On the afternoon of August 4, 2022, the temperature in Shanghai rose to 37 degrees Celsius, and the French sycamore on Yuyuan Road was lush and leaves were lush, blocking half of the heat in the air. There are few people on the road.
Eat the lunch cooked by my wife, Zhu Shaozhuang put down his bowls and chopsticks and went out, set off from Qishan Village, walked for five or six minutes, and walked to the "Old Uncle Underwear Store" No. 21058, Yuyuan Road, .
Turn on your phone and connect to Bluetooth speaker . The store with less than 30 square meters is less than 30 square meters, and the cheerful three-photo dance music sounds. Lao Zhu, wearing a bright yellow T-shirt, stood behind the counter, shaking his head and singing melody, constantly reconciling accounts, sorting out goods, making tea, and 300 songs were circulating day by day. Each song was his favorite.
4/5 months, the epidemic is blocked and the business is whiteboard. In August, when the business off-season is approaching, Lao Zhu is not impatient. A hundred-year-old Yuyuan Road, just look at the past decade, shops along the street have been back and forth like a tide, and now they have become another center of the Internet celebrity universe.
72-year-old Lao Zhu and he have run a small shop for more than 30 years have become an idea for Yuyuan Road. The media reported that the internet celebrities came to hunt for curiosity, and he was always welcomed and smiled. The customers who really come to consume are the elderly who are familiar with each other. Business is second, and the important thing is that as long as aunts and mothers want to find someone to talk to "relieve their anger", Lao Zhu is always in the store.
considerate service of the folk shop
floral sleeveless skirt, plaid flat-foot shorts, three-gun brand cotton sweater, chrysanthemum old man shirt... If a crew of an era drama wants to accurately reproduce the scene of an aunt and uncle riding the wind and chatting with Hu in the Shanghai alley, they can buy everyone's outfit here. The price of the goods in the
store is of course affordable. A series of 10 yuan special price for men and women, all-cotton socks for women, 5 yuan for women, fake collars for women, 25 yuan for children, 6 to 12 yuan for children, 12 yuan for cotton men's flat legs, modal all-cotton T-shirt for women, 59 yuan for women, and the most expensive clothes are only seventy or eighty yuan.
price tag is written by Lao Zhu, with neat handwriting and has not mentioned the price for four or five years.
A middle-aged woman entered the shop and pointed to her shorts and asked Lao Zhu, "My father has a big belly. What is the largest size of this short?"
Lao Zhu walked out of the counter and showed the customer his waistline, "Where can I compare with me?"
"Oh! It's bigger than that!"
"Then it's at least 3XL!"
The customer pulled the elastic bands on his pants with both hands and continued to gesture and study the size. "I usually go to Taobao, and I happened to visit here today, and the price is quite affordable."
Lao Zhu also has a widely circulated skill, which is to help aunts and mothers consult on the size of underwear.
A ancient and modern bra, which costs more than 30 yuan in the store, Lao Zhu received it at a discount, and each one costs only 12 yuan. The aunt held the bra and gestured on her body, "Do you want to buy a smaller size?"
Lao Zhu swept his eyes and continued to shake his head and listen to the song, "This size is good, you need to shrink some water after washing. You can try one first. If it is suitable, you will get more next time."
"That's right!"
Another aunt bought a T-shirt for her husband, and she was still confused about the size.
Lao Zhu said happily: "It's easy to change your clothes if you don't go into the water, any time you want. It's really not suitable, you can return the goods."
In the old man's underwear store, spending a little money in exchange for the grand purchase. After each of the aunts picked up the things, they felt very happy and they simply got together and studied the colors of towels and handkerchiefs.
The towels and handkerchiefs in the shop are light and thin, but they are all cotton, 7 yuan for two yuan. If you buy them in summer, it is very useful to line the little hair at home and absorb sweat, or wipe sweat yourself. After the first season, I simply changed the new ones and used them to wash dishes and wipe the table.
A grandmother came in to buy underwear for her granddaughter. Recently, my granddaughter came to my house for summer vacation, thinking about buying a few sets of clothes for changing clothes. "It's all cotton, and the price is affordable. Three generations of our family are customers here. My daughter bought underwear here from kindergarten to college."
Before the evening, the business was light, so Lao Zhu took out the collection of harmonica and fiddled with it. "From A to F, I have all kinds of harmonica."
