Volume 6: The Great Change Chapter 0885 Xinnongken Ballroom
"Zdravo, which means Hello."
On the lawn of Columbia University, a man dressed as a cleaner is teaching Montenegrin to a Chinese girl.
The cleaner's name is Filipaj, an Albanian who was born in a small mountain village in Montenegro. Because he did not want to participate in the fratricidal civil war, he fled Montenegro and came to New York.
Most people regard learning as the key to success, but there are also a few people who regard learning as a life pursuit and a pleasure. Philippa is one of such people.
When he first arrived, Philippa Ji could only speak a few simple English words, so he found a high school to take English classes.
One day, Philippa Ji asked a teacher, "Which is the best university in New York?"
“Columbia University, of course.”
Columbia University has a history of nearly 260 years and is one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning in the world, but the tuition fee of $43,000 per semester is not affordable for ordinary people, let alone a poor boy like Philippa Gui.
However, the teacher's later words gave him a glimmer of hope.
“If you can get a job at that university, you can take courses for free and maybe have the opportunity to go to university in the future.”
Columbia University has a policy that all school employees can take any course for free, so there are many motivational guys and girls in Columbia.
"I must find a way to work there," Philippa made up his mind.
But when Philippa Ji excitedly ran to Columbia University to find a job, he hit a wall - there were no job vacancies. In order to create opportunities for himself, he bought a broom and cleaned outside the school gate every day.
A month later, the Human Resources Department found Philippa Ji and hired him as a full-time cleaner.
Becoming a cleaner does not mean that he can start his journey of attending classes for free. His English is not good and he cannot understand what the professor is saying. The most important thing for him is to improve his English ability.
It just so happened that Fan Hongdou, who always had a good heart, met Philippaji, and the two began to learn from each other. Fan Hongdou learned Montenegrin from Philippaji, and Philippaji learned English from Fan Hongdou.
"Beautiful, it means Predivno."
The two of them taught each other words. Fan Hongdou could learn a word quickly, but Philippaji seemed a little slow and had to learn a word several times. Fan Hongdou accommodated the other's pace and the learning progressed slowly.
"You ugly girl over there wearing a red T-shirt, come here and let me take a good look at how ugly you are." Nan Ruoyin stood at the edge of the lawn and said to Fan Hongdou with a wicked smile on her face.
Fan Hongdou and Philippa Ji apologized and came to Nan Ruoyin, "Why are you here?"
"Come and see our Miss Fan, your boyfriend?" Nan Ruoyin said to Philippa Ginobili with a pout.
"Don't talk nonsense." Fan Hongdou said unhappily.
"Okay." Nan Ruoyin laughed and said in a low voice, "I want to trade foreign exchange. Do you want to invest a little? I will only charge you 20% commission."
Fan Hongdou also lowered her voice and said, "Lira or pound?"
"No, let's have some dessert first."
“Finnish mark?”
"You know that too?" Nan Ruoyin pretended to be surprised.
Fan Hongdou glanced at Nan Ruoyin and said, "Weren't you there when my godfather gave me the notebook?"
Nan Ruoyin: "Hehe, do you want to vote?"
Fan Hongdou thought for a moment and said, "I'll give you 1 million."
Nan Ruoyin curled her lips, "A little less."
"Yes? Or no?"
"Yes, even a mosquito is still meat. Let's call."
Hearing this, Fan Hongdou waved to Cheqianzi, who was standing next to her, and the other party immediately handed the phone to her. She called Weir Bank, and $1 million was transferred to Nan Ruoyin's account.
"Are you planning to go back next month?" After finishing the call, Fan Hongdou asked Nan Ruoyin again.
Nan Ruoyin waved her hand and said, "Dad is not here again. Let's talk about it during the Christmas and New Year holidays. I'll call you when I'm done. We'll go to the training base to play CQB."
"Playing CQB is boring. Why not fly to England next month and go grouse hunting there?"
"Grouse hunting day is August 12. I'm not free during that time, so you can fly by yourself." Nan Ruoyin thought for a moment and said, "I'm not going back to Boston today. I'll stay at your place. Do you want to have dinner with me?"
