20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 453: Phantoms
After leaving Songjiang Movie Teahouse, the carriage only walked for ten minutes before slowly stopping.

Seeing the naughty expressions of Chuang Hu and Lin Qi, Li Zhengxi was still wondering in his seat, thinking that if it was just a brothel, how could it be so new?

Unexpectedly, as soon as I got off the carriage and looked up, I was stunned for a moment.

On the crossroads not far away, there was a large, dark building complex, all of which were cheap double-storey apartments. They were at the corners of each other, connected in circles, and surrounded by a small double-storey tower building as the center, forming a "back" shape. Settlement area.

Following the faint teasing laughter, the three of them slowly approached.

But in the shadows, there are densely packed buildings. Under the eaves of the cloister, a big red lantern tower hangs high, giving off a hazy and coquettish faint red light.

Lin Qi pushed Xifeng behind and said with a smile: "Brother, let's go?"

"Is this the 'circle' you are talking about?" Li Zhengxi asked blankly.

Lin Qi laughed and asked, "If Fengyue Casino is not called 'Quanli', what else can it be called?"

"I didn't expect it to be so big now!" Chuanghu seemed a little surprised, "They're all gathered here!"

The three of them finally found a seat together. As soon as Li Zhengxi sat down, he couldn't help but complain in a low voice.

Walking along the road, you can see that there are many brands of "Double Happiness Class", "Loufengyuan", "Chunhetang", "Jiangyingxiachu", "Feiyun Library"... it makes people dazzled and dazzled.

But I saw that there were many long benches inside, and there were no less than sixty or seventy people sitting there, making it slightly noisy.

The girls were each sitting at the door of the room, wrapped in cotton-padded jackets, with listless faces and melon seed peels on the ground under their feet.

When the weather is warm, the girls stand on the small western-style building and go downstairs to show off and solicit business. The scene is quite spectacular.

Li Zhengxi had been helping his sister-in-law to clear up rumors since he was a child, and of course he knew that the news in Fengyuechang was the most lively.

This tower is slightly taller than the surrounding buildings. Standing on it and looking around, it is indeed easy to manage, but it can also easily remotely control and monitor the movements of dozens of brothels.

This shop is so big that its facade is almost as large as the city gate, but it only aims to be big. Because it was converted into a duplex apartment, the decoration inside is very simple and cheap, and the waiter is also lazy and chatty. ignore.

Li Zhengxi nodded muffledly.

Every night, of course, there will be feasting, singing and dancing, as if it is a world of its own.

The fare was not cheap. After Lin Qi paid the money, he immediately urged Li Zhengxi and Chuang Hu to take a few steps.

As soon as he entered the "circle", he could almost conclude that this place was an excellent gathering place for rumors.

It turns out that Habu's prostitution industry is extremely prosperous and ranks first outside the customs. In Binjiang County outside Daowai alone, there are no less than 2,000 prostitution houses and brothels, more than half of which are concentrated in Fujiadian's Crotch Street and Taohua Lane. Waiting places.

This is just like old and young men joking, making jokes, and occasionally making naughty remarks, just for fun. If you talk about it again, you will be poor and bored. If you keep saying it over and over, you will inevitably be disgusted by others.

But now it is freezing and snowy, night is falling, and the crescent moon has not yet risen. Although there are sounds of frolics around, they are intermittent, if they are there or not, only lewd laughter can be heard, but no one can be seen; and the wind is strong, The big red lantern was shaking, flickering on and off, making it look like a romantic place, but instead it looked weird, weird, and terrifying.

Lin Qi also joined in and said, "Brother, you're here, just be patient."

Wenwen Township is worthy of being a Tomb of Heroes!
As the saying goes, if oranges grow in Huainan, they will become tangerines, and if they grow in Huaibei, they will grow as tangerines.

But now that he has entered the "circle", Li Zhengxi understands that everything has a reason.

"Oh, don't worry, it will start soon." Chuang Hu stared at the stage.

"Oh, let's go upstairs!" the waiter informed, without any intention of leading the three of them upstairs.

In the past year, the Jiang family, as secret agents, assisted the government in cleaning up clan houses, and many clues came from prostitution houses.

With that said, Chuanghu and Lin Qi began to force Xifeng into a brothel called "Daguanyuan".

Lin Qi turned around and explained: "Brother, this is a two-faced business, and there is a small theater upstairs."

"Brother, let's go. It's almost time. Let's go to the Grand View Garden for a walk!" Chuanghu stepped forward and suggested.

As soon as I walked into the house, a wave of heat hit my face.

"It's vulgar, that's too vulgar. I agreed to take you to watch a wild show. What kind of girl are you looking for?"

"Oh, in the summer, we set up a pergola here and sell some tea and drinks." Lin Qi pointed to the top of the tower, "Sometimes the government comes here to inspect, so I go up to the second floor and walk around to see if anyone is causing trouble."

