Film and Television: Starting from the Journey to Guandong

Chapter 127 Paramount (1w)

Zhu Chuanren joined Lao Chang's pirate ship and took up the position of vice president of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. He had endless social activities every day, which made Ni Sichun and Xiner unhappy.

There's nothing he can do about it if he doesn't like it. This is his job. As the vice president, he can't always show up.

And although he is called the vice president, he still does the work of the president, and he needs to review all major and minor matters.

In order to facilitate his work, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce's office was placed in Renhe Building, which is above the Peace Hotel, occupying half a floor.

In order to better control the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Zhu Chuanren also shared a lot of resources with everyone, so that everyone could see the benefits and be willing to fight with him as the president.

Take engineering as an example. As soon as he got on board, Zhu Chuanren led the Federation to monopolize the entire infrastructure project in the Magic City. If outsiders wanted a piece of the pie, they would have to pick up what they didn't need.

This has led to more and more businessmen realizing the power of the Chinese Entrepreneurs Association and choosing to join, paying only a membership fee of 1 yuan a year.

Of course, this is just the most basic fee. If you want to improve your status, there are tiers of 10 and 50 above.

If you hand in 50 yuan to the Federation every year, you will be qualified to sit across from Zhu Chuanren and talk.

What do businessmen do? It's nothing more than resources and vision. Being able to talk to Zhu Chuanren face to face, 50 yuan a year is not much, and just a little bit exposed from his fingers will be enough to feed you for several years.

The membership dues handed in will not be used casually. In addition to paying venue rent and clerk's wages, part of the remaining money is used to fund the chamber's activities and part is used to support micro-enterprises.

Micro-enterprises can apply for special project loans through Dinghai Bank with extremely low interest rates.

For this one move, everyone has to support Zhu Chuanren to live forever. He is simply everyone’s benefactor.

In addition, the Chamber of Commerce has a small gathering every three days and a big gathering every seven days. Every dance and cocktail party is the best occasion for everyone to communicate information.

After each activity, everyone has the latest understanding of the current economic situation, which makes it easier for everyone to make timely adjustments. In this way, Zhu Chuanren has subtly influenced the business community in Shanghai, creating an illusion that everyone is united and advancing together. '.

All the foreign forces in the concession are fighting on their own and have nothing to do with unity.

Moreover, foreigners who come to Shanghai in this era have a common characteristic. They forget about national honor and only think about making money.

At this time, as long as they are given enough benefits, they can give up everything.

And Zhu Chuanren happened to be a master of middle school. With his relationship with foreigners, he would give them some benefits from time to time, which was enough for the Chinese business community to grow steadily. Once it became a huge and irreversible force, it would be useless for foreigners to regret it.

That evening, at the junction of Yuyuan Road and Si Feier Road, which is now Wanhangdu Road, the Paramount Ballroom held a grand opening ceremony.

The Chief of the Demon City came in person and delivered a warm congratulatory message: "May all the guests be happy and enter the gate of Baile; I wish the host a victory and achieve supreme success..."

Later, Mrs. Kakicho held a "golden key" and opened the "door" symbolizing "a hundred years of joy". Then the ballroom opened, the band roared, and people poured in...

Yes, Paramount, known as the No. [-] Music Palace in the Far East, made a stunning debut, attracting attention at home and abroad.

The appearance of Paramount adopts the most avant-garde Art Deco architectural style in the United States. The second floor is a dance floor and banquet hall. The largest dance floor is more than 500 square meters. The dance floor floor is supported by automobile steel plates. When dancing, there will be a shaking feeling, so Paramount is Lemen is known as the only professional dance hall equipped with "spring floor" in the whole city;

Next to the big dance floor there are a middle pool, a small pool and a practice dance floor;

There is also a transparent dance floor made of glass floor on the balcony on one side, which makes it feel wonderful to dance;

The Paramount Ballroom is fully operational and can accommodate thousands of people dancing at the same time.

The third floor is a hotel with a famous golden dance floor.

There is a huge cylindrical fiberglass tower on the top floor. When the dancers are ready to leave, the waiter can print the guest's car number on the tower. The coachman can see it from a distance and drive the car to the entrance of the ballroom.

In the center of the Paramount roof stands a 9-meter-high cylindrical glass silver light tower. The brilliant neon lights have become a wonder of the Magic City.

As for who is the boss of Paramount, there are many legends in the original world. It is said that there are multiple shareholders, the most important of which are two mysterious figures. One is the wealthy Nanxun businessman Gu Liancheng, and the other is the famous late Qing Dynasty official Sheng Xuanhuai. The seventh daughter is Sheng Aiyi.

