Volume 3 Summer Rain Chapter 0325 No White Man
When it was mid-November, Nan Yi, who always had big plans in his mind, did not forget about the trivial matters.
A few days ago, Nan Yi first found Fang Chong and transferred the house in Baihuashen Hutong to a person whose name needs no introduction. Then he found Fang Dong and asked him to help clean up the house.
They turned it into a nest, a stronghold, and gave it a name - Wubaiding, which is very straightforward and cliché, and it licks every guest who comes in here.
"Let me tell you, I actually lived in the Hutong area for quite a few years, but to be honest, the Hutong area didn't leave me with any good memories..."
One day, there was a salon-like gathering in Wubaiding. A lot of people came, most of whom were people Nan Yi knew now or were familiar to him in the past. Most of them were children of wealthy families, and many of them would become famous in the future.
Needless to say, Wang Lu and Ma Mo must have come, but Ye Qi didn't come because he was busy with business. Others included Ying Rui, Jiang Wen, Zheng Xiaolong, and Wang Zongjun, the future boss of Wang's Media.
At this moment, everyone was sitting around the stove in the yard, listening to Wang Li talking about his life in vain.
"When I was ten years old, my family moved from the western suburbs to Cangnan Hutong, Chaonei Beixiaojie, Dongcheng District. In that hutong, I was shocked by the poverty I saw everywhere.
Before that, my concept of Beijing was that it was full of commercial streets like Xidan and Wangfujing. Who knew there were alleys and courtyards like this? "
Wang Qi flicked off the ash from his cigarette and continued, "My home is right at the foot of Chaoyang Gate. Most of the alleys there are shabby and run-down, unlike Nan Batian's yard, which is well-groomed.
Most people in the alleys were ragged and had pale faces. I remember going to the grocery store at that time, and I never saw anyone buying meat for more than 20 cents at the meat stall, and they all wanted fat meat.
When I was in Dongmencang Primary School, the beginning of each term was an awkward day because many students in the class could not afford the 2.5 yuan tuition fee. The teacher would ask the students who had not paid to stand up, and they would stand up in a loud and noisy manner, with a guilty look on their faces, or rather, shyness.
Their faces were thrown to the ground and stepped on. The boy sitting in front of me was the monitor of our class. He was an average student, but very active in his studies and also had two bars in the school.
His father was a carpenter and actually earned quite a lot, 35 yuan a month, but there were seven people in his family and they all depended on this 35 yuan to survive, so each person only got 5 yuan.
I remember that the so-called poverty line in Beijing at that time was 12 yuan per person per month. If you lived below this number, you would be considered poor.
I have been to his house. It was a one-room house with half a kang. His mother was breastfeeding a baby. When she saw my squad leader bringing a guest, she spoke to me in a harsh tone, just like in the old society.
I didn’t understand at the time, but later I realized that his mother was afraid that I would stay for dinner and their family didn’t have enough food to entertain me.
Most of my classmates who lived in the hutongs lived in difficult circumstances, with three generations living under one roof, no sanitary facilities, and only one running water tap in the entire compound.
The room had a dirt floor, and paving it with red bricks was considered a luxury.
Everyone should still remember that in the 1970s, there would be a rainstorm almost every other day. As everyone knows, the eastern part of Beijing is lower, and during the rainy season, heavy rains would cause some houses to collapse. When I passed by these houses with collapsed gables on my way to school, I saw that there was not a single whole brick in the cross-section of the wall. They were all made of half-broken bricks and mud.
In the great earthquake of 1976, tens of thousands of houses collapsed in Beijing. As everyone knows, these houses are all located in the alleys.
I would say there is no happiness at all living in such an environment.
Fights and swearing occur in the alleys every day. Young girls and wives stand in the street, slapping their legs and cursing, spewing obscenities. Shirtless boys play and practice boxing, and carry kitchen knives in their school bags when they go to school. Bricks fly everywhere and knives and sticks are used against them at any time.
It is no exaggeration to say that there are young boys serving sentences in every street gate in every alley in that area.
