Chapter 470 The Butterfly Effect
May 1983 was actually a very chaotic and lively month for people in Beijing.
Because there are many new and unprecedented things that have emerged this month.
It is exciting and stimulating, but also a bit difficult and at a loss.
As for the taste, no one can really tell whether it is sweet or bitter, sour or spicy.
But one thing is certain, that is, these things all prove that the lives of ordinary people have changed more and more dramatically compared with the past.
For example, the effects of the amendments to the Marriage Law are beginning to show.
Thirty-six women formed a "Qin Xianglian petition group" and jointly petitioned the All-China Women's Federation this month to accuse their husbands of being "Chen Shimei."
These women are intellectuals who have consciously supported their husbands' careers in the past years.
But after these husbands turned over, they took advantage of the "breakup of relationship" clause in the new Marriage Law to file for divorce, so as not to ruin their wives.
In this sensational incident, not only did the lawsuit reach the central government, but people in the capital also heard a new term for the first time - "third party intervention", and they have been discussing it for a long time.
The ending is also quite intriguing.
Despite being questioned by the highest authority, none of the thirty-six "Chen Shimei" were divorced at the time, and all said they would carefully reconsider.
But within ten years, they were all divorced.
I have to say that it is the particularity of this era that has played a huge joke on these families...
Coincidentally, there are similar things happening.
Following the country’s reform of the labor system and the introduction of the contract system, there has also been a latest change in the business system.
In order to improve the operating conditions of smaller commercial units with serious losses, the state will also introduce the contracting system, a business method that plays a huge role in rural areas of our country, into the urban commercial system.
Starting this month, the service bureaus in each district of Beijing have distributed certain pilot quotas and begun to require general stores to try to implement the contract system.
This means that the government has begun to allow the managers of some convenience stores and small restaurants with limited scale and few employees to do so.
On the premise that he could retain his public position, he went to sea to make money for himself.
From now on, whatever you pay to the country, the rest belongs to you.
But even this kind of good thing, which now makes Ning Weimin covetous, is now being resisted by the heads of most shops and restaurants.
Not many people are willing to stand up and take responsibility for their own profits and losses.
People who are accustomed to the iron rice bowl are used to sitting back and enjoying their success. They no longer have the courage to be independent and want to live on the back of the public.
As a result, the relationship between the service bureau and many grassroots leaders was tense because of this incident.
The resulting contradictions and conflicts are more serious than the rigid allocation of treasury bills to various units.
No matter how honest and capable the grassroots cadres were in the past, once they were named and asked to take the lead, they all became angry-looking kings who dared to lift the table.
In the past, the service bureau cadres at the grassroots level who have always been treated like guests have all been treated coldly and looked down upon, and are regarded as cruel officials who want to ruin people's jobs.
Look, the country is begging individuals to make a fortune and provides considerable benefits and support conditions, but no one wants to go.
Strange or not?
So there is no other way. Due to the difficulty of implementation, these people below are likely to hold back and retreat.
The service bureau had no choice but to further relax the conditions for contracting, and also allowed grassroots employees to self-recommend themselves to contract stores.
If the original person in charge is really unwilling to try, he can be placed in another position.
This is good, and many grassroots workers are willing to give it a try.
Some people are born to be restless speculators, and they are convinced that the country cannot really let the shop go bankrupt.
When I thought about it, although I was responsible for my own profits and losses, I was spending the country's money and I still had a public official position, so there was no real risk.
Why not become a manager if you can?
Then let the Lord of Hell play with you and be comfortable for a while.
There are also some genuine people who just want to do good things, and do not know how to flatter people and do not bother to flatter them.
This kind of people have some ability. They have long been dissatisfied with the overcrowding in the store, and have long been looking forward to being self-reliant and turning into serfs to sing.
There are even some honest people who are recommended by grassroots employees.
Everyone is just too resentful of the original manager and hopes that someone can replace the original leader.
Whoever is in charge is better than before.
Needless to say, this becomes the key to breaking the situation.
When the original managers of each small store saw that they were about to be replaced, they were inevitably in chaos.
So there are some who do it reluctantly, some who are frustrated and decide to let the more talented people go, some who change their banner to adapt to the general trend, some who negotiate with the service bureau for credit and conditions, and some who even use anonymous letters to retaliate against their leaders.
