Delan Western Restaurant.

The largest western restaurant in Jiujiang City. The nominal boss is a native of Jiujiang, but he only holds forty percent of the shares, and the remaining sixty percent is distributed in the hands of two people, one of these two people is the lord of the British Empire, and the other is a citizen of the United States of America.

These two people are losers in their country, but as soon as they came to China, they came to Jiujiang and were superior whites, and there were thirteen or fourteen companies under their names alone, but these two whites did not do evil, so the bosses were happy to choose them as protectors. Therefore, there are more and more enterprises under the name of foreigners, and it is said that even the old man who sells noodles at the yamen has found a foreigner to be the master, saying that it is a joke but people want to cry without tears.

On this day, the Delan Western Restaurant has been open since noon, and the staff of all sizes have worked hard to set up the entire Western Restaurant into a huge charity venue, with brilliant lights and huge neon lights illuminating the whole city, which is said to be occasionally seen in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River across Poyang Lake, but those fishermen do not enjoy this little bit of lights from foreign lands, but understand it as a ghost eye for water monkeys looking for a substitute for the dead ghost, which is really pitiful and a pity.

The red carpet is spread from the second floor to the door, and the waiters in suits and leather shoes respectfully open the doors for the guests in two rows, invite them to enter, show them the way, and pay attention to every detail of the meticulous service, which is why Delan Western Restaurant will become the largest Western restaurant in Jiujiang City.

The Jiujiang City mentioned here includes all places including the British Concession.

Lu Xiaozhu, who was wearing a white Western dress, stepped on the red carpet little by little and walked to the center of the venue with the support of Chang Zhenbang.

She always felt that the ground was steep when she wore these high heels, and she was about to walk forward if she couldn't help herself, and now although it was not as unbearable as when she first put it on, she had to be supported by someone, and if she didn't pay attention to it, she would fall down within five numbers, or even break her foot.

"It's all your fault, our cheongsam or something is not very good!" Lu Xiaozhu couldn't help but complain to Chang Zhenbang, Chang Zhenbang smiled strangely: "As soon as the ladies from those dress shops entered the house, you chased after them, I thought you liked them like it?" Who knows......" When Chang Zhenbang said this, he suddenly bared his teeth and grinned, the so-called saying that people don't reveal their shortcomings, Lu Xiaozhu couldn't help but listen, of course, he reached out and pinched Chang Zhenbang's soft underbelly.

The bright lights illuminated the place as if it were daylight, and the huge venue was full of blue-eyed, red-nosed foreigners, who wore black tuxedos and talked to and fro, and their faces showed joyful smiles from time to time, as if they were quite satisfied with this charity gala.

Of course, this charity gala is not only invited foreigners, otherwise it would be better to move the venue to the British Concession, but those Chinese people who were invited to come were all cautious in groups of three and two in a group of exchanges, everyone's faces had different expressions, but no one showed a trace of happy joy, but there was a faint worry, Lu Xiaozhu saw it in his eyes, but he could only sigh softly, Chinese businessmen have always been most afraid of participating in the charity donations hosted by the government, donating less, it seems stingy, If you donate too much, you are afraid that you will be remembered by some officials, and you will be found to have a family property in the future. Thinking of this, she couldn't help glaring at Chang Zhenbang, maybe this big villain deceived her body because he fell in love with his family property!

However, not all yellows appear to be obscene, and occasionally a few unbeatable yellows are still short men in kimonos. A young man who looked like the one who had once drove them back to the town guard envoy's mansion saw Chang Zhenbang coming with Lu Xiaozhu, and came out of the group of dwarves with a smile, strode over happily, and said, "Brother Zhenbang, it's a great honor to see you here!" ”

Chang Zhenbang smiled faintly and said: "This charity party is presided over by the town guard envoy Yamen, only to restore the order and prosperity of Jiujiang City after the war, Xingxiong You can come, I am really happy." ”

It turned out that this young man was Yukio Takekawa.

Wu Chuan Yukio smiled, looking a little honest, glanced back at Lu Xiaozhu, and said, "What do you call this beautiful lady?" ”

Lu Xiaozhu blushed, took Chang Zhenbang's hand and squeezed the other party fiercely, Chang Zhenbang grinned with his teeth, and said: "This is the daughter-in-law I am marrying, and the Chinese habit is not to tell others the name of his wife, you just call her sister-in-law!" ”

Yukio Takekawa smiled: "If the beautiful lady calls you sister-in-law, will she call you old?" If so, can I call you sister? ”

When Lu Xiaozhu heard this, although he still kept a smile on his face, his two eyes showed a look of disgust, why is this Dongying person so light? What a barbarian state! Chang Zhenbang is so bad, maybe he was also brought bad by these people.