In order to facilitate management, the government set aside a piece of land nearby and built a circle building. With this as the center, it radiated outwards and forced all the prostitutes in the county to move here one after another. They named it "Pingkangli". ".

Before coming, Li Zhengxi always felt that Chuanghu was a bit frivolous. Not only did he himself steal the show, but even his two scattered friends were too "hot-tempered".

Hearing this, Lin Qi led the two of them into the "circle" while explaining to himself.

Li Zhengxi curled his lips and seemed to have no interest in the "circle", but he looked at the tower in the middle curiously.

"How are you, brother? Are you okay?" Lin Qi asked cheerfully.

Li Zhengxi frowned and asked a little dissatisfied: "You two brought me here just to find Sister Yao?"

Unexpectedly, the two of them started talking loudly on the spot.

Chuanghu wanders around in places like this. It would be strange if he didn't get some romantic habits!

Lin Qi seemed to be a regular visitor. When he saw the waiter, he said, "Those who come to see the theater are not looking for girls."

The light in the room was dim, the curtains were tightly closed, there were no tables, no band, not even a proper stage. The front was just slightly raised, and a curtain was set up at the back door, with a few thugs watching the show standing there. Quite stunned.

Li Zhengxi climbed up the stairs and couldn't help but muttered: "What the hell, man, you're acting like an old man, like he's following a grave."

While they were talking, the three of them went to the second floor to block the traffic. Except for a table selling tickets at the door, this place didn't look like a theater at all, but more like a classroom in a new school or a conference room in a building.

"Huzi, what the hell is this place?"

"What is this building for?" he asked.

Li Zhengxi curled his lips and said to himself that he didn't even see a playlist and didn't know what big show was waiting for him here.

In his opinion, the "wild drama" that the two people talked about was nothing more than those "fan dramas" that were banned by the government, such as the "Murder Report". To Po Datian, he was just a licentious thief. Nothing new.

After thinking about it, Li Zhengxi suddenly became quiet.

I was about to drink some tea when I saw the curtain at the back of the stage was raised, and three musicians came out first, playing the piano, playing the strings, and beating the drums. Other than that, there was nothing else.

After beating the drums for a while, a female artist in red and green finally appeared. She came on the stage without any explanation, and started with a "Eighteen Touches" to warm up the show, which attracted young and old men to scream and cheer frequently.

"Hey, don't just sing, you fucking touch it!"

I thought it was just a bunch of bad guys in the audience making noise, but I didn't expect that the artist on the stage responded to every request and actually made it serious, humming and posing at the same time.

Immediately, three or five more men and women came out from the backcourt one after another, all wearing heavy makeup and behaving in a frivolous and frivolous manner. It was only then that I discovered that there was no fixed repertoire on the "Wild Opera" stage. What was to be sung depended entirely on the audience.

Whether it's Beijing opera, Dagu, Bangpeng, or local ditties, as long as the audience knows what to do, the performers will sing and perform on the spot, and even change the lyrics on the spot.

"Exploring the clear water river" came into the mouths of these people, and they were surprised to sing it into "exploring the muddy water river", but they could only sing it secretly.

It’s not aggrieve at all to say he’s a low-life person!
"Zhan Wancheng" cuts off the beginning and ends, sings the drama on the kang noodles alone, and is willing to work hard, really hard!

How to describe it?
Alas, singing is so "cool"!
Under the spotlight, I could hear singing on the stage: "Cao Mengde got into the hot bed. I followed the big bed and touched it up. Don't ask Mengde what you are doing. He wants to find a nest for the bird~"

The men in the audience immediately made a fuss and yelled: "You're a fucking fool!"

Chuanghu also followed the crowd and shouted a few words, then hit Xifeng with his elbow and asked playfully: "Brother, what are you doing? Is this show wild enough? I heard that in Maozi's restaurant, they use real swords and guns. Show it to others!”

After speaking enthusiastically, he realized that Xifeng's eyes were not on the stage at all.

Following the opponent's gaze, he saw a row of back heads in the corner of the field.

"Brother, what are you looking at?" Chuanghu asked curiously.

Li Zhengxi didn't take his eyes away, but tilted his body slightly and asked in a low voice: "Huzi, look at the man in the second row, is he the lackey from Lao Qian'er's last night?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the audience in the venue suddenly cheered loudly: "Tell me one more thing, pull one more thing!"

The artists on the stage quickly responded to requests.

The audience immediately burst into applause.

During the intermission, the burgundy curtain slowly closed, and the foreign girl in a snow-white tutu turned around, walked briskly into the backcourt.

In the originally dark theater, warm yellow lights slowly lit up, the applause gradually subsided, and there was a slight commotion among the seats.

The Western lady in the box on the second floor put down the small telescope in her hand, took out a piece of wine candy from her handbag, and chewed it slowly. The gentlemen stood up one after another, walked out of the theater in twos and threes, and smoked and chatted outside the door.

