Back to the Republic of China to open a department store

"Mum Zhang, what time is it?"

"Young Mistress, it's past one in the afternoon. Do you want milk or coffee?"

The dance party the night before didn't end until two o'clock in the morning, and Young Mistress Qian didn't get up until one o'clock in the afternoon, wearing a silk nightgown and stepping on slippers Shi Shiran went downstairs.

"Give me a cup of clear coffee... No, I drank a lot of wine yesterday, and now my stomach feels a little uncomfortable. Warm me a glass of milk. Just make me a sandwich for lunch. I asked my sister-in-law and the eldest lady of the Lin family to go to Heping The restaurant has afternoon tea, and there will be snacks when the time comes."

"Good young lady. Are you coming back for dinner?"

"Oh no, I have made an appointment with the young master. After afternoon tea, I will go to his company to wait for him. We will have dinner at Huamao Restaurant, and there will be a mini reception. In the afternoon, you can ask someone to bring two sets of clothes to Huamao's long Let us change the private room. Tonight we are going to dance at 'Megale'... for now, you don't have to prepare dinner for me and the young master."

Young Mistress Qian, also from a rich family, married the second son of the famous Match King in Shanghai, and moved into the mansion given to her by her father-in-law.They are the second bedroom, unlike the eldest son who needs their parents to live together, so there is no one to nag, and the young couple live a very chic life.

Especially Young Mistress Qian, who is young, beautiful, has a good figure, and speaks a good foreign language. She is a well-known socialite in Shanghai.Since entering the social circle at the age of 16, she and a group of little sisters have been a sight wherever they go, and their influence is no less than that of stars.

"Mum Zhang, what is this? Have I subscribed to this magazine?"

While drinking milk, Young Mistress Qian half-leaned on the sofa, casually flipping through the magazines on the coffee table, and looked at the "SMART" in front of her with doubts.

A fashion pioneer like Mrs. Qian naturally wants to be at the forefront of all trends.She has subscribed to several famous magazines in Shanghai, such as "Good Friends", "Vientiane", and "Dianshizhai Pictorial".In addition, magazines imported from overseas, such as "L'OFFICIEL" from France, "VOGUE" and "HARPER'SBAZAAR" from the United States, although it is usually nearly one or two months late by the time I see them.But trends, we still have to follow them—this is a matter of attitude.

"It was sent by Shimai Department Store. It is said that it is the first issue of this month's new issue, and it was taken care of by Mr. Luo himself."

Zhang Ma replied respectfully, "It was from the little brother who used to send the VIP catalog every month. He also sent this..."

Mama Zhang turned around and took out a wine red women's leather bag.The style is a classic messenger bag, small and exquisite.The word SMART is written on the metal plate with the buckle, and the bag strap is wrapped with a good colorful silk scarf, which looks full of heart.

"This is……"

Young Mistress Qian took the bag in surprise, feeling the soft touch of the lambskin.

"The clerk who delivered the books said that this is a gift for the first issue. There are a total of [-] copies of the first issue of this magazine, and only the [-] copies for VIP guests are given as commemorative bags. There is also an invitation letter inside."

Young Mistress Qian opened the bag, and as expected, she saw a golden envelope inside.

"The VIP gave a leather bag, so did he say what the others gave?"

While opening the envelope, Young Mistress Qian asked curiously.

"Ah... I seem to have heard him mention that the delivery is duck egg powder and rouge from Yangzhou in a satin bag. It is said that [-] copies were just delivered to the book counter of Shimai Department Store yesterday afternoon, and all of them were delivered this morning." There are none left."

"Oh, Mr. Luo, you really listened to my words!"

Young Mistress Qian was lazily lying on the sofa, but after reading the content written on the invitation letter, she sat up happily.

"VIP invitation card for Shimai Department Store's autumn and winter fashion show... Hahaha, oops, I just mentioned that, and Luo Sanshao took it seriously. It's really holding a press conference again."

She jumped up and held the invitation letter in a circle.Then he stuck the card to his chest, and said to himself in a lonely and earnest manner, "It's a pity, he is so many years younger than me... Otherwise, I must chase him back. But our family is old, right? Not bad. Forget it, hey, I really envy the girl who can marry him after death!"

