Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 452 The Influence of Celebrities

The farewell ceremony for Zhu Guangqian was held at the Babaoshan Revolutionary Cemetery. The scene was grand, with many Yenching University colleagues, leaders and cultural celebrities attending the ceremony and laying wreaths.

In recent days, Tao's father has been in a bad mood due to the passing of Zhu Guangqian.

After attending the funeral, the family left Babaoshan and returned to Yanda. During lunch, Tao's father poured himself a glass of wine to relieve his sorrow.

When I came out of Tao's house in the afternoon, the campus was still bustling with energetic figures everywhere.

The deceased is gone, but life continues.

Before we knew it, it was already mid-March.

After several months of preparation, the Asia-Europe Clothing City finally opened for business.

On March 3, Xidan North Street, the entrance of Xidan Shopping Mall was decorated particularly festively.

Red flags are waving, colorful flags are fluttering, and there are many colorful balloons floating in the sky, with banners with greetings printed on them hanging under the balloons.

"Xidan Shopping Mall wishes Asia-Europe Clothing City a great opening", "Jianhua Clothing Company wishes Asia-Europe Clothing City a great opening", "Guangzhou Lihua Clothing Factory wishes Asia-Europe Clothing City a great opening"...

Of course, these greetings were customized in advance by Du Feng after he contacted various cooperative units in advance, just for the sake of appearance.

Banners from more than a dozen units floated into the sky, and the momentum came out all at once.

The area in front of Xidan Shopping Mall used to be a parking lot, but it has now been requisitioned by the Asia-Europe Clothing City. The stage has been set up here since last night.

At this time, there were still many people busying around on and off the stage, preparing for the opening ceremony which would take place in more than an hour.

"Not bad, not bad, it's done really well!" Tao Yumo came here early this morning, not for anything else, just to watch the excitement.

She and Du Feng were standing on the stairs of the shopping mall. It was not very high, but it did not prevent them from feeling a sense of pride as if they were looking down on all the other mountains.

"After this colorful ball floats up, the feeling suddenly becomes different." Tao Yumo said, looking at the colorful ball in the sky.

Du Feng said proudly: "That's right, you don't know how much effort I put into this little thing."

No one in China is making this thing now. He discovered it when he was investigating in Hong Kong last year. He thought it was pretty nice, so he used it.

"When will Fang Shu and the others come?"

"They have to change their clothes and put on makeup at the hotel before coming over. It should be soon." Du Feng said after looking at the watch on his wrist.

Tao Yumo winked at Du Feng and teased, "Liu Xiaoqing came suddenly, you must be very excited, right?"

Du Feng glared at her with a stern face, "Don't talk nonsense! I'm just doing this for the opening of the business."

Listening to his words, Tao Yumo curled her lips to show her disbelief.

"You have to thank my brother-in-law. She just came back from the United States and was originally going to fly directly to Shanghai. But when she heard that it was my brother-in-law who asked her for help, she left a day later."

"Don't say 'my brother-in-law' or 'my brother-in-law', as if he is not my brother-in-law?"

Du Feng was too lazy to argue with her, so he walked down the stairs and started directing the stage setup.

There is no company specializing in celebrations in Yanjing nowadays, so Du Feng called his comrades from the Comrades Art Troupe to help. The art troupe performs all year round, so these tasks are easy and not difficult at all.

In the past few years, several groups of people have left the army and the art troupe. It is no longer as popular as it used to be, and everyone is happy to have this opportunity to make extra money.

Several people in charge of stage art and sound were chatting while working.

"Look at Du Feng, he's really good at foresight! He saw long ago that there was no future in the army, so he went into business only a few years ago, and his business has grown so big!"

"If you had a good father, you could have such a big business."

"Look how jealous you are. Du Feng is at least better than those profiteers, right? He still thinks of us old friends when he has something good to offer. You have no conscience."

While two of them were chatting animatedly, the buck-toothed young man in charge of art remained silent.

He retired from the art troupe a few years ago. When he was in the army, he was not very familiar with Du Feng. Du Feng was the son of a cadre and was surrounded by second-generation people. He was not qualified to get into that circle.

When he was in the C Army, he actually didn't want to change his career. For a commoner like him, it was definitely better to stay in the art troupe than to return to the local area.

But he didn't have the same fate as Du Feng. He retired voluntarily, but he did it passively.

After returning to the local area, he worked for two years, guarding a grain warehouse and working in a trade union. He finally got a job as an artist at the Yenching Television Art Center last year, and at least his talent for painting was not wasted.

Today he came to help purely on a voluntary basis, of course in order to make himself known.

