1. Get what you want
In the 1940s, Shanghai was a place that people yearned to go to. Ten miles of the ocean field, bustling with traffic, dazzling people. Some people said that it was a colorful world, a paradise for adventurers. There were good and bad people mixed together, men thieves and women prostitutes, debauchery, and drunkenness. It was a big dye vat. Good people would learn bad things there.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival of the year of the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, a young man in his prime and high-spirited walked out of the Shanghai train station with a brown leather suitcase. He looked around at the noisy crowd and took a deep breath of fresh air. He waved for a rickshaw and quickly disappeared into the traffic.
The young man's surname was Yao and his name was Shunru. He came from Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. He had an uncle who made a living in Shanghai for many years. In his memory, his uncle rarely came back once or twice a year. Sometimes, he would not return for several years, and he would let his aunt watch over his daughter. In his young heart, he felt some resentment towards his uncle and some sympathy towards his aunt and cousin.
However, every time Uncle came home to visit, the house was filled with joy. It wasn't just his uncle who brought home a lot of luggage every time he went home. This included the children's favorite spiced broad beans, cream fudge, fruit hard candy, osmanthus rice cake, and all kinds of biscuits.
Uncle generously distributed these delicious food to all the children who were watching and distributed them to every family. There were also Jinhua ham, Yangzhou sausage, Shaoxing Huadiao wine, and Suzhou silk fabrics delivered to his house. There were lily tremella, ginseng bird's nest, cashmere underwear to honor his grandparents...
What was even more interesting was that after his uncle returned home, he told everyone about the colorful world of Shanghai and all kinds of strange and interesting things. Among them, there were national affairs that the child seemed to understand. His uncle was very eloquent. He was knowledgeable and had studied abroad. He was dressed in a suit and was elegant. When he spoke excitedly, he was impassioned and in high spirits.
At this time, Aunt also seemed to have been reborn, her face full of peach blossoms, completely turning into another person. He suddenly respected his uncle, and there was no longer any resentment in his heart. His uncle suddenly became his idol, which made him hungry for knowledge and full of longing and yearning for Shanghai. He secretly swore that when he grew up, he would go to Shanghai to see the world and do great things like his uncle.
Today, Yao Shunru finally got what she wanted. She was admitted to Shanghai Oriental Business School and was a bank finance major. She came to Shanghai alone in high spirits and smug. He couldn't be bothered to appreciate the dazzling bustle of the metropolis and hurried to visit his uncle at the four-way civilization.
Yao Shunru was 1.78 meters tall. On his dignified and handsome square face, he had a sharp nose, a full forehead, and a wide square. His two silkworm-like eyebrows made him look even more energetic. However, today, he was really not handsome. He had just recovered from a serious illness, and his face looked thin, tired, and haggard.
A month ago, he had caught a cold and suddenly learned of the great news of Japan's unconditional surrender. He felt extremely excited and celebrated with a few friends on the streets. After a day of partying, he was drenched in sweat as he plunged into the Xiangjiang River to play Baoqiu. They were not only ordinary swimming enthusiasts, but also winter swimming enthusiasts. They could not do without swimming all year round. If they did not swim in the Xiang River for three days, their bones and skin would feel itchy and uncomfortable all over.
He was like a flood dragon, charging forward and swimming at the front. In the blink of an eye, he had reached the center of the river. In an instant, dark clouds gathered, rain poured, and lightning rumbled. Just as he was about to swim back, his left calf suddenly cramped. Soon, his left leg dragged down his right leg, and his two calves twitched violently.
He waved his hands and instinctively struggled with all his might, but unfortunately, he could not save himself. Soon, he sank to the bottom of the river.”He lost consciousness.
Fortunately, a few students who were good at swimming caught up and dived into the bottom of the river. They rescued him from the water and dragged him to the river bank. At this time, the rain had already subsided and the thunder had stopped. When the students saw that he was not breathing anymore, they panicked and cried loudly, not knowing how to save him.
Fortunately, an old man who passed by the roadside bent down and looked at his pupils. He instructed them to compress their chests first and then perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Then, he made a tall student kneel on the ground and put him on the back of this student. After several twists and turns, he finally spat out a large puddle of water and slowly calmed down. He forcefully snatched him back from Hades 'hands. No, he had already become the live-in son-in-law of the Xiang River Dragon Lord.
