20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 504: The Reckless Man Half-Opens His Eyes

Seeing Jiang Lianheng and Wen Tingge whispering, as if they had something important to discuss, the three Koreans tactfully suggested saying goodbye.

Li Zaichun covered the cut on his finger with his hand, walked forward with a pale face, and said, "Mr. Jiang has something else to do, so the three of us will take our leave first."

Jiang Lianheng glanced at him, then pointed to the apartment building not far behind him and nodded, "Okay, brother, go to the hospital quickly. I live in that apartment building. If you have any problems in the future, you can always come to me."

There was no time to waste in healing the severed finger, so Li Jae-soon and the other two looked at the apartment building for a moment, then hurried away under the cover of night.

When Wen Tingge saw the bloodstains on the stone steps, he couldn't help but frown, looking a little confused.

Just as he was about to ask, Jiang Lianheng waved his hand, turned around and said to everyone, "Go back first, and we'll talk while we walk."

…………

Back at the apartment building, Mrs. Mei didn't seem to be having a card game tonight, so the corridor was unusually quiet.

In the past few days, Yasipsen has been running around various factories and foreign companies, and has poached many foreign engineers for the Fengtian Arsenal.

Jiang Lianheng was unable to cope with the situation, so he had to entrust the Germans to properly settle the recruited Western employees. After the resignation procedures were completed and the work was handed over, they would go to Fengtian as quickly as possible, either by car or by boat.

On the other hand, Wen Tingge has been busy working with Shen Shili recently, trying to find out the news about Wang Laojiu. It can be considered a tough job. He has been in Shanghai for so many days but has not even been to the Great World once. Fortunately, after several visits, he finally got in touch with the people under Wang Laojiu.

Everyone walked into the house and sat down one after another.

Jiang Lianheng sat next to the desk lamp as usual, lit a cigarette, drew the curtains, and asked, "Is this Wang Laojiu considered a match made in heaven?"

Wen Tingge thought for a moment and said, "I heard that he has been involved with the secret society for a long time, but judging from his behavior, he seems to be a half-witted person."

"What do you mean? Because they were too reckless?" Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but recall the armed fight at the dock.

"There is a reason for this, but it's not absolute." Wen Tingge explained, "Wang Laojiu used to work as a laborer at the docks. He likes to help poor fellow villagers from Anhui Province. Although he doesn't have much money, he is quite righteous and has a lot of prestige in the hometown association."

Hearing this, Liu Yansheng was immediately puzzled: "He can pull dozens of fellow villagers from the hometown association, how can such a person be without money?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Everyone knows that although the hometown associations in various provinces and regions nominally advocate "mutual benefit and mutual assistance", in reality they emphasize "strong alliance".

There is a threshold for joining the association, and members need to pay membership fees - fellow townsmen pool funds to work together for a great cause.

It is not the case that any poor person claiming to be a "fellow villager" can easily visit such an organization and ask for help.

A poor fellow is not worthy of talking about fellow countrymen with the rich and powerful, as that would be a disgrace to the master.

Although it's cruel, this is the reality.

Wen Tingge shook his head and said, "The weird thing is that Wang Laojiu only talks about being from the same hometown as poor guys and loves to stand up for them."

"Then this person is a 'Mohist'!" Liu Yansheng muttered to himself.

Hearing this, Li Zhengxi asked casually, "What is this thing called 'Mohist'?"

"What nonsense! I just read too many books and my mind is stuck!" Jiang Lianheng raised his hand impatiently to interrupt, then glanced at Chuanghu, "Look, it's you, the bunch of stinky writers, who are talking nonsense all day long and misleading the students!"

Chuanghu scratched his head, laughed and said, "Kill the rich and help the poor, eliminate violence and protect the good, the common people love to see heroes, if you don't write it this way, it won't sell!"

"Killing the rich is considered a hero, killing the poor is considered a bully, then am I also a hero?" Jiang Lianheng no longer believed in that vulgar rhetoric.

Everyone laughed silently for a moment.

Jiang Lianheng continued, "As long as they are part of a gang, especially if they are the leader, their hands are definitely not clean. No one should say anything about anyone else."

"Boss, you're right." Wen Tingge took over the conversation and introduced to everyone, "The current Anhui Province Hometown Association was snatched from someone else by Wang Laojiu some time ago. As a result, the hometown association is now full of poor fellow villagers, and the original big bosses were scared away."

"The former hometown association only helps the rich and not the poor. They deserve to be robbed." Li Zhengxi snorted coldly.

"Xifeng, you can't say that." Jiang Lianheng put out his cigarette and said, "If you are really a hero, and you don't like other people's hometown associations, you should set up your own business. You have no money, so you rob others. What kind of hero is this? At heart, you are still a mountain bully."

Wen Tingge nodded and said, "I heard that this is Wang Laojiu's second visit to Shanghai. A few years ago, he was hanging around on the docks and once led people to rob banks and ticket offices. Later, he was caught by Lao Chai. Someone helped to get him out of jail."

