate the evidence of smuggling within the company, but who knew that the refugees who robbed them of their eyes did not obey orders at all, and spread the disaster to the warehouses of other companies next door.

In addition, the winter was dry, and the northwest wind blew that day. The wind helped the fire, and a series of warehouses were burned one by one.

If the fire brigade hadn't arrived in time, and because it was convenient to get water by the river, it might have spread to the slums and "rolling cages" by the river.Tens of thousands of civilians can live there, all of them living in simple sheds made of wood and bamboo. Once a fire occurs, the consequences will be disastrous.

Because Sakura's internal employees were involved, Tsubaki Sakurako and the Japanese consulate who originally wanted to take the opportunity to make trouble had to drink this bitter wine.

Looking back, when Luo Muze first returned to Shanghai, a fire burned half of Shimai Department Store.Now that he's gone, he set fire to the entire Cherry Blossom Warehouse, and he doesn't know if it's a fate, and he pays for his retaliation.

Thanks to this fire, Shimai Department Store has enjoyed an "exclusive boom" after the new year.

It is the only one of the three major department stores that is open for business, and other small department stores and small grocery stores around are also facing the dilemma of being out of stock.

The citizens wanted to shop, but they had nowhere to go except Shimai Department Store, and they emptied out all the goods they had hoarded years ago.

Department store sales bucked the trend, and even magazine sales were on the rise.Gu Hanlin recommended an old female classmate to be a columnist for their magazine.This lady's pen name is "Sister Zhixin", and she is especially good at stewing chicken soup for the soul, and she can be called the master of chicken soup in the Republic of China.

"Shi Mai SMART" specially opened a "confidant sister mailbox" for her to answer all kinds of life puzzles and love puzzles, and massage the psychology of Shanghai people in economic depression.The daily letters to this sister could fit in a sack, leading to record-breaking magazine circulation.

Another piece of good news is that the long-planned department store in Hong Kong has finally been completed!

In May, the Hong Kong branch of Shimai Department Store officially opened. Luo Xiazhi took the whole family to the south to inspect the company's operating conditions in the past two months.

Because Xiaoxiao will be graduating from junior high school next year, the matter of whether she wants to study in Hong Kong has been put on the table again.This time, Luo Yunze and Bai Fenghuang went to Hong Kong together, and the whole family inspected the school for her.

Before leaving Shanghai, there was news from the insider of Sakura Department Store that Luo Muze's former mistress in Japan died after giving birth to a baby boy.

"What about the child?"

After hearing the news, Luo Yunze asked with a complicated expression.

"Adopted by Tsubaki Yingzi...but this child was born with a deficiency, and died soon after."

Luo Xiazhi lit the match and burned the note with the information on it.

"That's fine... that's fine..."

After hearing the news of the child's death, Luo Yunze couldn't hide the pain on his face.That was the only blood left by his second brother, but it also disappeared in a foreign country.

For such a result, Luo Xiazhi felt that it couldn't be better.He had worried before whether Chun Yingzi would kidnap the child, threaten the Luo family, and covet the Luo family's property.

Now even that worry is gone.

"Have I gone bad? Have I become cold-blooded?"

Luo Xiazhi also asked himself this question.

If time went back ten years ago and put the same thing on the "Rorschach" who just came to this world, he would never have such an idea.

Even, if the "now" him met the "back then" Li Ye, he wouldn't adopt him at all, so that he might raise a tiger for trouble.

Time is like an iron, which irons the weak heart into sharp edges and corners.Using the sharp thorns polished by the years to resist the cruelty of this world makes people lose their original appearance.

The branch office of Shimai Department Store on Nathan Road in Hong Kong is [-] stories high, and the broadcasting tower on the roof is also two stories high.In this era, it is undoubtedly the tallest building in Hong Kong.

Luo Xiazhi moved all the Shimai Department Store and Seventh Heaven International Hotel in Shanghai into this [-]-story building, and then combined with the local characteristics of Hong Kong, making it a "famous place" praised by everyone in Hong Kong as soon as it opened. Little Shanghai Mansion".

The "Small Shanghai Building" is divided into two parts, the East Building and the West Building.According to the rainy and humid weather conditions in south of the Five Ridges, combined with the local architectural features, the entire first floor is an arcade.

