Chapter 2815 Lingao Sights

The first things to greet the Persian girl at Meimei Department Store were its famous eight display windows. The enormous all-glass cases were unrivaled anywhere beyond Lingao, and even within the city, they held the record for both size and number.

Drawing on commercial display techniques from the old timeline, each window presented an artistically staged life scene, changed according to the seasons. One might showcase a bedroom where a woman in alluring sleepwear and lingerie reclined amid beautiful bedding. Another depicted a kitchen complete with lovely linen aprons, gleaming Australian-style cookware, and fine white porcelain tableware. Still others featured groups of girls in Australian-style skirts—both short and long—carrying stylish new parasols, or classical beauties wearing traditional garments tailored the Australian way in what was called "Han-style" fashion. Countless people formed their first impressions and endless longing for the Australian way of life through these windows.

Particularly noteworthy were the wooden mannequins that served as protagonists in each display. Since such figures had never appeared in this timeline, commissioning this first batch had given the responsible staff considerable trouble.

Clothing mannequins generally fell into two categories: the traditional "realistic" style and the more modern "abstract body" style that emerged later. The key difference was that the former featured complete heads and faces in imitation of living models, while the latter was merely an abstract human form—essentially a torso.

Either approach presented difficulties when production began. Traditional Chinese figure-making was limited to essentially two types: divine Buddhist statues and the stone wengzhong guardians placed before tombs—both with fixed poses and expressions. When the design drawings first arrived, the figures produced by workers at the woodworking factory never quite captured the desired effect.

When Trini's students were asked to create them, the results were exquisite, but they approached the work as art—far too slow for mass manufacturing.

In the end, local puppet makers in Lingao were found. Under guidance from Trini's students, they finally produced this batch of poseable human-shaped clothing racks that astonished the locals. Due to the superb carving and lifelike images modeled from old-timeline photographs, rumors soon circulated that these wooden figures had originally been living people whom the Kun had enchanted into their current form.

What most captivated the Persian girl's heart was the display featuring an Australian-style walk-in closet. The lady of the house, wearing a silk nightgown, stood before an L-shaped floor-to-ceiling wardrobe selecting her clothes. The wardrobe was lined with rows of beautiful skirts and tops in various lengths, and a row of horizontal shelves facing the viewer displayed an array of purses, backpacks, and handbags. Some bags were genuine leather; others were simple canvas. Some sparkled brilliantly; others bore subtle, muted colors. But without exception, every one demonstrated careful design and exquisite craftsmanship. Whenever Zahra saw this scene, she could not help casting herself into it for a delightful fantasy.

Past Meimei Department Store came the Lao Jiefu Silk Bureau, a shop specializing in high-end silk and custom tailoring. Though privately owned, it had exchanged shares for technical and equipment upgrades from the Light Industry Department. Through its glass windows, bolts of beautiful silk imported from Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Nanjing were displayed in neat rows, including some "internal" varieties. These fabrics had been fashioned into various lovely garments and decorations: capes, headscarves, dresses, even tablecloths, curtains, and pillowcases. The shawl Zahra now wore had been purchased here when Senator Xu accompanied them on a shopping trip last time.

Next to Lao Jiefu stood an authentic native merchant, one of Lingao's largest outside traders: Qionghai Treasures Shop. The Qionghai headquarters occupied a large tract of land in a quiet area several streets away, dealing mainly in wholesale of bulk goods. This Treasures Shop, opened in the bustling commercial district, sold primarily ginseng, furs, pearls, and various "Liaodong goods" that Li Luoyu obtained from Liaodong, along with bird's nests, shark fins, and other precious Southeast Asian specialties resold from the two East India Companies. Zahra could not understand the radish-like plants with long whiskers displayed in the window, but that did not stop her from understanding the astonishing prices marked above them.

Across the street stood the First Food Store, run jointly by the Agriculture Committee and Light Industry Department. Its main offerings were various candies, pastries, prepared foods, convenience foods, and high-end meat and seafood products. To be both approachable and enticing, the First Food Store had opened a street-facing sales window selling small packages of candies and pastries as snacks. From time to time, children or young women handed over circulation vouchers and received bags of their long-desired treats in return.

Even for someone like Zahra, who had access to the Senate's special supply stores, these dazzling, eye-catching goods still left her overwhelmed and filled with desire to buy. After all, the South Sea Farm's special supply store mostly sold ingredients; it offered nothing like these candy snacks.

