The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

The Mao girl in Zhou Hexuan's arms is about 20 years old, with exquisite features, brown hair, at least 1.72 meters tall, and wearing high heels, she almost catches up with Zhou Hexuan.

"What's your name?" Zhou Hexuan chatted while dancing.

Sister Mao said, "Katerina."

Katerina means "pure" in Russian, Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "This name suits you very well, you must be a noble lady."

"I'm not an aristocrat, I'm just an ordinary refugee." Katerina denied it.

Zhou Hexuan was even more sure: "It seems that you are really a Russian nobleman. The name Katerina should be a fake name, right?"

Katerina was silent, seeming to resent the subject.

"White Russia" is not the abbreviation of "Belarus", but generally refers to the Russian refugees who fled to China in the 1920s.

After the October Revolution, a large number of Tsarist Russian nobles and civilians fled to China. There were as many as 200,000 Belarusians in China alone, and at least 30,000 in Shanghai.

Most Belarusian men choose to serve as soldiers. For example, Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang have Belarusian soldiers in their troops, and their salaries are even lower than those of Chinese soldiers. This time, the Shanghai workers' armed uprising led by our party encountered Belarusian armored soldiers at the South Railway Station.

Belarusian women choose nightlife careers, such as waitresses in restaurants and cafes, dancers in ballrooms, and even prostitutes, and a few of them work as nude models for art school students.

Commoner White Russian women often pretended to be nobles in order to attract guests. The real nobles hide their identities and say they are commoners because they feel ashamed.

There are still many Jews in Shanghai. The Jews are more united and support each other, so their lives are more nourishing. But Belarus is not united. There are more than 30 small Belarusian groups in Shanghai alone, and these groups are fighting and hostile to each other.

Foreigners had a high status in the Republic of China, with the exception of Belarus. The best destination for a Belarusian woman is to be taken care of by a rich man. And if a Chinese married a Belarusian woman, it would be ashamed to say it, and it was a very shameful thing (see "Fortress Besieged").

how so?

Because they have no country.

In times of peace and prosperity, perhaps the meaning of the country may not be felt, and all kinds of people scold the government and officials. But if he really became a subjugated slave, his end would be extremely miserable, and he would be discriminated against wherever he went.

Zhou Hexuan suddenly said in Russian: "Russia is a beautiful country, I have been there."

"You understand Russian?" Katerina asked in surprise.

Zhou Hexuan said: "After staying for half a year, I also visited Tolstoy's former residence."

Katerina said melancholy: "Yes, Russia is a beautiful country, but unfortunately it has become hell now."

"Can I talk about your story? I'm very interested in it." Zhou Hexuan said.

Katerina smiled wryly and said, "There is nothing to say. The red bandits rebelled. Our whole family came to Shanghai with Major General Stark. Due to my livelihood, I can only earn money as a dancer."

"When you fled, you were still very young, right?" Zhou Hexuan asked.

"At that time (1922) I was 14 years old," Katerina recalled, "everyone wanted to go to Japan for refuge. I remember that there were more than 30 ships under General Stark, full of refugees, sailing to North Korea. Shangang. As soon as we entered Yongxing Bay, the fleet was stopped by the Japanese. After many negotiations, Japan only allowed a few thousand old and weak people to go ashore, and the rest of us diverted to Shanghai. On the way, we encountered another A strong typhoon, one of the boats was overturned by a huge wave, and that's when my father died."

"I'm sorry to bring up your sadness." Zhou Hexuan said.

"It's nothing, you're a guest, so it's fine if you don't feel like a disappointment," Katerina broke off the conversation and continued, "After we came to Shanghai, the savings we brought with us quickly ran out. Mother can only be a dancer, And I also earn a living as a waitress in cafes."

Zhou Hexuan asked: "Then why did you come here to dance?"

Katerina said: "My mother was sick and I didn't make much money as a maid, so I changed my career as a dancer."

Zhou Hexuan said: "It's very admirable."

Katerina smiled and said, "You are different from other Chinese people, they don't ask these questions."

"I'm just curious," Zhou Hexuan said, "How much can you earn here? Of course, you don't have to answer."

Katerina said: "20% for dance tickets, 30% for drinks, and 50% for drinks if guests invite you to drink. If tips are included, you can earn two or three yuan a night, and sometimes more."

Katerina only talked about the income of accompanying dancing and drinking, but did not talk about accompanying sleeping, that is the big head.

Of course, it is also possible that she "shows her art but not her body".

"Leave me your address, I may need a commercial girl in a while." Zhou Hexuan said.

Katerina smiled, "Of course."

After a dance, Katerina accompanied Zhou Hexuan back to his seat. Because she accepted Zhou Hexuan's dance ticket, she needs to dance three dances with her, and she has not completed the task yet. What's more, if Zhou Hexuan invites her to drink tea or wine, she can also get a commission from the drinks.

"Give this lady a cup of tea!" Zhou Hexuan snapped his fingers.

Lu Xiaoman smiled and said: "It seems that Mingcheng is also a good dancer."

Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said, "I don't come here often, I'm a serious person."

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Everyone laughed.

Wang Yachen pointed at Zhou Hexuan and joked, "This man is making fun of us for not being serious!"

"Fine wine, fine wine!" The young master named Chen Jingliang followed suit.

Zhou Hexuan asked Katerina: "Can you drink for me?"

"Okay." Katerina frowned and drank it down. Seeing that she didn't like drinking, it was purely for making money.

"Okay, one cup is enough." Zhou Hexuan said quickly.

Everyone played until after twelve o'clock in the morning before finally leaving.

Zhou Hexuan was very interested in Xu Beihong and asked him to meet another day. As for the purpose, it is nothing more than wanting to get a few paintings by Xu Beihong, and it would be even better if I could get another set of calligraphy.

On the way back, Lu Xiaoman drank a little too much and lay down in the car to sleep.

Xu Zhimo asked: "Mingcheng, I heard from Xiaoman that you came to the south this time for business?"

Zhou Hexuan nodded and said, "I'm going to start a clothing business."

Xu Zhimo was quite disdainful about this: "You are a dignified scholar. If you don't write poems and essays, what kind of business do you do? You don't think you are full of money."

Zhou Hexuan smiled and said, "I'm going to sell new underwear. Isn't there a Tianma movement in the south? My business is also supporting women's liberation. But I don't have much free energy, so I want to find someone to cooperate with."

Xu Zhimo blurted out: "You can cooperate with my father, he is in Shanghai now."

Zhou Hexuan inquired in detail and found out that Xu Zhimo's father, Xu Shenru, was Zhang Jian's old friend and was deeply influenced by Zhang Jian's thought of "saving the country by industry".

The Xu family has been in business for generations. In the early years, they sold soy sauce. Later, they opened a bank and invested in silk shops, electric light companies, telephone companies, silk factories and thermal power plants. They are well-known wealthy in Zhejiang.

I'm stupid!

Zhou Hexuan thought the Xu family was just a small businessman, but he didn't expect that they were already playing with thermal power plants, local tyrants.

Xu Zhimo is really an infatuated seed. In order to marry Lu Xiaoman, he would rather not be a son of a rich family and work hard to earn money to support his wife.

The power plant Zhou Hexuan was not interested. He was interested in the Xu family's silk and satin business and silk factory, which are raw materials for underwear. If we can cooperate with the Xu family, at least the supply of raw materials will not be a problem.