放棄千萬美元，紐約華人家族守住百年老店

When the narrow streets of Chinatown overflow on weekends, a few tourists always end up in Wing on Wo & Co. to browse porcelain antiques and jade ornaments. But they rarely stay long, quickly leaving to join dozens in the line outside a trendy new ice cream shop down the block.

當華埠狹窄的街道周末擠滿了人時，總有幾個游客最終會走進“永安和”，來瀏覽瓷器古玩和玉器。但他們極少在店里長時間停留，他們會很快離開，加入到街上一家新開的時尚冰淇淋店外排出的幾十人的長隊中。

In their haste to Instagram their ice cream, however, they neglect history. Wing on Wo’s humble red-painted storefront at 26 Mott Street is said to be the oldest continuously run business in Chinatown. It opened on Mott as a general store in the 1890s. Its old tin awning still advertises “Oriental Gifts.”

然而，就在他們忙著用Instagram把冰淇淋的照片發(fā)到網(wǎng)上時，他們卻忽略了歷史。“永安和”位于莫特街26號，其紅色油漆的店面不怎么起眼，但據(jù)說它是華埠最古老的持續(xù)經(jīng)營的商店。它于1890年代在莫特街開張，當時是一家雜貨店。“永安和”古老的錫雨篷上，仍然打著“Oriental Gifts”(東亞禮品)的廣告。

The family that established Wing on Wo more than a century ago still runs things, and its members take shifts pitching in, although the shop’s appearance doesn’t suggest any important heritage. Its shelves are dusty, its pace is sleepy and foot traffic is slow, even with the crowds that Sunday afternoons often bring to the neighborhood.

一個多世紀前創(chuàng)辦了“永安和”的那個家庭仍在經(jīng)營該店的業(yè)務(wù)，家庭成員們輪流到店里來幫忙，盡管店鋪外觀的樣子并不像是一處重大遺產(chǎn)。店鋪的貨架上有塵土，生意也頗為冷清，即使在周日下午，這一帶往往人流如織的時候，店里的客流量也很少。

But Wing on Wo’s placid atmosphere was a stage for high drama this summer. After wrestling with the notion, the family decided to sell the shop and its six-story building, which they also own, ready to sever ties with what was becoming a burden. It would also have made them very rich: The building might be worth as much as $10 million, according a broker who handles Mott Street properties. Ultimately, they walked back from the sale, narrowly averting the end of five generations of family ownership, an increasingly rare species in this city of rising towers and rents.

但“永安和”平靜的氣氛卻在今年夏天成為一件極富戲劇性事情的背景。經(jīng)過一番左思右想后，這家人決定賣掉“永安和”及其所在的6層建筑(他們也是該建筑的擁有者)，與這個正在成為負擔的商店一刀兩斷。這會讓他們變得非常富有：據(jù)一個在莫特街從事房產(chǎn)交易的經(jīng)紀人說，他們的這棟樓價值可能高達1000萬美元(約合人民幣6600萬元)。但他們最終放棄了賣樓的打算，在差點把傳了五代人的房產(chǎn)轉(zhuǎn)手之際，把它留了下來。在這座高樓林立、租金上漲的城市里，五代人持續(xù)擁有的物業(yè)正在變得日益稀少。

“They are leaving a big pile of cash on the table for their heritage,” said the broker, Will Suarez, a director at the commercial real estate company Cushman & Wakefield.

“為了傳承，他們放棄了一大筆現(xiàn)金，”商業(yè)地產(chǎn)公司高緯物業(yè)(Cushman & Wakefield)的經(jīng)紀人威爾·蘇亞雷斯(Will Suarez)說。

Wing on Wo’s salvation appeared in Mei Lum, 26, the second-youngest of the family’s five grandchildren. She turned down acceptance to graduate school at Columbia University last May to interrupt the store’s sale and offered to take it over. She is now reinventing the shop, molding it into a community space that operates against the backdrop of Chinatown’s history. The antiques will become secondary; instead, she envisions a forum for panels on issues like neighborhood politics, exhibitions for local artists and a coffee shop. Ms. Lum held an event recently at the store on the neighborhood’s gentrification, and a planned panel will include influential businesswomen from Chinatown. She calls her concept the “W.O.W. Project.”