Her disgusted eyes were undisguised, which made Wu Chuan Xingxiong a little embarrassed, but fortunately, Chang Zhenbang patted her hand in time and said to Wu Chuan: "Xingxiong didn't say that your brother said you, you made a mistake here, the wives of Chinese officials will not call others sisters and sisters at will, which seems very disrespectful, even their biological brothers and brothers will also call their names at the appropriate time." ”

Yukio Wuchuan smiled awkwardly and said, "Thank you for your advice, I was only transferred by the family to Jiujiang today, if I inadvertently offended your wife, please forgive me." ”

Chang Zhenbang smiled slightly and said: "Xingxiong, look, it's not right for you to say this, it is normal for Chinese men to call each other brothers and sisters in informal occasions, and it is easy to pull into the relationship between each other and give each other a good impression, so you can call me brother on this occasion!" On the contrary, although it is a sign of infallibility to call me an official or an adult on such occasions, it is very offensive and causes some unnecessary misunderstandings. ”

"Brother, thanks to your advice, Yukio understands." Yukio Wukawa looked very teachable, and bowed ninety degrees for Chang Zhenbang's words. That serious energy is really moving, no wonder some people say that Dongying people are the first in the world when they are students. With this kind of humble energy, what can't be learned in the world, no wonder Dongying people studied the Tang Dynasty for a hundred years to become the second in Asia, and studied Europe for 50 years, and defeated Lao Maozi to become the only great power in Asia.

Lu Xiaozhu saw that Wu Chuan Yukio was so serious, and the image of the prodigal son who was in his heart just now suddenly changed a lot of humble and teachable little brothers, which really made people angry.

Chang Zhenbang smiled slightly: "Xingxiong, you have really grown up and matured, and you are no longer the child who had to quarrel with me in the courtyard at every turn, time is really wonderful, but I don't know your sister...... Hehe, I don't know if your mother is okay? If you have time, please go to my place to sit more, talk about the encounters over the years, and talk about the feelings of the year, which is also a major event in life! ”

Yukio Takekawa said respectfully: "Brother, don't worry, Yukio has written it down, as long as there is a suitable opportunity, he will go to the house to meet you and your family." ”

"Why didn't you see your brother Xingying?" Chang Zhenbang's eyes bypassed Takekawa Yukio and did not find the person who sent them back with a Buick.

Wu Chuan Yukio said: "After my brother came back yesterday, he has been sent by my country's consul on a business trip, and I hope my brother will not see it, I am here to make amends to you for him." ”

Chang Zhenbang smiled and said indifferently: "If you become a public family, you have no free body, how can I blame him?" After all, I'm a public family now. Ha ha. ”

The Western clock was banging on time at eight o'clock, Chang Zhenbang took Lu Xiaozhu on the left, followed by Yukio Wuchuan on the right, strode into the rostrum, and the relevant personnel had already put the microphone in front of him, he coughed lightly a few times, the sound spread very clearly, and the effect also made him very satisfied, he straightened the bow tie under his neck, and said loudly: "Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, dear friends, hello everyone, for your arrival, On behalf of the officials and colleagues of the Jiujiang Town Guard Yamen, I would like to express my most sincere respect for your arrival. ”

As soon as the words fell, there was fierce applause among the guests, Lu Xiaozhu sat under the rostrum and looked over there, but saw that Zhang Youneng was also wearing a tuxedo and tied a bow like a dog, dressed like a European gentleman, but he was almost exaggerated applause, completely exposing his nouveau riche despicability, but he was not useless, at least he succeeded in driving the applause of those Jiujiang businessmen. Their applause was like a storm, while the applause of the foreigners was rhythmic. Looking at the Yukio Takekawa next to him, he also applauded enthusiastically, and as his woman, there was a reason not to applaud, so he applauded one by one like those Westerners.

Chang Zhenbang smiled slightly, stretched out his hand and pressed forward a few times, the applause on the scene gradually subsided, and it was like the ebb tide of the tide, Chang Zhenbang said: "You are all virtuous people of Jiujiang, and some people are natives of Jiujiang, and they can be said to have been born and raised in Si. Some came from thousands of miles to build Jiujiang. Everyone has a deep friendship for Jiujiang, although the younger brother is not from Jiujiang, but was appointed by the imperial court as the guardian of Jiujiang Town, so he dared to invite all the virtuous people to gather here to discuss the order and commercial prosperity of Jiujiang after the war. ”

After saying this paragraph, someone in the curtain behind the rostrum expressed Chang Zhenbang's words in English, although those Westerners are not all British and American, but after all, the British are the hegemon of this world, and English has naturally become the international language of the times.