Mama Zhang stood aside and wiped the cold sweat off her forehead silently, pretending she didn't hear anything.

When Young Mistress Qian went out for an afternoon tea date, she gave up the handbag she had originally chosen.I took the leather bag sent by Shimai, and specially re-matched a thin dress with a camellia pattern before going out.

She originally thought that she could show off the special VIP treatment to her girlfriends, but she went to the Peace Hotel Cafe to take a look—well, there were four of them in total, and all three of them were carrying a Time Maier purse.

The only one that I didn’t memorize is because I spent the night in the hotel last night, and I haven’t had time to go home to read it today.

"Tsk tsk tsk, I thought I could 'show off' in front of you guys today, but it turned out to be a 'bump'."

Young Mistress Qian shook her head and sat down.

"This Mr. Luo, no matter how clever his thoughts are, he is still a man. Three hundred identical bags don't seem like a lot to him, but the circle of celebrities in Shanghai is so big, and eight or nine out of ten are all them." Shimai's high-level VIP, wouldn't you bump into him?"

The one who spoke was Young Grandma Qian's sister-in-law, Grandma Qian.They are both sisters-in-law and friends, and they met the two young masters of the Qian family at the same ball, and then married into each other.

"Yes. When I have a chance to meet Mr. Luo in the future, I must tell him that in the future, the gifts will be subdivided. If you are so rough, you won't be able to catch up with your girlfriend. "

Young Mistress Qian narrowly blinked at Miss Lin who was sitting across from her, "Susan, I heard that your family is going to hold a dance party, did you invite the third young master from the Luo family?"

Sitting opposite Mrs. Qian is Miss Lin Susan, who just graduated from a girls' high school last year and is now on the way to find a husband.Blind date or something, she felt that it was too old-fashioned and boring, so she planned to have a dance party at home, firstly to celebrate her coming of age, and secondly, of course, to choose a son-in-law.

"Please, please..."

Miss Lin lowered her head in embarrassment, and used the gesture of drinking tea to cover up her shyness.

Speaking of Luo Xia Zhi Luo Sanye, he is now the hottest "Diamond Bachelor" in Shanghai!

Luojia Trading Company is now a large trading company second only to Shatong Foreign Company. It not only does import and export business, but also involves domestic shipping.Even the Qian family has to rely on their family's business ethics.

Not to mention Shimai Department Store, since its opening five years ago, it has become the benchmark of Shanghai's modern business.Luo Sanshao is a walking "money rake".A few days a business experience, every time can bring new surprises to Shanghainese who love the bustle most, and then drive a burst of sales boom.

Moreover, Young Master Luo is young and handsome, and his reputation is first-class. He has never heard of any female celebrity or courtesan.

If there is only one shortcoming, he is the concubine son of an actor.

But so what?Banknotes are the most important thing!

"Sister, my sisters are all married, and those who have children have children. You have the opportunity, sister, so you must seize it!"

The young ladies covered their mouths and winked and laughed.

Ms. Lin blushed and flipped through the magazine in her hand——it was "Smart".

"Hey, have you read the magazine? I just glanced at it before going out, not to mention it looks pretty good."

After joking with Ms. Lin, a few girlfriends began to talk about their impressions of the magazine.

"Do you know the little girl on the cover? This magazine was just delivered to my home this morning. My little niece who was home on sick leave saw it and said: Isn't this my classmate Luo Wanyi? She is actually a cover star." La!"

"Oh, I think it looks so familiar, so she is the current eldest lady of the Luo family."

Mrs. Qian picked up a pink macaron and put it in her mouth, "This Mr. Luo is very interesting. The cover of the first issue of the first issue actually asked her niece to be the cover girl. It's so good that you don't avoid relatives."

That's right, on the first cover of the first issue of "SMART" magazine, there is a smiling lady standing in a field of flowers with a big orange cat Isabella in her arms.The small red western-style building behind the flowers is Luo Xiazhi's "Summer Palace" villa.

Who should be invited to be the cover model for the first issue of the magazine, Luo Xiazhi and everyone in the newly formed magazine have been arguing for a long time before deciding.

Some people said to invite Ruan Lingyu, some said to invite Phalaenopsis, and some said that it would be better to simply invite female stars of Yue opera—this is the group of young movie fans and theater fans.

