Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 718 The Story of the Monument

Xiao Wei said, "We don't need to be so careful with the cake shop. It's the provincial capital, after all. Opening twenty or thirty shops shouldn't be a problem. I estimate fifty shops in Fengtian wouldn't be a problem either. The key is that we don't have enough people right now, so we can only choose relatively good locations and open a few. I agree to open one restaurant first. I feel that the consumption here might not be that high. Once the building is completed, we'll build a big one, the main store in Jibei Province, and make it four thousand square meters."

Chen Hui was shocked: "Fifty houses? You're buying all of them?"

Xiao Wei laughed, shook his head, and patted Chen Hui, saying, "A small shop, a few dozen or a hundred square meters, just a sales point, you can rent one. In a shopping mall, next to a shopping center, in a residential area, a shop with two or three people, like Longcheng. Or you can open an even smaller shop at a train station or in a residential area, you can just call it a bakery. The key is to spread it out, so that people can see our brand wherever they go, whether it's a big brand or a small brand."

Chen Hui stared blankly at Xiao Wei for several seconds, then said, "Finding a place, negotiating prices, decorating, sourcing equipment, selling goods, supplying goods, and managing finances—can't you manage all that without twenty or thirty people? And you'll need skilled workers too. At least one for each store, right?"

Xiao Wei was amused by Chen Hui's appearance and said, "In a city, like a provincial capital, we'll open three to five large stores to occupy the main commercial area, and then we'll open smaller stores. I plan to set up a headquarters for each province. In Fengtian, we'll put it on Zhongjie Street. Aren't the top two floors reserved for offices? They can seat thirty or forty people."

If we open two or three large stores in each city and then spread out smaller stores, what's the point of having city managers? Just for fun? Their main responsibilities are materials, finance, and store management, right? Store management includes store development. They find locations, prepare reports, and headquarters reviews and approves them. We can just hire these people from outside the company; they don't need technical skills.

Chen Hui's eyes lit up: "Let Yu Qiu take charge of this stall."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "Yes, just like what Yu Qiu is doing now. It's fine to let him take charge at first, and then it's up to him."

Chen Hui's feet had been drying for a while, and after putting on his shoes, he said, "Shall we take a taxi? Let's go see the palace."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, let's go." The two waited for a while, then took a taxi to the Puppet Emperor's Palace.

At this time, the taxis in Xidu were mostly Ladas or Polonezs, and there were also Deer taxis. Occasionally you could see a Santana, but the starting price was much higher. Jettas hadn't started production yet.

In 91, taxis in Northeast China were still state-owned, but the phenomenon of privately owned cars being registered under affiliations was already quite common, resulting in a rather chaotic mix of models. It wasn't until the Jetta was introduced that it and the Xiali shared the Northeast taxi market, gradually phasing out the Russian Ladanets. The Santana also existed at that time, but because it looked exactly like the Jetta and had a small market share, it was largely ignored.

It's not far from Democracy Street to the Puppet Emperor's Palace, less than four kilometers. Xiao Wei said, "The two of us walked a circle earlier, which was farther than this. Did we waste money on the car?"

Chen Hui said, "Come on, it's already dark by the time we get here, what's the point of looking at anything?"

The taxi driver glanced at Xiaowei: "From Liaodong, right? First time in Xidu?"

Xiao Wei said, "Yes, the first time."

The accents of the three northeastern provinces are actually quite different, but only people from those provinces can tell the difference. Liaodong has a heavy emphasis on the final syllable, Jibei has a flatter tone, and Heilongjiang has a lighter tone with a slight upward slur. Also, the swear words are different, which is hard to change. For example, to say someone is stupid, Liaodong says "biao hu de," Jibei says "der he de," and Heilongjiang says "shan pao."

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The taxi driver said, "You're reluctant to spend money? Don't worry about money when you're out. The point of going out is to have fun. If you're reluctant to spend money when you're out having fun, then you're just coming here to suffer. It's not worth it."

