Chapter 385
Back at the old bungalow, the grandparents and grandson ate something to fill their stomachs. After the meal, there was nothing to do, so they made tea and sat in the living room chatting.
"My father's name is Fang Xianheng. He chose this name himself. My grandfather has no education. He just works part-time at the landlord's house. He can't save much money all year round.
After saving for more than ten years, I finally saved some money, and partnered with others to set up a tofu workshop.
The partner's surname is Nan, which is your grandfather's grandfather, your great-great-grandfather.
Both of them were willing to endure hardships, the tofu business was booming, and life was getting better and better. Two old bachelors in their thirties also married wives one after another. "
"Understood, you and grandpa are married by the belly?"
"Probably." Fang Mengyin nodded, and continued: "The two families have conceived children one after another, and your great-grandfather and my grandfather followed what they learned in the play, playing with their fingertips as a marriage.
But both families gave birth to boys, so it's useless to marry them with their fingertips, so we'll wait until the next generation.
But the good times didn't last long, on the day your great-grandfather held the full moon wine, the bandits killed..."
"Eh?" Hearing this, Nan Yi asked a question, "Grandma, didn't you hear that there are bandits in Shanghai? Are you raising bandits to respect yourself, or are thieves calling to catch thieves?"
"It's hard to tell. At that time, the Taiping Army had only died down for a few years, and there were still a lot of rogues. Besides, there were a lot of things that killed good people and pretended to be meritorious. The Manchus didn't take us Han people too seriously.
My father is not too clear about the details, but on that day, your great-grandfather and my grandfather were gone, leaving two families of orphans and widows. poor.
Later, your great-great-grandmother found another man who was of the same race as your great-great-grandfather.
And so the two separated.
Later, my grandma took my father to Shanghai Beach, luckily, she found a rich family as a servant, and settled down like that.
Maybe it's because Fang's family has many disasters and bad luck. My grandma died of illness not long after, leaving my father alone. He was less than five years old at that time.
Fortunately, the family where my grandma worked as a servant was kind-hearted, leaving my father to serve the young master of their family.
Do children studying in the United States know? "
"I know." Nanyi nodded.
"It is said that it is difficult to leave the homeland, and children from rich families are reluctant to send them abroad. Therefore, the first batch of children studying in the United States are children from poor families. But it is different when it comes to the second batch. There are too many, what is it like abroad, true and false, everyone can listen to a few words.
The second batch of young children studying in the United States included children from poor and well-to-do families, and there were 7 self-funded students. The young master my father served was one of them. "
"Great-grandfather also went to the country with this young master?"
"I didn't follow, but I sneaked onto the boat. I didn't let the young master know about it. I was afraid of being kicked off the boat. I thought about going to the young master when the boat arrived.
My dad just hid from XZ on the boat, and went to the kitchen to steal something to eat when he was hungry. But it was so easy to hide in such a closed environment on the ship, and was discovered by a kitchen helper the next day.
The cook is also from Huaguo, and he is very kind. He asked the first mate and asked my father to stay in the ship's kitchen to help. This gang has been helping for 17 years.
The year he got on the ship was 1873, and when he got off the ship, it was 1890.
During these years on the ship, my father was not idle. He not only learned to speak several foreign languages, but also learned a lot of basic scientific knowledge, and developed a keen interest in machinery.
In 1890, my father went to Oxford University and found a job as a cleaner. While working, he secretly attended lectures. It took more than 7 years to listen.
At the end of 1897, my father returned to Shanghai, where he had been away for many years. After four or five years of tossing around and attracting many shareholders, he finally opened a machinery factory to produce matchmaking machinery.
The machinery factory has been in operation for six or seven years. My father saved a little money, and then slowly opened several printing and dyeing factories and flour mills that are completely his own. It caught up with the golden period of domestic economic development during the First World War. stand up. "
"Grandma, according to this calculation, when you were born, your great-grandfather was already in his fifties."
"Well, my father got married late, he got married in 1910, and it took two years to have my elder brother. And I..." Fang Mengyin paused, "Do you know why I was born in Shanghai but lived in Beijing when I was young? ?”
Nan Yi teased, "Grandma, isn't my great-grandmother from the Bada Hutong?"
"Little bastard, don't talk nonsense. My mother is a female student at the North China Union Women's University. In 1919, when she... [May 4th Youth Day] was being hunted down by the police, she happened to be rescued by my father who was doing business in the capital. up.
Come and go, it's just that easy.
But my aunt was not so easy to get along with, so my mother lived in the capital for several years, and my childhood was also spent in that courtyard.
Later, my father may have made sense of it, so he took me and my mother back to Shanghai. "
"Oh, then how did you and grandpa get in touch? When grandpa left, he was over 60 years old, almost 20 years older than you. You are not the same age."
"I don't want to talk about my relationship with your grandpa right now. I'll tell you the same thing when I'm about to leave. What I can tell you now is that your grandpa and I came together not because of 'finger pulp marriage' .
At that time, we didn't know what was going on between the two parties. It was only after we got together and chatted with each other about our backgrounds that we learned about the relationship between them.
It can also be regarded as fate, fulfilling the original oath of your great-grandfather and the others. "
After thinking about it for a while, Nan Yi came to the conclusion of placing bets separately. In that era, many people were foolish, no matter which faction they would make friends with, they would place some bets.
Those who have a little family background and are in the same place will basically do this. They will not be tied to a rope to death. It doesn't matter to them which flag is planted on the top of the city. Anyway, no matter who is in power, the tax is ten cents. Indispensably, what should be handed over still has to be handed over.
As long as they are of the same race, it is enough not to be slaves to foreign races.
They are all from the excrement and urine tax. Even if they have to pay the breathing tax someday, they will not be at a loss.
"Tell me about your dad. When your dad was young, your grandpa wanted him to grow up to be a soldier. He said it was an honor to be a soldier. He himself came here step by step.
But I want your father to learn mechanics, big soldiers, one more and one less, in fact, it doesn't make much sense, but machinery is different. Machine tools are the mother of industry and the foundation of a country's national defense.
If a country is not good at machine tools, then this country will be controlled by others and will be stuck by others.
My father told me a word - machinery, you can't steal and play tricks, you have to grope inch by inch, and you have to walk step by step.
I want your dad to learn mechanics. I have both public and selfish intentions, but who knew that your dad studied chemistry and eventually went to work in a chemical factory. "
"Grandma, to be fair, chemical industry is also very important to a country."
"Yes, it's also important, but your dad hasn't reached that level at all. He just learned a little superficial applied chemistry, at most he can use it, let's forget about research and development."
"Then why didn't you let me learn mechanics?"
"You are not that kind of material. When you were young, I got you a lot of mechanical gadgets. You have no interest at all. On the contrary, you have been slick and sweet since you were a child. It seems that you are a piece of business material." .But, later on, you are a small booklet who never learns well, and you know how to go outside to fight every day."
"Hey hey!" Nan Yi smiled and passed vaguely.
"Forget it, you'll get better anyway, and it's not bad now." Fang Mengyin waved his hand and said, "Let me tell you about your father and your mother. At that time, your father was already working in Erhua, and your mother ..."
"Grandma, don't fuck with me, just say Lin Shuyi." Nan Yi interrupted.
"Okay, well, Lin Shuyi is Lin Shuyi. At that time, Lin Shuyi went to Erhua for an internship and was assigned to be an apprentice under your father..."