Chapter 47
The Sino-Soviet Friendship Palace is the only foreign affairs hotel in the city. With its flying eaves, brackets, carved beams and painted buildings, it exudes majesty and mystery.
The original intention of building the Foreign Affairs Hotel was to serve Soviet experts. Although the architectural style is full of national characteristics, the interior decoration and service continue the Soviet customs.
A storage room was set up at the entrance of the banquet hall where the fashion party was held.
According to Soviet custom, all guests had to take off their outer clothes and hand them over to the staff before entering the venue.
As Ye Manzhi waited in line, she sighed to the man beside her, "Luckily there's a place to store my clothes, otherwise I'd have to dance with you in my military coat today!"
"What's wrong with a military coat? Others can't even get one even if they want it." Wu Zhengrong heard her veiled complaint and raised his chin toward the team ahead. "Those guys shivering up front are the result of not dressing properly."
"Right, right, right. Comrade Military Representative is indeed foresighted." Ye Manzhi nudges him with her elbow in amusement. "Don't stick your chin up at them, or they'll find out!"
Because she was going to attend a fashion party today, she secretly changed her bulky cotton pants into more fitted woolen pants, and put on a pair of green military pants that she had altered to a smaller size. The effect on her upper body was particularly good.
As a result, when she met Wu Zhengrong in the afternoon, he discovered that she was only wearing a pair of thin woolen pants because of the obvious trouser line.
He took me back home and only after I put on an ankle-length military coat was I allowed to go out again.
Ye Manzhi handed both of their military coats to the staff and walked into the venue with her number tag.
Because they were delayed for some time following him home to change clothes, by the time they sat down, the leader of the municipal trade union had finished his speech and announced the official start of the fashion show.
A cleared area was set aside in the center of the banquet hall. Under the bright lights, a dozen young men and women, dressed in suits, Mao suits, Lenin suits, dresses, and cheongsams, took turns walking onto the stage. Each outfit was introduced in detail by the host.
There are a wide variety of fashion styles on display, and women, workers, cadres, and students can almost find corresponding fashion.
In Ye Manzhi's understanding, there are only a few fixed styles of men's clothing, and fashion is roughly equivalent to women's clothing. She didn't expect that the organizer could find so many men's clothing styles.
"Hahaha, why is that guy's sweater so green?" Ye Manzhi whispered, "I'll knit you one like this later. You'll definitely look better in it than him!"
Wu Zhengrong glanced at her and said in a serious tone, "Comrade Ye Manzhi, I have to remind you that on October 28, you said you would knit me a scarf. On November 2, you also said that you would knit me a pair of woolen trousers after you mastered your knitting skills. On November 10, after I helped you build the coal stove, you said you would knit me a new pair of gloves. Up to now, there has been no sign of the scarf, woolen trousers, or gloves, and you said you would knit me a pretty green sweater..."
Ye Manzhi opened her eyes wide in surprise, staring at him for a long time, speechless, before finding her voice and asking, "How come you have such a good memory?"
Has she made so many promises?
Wu Zhengrong leaned his shoulders against the back of his chair and glanced towards the stage. "So, when can I wear this pretty green sweater?"
Hearing him emphasize the green sweater twice, Ye Manzhi couldn't help but want to laugh and said soothingly, "I'll arrange it for you when we get back."
Wu Zhengrong said "hmm" without comment.
Afraid that he was still thinking about the sweater, Ye Manyi pointed at the Soviet girls on the stage and said, "Look how beautiful their blazers are! I should have worn a skirt today too!"
Wu Zhengrong spat out two words, "Frozen legs."
There were spectators around them, but Ye Manzhi still secretly touched the back of his hand and said, "Okay, the scarf is already being finished. Let's put it on as soon as possible. We can do the rest one by one."
Her boyfriend has a very good memory, so she can just coax him from now on and not make promises casually.
