20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 731: Dead Water Ripples
"I said, what on earth do you think?"

In the Jiang family's bedroom, Hu Xiaoyan looked at the two ancient paintings on the table, frowned for a long time, and finally couldn't help complaining.

The situation happened just as Fangyan had expected. That night, when Jiang Lianheng returned to his mansion in the north of the city from the insurance company with antiques, calligraphy and paintings, Hu Xiaoyan's face looked a little strange.

She did not immediately accuse him because Jiang Lianheng also brought home a blue and white porcelain pen holder to give to Jiang Chengye.

Jiang Chengye was a sensitive person, and Hu Xiaoyan was afraid that if she said too much, it would cause the child to worry, so she always endured it and did not argue with Jiang Lianheng. It was only after dinner, when the couple returned to the bedroom and closed the door, that she could not help but complain a few words.

"Three hundred and eighty dollars in cash, just to buy these two paintings. Do you think your family has too much money to burn?"

Hu Xiaoyan made a living by begging when she was young. She was very practical in everything and was completely unable to understand the value of these collectibles, calligraphy and paintings. Even if she did, she could not agree with it.

Although Jiang Lianheng used to be a fan vendor, that was a learning process and was a deliberate arrangement by Jiang Chenghai in order to hone his character instead of relying on begging on the streets for a living. Naturally, his attitude towards money was different, especially in recent years, as he had become accustomed to spending money lavishly and had become even more extravagant.

Faced with his wife's accusations, he didn't take them to heart at all, thinking that they were just the petty behavior of women.

"Well, it's just buying two paintings. I didn't sell all my belongings. Look at you. Is it necessary to be like this?"

"How could it be possible? Haven't you heard that the official bank has started to tighten its exchange business for foreign currency?"

“I heard it in dialect.”

"Then you still buy it?"

"I just heard about it!" Jiang Lianheng was a little impatient, "Besides, I already promised to buy it. You can't let me swallow back what I said, right?"

"You shouldn't have just heard about it!" Hu Xiaoyan immediately retorted, "You are the head of the family, but you didn't even know this little news and went to negotiate business with others. You deserve to be the one being taken advantage of!"

"Bullshit! Shopkeeper Chen said these two paintings are good things. I might be able to sell them for eight hundred dollars!"

"Everything is different, and you are not from that field, so why are you joining in the fun?"

"Okay, okay, don't nag me anymore. I don't know shit. I'm just a nagging woman!" Jiang Lianheng got angry and cursed, "I'm the head of the family after all. I go out to buy something and come back to see your face?"

Hu Xiaoyan was also unhappy, slamming the table and retorting: "Jiang Lianheng, you are not conscienceless, tell me yourself, other than this time, when have I ever controlled you when you bought things outside?"

"No matter what, it's my duty. If I intervene, it's just asking for trouble. I usually spoil you too much."

"you--"

"What's the matter? You want to throw things? Don't want to live together anymore? If you can't live together, then get a divorce. Divorce is fashionable now. If you want to pack up and leave, then I have no objection. Hurry and make room. There are female students waiting in line outside!"

"Jiang Lianheng, I think you've had this intention for a long time!"

Sure enough, as they talked, the couple started arguing again.

Otherwise, why call them a couple?
A husband and wife are like two mouths. Besides eating and drinking, they talk. Since they have to talk, they are bound to stumble and bicker with each other.

Hu Xiaoyan was so angry that her face turned pale and her whole body was shaking; but Jiang Lianheng just lit a cigarette and ignored her.

The room was quiet for a moment, and suddenly there were soft footsteps outside the door.

"Who is it?" Jiang Lianheng shouted angrily, "If you want to come in, just come in. Why are you dawdling outside? What are you doing?"

After a while, Yingzi's voice came from outside the door, saying timidly: "Master, it's time for Madam to take medicine."

Jiang Lianheng was startled, turned his head and glanced at Hu Xiaoyan, pursed his lips, and responded coldly: "Come in!"

Yingzi pushed the door open with her toes, picked up the tray, and hurried to Hu Xiaoyan. She placed a bowl of dark brown medicine on the table without daring to speak.

Hu Xiaoyan lowered her head and waved her hand. Yingzi understood and left first.

The bedroom became quiet again.