The other group of people are "pens" drawn from Shimai Department Store. They were in charge of the VIP product list and the annual calendar and advertisements. They think that since it is Shimai Department Store's magazine, they should hire It is commemorative only when the sales assistants who are recognized as big beauties in the department store are on the cover.

The two factions quarreled for a long time in the newly renovated magazine office, but they still couldn't settle down. In the end, it was Rorschach's decision - just use the cutest photo of my niece Luo Wanyi in the whole world!

From ancient times to the present, the father who pays the money is always right, so the cover girl of the first issue of "SMART" was decided in this way.

Based on the fact that this magazine was originally changed from a children's pictorial, the first issue of the magazine used children as the cover, which is an explanation for the past.

"I saw the pages in it. It's very interesting. I thought Mr. Luo created this magazine just for advertising, but it turned out that there are quite a lot of content..."

Grandma Qian flipped through the pages of the magazine casually, and said happily.

"Look, this is the latest product of Shimai Department Store this season. Let's go to the Shimai counter tomorrow to have a look... There is actually a page for teaching people to make up. There is also a tutorial on knitting sweaters, which is so interesting Bar."

"More than that, here is a list of the performing arts market for next month, all kinds of movie and drama release times. There are also interviews with celebrities-look, this is my favorite Xiaosheng masculine. The one he played is for the heroine The son who went to die is really touching."

"There are prose, poetry, and serialized novels after this. They invited my favorite popular female writer, Aileen, to start a serialized series! My God, I just couldn't stop after reading the beginning. Why do you only write a little bit every month, wouldn’t it be better to write more and write faster?”

This lady from the Liu family seems to be a fan of literature, and is most interested in the literature section at the back of the magazine.

"Look here, there is a call for papers here...Susan, I remember that when you were studying in school, the articles you wrote were often read as model essays, and they called you a talented woman. Why don't you contribute too? "

Young Mistress Qian pointed to the magazine enthusiastically and said.

"I, what kind of article is my article? How can I submit it blindly. Young Mistress, don't make fun of me."

Miss Lin hurriedly waved her hands.

"Hey, no. Look at what people wrote: regardless of subject matter, genre, or material. Photography works are also acceptable, and the manuscript fee is favorable. Any healthy, lively and active works are within the scope of employment. Even home recipes, flower planting experience It’s all right—the recipes are all right, as long as my mother Zhang knows how to read, she will probably contribute. What are you embarrassed about.”

Mrs. Qian said very seriously, "I can write an article on how to match autumn and winter clothes, and ask my family's old Qian to take photos for me and send them to their editorial department together with the manuscript. In this way, my article, and my photos , can be published in magazines, killing two birds with one stone!"

"Hahaha, you narrow-minded ghost, you are the only one who is clever!"

All the sisters laughed together, Grandma Qian clapped her stomach and hit her shoulder with a powder fist.

"Susan, don't go out to dance or watch movies these days. Go home and prepare a masterpiece and submit it to their publishing house. If Mr. Luo sees it, you will be impressed by your talent first. After the ball, you will be impressed by your talent." Conquered by your beauty—this marriage is done!"

"When the time comes, you must invite me for the wedding. I will order the dress half a year in advance. Maybe Master Luo will think of me when there is a special issue of 'Ladies' in a magazine?"

"Me too!"

"You guys, I won't tell you anymore!"

After all, Ms. Lin was a young girl in her late twenties, she blushed at what they said, she covered her face with her hands and ran into the garden to get some air.

"Hey, this magazine is really pretty good. Think about the day when there will be no dance or entertainment, I decided to take a good look at it at home."

"It looks pretty good."

The remaining three wives casually flipped through the magazines left by Ms. Lin, and then changed the topic to other places.

"Dear ones, have you received it too? The invitation letter for Shimai Department Store's autumn and winter fashion show."

Young Mistress Qian stretched out her red Danko finger and twirled it around, then said happily, "Let's discuss what we're going to wear to attend that day!"

When it comes to the press conference a month later, these ladies suddenly became interested and began to discuss happily.

Not far from them, a young man put down the newly acquired magazine with disinterest, and clicked his tongue twice in their direction.

