20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 493 Two Realms, Three Sectors, Five Directions Mixed

The lights and wine reflect the colorful clouds, and hundreds of boats compete with each other on the beach.

The gang of tyrants should regret their disrespect for the strangers in Shanghai.

…………

On the banks of the Huangpu River, there is a foreign settlement.

A prosperous urban area divides Shanghai into two areas: Chinese and foreigners.

These two areas were respectively under the jurisdiction of the county government in the old city, the municipal council in the French Concession, and the municipal council in the British and American International Settlement.

They have no right to enforce the law across their borders, and are truly a "country within a country."

Beneath the prosperity, there are forces from the north and south, the Zhili and Anhui families, the Chinese and foreigners, gangs and secret societies fighting openly and secretly, competing with each other, and causing chaos. How can it be described with just one word: chaos?
Warlords, politicians, wealthy businessmen, gangs, spies, conservatives, radicals, all kinds of people appear on the scene one after another, all gathered on this beach, where success and failure depend on the situation.

It seems that everyone on the street has multiple identities, harbors evil intentions, and plots in secret. It is truly a place where good and bad people mix together, and it is difficult to distinguish between right and wrong.

There is a general rule in Shanghai's urban construction: all streets running north and south are named after provinces, and all roads running east and west are named after cities.

If people hang around there for a long time, they may even have the illusion that Shanghai is China and China is Shanghai.

…………

It was almost midnight when Jiang Lianheng and his group of six arrived at Zhabei Railway Station.

As soon as I got off the train and walked out of the platform with my luggage, I could see the bright lights of the French Concession from a distance, just like a starry sky. What a city that never sleeps!
"Oh, look, it's Shanghai again, this is what a big city is!" Chuanghu followed the crowd, stretching his neck and exclaiming, "It's already so late, and it's still so lively!"

Jiang Lianheng yawned with sleepy eyes and immediately suggested: "If you really want to go to Shanghai, why don't you stay here and be a 'thread leader'?"

Chuang Hu was startled, and quickly shook his head to change his words: "No, no, no, Shanghai is prosperous, but also dangerous. With my skills, how can I be a 'thread leader'? I might be thrown into the Huangpu River to feed the fish one day. Besides, 'I would rather love a handful of soil in my hometown than ten thousand taels of gold in a foreign land'. Fengtian is still the best place. Boss, please don't joke with me!"

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but curl their lips: "You speak as if you are a Fengtian person."

"Well, our three provinces in Guandong are inseparable!" Chuanghu said with a smile.

Jiang Lianheng didn't say anything, but yawned again, turned around, looked at Liu Yansheng, and asked, "Where is the person who picked us up?"

Liu Yansheng stopped where he was and looked around for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he waved hurriedly in the distance: "This way, this way!"

After a few calls, two figures were seen jogging towards them.

One was in his early forties, with broad cheeks and big ears; the other was in his thirties, with a tall and thin figure.

The two men walked up quickly, clasped their fists and bowed to Jiang Lianheng, and said with a smile: "Boss Jiang, you must have come a long way to welcome me. Please forgive me for not coming here to meet you."

"Oh, nice to meet you." Jiang Lianheng turned around and asked, "Yan Sheng, who are these two?"

Liu Yansheng quickly moved to the middle of the three people and introduced them with a smile: "Boss, this is Shi Liancheng, an old friend of Shopkeeper Weng of Changshun Silk Shop on Siping Street."

The broad-cheeked man nodded in response: "Hello, Boss Jiang. I'm here to help the old shopkeeper buy goods. A few years ago, I also drank the full moon wine of your daughter. Do you remember it?"

"Now that you mention it, I have an impression of it." Jiang Lianheng shook hands with the visitor.

Liu Yansheng continued, "This is Xi Wenzhao, the second young master of Tianhetang in the east of Fengtian City. He has been in Shanghai for the past few years, helping his family run the ginseng and antler business."

The tall and thin man nodded and bowed, then glanced at Xifeng and said hurriedly, "Hey, Third Master, you came here too?"

"Ah, come here with my brother to see the world." Li Zhengxi smiled.

"That's perfect!" Xi Wenzhao said eagerly, "Boss Jiang, my father sent a telegram specifically asking me to entertain you well when you and your friends come to Shanghai this time!"

Shi Liancheng also said, "Yes, yes, it's not easy to meet fellow villagers when you are away from home. My boss also told us to do so. It's not too late now. Let's go straight to the French Concession and have some fun. It's just the right time to welcome Boss Jiang!"

The two men spoke earnestly, grabbing everyone's arms and ready to leave.

But Jiang Lianheng waved his hand and said, "You two, forget about it for tonight. We have been through a lot on this journey. Let's just have a simple meal. If you have any plans, let's talk about it tomorrow!"

I'm not being falsely polite.

