National Tide 1980.

Chapter 1304 Large-scale construction projects

Since people have left the place of right and wrong, they don't need to worry about right and wrong anymore.

Of course, Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko would not know what happened in Paris after they left.

On June 6, when they flew to Beijing, they naturally changed to a new perspective and began to pay attention to the changes in the city before their eyes.

As soon as I got off the plane, the most obvious feeling was the heat.

This year, the capital was much hotter than Paris. It was only the beginning of June, but the temperature was already over 30 degrees.

Moreover, the capital city is dry and hot with heavy dust and scorching sun. People can easily get sunburned if they stay in the sun.

In addition, the equipment in the terminal of the Capital Airport is relatively backward, and fans are still used at this time.

In comparison, the feeling at the airport is definitely more comfortable in Paris and Tokyo, which have central air conditioning.

Fortunately, Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao, who came to pick them up, had upgraded their weapons.

This time they didn't drive the "big-toed shoes", but an imported silver Mercedes-Benz car.

Not only is this car quite eye-catching when driving on the road, but it also creates a gentle breeze when the air-conditioner is turned on, and the leather seats are soft and cool, making the passengers feel particularly comfortable.

It turns out that Ning Weimin's adopted cousin Shen Cun is very smart and knows how to adapt to local customs.

After taking over the fast food chain and completing the business registration change procedures, the first thing he did was to take advantage of it.

Buy tax-free imported cars according to preferential policies.

One reason is that it is convenient to use. If you want to do big business, you can’t do without a car.

Second, imported cars in China are scarce commodities, and anyone who can buy an imported car is making money.

Third, people in China now have the same problem.

Whether they are officials or businessmen, they judge a person's strength by the car he drives.

It seems that the class of car one drives is the most important criterion for measuring a person's wealth.

So every move made by this cousin was extraordinary.

He used all the import car quotas and funds in the joint venture to purchase duty-free imported cars.

The money in the public account was not enough, so he added more than 100,000 US dollars.

A total of four imported cars were purchased, one refrigerated truck and three sedans.

Then he resold two imported cars at a high price.

In this way, the fast food chain did not spend a penny, and got a refrigerated truck and an imported Mercedes-Benz for free.

In addition, when Shen Cun took over from Zou Guodong, Pierre Catton had already equipped this subsidiary with two Daihatsu vans for transporting goods.

So from this perspective, whether it is transporting goods or people, the basic logistics conditions of fast food chains have been established.

And you have to know that such hardware conditions were already considered advanced and developed in the capital at that time.

Even the first fast food restaurant in Beijing, Yili Fast Food, a joint venture between Beijing and Hong Kong, does not have such logistics configuration.

In short, I have to say that Shen Cun did a great job in this matter.

From this we can see that he has adapted well to his homeland. He has not changed his orientation towards the mainland just because of living in the United States, and has not lost the flexibility of the Chinese people.

For this, Ning Weimin is quite satisfied.

I haven't even met him yet, but I'm already feeling excited and plan to praise him when we meet.

Of course, according to Master Pierre Catton in Paris, France, this Mercedes-Benz is the most vulgar luxury car, with such poor style that it is despised by the "old money" in Europe.

  But why does Ning Weimin care about this?

As long as it's comfortable, practical and doesn't overheat himself and his wife, that's enough.

What's more, this waives the tariffs, saving the company half of its money.

He comes from a poor family, and he got such a big advantage. If he were to be picky about the brand of car, he would be a bit ungrateful and pretentious.

Secondly, the streetscape of the capital has also changed significantly.

On the road from the Capital Airport to the city center, Ning Weimin noticed at a glance that the white police uniforms had turned green, and there were obviously more roadside commercial activities, with more and more people doing business.

Especially when the car drove to the vicinity of Sanyuan Bridge, there were actually quite a few vendors selling fruits and agricultural products gathered here, and it seemed that they had already grown into a large scale.

Ning Weimin saw someone selling cherries and mulberries, which were in season, so he asked Luo Guangliang to park the car on the side of the road.

He went down to take a look, tasted some and found them quite fresh, so he asked the price, and found it was only 35 cents a pound. So he paid for 10 pounds of cherries and 5 pounds of mulberries, intending to take them back and share them so that everyone could have a taste of the freshness.

The people who bought things were also very kind. They saw Ning Weimin got off the car and bought so many things at once.

He was so happy that he gave Ning Weimin a few more melons.

