20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 499: Clever Fight
After leaving the dock, Jiang Lianheng and Liu Yansheng had a quick meal and then returned to the apartment building near the old town.

Climb up the stairs along the shady corridor.

Liu Yansheng followed behind and asked, "Boss, do you want to use Wang Laojiu's gang to deal with the 'three tycoons'?"

"What do you think?" Jiang Lianheng asked in a low voice, "Can this be accomplished?"

Liu Yansheng hesitated, thought for a while and said, "If you just want to save face and make the 'three tycoons' suffer a loss, then it's fine; but if you want to plant spies in Shanghai, I'm afraid it's not enough. Wang Laojiu and his fellow countrymen help each other and are of one mind. They may not be willing to help, and even if they do, they may not be sincere."

"That's true, but as long as he can give us a place to stay, that's enough." Jiang Lianheng nodded and said, "Besides, intelligence is something that can only be understood by listening to both sides. I didn't intend to, and I can't, rely solely on the information from the Anhui Province Association."

"It's a bit difficult. They are still working hard at the dock. How can they have any extra space for us?" Liu Yansheng was a little pessimistic.

Jiang Lianheng smiled and said, "Don't forget, we still have 100,000 yuan for activities."

One hundred thousand dollars is not too much, but it is definitely not too little either.

Money must be spent wisely to reflect its value.

Whether Wang Laojiu and his gang are worthy of support remains to be seen.

As they were talking, Jiang Lianheng and Liu Yansheng arrived at the third floor of the apartment.

Just as I was about to open the door and go in to rest, a harsh quarrel suddenly came from the other end of the corridor.

It was authentic Wu dialect. I couldn't understand what they were arguing about, but the accent sounded familiar. It should be Mrs. Mei's voice.

Then, the door was suddenly pushed open and a man in his thirties stepped out. He turned around and cursed a few words into the room. Then he turned around and walked quickly towards the stairs.

The man was wearing a white suit with a brown windbreaker draped over his arm. His slicked-back hair was shiny, his face was jade-like and his lips were red, giving him the demeanor of a rich young man.

When he reached the stairs, he glanced at Jiang Lianheng, curled his lips in disdain, snorted coldly, and went downstairs.

"Could he be Mr. Mei?" Liu Yansheng murmured to himself.

As soon as he finished speaking, a few sobs were heard from Mrs. Mei's room, followed by the sound of slippers dragging on the floor.

Jiang Lianheng's hair stood on end. He grabbed Liu Yansheng's arm and urged her quickly, "Hurry up, or my elder sister will come to you to cry later!"

…………

Back in the room, Jiang Lianheng took a nap.

When I woke up from the dream, Jaspersen and others had not returned yet. It was not until nearly six o'clock in the afternoon that someone finally knocked on the door.

Li Zhengxi and Chuanghu walked into the house one after another.

The two chatted and laughed, looking relaxed.

It seemed that they were doing their job quite smoothly and encountered almost no obstacles.

This is indeed the case. Just one day after arriving in Shanghai, Jaspersen helped to negotiate with two German engineers, and it is expected that the negotiations will continue tomorrow.

Chuanghu could not help but exclaimed: "Boss, I am convinced. It is really convenient to have a foreigner by my side. There are many places that do not allow us to enter. As soon as Yasipson speaks, I immediately feel relieved. He is even more useful than the Chinese patrolmen in the concession!"

Although Li Zhengxi was a little indignant, he had to admit that what Chuanghu said were bloody facts.

Seeing that they were the only two people who entered the room, Liu Yansheng asked, "Why didn't Yasipson come back?"

"The Germans have gone to eat with their fellow villagers in the concession. We can't understand foreign language, so it's meaningless to stay there, so we came back to report the news."

Li Zhengxi walked into the room, looked around, and asked in confusion: "Brother, where is that Wen Tingge?"

"I'll let him out for a walk." Jiang Lianheng said calmly.

Immediately, Liu Yansheng briefly recounted what happened in front of the mansion of the "three tycoons" during the day, as well as what he saw and heard at the dock.

After hearing this, Li Zhengxi felt very annoyed at first, but then he suddenly snorted coldly.

"I've said it before, we're not giving it away for free online, why are we bowing down to him? He always likes to follow the rules, but now he's getting rejected!"

Li Zhengxi and Wen Tingge don't get along, and everyone knows it.

It was obviously a sarcastic remark, and of course no one wanted to respond. In the end, Jiang Lianheng could only wave his hand impatiently.

"Alright, alright, we've already been slapped in the face by someone, and we're still fighting here."

"If soft tactics don't work, then we'll have to use hard tactics." Li Zhengxi has a hot temper and immediately said, "That Zhang Xiaolin looks down on us, so let's stab him a few times and see if he still acts tough."

"That won't do." Liu Yansheng quickly advised, "The boss's official business hasn't been completed yet. If you mix personal grudges into it, it will be even more chaotic."

Li Zhengxi's temples jumped, but he said, "They acted like a coward first, and we have to swallow our anger? Lao Liu, if you don't show your teeth, they will treat you as a sick cat!"

Chuanghu looked around, fearing that this trip would lead to trouble again. He was worried that another mission might fall on his head, so he hurriedly tried to persuade them in a low voice.

"No, no, no, boss, look at this foreign land, there are so many delicious and fun things. We have come all the way here, we should enjoy ourselves. Why are we always fighting and killing each other? They are blind and don't know what we are worth. We don't need to bother with them!"