Let’s talk about Gu Liancheng first. He is the grandson of Gu Fuchang, a wealthy businessman in the late Qing Dynasty.

Gu Liancheng also loved Buddhism. Before the opening of Paramount, he donated a piece of garden real estate at the intersection of Yan'an West Road and Zhenning Road to build a palace for Master Yuanying to preach scriptures and preach;

It was built in 1934 and named the Magic City Yuanming Lecture Hall.

Gu Liancheng took refuge in Master Yuanying, whose Dharma name was Liancheng; he also took refuge in Master Yinguang, whose Dharma name is Zhengxin. His wife Xing Jingxian also believed in Buddhism, and her name was Mingxin.

There is also a mysterious figure named Sheng Aiyi. It is said that she invested 60 taels of silver.

Sheng Aiyi graduated from St. John's University in London. Her fourth brother Sheng Enyi is the general manager of Han Yeping Company. Song Ziwen, the famous son-in-law, returned from studying abroad in Chou country and served as his English secretary. He often visited Sheng Mansion, met Sheng Aiyi, and became acquainted with her. love.

Song Ziwen proposed to the Sheng family, but Sheng Aiyi's mother politely refused.

When Lao Sun urged Song Ziwen to go south in Yangcheng, Song Ziwen hoped that Sheng Aiyi would go with him. Sheng Aiyi hesitated for a long time, and finally lacked the courage to "elope" with him.

A few years later, Song Ziwen got married. Sheng Yiwen's mother was sad and regretful. She fell seriously ill and did not marry until she was 32 years old.

After the opening of Paramount, Shenbao published advertisements for Paramount and news reports about the Paramount Ball every now and then. Paramount gave people the impression that business was booming.

However, the opposite is true. The general manager of Paramount is nominally Zhu Hongru, but the person actually responsible for the operation of the ballroom is Fa Neng, an Austrian.

He came to Shanghai in 1927 and worked as a head waiter at the Dahua Hotel.

The business policy of Fa Neng is "high-end", "high-profile" and "aristocratic". Meals and tickets are very expensive and unaffordable for ordinary people.

Although Paramount's reputation grew and the number of visitors increased, it suffered losses every year due to excessive expenses. It managed to survive for 2 years and 8 months, and declared bankruptcy on August 1936, 8.

Another four months later, Guodu Co., Ltd. announced its official takeover, and Yu Kefei, 4 or [-], became the manager of the Paramount Ballroom.

His father was a hotel waiter and his mother was a factory worker. However, he worked very hard and initially ran errands in a hotel. Later, he was hired as the deputy manager of the International Ballroom and the head dancer of the Metropolitan Ballroom.

Yu Kefei took office and changed the past high-end business policy, advocating attracting ordinary dancers and recruiting bands and dancers.

On the day of the reopening, 30 coquettish and charming dancers appeared at the same time, and the audience burst into cheers.

Yu Kefei has been in charge of Paramount for more than ten years, and Paramount’s business is getting better and better.

The charm of Paramount lies in its red dancers and unique jazz band.

Paramount is famous for its many beautiful and sexy dancers.

The red dancers include Chen Manli, Hu Feng, Xia Danwei, etc., the stars are brilliant, and they compete for beauty; Oh, there is also the red dancer Liang Saizhen. She used to be a movie actress, but she changed her career to become a dancer after seeing how much dancers make money;

Nowadays, people know her name not because of her identity as a dancer, but because she is the love rival of the film actor Ruan Lingyu.

Ruan Lingyu and Tang Jishan lived together. Tang Jishan secretly fell in love with Liang Saizhen, and was discovered by Ruan Lingyu. This incident became one of the reasons for Ruan Lingyu's suicide.

Paramount also has famous singers with beautiful singing voices. Dancers are obsessed with the voices of Zhou Xuan, Bai Guang, Wu Yingyin, etc.;

The Paramount Band was the first in the city. It first invited the chief foreign jazz big band in the city, the Nelson Band, and later the first Chinese band in China, the Jimmy King Band. This story will be told later.

Let’s first talk about a generation of dancer Chen Manli who was born into a poor family. She lived in Neon with her parents in her early years.

When the war broke out in 1937, she followed her parents back to Shanghai. The family relied on her father to provide haircuts for people to survive.

