Since ancient times, Jiujiang has been a thoroughfare for seven provinces and an important hub for boats and vehicles.
After the Second Opium War, this area was designated as a treaty port. The number of foreigners gradually increased, and the industry, commerce, and trade economy became more prosperous. Zhang Leyi's father, Zhang Mouzhi, made his fortune by befriending foreigners as a comprador, and later helped foreigners repair their houses and became a rich man.
The two took the Sun brothers, got off the boat at Jiujiang Taikoo Pier, and took a rickshaw heading south.
Not far away, Zhang Leyi said to the rickshaw driver in surprise: "Hey, you're going the wrong way."
"That's right, we're going this way," the coachman said cheerfully. "A large iron bridge has been built over the Longkai River. Now it's much more convenient to cross the river. You don't have to go long and make detours."
The big iron bridge arrived in an instant, and Zhang Leyi suddenly laughed: "Brother Xuan, I thought of it, this bridge was designed by my eldest brother."
"Your eldest brother?" Zhou Hexuan was slightly surprised.
"Yes, my eldest brother and second brother are both top students who graduated from Cambridge," Zhang Leyi pointed to the bridge proudly and said, "When I left Jiujiang last year, my eldest brother had just drawn the drawings, but I didn't expect that the bridge would even be built now.
"
What Zhou Hexuan didn't know was that historically Zhang Leyi's second brother was the mayor of Jiujiang City at this time and the first mayor after Jiujiang was established as a city.
The famous Dazhong Road and Shuangfeng Road in Jiujiang were both designed and built by the second brother of the Zhang family when he was the mayor.
However, because Zhang Leyi ran away privately, the Zhang family did not get involved with Song Ziwen. As a result, the second brother of the Zhang family did not become the mayor like in history, but only became the director of the Jiujiang Civil Affairs and Construction Bureau.
The coachman heard the conversation between the two and said with admiration: "It turns out to be Miss Zhang. I met a noble person today."
Zhou Hexuan joked: "Le Yi, it seems that your Zhang family is very famous in Jiujiang."
Without waiting for Zhang Leyi to respond, the coachman rushed to say: "Well, who in Jiujiang doesn't know Boss Zhang? Not to mention Boss Zhang, the second son of the Zhang family is also a good person. Over on Shuangfeng Road, the Yangtze River water pours into the lotus flowers every summer.
The water in the lotus pond and the lotus pond overflowed onto the road again, and the next heavy rain will cause waterlogging. Mr. Zhang became the construction director and immediately decided to rebuild Shuangfeng Road. Now he is busy relocating houses. I heard that what else needs to be built
sewer."
After hearing this, Zhou Hexuan immediately understood.
Municipal renovation of the old city!
This is a big money-making business. The Zhang family is engaged in real estate. Mr. Zhang is also the director of construction, so he will definitely contract the project to his family and make a lot of money.
The wealthy Zhang family did not explain.
Amid the rambling chatter of the coachman, everyone finally arrived at their destination.
The Lushan side belongs to the summer villa, and the real mansion of the Zhang family is located on the bank of Gantang Lake in Jiujiang.
It is a three-story Western-style building, covering a large area, and is a typical garden house. Not only that, you can enjoy the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains from the upper floor, which is far better than Zhou Hexuan's small foreign-style building in Tianjin.
Along the way, Zhang Leyi pointed to the buildings along the way and introduced them. The Life Water Hospital building, the Mobil Oil Depot office building, etc. were all built by the Zhang family.
Arriving at the Gantang Lake, Zhang Leyi pointed to the garden house next door to the Zhang family and said, "That's Uncle Jin's house. Uncle Jin and my father are old friends, and my mother helped raise their eldest daughter."
The Uncle Jin mentioned by Zhang Leyi is none other than Jin Haoru, a wealthy man from Jiujiang.
Zhang Mouzhi is a house builder, while Jin Haoru is a seller of building materials. They were both apprentices and had many contacts in business.
Now Jin Haoru has founded Huakang Trading Co., Ltd., and controls the coal-fired distribution rights of Jiangxi Shipping Company and many power plants. He has also obtained the exclusive rights to operate Jiangxi's famous brand cement, cigarettes, soap, flour, and daily appliances from all over the country.