It is said that Chaoyangmen was a key security area before liberation, and it can be said to have a glorious tradition. Many of my classmates' fathers were gangsters, playing for decades. When a fight broke out, the whole family would go out, and the mother would make pancakes and boil red-skinned eggs at home, waiting to celebrate.
As for such an alley, only those who have never lived there would think it has a cultural flavor. But if you have really lived there, you will know how hard it is to live there.
I won't talk about big things, just say that when you get up early in the morning to go to the toilet, the public toilet is really full of people. Just tell me, if you are in such a hurry and can't hold it in, how big of a joke will it be?
I have seen many people who couldn’t hold their stomach and urinated in their pants on the way. One time, it was a girl of 16 or 17 years old. She was so embarrassed that she almost hanged herself. "
"So, what do you want to say?" Nan Yi asked after Wang Li finished speaking.
"Well, I just want to say that you are so thoughtful, Nan Batian. You actually built two toilets in this small yard. You don't have to fight for the toilet. But there is one bad thing. You don't even have someone to serve everyone. You have to do it yourself."
"Wait until you have a position before you come and talk about this. I am a commoner and the country does not give me the right to hire workers. If I want to hire a nanny or a waiter, isn't that exploitation?"
"What's the point of you quibbling with me? What if you really hire a waiter?"
"You're paying for it?"
"You, Nan Batian, are really stingy."
Wang Lu nodded at Nan Yi, stopped talking about it and started talking about other topics.
In the yard, Wang Lu was definitely the center of attention. He was basically the one talking while everyone else was just listening.
This is as it should be. Not to mention that he is a talkative person and often speaks to the point, almost everyone in the yard was called by him. Even if he didn't call you, you are a friend of his friend.
This is a circle with Wang Li as the core.
Nan Yi thought this was fine. As long as he was in this circle, it didn’t matter whether he was the leader or not.
After everyone knew who he was, Nan Yi rarely spoke.
In fact, Wubaiding seemed to have become Wang Li's territory, a place where he met friends. In the next few days, he would move two boxes of wine today, get some tea tomorrow, and find a Sharp freezer from somewhere the day after tomorrow.
Freezers are rare and difficult to get these days, but Wang Leng managed to get one and stuffed it with all kinds of meat.
Not only that, this shameless guy even moved his own bedding over and occupied an entire room, as if he really treated this place as his home.
Nan Yi found a worker from a steel rolling mill, and built a TV cabinet out of steel, which he welded directly in the yard. He also brought a color TV and a VCR, and brought some videotapes over so that everyone could watch the videos here when they had nothing to do.
Of course, all he brought were videotapes of major movies, not a single small one.
Nan Yi has no control over whether others will come over or not. Let them do whatever they want. It’s nothing to do with just watching a movie. As long as these people don’t go too far and have a group sex, it’ll be fine.
…
On November 19, Monkey and Shan Pao had found some clues, and Nan Yi had also boarded the train to Shanghai.
When the train was halfway there, a plane that flew from New York and transferred in Xiangkeng landed next to the Hongqiao Railway Station. A fashionably dressed lady slowly walked out of the airport and hailed a taxi at the door.
"Yuyuan Road, Fang Mansion."
Xiangkeng, Repulse Bay.
A melodramatic family recognition drama is being staged.
Fang Hanyun, who was not much younger than Fang Mengyin, sat on the sofa, wiping his nose and crying loudly.
He couldn't help crying. As the eldest son of the Fang family, he had bodyguards and drivers when he went out and ate the best food. But after arriving in Xiangkeng, he ate pig food, slept in a shack, and did the work of a groom.
Even the wife he married was just a toilet cleaner in a nightclub. Don't think that Jiang Yuncai is untainted by the world. She was just too ugly and had no qualification to be a hostess.
Fang Hanyun was crying, Jiang Yuncai was looking at the furnishings in the villa, Fang Fuye was observing the servants in the villa, as well as the vaguely visible security guards. He was thinking in his heart, "These will all belong to him soon. Damn the boss who finds fault with me every day. In the near future, I will definitely let you see the power of Master Fang..."