Rorschach spent a lot of money to install air-conditioning outlets above all the porches on the inner side of the arcade.As long as pedestrians walk under the arcade, they will feel the cool breeze, and then they can't help but move into the mall, drink some soda, and buy something.

The main body of the East Building is the "Far Eastern Shanghai Hotel", which can be called the most luxurious hotel in Hong Kong.At the same time, it includes cinemas, theaters and insurance, tourism, real estate companies, bowling alleys, billiard halls, roller skating rinks and dance halls.It is guaranteed that singers and bands from Shanghai will perform on stage every month, bringing the latest trends in Shanghai.

The West Building is a whole department store building, basically copying the layout of Shanghai Shimai Department Store, and it is more brand new and luxurious.Domestic products and foreign products are readily available at reasonable prices, and local employees are basically employed.Compared with the original foreign department stores in Hong Kong, it is more close to the people and down-to-earth.

As for the roof, Rorschach simply asked the designer to build two "star-catching buildings" on the east and west buildings, and then use corridor bridges to connect them.

On the top of the east building is the rooftop carnival, featuring various recreational activities and singing performances; on the roof of the west building, a garden in the south of the Yangtze River, which is never seen in Lingnan area, is built. The traditional architecture makes people feel elegant immediately.

The upper floor is also modeled on the garden of the Yu Garden in the Shanghai Town God's Temple, drawing a pool of clear water, and building a Jiuqu Bridge and a lake center pavilion on the water.Cantonese-style and Yangzhou morning tea are sold in the Huxin Pavilion, and it opens every day before dawn.

Sitting in the Huxin Pavilion, you can eat Cantonese-style shrimp dumplings and Yangzhou soup dumplings.As far as the eye can see, there are green mountains in the middle of the mountain, and you can see the white sails in the sea in the distance.

So as soon as it opened, it attracted Lingnan literati to go upstairs to taste tea, and even recite poems.The Huxin Pavilion on the Zhaixing Building has also become a beautiful story.

"It's for the construction of these two buildings... It almost caused us to lose our cash flow. Fortunately, Liang Shaolong came to help, otherwise the insurance company's credit would go bankrupt, and the consequences would be disastrous."

Looking at the two radiant buildings, Luo Yunze said with emotion.

"As long as the department store can open smoothly, everything is worth it."

Looking at the influx of passengers, Luo Xiazhi felt his heart fluctuate.

This is still the first step. When the company has sufficient funds, he will start buying land frantically.You know, the price of land in Hong Kong will be calculated by "inch" in later generations!

"Are you so optimistic about Hong Kong? The economic development here can't be compared with that of Shanghai."

Luo Yunze has also inspected this place in the past few days. As far as the current situation is concerned, Hong Kong's economic scale is good and the consumption level is good. Not to mention the current Shanghai, even Shanghai ten years ago can't compare.

He originally thought that Xiaoxia just wanted to build a similar-sized branch in Hong Kong, but now it seems that he wants to put all the future business centers of the Luo family here.

What is it about this British colony that attracts him?

"Brother, believe me. The future development of Hong Kong will definitely exceed your imagination. And...the domestic situation is turbulent, and there is no telling when war will break out. After all, Hong Kong is a place under the jurisdiction of the British. It's still guaranteed."

Sad to say, colonies and concessions are synonymous with humiliation, but in the end they became deformed shelters...

"Yeah, hey..."

Speaking of law and order, people think of Shanghai, where there has been almost no day of peace since the end of last year.For the people they do business with, this is really a big taboo.

However, this year, the production of summer grain in the south of the Yangtze River is said to have had a bumper harvest. The originally turbulent refugee wave has finally returned and subsided, and the economy has gradually recovered.

"I heard that the boss of the Li family is dying... He is getting old and can't stand the stimulation. He decided to hand over all the property in Shanghai to his younger brother Li Zhaoye, and return to Guangzhou to take care of himself."

Luo Xiazhi and Luo Yunze talked about this while patrolling the department store.

Half of the senior managers in the Hong Kong branch are recruited locally, and half are transferred from Shanghai.Since the local staff can only speak Cantonese, they had to be translated by a dedicated person.

Listening to the Cantonese, which doesn't understand the meaning at all, Rorschach made a decision to copy the model of the evening school for employees in Shanghai in the second half of the year, and promote Mandarin, English and abacus education here to improve the overall quality of employees.

