20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 500 Shanghai World

If you don’t go to the Great World, it would be a waste of your trip to Shanghai.

This is now the most famous, prosperous and lively entertainment venue in the entire foreign concessions. Even the foreign shopping malls can only look up to it.

The big world is all-encompassing, with bright lights, wine and women, and revelry every night.

Greeted by the doorman, Jiang Lianheng and his party walked through the gate and into the entrance hall, where they saw the Great World's signature attraction - twelve funhouse mirrors.

At this time, there were seven or eight young men and women gathered in front of mirrors of various shapes, talking and laughing, and amusing each other.

Chuanghu was curious, so he quickly walked to a funhouse mirror to look at himself, and then he started to complain.

"Oh, I wish I were this tall."

When everyone heard the sound, they walked forward and saw that Chuanghu in the mirror had been stretched to be thin and long, looking very funny, and they couldn't help but tease him.

"Hu, if you really look like this, you won't be able to do anything." Jiang Lianheng smiled and patted his shoulder.

Chuanghu tilted his head and glanced at it. He also started laughing and pointed at a funhouse mirror next to him and said, "Hey, boss, take a look at yourself."

Jiang Lianheng raised his head in response, and suddenly saw himself in the mirror. He also had a strange posture and a distorted face, but for some reason he lacked the humor and instead looked a bit more hideous.

He was sure that it was himself, but he felt it was extremely strange, even a little distant, so he was suddenly stunned for a moment and didn't find it funny anymore.

However, just as I was wondering, a burst of shrill laughter suddenly sounded beside me.

"What are you laughing at?"

Jiang Lianheng turned his head subconsciously, and then he realized that everyone was not laughing at him, but were all surrounding Liu Yansheng and laughing.

Following the sound, I looked over and saw Liu Yansheng in the mirror. He had a round face like a pancake, with his eyebrows, eyes, mouth and nose all pulled together like the folds of a bun, and he looked quite funny.

Among the crowd, Liu Yansheng had the most handsome appearance, an attractive demeanor, and the temperament of a graceful scholar.

Now seeing what he had become in the mirror, everyone certainly didn't want to miss the opportunity to tease and make fun of him.

"Old Liu, this is not a face at all. There's a hole on the bridge of your nose, and it's just a butt!" Li Zhengxi joked.

Chuang Hu fanned the flames: "Third Master, why bother with that? Why not just let him open his mouth?"

Liu Yansheng laughed and started to curse from his hometown: "Dui Lei's mother, eat shit Lei!"

Everyone chatted and laughed for a while, then came to the map of the big world and took a look at it.

The floor plan of the four floors is marked in great detail and clarity. Just by stopping and looking, you can get a general understanding of the entertainment facilities here.

There are a lot of different games in the big world.

There is a large open-air theater behind the building. Circus, acrobatics, Peking opera and other performances are performed here from morning to night every day. The thunderous cheers can be heard from a long distance away.

Famous prostitutes are hired to perform on the first floor all year round. They gather outside the door from time to time to call their friends, flirt with their bodies and attract bees and butterflies.

The other floors are equipped with dance halls, bookstores, teahouses, theaters, cinemas, billiard rooms, small restaurants and shopping stores.

What surprised Jiang Lianheng even more was that visitors could actually buy and sell stocks, trade bonds, and bet on lottery tickets here...

In short, all the formal entertainment that mortals can think of seems to be satisfied in the big world.

But Jiang Lianheng didn't believe that this place was really that innocent, so he immediately questioned: "The business here is too simple. With just these few things, it can't support such a big place, and it's even more impossible for so many rich young men to rush here."

Shi Liancheng nodded and lowered his voice and said, "Boss Jiang, you are an insider. In this big world, the real money-makers are still those three old things!"

"It's not here either!" Chuanghu's face turned red with anxiety.

"How not?"

Shi Liancheng explained in a low voice: "You see, this teahouse is actually a casino, and this theater is actually a brothel, just a different name. If anyone wants to smoke a few cigarettes, play a few cards, find a girl, etc., we can arrange it for you, but there are thresholds. You have to spend a lot of money, or have an acquaintance to lead the way."

"Oh, Brother Shi, it seems that you are also a man of temperament!" Chuanghu laughed.

Immediately, everyone looked at Jiang Lianheng and asked, "Boss, what about us..."

"Do you want to smoke, play cards, or find a prostitute?" Jiang Lianheng asked back unhappily.

Everyone looked at each other and said righteously: "We are not interested. We mainly want to experience life."

Jiang Lianheng nodded: "Anyway, we can't finish the shopping in one night, let's take a look at the ones that are visible first."

"Then let's go to the dance hall first. There's nothing interesting anywhere else. We can't travel all the way here to watch a circus, right?"

Chuanghu's proposal was unanimously agreed by everyone.

So Shi Liancheng took everyone to a dance hall on the third floor of the Great World for entertainment.

The admission fee is not as expensive as you might imagine, but the price of dancing is not cheap. You need to buy a "dance ticket" from the foreman first. One dollar is one ticket per set of three. When you walk into the venue, if you like a dancer, you can go up to her and give her a ticket. She will then stand up and dance with you.

Jiang Lianheng and his companions walked around the hall, and finally found an empty table near the entrance, sat down, ordered a few drinks, and looked around curiously.