救下“永安和”的是26歲林美虹(Mei Lum)，她在家族的5個孫子輩孩子中，年齡排倒數(shù)第二。今年5月，她放棄了哥倫比亞大學(xué)(Columbia University)研究生院的錄取，打斷了家人賣掉“永安和”的計劃，提出要接手這個店鋪?，F(xiàn)在，她正在改造店鋪，把它變?yōu)橐粋€以華埠歷史為背景的社區(qū)空間。古董生意將稱為次要的事情;她的設(shè)想是用店鋪的空間作為論壇的場所，討論諸如社區(qū)政治等問題，還可為當?shù)厮囆g(shù)家舉辦作品展，以及開一家咖啡店。林美虹最近在店里舉辦了一個關(guān)于這個社區(qū)被改造為高階層生活區(qū)的活動，她打算舉辦的討論將有華埠有影響力的女企業(yè)家參與。林美虹把自己的設(shè)想稱為“永安和計劃”。

Ms. Lum was traveling in China when her father in New York called to inform her that her grandparents, Nancy and Shuck Seid, 86 and 92, were selling the shop. Mrs. Seid, who inherited the shop from her father’s family, managed it for decades, while Mr. Seid worked for years as a clerk in the New York Police Department’s Fifth Precinct in Chinatown. Mrs. Seid said she was exhausted and wanted to spend time with her aging husband, who now speaks little and is in a wheelchair.

父親從紐約給她打電話時，林美虹正在中國旅行，父親在電話中告訴她，她92歲的外祖父雷柏銳(Shuck Seid)和86歲的外祖母雷南希(Nancy Seid)要把店鋪賣掉。雷南希從自己父親家里繼承了“永安和”，經(jīng)營該店已經(jīng)好幾十年了。雷柏銳在位于華埠的紐約警察局第五分局當了多年的職員。雷太太說自己已經(jīng)精疲力竭了，想和年邁的丈夫過些悠閑日子，雷先生現(xiàn)在已不太說話，而且行動需要輪椅。

“Every little thing becomes a problem when you get old,” Mrs. Seid said, surrounded by family at Wing on Wo on a recent afternoon. “You don’t want to deal with things anymore. So I told them: Sell the damn thing.”

最近一個下午，家人在“永安和”圍在雷太太的身邊，她說，“年齡大了，各種小事都變成了問題。不想再對付這些事情了。所以我跟他們說：賣掉這該死的東西。”

Mei’s father, Gary Lum, 61, sat beneath the shop’s dusty industrial ceiling fan. “On the one hand, you want to walk into the sunset,” he said. “But you also have to consider what it means to close something like this after all these years.”

林美虹61歲的父親加里·林(Gary Lum)坐在店鋪里掛的一個積塵的工業(yè)吊扇下面。他說，“一方面，你要考慮走進夕陽的問題。但你也不得不考慮，賣掉一家歷史如此悠久的店鋪意味著什么。”

Ms. Lum’s early fascination with Chinese history set her apart from the other grandchildren. Growing up in Chinatown, she relished afternoons with her tradition-minded grandfather, who taught her Cantonese and the teachings of Confucius. Any skepticism from friends about passing up a prestigious education, she said, weighed on her only momentarily.

林美虹在很小的時候就對華人歷史感興趣，這讓她與其他孫輩人不同。她在華埠里長大，喜歡與傳統(tǒng)觀念較強的外公度過下午放學(xué)后的時間，外公教她說廣東話，還給她講孔子的教誨。朋友們對她放棄到名牌大學(xué)讀書的機會很不解，她說，不過，這給她帶來的苦惱很快就過去了。

“The wheels were turning. It was on the market. I had to act fast,” Ms. Lum said. “You’re supposed to get all these shiny things and then go onto better things, right? But I had to think about my impact. How can I make a global impact if I haven’t even had an impact on my own community? Graduate school will always be there. This won’t.”

