20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 511 Layout
Nine o'clock in the morning, Shilipu Wharf.

Near the Dongjiadu waters, countless cargo ships and sampans have already gathered.

There are many masts on the river, and dock workers with bare chests, carrying cargo boxes and sacks, are shuttling back and forth. The docks near and far are all busy scenes.

"beep--"

A loud whistle swept across the water, startling a few water birds perched on the shore, and a small steamer slowly sailed into the harbor.

There are three approach bridges at Jinyuan Wharf: one iron one, which can be used for small steamers to dock and ferry; and two wooden ones, which can only be used for sand ships to load and unload goods.

Lou Jingyuan is the manager of this dock, and also the boss of the dock workers here.

The man was about thirty years old, with round ears, a side part, and wore a silk indigo short jacket with a ring on his thumb. He was thin and from a distance he looked like a piece of clothing supported by a bamboo pole. He seemed to be a cigarette addict, but he was quite stylish. He usually stood on the dock, bossing people around, looking very impressive.

Seeing the small steamer slowly approaching the approach bridge, the dock workers immediately swarmed over.

These coolies earn piece-rate wages, and they earn as much as they work, so there is no need to urge them or rush them. Sometimes, they even get into quarrels and conflicts over competing for work.

At such times, the dock manager is needed to step forward to "uphold justice", calm the situation and maintain order.

Lou Jingyuan is no exception.

As soon as the steamer arrived at the port and started unloading, he immediately walked to the approach bridge and started yelling and cursing at the dock workers.

"Slow down, slow down, what are you trying to steal? Be careful, handle with care, if you break anything, I'll deduct all the money from your fucking salary!"

This is the daily work of a terminal manager.

If it were someone else, they would probably feel bored, but Lou Jingyuan never got tired of it and could even vaguely find a hint of imperial majesty from it.

Unexpectedly, while I was enjoying supervising the work at the approach bridge today, I suddenly heard a shout from the dock office not far behind me.

"Manager Lou, there's a phone call!"

"Who is it? Can't you see I'm busy?" Lou Jingyuan turned around and responded with an impatient tone.

But then an accountant wearing a long gown and a pair of round glasses came running out and said in a low voice, "Manager Lou, it's Marshal Zhang calling. You'd better go and answer the phone!"

"Uncle?" Lou Jingyuan suddenly became serious and quickly ordered, "Old Lu, you stay here and watch. I'll be back soon!"

Having said that, without even a moment's delay, he immediately ran away.

The shop at Jinyuan Wharf is quite simple, and the office looks more like a warehouse, but it is a freight distribution center after all, with prosperous business, so telephone lines are always installed.

Lou Jingyuan walked to the table and picked up the receiver. Knowing that his uncle Zhang Xiaolin couldn't see him, he still couldn't help but put on a fawning smile.

"Hello, uncle, yes, yes, I'm Jingyuan. I hope you're fine. Is my aunt fine too?"

After a few pleasantries, Lou Jingyuan sat down slowly and said with a chuckle, "Oh, I was helping a friend last night and wasn't at home... No, no, it was just a small matter. I ran into a 'white-collar gang' and taught him a lesson. Uncle, did you call me for something?"

There was a sound of electricity coming from the receiver.

After listening quietly for a while, Lou Jingyuan suddenly jumped up from his chair, eyes wide open, and said in disbelief: "You said someone wants to rob my dock?"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but open the window and look towards the dock across the street. He saw dock workers loading and unloading goods in an orderly manner, constant shouting from the center of the river and the shore, and a few water birds circling low in the sky. Everything seemed to be normal and there was nothing unusual.

"I don't know! Uncle, who told you that someone wants to seize my dock?" Lou Jingyuan sat down again, "Manager Xu? Oh, uncle, don't listen to his nonsense, everything is calm here, I just unloaded a shipload of goods, nothing happened... Oh, okay, I will be careful these days."

At this time, Zhang Xiaolin's voice came from the receiver again.

"Jingyuan, Master Nong told me to tell you not to hire those northern Anhui barbarians at the dock recently. Wait until we understand the situation better."

"Uncle, is this necessary?" Lou Jingyuan couldn't help but frowned. "I have a dozen people from northern Anhui here, and they work very hard!"

"Just do what I tell you to do. Why are you talking so much nonsense? Do you still want that pier?" Zhang Xiaolin's voice was a little excited.

Lou Jingyuan quickly smiled and agreed, "Okay, okay, Uncle, don't be angry, I'll do it right away, I'll do it right away."

After hanging up the phone, Lou Jingyuan thought carefully for a moment, then stood up, pushed open the door of the shop, and shouted a few times to the accountant not far away, calling him over.

"Old Lu, go call a few brothers and ask them to bring the people from Anhui Province on the dock to see me."

"Oh, Manager Lou, should I go and call him now?" asked Lao Lu.

Lou Jingyuan looked towards the approach bridge and saw the dock workers working hard to move the goods. He felt touched and said, "Forget it, let's bring them over after they finish their work."