It is even necessary to carry out personnel flow between the parent company and its subsidiaries, making Shimai more lively and full of passion.

"By the way, we have a female salesperson here who speaks Mandarin very well. I heard she is from Shanghai."

The manager who was translating suddenly thought of something, "Speaking of which, her surname is also Luo, and she is in the same family as you!"

A Shanghainese surnamed Luo?

Luo Xiazhi couldn't help being taken aback.

"She's in charge of the cloth counter, right in front. Manager Luo, why don't you go and have a look?"

The manager said attentively, probably because he wanted the so-called "Shanghai family" to make a good impression on the two of them.

Luo Xiazhi and Luo Yunze nodded, did not speak, just followed along.

"Come on, let's take a look at the floral cloths, they are the most fashionable colors in Shanghai."

Before they reached the counter, they heard the woman's crisp cries.

Seen from behind, the woman has a slim figure. She put a piece of light-colored floral cloth on her arm and was introducing it to the woman facing her.She said a few words in Mandarin, but found that the woman didn't seem to understand, and then changed to Cantonese very neatly, now it was Luo Xiazhi's turn and they couldn't understand.

However, they still recognized the woman's voice, after all, they had lived together for so many years.

"Hehe?"

The first one to speak out was not the Luo family brothers, but Bai Fenghuang who followed behind them.

The woman with the calico paused and turned her head slowly.

"Fifth sister?"

"Fifth aunt?"

"Fifth?"

Luo Xiazhi, Xiaoxiao and Luo Yunze called successively.

That's right, the woman in front of me is Luo Hehe, the fifth young lady of the Luo family!

Compared with when she was in Shanghai, she is obviously much darker, but her figure and appearance are still the same. She is the fifth girl of the dignified Luo family.

The few managers who stood by and accompanied the whole process were going crazy.

Who will tell them why the saleswoman who has been working here for two months has suddenly become the boss' sister!

The visit had to come to an end, and Luo Xiazhi and his party moved to a small and small room on the top floor not far from the department store.

When Luo Hehe opened the door and showed everyone the room where she had lived for nearly half a year, Bai Fenghuang finally couldn't help but shed tears.

This palm-sized room with nothing but a bed, a small wardrobe, a small table and a spittoon under the bed, is actually the boudoir of the mighty Fifth Miss of the Luo family!

In the Luo Mansion in Shanghai, even the toilet in the servant's room is several times the area of ​​this place.

"Hehe, why...how did you end up in this kind of place?"

This fifth young lady was also raised and married by Bai Fenghuang.

Compared with the gentle and gentle Luo Minmin, this Fifth Miss was most favored by her mother because of her similar personality to He Lan.

Needless to say when I was a girl at home.After getting married, as long as she is unhappy, she will often go back to her mother's house to act like a baby and complain.

Every time He Lan coaxed her with a lot of jewels, banknotes and the latest imported gadgets, and then called her son-in-law to "pick him up", she would "drive back to the palace" calmly , Go back to be her eldest young mistress.

This Fifth Sister, who grew up with no touch to the spring water, was born with gold and jade, and she was reduced to living in such a small room that did not exceed five square meters... Let alone Bai Fenghuang, everyone in the Luo family was stunned up.

"I'm sorry...it seems that I can't let you sit. There is really no place to sit."

Luo Hehe was quite generous, she turned around and closed the door, and then said with a smile, "There is a tea room below, where you can drink the 'Xiaoxiao Coke' from Shanghai, and there is air conditioning, let's go down and sit down."

"Old five..."

Just as Luo Yunze was about to say something, Luo Hehe grabbed Xiaoxiao's arm with his backhand, "The little girl has grown so big. The last time I saw you, you were still so big. I didn't expect you to remember aunt , Auntie is so happy."

Xiaoxiao smiled shyly, Luo Xiazhi and Luo Yunze looked at each other, they really couldn't figure out what the current situation was.

Is this... another new conspiracy?

Why did Luo Hehe appear in Shimai Department Store in Hong Kong, and was met by them so coincidentally?

"A Baoniang, you leave work so early today."

Everyone went down the narrow, creaking wooden stairs, and at the corner they met a woman in a yellow coat. Seeing Luo Hehe, she greeted her attentively, "Huh? Are there any guests at home?"

"Yeah, it's my relatives in Shanghai. They came to see me, so they left work early."