"It's so noisy, a bunch of crazy women. Still want to marry Luo Xiazhi? Just dream!"

Young Master Liang picked up the coffee cup and took a small sip.

"Li Ye, if these women know that the 'Diamond Bachelor' they call doesn't like women at all, what will they look like?"

Li Ye, who was sitting opposite him, was holding a textbook at the moment.After hearing the words, he put down the book and said coldly, "If you dare to talk nonsense, I will make you look good."

"Tsk, just kidding, you still take it seriously."

Liang Shaolong shrugged his shoulders, looking as if he wanted to be beaten.

He really wanted to know how this little guy planned to "look good" to him.

The kid followed him for nothing during this time, at least the Liang family's boxing style is very decent now.

He got a lot of open space in Wujiang, and he would practice guns when he had nothing to do.He asked Li Ye to try it half-jokingly, but he didn't expect the marksmanship to be quite good!

In order to be able to work next to Luo Xiazhi a year later, this guy is simply trying his best to enrich himself.Now that he has even learned how to drive, it seems that he is ready to be an all-round secretary.

Thinking of this, Liang Shaolong couldn't help being jealous, why couldn't he find such a loyal and capable younger brother.

This child was taught so well by him, but he had to send it back to Luo Xiazhi after graduation. The more he thought about it, the more he felt unwilling.There is a feeling that the son will be given away for nothing when he grows up.

Liang Shaolong touched the back of his head with emotion.

Speaking of which, this child is really sensitive just like what Luo Xiazhi said.

He never mentioned a word about Luo Xiazhi and Gu Hanlin to anyone.These days, although the society is not going to shout about the "broken sleeve and divide the peaches", it doesn't think it is a good thing.

Unexpectedly, the day after Luo Xiazhi was assassinated at the train station, Li Ye came to ask about the relationship between his young master and Principal Gu.

Seeing how he was speechless and unable to answer for a long time, the boy said calmly: I see.

Then turned around and left.

Liang Shaolong really wanted to shake his shoulders and ask him how he "knew".

"Really, the cover of the first issue is just a smile, why would you rather use a female star than me for the second time? Am I not the most popular male model in Shanghai? My legs are so long..."

Looking at the photo of Xiaoxiao in the magazine, Liang Shaolong said very unfairly.

----------------

"Shimai SMART" has received great acclaim after its release. Not only is it only sold in the bookstore of Shimai department store, but starting from the second issue, the latest edition of Shimai can also be purchased in various bookstores and newsstands in downtown Shanghai. magazine.

As expected, it is a magazine issued by Shimai Department Store, which is not short of money. A magazine is twice as thick as an ordinary pictorial, half of which are color pages, beautifully printed advertising girls and photographs, Movie posters make readers reluctant to throw them away after watching them.

The key is that the price is cheap, it is simply half-selling and giving away for nothing.A magazine is only [-] cents, which is the price of an admission ticket to Shimai Rooftop.

Not only that, this young master Luo is simply a "boy who spreads money", and when each issue of the magazine is released, there will be many gifts on it.The VIP gift for the inaugural issue of the first issue, the rose-colored lambskin Kun bag is worth at least two or thirty yuan, even if it is a tie-in gift for ordinary readers, it will cost five or six yuan.

Let’s forget about the gimmick for the first time, who knows that Time Magazine is addicted to giving away things, basically giving away every period.Sometimes it's lipstick, sometimes it's a small piece of soap, there are women's stockings, canvas bags.In order to prevent book dealers from deducting gifts, the magazine simply writes on the back cover that XX is a gift for this issue. I wish you a happy reading.

For their gifts, even if they have no interest in the magazine itself, some people will buy it because they are cheap.

It's even more serious during the holidays. The advertisement page of this magazine simply says: With this cut corner, you can get a free trial pack at the XX counter of Shimai Department Store before XX date.Quantity is limited, first come first served.

A quarter of the content of this magazine is advertising coloring pages. If you really take the clipped corners one by one and follow the pictures to find things in department stores, you can't print them for a day and a half.

"I really can't figure it out, Xiao Xia, what are you trying to do?"

Sitting in the office on the sixth floor, Liang Shaolong pointed to the advertisement page and asked, "You're not going to open a department store anymore, are you planning to do a charity project instead?"