A song " Honghu water , waves beat waves", Lao Zhu shook his head and shook his head.It is said that from time to time, aunts and mothers will come to the shop and dance with music in this spacious aisle in front of the counter.
A young and fashionable girl walked into the store to buy socks. I had been passing by on Yuyuan Road before. Out of curiosity, I came in and looked around and found that the pure cotton socks in the shop are cheap and easy to wear, but later I became a regular customer who turned around.
Watching Lao Zhu intoxicated himself in the music, the girl smiled, "I like to watch the old uncle chatting with the guests, and I feel that the natural and warm scene can cure my mental internal friction."
The healing journey of the laid-off uncle
4 or 5 months of rent, and this part of the loss Lao Zhu just smiled: "That's fine. In summer, it's better to keep it off."
More than 30 years of operation, Lao Zhu has a refreshing account in his heart.
July, August and September are the off-season, and November is the peak season in the next year. "Buy cotton sweater pants better than shorts sweater. In winter, I am a room here, and the aisle is full of stuff!"
During the peak season, Lao Zhu rode his "little electric donkey" to the warehouse on Changning Branch Road every day to pick up goods. Two large cloth bags were sewn and repaired. After spending more than 20 years, the layers of patches now look hippie.
In fact, at the beginning, Lao Zhu had to do it as a last resort.
people reached middle age, laid off from an enterprise under the Instrument Bureau, Lao Zhu went to a tertiary industry store under the District Federation of Trade Unions and became a salesperson.
"At that time, the store was opposite the Changning District Workers' Club in Yuyuan Road, selling products that were specially processed for three-gun special prices. There was a little bit of a slit where the wires were dropped. The collar was a little dirty. After a little washing, it was the same as their store's things, but the price was only half. People still have to be affordable. Our store business is very good."
has been working for several years, but the tertiary industry cannot be handled again and faces bankruptcy. Lao Zhu had to lay off for the second time.
But this time, he decided to take the store down. "Because I know how to purchase and sell, I have a clear idea. Otherwise, how dare I go into business!"
someone else was laid off and bought out fees for of 50,000 yuan. Lao Zhu's buyout fee was discounted to a warehouse of goods. He took over the store with a monthly rent of 5,000 yuan and started his middle-aged business.
At that time, within a radius of several kilometers, only this one sold Sangut brand underwear, and it was a special offer. As expected, Lao Zhu's business was booming, and he earned tens of thousands of yuan a month.
"The original location was a row of temporary stores in front of the unfinished building. Later, it was demolished and I moved to Yuyuan Road and Jiangsu Road. A few years later, I built Metro Line 11, and I moved here again. I have always been on Yuyuan Road." The rent of the
store has increased from 5,000 yuan and 7,000 yuan to 14,000 yuan per month.
Lao Zhu likes Yuyuan Road because it is the road at the door of his home, and because Yuyuan Road is narrow enough to "do business on both sides."
"At that time, this shop was empty. When I looked, No. 1058, it wasn't it 'I'll post'! I decided at once that's it. Now more than ten years have passed."
In 2018, Uncle Zhu's shop was on a decoration program on Oriental Satellite TV . It was also from that time that the name "Old Uncle Underwear Store" was named.
Considering that it is mainly made up of elderly customers, there are several more humanized designs in the store. The armrest on the left after entering the door is convenient for the elderly to go down the steps; the two chairs by the window allow the elderly to rest here; the counter table is also lifted a few centimeters, so Lao Zhu doesn't have to bend down and hunch his back all day long.
has been on TV, and Lao Zhu became a celebrity. Some foreigners even came to the store with foreign newspapers - a 1.90-meter-old man. He couldn't buy cotton wool pants of the right size outside. He came here to see him and he still bought it from Lao Zhu.
The road in front of Lao Zhu has now become a well-known internet celebrity landmark in Shanghai. Fashionable coffee shops, clothing buyers, and are surrounded by streets. It’s hard to tell who was using whom’s traffic, and the “old uncle’s underwear store” has become a wonderful check-in point on Yuyuan Road.
Lao Zhu is not opposed to the concept of "Internet celebrity". He said happily as always: "Opening the door to do business, the more people know, the better!"
When he grows old with the customers
Almost every day, customers ask about Lao Zhu's age, he always says: "I am my little brother."
