Septic tank" and Miss Sheng Aiyi, the daughter of Sheng Xuanhuai, the richest man in the late Qing Dynasty, and Miss Sheng Qi, founder of Shanghai Paramount? No matter from which angle you look at it, it seems that the two will never be related. However, The two had been together for more than twenty years. The once glorious Miss Sheng Qi finally died in a very narrow car room next to the septic tank where she lived. However, she was reduced to this. Miss Sheng Qi ended up living a life in a car that amazed the world. People who witnessed all this once lamented: The most legendary thing about Miss Sheng Qi is not that she went to hell, but that. Her elegant posture while suffering in hell.
Compared with the famous ladies of her generation who "can go to the hall and go to the kitchen", Sheng Qi has one more thing than them: she can "enter hell". Sheng Qi truly subverted the world's definition of a lady -
Miss Sheng Qi was born in 1900. She was the daughter of Sheng Xuanhuai, an important minister of the late Qing Dynasty, and his wife Zhuang Wanyu when he was 56 years old. Sheng Qi is an old lady, and Sheng Qi has been smart and pretty since she was a child. She is the most favored by Sheng Xuanhuai and his wife.
At the age of 16, Sheng Qi was already a graceful person. Under the careful cultivation of her parents, She was not only eloquent, but also very thoughtful and opinionated. After her father passed away, she often accompanied her mother in various public places to handle matters. Over time, by the time she was less than 20 years old, her reputation became known throughout Shanghai.
When Sheng Qi was 17 years old, a man broke into her life who influenced her life: Song Ziwen, the later Minister of National Finance. Song Ziwen was able to get to know Sheng Qi because: at this time, he was serving as Sheng Xuanhuai Hanye. Ping Company's head office in Shanghai was working as a secretary. At that time, Song Ziwen was 23 years old and had just returned from gilding abroad. Because he worked in the Sheng family, he often visited the Sheng mansion, and naturally he also met the beautiful Sheng Qi. The first time he saw Sheng Qi, Song Ziwen was fascinated by her beauty. He described the Sheng Qi he saw for the first time as a "fairy", which shows that Song Ziwen's appearance was so extraordinary when he was young. Describing his first meeting with Sheng Qi in his diary, he wrote: “Seeing her for the first time was like seeing a fairy descending to earth! "First come first, first come first, and Song Ziwen soon began to pursue various pursuits against the host's lady. He also took the initiative to serve as Sheng Qi's English teacher. In his spare time, Song Ziwen always tried every means to show her his extraordinary talents and Overseas experiences. As time passed, Sheng Qi, who had just begun to fall in love, slowly moved closer to Song Ziwen. But at this juncture, Sheng Qi's mother, Zhuang, began to object to the relationship between the two. The reason is: After she sent Butler Li to Guangzhou to investigate the Song family, she learned that Song's father was just a church piano player, and his background was definitely not worthy of the wealthy and prosperous family.
In order to break up this family. For Yuanyang, Mr. Zhuang transferred Song Ziwen to Wuhan, far away from Shanghai, but Song Ziwen returned after a few days and continued to quarrel with Sheng Qi. In order to talk to Sheng Qi, he even drove to stop her on the road. Sheng Qi couldn't bear it when she saw this. She had no intention of cutting off contact with Song Ziwen, but she had to do so because of her mother's stubbornness, so she secretly handed Song Ziwen a note through the car window and asked him to meet him in Hangzhou that day. Song Ziwen took three tickets to Guangzhou and said to Sheng Qi: "Let's go to the revolution together. Young people should make a breakthrough. The revolution will definitely succeed. "It can be seen from these words that Song Ziwen is ready to join Sun Yat-sen at this time. But Sheng Qi was very hesitant about this. Miss Eight who was accompanying him looked at it and said: "Why do you still want to bring two people together? ! "Song Ziwen looked at Sheng Qi sincerely. He thought that Sheng Qi secretly came out this time because she was ready to elope with him. But Sheng Qi has been used to living in a dignified house since she was a child. Although she has the ambition to do big things, it is definitely impossible. Sheng Qi just eloped with him regardless. Sheng Qi didn't dare to look into Song Ziwen's eyes, so he just took out a handful of gold leaves (gold leaf-shaped gift money) and said to him who didn't have much money: "Here are the gold leaves for you! I can't go with you! Song Ziwen endured the sadness and took the handful of gold leaves and said, "Just think of it as borrowing it from me. I will definitely come back one day." " Sheng Qi nodded and stopped looking at him. Song Ziwen reluctantly turned around and left.