At this time, Chen Manli was slim and tall, could dance gracefully, and was good at Peking Opera. She had co-starred in "Hongluan Xi" with Peking Opera masters Ye Shenglan and Ma Fulu. In addition, she knew the customs and habits of Xiaobenzi, so She gained a reputation in Shanghai, and many dancers came here to pay her a sum of money if they invited her to "sit on the table" (to chat and drink with her).

Liu Huizhi, general manager of Industrial Bank, pursues Chen Manli. Although he is 30 years older than her, she still agrees to marry him.

She left the dance hall, moved into a new house at Lane 579, Yuyuan Road, rented by Liu Huizhi, and began to live at home.

The good times did not last long, but Chen Manli discovered that Liu Huizhi had locked her up at home, while he often went to dance halls to look for flowers. She ran away from home angrily and returned to Paramount to resume her old career as a dancer.

One day, two guests, Liu and Peng, came to Paramount and invited Chen Manli to "sit on the table."

Until early in the morning, Chen Manli was still chatting and laughing with them.

At this moment, a young man in a suit and leather shoes suddenly jumped out from the left side of the bandstand. He drew his pistol, pointed at Chen Manli and fired three shots "pop, pop, pop", and then fled in the chaos.

One of the three shots hit Chen Manli in the head, one shot in her arm, and the third shot hit Peng.

Chen Manli fell to the ground on the spot, the dance hall was in chaos, and the crowd fled in all directions.

Chen Manli and others were immediately sent to the nearby Red Cross Hospital for treatment, but they died of excessive bleeding.

Who shot the dancer Chen Manli?

There are three rumors: First, Chen Manli refused Xiao Benzi's invitation to dance, so she was murdered by Xiao Benzi.

Second, the old lover knew that Chen Manli was in a relationship with someone else, so she came to shoot and assassinate her.

Third, Chen Manli was a dispatcher from Fog City. The reason why she was shot was the revenge of the secret service headquarters for the anti-rape operation in Fog City.

More than 70 years have passed, and Chen Manli's shooting case is still confusing and has become one of the "mysterious cases" in Shanghai.

However, the citizens of Magic City believed that Chen Manli was killed by Xiao Benzi, and held a grand memorial service for her.

There are many stories about Paramount dancers. There are not many bloody cases like this. The more stories are very fragrant and exciting. Most of these stories have disappeared with the passage of time. The only ones that have not disappeared are the Paramount Ballroom. It still stands near Jing'an Temple, still telling new stories...

The appearance of Paramount was like the stunning appearance of beauties, and the fragrance of flowers attracted butterflies. Dancers from all walks of life, and even celebrities, came in droves. Dancing at Paramount became a fashion among the upper class.

For example, Zhang Laoliu returned from Italy and lived at No. 2, Rue Molière.

He heard that Paramount was luxurious and beautiful, so he came here to dance. He fell in love with Paramount as soon as he came there;

Every time he comes to Magic City from now on, he will come to Paramount to dance.

After filming the movie "Modern Times", the comedy master Chaplin and his newlywed wife Pauline Godard took a cruise to Shanghai for their honeymoon.

Chaplin made it clear that he wanted to visit Paramount.

So, accompanied by people from the literary and artistic circles, Chaplin and his wife came to Paramount.

When they walked into the luxurious ballroom and saw the first-class equipment, the "glass dance floor" and the "spring floor" paved with colored frosted glass, they couldn't help but hug each other and dance.

The next day, the Shanghai newspaper published a photo of Chaplin and his wife dancing at the Paramount, which became a favorite story in Shanghai.

There are too many celebrities like this to count. In this era, Paramount is known as the place where Internet celebrities check in. If celebrities have never been to Paramount, they will be embarrassed to hang out in the industry.

In this life, Zhu Chuanren also invested in the Paramount Ballroom.

In fact, he built the Paramount Ballroom for the increasingly frequent Chamber of Commerce events.

The location is still the same as before, including the architectural style.

The total investment is 2550 taels of silver, covering an area of ​​nearly 3 square meters. The original building area was [-] square meters. When completed, it was a [-]-story reinforced concrete frame structure, which took two years to complete.

He personally accounted for half of the total investment of 70, and the rest was distributed to members of the Chinese Business Association.

Those who have not participated in the investment will automatically become VIPs of the dance hall after its completion.

The facade of the Paramount building emphasizes vertical lines, and the facade is treated with long straight windows. The lighthouse at the corner is the center of the facade composition.

The exterior walls were originally made of orange-red, fried beige and brown glazed bricks, with a black terrazzo waistline in the middle. The overall building is in the Art Deco style.