"No appointment."
Nan Ruoyin grabbed Fan Hongdou's chin and said, "You little girl, you are showing off to me. I will ask you again, do you want to date me?"
"You're getting annoying. Seven o'clock, Fourth Street."
Nan Ruoyin asked suspiciously, "Is there anything delicious on Fourth Street?"
"I just happened to be on my way to a Neal Stephenson book signing on Fourth Avenue, by the way."
Nan Ruoyin: "I've already bought Snow Crash. The book describes a surreal digital space (Metaverse, actually the metaverse). This concept is quite interesting and may have a chance to be realized in the future."
"Don't tell me that knowing the plot in advance will ruin the fun of reading." Fan Hongdou said dissatisfiedly.
"Okay, you continue to talk about love, and I'm going to Wall Street."
…
"Adler, did you watch Disney (children's channel) yesterday?"
At Public School No. 41, Scarlett and Nan Youqiong were sitting on the edge of the playground. Scarlett was licking an ice cream while talking to Nan Youqiong.
Nan Youqiong: “I saw it.”
Scarlett: "Who do you like best?"
Disney's children's channel was broadcasting a very popular youth talent show among children called "The Mickey Mouse Club". Scarlett didn't have to say anything specific, Nan Youqiong could understand what she was saying.
Nan Youqiong: "Britney."
Scarlett: "Why not Christina, she's prettier than Britney."
“She sings beautifully.”
Nan Youqiong only said half of the sentence, leaving the other half, "it has investment value", unsaid.
“I sing better.”
Scarlett said this and hummed Amy Grant's "God for Me" unconvincedly.
At the end of the song, Nan Youqiong gave Scarlett a warm response half-against his will. Scarlett’s singing was okay, but it was far worse than the original singer.
Perhaps Nan Youqiong's response aroused Scarlett's desire to perform. She pulled Nan Youqiong together and hummed the cheerful "Move this" while walking towards the classroom.
It was mid-June and they were already on summer vacation, but Nan Youqiong attended summer school while Scarlett was taking extra classes in a cram school that only poor students were eligible to attend.
Three states in the United States have laws that children under a certain age cannot be left alone at home. States without laws will also issue guidelines recommending that children should not be left alone at home.
Perhaps for this reason, some organizations have moved the summer school model for junior and senior high school students to elementary schools, so that parents have a place to leave their children. Summer schools for elementary school students usually teach some interest-based courses such as music, art, sports, astronomy, etc., which are somewhat similar to cultural centers.
Of course, some summer schools also focus on academic subjects, and their model is closer to elite cram schools.
Nan Youqiong participated in the summer school just because he could find partners to play ball with. He played ball for three days and attended various meetings with his mother Scarlett for two days, which was just the right combination of work and rest.
As for Catherine, she has never taken the "Adam Prize" seriously, but she has not done nothing. She has already contacted the University of Glasgow and the University of Oxford. These two universities have deep ties with Adam Smith and are happy to see the establishment of the Adam Prize.
Although it seems a bit inappropriate to establish an award named after a person who has made achievements in economics to reward someone with outstanding scientific achievements, Oxford University wondered why not consider changing the name to the Newton Prize. The University of Glasgow expressed opposition, saying that Newton had nothing to do with them and that the Adam Prize was a good name.
After many setbacks, the Adam Smith Fund was finally established and $300 million was injected, demonstrating its strength and flexing its muscles. People from the two universities who participated in the Adam Prize program began to conduct public relations with the Royal Society.
If you want to make the Adam Award an authoritative award, you need a group of heavyweights to participate in it. However, as more and more people participate, Nan Yi’s vision of “Wine Master” may become a lie.
As night fell in New York and London entered tea time, in Fengtian, Nan Yi had already taken Yan Zhenhua to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
The room rate includes breakfast for two. I'm about to leave, so I came here to eat.
Pinching the two pointed ends of the boiled egg, Nan Yi rubbed the egg on the table to make it spin. His little finger quickly scratched the surface of the eggshell, and pieces of eggshell fell on the table, one piece, two pieces, and that was it. The egg lost its kinetic energy and stopped spinning.
