Go back to the past and be a schoolboy

Chapter 233 Charge: Eating Too Much

Shanghai, Pukou.

After putting Wang Tiechui and others in place temporarily, Cheng Nuo changed into casual clothes alone and quietly came to the pier, wanting to feel the pulse of the times for himself.

He found a tea stall by the side of the road, a pot of Broken Guanyin, a stack of pumpkin seeds, and a newspaper. These were all his outfits.

"Master, your craftsmanship is really good, especially this tea, although it may not look amazing, but it has a special taste when you drink it in your mouth." Holding the teacup, Cheng Nuo looked left and right, sincerely to the master Thumbs up: "If I'm not wrong, this should be your exclusive secret recipe?"

"Hey, if you don't dislike it when you drink it." The master chef raised his arm, wiped the sweat on his forehead with the sleeve on his arm, and said with a silly smile: "You said the secret recipe is because you flatter me, it's me and my old lady If you are messing around at home, maybe after a long time, you will be familiar with the work at hand."

Not satisfied with one bite, Cheng Nuo pursed his lips again, smashed it and said, "360 lines, you can get the number one scholar, and you have to be at the Juren level at the very least to set up a tea stall. Order some tea, buy it back and bring it to my friends to taste."

"Hey, sir, what you said really pissed me off. Usually, the workers at the nearby docks drink whatever they want when they are tired and thirsty, but I have never seen a person in a robe like you come over, let alone you praise me. those words."

The continuous praise made the master a little panicked, and his back couldn't help but bend.

Taking off the hat and holding it in his hand, the master chef took the initiative to add a portion of boiled peanuts to Cheng Nuo: "If you think highly of me, then don't buy it, just take it from me as much as you want, it's worthless in the first place. Suimo, why do you need to spend any more money, so that no one can poke my spine if you say it? Give me money, absolutely no way!"

Judging by the attitude of the old master, it is obvious that he is not joking.

Naturally, Cheng Nuo wouldn't directly touch the mold. He took the peanut and nodded with a smile, "Thank you, but you've been in this business for a long time. I think all the people who come to drink tea are regular customers."

Talking about the business that he has been doing all his life, the lines on the master’s face immediately softened a lot: “When I was young, I worked as a waiter in a teahouse, and later married a wife and had a baby. The salary was not enough, so I came out to do business I started a small business, and then happened to arrive at Pukou, and in a flash...let me do the math..."

Before the master chef could count, there were tea guests from other tables shouting: "Old Litou, add another pot..."

The old master put on his hat and immediately waved at the other party: "Okay, let's go."

"Sir, I'll go over here first, and I'll talk to you later." Carrying the water bottle, the master did not forget to greet Cheng Nuo.

"Master, you are busy first, don't worry about me." It was just a small talk, how could it delay people's business, and the apology in the conversation was not taken to heart at all.

The master chef was also honest. After refilling the water for the guests, he didn't even have time to put down the teapot, so he walked over to Cheng Nuo again.

"Sir, where were we talking just now?"

"Oh, speaking of how long you've been in this business."

"Let me think about it, from the time I got married for two years to when my grandson is in elementary school... I guess it's been 40 to [-] years."

"Then it seems that master, you can be regarded as a successful child now. Why do you still do this when you are old? Running down with a water bottle, I guess your waist can't stand it?"

"I've been working all my life. I'm not used to it. Although I don't earn much, I can still buy some odds and ends for my grandson, and I can save some coffin books. Plus, the old neighbors have been drinking my tea for so long. If they quit, where will they go to drink..."

With the effort of two pots of tea, Cheng Nuo learned how ordinary people in Shanghai live now through the family situation of the old master.

Although life is very difficult, most of them are still silently fighting for their small family.

As for this "big family", I have long been used to being disappointed, so I don't need to mention it.

"Woo~"

With a whistle, a passenger ship stopped at the pier.

Before the tourists came down, rickshaw masters, small merchants, and newsboys hurriedly surrounded them, shouting louder and louder, lest their voices be suppressed by their opponents, and their business would fail.

At this moment, Cheng Nuo's eyes suddenly passed through the crowd and stopped on a young man of seventeen or eighteen.

A coarse cloth bag was slung over his shoulder, his hands were clenched tightly, and his eyes were all blank.

You don't need to polish it, you know that the young man is coming to Shanghai for the first time.

It was not only Cheng Nuo who also noticed this scene, but also the boys hovering around the edge of the crowd.