The large dance floor of Paramount is 40 meters long and 20.7 meters wide, without a pillar in the middle.

This long-span structure is a major feature of the Magic City Ballroom architecture.

The characteristics of the original Paramount world were also transferred by Zhu Chuanren.

The dance floor can accommodate hundreds of people dancing. Behind the dance floor is a music stage. The center of the dance floor is made of hardwood that is spliced ​​with straight strips and curved strips. It has a wooden bow-type elastic floor, commonly known as "spring floor", which will produce a shaking feeling when dancing. , surrounded by a glass floor, made of thick frosted glass, with colorful light bulbs underneath, which are crystal-clear and eye-catching.

Next to the big dance floor are the middle pool, the small pool, and the practice dance floor. The middle pool and the small pool are generally reserved, and the practice floor is equipped with full-time coaches who teach dance for free.

There is a horse gallery on the third floor and a famous golden dance floor.

Someone described it at that time: "There is a dance hall at the top, and a dance hall at the bottom. The spring floor is soaring, and the glass floor is inlaid with beautiful shadows. What a blessing! What a blessing! The spring night is worth a thousand dollars."

There are 18000 electric lights indoors at Paramount, which are bright and bright all night long. There is no need to worry about power outages or insufficient power supply. It has its own emergency equipment and generators.

As for the pillar tower lights on the roof, Zhu Chuanren also used them, not only for decoration, but also with car numbers printed on them, because there was no parking lot at the time and the dancers' cars were parked on the side of the road.

For the convenience of dancers, many colored light bulbs are installed on the Paramount Glass Silver Light Tower, strung together into numbers.

Each waiting car corresponds to one of these numbers.

When the driver sees his car number light up on the lighthouse, he knows that the owner is going home.

Sometimes, these lights can also be turned into advertising signs, and they can also collect some advertising fees.

As for the ugly country band, "ventilation heating room" (similar to today's air conditioner), the largest carpet in the East, lounge, dressing room, cloakroom, bar service, etc., to name a few, they are all first-class.

Of course, the most critical core of the dance hall is the dancers, and they are inseparable from the dancers.

The beginning of dancers: In the early 20s, most of the dancers were played by women from Maozi and Benzi. From 20, the number of dancers increased significantly, and Chinese women began to take advantage, reaching a historical peak in 1927.

At that time, people gave many nicknames to the special professional group of dancers, such as "elastic girls" and "good-waist girls", which meant selling slender waists for people to hug;

"Pengcai girl", "Pengcai" is the homophony of the strong and weak rhythm of dance music;

There is even a rather poetic name - "Fairy on the Volcano". The so-called "volcano" refers to the fiery dance floor.

The life of a dancer is grand on the surface, but in reality it is mostly difficult.

In various newspapers and periodicals at that time, they always appeared under headlines such as suicide, love murder, theft, and family disputes. Dancing girls were always an unseemly image.

Therefore, their love and marriage are always prone to resistance and twists and turns. It is not uncommon for dancers to commit suicide for the betrayal of their lovers.

The dance hall is a restless place that always contains dangerous and evil forces. Survival here is inherently precarious. Most of the dancers dress up just for "a bite of food."

The dance industry was classified as a "special business" during this period, and the order of dance halls was directly related to social security.

Therefore, the concession and the Chinese community have repeatedly formulated and promulgated the "Regulations on the Management of Dance Halls", "Rules for Dancers", and "Rules for Banning the Business of Dancers", which stipulate and restrict the business methods of dance halls and dancers and restrict the behavior of dancers.

Lao Chang has always taken a disapproving attitude towards ballroom dancing, and even banned officials from entering dance venues after the implementation of the "New Life Movement".

Since then, there have been calls for banning dance halls, for various reasons. For example, dance halls attract young men and women to sing and dance all night long, which is contrary to the essence of the "New Life Movement";

Young people, who are the backbone of society, are addicted to it, and are harmed physically and mentally, endangering the survival of the nation;

The chaos caused by hugging will be obvious to people's eyes and ears, endangering social morality;

The dance hall is full of entertainment and extravagance. Once the money is gone, they may commit suicide or take risks, endangering social security.

After the book arrived, the extravagant atmosphere in the ballroom seemed incompatible with the crisis of the country, and many powerful people in the country began to feel indignant about dancing.

There was even a general's proposal to ban dancing, and pointed out: "For male and female social dancers, they not only give and receive, but also make love, but also enhance their lingering and friction, and are extremely capable of indulgence."

