Hong Yanwu and Shui Qingzheng pointed and looked at Le.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the door opened, a young man wearing a white coat and black pants with a small head came out.

This young man didn't expect someone outside, so he looked at them timidly.

Then he put the stool in his right hand under the eaves.

Then he kicked high, stepped on the stool and hung the things in his left hand under the eaves on the left side again.

Not to mention, this thing that just hung up is even weirder.

Dare to love the top is a Luo circle, on the circle is a barrel of gold paper paste, drooping red cotton strips, about six or seven minutes wide.

It's good now, this thing really pairs with the wine gourd on the right.

When the wind blows, it is a swaying and spinning, and a fluttering around.

Hey, that's funny to watch.

But the wine gourd is better to say, what does this mean by something like a strip of cloth or a large tassel?

Hong Yanwu and Shui Liquidation are completely incomprehensible.

Fortunately, the young man is not still here, Shui Qing asked him.

"Hey, hello, let me ask, what is this thing you just hung up for?"

I didn't expect this young man to be too thin-skinned.

Got off the stool, didn't speak, blushed first.

He opened his mouth, but he didn't say anything, just a rattling head.

Shui Qing thought it was funny when he saw the appearance of his pestle, so he happily asked him again.

"Hey, you don't know, who told you to hang it?"

Sure enough, the young man's face was even more embarrassed under questioning, like a piece of red cloth.

It took me a long time before the word "shopkeeper" popped up, and there was no follow-up.

At this time, a lesson was heard from the room.

"Hey, why are you like a piece of wood, you can't say a few more words. Also, how do I teach you? Say hello to people first, laugh, be courteous, why do you forget all about it?"

As soon as the door opened, Li Fu came out.

Hong Yanwu and Shui Qing hurriedly called "Uncle Li".

At this time, after another introduction, the two of them learned that this young man's name was Fang Bingsheng, and he was Li Fu's grandson.

However, knowing is knowing, but the young man is even more embarrassed.

What's the matter? Because of his low generation, he has to call Hong Yanwu and Shui Qing uncles and aunts in terms of seniority.

But he is also an eighteen-year-old man, seeing that Hong Yanwu and Shui Qing are very young, and they look a few years older than themselves, they can't be called.

As a result, his face was as ashamed as a purple eggplant, and he was sweating.

It's still like a goldfish, just opening its mouth and bubbling, without a word.

This made Li Fu even more angry, scolding him for having no rules, and counting him for being ignorant.

However, Shui Qing and Hong Yanwu understood and persuaded Li Fu separately not to care.

One said, "The child is a sincere person, and it is normal to not be able to wipe his face, don't be embarrassed for him." Besides, you have to think for your children. There are other people in the store, and if they are low, they will be embarrassed. ”

The other also said, "Uncle Li, don't be so old-fashioned. If such a young man had to call me uncle, I would feel awkward. Simply, Bingsheng, let's still talk about being equals, or let's call each other by name. ”

Saying this, the embarrassment has subsided a lot.

However, for Fang Bingsheng, there is still a bit of a dilemma at this time.

Because although he was grateful to Hong Yanwu and Shui Qing in his heart, he didn't dare to call it that, for fear that his grandfather would beat him.

But if he doesn't call people, he is as stupid as an honest man, and he has to make his grandfather angry.

So at this time, he showed his clever side, and even knew how to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, and quietly picked up a stool and entered the house—wilted.

At the scene, Hong Yanwu noticed this.

While he was smiling secretly, he couldn't help but be happy for Li Fu.

Because he could see that the child was kind, but not stupid.

Cultivate it well, it's a good seedling.

If he can really experience it, Li Fu will have a successor, and he will have something to rely on.

So not only did he not expose it, but he also took the initiative to help divert Li Fu's attention.

In this way, he asked the question that he and Shui Qing had been thinking about for a long time just now.

"Uncle Li, what do you mean under this roof?

Sure enough, Li Fu would not let them down, and gave them the real answer as soon as he opened his mouth.

"Hey, Xiao Wu, you are such a smart person, you can't even see it? This is a cover for our business. One tube drinks, the other tube eats. ”

"You can see this wine gourd, right? Next to it, the round bucket on the top represents the noodle pot, and the thin strip of paper on the bottom represents the noodles. ”

"This is to tell people that we also sell boiled noodles here. If you see that it is red, it is said that it is Hermes-Epitek. Because if it is a halal transaction, the strip will be blue. ”

Hearing this, before Hong Yanwu could speak, Shui Qing was surprised first.