In the end, the contracting system was launched with difficulty in such a messy environment and with the different reactions of all kinds of people.
There is no doubt that this is a historical opportunity that can only be provided by a special era.
Many people got on this special train to get rich by accident, chance, or even confusion, and reluctantly.
There are also many people who miss such opportunities for development for the same reason.
Because of this, there will be no peace in the business world from now on.
Because once everyone figured it out, the stick handed over that looked like it was about to hit someone turned out to be sweet sugar cane.
It is still inevitable that there will be another dispute between you and me.
This is human nature...
What's interesting is that when people have problems with their marriages and jobs, things start to get messy when it comes to health and exercise.
This month, Beijing People’s Broadcasting Station officially announced that it would stop broadcasting gymnastics music.
This signifies that the official no longer needs to promote and call on the public to participate in sports and fitness.
People are now able to consciously and proactively take control of their own health.
And the ways of exercising have also begun to show diversified development.
In fact, since the beginning of the year, mass sports organizations such as senior citizens’ sports associations, fishing associations, kite associations, and dragon boat associations have been established.
Just because the government gave up completely and the people acted completely willfully, such a good thing could go wrong, and huge hidden dangers emerged.
Qigong superstition under the guise of science began to become popular in society at this time.
Various exercises and masters appeared out of nowhere, claiming to cure all diseases and have miraculous curative effects, attracting believers among the people and growing rapidly.
In this year, there were 176 Health Qigong articles published in sports journals alone.
Needless to say, it is precisely because this kind of propaganda is getting stronger and stronger that it misleads people's pursuit of health into a wrong path.
In the end, it resulted in far more absurd and serious consequences than the chicken blood injection and hand-dumping therapy.
This can only be said that blind obedience is absolutely unacceptable.
Even if the wishes and motives are good, they are for the pursuit of health and happiness.
But if you don’t have the ability to judge, and you believe what others say, things will often backfire and cause bad consequences.
The same is true in reverse.
Just as it is not necessarily a good thing to blindly believe in authority, in fact, it is not necessarily a bad thing to stick to your own personality and be unwilling to follow the crowd.
If you don’t believe it, just take a look at the barber industry in Beijing at this time.
Also this month, some new types of private barber shops—individual hair salons—suddenly appeared in the alleys of Beijing.
The operators of these small shops are all young people. The biggest difference between them and traditional barber shops is that they are trendy and avant-garde.
For example, the names are all youthful, romantic and western style.
What about "Funfei Hair House", "Easy Hair Salon", or "Wella", "Mengsha"...
For example, the interior decoration must include celebrities from Hong Kong and Taiwan and Posters and photos of foreign stars are plastered all over the walls and rooms, so eye-catching.
The most fashionable pop songs must also be played on four speakers in the house. This is called background music.
Even the hairdresser's own hair style is unique and unique, and what it wants is to express his personality.
And it’s guaranteed to be something people have never seen before, so it’s “Hong Kong style”.
So although these small shops are usually poorly equipped, the hygiene and safety conditions are completely incomparable with regular barber shops.
Even if some shopkeepers are really not good at their craftsmanship, they just brag that their craftsmanship comes from Huacheng, but in fact they are just beginners.
But with the three-in-one package service of "washing, cutting and blow-drying" and the all-round fashion concept, they still attract many young men and women to their store.
Since then, the new hairstyles on TV and in magazines can be "transplanted" on young people's heads in a timely manner.
People who come to the hair salon for a haircut can choose a hairstyle according to their face shape, head shape and personal preferences, or even create their own hairstyle.
Haircut is no longer a common and ordinary basic need of life.
But it has become a real embodiment of fashion interpretation.
However, in the eyes of most middle-aged and elderly people, this is also something that makes no sense.
Older people don’t understand how young people can be so stupid and do this.
I would rather pay several times more than the price of a barber shop, I would rather wait in a long line and have to wait twice as long as a barber shop to sit down.
Let these guys who don’t even know how to use clippers style their hair into nondescript hair.
These days are really chaotic...
Of course, even fashion and popularity have to be divided into different levels.
Unlike several small hair salons that have just popped up, they are still rare and difficult to achieve economies of scale. The clothing model industry has developed in China for two or three years and is now entering a period of rapid development in the industry.