Old Lu didn't understand what he meant, but after hearing the order, he just did what he was told.

About half an hour later, a dozen laborers from Anhui Province, under the supervision of dock thugs, slowly walked into the office and humbly asked the reason.

Lou Jingyuan sat behind his desk, legs crossed, holding a cigarette between his fingers. He didn't hide it, and said straight to the point: "I see that the performance of some of you has not been very good recently. Let's leave this afternoon and don't come to Jinyuan Wharf again."

One word can destroy someone's livelihood.

More than a dozen laborers from Anhui Province were stunned and could not help looking at each other. They were all confused and at a loss as to what to do.

Although there were Wang Laojiu's spies among them, the vast majority of them were not members of the Axe Gang. They had never even heard of the name of the Axe Gang. They were naturally unwilling and reluctant to lose their jobs in such an inexplicable way.

"Manager Lou, um... why are you chasing us away?" The older dock worker smiled ingratiatingly, with a hint of luck in his eyes.

"Is Nuo deaf?" Lou Jingyuan slammed the table and glared, "Didn't I just tell you that the guys haven't been behaving well recently? Why are you still asking? Let's go!"

"You have to have an explanation for where we performed poorly, right?" the young dock worker said with a hot-blooded tone, with a hint of questioning in his voice.

Upon hearing this, Lou Jingyuan immediately raised his eyebrows and cursed, "Hey, you little jerk, pay attention to me, don't talk to me in that tone!" As he said that, he suddenly poked the table with his fingers twice, "I'm the manager of Jinyuan Wharf. Whoever I tell to leave has to leave. There's no need for so many reasons. Get out!"

These words were extremely arrogant, and even the thugs present could not help but be on guard instantly, fearing that these Anhui workers would do something extreme.

However, the dock workers were not as united as imagined.

Almost instantly, the old and the young were divided into two factions, which then continued to divide further.

Most of them are middle-aged, with elderly parents and young children to take care of. They are not in the position to get angry and act like heroes in public, so they become more cowardly and humble, and only care about fawning on their superiors.

"No, no, no, Manager Lou, we can talk it over. Those young people don't know better. Please don't take us with you!"

"Yes, Manager Lou, we are all your senior employees. Please be flexible. If not, just deduct our wages and don't destroy our jobs!"

Although the young dock workers were angry, they all knew that Lou Jingyuan was the nephew of Zhang Xiaolin's wife and a disciple of Du Yong, so they did not dare to act rashly.

The one who was thinking was: Brother, come on, if you go, I will go too.

But the person in his heart was thinking: How can I go if you don’t go?
So, a few people stood there for a long time, and finally took out their anger on the older worker next to them.

"Old Tang, stop spouting shit. Who is ignorant? When have I ever done less work than you?"

Not long after, before Lou Jingyuan could say anything, the two factions of dock workers started arguing. They made a scene for quite a while, but in the end no one stayed.

Later, Accountant Lu tried every possible means to deduct the wages of the workers before letting them go. Lou Jingyuan easily cleared out the Anhui workers at Jinyuan Wharf without any effort.

Although similar things happened from time to time on the docks of the foreign concessions, this was the first time that foreigners were excluded so blatantly.

Accountant Lu was inevitably puzzled when he saw this: "Manager Lou, you usually like to employ people from Anhui Province, why are you driving them away today?"

"This is the arrangement of my master. Don't say anything about the Green Gang's affairs. Just do as I say!" Lou Jingyuan was very secretive and refused to say more.

"Oh, I don't want to ask more, but there are many people from northern Anhui in Shanghai now. If we drive them away like this, I'm afraid it will be inconvenient to recruit workers in the future!"

Accountant Lu's concerns seemed to make sense, but Lou Jingyuan waved his hand nonchalantly and laughed with disdain:
"Oh, don't worry about it. Let me tell you, no matter if they are from northern Anhui or northern Jiang, most of them are just cheap bones. If you just give them a bowl of rice, they will be grateful immediately. How dare they bear grudges? Even if they don't do it, there are people who do it!"

Lou Jingyuan has been working at the docks for more than ten years and has seen too many similar things, so he no longer takes it seriously.

Seeing this, others naturally stopped trying to persuade him.

After taking a look at the ferry schedule at the pier, Lou Jingyuan immediately put out his cigarette, stood up and said, "Let's go, it's already late, let's go eat something, move a few people and call a few brothers later. Marshal Zhang has said that someone may come to seize our pier recently, so everyone should be on guard!"

……

……

It was late afternoon in the French Concession in Shanghai.

"Yunxia Pavilion" is the most upscale opium den near Aiduoya Road. It is luxuriously decorated and has simple furnishings. It has always been an excellent place to "cultivate one's body and mind".

Eating clouds and soil regularly, becoming as thin as a stick and looking like a willow is called "cultivating the body"; inhaling clouds and exhaling smoke, being unaware of love, hate, sorrow and joy, is called "cultivating the nature".

