The Rise of the Writers of the Republic of China

Why did Zhou Hexuan leave the underwear business in Shanghai and return to Tianjin in a hurry?

Because the "Qing Party" has begun.

Not only was blood flowing in rivers in the south, but the butcher's knife was also held high in the north.

On the surface, Zhang Zuolin and Principal Chang fought to death, but in fact they had been in secret contact since last autumn. The northern warlords and the leaders of the southern government actually joined hands to carry out bloody suppression of progressives.

Just like what Zhou Hexuan said to Zhang Xueliang, it doesn't matter if you mess up on your own side, as long as you mess up your opponent even more. Zhang Zuolin was planning this wishful thinking, and Zhou Hexuan didn't need to remind him, he had planned it long ago.

Now the forces of the Northern Expedition have actually been divided into three, and the chaos is so chaotic that it is almost impossible to distinguish between the enemy and ourselves.

Not to mention people from both parties, even innocent people were massacred.

During the "Qing Party" in Guangzhou, anyone who wore a suit, Chinese tunic suit, school uniform, and had his hair combed back was regarded as a member of our party and arrested.

There are also progressive women in some places who are actually regarded as red elements, as long as women with short hair are cut in the whole county, they will be killed without interrogation. The situation in the two lakes is the most serious. Some people even came to Shanghai and asked in surprise: "Why do so many women in Shanghai cut their hair short? Are they not afraid of being beheaded?"

Zhou Hexuan could only keep silent about this, he couldn't do anything, and he didn't even dare to voice his opposition. The "Qingdang" will kill hundreds of thousands of people, so they don't care about killing one more.

On the contrary, Zhou Hexuan still pretended to be indifferent and indifferent to it. After he returned to Tianjin, he honestly ran a newspaper and wrote articles. In his spare time, he went to the theater to watch Meng Xiaodong's performance, or accompanied Wanrong to play ball in foreigners' clubs.

At the same time, he also received several letters from Zhang Leyi, the first one was from Nanjing, saying that he was going back to Mount Lushan with his father, and included his home address on Mount Lushan. Judging from the date she sent the letter, Zhou Hexuan was about to go south and missed it because the letter was delivered too slowly.

The next few letters were all sent from Mount Lu.

Zhang Leyi said that her family's business is booming. Many upstarts from the southern government want to build mansions and villas in Mount Lu. The Zhang family's real estate development business is going smoothly.

Perhaps it was because Zhou Hexuan never replied, Zhang Leyi seemed a little flustered. In the fifth letter, Zhang Leyi said that she wanted to come to Tianjin, and the reason was to help her father negotiate business. In fact, the main purpose was to come to see Zhou Hexuan.

As for Shanghai, Zhang Jiazhu also sent a telegram, saying that the daily sales volume of underwear has exceeded 2,000 pieces, and the daily gross profit is nearly 10,000 yuan.

It's just that there are more and more counterfeit products, and now there are two new underwear factories in Shanghai alone. Zhou Hexuan's patent certificate and monopoly rights are completely useless, because the political situation is too chaotic, not to mention the Beiyang government, there are two legal governments in the south, and it is impossible to know which law to follow in a lawsuit.

Fortunately, Zhou Hexuan and his underwear are famous and have already produced a brand effect. Many women have recognized "Zhou's underwear", and the market share has not declined too fast.

...

Late April, weekend.

Holding a thick stack of sketches, Wanrong hurriedly said, "Brother Zhou, the first episode of "The Wanderings of Sanmao" has been drawn, please help me revise it."

"Okay, show me quickly." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.

Wanrong, who had found the sustenance of interest, was more energetic than before, and her complexion was much better. She was wearing new civilized clothes at the moment, and even her hair was cut short. At first glance, she thought she was a progressive female student.

Zhou Hexuan did not look through the drawing immediately after receiving it, but asked, "Have you quit smoking?"

Wan Rong said with some guilt, "I only smoked one yesterday."

"Take your time, haven't you reconciled with your family yet?" Zhou Hexuan asked again.