"How about it, Boss Jiang, Shopkeeper Xue, does this Maozi's ballet look good?" Sheng Baoku turned sideways and asked flatteringly.

Jiang Lianheng nodded and said, "I don't understand much, but it's very shocking."

"You mean legs, right?"

"Not only the legs, they are all very shocking."

Xue Yingqing glanced at the two of them and muttered in a low voice: "What a bad idea!"

However, if we really talk about it, these people, under the leadership of Lao Qian'er today, it is indeed an eye-opener.

In the morning, I finished shopping at Qiulin Department Store, then went to the racetrack to have some fun, and then went to Jiekestein Cinema to watch two movies, during which there was actually an indigenous performance from New Guinea.

It was the first time Jiang Lianheng saw such a dark person, with a pierced nose, wearing a bone chain, holding a spear in one hand and an animal skin bone in the other. He was prancing on the stage wearing only a straw skirt on a cold day. Presumably not voluntarily.

The so-called subjugation of the country and the annihilation of the species is probably the ending.

In short, whether it is noble, humble, arrogant, humiliating, pure, or dirty, everything has become a commodity and placed on the stage for people's entertainment.

If it weren't for Xue Yingqing's presence, Sheng Baoku would probably have taken him to Mao Zi's brothel. I heard there were cool dances and wild wild plays there.

Lao Qian'er is indeed well-informed.

He seemed to know everything about the business structure in Habu Road. Even if he walked into a tailor shop, he could still speak clearly.

According to him, the tailoring industry in Harbin is divided into the "main gang" for making coats and the "Hong Kong gang" for suit making according to the old and new; according to gender, the "Ning gang" has the best craftsmanship in "men's work", and the "Ning gang" has the best craftsmanship in "men's work". The "Shanghai Clan" has the best craftsmanship in women's work; according to style, there are the "Luo Song Clan" from the north and the "British Clan" from the south.

If you ask him why he is so knowledgeable, he will inadvertently look a little lonely, then put on a smile and ask: "Boss Jiang, are you interested in setting up a counter here to do some business? I can get along well here, help." You make plans."

Jiang Lianheng had already suspected that Lao Qianer was deceitful, so of course he didn't pick on him easily. He just looked at Xue Yingqing's face, so he had the patience to say a few words.

However, his patience has limits.

As long as Xifeng and Chuanghu find out the details and intentions of Lao Qian'er, and they continue to be careless and miss the point, no one's face will be of any use.

However, so far, Lao Qian'er has treated these people as if they were at home, and there is no need to ask for gifts.

Only one thing was unexpected.

Throughout the whole day, Jiang Lianheng unexpectedly discovered a lot of sneaky foreigners. They could be seen everywhere in movie theaters, racetracks, churches, cafes... but these people had nothing to do with him and were all busy on their own.

He was sure there was something fishy about these foreigners, but he didn't know what they were going to do.

There is no way, these are all "sequelae" caused by Master Liu's teachings.

There are only two kinds of people who can tell who a thief is in a crowd at a glance, one is a shrewd and experienced police officer, and the other is a colleague of the Rong family.

Although Jiang Lianheng hasn’t played the tricks of "Lao Rong" for a long time, the habit he has developed over the years is still there. When looking at people, he first looks at the shoes, then up to the pockets, and then up to the eyes to see if there is something wrong in his heart. , you can make a close guess at a glance, and you can reveal your true colors after staring for a while, unless the opponent's skill is better than yours.

Ever since he entered the theater, Jiang Lianheng noticed a foreign Japanese diagonally across the street and kept looking back.

At first, he thought the foreign devil was looking at Xue Yingqing.

This is not surprising, the "red in the snow" appearance is there, and every time you walk by, it always makes a few heads tilt.

But soon, Jiang Lianheng confirmed that the foreign Japanese was looking at him.

Could it be that he is good at Long Yang?

Not very similar!
Looking at Lao Qian'er again, he was also completely unaware.

Jiang Lianheng touched the horse playing cards in his arms, hesitated for a moment, and then suddenly stood up.

Lao Qian'er was stunned, quickly turned his leg and asked: "Boss Jiang, do you want to leave? It will be over soon."

"It's convenient for me to go." Jiang Lianheng shook his head and immediately ordered, "Shopkeeper Xue, help me accompany Boss Dian Sheng."

Although Xue Yingqing understood what he meant, he still looked a little confused. He just nodded at him and said, "Can you find a place? Don't enter the wrong door!"

"Who are you looking down on! I'll find out if I go out and ask around!"

Their eyes met, no need to say anything.

After saying that, Jiang Lianheng turned sideways, stepped forward slowly, and walked out of the attached chair.

Sure enough, the foreign devil also stood up...

(End of this chapter)