In the 90s, taxi drivers were among the first to get rich, the kind who were incredibly arrogant and looked down on most people. It wasn't until after 05 that driving a taxi became less lucrative, turning into a tough and unprofitable job, mainly due to policy changes that allowed middlemen to pocket the profits.

Xiao Wei said, "Of course! A ride on your chair costs ten yuan or so, enough for the two of us to have a meal. How can we not feel the pinch? How much do you spend on food every day? Money is so hard to earn these days, every penny spent is a penny less."

The driver said, "Our meals aren't expensive, only twenty or thirty yuan a day, plus a pack of cigarettes, that's forty yuan."

Xiao Wei said, "Wow, you guys are really rich. Forty a day, that's twelve thousand a month! You're so rich. You even smoke ten-yuan cigarettes."

The driver said, "Money's a piece of trash, we can earn more when we run out, brother. The more you spend, the more you have, understand?"

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and asked, "Where did it come from? Who will give you more when it's all spent?"

Chen Hui chuckled, coughed a few times, and turned his face away. The car passed People's Square, where the tall Russian Air Force Monument stood in the center.

After Japan surrendered, the Russians erected monuments to the army, navy, and air force in Northeast China to display their "great achievements." The army's monument was a tank monument in Fengtian Railway Station Square, the air force's monument was an airplane monument in Xidu People's Square, and the navy's monument was a ship's wheel monument in Longjiang Ice City Railway Station, which was demolished in the late 80s.

There is also the Red Five-Star Monument in Dalian, and the four monuments together are known as the Army, Navy and Air Force Monument.

There are many other smaller monuments and memorial towers, more than seventy in total. A number of bronze statues of Russian soldiers were built, distributed throughout the three northeastern provinces, with several in Harbin and Lushun.

The fact is that Japan announced its surrender on August 14th, while Russia declared war on Japan on August 8th. Russia deployed 1.5 million troops, 26,000 artillery pieces, 5,500 tanks, and more than 5,000 aircraft on the northeastern border. Russia entered the Northeast on the 9th and reached Lushun in less than five days. In reality, it was just a forced march, and its purpose was self-evident.

On August 18, 1945, the Japanese army announced its surrender to the Russians. Disarmament began on the 20th, and by the 30th, the Japanese army was completely disarmed. The Russians occupied the entire Northeast, the Korean Peninsula, the Chiba Islands, and the Northern Territories. The Russians suffered 32,000 wounded and 8,000 dead, and claimed to have "enjoyed" the war. They then boasted of annihilating 750,000 Kwantung Army troops.

The last battle of World War II took place in Northeast China, at Dongning and Hulin Fortress.

At the time, some of the garrison troops in the bunkers were unaware that the Emperor had surrendered. The Russian planes bombed, tanks pushed, and artillery blasted, killing many people. They fought for nineteen days but could not take it down. More than two thousand people died, including a major general. Finally, when all else failed, they airlifted Sadao Kono from Mudanjiang to the fortress to read the Emperor's surrender proclamation. Only then did the nine hundred and one Japanese soldiers inside give up resistance, and World War II ended.

Later reports stated that the Russians "annihilated" the Japanese Kwantung Army at the cost of 32,000 casualties, providing strong support for my country's victory in the War of Resistance against Japan. Although the Russians plundered supplies, machinery, and other "spoils of war" after the occupation, and some Russian soldiers were undisciplined and did regrettable things, this does not change our gratitude to the Russians and our respect for the fallen soldiers.

Then the Russians wanted to stay and not leave, even though they could never actually defeat anyone and were constantly being pressured internationally, we really couldn't beat them. Then came the negotiations, and it wasn't until 55 that the Russian troops completely withdrew. At that time, the Northeast Railway was still under Russian control, and all the stationmasters were Russian. Ten years!

Several large monuments bear inscriptions in Russian that read: "Eternal glory to the heroes who sacrificed their lives in battle for the honor and victory of Soviet Russia."

(End of this chapter)