The interior of the western-style building originally had curved solid wood stairs and peach wood floors. The renovation only involved re-applying a layer of floor oil for maintenance.

All in all, everything has been renovated quite well, and you get what you pay for.

"That's right, arrange for workers to clean the entire island inside and out, and then come to Fengzhong Bank's head office to find me to settle the balance."

"Okay, thank you, shopkeeper Chen." The little construction boss nodded and bowed with a flattering smile.

The auspicious day for the wedding was decided. April 6th was Sunday, which became the wedding day of Chen Tianhua and Li Shuzhen.

The Li family is taking care of all the preparations for the wedding, so Chen Tianhua definitely doesn't have so much time to take care of it.

In addition to Fengzhong Bank's affairs, the relevant procedures for the Niutoushan Coal Mine in Guangde, Anhui, have been completed by Sheng Xuanhuai and Li Jingfang, only waiting for the opening ceremony.

Due to Chen Tianhua's wedding, everything was postponed and could only be held in late April or early May after the wedding.

As the wedding was approaching, no matter how busy Chen Tianhua was, he had to take time to go to Shanghai with Li Shuzhen to buy wedding supplies.

As we all know, Shanghai Nanjing Road is the most prosperous commercial street in the city.

Nanjing Road was in the British Concession, and people first called it "Malaysian Road".

As the blond and blue-eyed foreigners lived in the concession, the number of whom had reached tens of thousands, a large number of garden houses and apartment buildings were built around Nanjing Road, and there were many shops.

Most Chinese-style buildings are two-story buildings with exterior corridors, shops downstairs, and people living upstairs.

Many European-style buildings on the streets are three or even four stories high. The entire building is filled with open-style shops selling Western clothing and jewelry. Department stores also have a dazzling array of window mannequins and advertisements.

Street newsstands are filled with various magazines and publications, many of which feature covers of modern Western girls.

Advertisements of beauties in various alluring poses are hung on many streets and facades, including advertisements for Western-style pajamas, soaps, and perfumes.

Chen Tianhua approached the bustling streets of Shanghai in the late Qing Dynasty more than a hundred years ago. He was filled with great surprise and curiosity, as if he had entered a museum of all nations. The kaleidoscope of objects dazzled him.

There are all kinds of foreign companies here, the more famous ones include British Jardine, Renji, American Qichang, French merchant Baiji, German merchant Ruijie, as well as Swiss Huajia, Dutch Hershey, Italian Anhe...

Foreign companies in various countries mainly sell domestic products. For example, British merchants mainly deal in woolen fabrics, British foreign cloth, cotton and woolen fabrics, pajamas, and bedding.

American merchants mainly sell various types of soaps, candles, matches, foreign oils, etc.

French merchants offer soaps, perfumes, powders and other cosmetics.

Japanese merchants sell towels, straw hats, toys, etc.

…

People poured into the street, coming and going, the flow was endless, and it was very lively.

They gathered together in small groups, chatting and laughing, stopping from time to time to browse in their favorite stores, pointing, admiring the dazzling array of goods, and selecting their favorite items.

There were shouts, and the gramophone equipped with a tall speaker was filled with incomprehensible Western sounds.

In this way, a noisy symphony is formed, making this bustling street full of vitality.

Chen Tianhua felt it was so novel that he couldn't help but look around and see everything, touch everything here and there, wanting to experience the difference from the objects of later generations.

Li Shuzhen yelled "Ahem...", tugged at the corner of his clothes, and whispered:

"Please Hua Zhi, please stop looking around and touching here and there, okay? Many people in the store are looking at us."

"If they want to see it, let them see it! I, Chen Tianhua, am a country bumpkin from a small place in the countryside. What's wrong? Bah!" He sneered.

There was no way to deal with him, so Li Shuzhen had no choice but to let him have his way.

But it’s too much to say that they are chinks. Look at the two of them in fashionable clothes, and the five burly men following behind them, each carrying large and small bags of items. This arrogance is not a small place.

It came out.

Moreover, at this time, being able to set foot on Nanjing Road in the British Concession was not accessible to ordinary people.

They came to a shop called "Red Rose Barber Shop". From the name, you can tell that it is a shop that specializes in serving ladies.

Li Shuzhen went in. She wanted to have her hair styled, a trendy wavy perm, which is the most innovative and fashionable hairstyle for Western ladies.

The barber shops on Nanjing Road all serve foreigners. Of course, they also serve local dignitaries, but they are mainly for ladies, and there are no seats for men.

In the Qing Dynasty, haircuts were called shaving. There were very few shops and most of them were street stalls.

The concept of haircuts in the Qing Dynasty is very different from that of modern people. Even the most powerful men must wear braids, that is, shave their heads.

However, dignitaries do not shave their heads on the roadside in the streets. They have their own head shavers, and they usually ask their servants to ask the shavers to come to their homes for services.

Therefore, men in the Qing Dynasty shaved off most of their hair in the front, leaving only a small amount braided and hung on the back of the head.

The original head shape was called the "money rat tail style", which meant leaving a very thin section so that it could pass through the copper coin mouth. It looked very wretched and ugly!

Later, the Chinese may have felt that this braid lacked masculinity, so they gradually made it thicker. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the "rat tail" became the "ox tail".

Dark, thick braids and a shiny forehead became the hallmarks of the Qing Dynasty people.

The two of them went to Shanghai for shopping. They spent two full days shopping and traveling. They bought what they saw and liked. The half-cabin steamer was filled with items. Everyone was exhausted, and then they returned to Hangzhou.

…

During the three months when Chen Tianhua left Wuxing and was busy celebrating the New Year and renovating his new house in preparation for getting married, the British and Japanese started a dispute over the murders of several British nationals such as Charlie and Allen and the plundering of the Changxing coal mine.

Fierce confrontation.

This lawsuit first started in the Qing Dynasty's Yamen, and then escalated to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. It turned into a confrontation between countries, and the scene was fierce.

Because the British side was able to provide conclusive evidence, whether it was personal or physical evidence, including a large number of photos, Japan was ultimately defeated at the Hague International Court of Justice established by the Hague Convention countries.

For this reason, they not only need to apologize to the British side and severely punish the instigators behind the scenes, but also need huge compensation.

Under international pressure, the Japanese side pushed out Deputy Consul Watanabe in Hangzhou and three other people as scapegoats, and they were hanged by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

With the judgment of the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the Qing government followed suit and separated the property rights of Changxing Coal Mine from Zhengyuan Industrial Co., Ltd. and restored it to its original state, with the British controlling the company.

In order to express its gratitude to Chen Tianhua and others, the British side not only gave material rewards, but also reported to the King of England to award him the Royal Knights Medal.

This is the first person in the Qing Dynasty.

At the same time, Changxing Yaojin Mining was allowed to cooperate in depth with Zhejiang Fengzhong Bank, and Fengzhong Bank was allowed to invest as an original shareholder, accounting for 30% of the shares, and join the board of directors.

After discussion by the board of directors, Chen Tianhua was appointed as executive director and general manager of Changxing Yaojin Mining.

In fact, the entire Changxing Yaojin Mining Industry was handed over to Fengzhong Bank for management.

Chen Tianhua may have to grow into a weirdo with three heads and six arms in the future.

However, as a person from later generations, he knows how to conduct scientific management.
Chapter completed!