He turned up from downstairs just now, good guy, there are quite a lot of guys carrying this big bag and taking gifts layer by layer.It's a certainty that the magazine will lose money, so why do they still have to pay for gifts and make the department store lose money?

"You see a lot of people coming to get the freebies? Have you seen what the freebies are like?"

Rorschach asked with a smile.

"Such a small bar of soap."

Liang Shaolong stretched out his index finger and thumb contemptuously, making a short distance.

"It's not enough to wash the pants."

"There are still a few biscuits, three pieces, to be stuffed between the teeth."

Liang Shaolong took out a sample of the butter biscuits that came downstairs just now, and threw it into his mouth, "It's delicious though."

"Okay, then... Suppose you took a bus or a rickshaw from Pudong or other places, drove so far to the department store, and got such a small gift, what do you think? ?”

"Since it's something that doesn't cost money, let's have less. But I've come here, so of course I'm going to buy something for my family to take home. Ah!! I understand, you bad boy, you wait here for them !"

Liang Shaolong suddenly realized.

"It's all about advertising. No matter how beautiful the photos printed in newspapers and magazines are, they are not as good as seeing them with your own eyes. I am not afraid that they will not give away gifts, but I am afraid that they will not be interested in my gifts."

Rorschach laughed.

"If I'm not mistaken, the wool comes from the sheep. These gifts should be paid for by those suppliers, and magazines and department stores don't have to invest in it at all."

Li Ye sat on the side and said seriously.

"Xiaoye is really getting better and better."

Luo Xiazhi said approvingly, "Originally, our department store had to pay for the advertisements in the newspapers. Now the advertisements in the magazines are all made by my suppliers with real money and begging me to do them for them." The same goes for these gifts, I don’t need to invest a penny at all, and naturally someone wants to invest.”

Li Ye nodded in admiration and sat obediently.

"The initial circulation of the magazine is [-] copies. Even if only one-third of the audience of these [-] copies can visit the department store, the profit after shopping for a day is considerable enough. San Ye, have you ever thought about it? If this magazine is sold to the northern border, if they want to buy something, can they expand the market through mail order?"

"Sure, Xiaoye, you're thinking of mail order business now!"

Luo Xiazhi was taken aback by his business acumen, and then waved his hand to call him to his side.

"I have thought about buying by mail. But you also know that the current situation between the north and the south is not right, this business problem..."

Luo Xiazhi opened a map of China and started a discussion with Li Ye.

He will be graduating ahead of schedule in one year. In order to accumulate enough credits, he has been studying and writing reports day and night recently, and he has become thin and out of shape.

Liang Shaolong said that he would become nervous if he continued to read, so he took advantage of the Mid-Autumn Festival to take him to Shanghai to relax.

His parents were released from prison last month, Mr. Luo showed kindness and asked his parents to work in his villa on Chongming Island.His mother was still a helper in the kitchen, and his father, who had worked as a postman on the island, became a gardener.

The third master is the busiest person in Shanghai beach now, how can he go back to the island for a short stay when he has time.They are not so much working there as they are living in a villa for the elderly in vain.

Since their parents were imprisoned, the clan took away their family's fields and real estate. Now they can be said to have no tiles to cover themselves in Shanghai, and they are completely helpless.

Only someone as good as Luo Sanye is willing to take in their whole family, and it doesn't count to give them a bowl of food, and let them work.

"Third Lord..."

Li Ye raised his head cautiously, looking at Luo Xiazhi who was looking down at the map.

The boy's eyes were filled with yearning and admiration that was almost overflowing.

God knows how much he yearns for this person, admires this person, wants to stay by his side, follow him, look up to him...

"Tsk... It seems that someone is going to pry my cousin's 'corner'."

Liang Shaolong, who saw everything in his eyes, bared his teeth and sighed softly.

The author has something to say: The cover of the first issue of the famous Wing On Monthly in Shanghai is Guo Zhiyuan, the daughter of Guo Linshuang, the owner of Wing On Department Store.

Unexpectedly, Principal Gu's rival in love is Xiaoye, hahahaha, exciting!

A preview of the next chapter "Joining the Trade Union of Domestic Products"