Compared with the central government's defensive remarks about the ban on dance, Shanghai City is the biggest bullseye in banning dance, and its determination to ban dance is a bit reluctant. However, the central government's public opinion claims that the benefits of banning dance are not only savings, but more importantly, in this society There was an "evil air emanating from the dance hall" circulating.

In addition, many officials have their own personal emotional reasons for banning dancing. For example, Wang Yunwu, Vice President of the Executive Yuan, who played an important role in the ban on dancing movement, actually has his son-in-law and son who are addicted to dancing. A "gentleman" whose son-in-law married a dancer as his mistress, and his daughter swallowed medicine and committed suicide in anger.

Just when Wang Yunwu was grieving, his son happened to be in love with a dancer in Shanghai. Wang thought it was insulting to the family tradition, hated the dance hall, and vowed to ban dancing.

It is said that the reason why Lao Chang was reluctant to ballroom dancing was because his wife once indulged in dancing, which made him very angry.

But in this fashionable, trendy, and luxurious era, dancing girls have indeed become a unique scene amidst the bustling lights of that time.

They often wear fashionable cheongsams, heavy makeup, and jewels. They dance gracefully on the luxurious dance floor, making the dancers fascinated and willing to spend a lot of money.

Because of this, some people say that they are the high-income class of that era, while others say that they are just women who are forced to live in youth because of the pressure of life. There is unspeakable bitterness hidden behind the luxurious life.

Ballroom dance is an imported product. With the invasion of Western powers in the mid-19th century, ballroom dance also came to China along with many foreign things.

Like perming hair, wearing suits, and watching movies, ballroom dancing became a symbol of the fashionable life of people in the upper class at that time.

Ballroom dancing, in which men and women dance together, with their faces leaning on each other, their hands holding each other's hands, and their heels spinning with the music, was more favored by modern gentlemen and fashionable ladies at that time. Dancing girls also came into being. Their income was much higher than that of ordinary employees, with a monthly salary of no less than 300 yuan. You must know that at that time, the monthly salary of a county magistrate, major general, and university professor was only three to four hundred yuan, while the monthly salary of ordinary workers was Price ranges from [-] yuan to more than [-] yuan.

However, although dancers have high incomes, their daily expenses are also very high.

After all, dancing is a very expensive entertainment activity. Not only does it cost money to enter the dance hall, but each dance hall also has a variety of expensive Chinese and foreign famous wines and drinks.

In order to attract dancers, the dancers show off their magical powers and try their best to attract dancers to spend money on themselves.

However, most of these dancers come from poor backgrounds, and many of them are forced to do so because of life's constraints.

Of course, some of them engage in this profession out of vanity and pleasure.

Dancers were the signatures of dance halls in the old days. Some of them relied on their good looks, some relied on their proficient dancing skills, and some relied on their superb communication skills and sweet words to make the dancers obediently take out their money.

In short, the quality of the dancers directly affects the operating efficiency of the dance hall.

Most of the rewards that dancers receive are not cash but dance tickets. Dancers exchange their dance tickets for cash every month to the dance hall, and the dance hall will get a commission from it.

Dancers need novel and fashionable clothing to make themselves the highlight of the dance hall. They also need fashionable outfits to attract the attention of dancers. For example, imported glass stockings and silk cheongsam are all necessary "equipment".

But when the dancers are young and good-looking, they can earn high wages.

When youth is gone, their quality of life is greatly reduced. Many dancers choose to marry when they get older. Most of them marry small businessmen or brokers in the old business field. There are also a few lucky ones who marry dignitaries.

It sounds good, but not everyone can become a dancer. During the period of the Republic of China, when the old and the new were changing, some of the conservatism of feudal society had just faded away, and people were eager to try new things. Women, especially, had a higher pursuit of beauty. .

There is an ancient saying that "women dress up to please those who appreciate them", that is, women dress up for those who appreciate them.

But it can also be said that "women dress up to please themselves", that is, women dress up to please themselves. But no matter which one it is, women are naturally beautiful.

When recruiting people in dance halls these days, advertisements will clearly state that dancers with "good looks and good looks" will be hired to accompany the dancers. "Sex" can be understood as "beautiful face and beautiful figure."

Since a woman's appearance is an important criterion for measuring a dancer's career, and a woman's innate conditions are an important evaluation factor for a dancer's position, outstanding appearance, graceful posture and fashionable dress are more likely to attract the attention of dancers.

Therefore, it is not surprising that when people talked about the career of a dancer at that time, they mentioned three conditions, namely, "a beautiful face; a slender figure; and the ability to be as decorative and artificial as possible."