Relationships are built up little by little.

"Brothers, have a cigarette!"

When a few people around him were chatting animatedly, Du Feng suddenly appeared, startling the two people who were gossiping about him.

The two glanced at Du Feng guiltily, and only felt relieved when they saw that he looked normal and very enthusiastic.

"Xiaogang, have a cigarette!"

Du Feng handed over another cigarette, and Feng Xiaogang was flattered, "Thank you, Mr. Du!"

Du Feng said straightforwardly: "Why call me President Du? We are all comrades, it's too formal."

While a few people were taking a break and smoking, a group of people who came to watch the fun had already gathered outside the mall.

It's not even eight o'clock yet, and the ceremony is at nine o'clock. If this trend continues, I'm afraid there will be a huge crowd in front of the mall before nine o'clock.

"Boss Du, when will Liu Xiaoqing, Fang Shu and the others come?"

Du Feng blew out a smoke ring, "Almost there."

When talking about the movie stars who will be appearing today, everyone present looked very excited.

They work in an art troupe and have seen a lot of beautiful girls, but the aura that movie stars have is still different.

"It's such an honor to have so many celebrities come to the opening ceremony!"

"Yeah, I think it's hard for Boss Du's business not to be popular!"

Du Feng responded politely to the compliments from his comrades, but his expression inevitably revealed a bit of complacency.

"I'll go over there and take a look. You guys are busy now."

After Du Feng left, the few of them were still chatting, their words filled with envy and jealousy.

Feng Xiaogang watched Du Feng walk to the outskirts of the mall, meet a couple holding a child, and have a warm conversation with them.

He looked at the man in the couple and felt that he looked familiar, as if he had seen him on TV before.

He recalled the boast Du Feng had made when he was in the army, saying that "The Wreath under the Mountain" was written by his brother-in-law based on him.

Xu Lingjun!
This name flashed through Feng Xiaogang's mind, and he suddenly became excited.

That is Xu Lingjun!

He looked in the direction of Du Feng and saw that after the three of them chatted for a few words, Du Feng led the couple into the mall.

"There are so many people here!" Tao Yushu said as they went upstairs.

"Yes, the effect is better than expected."

Over the past month, Asia-Europe Garment City has never stopped its advertising offensive.

A week before the opening, Du Feng asked the sales clerks in the clothing store to wear cheongsams and walk around the busy streets of Yanjing holding signs to promote the store.

The sales clerks in the clothing store are all tall and pretty, wearing cheongsams that highlight their figures. The shocking visual impact has attracted the attention of countless Yanjing citizens.

Wherever the cheongsam team went, there were crowds of people, and it became a common sight in the capital.

Because he caused traffic jams several times, Du Feng was also interviewed by Uncle Hat.

After such a series of publicity campaigns, the news of the opening of the Asia-Europe Clothing City today can be said to have spread throughout the streets and alleys of Yanjing City.

When they promoted the event, they also announced in advance that many celebrities would appear at the opening ceremony, so it was not surprising that so many people gathered in front of the Xidan Shopping Mall to watch early this morning.

It was still a bit cold in the morning in March, so Du Feng brought Lin Chaoyang and his family up here to let them shelter from the wind.

After staying for a while, more and more people gathered outside the mall.

Lin Chaoyang and his wife held their child and looked down from above. Through the windows of the shopping mall, they could only see a sea of ​​people.

Seeing more and more people gathering, Xidan Shopping Mall and Uncle Hat also began to take action to maintain order.

By nine o'clock, the crowd had grown so large that it overflowed onto the street and the doors of surrounding shops. Even the overpass in front of the shopping mall was filled with people.

The overpass is located on the right side of the main entrance of Xidan Shopping Mall, with a good view. Although it is a bit far away when standing on it, you can just see the entire opening ceremony stage.

Ordinary people can ignore everything in order to watch the performances and stars, but the uncles in hats can't. Seeing the crowded scene on the overpass, the uncles get scared.

That was an overpass for pedestrians to cross the street, not a bridge over the Yangtze River, so they quickly organized manpower to evacuate the people gathered on the overpass.

When the opening ceremony of the Asia-Europe Clothing City finally officially began, the sound of gongs and drums, firecrackers, and festive sounds filled the entire Xidan North Street.

The host has a square face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, and he is none other than the national face Zhao Zhongxiang.

His face often appears on the "News Broadcast" and Spring Festival Gala. Before the stars even appear, the mere sight of Zhao Zhongxiang almost makes the ordinary people present lose control.

The shouts at the scene were like a tsunami, shaking the sky.