Involved in warehousing, water and electricity installation and other fields.
The Jin and Zhang families have a tacit understanding of cooperation. For example, now, the Zhang family is responsible for the renovation of Shuangfeng Road and Dazhong Road, while the Jin family is helping to attract investment and set up stores on the two new roads, and jointly build a commercial street.
After passing the Jin family's bungalow, the rickshaw stopped in front of Zhang's house.
Sun Yonghao ran to ring the doorbell, and soon someone inside asked: "Who is it?"
Zhang Leyi stepped forward and said: "Uncle Qi, it's me!"
"Third Miss?"
The big iron door opened immediately, and an old man in his fifties or sixties walked out and said happily: "Miss Third, you are finally back. My wife has been talking about you."
Zhang Leyi introduced: "Uncle Qi, this is my fiancé Zhou Hexuan."
Zhou Hexuan nodded and smiled: "Hello, Uncle Qi."
"Uh... Hello, uncle," the old man glanced at Zhou Hexuan in surprise, and then whispered, "Miss Third, how can you be so careless? Say hello in advance, I'm afraid it won't be easy for you to pass the test."
Zhang Leyi asked: "Is my dad at home?"
The old man said: "The master is discussing business outside. There are only the old lady, the fourth young master, the fifth young master and the young young master at home. The fourth young lady has also gone home for the holidays, and the fifth young lady is playing with the eldest lady of the Jin family next door."
There are many brothers and sisters in the Zhang family. The boys belong to the "Yuan" generation and are named "Dong, Xi, Nan, Bei, Mo and Fan" respectively. The girls are named "An, Ru, Le, De, Man". Zhang Leyi is
The third oldest among sisters.
Hearing what the old man said, Zhang Leyi felt even more uneasy and led Zhou Hexuan into the gate like a thief.
As soon as everyone walked to the living room downstairs, a girl of fourteen or fifteen years old suddenly popped out and said in surprise: "Third sister, you are finally back...ah!!!!" As he said this, the girl seemed to recognize Zhou Hexuan, and
A voice as high as 90 decibels screamed, "Mr. Zhou, Mr. Zhou, you are Mr. Zhou!"
Zhang Leyi smiled and introduced: "This is my fourth sister Deyi."
"Hello Deyi," Zhou Hexuan asked, "do you know me?"
Zhang Deyi said excitedly: "Of course I know you. When Mr. Zhou gave a speech at Zhongxi Girls' High School last time, I sat down and listened. I originally wanted to ask you for an autograph, but unfortunately there were too many people and I couldn't squeeze through."
The Zhang family has a good family tradition and attaches great importance to education. The eldest and second brothers of the Zhang family both graduated from Cambridge. The third brother is also studying abroad now. As for the five women of the Zhang family, all of them will graduate from college in the future.
This is very rare in the Republic of China, which values boys over girls.
Zhou Hexuan asked Sun Yongzhen to open the box, took out a gold pen and said: "Deyi, this is our first meeting, please accept a small gift."
"Thank you," Zhang Deyi happily took the gold pen, "Mr. Zhou, what you said last time was really good. The 'Four Self-Virtues' you mentioned have almost become the school motto of Chinese and Western girls' middle schools... Hey, that's not right!
"
Zhang Deyi seemed to be a little slow to react. She looked at her sister suspiciously, then at Zhou Hexuan, and finally responded: "Mr. Zhou, are you my future brother-in-law?"
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "You still need the consent of the two elders."
"Ah, that's great," Zhang Deyi cheered and said excitedly, "When school starts, I will tell my classmates that Mr. Zhou is my brother-in-law!"
Obviously, there is no need for Zhou Hexuan to say anything, the fourth lady of the Zhang family has already taken care of it.
But the real difficulty lies behind.
"What does a girl look like when she yells?" Mrs. Zhang walked downstairs slowly. After teaching her daughter a lesson, she turned her attention to Zhou Hexuan.
"Mom." Zhang Leyi shouted nervously.
Zhou Hexuan stepped forward and saluted: "Hello, aunt." 8