Yan Zhenhua on the opposite side was watching with eager eyes, full of anticipation at first, and then... well, the buns were delicious.
Nan Yi used the traditional method that had been proven for a long time to peel the eggshell, put it in his mouth and bit off half of it. After chewing and swallowing it, he said to Yan Zhenhua: "Zhenhua, I'm leaving tomorrow. What are your plans? Stay here or go back to Manque? If you have any other ideas, you can also tell me. I can give you some help in my ability."
Yan Zhenhua: "Uncle, I want to go find my mother again."
"It's okay to go again, but don't hold out too much hope. Sometimes people are no different from cats and dogs. After giving birth, female dogs and cats may eat their own babies. I have a way to force your mother to recognize you, but once I use that method, it is very likely that your mother will go from resisting recognizing you and feeling guilty about you to hating you.
In addition to having feelings, people will also weigh the pros and cons. Your mother was with your father in the first place, perhaps because of feelings, or perhaps it was a choice made after weighing the pros and cons. Later, she chose to divorce and return to the city. She simply chose the option that was most beneficial to her personally.
Zhenhua, although I have never met your mother, your situation is not the first time I have seen it. So far, I have not seen or heard of a happy ending. The reason why a father or mother keeps the child behind is basically not because of emotion, but because of social and realistic pressures.
The tiger locked a clouded leopard and a rabbit in a cage and warned the clouded leopard not to eat the rabbit. The clouded leopard was afraid of the tiger, so it seemed that they could live in peace with the rabbit. Maybe to outsiders, they even loved each other a little bit, but whether their life was good or not, only the rabbit itself knew. "
Nan Yi pointed at Yan Zhenhua and said, "And you are that rabbit. You came and met your mother, but she didn't recognize you, which means she didn't want to, or objective conditions didn't allow her to recognize you. Your presence is a nuisance to your mother, and you may be the nightmare that she desperately wants to forget and doesn't want to mention."
Nan Yi took out a pre-prepared envelope and placed it on the table closest to Yan Zhenhua. "There are two thousand yuan in it, and my mailing address. This money is enough for you to use until you graduate from high school. If you are admitted to university by then, write me a letter. The university subsidy is not enough now, so I will send you living expenses every month."
"Uncle, I don't want it." Yan Zhenhua shook his head, "I can't take your money anymore."
"Take it. It's not for free. When you graduate from college and work for me, this money will be your advance salary." Nan Yi picked up the envelope and stuffed it directly into Yan Zhenhua 's palm. "Go back to school and don't think about going out to work. There is no better way out for you than studying."
Yan Zhenhua stared at the envelope in his hand for a long time, feeling conflicted, before he put the envelope away.
"Uncle, thank you."
Nan Yi waved his hand, "Don't thank me, just keep eating. This is our farewell dinner. You go do what you want to do today, and I'll do what I want to do."
After breakfast, Nan Yi read the newspaper in the hotel for a while, then went out to meet the urban planning person introduced by Wu Renpin. He saw the planning map for Fengtian in the next ten years and also saw the subway planning map.
The subway planning history in Fengtian is very long. The planning and construction of the subway began in the 1930s. After liberation, the construction was started and stopped several times. The inclined shaft was dug and buried, and then dug and buried again. It was planned again the year before last, but it has not yet received approval from the top.
Nan Yi vaguely remembered that there would be a subway in Fengtian, but he was not sure when it would be completed. It seemed like it would be in the next century, so it would most likely fail this time.
In the afternoon, Nan Yi went to the TV tower again. This time, he brought a telescope, a map of Fengtian, and some questions. He looked around with the telescope. After looking at a place, he wrote down a number at the corresponding position on the map, then took out a piece of sticky paper to write and draw and marked the corresponding number.
After coming down from the TV tower, Nan Yi went to the Xinnongken Dance Hall on Zhongjie Street.
There are many dance halls in Fengtian, ranging from high, medium and low-end. Perhaps because of its good location, Xinnongken, a mediocre dance hall, is doing pretty good business.