"From this perspective, Wang Laojiu has always been short of money!" Liu Yansheng thought.

"Yes, until now, he has been doing quite poorly. It is because he is short of money that he wants to meet us." Wen Tingge said in a low voice.

"Where did he spend the money?" Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but feel curious.

"I heard that he is currently helping to raise funds for a school founded by a friend." Wen Tingge smiled. "This guy is quite interesting. He doesn't have a good life himself, but he still worries about others every day." Jiang Lianheng is not short of money, and he is also intending to use money to support and bribe Wang Laojiu.

"What is his relationship with the 'Three Green Gang Tycoons'?" Jiang Lianheng asked, "Is it just a fight for the business at the dock, or is there some other personal vendetta?"

This is the crux of the matter.

The relationship between Wang Laojiu and the "three tycoons" will directly determine Jiang Lianheng's negotiation method and strategy with them.

However, Wen Tingge didn't even think about it and blurted out, "I hate them to the core, and we are like fire and water. I have long wanted to kill the prestige of the 'three tycoons'."

His answer was brief and to the point, yet it was beyond everyone's expectations.

Although Wang Laojiu and the Green Gang had a fight at the dock, that level of friction between gangs is common in underworld disputes.

If it weren't for the hatred of their father's murder or their wife's seizure, the two sides were fighting for nothing more than the word "profit". As long as both sides took a step back, why would they have to fight each other?

"He wants to make a name for himself by destroying the reputation of the 'three tycoons'!" Jiang Lianheng took it for granted.

Wen Tingge shook his head and said, "There is a reason for this. I heard rumors from people at the dock that when Wang Laojiu was a porter at the dock, he was often asked for protection money by the Green Gang. This matter may have always been a hurdle in his heart."

Everyone nodded, this made sense.

"In addition, there is another reason." Wen Tingge continued, "I asked several people from Anhui Province, and they all said that Wang Laojiu had previously participated in the Anti-Qing Society."

As soon as the words fell, everyone was stunned.

"This is a bit difficult..." Jiang Lianheng said to himself, "If they are members of the anti-Qing society, they probably won't have a good impression of Lao Zhang."

In fact, it is not only possible that he has no good feelings towards Feng Zhang.

Considering what the Jiang family did in the past, Wang Laojiu probably wouldn't be open with Jiang Lianheng.

"Boss, this matter may not be that important." Liu Yansheng suddenly said, "Many people in the original alliance have changed now. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, everyone has been busy fighting among themselves."

Wen Tingge nodded and agreed, "I also think what Brother Liu said makes sense. Wang Laojiu is currently in Shanghai and obviously has no backers. If he really had any power, he wouldn't have to personally lead people to the dock to mess things up."

Having said that, Jiang Lianheng was still unwilling to believe Wang Laojiu easily.

He had just signed a treaty with the Korean bandits of the Righteous Corps and had already developed an intelligence line in Shanghai, so he was more patient in this mission.

However, people from Anhui Province are numerous in the foreign land, and are involved in all walks of life.

Factories, docks, rickshaws, these are all businesses with widespread influence and well-informed information, so Jiang Lianheng naturally doesn't want to give up easily.

He pondered for a while, then suddenly sighed and said, "In short, since this is our first meeting, let's not get too specific and see what he says."

"Boss, the key is that you give people a large sum of money for no reason and don't ask for anything. This makes people more suspicious!" Liu Yansheng said.

"Right, right, right!" Chuanghu nodded quickly. "If someone is too nice to you without asking for anything, he is either a traitor or a thief. You don't ask for anything, but you just give us money. It's so fake that you might think we are the money-giving boy!"

At this time, the clock on the desk was almost one in the morning. Everyone was a little sleepy, and the apartment building was particularly quiet.

Just at this moment, the cool evening breeze blew, suddenly rolling up the curtains, and a burst of footsteps suddenly sounded downstairs.

Jiang Lianheng frowned, leaned back, gently pushed aside the curtain, and glanced downstairs.

But in the dim night, a man in a white suit, holding a modern girl in his arms, was staggering towards the apartment while groping her up and down. Judging from his figure and behavior, he seemed to be Mrs. Mei's husband.

The two of them were pulling and hugging each other downstairs of the apartment building for a long time before they walked into the apartment laughing.

Did you bring your mistress home?
Jiang Lianheng didn't understand and didn't want to think too much, so he closed the window immediately and turned to everyone and said:

"In short, since this is our first meeting with Wang Laojiu, let's not reveal our true feelings yet and wait and see what he says."

"If you don't tell the truth, what excuse can you give?" everyone asked in unison.

Jiang Lianheng stood up from his chair, took off his coat, and said calmly, "He led his men to a fight at the dock and destroyed the medicinal materials in Master Xi's house. It's not too much for us to ask for an explanation, right?"

After thinking about it for a moment, everyone felt that it made sense.

Jiang Lianheng then asked Wen Tingge: "Do we decide the time and place of the meeting, or do they decide?"

"They have already sent someone to say that if you agree to meet, it will be at Chunfengdeyi Building at noon the day after tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)