Sima Road, formerly known as Preaching Street, is located in the central area of the public concession. It was originally a place for missionaries to give sermons, hence the name "Preaching Street".
The biggest characteristics of Sima Road are the bookish atmosphere and the powdery atmosphere, as well as the literati and romantic people. The two have always complemented each other.
Someone once joked that because of the powdery air, one has a bookish air.
The so-called bookishness refers to the row upon row of news and publishing industries on the east section of Sima Road, including Zhonghua Bookstore, Dadong Bookstore, Commercial Press, Kaiming Bookstore, The Times, Shenbao, Le Monde, Huamei Newspaper and so on, large and small.
More than a dozen.
The western section of Sima Road is where the fireworks and willow alleys gather. Not counting the huge number of secret advocates who cannot be counted, there are at least five or six hundred people even if they have legal licenses.
Take the most famous Huile Lane on Sima Road as an example. There are a total of 28 Shikumen buildings. Except for the Qianyuan Drug Store No. 25, the other 27 buildings are all high-end restaurants known as "Changsan Tangzi".
hospital.
It is no exaggeration to say that if you walk around the west section of Sima Road, at least three of the ten young women you encounter are Ji women who are engaged in the flesh business.
…………
Ito Trading Company is a two-story small Western-style building, with withered vines almost covering the entire building. It is estimated that when spring comes, the place will be a lush green scene.
At this moment, in an office on the second floor, Xu Siqi put two pieces of letter paper on his desk and said in Japanese: "Mr. Ito, this is my resume, please take a look."
Behind the desk, there is a middle-aged man with a humble expression sitting. He is the president Masago Ito.
After reading Xu Siqi's resume, Ito Masahiro said: "Mr. Xu, can you drive a car?"
"Yes."
"Where did you learn it?"
"The Education Bureau equipped my father with a car. I was very fond of cars at that time. I would wait for my father to get off work at home every day, just to pester the driver to teach me how to drive. I learned how to drive as soon as I came and left."
"Oh... Mr. Xu, that's it. The trading company still needs to recruit a driver. If you are willing to work part-time, I will increase the salary appropriately."
"Excuse me, how much is the salary?"
"The monthly salary is 80 silver dollars. Mr. Xu, based on your own conditions, you meet our requirements very well. I am also very satisfied with you personally. So...if it is convenient, I hope you can come to work tomorrow."
"no problem."
"Then, let's do this first?"
"Okay, goodbye, Mr. Ito."
"goodbye."
After coming out of the office, Xu Siqi walked downstairs.
The second floor of Ito Trading Company is the office area. Except for the bathroom and guard room, all the other rooms on the first floor have been converted into warehouses. The doors and rear windows are all reinforced with steel plates.
He came over quickly and solemnly: "Siqi, how are you?"
"Have you been waiting outside?" Xu Siqi said in surprise.
"Yes."
"Do not you have to work?"
"It's okay, I took half a day off... Tell me, what's going on?"
"Let me go to work tomorrow."
"real?"
"Um."
"Great!" Zheng Zheng patted Xu Siqi happily, and then asked hurriedly: "How much does it cost per month?"
"80 yuan."
"Silver dollar?"
"right."
"My dear, why is little Japan so rich? A monthly salary of 80 yuan is a lot of money!"
"How much should it normally be?"
"I originally thought that it would be good if I could give you 60 yuan, but the English translator in our foreign company only gets 45 yuan a month..."
Prices in Shanghai are relatively stable, especially for daily necessities such as firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Unless there is a catastrophic year, the price increases will fluctuate very little.
For example, a pound of soybean oil is about 0.30 yuan, a pound of pork is about 0.50 yuan, a pound of eggs is about 0.30 yuan, and a hundred pounds of rice only costs about 8 yuan.
For another example, the monthly rent for the house Zheng Zheng rents will never exceed 10 yuan.
After the January 28th Incident, everyone went to the concessions one after another. There were more people renting houses, so the rents naturally went up, otherwise they would have been cheaper.
No matter in any era, personal income and commodity prices are in a mutually reinforcing relationship.
Nowadays, the salary of a private in the national army is only 10 silver dollars, and since last year, the government has implemented a discounted national disaster pay system, and the actual salary received is only 7 yuan.
As one of the top benchmark cities in the country, the monthly salary of an average worker in Shanghai is around 20 yuan, and it is even lower in other economically backward areas.
Under the background of the government's advocacy of "rejuvenating the country through education," university professors are the highest-paid group, with monthly salaries ranging from 260 yuan to 700 yuan. The overall salary level is even higher than that of government officials.
In comparison, a translator can get a monthly salary of 80 yuan, and the salary package is indeed not very good.
Xu Siqi explained: "Not only as a translator, the trading company also asked me to work part-time as a driver."
He solemnly said in surprise: "Driver? Can you drive?"
"I can."
"When did you learn to drive?"
"Have you forgotten? My father has a special car to take him to and from get off work. I learned from that driver."
"Oh, no wonder..."
"Seriously, I remember you mentioned that your foreign firm is nearby, right?"
"Ah? Um...it's far away."
"Where?"
"Three roads."
"This is the Fourth Avenue, that means there is only one street across from it?"
"Um."
"What's the name of the foreign bank?"
"...Why do you ask this?"
"Nonsense, if I come to you in an emergency, I have to know where you work, right?"
“Gorgeous.”
"Which two words?"
"China's Hua... Hey, what are you doing over there?" He pointed solemnly.
Not far behind Xu Siqi, several young students who looked like students were holding hands and singing loudly on the street.
"My home is on the Songhua River in Northeast China, where there are forests, coal mines, and soybean sorghum all over the mountains and plains. My home is on the Songhua River in Northeast China, where my compatriots and my aging parents live. September 18, September 1
Eight, from that tragic time. Nine-one-eight-nine-eight, from that tragic time, left my hometown
, Abandon the endless treasure, wander! Wander!..."
The students sang very emotionally, and one of the female students burst into tears, and at one point she was choked up and could not speak.
More and more people gathered to watch, almost blocking the entire road.
A boy raised his arms and shouted: "Give me back my rivers and mountains, give back my hometown, and defeat Japanese imperialism!"
"Stop the civil war and unite with the outside world!"
"Those who can sing, sing with us! September 18th, September 18th, from that tragic time..."
He solemnly frowned and said: "Silly, isn't this Qing waiting to be arrested by the patrol? The concession has an agreement with the Japanese and does not allow anti-Japanese propaganda in public places..."
"beep!"
"beep!"
A sharp whistle sounded in the distance.
A group of Annan patrolmen carrying Lee-Enfield rifles, led by a white patrol leader, ran over quickly.
"What are you waiting for if you don't run away!" Zheng Zheng rubbed his hands anxiously.
The students ignored it and continued to sing the song "On the Songhua River" passionately.