20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 536 West Wind
"Tweet-"

The next day dawned and the sky began to break.

After a night of heavy rain, the Huangpu River was covered with turbid waves, water birds were circling low over the shore, and dock workers were gathering near the approach bridge one after another.

The river wind suddenly blew, smelling fishy and giving people splitting headaches and bouts of dry heaving.

In a daze, when he was about to wake up, Li Zhengxi suddenly felt a cool and itchy feeling on his face. He reached out and scratched it twice, forced his eyes open and saw that it was a pile of white bird droppings.

A low murmur of discussion followed.

"He's not dead, no need to report to the police. I thought he fell on the road!"

"Looking at him like this, he must have been robbed, right?"

"Hey, brother, are you okay? Why are you here?"

After a few sounds, Li Zhengxi suddenly woke up, sat up, looked around, and saw three or five laborers squatting beside him and watching him.

He rubbed his temples and felt mud on his face, which was tight. It was probably because he caught a cold last night. His head was swollen, as if it was separated from the core. It hurt when he moved. Behind him was an unknown large warehouse, and he had been lying under the eaves of this warehouse before.

"Where is this?" Li Zhengxi asked subconsciously.

Several workers looked at each other and said in unison: "Laoqichangxizhan!"

Li Zhengxi saw mud houses and dirt roads in the distance, a desolate and rural scene, and he was startled. He asked hurriedly, "Brothers, how far is this place from Shanghai?"

"What are you talking about!" Several workers were dissatisfied. "This is Shanghai!"

"Stop it!" Li Zhengxi looked at the fruit and vegetable fields in the distance and shook his head quickly, "Let's talk seriously. I have something urgent to do."

"Who is being dishonest? These outsiders, please stop treating Pudong as Shanghai, okay?"

"Pudong?"

"What else?" Several laborers pointed behind him.

Li Zhengxi turned his head and looked diagonally behind the warehouse, only to see tall buildings and houses standing side by side on the other side of the river. Only then did he recognize the prosperous atmosphere of the foreign concessions.

Seeing this, he hurriedly left a few laborers behind, fluttered to his feet, rubbed the back of his neck, and staggered towards the dock.

At this time, the sky was gloomy, the dock warehouse had not yet started work, there were no ships sailing on the river, and occasionally a few ferries stopped on the opposite bank, but they were also silent.

Li Zhengxi had just woken up and was still a little dazed and numb. He looked blankly at the mouth of Suzhou River on the other side and suddenly thought of his elder brother, so he hurried to the nearest pier.

On the sampans of several sand boats on the shore, the boatmen were standing on them, holding ladles in their hands, bending over to scoop water, and muttering to each other.

"It's God's fault. It rained so hard. I heard that Lao Jin's boat was washed away last night."

"Boatman!" Li Zhengxi walked to the approach bridge and asked, "Can we sail to the other side now?"

The dock had not yet started construction, and the Huangpu River was not very wide. The old boatman certainly didn't mind making some extra money, so he straightened up and said, "You're alone, so you'll have to pay at least fifty cents to go."

The price is not cheap. It only costs three or four yuan at most to take a small iron steamer to Wusongkou or even out of the port.

Li Zhengxi didn't care. He casually said "Let's go" and made a move to board the ship.

But just as he was about to take a step, he suddenly remembered that he had given all the money he had to Wen Tingge last night, and he was stunned for a moment.

The old boatman was very alert and immediately reminded: "You have to pay first before you can leave!"

Li Zhengxi rummaged through his pockets and asked anxiously, "Boatman, can I give you my clothes?"

"No, what's the use of my clothes if you--"

"Wait!"

Li Zhengxi suddenly felt something hard in his pocket, and when he took it out, he saw that it was a few dimes, so he asked hurriedly, "How much did you say just now?"

"Fifty cents!" the old boatman said a little impatiently.

Li Zhengxi's eyes lit up.

I counted the coins in my palm - one cent more, not enough, one cent less, not enough, but it was exactly the right amount, a fifty-cent coin!
Hey, where can we seek justice?
In addition to being surprised, Li Zhengxi couldn't help but frown, and immediately recalled the master on the rainy night last night.

Just as I was wondering, the old boatman urged me in a loud voice: "Hey, are you going to leave or not? I have to transport goods when the dock opens later!"

"Let's go!"

Li Zhengxi did not dare to delay and immediately jumped onto the bow of the boat, pointed to the mouth of Suzhou River on the opposite bank, and ordered the boatman to ferry the boat.

The water level rose overnight and the Huangpu River was flowing very fast. The small sampan was tossed up and down. It took the old boatman more than ten minutes to finally get the boat near the river mouth.

At this time of year, the sun had risen over the river.

