Xu Zhimo was dressed in a suit and leather shoes, and his head was also waxed, which was so oily that flies could not stand. Lu Xiaoman, www.biquge.info of the pen "Fun" Pavilion, is wearing a Western-style dress, with her hair coiled at the back of her head, and a handful of bangs on her forehead that seem silly to Zhou Hexuan.

Zhou Hexuan sat in the passenger cab and only heard Xu Zhimo in the back row say to the driver: "Go to the Majestic Hotel." ”

In the 20s, the Shanghai dance venue, the Licha Hotel was the first-class, with a large dance hall that can accommodate hundreds of people, with a bright floor, soft lighting, and a special accompaniment band. On Sunday and weekend nights, ballroom balls are held here, mainly for foreigners, but also for a few compradors who are close to foreigners.

The second class is Dahua, Carlton, Yipinxiang, Moon Palace and other hotels, which mainly receive foreigners and Chinese with heads and faces. At the same time, there are also dancers, most of whom are from Belarus and Japan, and it will take two years for the number of Chinese dancers to increase.

At the beginning of 1927, if you went to the dance hall of the Majestic Hotel, you could only dance three pieces for 1 yuan, and you had to pay 5 dimes for tea. At the end of the night, the minimum consumption is one yuan and five jiao, and the monthly salary of Zhou Hexuan's maid is only two yuan and two jiao.

Those who can afford to dance these years belong to the upper class.

However, this will soon change, and from the second half of this year, ballroom dancing will gradually become popular, and a large number of dance halls will pop up in large cities in the north and south. Due to the fierce competition in the ballroom industry, fees are also decreasing. Ordinary civilians can enter the dance hall for entertainment as long as they are dressed appropriately and can afford to pay for tea, and there is no time limit.

The rise of civilian dance halls also led to an increase in the number of Chinese dancers, and professional courtesans began to appear. Like the Grand Ballroom in Tianjin, the Red Dancer can earn 300 yuan a month, which is equivalent to the salary of a university professor.

The three of them got out of the car and entered the Majestic Hotel, first went to the restaurant for dinner, and then went to the ballroom to dance.

The lights in the ballroom were dim and ambiguous, and some men and women had already arrived. Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman arrived at the scene, and immediately aroused ideas, and several Chinese young people walked in this direction.

"Shima, Xiaoman, you're finally here!" Everyone said enthusiastically.

Lu Xiaoman was very active in social occasions and introduced to them: "This is Mr. Zhou Hexuan, a famous scholar and president of Peking University, this is Mr. Chen Jingliang Chen, this is Mr. Wang Yachen Wang, this is Mr. Lu Yanqiu Lu, and this is Mr. Tang Huaiqiu Tang...... By the way, this is also a new friend, who will introduce me? ”

Wang Yachen said with a smile: "His name is Xu Beihong, and he is about to go abroad again, and he was pulled by me." ”

Xu Beihong is not particularly famous at this time, because everyone doesn't care too much.

Among these people, except for Wang Yachen, who is a celebrity in the cultural and painting circles, and Tang Huaiqiu who is a person in the theater industry, the others are all sons. But he belongs to the kind of talented son, otherwise he wouldn't be able to play with Xu Zhimo.

They were quite enthusiastic about Zhou Hexuan, and took the initiative to shake hands one by one and said: "It turned out to be Mr. Zhou, who has admired his name for a long time!" ”

Lu Xiaoman said: "The dance party hasn't started yet, let's find a place to sit first." ”

Everyone went to the corner, ordered a few cups of tea and coffee, and began to chat.

Zhou Hexuan looked around and found that there were mostly foreigners here. But they are all second-rate foreigners, and the top foreigners only dance in the Licha Hotel, and will not come to the Majestic Hotel. There are also some middle-aged and even elderly Chinese, who talk and laugh with foreigners. Those Chinese belonged to the comprador class, and they came to negotiate business with foreigners in the name of dancing.

The dance party was not held privately, but was initiated by the hotel. The hotel has a weekly event called a ballroom ball, with the aim of "building friendships".

"Hey, Mr. Zhou doesn't seem to like to socialize, so he hasn't spoken." Tang Huaiqiu said suddenly.