Unlike the other three, Fang Mengyin was filled with disappointment at this time. The Fang family was finished, her nephew was a waste, and her nephew-in-law looked okay at first glance, but the ambition in his eyes could not be hidden at all. With such cunning, he was not even worthy of carrying shoes for her grandson Nan Yi, let alone competing with him.
Nan's Building.
Yuan Tianfan held the note in his hand, his stomach full of anger, "It must be a secret operation, how could I be caught with this piece of broken paper?"
"Yuan, congratulations."
In the office, people came up to congratulate Yuan Tianfan one after another, but although they said nice things, their faces were full of ridicule and mockery.
Seeing his colleague's behavior, Yuan Tianfan became even angrier. He threw the note in his hand into the air and walked out of the office angrily.
After he turned around, the note fluttered down on the desk, revealing two words on it - Huang Gai.
Besides, what's more.
On the train, Nan Yi recalled the question Fang Mengyin had asked him: "When did you change your last name to Zhou?"
He could answer, "Now."
"Mengmeng, stand up."
"She can't stand up."
As two voices rang out, Nan Yi helped up a little girl who had fallen in front of him, and helped to brush off the dust on her clothes and pants.
"Little sister, are you okay?"
"Thank you, uncle, I'm fine." The little girl didn't cry, but said sweetly to Nan Yi.
“So strong!”
Nan Yi patted the little girl's head and looked at the man and woman who walked up to him, "Be careful and take good care of your daughter."
"Thank you, thank you." The man of the two hurriedly thanked Nan Yi.
"You're welcome."
Watching the man and woman bring the little girl back to their seats, Nan Yi withdrew his gaze, stood up, took his Shanghai travel bag from the luggage rack, found a set of cotton sweaters from it, and walked towards the bathroom.
They were not far from Shanghai, and the temperature had dropped from below zero to about six or seven degrees Celsius. The thermal underwear Nan Yi was wearing already felt a little sticky.
After changing clothes in the toilet and coming out, Nan Yi saw a conductor walking towards the aisle, opening the toilet door to take a look, and then locking the door with a key.
The toilet door was locked, which meant that it would take no more than five minutes to get to the station.
Perhaps those who live near railway tracks have had an unusual experience: they take an iron nail and put it on the track. When a train passes by, the nail is pressed into a thin sheet, and then after being polished, it becomes a knife that looks very impressive in front of their friends.
If you have had this kind of experience, you have probably also had the experience of a train passing by and a puff of refreshing raindrops hitting your face. When you lick it with your tongue, the raindrops might even taste a little sweet.
Then congratulations, the owner of this rain and dew most likely has diabetes.
After washing his hands at the washstand, Nan Yi smoothed his hair to make his strands more flowing, through the stainless steel plate on the wall that could faintly reflect a person's face.
If there is one thing that makes Nan Yi out of tune with this era, it is his hair. The popular hair style nowadays is either 3:7 or 2:8, or just long messy hair that is casually styled.
Regardless of gender, short hair is relatively rare.
If you cut your hair short like Nan Yi, and thin it out on purpose, it's barely noticeable at all.
Not to mention the mainland, you can't even see his hairstyle in the whole of Asia. It's simply not popular.
How to say it, we are still in the era of "showing off". If the hair is well groomed, it must be the kind that people can tell at a glance that it has been carefully groomed to highlight the hairstyle.
This is just like the 50-cent special effects in the future. They are afraid that the audience will not be able to tell that the film has spent money , so the special effects must be obvious so that everyone can understand that they have added special effects.
"Oh, this is a blockbuster movie, special effects were used."
Simply put, the popular elements at this time will be more exaggerated and prominent. This exaggeration will not only be reflected in the hairstyle, but also in the clothing design and women's makeup style.
It won't be long before shoulder pads and heavy blush are in fashion.
As the train arrived at the station, Nan Yi sat in his seat and waited for a while. Only when the carriage was empty did he get off slowly.
Walking along the exit passage outside the station, I saw the little girl I had just seen being held in the arms of a woman in her thirties.