After that, Sheng Qi kept Song Ziwen's promise and waited for his return. Sheng Qi had confidence in Song Ziwen and concluded that he would definitely He could become famous and come to marry her under the colorful auspicious clouds, but she was only half right after all. When Song Ziwen returned to Shanghai many years later, he had indeed become successful, but he already had a beautiful woman by his side.
After Sheng Qi learned the news, she fell seriously ill. This illness was the only time Sheng Qi lost her composure in her tumultuous life. However, after she recovered from her illness, she felt relieved. More than a year later, she married her mother's nephew Zhuang Zhujiu at the age of 32. From the encounter between Song Ziwen and Sheng Qi, we can see that Sheng Qi is an extremely noble woman. The fact that she could wait for Song Ziwen for nearly ten years and give him a handful of gold leaves is enough to show that she loves Song Ziwen deeply. But even so, she never took the initiative to look for him in these years. Of course, this was partly because she refused to bow her head due to the nobility in her bones. Song Ziwen has not really forgotten Sheng Qi, but as time goes by and the situation is too complicated, he is no longer sure about Sheng Qi's condition. In troubled times, he abandoned his past vows.
Many years later, Song Ziwen returned to Shanghai and wanted to renew this relationship. But at that deliberately arranged meeting banquet, Sheng Qi only said coldly, "My husband is still waiting for me at home," and then turned and left. Later, when others asked about this past, the proud Sheng Qi said: "Why should I bother to nag him? We all have our own lives, why bother to cause trouble again? Besides, he is a high-ranking official with a good salary and a prosperous life. Why should I fawn over him?" What about him? But then again, he hasn't returned the golden leaves to me yet!" "This is Sheng Qi. He will never cling to anyone for power or anything else. This is all in his heart. Determined by her nobility, this nobility is innate.
But something happened later that made Sheng Qi have to bow her head: her nephew, Sheng Laosi's son Sheng Yudu, died for various reasons. He was thrown into prison. This matter had nothing to do with Sheng Qi, but after the Sheng family found out that Song Ziwen, the president of the Executive Yuan of the National Government, was the person directly in charge of everything, it began to have something to do with Sheng Qi. The Sheng family members took turns to persuade Sheng Qi to call Song Ziwen for help, but Sheng Qi would never agree. You know, this person had betrayed her before. She had given him a look in the past, but now she wanted to do it. She lowered her face and begged him. Sheng Qi was definitely not willing to do this. Seeing that Sheng Qi refused to "condescend" to call her, Yudu's wife Ye Yuanchan ran to Miss Qi's house and knelt down in front of her and said: “If you don’t call, I won’t be able to afford it! Sheng Qi really couldn't resist her, so he agreed: "Okay, I'll hang up the phone, okay? Just this call!" "Then, Sheng Qi hung up the phone to Song Ziwen. Although Sheng Qi was asking for help, he kept holding the call, as if he could do whatever he wanted. But Song Ziwen, who received the call from Sheng Qi, was very excited on the other end of the phone. Extremely, he responded hurriedly: "OK, I will definitely let him go, don't worry. Sheng Qi was a little worried, so she asked Song Ziwen a difficult question: "I want to have lunch with Yudu at noon tomorrow!" Song Ziwen hesitated on the other end of the phone for a few seconds and then returned: "Okay, I will definitely let you see Yudu at noon tomorrow." After Sheng Qi put down the phone, the entire Sheng family in the room began to cheer: "Sure enough, the big shot just doesn't Just the same, it’s all done in one sentence. "But at this time, Sheng Qi felt extremely sad. The more she knew that the other party had her in his heart, the sadder she felt. The more he did things for her, the more her heart was tied together. For Sheng Qi, She said that this phone call was probably the only time she felt she had no choice but to make a compromise. Sheng Qi, who was unwilling to compromise, had done many earth-shattering things. In a major incident, she couldn't stand the wanton squandering of family property by her brothers, so she took them all to court on the grounds that women should also participate in dividing the family property. In this lawsuit, which was fully reported by Shenbao, Sheng Qi was involved. Sheng Qi became the final winner. This lawsuit also made Sheng Qi the first woman in China to set an example for women's property inheritance rights. After this lawsuit, Sheng Qi received an additional 500,000 yuan in family property. Some of these properties opened the later-famous Shanghai Paramount in Shanghai. The "Shenbao" at that time described Sheng Qi's newly opened Paramount: "A glass lighthouse, bright and bright. Granite surface, solemn and gorgeous. The marble steps are precious and precious...the glass floor is dazzling..." Unfortunately, due to poor management, she had to sell it. The Paramount later became a very prestigious social venue for Shanghai's rich and powerful. Zhang Xueliang, Xu Zhimo, Lu Xiaoman, etc. are all regular customers of Paramount. When Chaplin visited Shanghai at that time, Paramount also cultivated countless stars, such as "Night in Shanghai" which became famous. Zhou Xuan, the popular actress Chen Manli who was assassinated, Liang Shiqiu's wife Han Jingjing in his later years, etc. Like Paramount, although Sheng Qi spent half of her life in troubled times, she spent the first half of her life living a peaceful life.