“已經(jīng)動起來了。店鋪已在市場上掛牌銷售。我必須迅速采取行動，“林美虹說。“人們認為你應(yīng)該拿到各種閃亮的證書，然后去找更好的工作，不是嗎?但我不得不考慮我能有什么影響。如果我不能影響自己社區(qū)的話，我怎樣能影響世界呢?研究生院永遠會在那里。但這個店不會。”

Wellington Chen, the director of Chinatown’s business improvement district, pondered the shop’s new chapter and said Ms. Lum was challenging a troubling neighborhood narrative. “These children get the degree or the big job or the car, and then no one ever comes back,” he said. “That is the problem we have with young people in Chinatown now. Can she make the shop relevant? We have to see. But I applaud her for coming back, because no one is coming back.”

惠靈頓·陳(Wellington Chen)是華埠商業(yè)改善區(qū)的主任，他琢磨著“永安和”的新篇章說，林美虹向一種令人不安的社區(qū)前景作出了挑戰(zhàn)。“這些孩子拿到了學(xué)位，找到了好工作，買了汽車，就不再回來了，”他說。“這就是華埠目前面臨的年輕人問題。她能讓這個店與時俱進嗎?我們還得看看。但我對她回來鼓掌歡迎，因為沒有人回來。”

Ms. Lum’s new vision for Wing on Wo, ironically, resembles the store’s original incarnation over 100 years ago, when Chinatown spanned just Pell, Doyers, Bayard and Mott Streets, and was populated by people who felt very far from home.

具有諷刺意味的是，林美虹為“永安和”設(shè)想的新愿景，與這家老店100多年前的最初情形很相似，當時華埠只包括佩爾街、多爾斯街、拜亞街和莫特街，居住在這里的人感到是住在離家鄉(xiāng)非常遙遠的地方。

General stores like Wing on Wo were crucial hubs in this early village-like stretch. They sold tastes of home like dried fish, herbs and tofu, but they also operated as social clubs, representing Chinese villages and counties, and provided mail and money-wiring services.

早期的華埠像個村子，“永安和”這樣的雜貨店是關(guān)鍵的聚集點。它們不僅出售家鄉(xiāng)風味的魚干、草藥和豆腐，而且也起著社交俱樂部的作用，代表著中國的縣城和鄉(xiāng)村，還提供收發(fā)郵件和匯款的服務(wù)。

Ms. Lum’s great-great-grandfather, Walter Eng, opened Wing on Wo at 13 Mott Street, opposite the shop’s current location (it moved in 1925). It was a dimly lighted place, family members said, filled with men in felt hats who smoked Lucky Strikes and drank Martinson coffee while playing mah-jongg to pass the time. A roast pig usually hung from a ceiling, and there was a resident herbalist.

林美虹的曾曾祖父沃爾特·王(Walter Eng)在禾莫特街13號開辦了“永安和”，就在目前店面的街對面(店鋪在1925年搬到了現(xiàn)在的位置)。家人說，原來的地方光線暗淡，里面擠滿了戴著氈帽的男人，他們抽“好彩”(Lucky Strikes)煙，喝馬丁森(Martinson)咖啡，用打麻將來打發(fā)時間。天花板上經(jīng)常懸掛著一頭烤豬，店里還有一位常駐草藥師。

Mrs. Seid inherited the shop in 1964, recasting the general store as a purveyor of antiques and porcelain (“I wasn’t going to cut meat,” she said indignantly). When the United States’ trade relations with China reopened after President Nixon’s 1972 trip there, she began annual buying trips with her husband. They would send back loads of plates and teapots from Hong Kong in stamped wooden crates; 200 of these crates collect dust in the shop’s basement, and Ms. Lum started a contest for local artists to re-envision them (an extra-long skateboard and a garden bench are among the entries).

雷太太1964年繼承了店鋪后，把雜貨店改成了古董和瓷器店(“我才不會去切肉呢，”她憤憤不平地說)。尼克松總統(tǒng)1972年訪問中國、美國與中國恢復(fù)了貿(mào)易關(guān)系之后，她和丈夫每年都要去中國采購商品。他們把采購來的大批盤子和茶壺，從香港用木條釘成的箱子裝運回來;店鋪的地下室還堆著200個這樣的包裝箱，上面積滿了灰塵。林美虹想通過一個藝術(shù)賽，讓本地藝術(shù)家們給包裝箱派上新用途(提交的作品中有一個超長滑板，還有一個花園長椅)。

Many old businesses in Chinatown did not survive the economic slump after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The day brought a personally searing loss for Wing on Wo: The Seids’ only son and heir apparent to the store, Stuart, died in the south tower. “It took years out of them,” said Mei’s father, Gary Lum. “They were planning to retire then but had to pull themselves up from their bootstraps all over again.”