Needless to say, there is no woman who doesn't like fruit.

Especially since Qingzi is a Japanese, she feels happy and satisfied to see that Chinese fruits are so cheap.

As soon as I got in the car, I couldn't help but taste a few cherries and stuffed a few mulberries. My mouth said they were sweet and my smile was even sweeter.

It can be seen that whether they are Japanese girls or Chinese girls, some preferences are the same.

There is one thing: mulberries are black. Eating them will stain your skin and you will have to put on makeup again.

That’s not all. As the car continued to move forward, Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao took the initiative to inform Ning Weimin of the news.

It is said that there is already a second five-star hotel in Beijing near the zoo, which just opened during the May Day holiday.

They also said they had already gone to inquire about it.

The hardware conditions seem to be better than those of the Great Wall Hotel, and there is also a Japanese restaurant called Nishimura that sells Japanese food.

In their opinion, the bungalows in Beijing are too hot in summer and there is no air conditioning.

If by any chance Matsumoto Keiko can't get used to the living there or the food there, she might as well move there.

Or it would be nice to wait until the wedding and rent a few rooms to host her Japanese relatives.

But... they just couldn't remember the name of the hotel, and it was difficult to pronounce.

It seems to be in lira, I don't know if it has anything to do with Italy...

Just like that, I listened to the two brothers talking incessantly, as if they were performing crosstalk.

Matsumoto Keiko, whose Chinese proficiency had improved greatly and who could understand most of the words, kept thanking him.

Although Ning Weimin was quite daring, he didn't say a word.

Not for any other reason, mainly because he was trying hard to hold back his laughter.

These two kind-hearted brothers of his actually connected Shangri-La with Italian currency, which was a genius.

However, compared with this incident, the changes at home were greater and the noise was more lively, which was far beyond Ning Weimin's expectations.

To be honest, due to the special purpose of this trip back to Beijing, they had the relaxation of being home, but also the sense of mission of holding a Chinese-style wedding, and the pressure and tension that came with it.

In fact, whether it was Ning Weimin or Matsumoto Keiko, the couple knew it very well. Whether it was from Ning Weimin's social connections in Beijing, or the attraction of Matsumoto Keiko, a big star, to the Chinese and Japanese media, or the care of the two elders, Kang Shude and Jiang Nianyun.

All these factors meant that their upcoming wedding in the capital would not be a simple affair.

The enthusiasm for mobilizing a large number of troops may not be less than that of Japan.

Therefore, having already gone through the "torture" of a wedding, they all felt a little overwhelmed and could not help but feel sympathetic.

But even so, even though they had been mentally prepared, they did not expect that the Ma Family Garden would have reached the stage of large-scale construction, and the extent of the mobilization was far beyond their imagination.

It turns out that according to Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao, since it was pitch black on the night of the Spring Festival at the beginning of the year, even firefighters were afraid of falling into the ditch.

Ever since Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko left, his American cousin Shen Cun immediately surveyed the locations of street lights in Ma's Garden according to his wishes.

In March and April, we hired people to dig trenches, lay wires, string lights, and press switches. Everything was done.

In total, the old man spent about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan.

Of course, Shen Cun wanted to pay for it, but Kang Shude didn't let him.

And that’s not all. By May, Jiang Nianyun, the fourth aunt of the Jiang family, was afraid of summer rain leaks and the heat.

They urged the annual repairs on the house and built a shed in the yard.

Annual maintenance is easy to do. All we have to do is ask two people from the ancient building team to check the roof.

The weeds were pulled out and the broken bricks and tiles were replaced.

Then wipe the ceiling and brush it with cleaning water or something.

In a week or so, the whole garden was tidy.

But building a greenhouse is a difficult task.

Because this business was done before liberation.

Nowadays, not to mention that there are no people doing this, not even many people know about this business.

Think about it, there are no people to work for, no materials to supply, and even the big teahouses where employers and builders used to discuss work are gone. What can we do?

So Kang Shude told Jiang Nianyun that this couldn't be done.

If she is really afraid of heat, you can get her an ice basin or buy her an electric fan.

According to Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao's cognition and understanding, the old man has been very kind.

Nowadays, even if you are a director in Beijing, few people can enjoy such treatment at home.

  Who doesn’t go shirtless and use a palm-leaf fan in the summer?

When the weather gets really hot, many people sleep outside.

But Jiang's fourth aunt was angry about this.