When his second brother, Yao Shunde, heard the news, he drove an old Chevrolet and rushed over to send him to Xiangya Hospital. As a result, he fell seriously ill. His mother received a call from Shunde and rushed to the hospital anxiously. His mother was a very strong and capable woman. She protected him day and night without shedding a single tear. When he was young, his mother often taught him that men should not cry easily. Tears would only make people lose their will and confidence.
This old Chevrolet sedan was a souvenir left behind by Yao Shunru's father. Yao Shunru's father opened a textile mill in Loom Alley, and his business was very prosperous. Unexpectedly, after the July 7 Incident, Japanese planes bombarded Changsha one after another. A bomb fell on the bomb shelter built by his family with door panels, and his father and grandfather were blown to death. Fortunately, his mother had taken him to his grandmother's house in the countryside that day. His eldest brother was in Chongqing, and his second brother was in school. Otherwise, the whole family would have died. Ever since his father passed away, the factory had been supported by his mother. It wasn't until recently that his second brother took over the factory management after graduating from university.
This drowning incident also alarmed Yao Shunru's relatives, and everyone rushed over to visit and express their condolences. He had two cousins in middle school. One was his uncle's daughter, Yuan Liping. One of them was his aunt's daughter, Li Lifen. It was summer vacation, so she came to the hospital every day to accompany him. The three young people lived in the provincial capital, not far from each other. They were close friends and grew up together. Especially that Yuan Liping, who was only two years younger than Yao Shunru, had already grown into a slim and graceful young lady. Both of them had long been recognized by their parents as a match made in heaven.
Yao Shunru stayed in the hospital for a week. Not long after he recovered from his illness, he received a telegram from his uncle in Shanghai, instructing him to report to Shanghai immediately. His uncle, who worked as a resident in Shanghai, had already arranged for him to study at Dongfang Business School. When the good news came, everyone rejoiced, congratulated, and was happy for him. His classmates all laughed at him for saying," If you survive a great disaster, you'll be blessed in the future." When he became rich in the future, he must not forget this brother who had been friends for life and death.
After Grandpa heard the news, he rushed over from the countryside. When Grandpa heard Yao Shunru describe the scene of drowning, he exclaimed,"I heard that you were going to Shanghai, so I made a divination for you and got a 'Water Lightning Tun' hexagram. I came here to tell you that although the Tun hexagram is a good thing, it's not good for you to go out. I heard about your drowning scene just now, and it just so happens that this 'Water Lightning Tun Trigram' is correct. It turned out to be a false alarm, don't you think it's strange? Since you're safe and sound, perhaps all the disadvantages have been resolved. I won't dissuade you anymore. You must be careful with your words and actions when you get there.”
His uncle, Yao Runcai, returned to China after studying economics at Colombia University in the United States. He was ordered by his father to invest in a textile factory in Shanghai. However, he invested his capital into the Shanghai Commercial Press Co., Ltd. and became the earliest shareholder of the Oriental Business School. However, during the 1932 war in Shanghai, the school buildings, teaching facilities, and books of the Eastern Business School on Xiafei Road, the General Affairs Office of the Commercial Press, the compilation and translation institute, the printing factory, and the Eastern Library were all burned by the Japanese army. Fortunately, when the business school was taken over as a national university, he withdrew the capital stock invested in the school. Otherwise, he would have lost everything.
His uncle was in Changsha. His parents had arranged for him to marry a wife and had even given birth to a daughter. He was very dissatisfied with this marriage and thought that it was arranged by his parents. When he was studying in America, he fell in love with an American Chinese girl at first sight. The girl's name was Xiang Li, and her hometown was in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. After he returned to China with Xiang Li, they had been living together in Shanghai. They had even given birth to a girl named Manli, who was two years older than Shunru. After the fall of Shanghai, the Commercial Press moved to the mainland. Uncle stayed in Shanghai to work as a resident and became obsessed with stocks. It was not until after the recovery of Shanghai that he came out of retirement and participated in the reconstruction and restoration of the Commercial Press.
Yao Shunru got off the car and walked to Si Ma Road. He followed the map and asked around to find his uncle's residence in a stone warehouse in Si Ma Road. He saw that the two black doors were tightly shut. He pulled the knocker and knocked more than ten times before he heard a woman's voice from inside."Sanin? Lei le, lei le…"
A woman opened the small window on the door and asked,"Nong Si Li 'er Ning?"