Luo Hehe replied generously, leading everyone to continue downstairs.

"A relative... such a wealthy relative?"

Looking at the backs of Luo Xiazhi's group, the woman opened her mouth in disbelief.

This dress, this style... This unobtrusive "Shanghai lady" actually has such a wealthy relative!

Everyone came to a tea room downstairs that was no bigger than a palm, but at least they could sit down so many of them, and then each opened a bottle of "Xiaoxiao Coke".

"A Baoniang, use it slowly."

After the boss opened the Coke, he went back to the door and continued to listen to his radio.

"Tianwaitian Radio Hong Kong Branch" has been on the air for more than a month, and now it has many fans.

"It costs [-] cents to buy a bottle of Coke here, much more expensive than in Shanghai."

Luo Hehe drank half of the bottle in one breath, and then heaved a long sigh of relief, "People are cheap when they are away from home, and things are expensive when they are away from home. Sure enough, what I said is true."

Bai Fenghuang held the glass bottle awkwardly, glanced at Luo Xiazhi, and then asked cautiously, "The boss called you 'A Baoniang' just now...do you have a baby?"

Luo Hehe has been married for so many years and has never had any children.This is also one of the reasons why she keeps having conflicts with her husband and mother-in-law.Unexpectedly, in Hong Kong, she actually had a child...

"Abao is Minmin's child. But it's inconvenient for me to be a woman with a child. I'm afraid people will gossip, so I just say that Abao is my child."

Luo Hehe simply drank the remaining half bottle of Coke, then looked at the stunned crowd, shrugged his shoulders, "Everyone, I'm afraid you have forgotten me and Po's existence long ago Alright."

It turned out that Luo Hehe had already divorced when he was in Shanghai.

Because of her infertility, she was fine in the early years, but after five or six years of marriage, her husband's family began to dislike her.

When He Lan was in power in the past, she could still go home and sue, and use the power of the Luo family to subdue her husband.But since Luo Zhenhua passed away, He Lan kept losing power, and Luo Yunze forbade married girls to go home casually, so she gradually lost the capital to make trouble in her husband's house.

Before Luo Muze returned to Shanghai, her husband's family knew that she no longer had any status in the Luo family, so they simply wrote a divorce letter and kicked her out of the house.

She was still living well at that time. After all, He Lan gave a large dowry when she got married, and after Luo Zhenhua died, she was given a whole box of gold.

But the divorce hit her too hard. With such a strong personality like her, after learning that He Lan had been sent to the mental hospital, she felt that the Luo mansion was no longer her home, and she never thought of going back to Luo Yunze. and Rorschach.

With nowhere to go, she rented an apartment in Binjiang Apartment Building. With the savings in the bank, she can live a good life even if she eats interest.

"Then you...then why did you come to Hong Kong. Still living in..."

Living in such a dark house?

Luo Yunze covered his face, trying to keep calm.

The second child is dead, the sixth child is dead... Except for the few younger sisters in the countryside of Shaoxing who haven't met a few times, this younger sister whom he once loved lived such a life...

What a ruthless and ungrateful place the Luo family is.

"Minmin died. I collected the body. I bought her a grave in the countryside of Baoshan."

Without directly answering Luo Yunze's question, Luo Hehe moved his gaze to the street outside, talking while recalling.

"When the prison guard handed over her belongings to me. There was a letter inside... the letter said that although she had planned to entrust Abao to you, Xiaoxia, she still felt worried. If you didn't take good care of Abao, you would Let me take care of him..."

Luo Xiazhi's hands were trembling constantly. He looked at Bai Fenghuang and Xiaoxiao, and they all cast their eyes on him.

There was surprise, panic, and disbelief in those eyes.

Apart from him, Luo Yunze was the only one in the family who knew about Luo Minmin asking him to be lonely and being rejected by him.

Bai Fenghuang only knew that Abao was taken to Nanyang by Fu's family, but she didn't know that Luo Minmin was dying and asked Gu to be among them.

"It doesn't matter, no matter what Minmin did wrong, Ah Bao is innocent..."

Bai Fenghuang looked at Luo Xiazhi who bowed his head silently, and couldn't help crying.

"I told him to leave it alone!"

Luo Yunze slapped the table heavily, "He is the son of the Fu family. He has a father and a stepmother to bring him up, so it's not our Luo family's turn to intervene!"

