"Aren't you here to pick up guests? Go quickly and don't delay your work. Otherwise, people will find fault with you and fire you." Chen Hanfeng pulled and persuaded Xiao Liuzi to leave.
He turned around and went to find two taxis. This time, they quoted him three dollars, which he didn't think was too expensive. He hurriedly led them to Huang Wanzhen, Huang Dongshi and others, arranged their luggage first, and then assigned people, before sitting in the passenger seat of the front car and driving towards the French Concession.
As soon as they entered the concession, Huang Dongshi, Xiuzhu and others were really enlightened. They originally thought that Beijing was the capital of the emperor and must be the best place in the world. As for Shanghai, they had heard about how prosperous it was, but they had never had any idea about it. Now that they saw it with their own eyes, they finally believed it.
It was the first time for Huang Dong and his friends to ride in a car. They were very nervous. At the beginning, the road was uneven and a bit bumpy. They held hands and entered the French Concession. The ground was extremely flat. There were small Western-style buildings on the roadside. There were more cars on the road than in Beijing. There were also posters and large advertisements of popular stars on the streets. Many of the women coming and going were wearing pants.
"Look! I see several women wearing trousers, looking androgynous." Huang Wanzhen didn't like what Mrs. Huang said. She had suit trousers, but she had never worn them in front of Mrs. Huang. "Don't envy them! Once you settle down, I'll make you a pair of trousers! Wear them and let them see."
Huang Dong turned around and gave Huang Wanzhen a reproachful look, "What are you talking about? That's not what I meant."
Huang Wanzhen took great effort to suppress the urge to roll her eyes.
"Mom, when you're out, keep your mouth shut, or the driver will laugh at you!"
When it comes to Mrs. Huang's weak spot, Huang Wanzhen is very good at it. With just one sentence, she can make Mrs. Huang shut up.
The driver stopped the car in front of Hengxiang Hotel on Hengxiang Road, Xujiahui, south of the French Concession. Huang Wanzhen got out of the car first and turned to support Huang Dongshi. After everyone got out of the car, Chen Hanfeng, Hai Li and others were busy moving the luggage. Huang Wanzhen took out her purse from her waist, carefully counted the dollars, and paid the bill to the two drivers.
The Hengxiang Hotel only had a nice name. In the concession, it was just an ordinary hotel. It consisted of a dozen two-story villas built in stone gate warehouses. The villas were adjacent to each other and extended from the street to form an alley. The entrance of the alley faced north and south. The front building was a traditional Chinese archway with stone strips and black lacquered solid thick wood as the door frame. There were unknown small animals carved on the blue bricks of the door lintel. Huang Wanzhen looked at it carefully for a while but couldn't tell what animal it was.
"You guys take care of the luggage here. I'll come to see you after Uncle Nine and I have checked you in. Otherwise, it will be a waste of time to move the luggage back and forth." Huang Wanzhen gave a few instructions to Mrs. Huang and Xiuzhu, then walked into the house with Chen Hanfeng.
After Chen Hanfeng and Huang Wanzhen inquired about the house prices, they discussed it for a few minutes before going back to rent a two-story villa. Although it cost five dollars a day, it was more cost-effective than renting one room at a time.
Huang Dongshi, with her bound feet, followed her daughter into an open-air courtyard. Chen Hanfeng introduced it, "This is called a patio."
Behind the patio was the living room. The waiter helped put the luggage inside, said goodbye, and left.
"This place is so small. The yard is not even as big as a room. How can we put things in it?" Mrs. Huang had never lived in such a cramped place. You know, the original Huang Mansion was a large house with five courtyards. Even the backyard in Pigeon Hutong was several hundred square meters. This small courtyard in Shanghai was only about ten square meters, which seemed cramped and dim.
"Madam, this is already very good. The place where I used to live was only one meter high and I couldn't even stand up straight." Chen Hanfeng found a piece of cloth from somewhere and wiped the table in the living room with a smile. "Manager, Madam, please sit down. I've wiped it all clean. I'll go see if there is a kettle here and boil some water for you to make tea."
Chen Hanfeng seemed quite satisfied, but his words failed to comfort Huang Dongshi. She held Huang Wanzhen's hand worriedly and said, "I'm so worried. Please find out where your second uncle's family is. If that doesn't work, let's go and seek refuge with him."
Huang Wanzhen patted her hands and soothed her, "Mom, we used to live in large mansions with courtyards in Beijing. Here in Shanghai, there's less land and more people, so we all live in buildings. It's definitely going to be a little difficult to adapt to at first, but don't worry, I'll go find a Western-style building with a courtyard tomorrow."
Huang Wanzhen had thought it through. Soon, the Democratic Revolutionary Army would swear to march north in Guangdong. Many wealthy people, fearing war, would gather in the concessions, and the prices of houses in the Shanghai Concession would also rise. She had to buy a house in the concession before that, and if she had any extra money, she could also buy a shop.
Huang Wanzhen has never had a happy life since she traveled through time. She is selfish, and when war comes, the first thing she thinks of is herself and the people she cares about. As for the war, she cannot stop it, and can only do her best to prepare for it.
Huang Wanzhen was very busy afterwards, taking Chen Hanfeng out early and back late every day. Although the foreign banks in the concession charged relatively high fees, for safety reasons, she still looked for foreign banks in the concession and collected a lot of information about real estate in the concession. In the end, she was hesitant between two properties, one was a three-story Western-style building on Card Road in the International Settlement, and the other was a three-story Western-style building on Ruijin Road in Xujiahui in the French Concession.
"This house on Card Road is big, with dozens of rooms upstairs and downstairs. We can't live in all of them, and we can rent them out and collect some rent." Chen Hanfeng rubbed his hands with a smile on his face.
After listening to him, Huang Wanzhen immediately booked the three-story villa at No. 37 Ruijin Road.
Chen Hanfeng was very puzzled, but Huang Wanzhen was enlightened by him. Since she was not planning to rent it out, why would she buy such a big house? She would be in contact with Dong Yuzhuo's family in the future. With so many empty houses, if they wanted to move in, she would not be able to stop them.
"This matter must be kept secret and no third person can know about it, understand?" If she hadn't been afraid that the foreign company would cheat her when they saw that she was a young girl buying a house, she would not have wanted Chen Hanfeng to know.
"I understand! I understand! Heaven and earth know, you know, and I know." Chen Hanfeng raised three fingers, as if swearing, to express his loyalty to Huang Wanzhen.
Zhang Song, a new salesperson at Binsha Foreign Trade, was stunned when he heard that Huang Wanzhen wanted to buy a house. "Huh?"
"What? Is there something wrong with this house?" Huang Wanzhen lowered her head and looked at the information in her hand again, "Is it sold, or..."
"No, no, no problem." Zhang Song was almost knocked unconscious by this pie that fell from the sky. Although the lady was well dressed, she was quite young. The man behind her was of a decent age, but one could tell from the clothes he was wearing that he was a poor man.
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