There is such a legendary woman, she once lived a princess-like life, shopping never costs money, after going out, there are always bodyguards around to guard. However, after experiencing the changes of the times, she was sent to the countryside and changed from a "princess" to a peasant woman.
However, what is more legendary is that at the age of 63, she re-embarked on the road of entrepreneurship and became the female owner of Tianjin Western Restaurant. And this legendary woman is Yuan Jiaqian, the granddaughter of Yuan Shikai.
What kind of life did she go through? Why start a new business at the end of your life? How do you get through the tough times of life?
Let's step into the life of this legendary woman and look for the story behind the surface of life.
Yuan Jiaqian
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="6" > bodyguards, and the door shopping does not bring money</h1>
Yuan Jiaqian's mother was the daughter of the big salt merchant He Zhongjin, and her mother's family had thousands of tile houses in Tianjin that could be rented, and at that time, the He family and the Yuan family were married, and how many people were envious. Yuan Jiaqian's father was the fourth son of Yuan Shikai, who developed many vices from an early age.
When Yuan Shikai's father died, he changed from "the fourth son of the emperor" to a commoner, which was unacceptable for a while and insane.
Moreover, both Yuan Jiaqian's father and mother have the vice of smoking opium, and the two are profligate, which is really difficult to provide a good growth environment for Yuan Jiaqian.
Yuan Jiaqian's father
Fortunately, the 4-year-old Yuan Jiaqian was passed over to the childless second aunt's home, who lived in the scenic Jiangnan water town, where Yuan Jiaqian spent 13 years of "princess" life.
The second aunt and the second sister-in-law were influenced by the new ideas and formed a new-style family, where Yuan Jiaqian also received a new-style education, learned English, and was admitted to the Shanghai Zhongxi Girls' High School.
The second brother-in-law of the Yuan family is the richest man in Wuxi, he studied in the United States, and after returning to China, he developed his career in Wuxi and established a silk factory. Under the influence of the industrial trend of national salvation, he became an excellent national industrialist. The new ideas of the second sister-in-law and the second aunt naturally had an important impact on the childhood Yuan Jiaqian.
Yuan family photo
The current museum in Wuxi is the place where Yuan Jiaqian once lived, leaving traces of her growth.
The whole house has a total of twenty-four rooms, divided into three floors, and only Yuan Jiaqian and the second uncle and the second aunt live in total. But there were thirty-seven servants who fed and fed the three of them.
Yuan Jiaqian recalled that he was once most afraid of history lessons.
Because once the history class talks about Yuan Shikai, it talks about stealing the achievements of the revolution, and it talks about restoration. Yuan Jiaqian felt ashamed and felt landless. A sense of shame from her ancestors made her feel that her surroundings were full of strange eyes and heavy pressure.
When Yuan Jiaqian went to school, he was equipped with a nanny and a driver. In order to prevent Yuan Jiaqian from being kidnapped, there was even a male bodyguard to protect her safety.
At eight o'clock, the driver will also drive the car into the school at seven fifty o'clock. Bodyguards and nannies protect and take care of Yuan Jiaqian at all times, and the driver picks up Yuan Jiaqian on time to return home from school.
At that time, Yuan Jiaqian never had to spend money on shopping, and he never needed to bring money with him. The second aunt will take Yuan Jiaqian shopping, like something directly said, naturally there will be a nanny, driver or bodyguard to check out, and transport things back.
Yuan Jiaqian never knew how much money he bought, nor did he have any concept of money.
Yuan Jiaqian and his cousin
When the thought has become a thing of the past, Yuan Jiaqian recalled the experience of this "princess" life, but he felt unhappy, like a walking dead, no freedom, no social connection, no self.
But at the same time, it's also a carefree time to go out on the streets, make friends, and play.
However, at the age of 17, the second aunt went abroad, and Yuan Jiaqian returned to the lifeless Yuan family.
In the Yuan family, the Yuan family needs to be bound by the number of feudal rituals, and sooner or later they must be safe, and they must abide by the rules when eating. Since the university is co-educational, it does not meet the rules of etiquette, and is not allowed to go to university, but can only ask Mr. Hanwen to study at home.
Yuan Jiaqian and his descendants
Although the Yuan family's life was still passable at that time, after all, although it was in decline, the skinny camel was bigger than the horse. It's enough to sell something casually, and it's enough to cope with it for a while. Cooks, servants, old mothers, and dozens of such servants in the family, living conditions are much stronger than ordinary people.