The group set out from Fengtian, first went to the capital, then went to Tianjin, and then headed south to Zhabei Railway Station.

The journey was long, and the time spent in the car alone took two days and one night, plus there were all kinds of troubles such as changing trains and reversing. By this point, Jiang Lianheng and his companions were already exhausted. They just wanted to have a full meal as soon as possible, have a good sleep, and rest before making other plans.

Shi Liancheng and Xi Wenzhao persuaded them a few more times, and seeing that everyone was really tired, they led everyone to leave the square in front of the station, take the tram, and head towards the river.

The reason why Liu Yansheng asked the two of them to come and pick them up was because the two shopkeepers had been taken care of by the Jiang family, and they were also well aware of the Jiang family's power and foundation in Fengtian.

Shi Liancheng was originally a member of the silk trade. In his early years, he sold goods by carrying a shoulder pole on his shoulder. Later, he became an apprentice in the "Changshun Silk House" and was highly valued by the shopkeeper. This is how he gradually got on the right track.

Although Xi Wenzhao had never been in the online world, his father used to sell wild herbs. He had been influenced by his father since he was a child, and he had been doing business outside all year round, so naturally he knew a little about the rules of the underworld.

A few people got on the tram and first crossed the British and American International Settlement. Everywhere they looked, they saw prosperity everywhere.

Shi Liancheng and Xi Wenzhao looked out the car window, pointed in the general direction across the tall buildings, and introduced the various docks on the Bund.

"Boss Jiang, follow this road all the way to the riverside, and you will reach the British Jardine Wharf. Besides foreign goods, there are local products. In recent years, they are not as arrogant as before."

"Over there, go over there and you'll find the old Qichang Wharf in the United States. I heard from the locals that the foreigners used to sell piglets on the ship at that wharf."

Although Jiang Lianheng was interested in learning more, it was late at night and the dock had already fallen silent. Moreover, they were too far away and his vision was obstructed, so he could only hear confused sounds and the whole map was noisy.

When it arrived near Yangjingbang, the tram slowly stopped and passengers had to get off and transfer to other trains before they could enter the French Concession smoothly.

When they were about to get off the car, Shi Liancheng and Xi Wenzhao suddenly became serious and turned around to remind them:

"Boss Jiang, when you get off the bus, please keep an eye on your luggage and wallets. Yangjingbang is a border river. There are many scoundrels here. Stealing is polite. They are all robbing!"

"What does a little punk mean?" Li Zhengxi was a little confused.

"Uh..." Xi Wenzhao hesitated for a moment, then said, "It's probably what we call a 'street urchin', not much different."

"Then why is he called a little punk?" Jiang Lianheng and Wen Tingge were also a little curious.

Shi Liancheng has been in Shanghai for many years, and he explained with a half-believing and half-doubting tone: "I heard from the locals that this is called 'pidgin', which is neither Chinese nor Western. I guess it should be called something else... I'm Empty Cent, with no cunning at all. If you let it out, you become 'punk'." "Little punk... Little punk..."

Chuanghu muttered a few words and learned a new word. He was very happy and took a notebook to write it down.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Lianheng and others got off the tram.

After Shi Liancheng and Xi Wenzhao's introduction, everyone gradually understood:
It turns out that Yangjingbang, especially the area around Zhengjiamuqiao, was the so-called "no man's land" in the foreign concessions.

A narrow river passes through both sides of the bridge and is under different jurisdictions.

Britain, the United States and France were too lazy to intervene, and the county government in the old city could not do anything about it, so thieves were rampant and public security was in chaos. Since the shops on both sides were not online properties, they were under online management.

Therefore, even the locals often say: "Great Britain and France, please don't come and go."

Only when Jiang Lianheng got here did he truly realize that the South Railway Concession and the leased territories of various countries were two completely different things.

Although the South Railway Concession is also the territory of the small Japanese, when a crime is committed by Chinese, in principle it still needs to be tried jointly by both the Chinese and the foreigners.

In principle, this allows for room for maneuver, or at least there will be room for argument.

However, Jiang Lianheng's group consisted of only eight people, so they had more numbers and more power, and therefore they did not encounter any scoundrels coming to "rob hats" or "rob passers-by of their clothes" - the differences between Nanchun and Beidian began to emerge from this point.

The few of them successfully entered the French Concession, and then took a tram towards the old town.

"You live quite far away?" Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but ask.

"It's almost there, almost there." Xi Wenzhao said, "Boss Jiang, this section of the French Concession is narrow, we'll be at the Old Town soon."

"Don't we live in the French Concession?" Chuanghu asked hurriedly.

Shi Liancheng smiled and explained, "Master Xi and I heard that Boss Jiang doesn't have to stay here for long. Staying in a hotel is expensive and messy. We rented a temporary apartment for you guys near the French Concession in the old city. It's so comfortable!"