Beside the First Food Store, facing Qionghai across the street, stood the flagship Runshitang General Store, owned by a local Lingao merchant family. Runshitang's facade was far more traditional in character. Through its glass windows, one could see rows of neatly arranged Chinese medicine cabinets. Stepping over the high wooden threshold, visitors would find several resident physicians examining patients who waited in line. Walking at the junction between the two shops, one encountered a peculiar mixture of scents—the sweetness of candy mingling with the pungent aroma of Chinese medicines.

Farther along, after crossing a side street perpendicular to East Gate Avenue, came the newly opened Dongfeng Famous Carriage Sales and Service Company. As the first Dongfeng Carriage 4S shop designed and opened according to Director Hong's wishes, the section facing East Gate Avenue was devoted primarily to the display and sale of two-wheeled Dongfeng carriages and four-wheeled Hongqi carriages. The entrance on the side street led to the department responsible for maintenance and servicing. Particularly noteworthy: to promote his products, Director Hong had introduced the old-timeline concept of auto show models, specifically purchasing two large Western maidservants to serve as part of the carriage display environment—a decision that attracted enthusiastic gawking from the masses.

Carriages were rarely purchased even in Lingao. Due to the climate, horses were extremely expensive to keep, suffering persistently high mortality rates. Thus, mostly only official entities used them. Even Senators could not afford the expense of maintaining horses and typically relied on rickshaws instead. This shop essentially served only Senate-affiliated agencies; private customers were few and far between. Director Hong's operation here was essentially losing money. But even at a loss, he had to keep it open—selling carriages was all about prestige. Even without a single customer, the storefront had to be maintained.

Zahra did not bother crossing the street to observe her fellow maidservants, for her destination was near: the Cooperative General Society, renowned as the "Crystal Dragon Palace" and once featured in the widely circulated "Eight Sights of Lingao" ranking. As Lingao's first large-scale department store, the Cooperative General Society's atrium roof consisted of one massive iron-framed glass dome. When sunlight streamed through the glass, it illuminated all three floors brilliantly, making each glass-fronted display case sparkle with enchanting radiance—evoking the treasure-filled Crystal Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea. As one of Lingao's landmarks, this was where Sonya and the Persian girl had agreed to meet.

With the new round of commercial district renovations largely complete, specialized stores represented by Meimei Department Store and First Food Store had risen to prominence, greatly challenging the Cooperative General Society's status. To maintain its leading position in Lingao's commercial system, the Cooperative General Society had launched its own renovation and expansion project. While keeping the traditional Crystal Palace as a wholesale window for outside merchants, they had requisitioned adjacent land and begun construction of a new building more focused on retail and lifestyle consumption.

According to the plan, this new building would be an unprecedented structure for this timeline, towering above anything yet built. The commercial floors were planned at six; from the seventh floor upward was a club for elite clientele. The ninth through twelfth floors and the rooftop observation deck were designated as Senate-exclusive venues for external hospitality and internal activities, along with several high-rise panoramic apartments. To accommodate this design, the Commercial Department had already coordinated multiple times with the Machinery Division, preparing to install Bairen Town's first scenic-view elevator here.

The decision to build its own club was not a sudden whim on the Commerce Department's part. The success of the Farm Cafe had been an important factor, and the recent battle for development rights to Xuetian Manor had further inflamed the issue. The Farm Cafe, opened shortly after D-Day, had successfully combined a pleasant natural environment with nostalgia for the old timeline, becoming the Senators' de facto venue for socializing and consumption. Wu Nanhai and the Agriculture Committee had not only gained decent economic returns but, leveraging their home advantage, had converted it into a major lobbying platform outside the chamber.

Using the cafe as a venue and dispensing a steady stream of small favors, Old Wu had successfully rallied and bought off a large contingent of soy sauce Senators. This was abundantly clear in recent BBS and Senate discussions about Xuetian Manor. What was more, a group of people openly encouraged Wu Nanhai to run for the next term's Senate Chairman or Speaker, putting the matter even more plainly on the table. Beyond mere jealousy, under the behind-the-scenes instigation and incitement of various homebound factions, the commercial system had decided to build its own territory and stake a claim to political influence.

For the Persian girl, these power struggles among the big shots remained distant concerns. What she saw now was merely a large construction site enclosed by walls. However, the thick gray-white cement frameworks rising from the ground in crisscrossing patterns made clear this would be no ordinary place. The Senate would once again demonstrate its magical, incredible power to the world. Given the intended building height, the new structure would employ standard frame construction. Combined with the dazzling debut of the elevator, this was truly an epoch-making event in this timeline's architecture.

(End of Chapter)