Although the Qing government was overthrown, the feudal atmosphere did not leave the Yuan family. Yuan's parents and uncles did not work, relying on the family's remaining wealth, and continued to live a drunken and dreamy, muddy life.
Yuan Jiaqian, who had been influenced by the atmosphere of the new era, naturally could not stand such an atmosphere and was suppressed by the high strength and darkness around him.
Yuan Jiaqian was reminiscing about the past
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="24" > forced to go down to the village and become working women</h1>
Fortunately, Yuan Jiaqian, unlike his two sisters, suffered a tragic fate. Many books only record that Yuan Keding had two sons and a daughter, and actually had two daughters, but they were used as tools for marriage, and after marriage, they were treated inhumanly and died miserably.
When he reached the age, Yuan Jiaqian married Boss Ding of the "Yuanfeng Hardware Line", who was quite famous in the industrial and commercial circles in Tianjin.
In Tianjin, Boss Ding has 3 enterprises under his own name, in addition to a trading house, Yuan Jiaqian will also help her husband collect money and post the account.
Yuan Jiaqian on the phone
However, with the change of the situation, Yuan Jiaqian's life has changed greatly.
In 1956, after the three major socialist transformations, the Yuan family also lost their privileges. Although some of the changes were small, they had a great impact on Yuan Jiaqian. After the public-private partnership, Yuan Jiaqian must also bring money to go shopping like ordinary people.
The first time money was a disaster for Yuan Jiaqian. She always felt that the money was so dirty and resisted touching it. Transportation ranges from cars to rickshaws to buses. Although these changes are somewhat difficult, Yuan Jiaqian also has to adapt to these situations.
Yuan Jiaqian already had three sons and a daughter at that time, and the daughter was already training in the Qilian Mountains, and she and her husband took three sons to the countryside with difficult conditions. From the small Western-style building with wide atmosphere and unique design, to the harsh conditions of Wang Zhuangzi, the great temple in the western suburbs of Tianjin.
Yuan Jiaqian and Yuan Jiaqiu took a group photo
From the second aunt's family that accepted the ideas of the new era, to the old home in Tianjin with a strong feudal atmosphere, to the reasonable small family of the husband and wife, although each had its own characteristics, Yuan Jiaqian had never lived under such difficult conditions. Faced with the howling cold wind and the dilapidated mud house, Yuan Jiaqian felt that he could not see the hope of life.
Just like adapting to counting money with his own hands, Yuan Jiaqian must also overcome the difficulties in front of him. Drive away mosquitoes and ants by smoking; when you are hungry, eat some loose nests and eat some wild vegetables; after the exercise of life, you can carry up 40 pounds of potatoes at any time. Yuan Jiaqian never knew that he had such strong potential.
Life in the countryside is very poor, and you can earn a dime and a half a day of work. After all, Yuan Jiaqian had experienced the life of the upper class, had seen the world in the city, and began to use his brain to find ways to improve his life.
Rural life
Combined with her husband's own profession, Yuan Jiaqian proposed to the village to open a small hardware factory. With the support of the village, Yuan and her husband opened a galvanizing factory. Driven by the factory, it also brings many benefits to the village. In the first year of the factory's operation, the work score rose to 80 cents and 5 cents.
Since then, the hard days in the countryside have finally passed, and the new days in the future are also waiting for Yuan Jiaqian.
In 1973, Yuan Jiaqian's cousin, yuan Jiaqiu, who was also a famous physicist, returned to China at the invitation of Premier Zhou. According to Premier Zhou's instructions, the third generation of the Yuan family also gradually regained their freedom.
After eight years of tribulation, Yuan Jiaqian finally returned to Tianjin from the countryside, from the adobe house to the small western-style building, from hardship to freedom. After eight years of experience, Yuan Jiaqian has thought a lot and matured a lot. Being able to survive under any circumstance is an ability and a wisdom.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="32" > reform and opening up, and start a business again in the year of HuaJia</h1>
According to Yuan Jiaqian's recollection, the reason why she was able to succeed in starting a business in her later years was inseparable from the support of her cousin and cousin. Yuan Jiaqian's cousin is the famous Chinese physicist Yuan Jiaxiao, and the cousin is Wu Jianxiong, a famous scientist who participated in the Manhattan Project, and it is their encouragement that has led to the story of starting a business later.