This woman's face and dress are exactly the same as those of a little tailor named Qin Nan that Nan Yi had seen in a movie. The movie should not be finished yet, and it is impossible for someone to dress like the one in the movie, so this woman should be the creator of Qin Nan - Gong Xue.
Nan Yi would not make a mistake. The protagonist of the advertisement on the large calendar hanging in the living room of the old villa was her. He had torn off the three calendars for March, May and June to light the stove. The red face in front of him, which was frozen, was as red as if it had been burned by fire.
After looking a few more times, Nan Yi continued walking forward. When he came to the side of the road, he looked left and right and waved to a Polonaise parked on the side of the road.
The taxi driver in the car glanced at Nan Yi and ignored him.
Nan Yi saw the taxi driver's behavior and knew what he was thinking. He took out a foreign exchange certificate from his pocket and held it in his hand, then waved it at the taxi driver. Sure enough, Polonaise stopped in front of him in a flash.
After Nan Yi and the other two got in the car, the taxi driver asked, "Where are we going?"
"The Paramount Cinema on Yuyuan Road."
When the taxi driver heard this, he stepped on the accelerator and the car flew out.
Twenty minutes later, the car screeched to a stop. The taxi driver turned around and said to Nan Yi, "Here we are. Fifty yuan in foreign exchange certificates."
"I'll give you a chance to negotiate a new price." Nan Yi looked at the taxi driver's face and said lightly.
"sixty."
"Before I came here, I heard that taxis in Shanghai charge exorbitant fees, provide poor service, and are difficult to get. I've seen the first two, but you're still brave enough to ask for sixty."
After Nan Yi finished speaking, he opened the car door and got out, then leaned over to the inside of the car and said, "Give him the money, remember the license plate number, and find out where this distinguished taxi driver lives. Smash the glass today, smash his toilet tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow...Master, you have a son, right? He should be in elementary school, right?"
"What...what do you want to do?" the taxi driver asked timidly.
"I don't want to do anything. You charge me sixty, and I plan to take out another ten sixty to buy snacks for your son's classmates. After they have eaten and drunk their fill, I will take turns to deal with your son.
That's not all. I'll take out another ten sixty and ask any woman in your alley to act out a scene, saying that your precious son peeped at her bathing.
By the way, there is a third one, 'Ten Sixty'. Please ask someone to help spread the gossip in your alley. You, I don't know the name yet, it doesn't matter, I think I will know it soon.
First find out who you are having an affair with, and then spread gossip that on a certain day at a certain time in a certain place, you and a certain woman did something shameful in this car. "
Every time Nan Yi said something, the taxi driver trembled, and by the time he finished the last sentence, his face had turned very dark.
"Dang... I'm unlucky. I won't charge you any money. Come on, come on, get off the bus quickly."
"No, it's about 14 kilometers. I'll give you 15 yuan. No need to change. I don't have any foreign exchange coupons. I'll take RMB." Nan Yi took out two banknotes from his pocket and threw them on the back seat. He then said to the tiger cub sitting in the passenger seat, "Talk to him and reason with him."
"Speak softly or speak hard?"
"It's up to you." Nan Yi said as he stepped back from the car.
On the other side, the school beauty had also gotten off the car.
Then, the taxi creaked and then there was a bang. Tiger Cub had already slammed the door and walked to Nan Yi's side. "Thigh, clever strength, you can't see it, it will hurt for a day, there will be no sequelae."
"Well, let's go."
As soon as he got in the car, Nan Yi knew that he was most likely to be ripped off. At that time, Shanghai taxis were already notorious for charging excessive fees.
Nan Yi heard a version of the story from Men Saner, saying that a businessman from Lijiaopo took a taxi in Shanghai and was charged 500 foreign exchange certificates for the fare. The businessman from Lijiaopo was so scared that he gave up his plan to invest in Shanghai.
Therefore, Nan Yi did not set the destination at Fang Mansion, but at the Paramount Cinema, which was more than 700 meters away from Fang Mansion.
"I'm still soft-hearted. If I meet a difficult person, I'll just smash his car."