"Ouch, what do you mean...... As long as we hang these two things, others can know at a glance that this is a tavern or a restaurant?

Li Fu smiled and nodded.

That's what it means. That's it according to the rules. You young people don't know it, but you older people can understand it at a glance. ”

Shui Qing couldn't help but be amazed.

But Hong Yanwu loves to ponder when he encounters trouble, and when he blinks his eyes, he expressed his doubts.

"Uncle, isn't that right? According to what you said, what kind of name does 'Yanmei Building' need, it's all hung with wine gourds." Besides, when we open a business, we can't just point to the elderly people. ”

"I think young people also love to drink, and they spend money happily. Who knows this now? So we're going to have to have a plaque. ”

"By the way, Shui Qing has a good idea, I think it's good to call it 'Red Gourd' for our business, and it is also homophonic to the Hong of our Hong family. What do you think?"

Who knows, his words made Li Fu pout, and he denied it completely.

"How's it going? It's not good! If this 'red gourd' really can be used as an alias, and it will be called by word of mouth, of course, that's good, but if you have to put this character on the bright side as a name, you will fall behind. The big layman one. ”

Hong Yanwu must be unwilling. "Uncle Li, look at what you said, it's better to have a font size than not to have a font size, I don't believe it......"

"I'm telling you, you have to have rules for doing business, and you can't break the rules. What is the purpose of these signs and disguises? Everyone knows that they are used to attract customers. But what is the difference between them, how to use them, they are all exquisite, in today's words, they are scientific, you can't mess around. ”

This can be regarded as tearing away the chatterbox, Li Fu simply faced the two of them outside and taught Hong Yanwu and Shui Qing a good lesson.

"It's a signboard, but in fact, there are many types when you count them down. Font size, banners, signboards, plaques, pillars, couplets, all in its list. And all walks of life, each is different, the style is also strange, and there are all kinds of new things. Like the plaster style of the pharmacy, the haircut loves to use the guise, and the hotel must press the glass electric light outside, which is called the industry attribute. ”

To put it bluntly, it is purely determined by its usefulness, which is equivalent to the current outdoor advertising, so there is also a general name called 'market recruitment'. ”

"You think, the really bustling street market, which is lined with shops of all kinds and sizes. In order to attract business, let people remember themselves, and come back next time. Of course, the sign has to be obvious. Therefore, in the past, stores from all walks of life all showed their housekeeping skills and worked signboards and disguises. Some are written on powder walls, some are woodcut, some are cast in copper, or hanging wooden poppies, or hanging tin cups, decorated with tassels. It is more vivid than the other, and one is more 'material' than the other. ”

But then again, no matter how many tricks there are, because the rules of convention have their own reasonableness, customers will not admit mistakes. The merchants in the various trading houses are absolutely impossible to make mistakes and chaos. Whether you like it or not, everyone must arrange the signs and guils according to the characteristics of the industry and the scale of the business. ”

"I'll just take our Zhuang Pavilion as an example. To say that the scale from large to small rows, it is a hall, a building, and a residence. Generally speaking, these places that can be fried seriously, and the form of the disguise is relatively unified. ”

"In almost all halls, buildings, and dwellings, flat iron is fixed above the front of the door and extends out of the eaves, and the front end is rolled upwards into the shape of several flowers, and two or four wooden signs are hung two feet downward. Hermes-Epitek is pitch black or red, embossed with three-dimensional gold lacquer characters, and the plaque is hung with red cloth strips. Halal in black gold letters, with strips of blue cloth underneath. This is the guise of the Zhuang Pavilion Bank, which will never be out of shape. ”

"The biggest difference is actually in the size and wording of the sign. Such as the hall number restaurant, the most signboards, the best material, the falling tassel, engraved on the "festive banquet", "special meeting", "Sichuan Lu cuisine" or "north and south full banquet" and other words. If there are fewer restaurant signs, the words have also become 'festive banquet', 'seasonal shop', 'casual drink', 'four o'clock delicacies' and so on. If you go to 'Ju', it will probably become a signature dish, and the bottom of the sign will also be replaced with red silk. ”