Yao Shunru didn't understand what she was saying. Her uncle walked over from behind and shouted from afar,""Shunru, is it Shunru?" He went forward to hold his uncle's hand in surprise and shouted,"Uncle, uncle, hello!"
At this moment, the door opened, and the woman had already come out to welcome him. She stretched out her hands to take the luggage in his hands. "This is your aunt."”
"Hello, Aunt." Yao Shunru hurriedly bowed to Aunt Yi and protected the suitcase with one hand, not letting Aunt Yi waste any effort.
Uncle had already stepped through the door and said,"I was just about to send you another telegram to urge you. Come in and rest.”
Entering through a wide stone door, there were rooms on both sides. After passing through a courtyard decorated with bonsai flowers, there was the living room. On both sides of the living room was the master bedroom. In the middle of the living room, there was a mahogany carved incense table, an eight-square table, an armchair, and a coffee table. Yao Shunru's arrival added a lot of joy and joy to this quiet old residence.
Aunt Yi was a shrewd woman in her forties. She wore a dark green embroidered soft satin cheongsam, and she looked old and plump. Even though Yao Shunru could not fully understand Aunt YiNiang's chattering Shanghainese, from her smiling face and attentive manner, he knew that Aunt YiNiang was very virtuous and passionate.
His uncle was hale and hearty, radiant, tall, and upright. He was wearing a dark blue robe made of stone cloth and a pair of round shoes with a thousand layers of soles. Other than a few strands of white hair, one could not tell that he was nearly fifty years old. The uncle and nephew sat down in the living room. After serving tea, the aunt also sat beside her uncle and looked at him.
Uncle asked about the situation in his hometown patiently. She asked him where his elder brother, Shun Zhai, was, when he left the hospital, and why he didn't call or send a telegram beforehand…
Just as she was talking about her family, her cousin Manli, wearing a moon-white Indian silk cheongsam, lightly stepped into the house. When she saw Yao Shunru for the first time, she quickly ran to the living room and shouted coquettishly,"Are you Younger Brother Shunru? Why didn't you send me a telephone and telegram and let me pick you up at the station?”
A fragrant wind blew in her face. Yao Shunru quickly got up and held Manli's hand."Hello, Sister Manli. You're as beautiful as in the photo. I'll recognize you at a glance when you pick me up. However, I didn't want to alarm you, because it's hard to say which train we'll take and when we'll arrive in Shanghai.”
"Then why?" Manli widened her eyes in surprise.
"Because the direct train to Shanghai has not yet opened, I took the small steamer to go to Wu Han first, and then took the passenger ship from Wu Han to Shanghai. However, when the ship sailed to Zhenjiang, it refused to leave and asked us to take the train instead, saying that it was afraid of hitting the mines released by the Japanese at the mouth of the Yangtze River.”
"I really neglected all these. How many days did you walk on the road?”Uncle asked in surprise.
"I've been away for six days. I slept one night on a small steamer, two nights in Wuhan1 and one night on a passenger ship. The train ticket from Zhenjiang to Shanghai is so hard to buy, so I slept one night in Zhenjiang.”
"That boat must be very fun. The scenery along the river is so beautiful. Many stories must have happened.”Manli smiled innocently.
"The ship was overcrowded. Fortunately, I bought a third-class ticket. Twelve people slept in one cabin and six narrow old iron beds. I slept on the upper bunk and almost fell off at night.”
"Aiya! How scary. Fortunately, it didn't fall." Sister Manli and Aunt YiNiang exclaimed in unison.
"I did feel fresh at the beginning, but I got bored after sitting for a day. The steerage passengers were miserable. The weather was hot and there was no ventilation in the steerage. They all ran to the boats. Some even squeezed into our cabins.”
"Really?" Manli's figure was like her mother's. She graduated from Shanghai University's Department of News and was hired by Ta Kung Pao after Japan surrendered. She was currently busy preparing for the Shanghai edition of Ta Kung Pao and was very interested in Shun Ru's travel news.
Seeing that the whole family was here, his uncle stood up and smiled."There's still a long way to go. We'll tell the story slowly. You must be hungry.”
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]