1928: The rise of giant merchants

Han Qing and several disguised guards took a rickshaw and headed towards the Black Cat Dance Hall on Gulangyu Road.

The splendid and bustling Paramount gradually faded away. He admired the beautiful scenery from the public concession to the French Concession on the rocking car seat. When passing by Yip's World and Yip's Guangming Cinema, Han Qing smiled slightly and felt more and more This good brother I just made is very good.

It would be great if he could also do some business in the north and the Beijing-Tianjin area.

The further the rickshaw goes into the French Concession, the more people flow around it. It seems to be more lively than the public concession, which is very strange.

During this period, when he passed by a huge abandoned building complex, Han Qing was surprised and couldn't help but ask the driver: "Where is this place? Such a large-scale building complex is so abandoned?"

"Ah, boss, you've just been to Shanghai not long ago, right?" the rickshaw driver panted, wiped his sweat and asked with a smile.

"Yes." Han Qing nodded.

"This is the former site of Yongxing New World Amusement Park! It was declared bankrupt some time ago. I heard that Boss Zhang is planning to sell the building complex." The rickshaw driver chuckled, "This Yongxing New World is worse than the Ye family over there. The Big World is several blocks away. Poor people like us like Ye's Big World can occasionally take people to play. Just like the free parks, the consumption is not high. But in this new world, he doesn't have any spare money, and he doesn't even bother to talk to you when you come in. your."

"Oh, that's it." Han Qing thought thoughtfully, then turned around and thought, isn't this a smaller version of Paramount?

He also comes from a wealthy family and has had no worries about food and clothing since he was a child. He has no idea about the lives and needs of people at the bottom like rickshaw drivers, and it is difficult to imagine how much economic value they can generate.

Paramount now costs dozens of dollars for a single purchase, and among the pile of dance tickets that Ye Luo gave him, the orange one was the most expensive, only costing five yuan each, and there were three or five dance tickets in total.

I heard that there is also the cheapest white book, which costs 5 cents a book. If you sell 10,000 copies, it may only be worth the one-time consumption of an ordinary Paramount customer!

"Boss, the road ahead is too congested! I heard that the Black Cat Dance Hall has opened and it is full of guests. The police station has temporarily pulled the cord and will not let our rickshaw pass." The rickshaw driver stopped and said, "Why don't we stop at this intersection, boss? , can you walk over there?"

Han Qing sat up straight and looked up. Good guy, it was a huge area of ​​darkness. I'm afraid there were tens of thousands of people gathered there. It was really difficult to get through.

He nodded quickly and got out of the car, asked the guard to pay the fare, and curiously squeezed into the crowd.

The opening day of the Black Cat Ballroom was completely different from that of the Paramount.

There was no ribbon-cutting ceremony, no opening ceremony, and even the big boss behind the scenes, Ye Luo, did not appear!

As the general manager, Xiao Aqiao called the lion dance troupe to have a lively performance, then set off fireworks and firecrackers, and considered the opening to be completed.

The onlookers were all curious about the scene inside, and many people stopped to look at the various billboards newly erected downstairs of the dance hall.

Han Qing quickly came to the door under the protection of the security guards. His eyes were immediately attracted by the dozen brand-new billboards.

These billboards are located on both sides of the entrance to the dance hall. On them are "black cat dancers" wearing black cat dance costumes or black sexy cheongsams. The most conspicuous ones are the promotional model Lu Xiaoman and the only red dance queen Ji in the dance hall.

"Boss, are you here to dance?" The waiter in a suit hanging at the door approached and asked.

There were not many of them, but they were dressed in exactly the same Western-style clothes, with a black cat head printed on their chests. They were obviously employees of the dance hall.

These waiters do not ask every onlooker, but select potential customers in a targeted manner, and come up to enthusiastically sell and introduce the rules of the dance hall.

"I've already bought a dance ticket." Han Qing smiled and nodded.

"Okay, boss, have a good time!" The waiter did not continue to pester him like Han Qing thought, or provide forced service and then demand a tip.

When he heard that Han Qing had dance tickets, he left with a smile and went to greet the next guest.

"Interesting." Han Qing and others walked to the door, and the waiter standing outside smiled and bowed to open the door for them.

Before anyone walked in, a pretty and innocent little girl, who looked to be no more than fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a beautiful cheongsam, came to serve her.

"Who are the bosses? What kind of flexible girl are you looking for? Can you tell me what kind of dance tickets you have bought?" The little girl enthusiastically held Han Qing's arm, obviously recognizing that he was the leader, and smiled sweetly. while asking.