"The Analects of Confucius" says: "If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools."

To gain a foothold in the profession, a dancer must first master the dance skills necessary for this profession and master a variety of dance steps.

Dancers must master some basic skills of social dancing before entering the ballroom, which means that dancers already have certain dance skills before engaging in a career as a backup dancer.

In the society at that time, there were many ballroom dance schools that specially recruited boys and girls to learn to dance. For example, at the Paramount Ballroom at that time, dancers had to obtain a dance license before they could dance with them, so they had to receive dance training before dancing with them.

Paramount Ballroom stipulates that dancers must undergo an assessment and hold a dance certificate issued by it before they can enter Paramount to dance.

The overall quality of the early Shanghai dancers was quite high, and many of them were talented students from well-known girls' middle schools.

It can be seen that if you want to become a famous red dancer in the early days, you not only need to polish your dancing skills, but also need a certain level of education.

To learn social dance, you must first lay a solid foundation. The basic skills of social dance mainly include basic walking methods, reflexive movements, tilting and swinging, lifting and lowering, as well as historical conduction and control, explosive power, rotation methods, and the cooperation of male and female partners.

Generally speaking, from the perspective of popularity, they are mostly foxtrot, poros, waltz, tango, rumba, jitterbug, etc. Foxtrot can be divided into fast foxtrot and slow foxtrot.

A red dancer usually has the following qualities, namely superb dancing skills, outstanding appearance, elegant temperament, good at communication, and some also have a pretty good education, so she stands out from the crowd.

Among the several qualities possessed, superb dancing skills ranked first, which shows that to become a popular dancer at that time, excellent dancing skills were the first priority.

Zhu Chuanren doesn't like dancing, but he likes watching.

Of course, compared to those brisk dance steps, Zhu Chuanren prefers to hold the dancer and walk three slow steps on the dance floor, which is more enjoyable.

Looking at the men and women on the dance floor, Zhu Chuanren held a glass of red wine in his hand and watched in rapt attention.

He occupies the big booth alone, surrounded by his brothers, and irrelevant people can't even see each other.

At this time, Xu Dali walked over with a glass of wine in one hand and a glass in the other:

"Third Young Master, would you like to drink something?"

Zhu Chuanren glanced at him and couldn't help asking:

"Busy working?"

After the Paramount Ballroom opened, Xu Dali handed over the work here to Xu Dali, which was also an affirmation of his hard work over the years.

Now Xu Dali can also be called Brother Li outside, and he is also the general manager of the famous Paramount Ballroom.

"There's nothing to be busy with. The dance hall is on track. I just need to keep an eye on the accounts and make sure no one makes trouble here."

"Okay, let's sit down and have a drink." Zhu Chuanren raised his chin and said.

After the two had a few drinks, Xu Dali asked:

"Third Young Master, would you like to find a beautiful woman for you?"

"Forget it, I'm not that interested."

"Well, it's a pity that the beautiful woman just arrived today. I deliberately suppressed her and didn't let her go out to accompany the guests."

Zhu Chuanren laughed and said:

"How come you changed to being a pimp?"

"No way, I'm thinking of you. If I want anything good, I have to think of the boss first."

"Haha, okay, call me over to take a look, just to whet my appetite."

Xu Dali chuckled and clapped his hands outside. After a while, a timid and white-haired little beauty was brought over.

"Brother Li, bring Lin Yuanyuan."

"Okay, let's sit down. Yuanyuan, come here~" Xu Dali waved and asked the little girl to come and sit.

"Why don't you call someone soon?" Xu Dali made a face.

"Hello, Third Young Master~" The little girl did not dare to look directly at Zhu Chuanren, looking down at her toes, her voice was not much louder than a mosquito.

Seeing this, Xu Dali had no choice but to explain:

"Third Young Master, please forgive me, this girl has never seen the world."

Zhu Chuanren looked at the other party's appearance openly. Her facial features were exquisite and well-proportioned, especially her high nose bridge and slender eyebrows, which made her eyes more three-dimensional.

In addition, unlike other women who wear heavy makeup, she is like an elegant plum blossom in winter, proud and independent.

She is slender and slender, and may have been trained in dance, which makes her figure very elegant.

Although he was a little reserved because it was the first time he met a big shot, his movements showed a natural and calm elegance.

The neck line is still slender, but the whole person's temperament is a bit more like a wealthy daughter.

Overall, her makeup and posture show a natural beauty.

