On November 16, 1981, a major victory occurred that could be recorded in the history of Chinese sports.
In the "Third Women's Volleyball World Cup Finals" held in Tokyo, Japan, the Chinese women's volleyball team relied on unity and perseverance to successfully fight back despite losing the battle.
In the end, it defeated the previous champion Japanese team and won the championship. It achieved a breakthrough of "zero" gold medals for my country's three major football teams in world competitions.
The match that day lasted for more than two hours, and the fierce competition between the two sides almost reached a fever pitch.
At the final decisive moment, many housewives in Beijing who stayed by the TV to watch the game were so nervous that they covered their eyes with their hands, not daring to face the success or failure of the game.
And when the women's volleyball team scored a smash and finally won at 17:15, countless men picked up the belongings around them, stepped on the stools, and kept banging in excitement.
On this night, the crowds of people spontaneously celebrating in Beijing, like on stimulants, even poured into Tiananmen Square.
Some people set off fireworks, some played gongs and drums, and some held hands and danced in a group, or performed the Yangko dance.
Under the shining colors, the excited faces and dancing figures in front of the Monument to the People's Heroes undoubtedly prove the people's strong yearning and confidence in "revitalizing China."
This is an extremely rare situation throughout history. Not only can all people feel the same happiness at the same time, but everyone's happiness is not for their own benefit, but purely out of patriotism.
How lovely and valuable this cohesion is!
Therefore, this scene is destined to become the back cover of the 1981 calendar, a collective memory of contemporary people that will never fade!
Coincidentally, in the early morning of November 17, people who commuted to get off work through Xidan North Street every day were surprised to find that at the entrance of the "Xidan Shopping Mall", a row of iron sheds that had just been built were being decorated with lights.
The gorgeous colored silks and hydrangeas were stretched for hundreds of meters around the outer edge of the greenhouse by a dozen people on ladders, and red lanterns were also hung. It was really majestic and joyful.
Since yesterday's excitement has not dissipated, many people could not help but mistakenly believe that this was probably the shopping mall celebrating the women's volleyball team's championship. What a timely response!
But in fact, it has nothing to do with it. All these people were just arranged by Hong Yanwu.
Because this day actually happens to be the day when the first "clothing night market" in Beijing opens.
Of course, looking at it from another perspective, it cannot be said that it has nothing to do with it at all.
At least in Hong Yanwu's view, the scene of universal celebration in Tiananmen Square yesterday was an extremely auspicious omen. It seemed to indicate that the market he had single-handedly managed and opened today would surely have a good start.
However, for Song Guofu, the feeling on this day was the same as watching the game yesterday.
He was not as sure as Hong Yanwu. He spent almost the whole day in fear, always worried that he would be in trouble today.
This cannot be blamed on his poor mental quality, nor can it be said that he is not optimistic about the clothing night market at all.
Mainly because the above-mentioned people paid more attention to this matter than he expected. The district leaders actually decided to come to the site to inspect that night. So he would definitely accompany him.
But what does the capital look like at night?
Although Xidan is the core business district of Beijing, all shops close their doors to thank customers after get off work hours. As a result, the place will quickly turn into a deserted street without any commercial atmosphere.
This scene of two worlds of ice and fire has existed vividly for many years. During the day, you can see crowds of people queuing up everywhere. When night falls, the streets immediately become deserted. Only the dim street lights reflect the desolation and loneliness.
Although Hong Yanwu printed 20,000 opening flyers in advance in order to attract customers, he sent people to distribute them all in the Xidan area in the last three days before the opening.
Moreover, the flyer also stated that within a week of opening, as long as you buy anything at any stall, you can get a pair of chopsticks for free.
But who can say for sure what the ultimate effect of this unique and innovative strategy will be?
Think about it, winter is coming soon. How many people are willing to come and visit in such cold weather just for such a small benefit?
What's more, there are so many stalls. It would be ugly if there were more sellers than buyers.
In short, the more Song Guofu thought about it, the more afraid he became, and the more he thought about it, the more worried he became.
But no matter what, time passes by inadvertently, and the time that ultimately determines success or failure will always come.
Fortunately, when the real thing came to pass, the situation at the scene was much better than Song Guofu expected, and he knew that he had indeed been overly concerned.
Because at six o'clock, the bright lights in the greenhouse and the red lanterns on the outside light up. This extremely bright and joyful color becomes the highlight of the entire street.
Even though the self-employed tricycles haven't arrived yet, they still attracted the attention of many passers-by after get off work.