This is Fengminglou’s signature service.

Many young girls from Fengming Tower were prohibited from selling meat by Ye Luo, so they came to the Black Cat Dance Hall to work as waitresses.

The so-called elastic girl is a special name for dancing girls by the general public. It is derived from the English word Dancing Girl, which is a combination of transliteration and free translation.

"Let me take a casual look first. Let me introduce the rules here." Han Qing walked into the first floor with her and was instantly attracted by the melodious music and soothing and lively atmosphere.

Different from the nobility of Paramount, the Black Cat Ballroom is more down-to-earth. There are not many architectural facilities and unnecessary items to occupy the space. The entire first floor only has a bar and dance floor except for the band and phonograph.

In this way, although the Black Cat Ballroom was born out of a small Paris hotel, it can comfortably accommodate four to five hundred dancers on the first floor alone.

"Boss, our Black Cat Dance Hall is divided into two floors. The first floor is the public dance hall. Tea costs 10 cents, and the price for drinking or buying bell dancers is extra. Boss, please see, the dancers sitting at the bar over there are all from our dance hall. Black cat dancers, you can invite them to dance at will. As for the price of a dance, you can discuss it yourself, but it must be paid with the dance tickets of our ballroom."

The little girl has a green little finger, and there are many dancers sitting at the bar. At first glance, there are not only the common Belarusian and Japanese dancers, but also many Chinese dancers.

There were already one or two hundred people dancing on the dance floor. Judging from their attire, it could be seen that most of the men came to the Black Cat Dance Hall alone, just like him, and their dancing partners were the dancers provided by the dance hall.

Only a small number of people bring their own partners and dance on the dance floor. Those female partners are dressed more conservatively and can be distinguished from the black cat dancers at a glance.

"What about the second floor?" Han Qing looked at the stairs.

The little girl smiled and said: "The second floor is our VIP dance hall. The tea fee is 20 cents. If you open the VIP card of our Black Cat Dance Hall, you will get a 12% discount on all purchases. Boss, we now have monthly and annual cards. It’s on sale now, don’t miss it if you like it~”

"What's the difference between the VIP ballroom and this public ballroom?" Han Qing asked with a smile.

"First, the VIP ballroom has a dedicated resident singer! Today is the opening day, and the resident singer is Miss Wang Ji, the original singer of "Yellow Scent". She is also the only popular dancer in our ballroom now~ Secondly, outside The black cat dancers on the billboard are all on the second floor, they don’t come to dance on the first floor.”

The little girl counted the differences in the VIP ballroom with her fingers.

VIP dance halls are also not allowed to use blue or white dance ticket books. They are either orange books that cost five yuan each, or purple books that cost five cents each.

Han Qing nodded frequently: "The price is a little expensive, but compared with most hotel ballrooms, it is still very cheap."

"It seems that the boss is very familiar with the dance hall~" The little girl pursed her lips and chuckled, "Our boss Ye has said that the Black Cat Dance Hall mainly serves ordinary people. As long as you pay the tea fee, you can still bring your own dance partner here. Keep dancing.”

"Haha, he is a very good businessman." Han Qing nodded, "Then take me around the public dance hall first."

"Okay! Bosses, please go to the cloakroom to store your clothes and belongings first." The little girl smiled like a flower. Han Qing said this, and her tip was guaranteed.

Several people came to the cloakroom in the side hall. There are rows and rows of cabinets for guests to store their clothes, hats, bags and other personal belongings. The waiter will help the guests store their belongings and give them a number tag. Put it on your wrist and just pick it up when the guests leave.

"Thank you, this is your tip." Han Qing took out a few coins, but the little girl shook her head and refused.

"Boss, we also charge dance tickets for tips."

Han Qing was stunned for a moment, then smiled and gave her a purple book of dance tickets, which shocked the little girl from ear to ear.

He and the guards came to sit down at the bar, and soon a waiter came over to ask if he wanted something to eat or drink.

The rules of the Black Cat Dance Hall are that guests are free to invite the dancers sitting at the bar as they wish. They can buy a bell and chat with them first, or drink and eat with them. They can also directly ask them for the dance price with their dance tickets and invite them to dance on the dance floor. A song.

Because there were many Chinese dancers in the ballroom, the foreign dancers were ignored, which was exactly the opposite of the situation in other big hotel ballrooms in Shanghai.