Wan Rong sighed and said: "Alas, they all refused to see me, saying that Guo Buluo's family does not have an unfilial daughter like me."

Zhou Hexuan said comfortingly, "It will get better gradually."

The two chatted for a while before Zhou Hexuan opened the drawing.

"The Wanderings of San Mao" painted by Wanrong, although the storyline is similar, but the overall style is quite different from the original version. The style of her print is more elegant and delicate, with a taste of meticulous painting, and it is a bit less market-like than the original one.

There's no other way, since she was born as a court lady, she really can't draw the flavor that she should have.

Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said, "You don't need to pay too much attention to the details. After all, this is not a meticulous painting, and the overall style is not right. How about this, I will accompany you to the streets and alleys, and you can even go to the slums to feel the atmosphere there. atmosphere."

"Do you want to repaint?" Wan Rong asked.

"Repaint everything." Zhou Hexuan said.

Anyway, having nothing to do today, Zhou Hexuan immediately went out with Wanrong, followed by the Sun brothers.

They went around the streets of the concession first, and Zhou Hexuan pointed to the pedestrians on the road and said: "You have to pay attention to their demeanor and behavior. What do foreigners look like? What do high-level Chinese look like? What do ordinary people look like? Look at that The sugar seller, the wrinkles and smiles on his face, and his ingratiating manner when he speaks. Only when you are familiar with these, can you draw a caricature of the market, showing the three religions and nine streams, and all living beings. Your current caricatures are too unrealistic.”

Wanrong suddenly realized, and said: "I said, why does it feel awkward, so the characters in my comics are all carved out of the same mold. Without Brother Zhou's reminder, I really wouldn't pay attention to these."

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "From now on, you can come out every day, observe people of different identities, and pay attention to their words and deeds. This is good for improving your painting skills. It can also relieve boredom. It's a good way to kill multiple birds with one stone. "

"I made a note of it." Wanrong liked hearing Zhou Hexuan talk like this very much, she had a feeling of being valued and cared for.

The two had lunch outside, and in the afternoon they wandered around the city of Tianjin, observing all the way to the slums in the northeast of the city.

The style of painting here has changed drastically, and the narrow streets are lined with refugees in ragged clothes and haggard faces. Their eyes were blank and their expressions were helpless, like walking dead, completely unable to feel any anger.

The arrival of Zhou Hexuan and the others was like throwing a stone into a pool of stagnant water, and the refugees frantically surrounded them.

"Mister and Miss, please do me a favor, I haven't eaten for two days."

"Sir, sir, do you want a maid? My daughter can do laundry, cooking, and making quilts. You can buy her... 10 yuan, only 10 yuan!"

"..."

Wanrong had never seen such a situation before, she was so shocked that her face turned pale, and even her three views were overturned, she pulled Zhou Hexuan's sleeve and asked: "They...how can they have no food? They are all so close to selling their sons and daughters No. Zhili hasn’t fought a war recently.”

Zhou Hexuan asked Sun Yonghao to throw out dozens of copper coins, and sighed: "They are all refugees who escaped from Shandong."

At the beginning of this year, heavy rains in Shandong caused disasters. Most of the rural houses collapsed and people were displaced. However, Zhang Zongchang was still extorting money, not only did not provide relief, but instead imposed heavy taxes. The refugees were still begging in Shandong at the beginning, but with the spring famine, it was difficult to survive in places without disasters, so they had to drag their families to Tianjin.

Tianjin is under Chu Yupu's control, and Chu Yupu is still fighting with Zhang Zongchang, so he doesn't care about it. The only thing the Tianjin local government can do is to send a corpse collection team, and every day they can receive a few corpses that died of illness and starvation.

Zhou Hexuan learned about the disaster from Ta Kung Pao, but he didn't know that there were also many refugees in Tianjin, and neither the government nor private charities provided assistance.

"Sigh, it's hard to make some money by selling underwear, it seems that I have to sell some more." Zhou Hexuan smiled wryly. His heart is also soft, it's okay if he didn't meet him, but now that he has witnessed the tragic situation of the refugees, he feels sorry for not doing something.