Door plaques, also known as plaques, are decorative plaques hanging above the gates of old houses and private houses. Generally speaking, the gate is the eye of feng shui of the family home, so people will always choose the words of auspicious and auspicious rui engraved on the door plaque above the gate in order to escort the fortunes of the entire family house.
In 2001, Du Meiru, the favorite daughter of du Yuesheng, the leader of the old Shanghai Youth Gang, who is over seventy years old, flew back from Jordan back to her hometown of Shanghai and revisited her hometown, and she returned to her childhood home, Du Mansion, with great excitement, but unexpectedly had a surprise new discovery at the gate of the mansion.
Witnessing this "surprise discovery", Du Meiru instantly released the regrets of most of her life, so what is this surprise?
The history of the struggle of du Yuesheng, a big man in the Republic of China, and his wives and concubines and children
Du Yuesheng was one of the leaders of the Green Gang in Shanghai during the Republic of China period, and Du Yuesheng, who came out of the slums, first stood up as a fruit stall vendor, started as a gangster, and later ventured into the two circles of commerce and politics, wandering between black and white.
In 1902, the 14-year-old Du Yuesheng threw himself under the command of The leading shanghai tycoon Jin Jinrong, who was appreciated by Jin Rong and began to run a casino in the French Concession. In the following years, Du Yuesheng, who was quick-witted and flexible, calm and low-key, gradually grew into a gang tycoon with decisive means, high emotional intelligence and outstanding ability through secret exploration and learning.
After having a lot of money and a solid social position, Du Yuesheng began to set up his own portal under the support of a group of protégés, and in the end, Du Yuesheng, who was blue, replaced Jin Rong and sat on the chair of "the first big man of the Shanghai Youth Gang".
In the turbulent years, Du Yuesheng successively married 5 wives, who gave birth to a total of 7 sons and 2 daughters to Du Yuesheng, in addition, The Longhouse Lady Shen also adopted a son in the early years.
In 1926, Du Yuesheng, who had many wives and children, moved with his family into the three-story bungalow at No. 180 Hua Ge Zhen Road in Shanghai, which later became the "Du Mansion" that everyone in Shanghai knew and knew.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, du mansion has become an excellent historical building under the key protection of the Shanghai Municipal Government, and now, it has become a historical façade of Shanghai, and it is also a microcosm of the past of the old era.
Du Meiru - the most beloved daughter of her father Du Yuesheng in her life
In the summer of 1930, the fourth lady Yao Yulan gave birth to a daughter to her 42-year-old husband Du Yuesheng, Who was overjoyed and personally named the child Du Meiru, who was du Yuesheng's eldest daughter and received the supreme pampering and love of her parents as soon as she was born.
Du Meiru has always compared the degree of wearing from snacks to the rich and famous women in Shanghai, and has never suffered half a grievance in material life, and everyone calls her a well-deserved "Shanghai Qianjin".
Du Yuesheng has always been more severe in educating her children, although Du Meiru is a daughter's family, but her studies are still strictly controlled and supervised by her father, Du Meiru had a period of poor English scores when she was young, in order to "spur" her daughter as soon as possible, Du Yuesheng did not hesitate to take the whip to Du Meiru and beat her 10 times to show punishment.
In the late spring of 1949, Du Meiru, who had excellent academic performance, had just received an acceptance letter from St. John's University in Shanghai, but her father, Du Yuesheng, suddenly decided to move his family to Hong Kong to avoid possible future "disasters".
On May 1, 1949, Du Yuesheng hurriedly boarded the Baoshuyun passenger ship of the Dutch Zhahua Company with all his belongings and du family members, and he gave up everything in Shanghai and resolutely moved his family to Hong Kong to settle down.
2 days later, Du Yuesheng and the whole family came to a villa that had been purchased in Hong Kong earlier, and the living conditions of the villa were narrow and narrow, but at that time, Du Yuesheng was no longer what it used to be, and the whole family of more than 30 people could only live together in that villa, and there was no other way.
Du Yuesheng was unemployed and proletarian in Hong Kong, and only took a sum of cash to settle in Hong Kong, according to Du Meiru's recollection, after arriving in Hong Kong, his father entrusted the management of family expenses to Du Meiru to take care of.