"Wait a little further, it's the 'Second Meat Shop'. There are also names on the plaques of these small shops, but they can't even be called 'dwelling', so they are called 'deep in the river willows', 'thousand miles of fragrance', 'Haitian Spring' and the like. But correspondingly, the front hanging cover becomes interesting. Usually use cloth, its shape is like a flag, the middle one is about eight inches wide, the white heart is blue, there is a narrow strip about three inches wide on both sides, all about two feet long, four lines of poems in the white heart, 'Taibai Doujiu poems hundred, Chang'an City on the restaurant sleeps, the Son of Heaven does not come to the boat, and claims that the minister is a fairy in wine. 'Each sentence is hung up, a total of four hanging, the more you can blow, the better. ”

"Then further down is the nameless tavern restaurant. But the pretense is even more desperate. Just like this wine gourd, just like this Luo ring noodle pot, they are all common practices in the past. You can even use your imagination to come up with something creative. Like hanging a leg of lamb for selling barbecue, hanging a steamer for selling buns, and even hanging a copper fish at the door of a fish dish. As long as it is related to the content of the sale, it is enough to attract people's attention. It doesn't matter if there are words or not. ”

Actually, from top to bottom, the reason is very clear. First of all, the façade of the big store is big enough, and you can introduce yourself through the font size, banner, signboard, plaque, pillar, couplet, comprehensive and all-round publicity. There are few types of small shops, or there are so many signboards and guises. The façade is also small, and it can't be opened. ”

"Moreover, the pomp and solemnity that big businesses pay attention to, the more they abide by the rules, the more they understand the rules, and the more trust they have. Small shops, on the contrary, are easy to ignore because of their small façade, and in order to highlight their existence, they must have alternative ideas to make them eye-catching. If you look at the 'big tobacco bag pot' in the flower market (Tiancheng cigarette pouch shop) and the 'black monkey' felt hat shop (Yang Xiaoquan felt hat) in Xianyukou, almost everyone in the capital knows it, but few people can say the name of the store. This is a typical example, a small shop that has become famous under the guise of it. ”

"Finally, there is one of the most critical reasons. That is, the customers are also divided into high and low levels. In the past, not everyone could read. Large merchants mainly do business with broad owners, and there are many educated guests. The small shop is open for the poor people, the customer level is low, and many people are blind. So who is the sign in the shop? ”

At this point, Hong Yanwu and Shui Qing almost all understood.

They really couldn't help but sigh silently in their hearts, this past business was really exquisite.

It is not only reasonable, but also interesting, which fully reflects the folk wisdom and even artistry.

It's really much better than hanging a few words at the door now.

But even so, there still seem to be flaws to be found, such as Shui Qing's dissent out of political consciousness and class feelings.

"Uncle Li, what you said is right, but it is not absolute. After all, that's in the past, and it's been years since I was literate. There are white characters and other words, but there are not many people who can't read at all. So why don't you make a sign? It wouldn't be nice if you could get young people to come. ”

Unexpectedly, Li Fu's reasoning was still sufficient.

"Hey, I was exactly what you thought. But later he was persuaded by the old shopkeeper. He said that to do business, you must first have self-knowledge and recognize your own position. If you don't want to lose money, you have to think about what kind of money you are making first. I want to know what kind of business I am doing. ”

"The old shopkeeper means, we have to rely on careful planning to make money, from the genuine. Don't waste a penny, but also make small profits but quick turnover. The main customers are undoubtedly the elderly, and the young people don't come to drink at noon, so if they really want to drink, they have to get off work at night and go to a place where there is stir-fry. Therefore, it is a waste to decorate the storefront excessively or hang up signs. And it also seems to be ignorant, which makes the real customers of the tavern suspicious and awkward. ”

The old shopkeeper also said that now all stores have to pay attention to decoration and name, but it has become normal. This is carrying a suona on the plane, not blowing into the sky. Turning around and making a name that doesn't live up to the truth has become a joke. On the other hand, we came honestly according to the rules, but it became a strange victory. ”

"You think, there is no name for trading, you all feel fresh, right? That's what I want, and it doesn't take long for everyone in the neighborhood to know about our small shop by word of mouth. No, the lack of a name has become the biggest advantage, but it will attract young people who have never seen it. We are really doing business, and we are not afraid that we will not be able to keep people, and new customers will become old customers in the future......"

Hey, what else do you need to say?

Shui Qing was speechless after listening.

I was embarrassed to turn around and glance at Hong Yanwu.

She was convinced.

。 Museum of Literature