There aren't many styles of clothing available nowadays. Even if you were to display all of men's, women's, adult, and children's clothing, it would only take about half an hour.
After the female high school students from the city’s No. 3 Middle School and several Soviet girls performed a ring dance in velvet blouses, the ballroom dance finally began.
In front of the banquet hall of the Friendship Palace, there was a symphony orchestra. After the light and lively melody of "Blue Danube" sounded, Ye Manyzhi spun with Wu Zhengrong on the dance floor and found the feeling of being carried away again.
"Has my posture improved this time?"
"Not bad, but your waist is still a little soft." Wu Zhengrong gently put his hand on her waist and said, "Just focus on me and don't look around."
"Didn't you say your family might come to the party?" Ye Manzhi looked around the venue and asked in a low voice, "What if they saw us dancing? Wouldn't that be bad?"
Although she had not specifically inquired, she inferred from Wu Zhengrong's living habits, occasional words, and the occupations of the Wu elders that their family might not be the kind of family with open ideas.
"We're dating with the intention of getting married," Wu Zhengrong said, his lips moving slightly. "As long as we don't kiss at the dance, they won't say anything even if they see us."
Ye Manzhi pursed her lips subconsciously, and gently pressed the palm of her hand on his shoulder. "Did you see them? Then I should take the initiative to go over and say hello, right?"
"No, there are hundreds of people here, how could it be that easy to meet her? Besides, my grandma goes to bed at 8 o'clock every night. Even if she really came to the fashion show, she should have gone home by now."
Hearing this, Ye Manzhi felt relieved. To be honest, she was a little worried about meeting the Wu family's grandparents.
Grandpa Wu is the dean of a university and a senior intellectual.
Although Wu Zhengrong is also an intellectual, there are essential differences between soldiers and scholars.
The extremely low university admission rate today makes her inexplicably in awe of Dean Wu.
The huge rock that was weighing on her heart was removed, and all the branches of her sapling stretched out. She instantly looked radiant and full of energy.
"Then dance with me for a few more songs," Ye Manzhi's steps became more and more light. "I dressed up for a long time just to dance with you!"
Wu Zhengrong finally had the chance to lower his gaze to her slightly slim-fitting milky white sweater.
"Comrade Xiaoye is truly radiant today."
Ye Manzhi pretended to be dissatisfied and asked, "So I wasn't beautiful before?"
Wu Zhengrong didn't want to answer such questions about death, so he took her around twice.
However, under the other party's repeated questioning, he smiled and made an analogy: "It was a beautiful flower before, but today it is not only beautiful, but also fragrant."
Ye Manzhi had even kissed him on the mouth, but she still felt inexplicably hot on the face because of this sentence.
Did Wu Zhengrong really smell the fragrance on her body, or was there some metaphor behind it?
After winter came, she often threw orange peels and apple cores onto the coal stove to add fragrance, and the room was indeed filled with fruity scent.
She asked in a low voice, "Can you really smell it?"
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Wu Zhengrong's lips, and after a long time he said "hmm".
*
On the other side of the dance, Grandpa Wu sat in a chair outside and said with a sullen look on his face, "What do you think of that boy? He's almost clinging to the girl."
"Dad, could you please stop being so old-fashioned?" Aunt Wu complained. "You've studied abroad, so why are you acting like such a conservative person? That's how ballroom dancing is done. Our Zhengrong is the best dancer among all these guys!"
Seeing Xiaoye jumping so happily, she wanted her nephew to take her to jump a few laps.
"It's almost seven o'clock now. Do you want to call them over to meet us?" asked Wu Xiaogu.
Grandma Wu’s eyesight wasn’t very good, and she couldn’t really see Xiaoye’s appearance clearly from such a distance.
Just as she was tempted by her daughter's suggestion, Grandpa Wu stopped her, saying, "Don't invite that girl over! If you want to see her, just invite her home openly. How can you meet her out of the house like this? I would never do such a disrespectful thing! I can't afford to lose face!"
