20 years of the Republic of China
Chapter 547: Killing Dongjiadu
Chapter 547: Killing Dongjiadu
By the afternoon, the Shilipu Wharf had already become busy.
Hundreds of boats are racing in the middle of the Huangpu River, dock workers at the ferry are welcoming and seeing off passengers, and small vendors on the shore are setting up shop to make a living.
As autumn deepens in Shanghai, everyone looks a little bloated.
The old cow put on a set of coarse cloth, hunched over, and walked along the river bank, looking around, stopping and starting, just like a driver who had never seen the world.
After walking through the bustling crowd for a while, his eyes suddenly fixed, as if he had discovered something, and then he quickly walked forward in small steps.
Not far away, near a teahouse, there was a man with a short haircut and wearing a long gown, squatting on a small stool with a sanxian in his hand, a newspaper spread out in front of him, with two clods of earth pressing on it. He tuned the strings, took a sip of tea, and was about to start singing.
But just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt his vision go dark.
Looking up, I saw a burly man walking towards me quickly.
"My dear brother," Lao Niu said with a foreign accent and a simple smile, "I want to ask you something."
"What's the matter? Can't you see I'm asking for business?" The guy with a crew cut tilted his head, his tone a little impatient.
"Um... Is Dongjiadu heading this way?"
"Yes, just keep walking along the river bank and you will arrive!"
The man with a crew cut raised his hand and pointed upstream in the river.
I thought the matter was over, but unexpectedly, Lao Niu stood there and refused to leave. Instead, he reached into his arms and took out a palm-sized piece of green cloth. Behind his back, he carefully opened it and took out a wrinkled photo from it.
"Brother, I'm here to visit my relative. Do you know this person?" he asked.
The man with the crew cut didn't say a word, but his eyes were fixed on the banknotes and cash in the blue cloth bag, and he was stunned.
This old man is quite rich!
It seems that he has taken all his belongings with him and is planning to settle down in Shanghai.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Lao Niu immediately became alert, and quickly put the blue cloth bag into his arms, hugged it, and nodded hurriedly: "Forget it, I'll ask others over there."
After saying that, he wiped his body and was about to leave.
The guy with the crew cut became anxious when he saw this. He jumped up, grabbed Lao Niu's arm, and chuckled twice.
"Big brother, is this your first time in Shanghai?"
"Ah, it's the first time. I'm leaving now."
"Oh, don't be so nervous, okay?" The short-haired man immediately tried to persuade her. "Let me tell you, there are many people from the north of the Yangtze River in the foreign lands, who specialize in defrauding these country folks. It's hard to guard against them. Fortunately, you met me today. How about I be your guide?"
"No, no." Lao Niu waved his hands quickly.
"Hey, you don't believe me, right? I'm just giving you some advice and showing you the way. I don't want you to spend a lot of money. If you think it's not worth it now, it will be too late to regret it when you get cheated!"
After talking a lot, Lao Niu finally became interested and asked, "Brother, what's your name?"
"Your surname is Shen, Shen Shili!"
The short-haired man patted his chest and said proudly, "To tell you the truth, there is nothing I don't know about this foreign land. I charge at least two dollars a day as a guide for others. I see that you are a country boy and quite pitiful, so I'll give you one dollar!"
Lao Niu nodded: "If you can find my relatives as soon as possible, it will be worth it, but your business..."
Before she finished speaking, Shin Se-ri kicked the bench away and said, "Look, I don't have any business to do now. You have to be responsible for me."
"No, this..."
"Oh, this isn't my proper job. Being a tour guide is my real job. Let's go, I'll take you to Dongjiadu to look for our relatives!"
After saying that, he began to lead the old cow forward, pulling and dragging it.
Just like many wealthy people who come to the city for the first time, they look ahead and behind, speak and act prudently, and take extreme precautions, but they still cannot avoid getting confused. They are always led around by the nose without knowing what is going on, or are cheated out of their money, or simply fall into a trap.
However, although Shin Se-ri loves money, he is not a liar. When he acts as a guide, he really works very hard.
The two ran south along the road along the river.
No matter what he saw along the way, as long as Lao Niu asked, Shen Shili could tell him a lot of stories. It was unclear whether it was true or not, but it sounded very lively anyway.
Before long, Lao Niu was full of admiration for him.
Walk through the streets and alleys until you reach the southeast corner of the old city, the Dongjiadu street area.
This is the area near the county suburbs. There are no more tall Western-style buildings around. All you can see are old-style houses with white walls and black tiles.
