cicada

Chapter 1361 Cai Harry

Nan Tien Hotel, built in 1927, is six stories high and is the tallest building in Chinatown, Temasek Chinatown, and a gathering place for the upper class of Southeast Asian Chinese.

That morning, more than a dozen Chinese people came to the rooftop veranda of Nan Tian Hotel. They were all heads of Temasek Chinese families and were quite prestigious locally.

With so many important people present, the waiters served tea and cakes tremblingly, and then left backwards.

One of the old men glanced in the direction of the stairs and said to someone in the crowd, "Brother Cai, I heard that your son Harry has passed the Japanese language test and will be working for the Yomiuri Shimbun branch in Japan next month?"

Hearing this question, the man called Brother Cai yawned and said with a hint of dissatisfaction: "You young man don't know the seriousness of the matter. If you offend the locust army, the Cai family will be in trouble."

Everyone present was secretly laughing. Everyone in Temasek knew that the real boss of the Cai family was the eldest son who had just turned twenty. The Brother Cai in front of them was addicted to gambling and was not liked by the family. He was only the nominal head of the family.

As he was talking, a young man dressed in a full English suit walked out from the stairs. It was Cai Harry. Everyone present greeted him and several people stood up to greet him.

"Harry."

"Mr. Cai."

Amid the chaotic greetings, Cai Harry sat down with a smile, without even looking at his father. It was obvious that the relationship between the two was not harmonious.

Cai Harry glanced at the Chinese green tea on the table, frowned slightly, called the waiter and asked him to bring a cup of Indian black tea.

Those who noticed this scene burst out laughing. This Mr. Cai's temperament is exactly the same as his grandfather's. He admires Western culture very much and does not act like a Chinese at all.

It is said that no matter how hot the weather was, Mr. Cai's grandfather had to wear a suit and a bow tie when eating dinner, and the table had to be neatly laid out with Western-style knives, forks and plates.

Moreover, unlike other Chinese families who send their children to Chinese schools, they insisted on sending Tsai Harry to an English school, and all communication at home was in English.

Facing the meaningful looks from everyone, Cai Harry remained calm and said calmly, "Gentlemen, does anyone know the details of Mr. Mei? What is his purpose in summoning us here?"

Upon hearing this, everyone started talking about the news they had received, and the content was very complicated.

"Mr. Mei is the cousin of the Nanyang Cheng family's eldest daughter's fiancée. His family is quite wealthy."

"Yes, as early as the previous dynasty, Mr. Mei was a comprador for foreign companies such as Swire and Jardine Matheson. In recent years, he has invested in a large number of industries in Europe and the United States."

"What you said is all old news. The Mei family has already acquired German citizenship and has close ties with German high-level officials. They have even set foot in South America."

"Why did I hear that the Mei family has a better relationship with the Americans?"

"Your information is inaccurate. The Mei family fleet undertook a large amount of transportation business for the Japanese Navy."

As they talked, these people actually started arguing, but one thing was certain, that is, the Mei family had connections and powerful strength overseas.

Later, someone else revealed a piece of news that the Mei family’s factory in South America was in urgent need of workers, and Mr. Mei’s visit to Temasek was to recruit local overseas Chinese.

A trace of gloom flashed in Cai Harry's eyes. Overseas Chinese are the foundation of Chinese families. Without the Chinese, Chinese families would lose their bargaining chips with the colonists and would be at the mercy of others.

Just as he was about to say something, several men in short shirts walked quickly into the veranda and occupied strategic positions such as corners and windows.

Soon, a Chinese youth about the same age as Cai Harry appeared at the stairs.

Zuo Jun, who went by the alias Mr. Mei, glanced around, his gaze lingered on Cai Harry for a moment, and he bowed and greeted the representatives of the Chinese forces.

No matter what they thought in their hearts, everyone, including Tsai Harry, stood up to return the greeting, and the atmosphere at the scene was peaceful.

After everyone sat down again, Zuo Jun explained his purpose. Just like what the man just said, he did come for the overseas Chinese, but the reason was not entirely because the Mei family lacked workers.

"Dear seniors, what do you think of the Japanese purge?"

The so-called purge was a planned persecution by the Japanese against Temasek and the Chinese in Southeast Asia.

To date, nearly 40,000 Chinese have been killed and countless others have been detained.

When hearing the questions asked by Zuo Jun, most of the Chinese representatives looked unhappy, but some did not care, such as Tsai Harry and his son.

Father Cai was somewhat dissatisfied with Master Mei's behavior and was the first to speak: "This is all because of the Da Army. If they had not followed the British to guard the Malay Peninsula, how could the Japanese attack the Chinese?"

At the beginning of the Pacific War, approximately 2000 to 4000 Chinese enlisted to join the defense of the Malay Peninsula.

The army was named after its commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Daly, and was called "Da's Army" or "Xinghua Volunteer Army."

After the Japanese occupied Southeast Asia, they used the excuse that the Da Army was resisting the Japanese army to suppress the local Chinese. But is this really the case?

Zuo Jun did not say anything, but took out a Japanese document and its Chinese-English translation and passed it to everyone for circulation.

This document records the Japanese army's specific arrangements for the purge operation, and the date at the end of the article is clearly before the war broke out.

After reading it, Mr. Cai shut his mouth. The Chinese representatives who shared the same idea with him also remained silent. Only Harry Cai still had an indifferent attitude.