華埠很多老店鋪都未能挺過2001年9月11日恐怖襲擊后的經(jīng)濟衰退。那天也給“永安和”本身帶來一個重大打擊：雷家唯一的兒子、店鋪的當然繼承人斯圖爾特(Stuart)死于世貿(mào)中心的南樓。“這件事讓他們老了好幾歲，”林美虹的父親加里·林說。“他們那時曾打算退休不干了，但又不得不振作精神，從頭再來。”

Today, Chinatown’s youth show little interest in staying in the neighborhood. “The soil is loose for the new generation,” Mr. Lum added. “The older folks dug their toes into the soil of this neighborhood. They lived, played, worked, and celebrated in it.”

如今，華埠的年輕人對留在這個社區(qū)的興趣不大。“對新一代人來說，這里的土壤不堅固，”林先生說。“老一輩在這個社區(qū)的土壤里扎下了根。他們住在這里，在這里娛樂、工作，慶祝人生大事。”

He commended his daughter’s sensibilities. “It was never about the gold ring for her,” he said. “Or to want Jaguars, Tag Heuers, or a house in the Hamptons. I didn’t raise her like that.”

他稱贊了女兒的社區(qū)情結(jié)。“對她來說，黃金首飾什么的從來都沒有多大意思，”他說。“她也不想要美洲虎(Jaguars)、泰格豪雅(Tag Heuer)，或是漢普頓的房子。我沒有把她培養(yǎng)成那種人。”

The Seids seemed pleased to be free of Wing on Wo’s burdens one recent Saturday morning at the shop. They had just finished one of their standing dim sum breakfasts at Ping’s next door. David Eng, a family friend, stood by Mr. Seid, who sat calmly in his wheelchair, wearing a felt cap.

最近一個周六的上午，在“永安和”店里，雷氏夫婦看來對擺脫了這個負擔頗為滿意。他們剛在隔壁的“升輝城”(Ping's)站著吃了早茶，他們經(jīng)常在那里吃早點。他們的朋友大衛(wèi)·黃(David Eng)站在雷先生身邊，雷先生安靜地坐在輪椅上，頭上戴著一頂氈帽。

“My father always told me when I was growing up: This is a good man,” Mr. Eng said. “He didn’t say that about a lot of people.”

黃先生說，“我小時候，父親總跟我說：他是個好人。很多人在父親眼里得不到這種評價。”

The Seids soon departed to their apartment in the nearby Chatham Towers complex, and Mr. Eng, who had been giving advice to Ms. Lum, returned to his shop, Fong Inn Too, which has made tofu in the area since 1931.

雷氏夫婦很快就離開了，回到附近查塔姆大廈他們的公寓里，一直在給林美虹出主意的黃先生也回到了自己的店鋪“宏安”(Fong Inn Too)，這家店自1931年起就在華埠做豆腐。

“I wasn’t ready for David to grill me so early,” she remarked to her father. “He asked me lots of questions. Do you think you’re too young? Are you ready for this? Do you need an introduction with this person?”

“沒想到大衛(wèi)這么早就來盤問我，”林美虹對父親說。“他問了一大堆問題。你不覺得自己太年輕嗎?你準備好了嗎?你需要介紹你認識這個人嗎?“

“He’s just had a lot of coffee,” her father said.

“他剛喝了太多的咖啡，”她父親說。

The father and daughter kept chatting. Ms. Lum’s mother, Lorraine, busied herself around the store. A cousin prepared food in the back kitchen, where a trapdoor leads to the oven room once used for roasting whole pigs. As the ice cream shop’s line grew outside, and tourists walked along Mott, Wing on Wo continued to bear witness to it all.

父女倆繼續(xù)聊著天。林美虹的母親洛林(Lorraine)在店里忙碌著。一個表親在后面的廚房里做飯，廚房地板上有一扇暗門，通向曾經(jīng)用來烤全豬的爐室。冰淇淋店外排隊的人更多了，游客在莫特街走過，“永安和”在繼續(xù)見證著這一切。