"The key is that Zhengrong refused to bring the person back." Wu Xiaogu ruthlessly exposed him, "If you feel it's rude, why did you insist on coming to the party with us?"
"If I hadn't come to watch you, you'd be embarrassing our Wu family by now!" Grandpa Wu took out his pocket watch, glanced at it, and said, "It's enough to just take a look from a distance. It's getting late, let's go back now."
Grandma Wu has always believed in her husband's words. Although she regretted not being able to see her grandson's partner up close, she still got up and followed him out.
"You two are such a jerk!"
Aunt Wu didn't dare to let her parents walk alone at night, so she gave up the idea of asking her nephew to take her for a couple of laps and chased after them with her bag in hand.
The line to pick up coats at the check-in counter formed another long queue.
By the time the three members of the Wu family got their clothes with their hand cards, it was already half past seven.
Wu Xiaogu bent down to help her mother button up the hem of her coat. Just as she was about to take her mother away, someone suddenly grabbed her arm.
The person who blocked her way was a Soviet woman, who gestured at her and chattered in Russian that she couldn't understand.
Wu Xiaogu shook her head and waved her hands to indicate that she didn't understand. She called her parents and was about to leave, but the other party refused to give in and stretched out her arms again to block her way.
Grandpa Wu frowned and asked, "Does she need help with something? Call a waiter to help her."
"Does she look like she's willing to let me go?"
Someone in the queue who knew some Russian reminded her, "From what she said, it seems like you're wearing the wrong clothes."
Wu Xiaogu was stunned and said in a slightly panicked tone: "Impossible, this is my clothes!"
How could she possibly wear someone else's clothes? This could easily become theft.
"Wait here," Grandpa Wu said, much calmer than his daughter. "This is the Foreign Affairs Hotel. There's a Russian-speaking waiter at the front desk. I'll call him for you."
He asked his wife to stay here with their daughter and prepared to go downstairs alone.
Wu Zhengrong, who had just walked out of the banquet hall, noticed the commotion here and quickly walked over to ask, "Aunt, what's wrong?"
"This Soviet comrade held me back, as if to say I was wearing the wrong coat, but this is my coat!"
Without Wu Zhengrong asking for help, Ye Manzhi took the initiative to talk to the Soviet woman.
I met someone who could speak Russian. He was obviously very happy and told me the whole story in a chattering manner.
"Aunt," Ye Manzhi followed Wu Zhengrong in calling her "Aunt," "This comrade's coat is exactly the same as yours. Her check-in card is number 69. When she went to pick up her clothes just now, the staff said they had been taken away. It just so happened that you were standing right here, wearing the same clothes, so she thought you might have taken hers by mistake."
Wu Xiaogu said, "Can you ask her for me what the mark is on her clothes? Where did she buy them?"
"Her coat was bought in Moscow. It was also made of black wool with a green plush collar. There was an inner pocket with some rubles in it."
Ye Manzhi omitted the other party's words that he was willing to give the rubles to Wu Xiaogu.
After hearing her retelling, Wu Xiaogu's expression was obviously relaxed. She unbuttoned her coat and let the other party take a look at the lining.
There were no lining pockets on her coat.
After seeing the condition of the coat, the Soviet woman sighed in disappointment and asked a little excitedly where her coat had gone.
Ye Manzhi said hello to several people from the Wu family and went to help the international friends find a waiter at the storage room.
Grandpa Wu was worried that his grandson would ask why they were there. After Ye Manzhi and the Soviets left, he preemptively asked, "Comrade Xiao Ye speaks Russian quite well. Why doesn't he continue his studies at university?"
Wu Zhengrong felt that his grandfather's question was equivalent to asking, "Why don't you eat meat?"
But he didn't refute anything. He just said calmly, "She had the opportunity to study in the Soviet Union, but she missed the chance because her medical report was tampered with. If it weren't for this incident, why would I go on a blind date with her?"
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