Zhou Hexuan retracted his gaze and said with a smile: "I'm comparing the dance halls in Shanghai, how is it different from the dance halls in Tianjin. ”

Tang Huaiqiu asked: "Tianjin also has a special dance hall?" ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "When I came to Shanghai from Tianjin, there was just a dance hall opened there. Tianjin celebrities Pan Shoulian, Yan Xiu, Wang Luyuan and others jointly sent a letter to the board of directors of the French Concession and the Public Concession to ban it on the grounds of violating morals and customs. Now the pro-dance faction and the pro-dance faction in Tianjin are in a lot of trouble. ”

"Those hypocrites, they think everything they see is adulterous." Tang Huaiqiu said disdainfully.

Who is Tang Huaiqiu?

He is a famous dramatist in the Republic of China, and in history, Cao Yu's "Thunderstorm" was first put on the stage by Tang Huaiqiu, who will make movies as a director in a few years.

Tang Huaiqiu also made a significant contribution to the popularization of ballroom dancing in China. Last year, he opened a dance club in Xujiahui to teach new European and American dances, and to promote the benefits of dancing through newspapers.

"Hypocrites indeed." Zhou Hexuan agreed. This is also the reason why he came to the south to sell underwear, and the construction of dance halls in the north will be protested, and selling women's underwear is estimated to be so angry that the old school jumps.

Wang Yachen said: "The concept of the Chinese is too backward. Brother Haisu encouraged students to use mannequins when painting last year, and was actually wanted by Sun Chuanfang, which is simply ridiculous. ”

Wang Yachen is also a painter, and he is friends with Liu Haisu, and Liu Haisu is old friends with Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman, and the relationship between these people is very good.

However, Xu Beihong has not spoken, he doesn't like this kind of occasion, and sits there quietly drinking tea and listening.

Soon the dance music sounded, everyone walked towards the dance floor, and those who didn't bring female companions also invited dancers, leaving only Zhou Hexuan and Xu Beihong in place.

"Brother Xu isn't going to dance one?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

Xu Beihong said: "I'm not good at jumping, I'll just sit down." ”

Zhou Hexuan said: "I like the horses painted by Brother Xu very much. ”

"Mr. Zhou has also seen my paintings?" Xu Beihong was a little surprised. He went abroad to study nine years ago, and although he came back a few times, he spent most of his time abroad.

Xu Beihong really became famous, and it was not until May this year that the French National Art Exhibition exhibited 9 of his works, and the news came back to make the Chinese people proud.

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Don't forget that I am the president of Peking University, so I am naturally familiar with the teachers of Peking University. ”

"Haha," Xu Beihong said with a smile, "I have only been a teacher of the Painting Research Association at Peking University for one year, but I am not a real teacher at Peking University." ”

The two were chatting energetically, when suddenly a dancer came over and asked in English, "Sir, do you need a dance partner?" ”

Listening to the other party's strange pronunciation, Zhou Hexuan asked, "Japanese?" ”

"Yes, sir, I'm Japanese." The dancer replied.

At the beginning of 1927, there were still very few special dance halls, and Chinese dancers were very rare, and the most common were White Russian and Japanese dancers. The former was caused by the Russian Revolution, and many White Russian dancers were actually aristocrats who had fled to China, and they had no other skills to make a living, so they could only be high-level dancers. The latter is because of the ban on dance halls in Japan, and they can only come to China or Nanyang to make money, and such women are generally from low backgrounds.

Zhou Hexuan looked at her appearance, her face was quite beautiful, but she was too short and her legs were pitifully short, and she suddenly lacked interest. He said to Xu Beihong: "Brother Xu, please, don't let this young lady wait for a long time." ”

"I'll forget it." Xu Beihong shook his head again and again.

The Japanese dancer left disappointed, but Zhou Hexuan stood up and walked towards a white Russian dancer who was convex and backward. The figure and face are good, and they are also from an aristocratic background, since they have spent money, they naturally have to choose a good one.

In the process of dancing, Zhou Hexuan discovered an interesting phenomenon.

When Chinese men choose dance partners, most of them choose Japanese dancers, and they are probably able to hold them in their arms. The White Russian dancer is too tall and more popular with Westerners, and Zhou Hexuan seems to be the only Chinese man in the audience to find a White Russian woman to dance.