  The young lady's rich and luxurious temper flared up, and she told Kang Shude that others didn't build a shed because they were reluctant to spend money. Everyone knew the difference between building a shed and not building one in summer. "Don't be so perfunctory to me. Is your place a slum?"

She also said that Kang Shude didn't act like a master at all. He knew that his apprentice was going to get married and had to go back to the capital to do some business.

As a result, they were not busy with anything. The theater was not repaired, and the stage carpenters were not hired. They seemed to be completely uninterested.

  Could it be that in order to save time and effort, we can just find two chefs and set up a few tables in the garden and call it a day?

This is too confusing and shameful.

That’s not all. The fourth young lady of the Jiang family actually asked her son to go out and inquire, and claimed that she would pay for someone to build a tent and repair the theater.

I guarantee that the wedding banquet prepared for Ning Weimin will be grand and dignified.

This is a slap in the face.

As a result, the old man was left with no choice but to obey the young lady's wishes and go out to take care of the matter.

You know what, the old man didn't beat around the bush and I actually found out the answer after asking around.

Because Zhang Shihui knew that Ning Weimin had employed tent builders and painters to prepare for the Spring Festival temple fair at the Temple of Heaven.

After hearing what the old man said, he quickly found someone who could handle the matter through his acquaintances at the Temple of Heaven Park Management Office.

But the problem is that building a shed and repairing a theater building are two different things, and the prices are also different.

It is not known whether Kang Shude was afraid of spending money or of trouble. Anyway, he was only willing to spend three thousand yuan to build a ceiling for the courtyard where Jiang Nianyun lived, and he did not even build one for his own courtyard.

As for building a theater, the old man was even more strongly opposed to it.

His reasoning was that this was a completely bad idea.

Now that we have been liberated and entered a new era, the capital no longer holds wedding ceremonies at home.

It would require too much manpower and material resources, and doing so would not only be wasteful but also attract attention.

If you are not careful, you will be accused of being a feudal remnant and cause unnecessary trouble.

And the key is that time is not in a hurry.

Such a large and fine theater building requires very high craftsmanship. Even if we repair it, it would take at least a year or two to complete it.

But Jiang Nianyun certainly didn't listen to him.

The fourth young lady of the Jiang family was tit-for-tat and extremely persistent, and she made her point.

"I haven't heard of it. Operas were not allowed after liberation. I just wanted to have some noise at home. This is much more subtle than beating gongs and drums outside. Is it against the law to have a wedding with our family behind closed doors?"

"I just don't believe it. I clearly spent money and invited them politely. How could I have violated any law by having a few people perform at my home?"

"As for the theater building, although it is old, the structure is good. It is easy to repair if you really want to. You just need to spend some time to repair the structure and make sure it is clean. Then you can ask the stage builders and painters to decorate the facade. It doesn't cost much money at all, and it can be made presentable in less than three to five days."

Just like that, from early May to mid-May, Kang Shude and Jiang Nianyun held their own opinions on these matters and were deadlocked. They argued again and again, and neither could convince the other.

No one expected that the factor that finally changed the situation was the wedding of Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko held in Japan.

It turned out that after Shen Cun came back from attending the wedding, he showed Kang Shude and Jiang Nianyun the photos he took at the wedding.

He also said that the two weddings were really grand, with many celebrities as guests. The weddings were all funded by the bride's family, and a huge amount of money was probably spent.

As a result, these photos and Shen Cun's description left the two old men stunned.

After reading it, Kang Shude decided to go to Jiang Nianyun to discuss the matter without anyone's advice.

Maybe he wanted to create an event of equal level, and didn't want the gap between the two sides to be too big. The old man also cared about his face.

  Soon the entire Ma Family Garden was busy.

Some were building buildings, some were putting up sheds, and every day they were busy with the noise of clanging and banging, it seemed like the city had become a big construction site.

Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao both hoped that Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko would be mentally prepared, saying that Ma's Garden was now full of building materials and full of workers during the day. If they couldn't stand it, they might as well move to some place on the West Third Ring Road.

Needless to say, after hearing these words, Ning Weimin was more surprised than anyone else - his marriage actually caused the old man to lose money!

Keiko Matsumoto is easier to deal with, after all, there are some things she still can't quite understand.

But Ning Weimin had already figured out a wealth of information. He really didn't expect that so many things had happened in the Ma family garden in the past few months.

Hearing this, he felt sorry for the old man bleeding so much.