Sheng Qi has been living the life of a rich wife in troubled times, relying on her husband Zhuang Zhujiu's considerable income and the bank fixed interest from his huge inheritance. She lives in a garden house, wears exquisite cheongsam, eats delicacies from the mountains and seas, drinks the best coffee, and smokes expensive cigars...
What is even more enviable is that, Sheng Qi also has children and a loving husband.
No. 8 Yuyuan Community near the intersection of Huaihai Middle Road and Changshu Road in Shanghai was the garden villa of Miss Sheng Qi at that time. This villa is a single-family house with three floors and an independent garden downstairs. The garden is planted with fruit trees, flowers and plants that Sheng Qi likes, as well as her dreams. On weekdays, after her husband goes to work and the children go to school, she walks around, occasionally gathers with her sister, Ms. Shengba, and occasionally participates in some social activities that she considers meaningful. Such days generally give her the feeling of peace and tranquility. But all this changed after her husband was labeled as a counterrevolutionary and sent to the countryside to do a labor camp and died of illness. Immediately afterwards, Sheng Qi's son Zhuang Yuanduan was labeled as a rightist and sent to rural Anhui for labor reform. After her daughter Zhuang Yuanzhen graduated from the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, she was assigned to teach in Fujian Province due to family background... And Sheng Qi herself was forced to move out of the garden house and live in a place that should not be lived in: The article mentioned at the beginning is a narrow car bay on Wuyuan Road. This garage is right at the mouth of the septic tank. Every few days, a long pipe stretches into her house and pumps out the waste water. The door of the car room is facing the vegetable market, where people come and go every day. Naturally, the design of this uninhabited garage did not take people into consideration: ordinary houses face north and south, but this one faces west. The result of facing west is that in summer, it is extremely hot and muggy, which can sometimes make people faint. Every relative and friend who came to the car workshop to see Sheng Qi couldn't help but shed tears after entering the car. After seeing this, Sheng Qi comforted him and said, "It's hot here in summer, but it's warm in winter." Seeing that Sheng Qi could only produce kerosene. There was no gas stove for the stove, and her relatives and friends felt sad for a while, but she disagreed and said: "The kerosene stove also has some benefits." She said this, but when she first moved into the car room, Sheng Qi herself was not used to it. I never thought that one day I would sleep on a hard bed without a silk quilt. In those early days, Sheng Qi suffered from insomnia every day. She began to be afraid of the dark night because there were always countless thoughts waiting for her on the pillow. One morning after a few days of being in a trance, Sheng Qi woke up from the chaos. When she walked to the door, she lowered her head and saw a beautiful little flower on the ground. She involuntarily knelt down and looked at this little red flower. It grew in the cracks, but it was still beautiful. The way it bloomed was very much like herself when she was young. Sheng Qi immediately became energetic. She then took a shovel and carefully dug it out and moved it into a large cup. Gardening flowers was something Sheng Qi often did in the past. At that time, gardening was just for gardening. But now, her gardening is really for life. That day, Sheng Qi removed all the flowers that could be found near the car room. When these small flowers were framed in various weird-shaped containers, they actually gave off a strange brilliance in the sunlight. Sheng Qi looked at these little flowers and shed tears involuntarily. That night, maybe she was tired, maybe she was awakened by those flowers, and her hope for life was awakened. In short, Sheng Qi slept soundly. After waking up the next day, Sheng Qi started to take out her pen and paper. Yes, she wanted to continue writing and drawing in the car room. After that, relatives and friends who came to visit Sheng Qi never shed tears again. On the contrary, they began to marvel that Sheng Qi had always been so elegant and calm beside the septic tank. She wrote, painted, and grew flowers. She kept the house spotlessly clean, and she herself was as energetic as ever: her hair was not messed up at all. , the coarse clothes on her body are clean and tidy...