Although these Westerners present were more concerned about the prosperity of Jiujiang, they were more interested in the new order pattern in Chang Zhenbang's words, but the Dongying people sitting next to them were particularly nervous and concerned, after all, last night Chang Zhenbang asked people to hand over Wuchuan Yukio's official document overnight, and Wuchuan Yukio called these people out of the sweet quilt one by one, gathered together and discussed for a long time, and finally came to a very unified conclusion. Chang Zhenbang did not want to mess with foreigners, but kicked the ball to the central government in Beijing, as his predecessors did, which was understandable to anyone in the Dongying community, given that in a totalitarian country like China, there is a custom of no diplomacy among ministers. However, this guy who disturbed their dreams yesterday actually said in front of the consulates and commercial representatives that he rebuilt and discussed the order and commercial prosperity of Jiujiang after the war, which could not help but shock and worry them.

Shocked and Chang Zhenbang acted arbitrarily without the permission of the central government, and worried that Chang Zhenbang did not specify it in Takekawa Yukiying's official document, which is tantamount to sending Dongying out of this new order pattern.

"Mr. Town Guard, may I ask what the order pattern and commercial prosperity of Jiujiang in your mouth look like, can you tell you about it?"

Chang Zhenbang stood on the rostrum and could naturally see the expressions of the foreigners below, he smiled slightly, and said: "It's very simple, everyone is the elite of various countries, and naturally knows that a country's commercial prosperity often needs a stable environment to guarantee, it is a pity that we are now in a political situation, so that many of our country's pure businessmen have to pin their business operations in the name of various countries, for this I feel very sorry and helpless, but I have to admit that this is an indispensable means to ensure the prosperity of Jiujiang at present, Therefore, instead of pursuing the responsibilities of those poor merchants, he will encourage more domestic merchants to adopt such business cooperation to prosper the local economy! ”

After saying that, those local businessmen began to applaud warmly, in their hearts to do business with foreign ginseng has always been despised by the government, often slandered as profiteers, treason, and even directly put into prison, in fact, they don't want to give the money they earned to those businessmen in vain, but in this era they can't help it, Chang Zhenbang recognized this model, I have to say that it is good news.

The translation into English behind the scenes caused an uproar among foreigners, and it is obvious that this news is nothing more than an additional means of infiltrating China for them, and these people have no reason to disagree, especially the Dongying and Russians.

"If you agree with this form of business prosperity, why do you want to hold such a grand charity gala? Is it just to promote the idea of the lordship of adults? "It was the British consul who spoke

Chang Zhenbang smiled slightly: "The consul is right, the town guard is here to hold a charity party is to promote the administrative concept of the official, so that they can communicate with each other, so as not to cause fearless harm, and then this party is not only to promote the governing concept of the official, but to carry out more cooperation with the gentlemen in some public welfare places and infrastructure construction." For example, in view of the management of the imperial court, the Western hospital should have been built under the lease of various countries, but with the progress of science and technology, more people in Jiujiang need Western medical treatment, so the official hopes that the people of Chinese and Western countries will take the lead in building modern medical facilities in Jiujiang. Of course, they should have equity according to the amount of capital contribution, and it would be good to hand over civil disputes to the council for disposal. ”

After the translator translated Chang Zhenbang's suggestion into English again sonorously, the Westerners discussed a lot, and finally pushed Basili out, Basiri said: "The British Empire is very interested in this suggestion of the town guard, but I don't know if your court will agree to it." ”

Chang Zhenbang said: "The hospital is a place to treat diseases and save people, not a place to get rich and promoted!" The imperial court is not interested in this kind of thing, but the premise is that no matter how much the Chinese contribute, it must be attached to the Chinese. ”

Basili thought for a moment and said, "I'm very interested in this suggestion from adults, but I also want to ask, do adults want to cooperate in the medical field?" Or will we cooperate closely with each other in all areas of people's livelihood? ”

Chang Zhenbang smiled faintly and said: "There is an old saying in my country that is very reasonable, there is no speed over there, although the official is very similar to let the glory of modern science and technology shine on the entire Jiujiang City, but that is unrealistic, after all, the wisdom of our people has not been opened, and the large number of Western technology can not only not stabilize the people's hearts, but may cause panic in the entire Jiujiang City, such as the Boxer Rebellion, the long-haired thieves are rampant, that will be what the gentlemen and the officials do not want to see, so the official feels that the construction of Western hospitals should be the starting point, Let the people understand one aspect of Western technological civilization and dispel their panic, only in this way can the prosperity of the entire Jiujiang City be stimulated! After the translation, the Westerners and Dongying people nodded secretly, and started a small-scale discussion in their respective circles.

"Honorable Envoy of the Town, we European gentlemen are very interested in building a Western hospital, but they also have a lot of anxiety about the profit that should exist. How can adults be assured of this? ”

This book was first published in Reading Books