Especially this month, an epoch-making milestone event even occurred.
More and more, this industry, which has always been controversial and has been of great concern to the public, has completely become the focus of the country.
What's going on?
It must be said that many coincidences came together.
On the one hand, in late April, a clothing, shoes and hats exhibition in five provinces and cities sponsored by the Ministry of Light Industry was held in Beijing as scheduled.
The Shanghai-Hai fashion show team also came to the capital along with the Shanghai-Hai exhibition group.
On April 28, the opening ceremony of the trade fair was held at the Agricultural Exhibition Center Theater. The Shanghai Fashion Model Team performed for the public on stage in the capital for the first time and achieved amazing success.
After that, the twenty-day performance was in full swing, and every venue was packed.
Because the audience was so enthusiastic, the Ministry of Light Industry had to decide to extend the show for ten days and postpone the fair to one month.
It should be said that this was what actually happened in history, and it was already sensational enough.
But what is different from history is that Ning Weimin also brought a huge butterfly effect.
Also this month, the first model competition - the "Splendid Oriental Model Competition" planned by Pierre Carton Clothing Company and co-sponsored by the Ministry of Textiles, the Ministry of Economy and Trade and several fashion magazines in Beijing was officially announced. .
The trials are initially scheduled to be held in Beijing in late June.
The entry criteria cover all provinces, cities and regions across the country, and are open to all clothing models with actual stage experience.
The registration brochure for the competition states that as long as they have basic stage qualities, meet the requirements of the age-appropriate young women who are over 1.73 meters tall and weigh under 58 kilograms, and bring relevant letters of introduction from the performance unit, they can come to participate.
All contestants who enter the preliminary rounds will have their travel expenses reimbursed by Pierre Carton.
And bear all the expenses for food, accommodation and training during the three-month competition.
With the twenty-four finalists, Pierre Carton will sign a three-year labor contract and be responsible for further training and recommendation related work.
So this competition completely heated up the fashion modeling industry.
In particular, the ongoing clothing fair was like pouring oil on a raging fire, making it increasingly difficult to get a ticket.
The ticket price was only one yuan and fifty cents, but it jumped to five yuan.
And because of the urgent consultation and strong request of the Ministry of Light Industry, the first model competition eventually became a competition co-sponsored by three ministries.
For the purpose of business exchanges, the Textile Department has also temporarily decided to organize a group of models who performed at Nishiura Department Store in Japan on the closing day of the trade fair to hold a meeting with the Shanghai and Shanghai Costume Performance Team. Joint performance.
This is amazing, the best models from Beijing and Shanghai are performing together.
Needless to say, the ticket prices on the last day skyrocketed and were actually sold to fifteen yuan a ticket.
The ticket sellers in the capital are happy, as they have ushered in a grand carnival.
But this is not the end, because more coincidentally, this month coincides with the visit of Francois Mitterrand, then French President, to China.
And the banquet for Jie Feng was arranged at the Jianguo Hotel in Beijing.
As a result, something extremely unexpected happened during the banquet.
I dare say that when Francois Mitterrand came to the Jianguo Hotel, after getting off the car, surrounded by everyone, he saw Pierre Carton's specialty store as soon as he walked into the hotel lobby.
As the saying goes, a fellow villager will burst into tears when he sees a fellow villager. This feeling is not only shared by Chinese people, but also by foreigners.
The French president did not expect to see French brands here, so he was very happy.
With such excitement, he made an impromptu decision and stayed in the specialty store for ten minutes.
The other people have to accompany me throughout the whole process.
What is even more unexpected is that the French president is in a very high mood.
Not only did he chat with the salesperson in the store with a smile, he also entered the store and looked at the listed products carefully.
I am also very interested in the sculptures obtained by Ning Weimin.
When taking a photo with the salesperson, he was like a child, raising his thumbs up in public to support the French brand.
When the people from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs saw how happy the man who came to sign the nuclear power cooperation memorandum was, they took the matter seriously.
Later, I communicated privately with the French staff.
In this way, Song Huagui became the special guest invited at the thank-you dinner to bid farewell to the French President.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked her to arrange a small costume show of about ten minutes to add to the fun.