"but……"

"But the Fu family doesn't want him anymore."

Luo Hehe smiled coldly.

She has already seen the "strong outside but capable inside" of the elder brother whom she hasn't seen for a long time.

"After the Fu family arrived in Nanyang, they really had a good time. But later they found out that the rubber plantation they bought at a huge price quickly withered in large quantities, and only then did they realize that they had been cheated. But they Nanyang borrowed money... Then the Fu family was ruined, and the young lady who just started took away everything that could be swept away."

"sky……"

Luo Xiazhi and the others had no idea that there was such a thing.

"I asked someone to inquire in Nanyang, and I learned that the Fu family was ruined. Fu Jiaming later became addicted to opium, and his house and land were all ruined by him. When the old man and the old lady of the Fu family died, they didn't even have a thin-skinned coffin. , was rolled up in a mat, and buried in the mass graves of the local natives."

Luo Hehe turned his head and said to Luo Yunze.

Bai Fenghuang and Xiaoxiao on one side were already weeping.

"Abao... Our Abao, the cutest Abao, was sold by Fu Jiaming, a bastard, just for a cigarette! Do you know? You don't know anything!"

As she spoke, big and big tears gathered in her eye sockets.

"Luo Xiazhi, how beautiful are you? What were you doing at that time? Oh, what were you doing about the 'Tian~milk movement', fighting with our dear second brother. Boycotting Japanese products, opening your big hotel—you guys No one cares about Po, no one!"

Unable to bear such accusations, Luo Xiazhi covered his face and choked up uncontrollably.

"After I knew everything, I immediately bought a boat ticket to Malaysia. But I don't know the place well, so I can only ask someone to ask me for money. I was cheated of a lot of money. But I don't care. As long as I find Po, I don't care about money."

"In the end, I finally found Bao in a durian garden. You know, the durian trees are very tall, and the local natives will hire child labor to pick the fruit."

Tears kept rolling down from Luo Hehe's eyes.

"In order not to let the children grow too tall and heavy, they only gave those children one meal a day-our Po, Master Po. When they brought Po to me... I couldn't recognize it Come out. So dark, so thin, like a dirty little monkey, how could he be my Po? How could my Po be like this?"

"I spent a lot of money to 'purchase' him, and wanted to bring him back to Shanghai and my apartment right away...but he was too weak, and after I rescued him, he fell seriously ill. Before Pneumonia, which was not good enough, recurred again. I spent all the money on him for treatment, and finally he recovered, but I have no money to go back to Shanghai.”

Luo Hehe wiped away his tears, "You know, I can't do anything. If I have no money, I can only pawn my belongings and move to such a small place. Fortunately, Ah Bao is very good, he has eaten We don't pick food or places to live in. We live together here. By the way, he is not called 'Fu Jiabao' now, he is called 'Luo Jiabao'. He is the only one my sister gave me. something, he and I have the last name 'Luo'."

"I thought, if my last money is spent, I will take Bao to jump into the sea. Our Luo family will never bow to others—this is what my father said."

She smiled and lowered her head, "I don't know if Dad will jump out of the coffin in anger if he knows that I am in such a mess now."

"Two months ago, I was really at the end of my rope... Then I saw the news about Shimai Department Store's recruitment. I knew that the 'Little Shanghai Mansion' was owned by the Luo family. They were looking for a saleswoman...I After thinking about it for a long time, is it a bow to Xiao Xia as a salesperson for you?"

Rorschach shook his head hastily.

"I then thought, who is not a part-time job? There are so many Shanghainese surnamed Luo in the world, who knows that I am the fifth lady of Luo's family? Their requirements for salesgirls are quite simple. It’s better to have a degree. In addition, I can speak Shanghai dialect, so they admitted me immediately. As a result-I-I did a good job, and I was the champion of calico counter sales last month.”

She stroked her hair, smiling with tears in her eyes.

"If you don't come today, I guess I can do it for a while."

"us……"

"Mommy!"

Just when Luo Xiazhi was about to speak, a child wearing a white shirt, overalls, and a small schoolbag on his back rushed towards them and threw himself into Luo Hehe's arms.

"Mum, who are they?"

The little boy raised his head and looked at the group of "strangers" who were looking at him excitedly with tears in their eyes.

The author has something to say: finally wrote it out. . .This chapter is so difficult to write! !Scratch your head.