The two took out photos to look for their relatives, searched several shops along the street, and even asked many roadside stalls, but of course they found nothing.
Although they didn't find their relatives, the two of them got along better and better as they talked.
But before he knew it, the sky gradually darkened, the old cow's eyes became dim, and he became more and more anxious.
Shen Shili was of course not in a hurry, but asked with a little confusion: "Brother, you came to live with a relative, how come you don't even know where he lives?"
Lao Niu replied sullenly, "There has been no news for two or three years. I just knew he was in Dongjiadu."
"Oh, that's not easy to find. Shanghai is changing with each passing day. Who knows where he is!" Shen Shili sighed, "I don't usually come to Dongjiadu, but don't worry, I'll continue looking for him tomorrow. I'm sure I can help you find him."
"Then I have to hire you for another day?" Lao Niu shook his head quickly. "Forget it. I'll go ask the clerk."
"Hey, are you sure? An ordinary person like you, a country boy, wants to ask the officials to help find someone? You are talking in your sleep!"
After hearing this, Lao Niu felt a little troubled.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Shin Se-ri suggested that they eat nearby first and come back to look for someone tomorrow. She also said that it was a common practice to pay for the guide's meals.
In short, the two of them reluctantly went into a small restaurant.
The small restaurant is not big, but it does good business. People coming and going are all hardworking men.
Shin Se-ri was drinking by himself, and suggested: "If that doesn't work, we can go to the newspaper office tomorrow to put up a missing person notice. I know which newspaper has good sales. You just need to spend a little more money."
"Will that work?" Lao Niu was skeptical.
"Of course it is useful. I'm in Shiliupu, and I report news every day. Do you think it is useful?"
"The news is not interesting. I just want to find my relatives."
Shen Shili's eyes widened when he heard this: "What nonsense! The news in Shanghai is so exciting! I'm telling you, a few days ago, something big happened in the foreign concessions. I told you about it for five or six days at the dock, and they kept chasing me to listen!"
"What news?" asked Lao Niu.
So, Shen Shili told the rumors in Shanghai some time ago. What he said was none other than the part about "The old man in Huangshan knocked on the mountain to suppress the two evil spirits, and the dragon crossing the river captured the three monsters".
As the saying goes, practice makes perfect.
Shen Shili said a lot and had already memorized the passage by heart. His explanation was vivid and fascinating.
Finally, while slightly tipsy, he answered without being asked, "Many people can guess who this Huangshan Old Man is, without me having to tell them. He is Wang Laojiu, the leader of the Axe Gang. But most people don't know who this Crossing the River Dragon is... Hey, I know!"
Lao Niu put down his chopsticks, leaned forward, and asked, "Who is it?"
"This man's surname is Jiang, and like Nong, he is from the north. He also has a brother named Wen." Shen Shili boasted, "They cooperated with Wang Laojiu, and it was all thanks to my help in making the connection. Unfortunately, they didn't believe me when I told them. They also didn't believe me when I said I was from the Green Gang."
"So are you a member of the Qing Gang?"
"I... Of course I am, keep a low profile, keep a low profile."
Lao Niu nodded and then asked, "Who else did you tell about the 'Crossing the River Dragon' incident?"
"I haven't told anyone." Shin Se-ri said with a big tongue, contradicting herself, "I treat this as a business. When it comes to news, there must be some exclusive insider information, so that people will be interested in listening!"
"So you sang about it on the dock for five or six days?"
Shin Se-ri burped and laughed, "Am I stupid? If you want to hear the inside information, you should at least give me some money to buy me a cup of tea, right?"
Then I'll just say it.
At that time, the Axe Gang was making a big push, and the Shilipu Wharf was still the territory of the Green Gang.
In other words, the news had already leaked out after the "robbery" that night.
However, Shen Shili knew very little about Jiang Lianheng and others, and the information was not accurate enough. In addition, in order to attract an audience, he inevitably exaggerated and added fuel to the fire, making his statements half true and half false, making it difficult to determine the truth.
Lao Niu nodded, and suddenly his chest and back relaxed, no longer showing the timid look he had when Da Lao was rushed into the city.
"Brother, are you full?" he asked in a deep voice.
"Oh, brother, why are you in such a hurry?" Shen Shili quickly took two more bites of food and said vaguely, "It's already dark now, where can you find someone? You might as well eat well and wait until tomorrow to look for him!"