After saying a few words, Zhao Zhongxiang began to invite the stars to come on stage, and the first one to come out was Fang Shu.

She is the current leading actress of Yanying Studio. Her momentum has been rising rapidly in the past two years. She also served as the host of the just-concluded Spring Festival Gala together with Liu Xiaoqing.

Fang Shu's appearance is gentle yet delicate, beautiful yet graceful, and she is the dream lover of countless young people.

Today she was wearing a pair of high heels and a brown fur coat, with her black wavy hair cascading down and a simple little flower pinned on it.

With her fiery red lips and affectionate eyes, she stunned thousands of spectators as soon as she appeared on stage.

"Fang Shu——"

I don't know which infatuated fan came from the heart-wrenching cry, but along with this cry, the crowd surged forward like waves.

Fortunately, security measures were in place on site, and the stage and the audience were separated by iron fences.

Fang Shu took the microphone and greeted the audience, and the cheers from the crowd became louder.

Lin Chaoyang and his family were standing on the upper floor of Xidan Shopping Mall and could only see the backs of people on the stage. Tao Yushu was amazed by the enthusiasm of the audience.

"It's so scary! It feels even scarier than the star-chasing atmosphere in Hong Kong!"

The star-chasing culture in Hong Kong started earlier and is more open than in the mainland, but when it comes to the level of audience enthusiasm, Tao Yushu believes that mainland audiences may be even better.

"How many people are here?"

Fang Shu on the stage had already started her performance, but Tao Yushu had no time to watch. Her eyes were cast towards both sides of Xidan North Street. It was visible to the naked eye that audiences were still gathering in the direction of Xidan Shopping Mall from time to time.

But the place could no longer accommodate the audience; the edges of the crowd kept spreading outwards and traffic on the street had long been blocked.

Tram No. 109 and bus No. 22 were stuck at both ends of Xidan Shopping Mall, unable to move. Even pedestrians on bicycles could only move forward slowly.

Such was the influence of the movie stars of the 80s!

The Xidan Shopping Mall, which used to be bustling with people after opening, was deserted today as all the visitors had gone outside.

Even the salesmen were leaning against the windows to watch the excitement, wishing they could go outside to see the stars, as they could only see the stars' backs from inside the building. The performances on the stage continued, with Fang Shu, Zhang Jinling, Li Xiuming... one after another of the household-name female stars making their debuts, singing and dancing, and the atmosphere on the scene became increasingly heated.

It was not until Liu Xiaoqing appeared on the stage in a gorgeous dress that the atmosphere reached its climax and the audience's cheers almost blew the roof off.

Even if Phoenix Legend holds a concert at the Bird's Nest in the future, it will only be at this level.

An opening ceremony is not a concert, so it certainly can’t last too long, only about forty to fifty minutes in total.

After several female stars came on stage and finished their performances, Zhao Zhongxiang invited several others to the stage together. They all announced in unison that the ceremony was over and the Yafu Clothing City was officially opened.

Seeing the female stars being invited into the Xidan Shopping Mall by the staff, the audience also flocked into the mall. The flow of people was even more dense and surging than the shopping boom before the Spring Festival in previous years.

This unexpected wealth made the mall's general manager Wang Quan overjoyed. He was extremely glad that he had agreed to the Asia-Europe Clothing City's decision to hold an opening ceremony.

With the opening of Asia-Europe Clothing City, Xidan Shopping Mall also benefits from it!
Tides of people continued to pour into the mall. Du Feng had already arranged sales clerks in various places in the mall to guide these potential customers to the Asia-Europe Clothing City.

The space inside the Asia-Europe Clothing City is spacious and bright, with soft and even lighting.

The merchandise in the windows and clothing display areas is filled with a sophisticated, modern feel and full of texture under these lights.

Some of the partition walls are decorated with artistic paintings, and soft music can be heard coming from the store.

In the business area of ​​thousands of square meters, hundreds of clothing styles are displayed, covering almost all clothing categories in daily life. At a glance, the dazzling array does not make people feel messy, but rather a sense of comfort.

"Welcome to Asia-Europe Clothing City!"

The sales clerks in black work clothes stood tall, had elegant manners, and spoke in soft yet polite voices.

What you see and hear is a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere, which makes many customers feel good as soon as they enter the store.

In less than ten minutes, the store that was originally empty with only clothes and sales clerks was now packed with customers.

The vast majority of customers who came today were actually here to see celebrities like Fang Shu and Liu Xiaoqing, and there weren't many people who came for shopping.

But since they were already there, many people started looking at clothes.

