20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 546: Dragon Head and Cannon Head

International Settlement, German merchants’ houses.

The morning light slanted in from the window, illuminating the cups, plates, knives and forks on the table brightly.

Jiang Lianheng drank the coffee, wiped his mouth, then looked up at the German in front of him, then waved to Zhao Guoyan who was standing behind him, asked for a small envelope, put it on the dining table, and slowly retreated to the opposite side.

"Anyway, I have to thank Mr. Lei for his care recently. This is the rent. Don't worry, we won't stay here for too long and will try not to cause you any trouble."

"You're so polite." Remarque smiled and said, "Jaspersen is my friend. If you need any help, Mr. Jiang, you can come to me at any time."

Jiang Lianheng thanked him for his kindness, but then said, "I've already troubled you enough, and you have limited space here, and it's not convenient to have too many people. Just let my brother stay here first, and I'll find another place to live after a while."

Remarque looked at Zhao Guoyan in response and then nodded.

If it were before the war, he might have been able to provide more help, because the German expatriates at that time still occupied a board seat in the Municipal Council of the International Settlement. However, with the defeat of Germany, the board seat fell into the hands of the Japanese.

Jiang Lianheng certainly didn't ask for anything more. He stood up and said, "That's it. Mr. Lei, please take a seat. I'll go upstairs and talk to the brothers."

"Okay, please feel free to do whatever you want. I have to go to the company too."

Remarque left the table, walked the two men to the stairs of the mansion, and then turned and said goodbye.

Jiang Lianheng and Zhao Guoyan climbed the stairs while talking.

When they arrived at the bedroom on the second floor, Li Zhengxi and Chuanghu had been waiting for a long time.

When brothers meet, greetings are natural. However, the joy of reunion did not last long, as the bad news of Liu Yansheng plunged the house into silence.

After a moment of silence, Li Zhengxi immediately expressed his opinion: "Old Zhao, the road to the underworld is not easy to walk, we need to find more companions for Old Liu!"

"Yes, yes, this revenge must be taken!" Chuanghu took over the conversation, his attitude more positive than ever before, but then he asked with a little concern, "Brother Zhao, how many people are you bringing this time?"

"About twenty."

"What about people?"

"Break the whole into small groups." Zhao Guoyan explained, "Too many people would be a sight to behold, so I split them into several groups and all stayed in hotels run by foreigners."

"Did the journey go smoothly? Did you bring all your stuff with you?" Chuanghu continued to ask.

Zhao Guoyan nodded, a little impatient: "Several brothers are a little seasick, but it's not a big problem. The guys with the bells are enough and have been successfully brought to the concession. Brother Hu, do you have any other instructions?"

Chuanghu was stunned, then scratched his head and said apologetically: "Brother Zhao, please don't misunderstand me. I'm just asking casually. After all... Shanghai is dangerous!"

Zhao Guoyan was too lazy to care, he just turned to look at his boss, waiting for orders and being ready at all times.

Jiang Lianheng sat near the window, lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, shook his head and said, "It won't last long."

"What do you mean?"

The three of them looked at each other and asked in unison.

Jiang Lianheng explained in a deep voice: "There are more than 20 people. Even if they are all dispersed, no matter how low-key they are at ordinary times, they will definitely be exposed as soon as they start to act. Shanghai is full of spies of the Green Gang, and we are from the north. We can find one easily. If our manpower is too scattered, it will be even more dangerous."

This is the fundamental reason why a powerful dragon cannot defeat a local snake.

Zhao Guoyan naturally knew this well, but they had no roots in Shanghai, and there was no better way for the time being except to break up into smaller units.

Li Zhengxi pondered for a moment and suddenly suggested, "How about we go to Jiangdong? Although it may not be safe, it is at least better than here, right?"

"Well, this is the only plan we can make for now." Jiang Lianheng immediately ordered, "Guo Yan, send two people to Jiangdong to check the situation first."

Zhao Guoyan responded and then asked, "Boss, what happened that night?"

Jiang Lianheng was too lazy to recall it, so he asked Li Zhengxi and Chuang Hu to recount the circumstances of the Zhabei assassination that night on the spot.

After hearing this, Zhao Guoyan immediately noticed many strange things.

"A dozen killers?"

Zhao Guoyan looked at Jiang Lianheng, then at Chuanghu, and then thought of Wen Tingge who came with him, and said hurriedly: "Then they must have set an ambush in advance."

"Yes, someone told our itinerary to Du Yong, or Zhang Xiaolin...it might also be Huang Jinyong," Jiang Lianheng said.