Seeing meat appearing, he quickly surrounded it.

"Young man, where is your home? How old is this year? Have you never been to Shanghai before?"

"I... I'm from Chencaipu. I'm a pig this year. I don't know how old I am this year. It's my first time traveling far."

A young man who has never seen battles in a big city feels a little empty in his heart.

What people ask, what he answers.

Although it looks silly, isn't that what those babes want.

"Young man, do you want to eat meat? Come with brother, and I will guarantee that you will have some meat." The leading boy took the initiative to put his arms around the young man's shoulders, looking familiar.

"I have a big appetite, and meat is too expensive, so just enough steamed buns." Although the young man is simple-minded, his brain is still there: "Brother, what do you do, don't we know each other?"

"I didn't know him before, but now I know him?" In the eyes of the boy at this time, the young man was like a walking ocean, and he said enthusiastically, "As for what brother does, of course he makes a lot of money."

"I don't want to make a lot of money, I just want to have a full stomach..." The young man resisted a little, shook his hand and backed away.

But the boys were willing to give up the meat to their mouths, the leader of the boys winked, and then several people took the initiative to surround them, obviously with bad intentions.

But what they didn't expect was that although the young man looked weak, he was actually full of strength.

Without the slightest bit of skill, all these people were overthrown.

There were too many onlookers, even though the leader was beaten to the point of grinning his teeth, he still said harsh words: "Little brat, you wait, we're not done with this matter, don't run if you have the guts..."

The young man was a little aggrieved at this time: "It was you who didn't talk well and did it first. I'm still hungry and have no strength."

He was already angry, but when he heard this, Yazi became even angrier. He lost all face and fainted in his younger brother's arms.

I don't know if it's true or not, but it doesn't matter anymore.

"duo~"

"Get out of the way, get out of the way, public affairs, what's in the way? If you want to go to work, get out of here!"

With a hurried whistle, the patrolmen in black leather are about to rush over.

At this moment, the young man was still standing there stupidly, as if he hadn't reacted yet.

Cheng Nuo on the side thought it was a pity, squeezed through the crowd to the young man, pressed his felt hat down to cover his face, and said in a low voice, "Hey, young man, your relatives are in trouble, let me pick you up for dinner first, and you still stand there stupidly." What are you doing there, come with me."

The young man's eyes lit up immediately: "Did brother Heidaner ask you to pick me up?"

Cheng Nuo raised his eyebrows: "Who else can there be besides him, hurry up and leave."

The young man immediately grinned: "I knew Hei Daner would be promising, and I wouldn't forget me, I knew it."

It was really easy to trust people. Cheng Nuo would sneak peeks behind him from time to time while leading the way, and this young man followed him closely.

After finding Cheng Nuo looking at him, he even took the initiative to grin, which made Cheng Nuo feel embarrassed.

"By the way, I don't know your name yet. What's your name?"

"Oh, big brother, I don't have a big name. My parents call me Huzi, and my elder brother can call me Huzi." Huzi rubbed his head and smiled innocently.

"Okay, Hu Zi, what are you doing in Shanghai?" Cheng Nuo slowed down a lot as he was a little far away from the accident, and he took the initiative to stand side by side with Hu Zi, "Are you here to seek refuge?"

"No, I just ate too much at home, and my father would eat too much if he disliked me. The few acres of land at home were not enough for me to eat, so he drove me out." Speaking of this, Huzi showed a trace of grievance on his face. : "I told my father to eat less later, but my father just doesn't believe it."

Cheng Nuo took a look at Huzi. He was tall and thick, with a height of nearly two meters. He probably would eat a lot for a meal.

With the output of the current era, it is really difficult to feed such a foodie.

"Then how did you come to Shanghai?" Cheng Nuo asked curiously.

"I was wandering around the pier and saw a boat over there. I wanted to go up and see if I could find a job that would give me enough food. The people above saw that I was strong, so they let me wait. Shoveling coal in the boiler room, followed it to Shanghai.”

Huzi snapped his fingers, thought for a while and said.

Fearing that Cheng Nuo would not believe it, he stretched out his hand, and the dark nails proved what he said was true.

But halfway through the conversation, I felt a little wronged: "The people behind thought I ate too much, so they drove me down..."

Puffing a laugh, Cheng Nuo couldn't help laughing, thinking that this is so delicious, people can dislike it like this, but when he said this, he became confused: "Didn't you just say that you came to find black eggs? Why are you being rejected now? Chased down?"