The old cow waved his hand and whispered soothingly: "I'm not in a hurry, you eat slowly, and we can set off when you're full."
"Brother, you are a straightforward person!" Shen Shili picked up the wine cup and said, "Come on, come on, drink too, a little drunkenness can relieve all worries! It doesn't matter if you can't find your relatives, Shanghai is full of gold, as long as you work hard, everything will be fine!"
Lao Niu ignored him, raised his hand to call the waiter, and asked for another pot of good wine, but he didn't drink it himself and gave it all to Shen Shili.
The two of them ate and talked, and after about an hour, they were about to leave.
Having earned a lot of cash and eaten and drunk a lot today, Shin Se-ri was in a good mood. However, he was obviously drunk and his steps were unsteady. When he walked, it was as if he was walking on stairs on flat ground. As he walked, he couldn't help laughing.
"Brother, let's stop here today."
With the help of the soft moonlight, Shen Shili looked at the wasteland in the suburbs of the county and the dark river in the distance, and couldn't help asking: "Hey, where do you live? I have to go back to Shiliupu. How can I find you in the Ming Dynasty?"
"Brother, you've taken the wrong road." Lao Niu pulled his arm and said, "This is Shiliupu."
"Nonsense! I've been wandering around for 20 years. I grew up drinking the water of the Huangpu River. I can find my home with my eyes closed. That place is obviously the outskirts of the county!"
"No, you are seeing it wrong. This is the right way." Lao Niu insisted.
Shen Shili was drunk and felt that he had gone in the wrong direction, but he had reached the outskirts of the county upstream of the river, and there were few people around.
"Brother, are you done drinking?" asked Lao Niu.
Shin Se-ri hiccuped and said, "It's fine, it's fine, brother, you really went the wrong way, it should be over there..."
"It's okay if you drink it. You won't feel any pain if you drink it."
"What are you talking about!"
Shin Shili squinted her eyes and was suddenly startled by a gust of evil wind blowing in front of her. She barely opened one eye, but it was too late to dodge.
I saw Lao Niu raising his right fist and smashing it down.
Before Shin Se-ri could react, he heard a dull "bang" and the right half of his face suddenly went numb. He did not stagger, but instead both feet left the ground at the same time, and he flew into the air in an instant, then landed heavily in the weeds.
Lao Niu is right.
After getting drunk, it did not hurt as much, but the blood from my nose flowed faster.
"Big brother, what are you going to do?"
Shen Shili sobered up immediately, lying on his back in the withered grass, stretched out his hand, and said in panic: "Nian, yan, let's talk it over!"
Lao Niu had nothing to say. He walked straight over, stepped on Shen Shili, then leaned down, grabbed his collar, and punched him twice.
Shen Shili's face was bruised and swollen, his eyes were full of blood, and he could not see anything. He just turned over instinctively, grabbed the dry grass roots in front of him, and struggled to crawl forward.
Seeing this, Lao Niu raised his knee and stomped hard on Shen Shili's ankle.
There was no sound, only a wailing sound.
"what--"
Shin Se-ri screamed in agony, but before she could even scream for a moment, she felt her scalp tighten, and someone pulled her hair and turned her over.
Then, Lao Niu squatted on Shen Shili, pressed the boy's arms with his knees, pinched his throat with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and used his own weight to press him down.
Shin Shi-ri was like a fish leaping onto the shore, struggling desperately. At first there was a "cracking" sound in his throat, which then turned into a "hissing" sound, and soon even the faint breath could not be heard.
Gradually, the two eyeballs became more and more bulging, as if they were about to burst, and the tongue unconsciously stuck out and tilted to one side.
His face turned increasingly purple, and he could not utter a single sound.
It seemed like a long time had passed, but it also seemed like just a moment, and Shin Se-ri finally became quiet.
At this time of year, the evening breeze blows, and the dead grass floats, just like layers of small waves adding fuel to the fire.
After a while, the old cow sniffed Shen Shili's breath, then slowly stood up in the grass and looked around for a moment.
Clouds hunt the moon, wind blows the stars, and river water beats against the table. There is no trace of any living thing.
Then, he found a few larger stones around and stuffed them into Shin Se-ri's shirt, tightened the collar and belt, then carried it on his back and walked towards the river with one foot deep and one foot shallow.
The old cow's figure became farther and farther away, and finally disappeared.
After an unknown amount of time, there seemed to be a faint sound of falling water coming from the upper reaches of the Huangpu River.
(End of this chapter)
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