"There must be a traitor in the Axe Gang!" Li Zhengxi said indignantly, "Old Liu has been gone for several days, and nothing has happened in Shiliupu now. The Axe Gang has not taken any revenge. Anyway, the more I watch, the more I feel that they have colluded with each other for a long time."

"But the situation at that time, the Axe Gang was also in danger!" Chuang Hu said, "Moreover, they also saved Wen Tingge, which doesn't make sense!"

"Does this make sense if Shiliupu is still in the hands of the Axe Gang?"

"Uh... that doesn't make sense."

Seeing Xifeng and Chuanghu arguing endlessly, Zhao Guoyan frowned, and had no choice but to look at Jiang Lianheng and asked, "Boss, what's going on with that helper?"

Jiang Lianheng shook his head and sighed, "It's still unclear now. I thought it was from the Guangdong Gang at first, but then I thought it wasn't the case. The main reason is -"

Having said this, he suddenly paused.

"The main thing is, I'm very familiar with the trick of turning off the lights during a fight. It was often used by the old man and his brothers back then..."

After hearing these words, Zhao Guoyan and Li Zhengxi were stunned.

"Seventh Master?"

The two said almost in unison.

Chuang Hu was a little confused after hearing this, and looked around and asked: "Seventh Master? What Seventh Master? Which Seventh Master? Why haven't I heard of him?"

No one paid any attention to him. Only Zhao Guoyan and Li Zhengxi understood how important the Seventh Master was to Jiang Lianheng.

"Brother, if that's the case, it could really be Master Qi!" Li Zhengxi's eyes lit up and he said quickly, "The man who attacked me that night was very agile. He caught me before I could react."

"You mean, except for him, no one in this world can beat you?" Jiang Lianheng's face was gloomy and his tone was extremely cold.

Li Zhengxi was stunned, as if he couldn't understand why his elder brother had such a reaction when talking about the Seventh Master.

Zhao Guoyan murmured to himself: "But, didn't the Seventh Master go to the capital?"

"It's been ten years, and it's possible to move to Shanghai!" said Li Zhengxi.

"Impossible!" Jiang Lianheng interrupted sharply, "Shooting to turn off the lights is a trick many veterans will use. It doesn't mean anything at all. Stop thinking about these useless things. It's better to rely on yourself than to rely on others. Don't think about waiting for others to save you."

"Brother, that's not what I meant..."

"Then just shut up and stop talking nonsense!"

Jiang Lianheng became furious and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became depressing.

Everyone was puzzled by this chill. No one wanted to see the Seventh Master more than Jiang Lianheng, and that was why he would rather the helper was not the Seventh Master.

They have been uncle and nephew for ten years, and they have known each other for a long time. If that man is really the Seventh Master, why doesn't he want to meet him?

Jiang Lianheng couldn't figure it out, and kept muttering to himself: "It's been ten years, and there's no fucking news whether he's dead or alive, and I just happened to run into him when I came to Shanghai. How could it be such a coincidence?"

No one dared to say anything else.

Jiang Lianheng waved his hand and said, "I just said it casually. Don't take it to heart."

"I think so too. We can't always rely on others for help!" Chuanghu followed suit and flattered.

Zhao Guoyan asked: "Boss, what are our plans now?"

"First, arrest the person who betrayed our itinerary. Only when we have figured out the truth can we act with confidence."

"Then we have to contact the Axe Gang, right?" Li Zhengxi said, "After all, they are the most suspicious now, so we have to find a way to contact Wang Laojiu directly."

Jiang Lianheng shook his head and said, "Although I don't really trust the Axe Gang now, don't just focus on them and forget about others."

Zhao Guoyan couldn't help but frowned and asked hurriedly: "Boss, have you told other people about your itinerary?"

"That's not the case." Jiang Lianheng explained, "On the day of the tea talk in the British Concession, I told Du Yong that we might stay in Shanghai for a while longer. I made the decision to leave the Sanyouhui Restaurant on the spur of the moment. Except for the core members of the Axe Gang, no one knew our specific itinerary, but there was one exception -"

"Mrs. May!"

Chuanghu suddenly remembered what happened when he checked out.

Because everyone was in such a hurry, they had to interrupt Mrs. Mei's card game and ask her to come over to check the house.

Although Zhao Guoyan had never witnessed it himself, he was quite confused by it: "Boss, if it was really the second landlord who reported it, wouldn't it be more convenient for the Green Gang to take action halfway? Why did they have to go to the train station and make such a big fuss?"