All the lights are concentrated in the center of the dance floor, making it appear particularly bright.

The Western music group was squatting in the corner, playing some unknown cheerful dance music.

It was a little too cheerful, and even a little noisy. A few years ago, the so-called social dance was often the elegant waltz.

Today's dancers are somewhat clumsy, just shaking their heads and tails to the rhythm without any rules, which makes people feel confused.

"Is this a shaman dance, or something else?" Jiang Lianheng was used to pretending to be cultured, but this time he was really confused.

Shi Liancheng smiled and explained, "Boss Jiang, this has just been introduced from the West. It seems to be called Charleston. Young people like it. To me, it is not dancing at all. It is like playing with monkeys. It is pure nonsense!"

After the European War, the young people who survived were rebellious and indulged themselves in pleasure, no longer paying attention to the worldly gaze, and their behavior gradually became passionate and unrestrained. Shanghai, as the meeting point of the East and the West, was the first to be influenced by them.

At this moment, six or seven young men and women were swaying in ecstasy in the middle of the dance floor, sometimes bending their hips and twisting their waists, sometimes raising their thighs high.

Chuang Hu was so excited that he immediately called out to everyone, "Hey, hey, hey, look at that girl. She's so pretty. Her legs are so white!"

Jiang Lianheng and others looked in the direction of his finger.

Sure enough, the little girl was about twenty years old, with a pure and beautiful appearance, a vibrant spirit, and her hazy hair falling on her forehead, making her skin look even smoother, whiter and more delicate.

She wore a white shirt and a beige knee-length skirt.

People were in the middle of the dance floor, immersed in the rhythm of the drums.

What’s strange is that even though there are many people of the same age around her, the girl doesn’t even have a dance partner.

I rejoice alone and am intoxicated.

She didn't seem to want to attract attention or please others, she just wanted to have her own fun.

When a person doesn't care, he or she becomes charming.

Everyone thought that Chuanghu had good taste, so they encouraged him to ask the girl to dance with him.

"Chuanghu, you write erotic novels every day, but you've never even held a girl's hand. I'm so embarrassed for you. Go away now!" Li Zhengxi said.

"No, no, no!" Chuang Hu explained quickly, "I'm just admiring it, just looking at it."

Jiang Lianheng urged, "You've already bought the dance tickets, what are you still appreciating? Go quickly, don't let everyone look down on you."

Under the continuous provocation and instigation of the crowd, Chuanghu finally came to his senses. He took a sip of wine, tore off a dance ticket from the ticket pack, and moved forward tremblingly, looking back from time to time:
“Well…I really went there!”

"go!"

So, Chuanghu staggered through the crowded crowd, walked up to the girl, raised his head, and handed her the dance ticket in his hand.

The music was loud and I didn't know what he said to the girl, but the girl was stunned for a moment and then started laughing with her friends around her.

Chuanghu's neck shrank, his face turned red, and he ran back in a dusty state.

Everyone was surprised and mistakenly thought that the dancer disliked his short stature and was unwilling to take his business.

Unexpectedly, Chuanghu quickly shook his head: "No, no, no, it's a mistake. I'm not a dancer. I came here to play with my friends. It's so embarrassing."

"There's nothing to be ashamed of. This kind of thing is very normal." Shi Liancheng said with a smile.

Chuanghu lowered his head and said, "Please order me a glass of vodka. It should be strong. I need to take it slow."

It wasn't a big deal, but when Jiang Lianheng and others saw his reaction, they couldn't help but burst into laughter.

They laughed, and the girl's group also heard it, so they all looked over here curiously.

Neither party had any ill intentions and just regarded the misunderstanding as a minor incident tonight and laughed it off.

But not long after, perhaps because it was late at night, the girl quickly met up with her companions, packed up her things, paid the bill, put on a windbreaker and hurried away.

The girls were teasing Chuanghu sincerely, and when they reached the entrance, they waved and said, "Bye!"

"Hey, Huzi, I'm saying goodbye to you!" Jiang Lianheng used his elbow to push Chuanghu's ribs.

Chuanghu was startled and subconsciously stood up, stammering and talking nonsense: "Ah, that... Come on, come and visit us often when you have time!"

But when he looked up, he found that the girl who had just danced didn't even look at him. Instead, she stared at Jiang Lianheng for a few seconds and then left.

"Boss, why do I feel like that girl seems to be interested in you?" Chuanghu sat down dejectedly, seeming unwilling to give up.

Jiang Lianheng didn't notice it, he just wiped his temples subconsciously and asked, "What's wrong with you being interested in me? Are you surprised?"

Chuanghu said nothing, holding the crumpled dance ticket in his hand. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly stood on tiptoe and looked around for the short dancer, trying to save his face.

Just at this moment, during a break in the music, three men in suits at the next table opposite the entrance to the dance hall suddenly started talking.

"Hey, that little girl just now was really pretty."

"It's pretty, but too noisy. It's not my type anyway."

"Haha, even if you are rare, others may not be rare to you!"

Several conversations entered the ears of everyone.

Jiang Lianheng was stunned for a moment, thinking to himself: Hmm? An accent from outside the Great Wall?
(End of this chapter)