After taking a deep look at his peer, Zuo Jun said to everyone, "We shed the same blood. We cannot watch the Chinese suffer. The Mei family is willing to get in touch with the Japanese and rescue these compatriots. What do you think?"

Normally, as they are all Chinese, the Chinese representatives should have agreed immediately, but the result was just the opposite. The scene fell into deathly silence.

Cai Harry's lips curled up slightly. This Mr. Mei was really a nerd. He wanted the Chinese family to risk their lives to help without any benefit. They were not running a charity.

Zuo Jun sighed and took out some photos again. The photos showed the scenes of Japanese executing Chinese people.

Dozens of Chinese were tied together with ropes. The Japanese soldiers killed the victims one by one with machine guns or bayonets. It was a horrific scene.

Some Chinese children were thrown into the sea and drowned, and the Japanese soldiers who watched laughed. This is why Zuo Jun came to Temasek. Whether for the post-war political influence or to save his compatriots, he had to come this time.

Perhaps the blood connection overcame the fear of death. After a long time, two people with red eyes raised their hands and expressed their willingness to help the Mei family rescue the arrested Chinese.

But that was all. Other Chinese representatives remained silent. After all, those patriotic overseas Chinese had fled before the Japanese army occupied Temasek, such as Mr. Chen and the Cheng family who donated money to the National Government.

Currently, the Chinese families remaining in the Japanese-occupied areas either have business dealings with the Japanese or have defected to the Japanese. It is not easy for two people to stand up.

Zuo Jun was a little disappointed, but he still bowed to thank everyone. After chatting for a while, he left with his guards.

Back in the car, the agent in charge of protection asked, "Master Mei, will they really help?"

"I don't know. Let's do our best and leave the rest to fate."

Zuo Jun shook his head and looked out the window. There were several Chinese people kneeling on the side of the road. A group of Japanese soldiers with rifles were standing behind them, laughing wildly.

The car drove for some distance when several gunshots were heard suddenly from the place they had just passed. Zuo Jun closed his eyes in pain, his nails leaving several deep bloody marks on the palms of his hands, but he was completely unaware.

On the other side, inside the Nantian Hotel.

All the Chinese representatives had left, leaving only Cai Harry sitting alone in the veranda. A servant of the Cai family bent over and asked in a low voice.

"Master, do you want to send someone to teach Mei a lesson?"

Cai Harry was reading an English newspaper seriously. The servant didn't dare to stand up because he didn't get a response, so he had to continue bending over. After an unknown amount of time, Cai Harry slowly spoke.

"Don't use our people, let those natives do it. The Cai family has supported them for so many years, it's time for them to repay the Cai family."

"Send another box of gold to the Japanese military police and ask them to move out later tonight."

The servant replied yes and bowed and left.

The veranda returned to silence. Cai Harry put down the newspaper and raised his face with a sinister look.

He didn't know why, but he felt a deep sense of threat from Mr. Mei. If that was the case, he would have to strike first.

As for the relationship between the Mei family and foreigners and Japanese, Cai Harry felt that it was not a big problem. As long as the Cai family could provide enough benefits, the other party would not turn against them for a Chinese.

The British needed the Tsai family to occupy Temasek, and so did the Japanese, because no benefit could be gained from killing alone.

Relying on the colonists to develop and strengthen themselves is the Cai family's long-term plan.

In the future, when the time is right, the Cai family may have the opportunity to take over the old position.

In short, no one can destroy the Cai family's plan and threaten the Cai family's rule over the Chinese in Temasek. Cai Harry threw the newspaper on the table with a fierce look in his eyes.

That night.

Zuo Jun was in his room counting the accounts of the Zuo family's shops across Southeast Asia when suddenly it became noisy outside the window.

The accompanying young spy pushed the door open, pulled him out with an anxious expression, and gave an explanation.

"Mr. Mei, there are natives making trouble outside. Please follow us to the safe house."

"The natives are causing trouble?"

These words startled Zuo Jun, and he immediately realized that someone was attacking him.

The natives didn't cause trouble earlier or later, but they started causing trouble when they arrived at Temasek. There must be a problem.

He subconsciously thought of Mr. Cai. Although there was no evidence, Zuo Jun was sure that the person behind the natives was the other party.

Zuo Jun followed the spy out of the back door of the hotel and was about to get into the car when a glass bottle flew from a distance and hit him on the head.

With a loud crash, glass fragments smashed Zuo Jun's forehead, and blood instantly dyed his forehead and collar red.

Seeing this, the young spy who was about to drive pushed Zuo Jun into the car, took out his pistol, and pulled the trigger at the culprit.

"Bah~"

A gunshot pierced the night sky of Temasek.

An indigenous child slowly fell down holding his chest. The surrounding indigenous people became even more crazy and rushed over, trying to surround the car.

The young spy ignored everything and stepped on the accelerator hard, directly crashing through the crowd blocking his way and quickly escaping from the encirclement.

Looking at the taillights of the car gradually receding, the natives became furious and turned to looting nearby shops.

The riot lasted for more than half an hour until the Japanese military police arrived.

When Cai Harry received the news that Master Mei was missing, he suddenly felt a little regretful. He didn't regret targeting Master Mei, but regretted not doing it himself.

There is a saying that goes "If you don't kill the snake, there will be endless troubles." Cai Harry pondered for a moment and called his confidant.

A few hours later, a servant of the Cai family died of a sudden illness, and several chiefs among the natives also died.

Temasek returned to calm, as if everything was normal, but unseen, the Military Control Commission began to take action.