"Mrs. Mei only found out about my departure at the last minute. Even if Du Yong and Zhang Xiaolin got the news, they might not have enough time to make arrangements halfway," Jiang Lianheng said. "Besides, if you want to ambush someone halfway, you have to be accurate in timing and know the route. If you make a slight time difference, you will miss the opportunity. It's better to go to the train station."

"But how do they know we are leaving by train?" asked Chuang Hu.

Jiang Lianheng said: "The Green Gang started out by relying on the docks. They can easily find out when the boats leave for the north at each ferry. And since we were in such a hurry, we can easily guess that it must be the last few trains."

"hiss--"

Li Zhengxi frowned and said, "Brother, but I feel... that Mrs. Mei doesn't seem like someone online. She rarely goes out except playing mahjong all day... If it's Mr. Mei, he wasn't there that night!"

Chuang Hu immediately curled his lips: "That's not necessarily true. I think that old sister-in-law is very sharp and vicious!"

Jiang Lianheng shook his head and sighed: "Whether she is online or not has nothing to do with whether she reported it or not."

As he said that, he suddenly turned to look at Chuang Hu and asked, "Hu Zi, you were the last one to leave the Old Town Apartment that day. Did you see Mr. Mei?"

"No, we haven't seen each other many times!"

"So what was she doing when you sneaked into her room?"

"Well, boss, what else can she do? Play mahjong. There are four women in the living room, wearing cheongsams with wide slits, high heels, and flesh-colored stockings..."

"Okay, okay, don't talk about these useless things." Jiang Lianheng interrupted Chuanghu's nonsense, "Then did they talk about anything while playing mahjong?"

The three people's eyes fell on Chuang Hu at the same time.

He rolled his eyes twice, slapped his forehead, and exclaimed, "That's right!"

"What's the matter?" Everyone's eyes lit up.

"They say gentlemen don't understand romance!"

Hearing this, the three of them turned pale and the air seemed to suddenly freeze for a moment.

Chuanghu laughed dryly twice, scratched his head, and said awkwardly: "Uh... this doesn't seem to be of any use, huh? Oh, yes, yes, yes, I remembered one thing, the men of the four families seem to be colleagues, so they have been complaining all the time."

"Are you all here to eat for free?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

Having said that, until now, he still hasn't figured out what the "white rice" business is.

Chuanghu didn't dare to say for sure, but just replied vaguely: "Probably."

"What are they complaining about?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

Chuanghu then raised his voice and imitated the voice in an artificial tone.

"Oh, Sister Mei, is my brother-in-law coming back tonight? Why are you talking about him? He's playing cards! Oh my, I'm destined to be a widow! Who says it's not true? I haven't had that for a long time! If he dares to raise a child outside, I will cuckold him!"

Chuanghu still had his old habit. As he was talking, he started to go down the three roads.

However, among these bits and pieces of gossip, Jiang Lianheng was still keenly aware of something unusual.

"When we left that night, it was already past nine o'clock. That means that the four men not only had the same job, but were not at home that night?"

"Are they thugs working for the 'Three Tycoons'?"

Zhao Guoyan and Li Zhengxi reacted immediately.

Chuang Hu was stunned and hesitated for a moment, then said, "But if that's the case, when did they identify us?"

Zhao Guoyan stood up immediately: "No matter when they identified it, this sub-landlord is very suspicious. What does Mr. Mei look like?"

"His hair is parted, shiny and oily. His white suit is spotless." Chuang Hu introduced, "Anyway, he looks like a pretty boy."

Zhao Guoyan nodded and said, "Tell me where the old city apartment is and which floor it is on. I will send someone to keep an eye on it. Once that pretty boy shows up, we will arrest him and interrogate him and everything will be clear."

Chuanghu was about to speak but was interrupted by Jiang Lianheng.

"Mr. Mei doesn't come home often. You might as well go directly to the French Concession to find him."

Jiang Lianheng called Zhao Guoyan to his side and whispered, "Guoyan, you don't just have to look for this one person, you have to look for at least two more people."

"Boss, who else?"

"We can't make it too public right now. You have to find me someone who is the most reliable and efficient. Go to Shiliupu and take another group of people to the Old Town first and then to the Great World. There's a Korean guy named Li Zaichun over there. You can trust him."

Immediately, Jiang Lianheng whispered a few words and gave instructions for various arrangements.

After hearing this, Zhao Guoyan asked in a low voice, "Boss, do we still need to send someone to keep an eye on the Axe Gang?"

"Keep an eye on it. If the Axe Gang makes any moves, come and tell me anytime."

(End of this chapter)