She was indeed a rare beauty. Zhu Chuanren nodded to Xu Dali and expressed his approval.

"Where did you find it?" Zhu Chuanren asked angrily in front of the other party.

"Hehe, you're lucky. This girl is a down-and-out rich girl, but she's well-protected and doesn't know much about the world. If it weren't for the trouble at home, she wouldn't have come to apply as a dancer."

Zhu Chuanren suddenly realized that it was no wonder that the other party had the aura of a lady.

"Come and sit down and talk to me about your family situation." Zhu Chuanren seemed to be the God who could decide everything at this time, and a few words could decide a person's life.

Lin Yuanyuan glanced at Xu Dali, and after receiving encouragement from the other party's eyes, she slowly walked to Zhu Chuanren and sat down next to her, with her legs together and her posture neat.

"Three~third young master~"

"Don't be nervous, I can't eat someone as big as you!" Zhu Chuanren didn't find it strange. With his current status, he deserves to be treated with caution.

"Yes~" Lin Yuanyuan responded, but his whole body was still in a tense state.

Zhu Chuanren simply asked:

"What does your family do?"

When talking about things at home, Lin Yuanyuan looked miserable and said softly:

"My father has a factory that mainly produces cans, moon cakes and the like."

"Oh? Logically speaking, it should be good. How could it decline?"

Lin Yuanyuan suddenly raised his head and said with a hint of resentment:

"What the third young master doesn't know is that since the birth of Wangwang and his good friends, the food industry in Magic City has suffered a huge impact. Many factories have to close down because they are unsustainable."

Zhu Chuanren was stunned for a moment, and smiled helplessly, with his hands still on his body.

But he said:

"Isn't that true? You produce mooncakes. Wangwang and his good friends are not involved in this business, so they shouldn't be."

Lin Yuanyuan lowered her head again:

"I don't know the details. Anyway, after the factory closed, my father became ill. He lay at home and never got up."

"This is really a tragic story, so you chose to be a dancer to supplement your family income?"

Lin Yuanyuan nodded, then shook her head~

"What does this mean?" Zhu Chuanren expressed confusion.

"On the one hand, I want to support my family, and on the other hand, I want to find a rich man who can save my father. He still doesn't give up and wants to make a comeback."

Zhu Chuanren suddenly realized that he wanted to catch Kaizi by co-writing, but he had chosen the wrong industry.

Dancers do have the opportunity to meet rich people, but the people who can really help his father will never invest too much in a dancer, just for fun, and investing money is another matter.

"Has your father joined the Chinese Chamber of Commerce?"

Lin Yuanyuan shook her head:

"The factory closed before the General Assembly was established."

Zhu Chuanren sighed:

"That's really no luck."

Xu Dali coughed twice:

"Third Young Master, in such a happy evening, let's have some fun. Why don't you let Yuanyuan dance for you? She has learned dancing since she was a child, and she is a child."

Zhu Chuanren shook his head:

"Forget it, she's probably not in the mood either. Just have a couple of drinks with me and save the dancing for later."

He still knows how to be considerate of others and is unwilling to force others into trouble.

However, he decided to learn more about what Lin Yuanyuan mentioned. He could go bankrupt by making mooncakes, and he would live longer.

The history of mooncakes can be traced back hundreds of years. In the poem "Farewell Lian Shou" written by Su Shi in the Northern Song Dynasty, there is a line "small cakes are like chewing the moon, with crisp and sweet taste in them", which is often regarded as a poem describing mooncakes.

But in fact, this poem has nothing to do with moon cakes in today's sense. It just talks about a kind of dessert that is round like the moon and uses butter and sugar as fillings.

This kind of dessert is not meant to be eaten only during the Mid-Autumn Festival, it is just an everyday dessert.

Later, in books such as "Old Martial Arts" of the Southern Song Dynasty, it was mentioned that there was a kind of pasta called "moon cakes". Many people thought that this meant that people in the Song Dynasty must have been eating moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In fact, this is not the case. At that time, the food called "moon cakes" was just a daily delicacy and was not eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

And this kind of food doesn't look like today's pancakes. It's steamed, but it's actually more like a steamed bun.

The customs of the Mid-Autumn Festival between the two Song dynasties are recorded in detail in books such as "Tokyo Menghualu". Hotels would sell new wine before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival, so drinking new wine was a "reserved program" of the Mid-Autumn Festival at that time.

As for food, crabs and seasonal fruits such as pomegranates, quinces, pears, dates, grapes, and tangerines are more suitable for the occasion.