After Yuan Jialuo and his wife returned to China, they received great attention from all walks of life. The leaders of Shenzhen Municipality invited Yuan Jialuo and Wu Jianxiong to serve as senior advisers to Shenzhen to provide scientific and technological support for reform and opening up and for Shenzhen's economic take-off.
Taking this opportunity, Yuan Jiaqian also followed his brother and sister-in-law to Shenzhen.
Yuan Jiaqian holds a medal in his hand
In Shenzhen, this stay is 6 years, the 63-year-old Yuan Jiaqian was infected by the young atmosphere of Shenzhen, unconsciously, but also hope to create a career of their own in Shenzhen.
And the reality did not disappoint Yuan Jiaqian, by the time she left Tianjin, she already had a large amount of savings.
At the beginning of the reform and opening up, Shenzhen was full of gold, but this all required a pair of eyes, and Yuan Jiaqian seized this opportunity.
Pictured: A panoramic view of The Suez Restaurant
Yuan Jiaqian used her vision to participate in the construction of the largest resort project in China at that time, and got her first harvest in Shenzhen.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Yuan Jiaqian, who came out of the feudal clan, was influenced by national industrialists, and participated in business management, naturally did not lack courage and foresight.
She bought some original shares in Shenzhen and made a huge profit.
In 1992, Yuan Jiaqian left Shenzhen and returned to her hometown of Tianjin with her savings, starting another legend in the history of her entrepreneurship.
Yuan Jiaqian told the story of the family
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" > Lao Ji Futuo, Tianjin opened a Western restaurant</h1>
Tianjin has been a big city since the Republic of China, and its "Five Avenues" enjoy the reputation of "Museum of International Architecture", where there are still more than 300 small Western-style buildings, with different styles and full of beauty. There is a small bungalow on "Chengdu Road", and the sign reads "Su Yishi Western Restaurant", which is the result of Yuan Jiaqian's entrepreneurship.
In Shenzhen, Yuan Jiaqian earned more than 700,000 yuan through some projects and stocks, which was a lot of wealth at the time.
An old man of nearly 70 years old, with a deposit of 700,000 yuan in the 1990s, was enough to live comfortably for the rest of his life, but Yuan Jiaqian chose to continue to start a business.
After returning to Tianjin, Yuan Jiaqian originally wanted to start a real estate company and invest in real estate projects with several friends.
However, under the advice of Yuan Jialuo and Wu Jianxiong, it was finally decided to open a restaurant. Yuan Jiaqiu believes that the restaurant industry is relatively stable and there is not much risk.
Yuan Jiaxiao also helped Name Yuan Jiaqian's new restaurant and offered suggestions for the development of the new restaurant. Seeing that the two relatives were so confident, Yuan Jiaqian decided to follow the advice.
Tianjin is one of the earliest treaty ports and a metropolis since modern times, influenced by Western society, Western food is very popular here. Tianjin people have been making Western food and eating Western food for more than a hundred years, and Western food in Tianjin has gradually changed from a fashion to a habit.
Chengdu Street in Tianjin is a suitable place to open a Western restaurant and make authentic Western food. It can not only meet the needs of Tianjin locals for Western food and the enjoyment of Western food culture, but also provide a meeting place for foreigners in Tianjin, and can also taste authentic Western food in China.
Photo: Yuan Jialuo
After making preparations, Yuan Jiaqian invited a Western chef from the Hyatt Regency Tianjin Hotel, his son and daughter-in-law also came to assist him, and hired more than a dozen laid-off workers as waiters.
Everything is ready, and Yuan Jiaqian's Western restaurant business will also begin from here.
Mr. Yuan Jiaxiao also fulfilled his promise and inscribed the name of the Western restaurant. At first, Yuan Jiaqian wanted to name the restaurant Suez Western Restaurant, taking the meaning of the Suez Canal. Mr. Yuan Jiaxiao suggested replacing the Yi character with the Yi character, which is the origin of the name of Su Yishi Restaurant, and it also has a novel meaning.
Photo: Suez Restaurant
Su Yishi Restaurant is well-located, the environment is elegant, the food is delicious, the price is affordable, and soon it became famous, and many cultural celebrities, businessmen and politicians in the Beijing-Tianjin circle came to visit and were attracted by its unique taste. Every time a cross-talk performance artist Ma Ji and a Peking opera performance artist Mei Baojiu come to Tianjin, they must go here to sit down.