After standing at the door for a while, Nan Yi saw several people go in. The afternoon session of the dance hall is usually not very good, it can only be regarded as a warm-up for the evening session. The guests who frequent the afternoon session are generally older married people. It is not an exaggeration to say that the afternoon session of the dance hall is a hotbed of extramarital affairs.
In his previous life, when he was 19 or 20 years old, Nan Yi was tricked into joining the afternoon dance. Whenever the lights were turned off, there was always a rustling sound on the dance floor. The young and ignorant Nan Yi was taken by a woman in her 30s or 40s to dance social and national standard dance. He was often molested by her. The white and tender hand, which was no longer young, gave him nightmares for several days.
In the eyes of the twenty-year-old Nan Yi, a woman of thirty-five or thirty-six is already an old woman. At that time, his aesthetic taste was still stuck on people of similar age or slightly younger girls next door. He still had beautiful visions of love in his heart, so he could not stand being "touched" directly.
Stopping reminiscing about the past, he bought a ticket for five yuan each and entered the dance hall. Nan Yi suppressed the urge in his heart to make up for his youthful ignorance and mistaking the girl for a treasure. He stood at the entrance of the dance hall, took a quick look, and walked directly to the corner where young girls gathered.
Nowadays, the domestic economic conditions have improved significantly, the pace of life has tended to accelerate, and the way of life has become more free. Those born in the 1960s and 1970s, who are not as experienced as those born between the 1950s and 1965s, and who can barely be considered young people.
The generation between 1950 and 1965 obviously had a more "serious" attitude towards life. Whether they were working or playing, they always wanted to make a name for themselves. Ten years ago, if you wanted to get started with accordion, harmonica, guitar, and various dances, there was a certain threshold. You couldn't play them right away. It required a relatively boring learning process.
This is not the case for those born in the 1960s and 1970s. Their eyes were opened during their adolescence and childhood, and new things from the outside world swept them away. They are eager to come into contact with new things, and it would be best if they could easily get started.
Over the past decade since the reform and opening up, too many commercial elements have been injected into all kinds of things. Because it is still a fresh, trendy, and seller's market, some entertainment venues often charge more expensive fees. If fashionable young people do not do business or steal, their monthly income is very limited. After deducting the expenses for food and drink, the remaining salary is only enough for a trip to a disco, and maybe they can barely order a can of Coke for thirty yuan.
They want to play, but they don't have much money in their pockets. It's a rare trip, so they can't just come here to "learn", they have to be able to play immediately. As a result, dance halls with high consumption are becoming outdated. Young people prefer to go to discos where they can move their hands and feet and dance, and they can also take the opportunity to touch around, so that they can get more value for their money.
Dance halls used to make several thousand dollars a night, but now they may not even make that much in a week. People who used to pick up money are now forced to become money pickers, which is a very painful thing. Dance hall owners can either close down and do other business, or innovate and start making money again.
Some people are selling mutton under the guise of selling mutton, and some are selling dog meat under the guise of selling mutton. For example, dancers in some places are just dancing companions. When customers buy dance tickets, the dancers will dance with them for a few songs. During the dance, if the person looks ugly and his hands are not honest, he will inevitably be slapped a few times;
Some venues offer more services. You can dance with guests in the big dance floor. There is also a door in an inconspicuous corner. Opening the door leads to a pink world, where you can have pink memories.
The young girls in front of Nan Yi are dancers. Dagang has mentioned that the service here at Xinnongken is relatively simple, just simple dancing and nothing else. If you want a romantic story to happen, it depends on the customer's own charm. You have to have both good looks and money.
After a quick glance, Nan Yi couldn't decide which one was more suitable to dance with him, so he moved closer to the girl and smelled her scent. She was a heavy smoker, and her clothes were always filled with the smell of tobacco, ranging from light to strong, which could be used to estimate the approximate amount of cigarettes a person smoked every day.
Smoking, drinking and being a dancer does not mean that she is a bad woman, but such women are often surrounded by a few gangsters in the secular world. They don't commit major crimes but are always involved in small fights. They are well-informed about the news in the underworld. Nan Yi came here to gather information, and he needs such a dancer.