Huzi opened his eyes wide, and said a little puzzled, "Yes, I came from Shanghai, and Brother Heidan is in Shanghai."

Cheng Nuo still didn't understand: "Is there any connection between these two things?"

Huzi said confidently: "So I came to Shanghai to join Heidaner."

"No... Oops, I'm confusing you." Cheng Nuo stopped, took a deep breath, looked at Huzi and said seriously: "But you didn't inform Heidan before you came to Shanghai, how did he know that you wanted to come to Shanghai?" Here?"

After talking, Huzi finally came to his senses, nodded and said, "Brother, you are right, Brother Heidan doesn't seem to know that I have come to Shanghai..."

Good guy, really good guy.

Cheng Nuo breathed a sigh of relief in his heart, he didn't expect to wait here for him.

But before he could react, Huzi suddenly looked at Cheng Nuo vigilantly and said, "Didn't you say Brother Heidan asked you to pick me up? Did you just lie to me? I hate people lying to me the most!"

Cheng Nuo was immediately stunned and opened his mouth, not knowing what to say.

Here comes the magic, after Huzi finished asking, he suddenly grinned again and said: "It must be that when I was about to go ashore, I yelled at the pier a few times, so Brother Heidan heard me, and asked you to pick me up, brother, I Right?"

Cheng Nuo swallowed, not knowing what to say, but he didn't want to continue lying to him, so he changed the subject and said, "Do you know where Brother Heidan works now?"

Huzi frowned and thought for a while, then said unsurely, "It seems to be called Jiangnan... Jiangnan Shipyard, I just want to come and join him."

Hearing this name, Cheng Nuo was instantly inspired.

The Jiangnan Shipbuilding Institute is well-known, and it is the earliest and largest government-run ship repairing and building enterprise in our country in modern times.

If China's modern industry started from military industry, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau is the originator of my country's military industry.

Since its birth, it has been called "the first factory in China".

Here, the Chinese built China's first steam-propelled warship "Hui Ji" and the first iron-clad warship "Jin" by themselves, and developed China's first rifle, first steel cannon, and first pounderless gun. Pyrotechnic powder, the first furnace of steel in China was smelted, etc.

By the 19s, Jiangnan had developed into the most technologically advanced and well-equipped machine factory in China and even Asia.

During the period, it went through various historical periods such as the late Qing Dynasty, the Beiyang government, the Japanese occupation, the rule of the Nationalist government, and the founding of New China.

Later, the Qing government separated the shipbuilding part from Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, and established Jiangnan Dockyard separately.The Manufacturing Bureau focuses on weapons production, while the Jiangnan Shipyard focuses on ship construction, which is known as "the division of the Bureau and Dock" in history.

Since then, the factory has changed from a closed production for the navy to an operation for domestic and foreign markets, and the reform has been quite successful.

If you have to use data to speak, in the 1865 years from the beginning of its establishment in 1905 to 40, Jiangnan only built 15 ships, and in the 1905 years from 1911 to 6, Jiangnan built 136 ships with a total displacement of 21000 tons.

Now that the United States is participating in World War I, there is an urgent need to order a batch of transport ships.

At that time, the production of domestic shipyards in the United States was at full capacity, so they turned their attention to the Far East, seeking the feasibility of entrusting Japanese and Chinese shipbuilding companies to build transport ships for the United States.

After investigation, the US embassy and consulates in China believed that the Jiangnan Manufacturing Institute already had good shipbuilding facilities and capabilities, so the US government agreed to entrust China to build four 1918-ton ocean-going transport ships. In [-], that is, this year, it signed a contract with China. shipbuilding contract.

And Cheng Nuo's idea after returning to China was Jiangnan Manufacturing.

Starting from scratch and going step by step is too slow. Not only will it fail to meet Cheng Nuo's expectations, but it may also miss this important development window, and it will be troublesome to catch up by then.

Therefore, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Plant, which has both strength and financial strength, appeared in front of Cheng Nuo.

It just so happened that the United States was still using the relatively backward Harvey steel. The Krupp steel plate technology that Cheng Nuo and the others had obtained was just in line with the needs of the other party.

After thinking for a while, Cheng Nuo said, "At present, the Jiangnan Manufacturing Institute adopts three systems for our workers: temporary work, contract work, and apprenticeship. I happen to be familiar with it, so I will accompany you to take a look.

The [-]-ton ship is really worth looking forward to! "

(End of this chapter)