Someone noticed that there were several sets of clothes hanging in the store that looked exactly the same as those worn by the female stars just now, and many young female comrades immediately gathered over.

A well-dressed woman with curly hair walked through the crowd, not joining the young girls in the fun.

The clothes that celebrities wear are not suitable for people of her age. She took a fancy to a cashmere coat and asked the salesperson: "This coat is very beautiful. How much is it?"

“Hello, ma’am. Our women’s coat is made of cashmere blended fabric, which is soft and has excellent warmth retention.

The double-sided sewing technology ensures the durability of the garment and makes the appearance more concise and elegant. The price is 98 yuan.

The salesperson had a gentle demeanor and spoke softly and slowly. The curly-haired woman who was asking questions kept nodding her head. Her service attitude was much better than that of the salespeople in state-owned shopping malls.

But when the curly-haired woman heard the price, she pulled her hand back from the cuff of her coat as if she had touched a branding iron.

"Oh my! It's so expensive?"

Due to the planned economy and material scarcity, clothing was not cheap in the 1980s, so many people bought their own cloth and hired tailors to make their own clothes in order to save money.

A cashmere coat like the one the female customer asked about costs forty or fifty yuan in many department stores or clothing companies.

After entering the Asia-Europe Clothing City and seeing the decoration and texture of the clothes, she was mentally prepared, but she was still shocked by the price of 98 yuan.

This price is enough for an ordinary worker to earn two months' salary, but it can only buy one piece of clothing.

Hearing the curly-haired woman's surprised words, the salesperson seemed to have expected it and calmly repeated the words they had used during training in the morning.

It's nothing more than emphasizing how good the texture and tailoring of the clothes are, and how the styles are the most popular in Hong Kong.

Seeing that the curly-haired woman didn't seem to be buying what he was saying, the salesperson continued:
"Today we have an opening event at our clothing store. If you spend more than 100 yuan, you can get a 30 yuan shopping voucher. You can use 20 yuan of it to deduct your purchases on the same day, and the other 10 yuan can be used next time you come. It is valid for three months."

As she listened to the salesperson's words, the curly-haired woman was making up her mind.

A 100 yuan refund for every 30 yuan spent, which means 70 yuan per item. It is cheaper, but still much more expensive than she expected.

“Can it be cheaper?”

The salesperson shook his head and said, "That's all the discounts we have. However, we also have a lucky draw today. For every 20 yuan you spend, you can enter the lucky draw. The first prize is a Yanjing brand color TV."

The female customer's eyes lit up when she heard this. No wonder she saw several TVs when she passed by the window just now.

There were not only TVs, but also electric fans, quilts and a bunch of other prizes in the window.

After asking a few questions, the female guest found out that the first prize was a color TV, the second prize was ten electric fans, the third prize was thirty gold-thread quilts, and there was also a universal prize, which was a pair of nylon socks every time you didn't win the lottery.

She looked at the color TV in the window with envy. If she won it, it would be worth more than a thousand yuan!
She looked at the customers around her who were talking to the sales clerks. If she had drawn the lottery earlier, she might have won a prize.

Even if I win the third prize of a silk quilt, it would be enough to make my money back.

The worst result is that you don't win any prize. If you buy a coat and draw five times, you can get five pairs of socks, at 50 or 60 cents a pair.

With this calculation, it seems a little cheaper, and the key is that you can also have a chance to win a prize.

As the balance in her heart continued to tilt, the salesperson added: "You can also use your ID card to apply for a membership here, and the amount of each consumption will be retained in the form of points.

1 yuan is 1 point, which can be exchanged for gifts later."

Hearing this, the curly-haired woman asked curiously, "What can I exchange for it?"

“The gifts are mainly daily necessities, such as wash basins, toilet paper, frying pans, etc., but the number of points required for these gifts is different.

For example, if you buy this dress and spend 100 yuan, the points will be enough to exchange for a box of toilet paper."

After hearing this, the curly-haired woman became even happier and felt like she had gotten the toilet paper for free.

She stroked the gray cashmere-blend coat again and liked it more and more.

Seeing this, the salesperson said, "Ma'am, you can try this dress on."

The curly-haired woman was a little surprised. "Can we still try?"

"Of course. Except for close-fitting clothing, all of our clothes can be tried before you buy.

Moreover, our clothes are guaranteed to be replaced within seven days as long as there are quality issues.

For a cashmere coat like the one you bought, the replacement period can be extended to one month.

In addition, if the seams are unraveling, the accessories are damaged or falling off, we can also repair them for free, and..."

In fact, most of the salesperson’s introduction is the content of the later “Three Guarantees Law”, but there is no “Three Guarantees Law” now.