Puxi is prosperous, and the docks start working early. Li Zhengxi remembered Chen Lixian saying that a ferry would leave from Wusongkou early this morning.

When they reached the other side, they saw a small steamer parked at the bridgehead, but no matter how they looked left and right, they could not find Jiang Lianheng and the others.

Accompanied by the sound of the waves, the small sampan slowly approached the shore not far from the approach bridge.

Li Zhengxi jumped off the bow and was looking around in confusion when he heard a hearty laugh from the side. He then saw a man in a suit and tie striding towards him, taking off his hat and greeting him.

"Hey, Lao Luo, Lao Luo, you're finally here. What took you so long?"

Li Zhengxi frowned, and just as he recognized the other person as Li Jae-soon, a Western top hat was put on his head, followed by a Western hug.

When the two met, Li Zaichun whispered in his ear, "Brother, don't say anything. Boss Jiang asked me to come pick you up."

Li Zhengxi didn't know when the Koreans got involved, and he was stunned. When he was about to ask, Li Zaichun spoke first.

"Brother, the dock is not safe. There is no time to explain. Just follow me first."

After saying that, Li Zaichun pressed down the brim of Xifeng's hat, then put his arm around his shoulders, like old friends meeting after a long separation, and walked away.

Li Zhengxi subconsciously glanced at the severed finger of the Goryeo stick, and thought of the various dangerous situations last night. He would rather believe it than not, so he followed Li Zaichun and hurriedly left the riverside.

"Where is my brother?" Xifeng lowered his voice and asked anxiously.

"How is it, Lao Luo, Shanghai is pretty good, right?" Li Zaichun said something random, then said in a deep voice, "Don't worry about it in the American Concession for now, help me look around to see if there is anyone following us nearby."

At this moment, the shops on Puxi Street were about to open, and there were not many pedestrians. But precisely because there were not many people, they were more easily targeted.

Li Zhengxi nodded quickly, walked quickly, looked around frequently, and seemed to be afraid of enemies everywhere. The two of them wandered around the American Concession for a long time, until there were more people on the street, and when they were sure that there was no one following them, Li Zaichun led Xifeng to the eastern section of the American Concession.

Beat around the bush, beat around the bush.

They walked like this for another twenty minutes, until they were almost at their destination, when Li Zhengxi suddenly realized - he had been to this place before!
In a remote street not far away, amidst the shade of trees, there was a rather imposing two-story blue brick mansion.

"Isn't this...the house of that friend of Jaspersen's?" Li Zhengxi muttered a few words in a low voice.

When he first came to Shanghai, he and Chuanghu were responsible for accompanying the Germans to recruit Western engineers everywhere. In addition to various factories, Yaspersen also took the opportunity to visit the general manager of the Shanghai-based Lihe & Co., and had dinner together, but he and Chuanghu did not attend.

Li Zaichun shrugged and said, "I don't know who that person is, but Boss Jiang is in there now."

The two walked to the door of the villa and knocked twice.

After a while, a tall, thin, middle-aged foreigner with a tuft of moustache on his upper lip opened the door, looked at Xifeng carefully for a few times, then narrowed his eyes and laughed with a thick accent, "Ah, Li, I remember you!"

"I remember you too!" Li Zhengxi quickly stretched out his hand. "It's Mr. Remarque, right?"

Remarque's Chinese was not very fluent. Without exchanging a few pleasantries, he hurriedly let the two men into the house, then put on his hat and said, "Mr. Jiang is upstairs. You can go find him. I have to go to the company to do some work and send a telegram to Jaspersen. Please feel free to come in."

After saying that, the German guy left the mansion with a smile.

Remarque looked relaxed, as if taking in Jiang Lianheng and others was a trivial matter to him, and it would also add a considerable amount of rent, so why not do it?
Li Zhengxi walked into the house in a daze.

In the mansion, in addition to Remarque's family members, there were also a few Chinese female maids. The living room was quiet, which made people feel a little awkward.

Remarque's wife did not understand Chinese, she just smiled at the two men and said nothing more.

Just at this moment, a soft call suddenly came from the corner of the stairs.

"Third brother, that's great, you're okay!"

Li Zhengxi looked in the direction of the sound and saw that it was Chuanghu. He was so angry that he rushed over and asked in a stern voice: "Where the hell were you last night?"

"Shhh..." Chuanghu quickly made a gesture to silence the man and whispered, "Third brother, this is not our home. That foreign lady is afraid of noise!"

Li Zhengxi was startled and couldn't help but turn his head to glance in the direction of the sofa.

Chuanghu then waved at him and said, "Come up quickly, the boss is waiting for you!"