When admiring the moon at night, wealthy people would put up lanterns and colorful decorations in their pavilions and pavilions, while ordinary people would come to restaurants one after another to enjoy various performances and keep the atmosphere lively all night long.

In addition to crabs and fruits, Zheng Wang's "Shan Fu Lu" during the Song Dynasty mentioned that the seasonal food on Mid-Autumn Night was "Moon Moon Soup".

In fact, in the entire Mid-Autumn Festival custom at that time, there was no habit of eating mooncakes.

The actual eating of Mid-Autumn moon cakes has to start from the Ming Dynasty.

Legend has it that in the Yuan Dynasty, in order to resist foreign rule, the Han people used cakes as a secret code and agreed to revolt on August [-]th. Later, the custom of eating mooncakes on the Mid-Autumn Festival began.

This is of course just a folklore story, not historical reality.

The difference between the mooncakes at that time and today is that they were very big. If there were any rap singers at that time, they would have couldn't help but sing: "Look at this mooncake, it's so big and round!".

Volume [-] of "Scenery of the Imperial Capital" compiled by Liu Tong and Yu Yizheng of the Ming Dynasty records: "When worshiping the moon on August [-]th, the fruit cakes must be round; the melons must be carved with staggered teeth, like lotus flowers. Moon cakes and moon fruits, Relatives and relatives repay each other with gifts, and the cake has a diameter of two feet."

This means that the mooncakes at that time were very large, even reaching a "diameter of two feet", which is about 66 centimeters in diameter, which was as big as a common bicycle tire.

Of course, such a big mooncake cannot be eaten by one person. Sharing this big mooncake with the whole family is the meaning of "reunion".

Because mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival were generally larger at that time, they were not called mooncakes in the early Ming Dynasty, but were called "Tai Cake".

Zhu Quan, the seventeenth son of Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, recorded in the "August" section of "The Book of Yao Xian Shenyin": "On the night of the [-]th, when the gold essence was strong and the moonlight was at its strongest, the whole family, big and small, sat in front of the court. Cups and plates are utensils for drinking and eating. They make a moon cake and eat it together, saying that they want to be reunited in August." This record is very clear. At that time, the whole family shared a big moon cake.

This custom of large mooncakes continued in the Qing Dynasty.

In later generations, in addition to the common bean paste, date paste, five kernels, egg yolk, lotus paste and other flavors, mooncakes with various magical flavors emerge in endlessly. There are only unexpected ones, such as chocolate mooncakes, abalone mooncakes, durian mooncakes, and roast duck mooncakes. And so on, often refreshing the screen.

In ancient times, the taste of mooncakes was much inferior. The simplest ones were just a solid dough cake.

Of course, there are also some mooncakes with slightly more sophisticated tastes.

Yuan Mei, a great talent in the Qing Dynasty, recorded a kind of "Liu Fangbo Mooncake" in his famous gourmet book "Suiyuan Food List" completed in Nanjing.

The method of making this kind of mooncake is to use Shandong flying noodles as pastry as the skin, pine nuts, walnut kernels, and melon seeds as the middle powder, and add a little rock sugar and lard as the filling. It is not very sweet when you eat it, but it is fragrant. The pine is soft and greasy, very unusual.”

This kind of crispy mooncake filled with various nuts is similar to the five-nut mooncake that was criticized in later generations.

Zeng Yi's "Zhongzhilu" in the Qing Dynasty recorded a method of making "crispy moon cakes" in detail. "Use white ash flour, steam half of it in a steamer without seeing any moisture, and mix lard with cold water for the other half." Then mix the steamed noodles with lard. Use a ball of raw oil dough, wrap a small ball of cooked oil dough inside, roll it out with a rolling pin into a teacup mouth size, fold it into a square shape, then roll it into a ball, and fold it again Make it into a square shape, and then stuff it. Use a cake seal to make it, and cook it on a kang, then it is ready. The pastry filling is made of cooked noodles, sugar, walnuts, etc., and a little sesame oil is added, so that it does not fall apart."

This kind of homemade mooncake is obviously filled with puff pastry and nut fillings.

"A Dream of Red Mansions" also records the mooncakes eaten by the Jia family, which basically fall into the category of five-nut mooncakes.

Most ordinary people eat five kernels, but the taste in the palace is a bit richer. As for the fillings, there are candied fruit fillings, orange sand fillings, date paste fillings, sesame and salt and pepper fillings. .

The most popular thing here in Shanghai is the meat mooncakes.

(End of this chapter)