There were even many pedestrians who couldn't help but stop their bicycles and look around at the entrance of the mall to see what this unusual light and pomp was all about.
Anyway, at least this brightly lit greenhouse looks really presentable. The actual effect is far better than on the drawing, and it is attractive enough.
For this reason, when he and Song Guofu were waiting for the district leader, his immediate superior couldn't help but praise him first.
He said that the shed was really well made and it didn't cost much, but it looked and used well. I was sure that the district would be satisfied with it and would never find fault with it.
As for the rest of the time, around 18:20, Song Guofu was almost really relieved.
Because at this time, not only the tricycles loaded with goods from self-employed people began to arrive as scheduled, like flowing water, entering the stalls they had planned long ago. At the same time, there were also many customers holding flyers who had gathered around the greenhouse.
These people kept asking the self-employed, is it true that the flyers will give you chopsticks when you buy something? Is it true that it is cheaper than in the store without handing out tickets? Some people even couldn't wait to open the market as soon as possible, and kept urging them not to do so.
stop.
Just looking at this meaning, the popularity will not be too bad in the future.
As for Hong Yanwu's people, because they had been instructed long ago, they refused to violate the rules. No matter they asked or urged them, they ignored them. They just pushed the carts to the prescribed positions and slowly arranged the goods. They were not affected at all.
In fact, there are three assistants in blue coats and red armbands who are responsible for comforting customers.
Their answers to these questions were all true, and they said that everyone please be patient and wait until the market opens to feel free to come and buy.
Just at this time, several cars belonging to the district leaders arrived. They saw this scene just as they got out of the car.
The leaders were all happy now. They not only admired the application effect of the greenhouse, but also praised the uniformly dressed coordinators. More importantly, they were satisfied with the performance of strictly implementing what they said.
So when they met and shook hands, the leaders first gave Song Guofu an evaluation of his organizational skills and his reliability in doing things.
Song Guofu quickly expressed his humility and attributed all the credit to the branch leaders.
The deputy director of the branch looked very good, and naturally he also praised Song Guofu.
This is Sir Wei's famous saying, "The sedan chair is used to carry people. I'm afraid this will always be the case in official circles."
Of course, where is this?
In order to make these district leaders happy, Hong Yanwu also prepared something. He had arranged for several pairs of scissors and a piece of red silk with hydrangeas to be specially prepared for these leaders to cut the ribbon.
In addition, he also asked Song Guofu to bring a camera and take photos of the leaders.
Don’t forget that these links are just bad things nowadays. But in 1981, they were decent, showy, thoughtful and innovative actions with a sense of grand ceremony.
How many people at that time had seen this? You can’t even imagine it.
So when the leaders saw a coordinator taking out these things, and after listening to Song Guofu's explanation, they understood the arrangements. As expected, they all smiled. Almost everyone looked at Song Guofu as a kind person, much like his own son.
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At 18:30, the ribbon-cutting ceremony finally officially began.
As the colorful silk was cut into several pieces in public by the leaders, the sound of "cracking" firecrackers started. There were at least a thousand customers waiting to enter the market, witnessing a memorable scene in the capital's commercial history.
But just as Song Guofu was taking photos of the leaders, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, because there were actually other "long guns and short cannons" in the crowd of onlookers who were taking pictures of the leaders who were posing.
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This unusual situation was also discovered by the accompanying personnel in the district. After questioning, I found out that it was a few reporters who took the photos. They were both my own people and Hong Kong people.
A reporter from the "Beijing Evening News" was attracted by the novel advertising form of the opening flyer and the promotion method of giving away chopsticks.
Because this is the first store promotion event after my country's reform and opening up. You know, every first time will always cause a sensation, so it is naturally worthy of an interview.
Hong Kong reporters are more sensitive to news. They can link this matter to a higher level by using the word "night market" on the flyer. They think this is a substantial change in the capital's business services since the reform and opening up.
They thought that perhaps the government had noticed the bleak scene in Beijing at night. Perhaps the ancient city of Beijing would become increasingly prosperous even at night in the near future.
To be honest, this result is really dumbfounding, because originally the district had discussed whether to invite newspaper reporters to publish an article.
But later, the district was a little worried that the opening scene was not prosperous enough and would not be conducive to publicity, so they rejected it.
Who would have thought that these reporters would come to their door just because they got the distributed leaflets?
Fortunately, the situation at the scene was not bad. Looking at the crowds of people, the shopping scene started in full swing after entering the market. It was actually quite lively. The district leaders didn't have any objection to this, so let's just do the interview.