Amidst several complaints and disgust of "What are you doing?", Nan Yi found the person he was looking for.
"Sister, dance with me for a few songs."
The girl chosen by Nan Yi glanced at him and said, "Boss, we charge ten yuan per song."
"Not short of money." Nan Yi said, thinking to himself: "You are an old hand, you can tell at a glance that this is my first time here."
The girl stood up from her seat and naturally took Nan Yi's hand. Just as the music changed, the two walked into the dance floor hand in hand. The prelude of "thump thump thump" sounded, and Nan Yi recognized the music as "Asking about Love". This song was a tango, so it was not convenient to talk.
After dancing a tango in an orderly manner, the music changed to "The Moon is Hazy, the Birds are Hazy", a slow 3-note piece with the word "slow" in it. All the movements are very slow, which is very suitable for chatting while dancing.
Nan Yi: "Sister, what's your name?"
"Camel dragon."
"Humpback dragon?"
Nan Yi felt that it sounded a little familiar.
Tuolong glanced at Nan Yi and said, "Never heard of it?"
"I have heard it, but I forgot where."
"A very famous female bandit in the early years." Tuolong just said it briefly and didn't say much.
"oh."
Others knew it, but he didn't. Nan Yi, who liked to teach and show off, felt a little itchy, but he couldn't ask. A pretty woman was called a female gangster by her nickname. God knew how many stories were hidden in it. He thought he should wait until he went back to look through the books and check the information to find out who this Tuolong was.
"Tulong, what happened to the gunshots last night? I heard them in the hotel."
Tuolong: "You just came from out of town, right?"
"Ah, I just got here."
"No wonder. A few years ago, a man named Liu Xiangdong appeared in Fengtian. He used to run a grocery store. His business was pretty good. I don't know how he got involved in gangsterism. He is very ruthless. He has ruined many people in the past two years."
Tuolong placed his hand on Nan Yi's arm and gestured like a pistol, "Liu Xiangdong has a weapon in his hand. He killed another ruthless man named Sun Dana last night."
"Sun Dana? Is that your real name or a pseudonym?"
Tuolong: "It's a pseudonym. My real name seems to be Peng."
"Oh, can Liu Xiangdong be called Liu Dana?"
"He's so capable. Apart from Taiyuan North Street (where the provincial government compound is located), his words are the most effective in Fengtian now."
Tuolong's statement is a bit exaggerated, but it also shows that Liu Xiangdong is already very famous in Fengtian.
"So awesome! Tell me about this Liu Dana's glorious achievements."
After hearing what Nan Yi said, Tuolong immediately started telling stories. People from the Northeast have an innate talent for humor, and many of them are born with a liberated nature. Tuolong told the story so vividly that he sang eight songs and even went to the bar to order two drinks to moisten his throat.
Needless to say, the bill was definitely paid for by Nan Yi. He spent a lot of money and heard a lot of stories. Tuo Long offered a buy-one-get-one-free deal and even told Nan Yi a story about a 17-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in a government compound at the beginning of the month. His story was so full of twists and turns that Nan Yi was stunned.
After leaving Xinnongken, seeing that there was still some time before five o'clock, Nan Yi went to the former site of the Manchuria Railway Fengtian Office at the South Gate, which is also the location of the Fengtian Library. He searched among the bookshelves for a while and found the record of Tuolong in an old book.
Tuolong, whose real name is Zhang Shuzhen, grew up in a poor family. Her mother died early, and she lived a very hard life with her father. Born in a turbulent time and young and ignorant, she was abducted by bad guys to Chuncheng and sold to a brothel. She was named Cui Xier when she was 16 years old.
Zhang Shuzhen could not stand the torture of the madam and had to survive. She met Wang Futang, the leader of a gang who called himself "Renyi Army" and went by the nickname "Da Long". The two of them fell in love with each other.
In 1919, the bandit "Da Long" wanted to redeem her from the Jin Yu Tang brothel, but the brothel owner Xiao Jin Bao refused because Zhang Shuzhen was her cash cow, so Da Long decided to kidnap her.