After all, there are many guests in their 80s and 90s. Lao Zhu, who is a centenarian, has also received it.
There was also time when he was the eldest brother.
That day, an aunt asked him about his age and said, "72 years old, who is born in the year of the rabbit." The aunt said, "I am also a rabbit."
Lao Zhu immediately smiled and said, "Then I want to call you a girl. I was born in on the fourth day of the first lunar month. I am the same age as me, and most of them are younger than me."
When facing his peers, he couldn't stop talking. Lao Zhu talked about his graduation from the 1968th class and went to the countryside of Heilongjiang to work in the lineup, but because of eye disease, he stayed back to Shanghai for 7 months. "Amei" was envious after hearing it: "I've been there for ten years!"
When we talked back and forth, the more stories we talked about, Lao Zhu's "best friends" became more and more. Lao Zhu became the "tree hole" and gossip news center for aunts. The family matters on this street were all put into his mind and rotten in his stomach.
According to Lao Zhu, his good temper is related to his own birthright, and he is also inseparable from his experience of being away from his hometown and working in the north for the "short" seven months.
"After I came back, I did logistics work in the street factory. I had to help workers prepare soda on high temperatures. I rode yellow croaker cars to the soda station to pick up goods every day. Each cart was four boxes, 48 bottles per box, which was extremely heavy. I also had to ice the soda and deliver it to the workers. You said that this job was hard, but compared with the labor when I went to the countryside, these were nothing."
Propaganda Department, Security Department, Personnel Department, and finally became a salesperson. Lao Zhu worked with various people in different positions, and he developed a social skills that were light and came in handy in his own shop.
"Two days ago, an aunt came in and asked me that there was a good boy who wanted to introduce a partner to the girl in the neighbor's house."
"Later, did you succeed?"
"It seems that you were in contact, I always hope they will succeed!"
The children grew up, fell in love, got married, and Lao Zhu and his guests grew old together. Yuyuan Road has changed a lot, and the guests are afraid that this small shop will leave them one day.
"Master Zhu, I'm fine. After I'm doing it, Allah has no place to buy clothes."
Every time the customer says this, Lao Zhu agrees in a vague way. In fact, I had a plan in my mind, and it was time to retire until I was 75 years old. After all, the small shop had little profits and couldn't afford to hire people. I struggled to support the tough battle of the peak season every year until winter. If I get older, I'm afraid I can't bear it. But as many people asked, he was a little shaken.
Until some time ago, Lao Zhu saw a video of a 97-year-old Japanese nurse grandmother still insisting on working and taking care of elderly people older than her. She arranged all her funerals and prepared to work until the last moment of her life. The story of
made Lao Zhu finally make up his mind. "Now I don't want to work until I'm old, I'll work until I die."
Lao Zhu has a daughter who also opens a clothing store on Yuyuan Road. When Lao Zhu wanted his daughter to take over the store, he came to the store to help for several years, but in the end he opened his favorite fashion women's clothing store.
The profit of my daughter's store far exceeded that of my father. Lao Zhu was very happy, but he never thought of transforming with the trend. At this age, it is unimaginable to push away old friends for a little incremental income.
The shop has a container, and cotton sweaters and pants are placed all year round.
Lao Zhu said: "Some old people prepare their funerals for themselves and will come to buy cotton sweaters and pants. There are also some younger generations who come to buy because the elderly at home die or do rituals on the Qingming Festival Winter Solstice."
Although it is still "little brother", Lao Zhu has witnessed life and death in this store, so he has made clear his funerals early. He recently received an application for body donation to convince his family and prepare to sign the contract.
"At first I heard from an old colleague that his father passed away and donated his body. This incident inspired me.Now, as soon as I apply, my lover will follow you, and my younger brother and sister-in-law also promised to donate. I am a Communist Party member and I don’t believe in those people. It’s not good that I can still make some contributions to the country after I leave! "
Lao Zhu said again: "The only regret is that when I was founded last year, I had 49 years of party membership, and I was just one year away from receiving the commemorative medal for the 50th year of the party. Oh, what a pity! ”
column editor: Zhang Chunhai Text editor: Zhang Chi Title picture source: Dong Tianye Picture editor: Zhang Chi Editor's email: [email protected]
Watch the news on the go Qin Dongying Dong Tianye Photography report
Source: Author: Qin Dongying Dong Tianye