Hearing that Jiang Lianheng was upstairs, Li Zhengxi didn't think any more and immediately followed the Korean stick to climb the stairs in three or two steps.

At this moment, in a corner of the living room on the second floor, Jiang Lianheng was sitting next to the floor-to-ceiling window, leaning over the table and eating bread in big mouthfuls. While eating, he was writing something on a stack of straw paper with a pen.

Seeing Xifeng coming upstairs, he did not show any excessive concern, but just raised his eyelids slightly and said in a muffled voice: "Sit down, have you eaten?"

Hearing this, Li Zhengxi was a little confused and hurriedly asked, "Brother, why are you here? Where are Wang Laojiu and the others?"

Jiang Lianheng ignored him and raised his chin towards Gao Libang, asking, "Is there any movement over at Shiliupu?"

"No." Li Zaichun shook his head. "I asked someone. Nothing happened in Shiliupu last night. There was no movement at the Anhui Hometown Association Hall. This morning, there was nothing unusual at the dock. It seems that the 'Three Tycoons' didn't send anyone at all."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhengxi frowned immediately: "Brother, Wang Laojiu sold us out?"

"Can you please stop being so alarmed?" Jiang Lianheng said seriously, "Just because there was a fight in Shiliupu doesn't mean Wang Laojiu didn't betray us. Similarly, just because there was no movement in Shiliupu doesn't mean Wang Laojiu betrayed us. You have to look at the reaction of the Axe Gang, not the reaction of the 'Three Tycoons'. Shiliupu is safe and sound, but it's possible that Du Yong and his gang deliberately sowed discord."

Li Zhengxi was speechless.

Jiang Lianheng has some experience in catching traitors, and not making judgments rashly is the most basic requirement.

Chuang Hu then asked, "Then... did you find out which hospital Wen Tingge was in? And... and where is Brother Liu's body..."

Li Zaichun shook his head and said, "Liu Yansheng's body should have been detained by the patrol officers of the county government. As for Wen Tingge, I will go and ask during the day."

"Thank you for your hard work." Jiang Lianheng said.

Li Zaichun quickly waved his hand and said, "Don't be polite, Boss Jiang. This is just a small thing. It's my duty."

"Come on, come on, everyone, come to the table and eat something. Eat enough so that you can have the energy to work. The food fee I pay here is not cheap. It will be a waste if I don't eat."

Jiang Lianheng seemed to have completely recovered his normal state. There was almost no sadness or anger in his words and actions. In his current position, he did not allow himself to be swayed by violent emotions.

Perhaps, this is why the dragon head ladle handle always looks a little cold-blooded.

The three of them gathered around the dining table and sat down.

Li Zhengxi glanced at the rough paper on the table and asked curiously, "Brother, what are you writing?"

"I'm writing a letter to my sister-in-law!" Chuanghu continued.

"You want to transfer someone from home?"

Jiang Lianheng did not answer. He scratched his head twice, then scribbled two lines on the scrap paper. Without even looking up, he asked, "Xifeng, where did you come from?"

"Uh... Pudong..." Li Zhengxi himself felt that this answer was a bit ridiculous.

"Pudong?" Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but look up, took two bites of bread and asked, "I didn't see you on the boat, why did you go to Pudong? I thought you went to the French Concession."

"Look, boss, I told you so!" Chuanghu immediately became excited. "What happened last night? How could Third Brother go to the French Concession? He must be a fierce man, even fiercer than me, Chuanghu."

Li Zhengxi glared at Chuanghu with a frown on his face, and said a little embarrassedly: "I...actually I don't know how I got to Pudong."

"Explain your words clearly!" Jiang Lianheng put down his pen and looked at Xifeng intently.

Li Zhengxi thought for a moment before he spoke: "Brother, I met a master last night. At first, I thought he was from the Green Gang, but now I don't think so. He must have taken me to Pudong."

"Master?" Chuang Hu asked hurriedly, "How good is he?"

Jiang Lianheng stopped him and turned to ask Xifeng: "In that case, that person should be helping you."

"I can't say that. That guy was very ruthless. My head is still buzzing." Li Zhengxi didn't dare to make any more rash judgments. He just speculated cautiously, "Brother, do you think it was the old man from the Yue Gang who sent someone to help?"

Jiang Lianheng recalled the light bulbs that broke one after another in the station, and suddenly a bold guess came to his mind. But on second thought, he shook his head dejectedly, as if he didn't quite believe it, or didn't want to believe it.

After thinking for a while, he muttered to himself: "Let's see first!"

Then, he scribbled a few times on the straw paper, turned to Li Zaichun and said, "Brother, keep an eye on the telegraph office for me today. If the situation gets tense, come back and tell me. When the situation calms down, help me send a telegram to Fengtian."

(End of this chapter)