But regardless of whether someone invites you or not, the dancers sit together in a group or drink alone, and none of them has a sullen look on their face. As long as you talk to them, they will definitely greet you with a smile and obey you.

Han Qing casually chatted with a few people, feeling impressed by Ye Luo's strength.

It turns out that Black Cat dancers work in Black Cat Dance Hall and enjoy a basic salary and welfare guarantee. The monthly salary of ordinary dancers is fifteen yuan. Even if you are not invited to dance for a whole month, you can still get this money. In addition, there are medical, Housing and other basic benefits are enough for them to live a normal life in Shanghai.

After having basic protection, they will naturally not worry about their livelihood, and the expressions on their faces will become much happier and more natural.

Of course, it is quite difficult to pass the recruitment and internship of Ye's Dance Company.

Not just anyone can become a black cat dancer, but having the label black cat dancer means that this girl is indeed special!

Han Qing looked around and felt that this model was much better than Paramount. No wonder so many people came here to spend money.

He randomly picked a good-looking Chinese dancer. Dancers from Japan and Russia could be seen everywhere, and he was a little bored.

After buying the dancer a beer, he danced with her for two cents.

Stepping onto the dance floor to the soothing music, Han Qing was surprised to find that this dancer had some ballroom dancing skills and was very skillful in moving his right hand down from the waist to the buttocks and legs.

Their faces are leaning against each other, their bodies are close to each other, and they are extremely ambiguous.

After the song ended, Han Qing felt that the two cents were so worth it!

Then he invited another dancer to dance, but this time it was a different style.

This Chinese dancer is very skilled, but not ambiguous. She is a very serious dance companion, but her eloquence and knowledge are very good. She chats with him during the dance, and talks about many topics at her fingertips, making people not feel bored at all. !

After the two dances ended, Han Qing became more and more curious about what would happen in the VIP ballroom on the second floor.

He greeted the guard with curiosity and asked the waiter to take him straight to the second floor.

Most of the men who come to the VIP ballroom to dance are the middle class and intellectuals targeted by Ye Luo.

They know fun, know romance, have spare money, but are not in the real upper class, and do not have the capital or status to go to Paramount for entertainment, but they still look down on ordinary public dance halls.

This small group of people are the loyal consumers of VIP ballrooms!

For example, among the literati, there are Dai Wangshu, Liu Naou, Shi Zhecun and others who like to try new things.

Among the important officials in the military and political circles were Qin Tongli, Wang Hu, Chen Wangdao and others.

Among the celebrities in the business world are the paper king Xu Datong, the fourth son of the Xue family, the pigment giant, and Sun Yaodong, the president of the Renaissance Bank.

Some of these people Han Qing had met once or twice, and some were complete strangers, but they all had one thing in common, that is, they were all celebrities in Shanghai, but not famous enough.

When it comes to spending power, this group of people is not much worse than the top tycoons.

The VIP ballroom and the public ballroom on the first floor are also different.

There is a small stage in the center. Wang Ji, wearing a sexy black cheongsam and red ribbons tied around his head and ankles, dances on the stage holding a microphone and singing the song "Tuberose", which is now a household name in Shanghai. There were also several dancers dancing to the accompaniment, which was very stylish.

There is no bar here, only small round tables with number plates on them. Flowers, matches, ashtrays, etc. are placed on the table. Menus, wine lists, etc. are placed under the glass on the table. The dancers gather around the table, chatting and laughing in low voices. Continuously, the round fan flapped, waiting for the invitation, and there were servants waiting beside him!

Different from the black cat dancers on the first floor.

The black cat dancers in the VIP ballroom on the second floor earn a monthly salary of NT$30. They have a special residence on the fourth floor. The price of dancing is also much higher, and they have the right to refuse invitations from guests!

This arrangement is, firstly, to protect the safety of the dancers and avoid unnecessary trouble, and secondly, to whet the appetite of the guests. What you can’t get is the best!

Han Qing looked at the dancers around him. Indeed, the black cat dancers who could live in the VIP ballroom were much more beautiful than those on the first floor.

Moreover, there are more Chinese dancers on the second floor, and Japanese and Russian foreign dancers can only be seen occasionally.

But no matter what their previous identities and nationalities were, they all seemed to get along very harmoniously here.

The VIP ballroom on the second floor can accommodate 300 people dancing together, but at this time there are only fifty or sixty people, and most of the dance floor is empty. The scene this time is somewhat similar to Paramount.

Han Qing suddenly understood why Ye Luo wanted to open such a black cat dance hall.