"Right, right, right!" Xi Wenzhao said hurriedly, "That place is just two steps away from the French Concession, but the rent is almost doubled just by these two steps. It's not a matter of money, the key is that it's not necessary. Boss Jiang, don't you agree?"

It seemed that the two of them had already arranged accommodation.

Jiang Lianheng smiled knowingly and said quickly, "Yes, whatever makes you feel comfortable. The hotel is too noisy. You two are very thoughtful. Thank you for your hard work."

As soon as he finished speaking, Chuanghu suddenly screamed, pointed out the car window, and shouted excitedly: "Hey, hey, Master Xi, Brother Shi, that building over there is the Great World, right?"

"No, no, no, that's the new world."

The two of them laughed and pointed to a tall tower glowing in the night sky, saying, "That, that is the big world! Let's go there and play tomorrow night!"

"good good good good!"

Although Chuanghu said that Shanghai was dangerous, his eyes were full of longing. He looked at the flashing neon lights outside the car window, the restaurants, dance halls, and movie theaters.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of three large posters on the window of a cinema - currently showing: "Yan Ruisheng" and "Sea Oath"; coming soon: "Red Skulls" - and he pushed Jiang Lianheng again and shouted:

"Boss, take a look. People in Shanghai have started making domestic films. This "Pink Skeleton" sounds..."

Chuang Hu was so engrossed in his speech that he suddenly realized that Jiang Lianheng was staring at him coldly. He immediately changed his expression, curled his lips, and muttered repeatedly: "It's really not as good as Fengtian, I love Fengtian!"

Unexpectedly, he was too excited and could not help shouting a few times, which attracted several women in cheongsam on the tram to turn their heads, roll their eyes at him, and mutter something. Although I couldn't understand it, they were definitely not praising him.

Chuang Hu blinked, turned his head, and asked in a low voice: "Master Xi, what are they talking about?"

Xi Wenzhao had not been in Shanghai for long. He shook his head and said helplessly, "I don't know. He spoke too fast. If he spoke slower, I would be able to understand him."

"They say you're a country bumpkin." Shi Liancheng laughed, "They think you're too noisy."

"Am I making noise?" Chuanghu said to himself.

Everyone responded in unison: "It's fucking loud!"

Hearing this, Chuanghu immediately sank into his seat, looking at the bright lights and night life outside the window. His previous admiration for Shanghai suddenly became a little uneasy.

Jiang Lianheng hugged Chuanghu and said with a smile: "Hu, don't act like that big boss who was chased into the city. Give your brother some face. After all, we are decent people!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the cheongsam women turned around and rolled their eyes at him, pointing and talking nonsense.

Jiang Lianheng frowned and thought to himself, oh no, I can't understand anything!
As the saying goes, when traveling in the world, you must first open the spring point; without the spring point, you can't move forward!

But as the train went south, Jiang Lianheng found that he had difficulty moving forward without being able to speak the local dialect!
The Wu dialect is soft and has a hint of opera accent. The speech is a little slow, melodious and pleasant to the ears, as if one is singing Kunqu opera.

The bad thing was that Jiang Lianheng couldn't understand anything. It wasn't just a matter of accent. The main thing was that many of the word choices were different from those in the north. No matter how slowly he spoke, he still couldn't understand.

The worst thing was that he couldn't understand what they were saying, but they could understand what he was saying.

Even if a local stood next to him and cursed, he might not understand it - so how could he carry out his spy work?
Jiang Lianheng felt something was wrong the more he listened, so he turned around and asked, "What are they saying about me?"

Shi Liancheng smiled awkwardly: "No, nothing, Boss Jiang, we are almost there, we will get off soon."

Jiang Lianheng was unwilling to give up, so he turned around and asked, "Yan Sheng, can you understand?"

"Ah?" Liu Yansheng pursed his lips. "Well... they just said you were a country bumpkin or something like that, and they thought you were noisy, but they didn't say much."

"Can you still understand Shanghainese?"

"Just a little bit. They speak a bit like the people in my hometown." Liu Yansheng comforted him, "Boss, they are just a few women. Don't take it to heart."

Jiang Lianheng certainly wouldn't get angry because of a few women, but he couldn't help feeling irritated.

After thinking it over, just as the train arrived at the station, he suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Jaspersen, come and help me carry my bag!"

The German guy followed the crowd and remained silent at first. He felt a little strange when he was suddenly called out, but Jiang Lianheng had always been kind to him. The Jiang family also paid him a lot of money for this mission. Carrying a bag was just a piece of cake, so he didn't think much about it. He picked up his luggage and followed the crowd out of the tram.

As it turned out, this move really worked.

Jiang Lianheng walked out of the carriage and was listening to Shi Liancheng and Xi Wenzhao arrange the restaurant when he suddenly heard several exclamations from behind:
"Oh my, this is incredible, he is a big boss!"

(End of this chapter)