Volume 1: A sound on Wall Street, Xinxiang City is busy copying books Chapter 287 Christmas Eve (VI)
Chapter subtitle: Is everyone here?
"Hey guys. There are quite a lot of people here today!"
Yuan Yanshu's three poker partners finally arrived at their destination - the Consulate General of the Republic of China in New York - without any trouble. As soon as they entered the door, they found that there were quite a few people coming today.
Of course, according to the common practice, one should talk about how grand the ball was, how great the atmosphere was, and how high the level of the guests was. However... all of this did not exist.
According to Master Yuan's opinion, this charity ball was in no way comparable to the Halloween costume party he had attended.
Let’s talk about funding first. The masquerade ball hosted by the Baker family costs at least tens of thousands of US dollars, and it’s hard to say whether the cost of this ball is in the three digits.
This was originally a charity ball to raise funds for the victims of the disaster in China, so it was appropriate to keep it simple and plain. If it was too extravagant, it would not be justified.
Of course, the Republic of China is now a poor country. Government departments are even in arrears with wages, not to mention diplomatic funds, so it is really not possible to be picky.
Huang Huilan will follow Gu Weijun to Washington to take up her post next year. When this rich lady saw the Chinese Embassy in Portland Square, she was shocked. The place was so shabby that it was embarrassing for the Chinese people. In the end, she paid for the renovation of the embassy herself. She also gave the money sent by her father to her husband to supplement the diplomatic expenses, so Ms. Huang Huilan did contribute to China's diplomatic cause.
As for the venue, Mr. Baker, a Wall Street tycoon, can rent any venue. And Chinese people these days cannot rent high-end places to hold meetings even if they have money. If better hotels and restaurants rent their ballrooms to Chinese people, isn't that lowering their status?
In addition, the funding allocated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China was indeed tight, so Luo Jiaxiang finally decided to hold the dance party in his own consulate.
Finally, let's talk about the guests. Some of the old overseas Chinese have made a fortune, but because of their origins, their cultural level is not very high, and the so-called "quality" is not very good, and most of them are Cantonese. In fact, it is understandable that the Chinese in American movies and TV series in later generations all speak Cantonese, because even if the Chinese in the United States are not from Guangdong, as long as they interact with their compatriots more, they will speak Cantonese.
These guests can be generally described in four words: a combination of Chinese and Western styles.
The older guests in the venue were still wearing long gowns and jackets, but most of the young people chose Western-style evening gowns. There were very few women among them, and there were almost no middle-aged women. Chinese people are originally men who work outside and women who work inside. Women from wealthy families never go out of the house, so how could they bring their wives to such social gatherings like Westerners do?
Even if the husband is more fashionable and willing to let his wife show her face, the women who are deeply influenced by feudal traditions are unwilling to do so. This is also a major reason why the new generation of intellectuals in Seris likes novelty and dislikes old things.
However, there were still a few young women, and these girls who were the first to set the trend all wore Western dresses. At that time, the Chinese women's national dress, the cheongsam, had not yet been born. Of course, with our Master Yuan on this timeline, the cheongsam would definitely have appeared in front of the public earlier.
The three of them looked around the place and didn't see President Yuan, but they saw Hongqi Laowu and Jinfeng Sijie. So the two groups came together.
"Fifth brother and fourth sister, you guys came early."
"It's not too late for you three to arrive."
"By the way, have you two seen Hongjian ?"
"No, we thought he would come with you. The party has already started, why hasn't he shown up yet?"
"Aunt, the party is about to start and everyone is almost here. Come with me and show up."
Wei Mingzhu said lazily: "Huilan, this dance party doesn't seem very interesting. It's really not as good as the ones we attended in Europe. I really can't muster up the interest."
For these female overseas students who came from wealthy families in Southeast Asia, this ball was indeed too shabby.
She continued unhappily, "New York is really boring except for shopping. The air is bad and there are too many people. I want to go back to Europe."
Huang Huilan consoled him, "Then after the New Year, we will go to Washington together. By the way..."
She asked tentatively, "Where is your Mr. Lu Jifeng? I just saw him waiting for you outside the door."
"Dick..." Wei Mingzhu said with disgust: "He is just a stupid... well, boring guy."
Even his English name is Dick , so you can imagine what kind of person Lu Jifeng is. He looks decent on the surface, but in fact he has no ability at all, or to be more precise, his ability is all in his mouth. A smart woman like Wei Mingzhu would lose interest in him after just a little contact.
It happened that this fellow was a little clever. He saw that Miss Wei didn't seem to like Yuan Yanshu very much, so he tried to please her and said some nonsense, describing our Master Yuan as a playboy with all the five vices.
After hearing Wei Mingzhu's words many times, she couldn't help but think that a playboy like Yuan Yanshu could still write novels, but what else could a Dick like you, Lu Jifeng, do besides talking nonsense at a very low level? So the more I looked at this Dick these days, the more I hated it.
Huang Huilan nodded with relief. Her aunt finally had some vision. She continued to persuade him, "Since we are here, you have to meet everyone. Even if it's for your niece, I'm fine."
Her aunt said helplessly: "Well, then I will accompany you to fulfill the duties of the ambassador's wife."
Miss Wei Mingzhu stood up, and the maid next to her came forward to tidy up her clothes, and the two women walked out of the lounge side by side...
The fourth sister of Jinfeng asked excitedly: "Xiangzi, have you met the future Mrs. Yuan?"
Camel Xiangzi was just like what he said, a man who was not careful with his words. He sighed unabashedly and said, "Fourth sister, when Old Yuan comes later, don't mention this matter in front of him. This matter is over!"
Hongqi Laowu thought that a few days ago, Master Yuan had vowed to marry this Nanyang girl, so he immediately asked, "Ah, how come this thing fell through?"
The Six-Fingered Lute Demon interrupted, "Fifth brother, you don't know this. Hongjian said he was an upright Chinese and would never convert to a foreign religion, so there's no hope."
Xiao Yang Sheng Jian also sighed and said, "I have advised him that being a Christian is not a big deal, he should just go to church once a week at most. But he just wouldn't listen!"