Hearing this, everyone stared at him in silence.

Seeing this, Chuanghu couldn't help but swallow his saliva and waved his hands hurriedly.

"No, no, no, what I mean is that there may be some misunderstanding here. It would be great if we could make peace!" He laughed dryly and suggested, "Well... how about this, we bring Jaspers over next time. With a foreigner to support us, the 'three tycoons' might be willing to meet." Jiang Lianheng did not comment, raised his hand and patted his cheek, and asked, "Huzi, what do you think this is?"

"Face." Chuang Hu blinked and added, "And it's an extremely handsome face."

"Well, it's the face, not the butt."

"Of course, you can sell your face, but you can't sell your butt."

"Why are you talking so much nonsense!" Jiang Lianheng shouted, "When people are in the underworld, respect is mutual. They don't give it to us, but we rush to give it to them. Isn't that a bit shameless?"

Chuang Hu murmured, "Well... I think as long as the pros and cons are appropriate, it doesn't matter if it's a little cheap."

"No, if anyone is going to be mean, he should be mean. There is no room for negotiation!"

Jiang Lianheng was so angry about Zhang Xiaolin that he just couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart no matter what he did, but he hadn't figured out how to deal with it yet.

As he was speaking, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

"The door is not locked, come in!" Jiang Lianheng looked up and shouted.

The person who came was none other than Shi Liancheng who had just finished his business.

He walked into the room with a smile, greeted everyone, looked around, and asked, "Boss Jiang, those two aren't coming tonight?"

"Oh, Wen Tingge and Yasipsen have something to do tonight." Jiang Lianheng asked, "Why didn't Master Xi come with you?"

Hearing this, Shi Liancheng suddenly sighed and said, "Alas, Master Xi asked me to tell you that his business had some problems today and he really can't spare the time. I can't accompany you tonight. I hope Boss Jiang will forgive me."

"What happened?" everyone asked casually.

"Well, I'm just unlucky. I heard that there was a fight between two gangs at the dock at noon. It just so happened that Master Xi's family had a batch of ginseng and antlers shipped over, and it seems that more than half of the medicinal materials were lost. Now we can't deliver on time, and we are discussing a solution with the buyer."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lianheng and Liu Yansheng reacted immediately.

The lost cargo must have been caused by what Wang Laojiu and his gang did at the dock.

"How do you usually solve this kind of thing?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

Shi Liancheng shook his head helplessly: "There is no way to solve it. The police stations in the French Concession and the Old City have always been fooling around with their jobs, and the goods have been thrown into the river. Even if we know who did it, they are running around in the concession and there is no way to catch them. Unless a fellow countryman association comes forward to negotiate, we can only accept the defeat."

"Isn't this too much of a bully?" Li Zhengxi said indignantly.

Shi Liancheng said, "It's normal, it's normal, this kind of thing happens everywhere. You don't have any connections or hometown associations to back you up, so who would care about you?"

It's hard and difficult when you are away from home.

Everyone was silent for a while and remained speechless.

Jiang Lianheng seemed to have other plans, but he remained silent and only considered it in his mind.

Seeing this, Shi Liancheng hurriedly smiled and changed the subject: "But it doesn't matter, Boss Jiang, we should still have fun tonight. Master Xi specifically said that we must not let his little thing ruin everyone's fun. How about this, let's go downstairs to have a meal first, and then go to the Great World to have a look in the evening?"

Jiang Lianheng nodded, indeed he had no intention of disrupting his scheduled schedule because of this.

So, everyone went back to their rooms, changed into decent clothes, and then left the apartment building under the leadership of Shi Liancheng.

…………

This time, with plenty of time, everyone first took a rickshaw to the French Concession, found a Huaiyang restaurant, and leisurely had a few drinks. When they were a little tipsy, they dispersed and played games in the foreign concession.

At this time, the deep night had slowly descended from the sky.

The dark river water reflects the mottled light and laps gently against the shore, while the busy dock is silent.

Although the foreign concessions are a city that never sleeps, the flashing neon lights are, after all, just fireflies in the night sky. Despite its prosperity, they make this world look particularly bleak.

On the edge of the French Concession, a magnificent four-story building sits at a street corner, with a glowing hollow tower rising from it.

Near the main gate, vendors selling cigarettes and snacks were shouting their wares.

Luxury cars passed by the gate one after another, and Chinese and foreign tourists came in groups of three or five. Modern girls in cheongsams flirted and lingered there.

Looking up, there seemed to be three huge words outlined by neon lights hanging in the air above the huge building - Big World!

----

P.S. Errata!

In Chapter 13, "Two Boundaries, Three Administrations, and Five Parties Mixed Together", it is written that Yangjingbang is the boundary river between the British and French Concessions.

Upon investigation, it was found that the river had been filled and a road had been built in the fifth year of the Republic of China, namely Edoya Road.

The timeline in the book is the tenth year of the Republic of China. The protagonists should not be able to see this river, let alone cross the bridge, but the common name of Pidgin Bang should still be there. Please be aware of this and I will revise it when I have time.

The author has never been to Shanghai during the Republic of China period, so it is inevitable that there may be omissions when looking up information. I hope that readers will forgive me and give me more reminders.

Conquering a son is beneficial*
(End of this chapter)