Although opium dens are a highly profitable business, they are not as lively as gambling dens and brothels and are often even empty because most smokers only visit at fixed times, usually after lunch or especially after dinner.

Now is a good time to do business.

The manager of Yunxia Pavilion stood behind the counter, distributing cigarette pipes and lamps to the guests one by one, and then the waiters and servants led the guests to the low beds to rest.

Suddenly, the door curtain was lifted, and a strong young man with protruding ears and a short haircut walked in.

"Sir, welcome!"

The manager of Yunxia Pavilion came forward with a smile on his face, but when he saw the person coming, he couldn't help but be stunned.

"Uh... Sir, are you here to look for someone?"

He has been doing this business for many years and has seen countless people. He can tell whether a customer is a smoker or not with just a glance. When he saw the burly man, he was sure that the other party had no smoking habit, so he asked subconsciously.

"I'm not looking for anyone. I came here to buy some tobacco paste." The man replied in a deep voice.

The sales manager looked him up and down and asked hesitantly, "Uh... well, do you have a smoking permit?"

"Have!"

The man pulled out a booklet from his pocket and slammed it on the counter with a "bang".

The sales manager picked it up with a smile, flipped it open and looked at it, muttering, "Chen Lixian... this is a new brand!"

"Why, the new brand doesn't work?" Chen Lixian asked unhappily.

The sales manager quickly apologized with a smile: "No, no, I was just a little surprised, please don't be offended, sir!"

Generally speaking, customers tend to secretly become addicted to tobacco first, and then try to get a smoking permit, rather than the other way around.

But the business manager was unwilling to meddle in other people's business. As long as he could make money, he would still open a business even if he had to use someone else's smoking license.

"Sir, how much longevity cream do you want?"

"One pack."

"Oh, it's the small package that holds a pack of cigarettes, right?"

"No, I want a whole bag, this big, full pound."

The sales manager immediately looked surprised and couldn't help but ask again: "Are you sure you want a whole bag? That's nearly half a pound!"

"Don't waste time, I have money." Chen Lixian said as he took out a handful of silver dollars from his pocket and threw them on the table. "I'm going to give it to someone as a gift."

"Oh, that's it!" The sales manager suddenly realized what was going on, so he quickly asked the waiter to get a whole bag from the back counter, then handed it over and said with a smile, "Sir, take it!"

Chen Lixian took the longevity cream, weighed it in his hand, and pretended to sniff it twice. It smelled foul, so he frowned and asked, "Is this a good thing? Don't take advantage of me because I don't know anything about it!"

"Oh my, what are you talking about? Our Yunxia Pavilion is a long-established store. How could we destroy our reputation just to earn a little money from you?" The sales manager pointed to the paper bag containing local products and said, "Look, this is the product of Sanjin Company. How can it be fake?"

The host and the guest argued with each other for a long time before they finally made the deal.

Afterwards, Chen Lixian left Yunxia Pavilion with satisfaction.

There was a rickshaw waiting for him outside the door. As soon as the two met, they immediately headed towards the Anhui Provincial Association Hall.

When we arrived at the backyard of the Anhui Guild Hall, which is now the headquarters of the Axe Gang, the yard was already filled with pine boards of varying lengths. Several carpenters were gathered in the corner, busy at work with saw blades and hammers in their hands and a few nails in their mouths, making "click-click" and "ding-dong-dong" sounds from time to time.

Wang Laojiu stood in the center of the courtyard, whispering with a few calligraphers around him.

At this time, Chen Lixian walked over quickly and handed over the tobacco paste he had just bought: "Master Jiu, the goods are back."

"Oh, you've worked hard, brother." Wang Laojiu stared at the tobacco paste in his hand. After a while, he suddenly muttered bitterly, "Humph, if you make a fortune with this kind of stuff, the death of the 'three tycoons' is not unfair!"

Chen Lixian nodded silently, then looked around for a moment and suddenly asked, "Master Jiu, none of Boss Jiang's people came today?"

Wang Laojiu responded, "Brother Jiang said he has something to do tonight, and he also needs to urge his subordinates to submit the manuscript."

"To urge for the manuscript?" Chen Lixian didn't understand what he meant. "What manuscript?"

"I don't quite understand either." Wang Laojiu answered truthfully, and then said, "By the way, did you know that our spies at Jinyuan Wharf were withdrawn by Lou Jingyuan?"

"Is it!"

When Chen Lixian heard that his fellow villager had lost his job, he was not angry. Instead, his eyes lit up.

"Master Jiu, if that's the case, then Boss Jiang really guessed Lou Jingyuan's move?"

Wang Laojiu groaned and sighed secretly: "He really guessed it right, so let's not waste time and hurry up to find a boat."

"Master Jiu, have you figured out the time for Sanjin Company to purchase goods?" Chen Lixian asked.

This is the most critical part of the plan, and it can only be left to Wang Laojiu's hometown association to inquire about it. After several days of investigation, the news was finally confirmed -

"The night after tomorrow, we will unload the cargo at the French Concession beach!"

(End of this chapter)