At that time, his father told Du Meiru that the Du family's monthly expenditure was around 6,000 Hong Kong dollars, and the cash they held in their hands could meet the family's expenses for up to 20 years.
In Hong Kong, du Yuesheng, who was once shrewd and strong, always fell into a state of panic for no reason, Du Meiru once asked her father when she would be able to return to Shanghai, Du Yuesheng told her daughter: These two years always have to be low-key to be insured, one year can not go back, two years later should be able to go back.
After that, Du Yuesheng became more and more cautious, shutting himself in his home all day long and living a simple life behind closed doors.
Half a year later, the old Du Yuesheng's old disease recurred, and his health deteriorated. On August 16, 1951, Du Yuesheng died of illness in Hong Kong, and after the funeral, the women of the Du family's houses separated for their livelihood and future after taking a family portrait.
Because her mother Yao Yulan and Song Meiling are girlfriends, under Song Meiling's arrangement, Du Meiru and her mother Yao Yulan went to Live in Taiwan, and since then, the mother and daughter have been relying on constantly selling gold and silver jewelry to maintain their living expenses.
In 1955, the 25-year-old Du Meiru met the young and handsome Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Shigeru Kumatsu at a dance, and the two fell in love at first sight, and they sweetly dated, fell in love, and successfully entered the palace of marriage in January 1956.
In 1969, Du Meiru took her children to Jordan with her husband, because she was proficient in many foreign languages and won the appreciation and recognition of the Queen of Jordan.
In 1976, Ku Songmao and Du Meiru did not want to return to Taiwan, so they simply opened a Chinese restaurant in Jordan and began a self-made entrepreneurial life.
In the following 30 years, due to the couple's diligent management, this Chinese restaurant called "Zhonghua Hotel" won the reputation of the people in Jordan, but even if the food and clothing were abundant and the career was prosperous, the older the people, the more homesick they became, and Du Meiru, who was the owner of the Chinese restaurant, was no exception.
Whenever Du Meiru sees Chinese tourists coming to dine, she always evokes infinite thoughts about her hometown of Shanghai, and she sincerely looks forward to stepping on the land of her hometown again and seeing the style and prosperity of Shanghai today.
In 2001, 71-year-old Du Meiru and her husband Ku Songmao embarked on a flight to Shanghai, and she was finally able to return to Shanghai after nearly half a century of absence, and was able to solve the long-term homesickness.
A surprise discovery hidden in the door plaque of the Du Mansion in Shanghai
When Du Meiru came to the door of the Du Mansion, which is now located at No. 182 Ninghai Road in Shanghai, a long-lost sense of intimacy swept over her face. After decades of wind and rain, although the Du Mansion is slightly old, it is still well protected by the cultural relics department.
In the plaque above the gate of the mansion, you can still faintly see the four large characters "Bamboo Bud Songmao", which have long been mottled, and these words have made Miss Du Family excited and tearful after more than half a century - it turns out that "Songmao" is the name of Du Meiru's husband, and du Yuesheng, who has long passed away, must not have thought that this plaque that he had just carved when he was just born actually contained the name of his future son-in-law, is this not a coincidence in the dark?!
In the early years, Du Meiru regretted more than once that her father did not see herself start a family in her lifetime, but the moment Du Meiru saw the "wonderful prophecy" in the plaque of the old house, all the previous regrets were released.
Although his father Du Yuesheng did not see the eldest son-in-law with his own eyes, this can also be regarded as the son-in-law Ku Songmao appeared in the Du family's old mansion early in another form and appeared in front of his father Du Yuesheng.
Touching the slightly mottled and old Du Mansion, this former Shanghai Beach Qianjin can't help but sigh with emotion, the fate of the world's people fluctuates, at most like the grains of quicksand in the rolling Huangpu River water, floating or falling to the bottom of the water, or drifting to the distance, without exception.
As the saying goes: Fallen leaves return to the roots. Du Meiru, who has a hometown complex, often returns to China now, and has long planned to return to China to settle down.
Nowadays, the prosperity and prosperity of the motherland are strongly attracting the wanderers to return to their hometown, and we also hope that Du Meiru and her children and grandchildren can return to their hometown as soon as possible and end the wandering life of the wanderers overseas, after all, there is a saying that is excellent: this peace of mind is my hometown.