Needless to say, the clothes worn by the models must be products of cooperation between the two countries.
Think about it. Photos of the French President in China are transmitted to Europe by AFP every day. What are the subsequent effects of this incident?
Surely this will not end with the French President signing the memorandum and leaving the Republic.
Considering the actual situation that Pierre Carton’s investment in China is becoming larger and larger, and its influence is also growing, this matter has even attracted the attention of Zhongnanhai.
So the models who had performed for Mitterrand, as well as the Shanghai model team that came to Beijing, were all invited to Zhongnanhai to give presentations and performances.
In this way, with the approval of the top decision-makers, the fashion show with the characteristics of the Republic finally obtained the license to go public to the society.
After the report on the performance was finalized.
There are no longer any concerns that can hinder the TV station from fighting for the right to broadcast the model competition.
Not only is Beijing TV station silent at this time about limited funds, but it hopes that Pierre Carton can provide financial support.
Even the national television station complained to Song Huagui, saying she was not interesting enough.
Obviously advertising on their channel, but looking for other companies to cooperate with the live broadcast of the competition.
As you can imagine, the trend of eventually being broadcast jointly by the two TV stations is already obvious.
So it is no exaggeration to say that so far, Pierre Carton's name is resounding throughout the Republic, and it is like the sun.
As long as you are a Chinese, you will definitely recognize that the highest-end clothing in the country is Pierre Carton.
And because of this, everyone in Pierre Carton's company was almost crazy busy, and they were all kicked in the back of the head.
Song Huagui even had to ask for help from the French headquarters because the situation was getting a little out of control.
I hope Pierre Carton can appoint some people with experience in organizing model competitions, as well as professional body teachers to go to China to help.
I no longer have time to take care of things other than the main business of clothing and competitions.
Actually, let alone the head office, the same goes for models like Qu Xiao and Shi Kaili.
Since returning from Japan, they have not had a good rest.
First, summarize the report and accept condolences from the leaders.
Then I was busy visiting relatives and friends and giving away the gifts I brought back.
After that, they heard about the modeling contest in advance through the channels of Pierre Catton Company.
While continuing with daily performance tasks, register in advance and prepare for the competition.
Before I could take a breath, several important political tasks came up: performing for the President of France, an exchange performance with the Shanghai Model Team, and a reporting performance in Zhongnanhai.
In the end, Quxiao couldn't even meet Ning Weimin and give him the gift she bought from Japan because of these sudden things that happened to her.
Not only was the originally arranged time disrupted, but even her personal freedom was temporarily lost.
Because they have to be gathered together for training, and they also have to undergo review and safety training by the security department.
Just like that, Qu Xiao couldn’t even join the class at all.
People from the Textile Department went to contact Chongwenmen Hotel on her behalf and completed the formalities for her to be suspended without pay.
A red-headed document was also issued and relevant records were made in Qu Xiao’s file.
To prove that this is a procedure for the country’s special needs.
One can imagine how happy Qu Xiao's parents will be. Now they are completely relieved about their daughter's future.
As Ning Weimin said, I saw my daughter becoming more and more brilliant on the fashion stage with my own eyes.
Of course, it is also because of this that Ning Wei’s private operation of the Imperial Palace Restaurant and his advance of 150,000 yuan to Beishen Kitchen for repairs in advance did not encounter any resistance from the head office. .
Who made this opportunity happen?
Now it’s not that others don’t want to embarrass him, it’s that they simply don’t have time to embarrass him.
Now the only meetings held at the head office are to announce and discuss the model contest.
Song Huagui has told Ning Weimin that if there is nothing important before the competition, there is no need to attend the company's regular meetings.
Song Huagui didn't even read the report he sent for instructions.
Only let Zou Guodong read it, summarize it, and sign for approval.
If there is any hope for Ning Weimin, it is enough for him to take care of his own affairs and stop looking for trouble for the company.
As the saying goes, time also means destiny!
Ning Weimin himself never expected that God would be so kind to him at such an important juncture.
It actually gave him the right to operate his own business independently.
Then he might as well be a fish in water, snickering?
Just one word, beautiful!
Needless to say, the funds were received almost immediately.
He could no longer hold back his excitement and wanted to spread the situation quickly and show off his skills...
(End of this chapter)