Everything turned out to be the worst. After learning that Sheng Qi was suffering in the car shop, her relatives and friends abroad, especially her nephew Sheng Yudu who had already started a successful business, always sent money , send her cigars. Every time a relative or friend sends money to Sheng Qi, she always invites her poor relatives to have a dinner together. They were eating and drinking, and it seemed like everything was still the same as it was yesterday. This kind of behavior has a bit of a "poor and happy" meaning. But Sheng Qi's happiness has always been true. Approximately, at this time, if someone asked Sheng Qi about the philosophical question and answer that has troubled countless people, her answer would be the most satisfactory to the questioner. This question is like this: If you are chased by a tiger and accidentally fall off a cliff, He grabbed a vine and hung in the air.
When you look up to see a tiger and there is an abyss beneath your feet, what will you do when you see a ripe strawberry next to the cane? This question that stumps countless people, Sheng Qi gave the answer: Eat strawberries! Sheng Qi, who is elegantly planting flowers, writing and painting in the car room, is just like the castaway who fell in the air and tasted strawberries! Life is already very difficult, so we should seize every possible opportunity to taste the beauty that can be tasted. This is Sheng Qi’s answer! In this state of mind, Sheng Qi didn't want to think about the past, nor did she look at the future. She only focused on living the present day, and only focused on living the present day as calmly and gracefully as possible. For this reason, every time Sheng Yudu sent a cigar to Sheng Qi, she would move a small chair and sit at the door of the car room, watching the people passing by and smoking a cigar leisurely. The posture in which she held seven cigars was the same as when she was Miss Seven. The only difference was that the smoke rings she blew out were rounder than before. People who can blow out smoke rings are always lonely, but loneliness only belongs to truly noble people. At this time, passers-by couldn't help but glance sideways. They judged from the sitting posture of Sheng Qi holding a cigar and the fragrant cigar smell: this must be the distressed young lady of some wealthy family. When a voice told them that this was Miss Sheng Qi, who was once popular in Shanghai, passers-by suddenly realized. When leaving, passers-by couldn't help but look back at the satisfied Sheng Qi in the layers of smoke. Later, like most people who grow old, Sheng Qi got sick. Fortunately, the nephew she once saved with a phone call kept thinking about her and sent her medical expenses.
But even though she is suffering from illness, Sheng Qi remains optimistic and still dresses herself fresh and clean every day. After finishing writing and drawing every night before going to bed, she said to herself: "Another day has passed, and there is one more day to make money." Then, Sheng Qi fell asleep quietly in satisfaction. The elegance that Sheng Qi has always maintained under the impact of reality is the result of the good socialite education she received, as well as her noble and proud conduct, but more importantly, it comes from: her extraordinary character and wisdom. Reality can torture the body, but it cannot succumb to the spirit! This is exactly the case for the strong Sheng Qi. Destiny can change a person's situation, but it cannot change a person's attitude in the face of the situation. Sheng Qi’s elegance truly explains this famous saying. Before her death, the 83-year-old Sheng Qi still lived in the car room, but she still maintained her usual elegance and calmness when she died. Before leaving, she murmured: "You can't be rich for three generations, not to mention that the Sheng family has been rich for four generations since Shenglong. Thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi!" Sheng Qi was still clean when he left. , fresh and refreshing, just like how she looked when she came to this world.
What is commendable is that Sheng Qi’s children, like their mother, have lived as wonderfully as possible in the face of adversity. Her daughter Zhuang Yuanzhen later grew up to be a famous arts and crafts artist. Many of her works have won awards across the country, and some have been exhibited abroad. After her son Zhuang Yuan Duanbei was rehabilitated, he went to the United States and became an elite in the field. They often meet up to visit their mother's cemetery in the suburbs of Suzhou. Here, you can see the famous classical garden Liuyuan in Suzhou City. It was a luxurious garden-style villa purchased by their ancestor Sheng Kang. The ancestral hall of the Sheng family was also here. . Lingering Garden is also the place where Sheng Qi lived countless times during her lifetime. This place once carried Sheng Qi’s dreams and carved her elegant life...