The curly-haired woman was so surprised to hear that the Asia-Europe Clothing City had such a conscientious policy that she became even more delighted.

She happily followed the salesperson's lead to try on clothes, only to find that there was already a long queue outside the fitting room.

"I'm so sorry, you may have to wait for a while." The salesperson apologized and said, "There is a stool over here, you can sit down first."

Such a sincere and enthusiastic attitude made the curly-haired woman feel very comfortable. The clothes were a bit expensive, but there was a reason why they were expensive.

While waiting in line to try on clothes, the curly-haired woman discovered that quite a few people had already started paying at the checkout counter.

The clothes in the Asia-Europe Clothing City are much more expensive than those in ordinary department stores. She felt that there were still many rich people in Yanjing, and she was anxious that if she was too late to draw the lottery, the prize would be won by someone else.

When the fitting room was finally vacated, the curly-haired woman hurried in and changed her clothes.

She stood in front of a full-length mirror, swaying from side to side to focus on how the dress looked on her body.

I have to say, this dress is really very stylish, and it feels more upscale than those sold at clothing counters in department stores.

The salesperson at the side gave the curly-haired woman a few sincere compliments, which made her completely determined.

"Just buy it. Do you have anything else worth two dollars? Give me 100 dollars."

The salesperson took her to a small stall with various wallets on display.

"Take a look at the wallets we have here. They are all made of pure cowhide. The price is not expensive, only three or five yuan. You can buy one for your loved one as a gift."

The curly-haired woman took a look and saw that the wallets on the stall were mainly black and brown. They looked very delicate and she couldn't help but feel happy. She thought that buying a wallet would be just the right way to shut up her husband at home.

She also saw a stall selling belts nearby. The quality and style of the belts were equally outstanding, much better than those sold in the current state-owned stores.

When I asked the price, it turned out to be a little cheaper than in the state-owned stores.

I've already bought it, so I might as well buy more.

After some selection, I bought two belts, a wallet, and a cashmere coat, totaling 121 yuan, just enough for six draws.

When it was time to pay at the checkout counter, the curly-haired woman belatedly realized that the money she spent would take her family three months of saving to pay.

But when she looked at the thing in her hand, she felt that it was good value for money. The quality of this thing was much better than that of the state-owned stores, and they would repair or replace it for free.

"Ma'am, you can go to the lottery draw." The salesperson reminded.

The curly-haired woman responded belatedly and hurriedly walked towards the lottery area with her things.

"Take care, and welcome back next time," the salesperson said as she took her steps.

The curly-haired woman said "thank you" for some unknown reason. She didn't know why she said this. She had never said such words when she bought things in state-owned stores before.

But at this moment she didn't have time to think too much and quickly came to the lottery place.

I don't know when it started, but a crowd of people gathered near the lottery draw, and everyone was holding newly bought clothes in their hands.

"Comrade, comrade, look at my ticket, I can draw six times." The curly-haired woman squeezed through the crowd and extended her hand to the staff in charge of the lottery.

"Okay, I see. Don't worry, let's line up for the draw."

There were seven or eight people queuing in front of the curly-haired woman. While she was waiting, she kept looking forward.

Suddenly, someone in front shouted, "Electric fan! I'm hit by an electric fan!"

All of a sudden, the attention of everyone around was attracted, not only the guests who were queuing for the lottery, but also many people who were looking at clothes were attracted.

The winner was a young girl. She spent 30 yuan to buy a gray plaid jacket, which was the same one that Li Xiuming wore at the ceremony just now.

You can only draw a prize once with 30 yuan, but I didn’t expect to win the prize so quickly.

After verification, the staff handed the Watson brand floor fan to the girl on the spot.

The girl was overjoyed. She only spent 30 yuan on the shopping, and this floor fan cost at least or yuan.

Make big!
After receiving the gifts, the girl was asked by the staff to take a photo, and people around her cast envious glances at her.

After the girl left with the electric fan in her arms, smiling happily, the rest of the people were eager to draw the lottery. Unfortunately, their luck was not good and several people failed to win. They only got a few pairs of socks and left.

When it was the middle-aged woman's turn to draw the lottery, she couldn't help but feel nervous.

He reached into the lottery box and pulled out a small card.

"The Universal Award." She couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Then she drew another prize, and it was still a prize for three or four times in a row. She couldn't help but complain to the staff: "Isn't this box full of prizes?"

She didn't wait for the staff to answer and came out with a card in her hand. She didn't have much hope anymore.

But when she saw the small words on the card, she couldn't help but widen her eyes.

(End of this chapter)