Mr. Yuan Jiaqiu also pays close attention to the development of Su Yishi Restaurant, and he has established three rules for the Yuan family.
The first is to always pay attention to health and safety; the second is not to be greedy for money and forget the cost, and to set a reasonable price; the third is to be enthusiastic about guests and operate in good faith.
Yuan Jiaqian also always kept these three provisions in mind and did not dare to forget them.
A photo hanging from the Suez restaurant
Yuan Jiaqian is still working hard for the operation of the restaurant in his old age, from managing accounts and personnel, to studying the development of Western restaurants, updating meals, and then to the development and changes of the international and domestic economic situation, Yuan Jiaqian does not let go at all.
Yuan Jiaqian revealed the secret of the development of "Su Yishi", that is, there is no foreign debt. The real estate is Yuan Jiaqian's, and the funds are also made up by themselves.
It is even more to refuse the cooperation of large enterprises, never open a semicolon, maintain the boutique status of Suyishi restaurant, and maintain the name and reputation of Suyishi.
Photos at the restaurant
Yuan Jiaqian also focused on social responsibility when opening the restaurant, and at the beginning of the opening of Su Yishi Restaurant, he hired laid-off workers from Tianjin.
Some of these waiters worked here for eleven years, forming a strong and intimate relationship with Yuan Jiaqian and Su Yishi.
In the restaurant
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="55" > intoxicated with public welfare and committed to the good development of Tianjin</h1>
In 2003, Yuan Jiaqian's cousin and leader Yuan Jiaqiu died, and he donated his life savings to the country, which deeply touched Yuan Jiaqian. Yuan Jiaqian recalled that Yuan Jiaxiao's life was very frugal, and when he invited him to eat roast duck, he would be criticized, and he often ate instant noodles when he was in the United States.
With such an example in front, Yuan Jiaqian naturally learned from his cousin's selfless dedication, did public welfare for the society, and fulfilled his sense of social responsibility.
During the eight years in the countryside, due to the harsh conditions, Yuan Jiaqian's children did not go to college. She has always hoped that after living a prosperous life, she can help poor children realize their wish to go to school.
Now that she finally has such an opportunity, Yuan Jiaqian has sponsored a total of more than 20 children in Jixian County, Tianjin, each of whom has been trained until the graduation of primary school, and each child is more than 5,000 yuan a year. Helping these children realize their ideals of going to school has changed the fate of each child.
Once, in an interview, Yuan Jiaqian's granddaughter told her grandmother that she had received a notice from the Central Youth League Committee and the Central Organization Department that she had been selected as a disaster relief volunteer.
At that time, the little granddaughter was preparing to graduate from college and go abroad for further study, and after hearing the news, Yuan Jiaqian told her granddaughter: "If you don't go abroad, you must first go to the disaster area." ”
Gift calligraphy
Yuan Jiaqian was very touched by Deng Yingchao's speech at the women's federation meeting, and she believed that female comrades should strive for independent sources and equal political status. When a woman is old, she can only be forgotten if she has no political status: if she has no financial resources, it will become pitiful.
Only by achieving political and economic independence can we achieve perfect self-development. Yuan Jiaqian achieved perfect development. Whether it is the successful entrepreneurship in Shenzhen or the smooth development of Tianjin Suyishi Restaurant, Yuan Jiaqian has independent economic resources.
The total amount of this wealth is far beyond the average person, and there is even room to help others in order to achieve social responsibility.
Deng Yingchao
Politically, as a member of the CppcC National Committee in Tianjin, Yuan Jiaqian has insisted on doing more than 20 years and contributed a lot of wisdom and thinking to the development of Tianjin.
In terms of disaster relief and poverty alleviation, investment attraction, he also did not want to be left behind, and used his own resources to contribute to the society and contributed his own strength to the development of Tianjin.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="61" > Conclusion:</h1>
In modern history, Yuan Shikai was both the overthrower of the Qing government and the thief of the achievements of the revolution, trying to restore the imperial system. Most of their descendants, on the other hand, spent the rest of their lives on family property.
Yuan Jiaqian is a different Yuan family. She started a business again in the year of her life, enthusiastic about public welfare undertakings, and braved hardships and hardships.
The ups and downs of life experience did not make Yuan Jiaqian bow to life, but it aroused her passion for struggle and ignited her upward desire. The difficult years have created an unusual descendant of the Yuan family.