One day, Xiao Jinbao took her only son to a temple fair. As they squeezed through the crowd, Dalong's men smeared knockout drugs on Xiao Jinbao's son's head and kidnapped the child. Later, Hua Shezi (the gang's liaison officer) sent a letter, and Xiao Jinbao felt sorry for her son and had to give up Zhang Shuzhen.
Zhang Shuzhen was redeemed by the bandit Dalong in a brothel, and went up the mountain with him to become the wife of the bandit leader. She practiced shooting and horse riding, and dared to love, hate, act and take responsibility. She called herself Tuolong and became a famous female bandit in Dalong's gang. She led more than 2,000 people and often moved around Binjiang Road, allowing the bandits to rob, burn, kill, rape and harm the people, becoming a local public nuisance...
If the dancer's real name is not Zhang Shuzhen, but she was nicknamed Tuolong, it means that this woman has a lot of stories and is not a simple person. There are only wrong names, but no wrong nicknames. When a nickname is born, there will be a story and a source, it will not come out of thin air.
Having satisfied his curiosity, Nan Yi rushed to Wu Renpin's house for dinner.
The next day, Nan Yi took Wu Xiaowei on a train to Suifenhe. There was no direct train between the two places, but fortunately Wu Renpin helped them get a soft sleeper when they got on the train in Fengtian.
After arriving in Bingcheng, Nan Yi neither asked Yi Hongxuan's father Yi Haohan for help, nor did he look for Song Yong, a relationship he had established in the study abroad business. He just looked for scalpers at the train station, but he couldn't buy a sleeper ticket to Suifenhe in the next three days. Not to mention a soft berth, there was not even a hard berth. There were too many dealers on this line. He had no choice but to take a hard seat.
Very similar to the K3 train, the carriage that Nan Yi and his party were riding in was also filled with all kinds of goods. The luggage racks, under the seats, and in the gaps in the aisles were all stuffed with snakeskin bags and woven bags. The two-seaters were occupied by three or four people, and the three-seaters were squeezed with five or even more people.
In the transition period between July and August, the weather was very hot and humid. The car hadn't started yet, and not a bit of wind from outside could enter the car. The small electric fan above my head was creaking, but the little wind it sent out could only give me psychological comfort.
In the carriage, some male passengers took off their shirts, revealing their bare chests, while others rolled up their sleeves, unbuttoned all their chest buttons, and used the hems of their clothes as palm-leaf fans to fan their stomachs; the female passengers were more elegant, either holding handkerchiefs or towels, wiping the sweat from their foreheads and faces from time to time, and the bolder ones would even reach into the collar or under the hems of their clothes to wipe the sweat a few times.
Some couples were quite clingy, with the man hugging the woman's waist and whispering with their heads close together. In such a noisy environment, two mahjong tables were set up in the carriage, with two women and two men immersed in their own mahjong games. Behind the female mahjong player in a vest-style thin shirt, there was a man lying on the backrest, watching, watching mahjong for a while, and then stealing a glance at the collar, enjoying himself, extremely obscene.
Nan Yi sat in the window seat, reading a book in his left hand and fanning himself with another book in his right hand. His mouth was a little dry, but he didn't dare to drink water. People were still getting on the carriage, and judging from the situation, it wouldn't be long before the carriage was full of people.
Yinan Yi had the experience of taking a train during the Spring Festival travel rush. As soon as the train starts and the toilet door opens, it will be immediately occupied. At that time, it will be a huge challenge to solve physiological problems.
Nan Yi had secretly decided that he would not eat or drink until the number of passengers in the carriage decreased. He took his eyes off the pages of the book and glanced at the two cans on the table, mentally evaluating how many times the two bottles could be used.
“Woof woof woof.”
A Pekingese suddenly appeared at Nan Yi's feet. It came close to Nan Yi's shoes and sniffed them. Then it aimed its butt at the shoes and raised one of its hind legs.
"Keep an eye on your dog." Nan Yi raised his hips slightly, turned his head, looked at the dog owner and said.