The medicine on the table was probably very bitter, and the smell alone was enough to make people disgusted, but Hu Xiaoyan drank it all in one gulp as if it were cold water, without even frowning.

As the old saying goes: Poor people cannot do without fortune-telling stalls, rich people cannot do without medicine bottles, and neither poor nor rich people can do without pawnshops.

It seems that the Jiang family is no exception.

Hu Xiaoyan's health was getting weaker and weaker, and everyone in the family could see it, including Jiang Lianheng.

As soon as he saw the medicine, his anger was almost gone.

Jiang Lianheng still held the bowl, took a sneak peek at the bottom, and asked nonchalantly, "What's wrong?"

Hu Xiaoyan said nothing.

Jiang Lianheng couldn't help but be curious and asked again: "What medicine did you drink?"

"poison!"

"Tsk--then why didn't you drink it earlier?"

"I'll save you some money." Hu Xiaoyan adjusted her empty skirt and said calmly, "After all, I do nothing all day and just wait for the ready-made food. How dare I ask for anything else? Don't let me be thrown on the street one day, then I'll just have to wait to die."

"Oh, that's enough, just this once, I won't buy it next time!"

Jiang Lianheng put out his cigarette and leaned back in his chair, seemingly unwilling to continue the argument.

Hu Xiaoyan's expression also calmed down, but she didn't intend to muddle through like this, and then asked again:

"Do you know what the current market price of Fengpiao is for cash?"

"How many?"

"Three dollars and two."

Jiang Lianheng was slightly surprised. He could exchange three yuan and twenty cents of Fengpiao for one silver dollar. "Is this the highest price since Fengpiao was issued?"

"Otherwise, how can you say that you, the boss, are not doing your job!" Hu Xiaoyan snorted coldly, "Recently, the price has been the highest almost every day and has never dropped!"

Jiang Lianheng had no way of defending himself.

He really didn't care much about things in the accounts. On the one hand, he was usually careless and often negligent due to his personality; on the other hand, it was because his wife managed the family accounts in an orderly manner and he had a sense of dependence on her, so over time, he became lazy.

Hu Xiaoyan asked: "Do you still remember that since the end of last year, I felt that the price increase was a bit strange?" "I think... maybe... I have some impression." Jiang Lianheng felt more and more guilty as he spoke.

Hu Xiaoyan rolled her eyes and continued, "At the end of last year, the market price of cash was only 1.8 yuan. By the end of the year, it had risen to more than 2 yuan. After the Chinese New Year, it dropped twice, and then it never dropped again. It has been rising all the time, from 2.5 yuan to 2.8 yuan, and now to 3.2 yuan. How long has it been?"

"If that's the case, the increase is indeed a bit fast."

"A little bit?" Hu Xiaoyan said confidently, "This is just the beginning, it will continue to rise in the future!"

"Have you also heard that the government bank is going to issue an additional 50 million Feng notes?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

Hu Xiaoyan was quite relieved when she mentioned this matter. She nodded and said, "It was Meng Duo who reported the news to our family."

"Who is Meng Duo?"

"Tsk, that kid we sent to school back then. There were a total of ten or so people, and he was the most promising one."

Jiang Lianheng suddenly realized what was going on, and then asked, "I haven't heard about this official bank yet, how did he know about it first?"

Hu Xiaoyan explained, "He graduated from Fengtian Tongwen Commercial School two years ago and came to my house to ask for help. I thought he had educated himself, so I thought we should not waste his time. So I used my connections to get Nanfeng to arrange for him to work in the Municipal Government Office. I think he was in the Commercial Port Bureau. I heard he did a good job in the past two years and was even promoted!"

Jiang Lianheng nodded. No matter what, it was a gratifying thing to have a family member in the officialdom.

Hu Xiaoyan then praised, "Thanks to his timely notification, the family was able to prepare in advance. Otherwise, how could Nanfeng cash out 5,000 yuan at this critical moment!"

"Why didn't you exchange more?"

"That's right. For everything, we have to go through those officials first before it can be our turn. This is a lot. I asked Nanfeng to discuss with the official bank and exchange another 5,000 yuan at the end of the month. The president of the official bank said that he would arrange it in advance next month and give us another 20,000 yuan!"

"Look, you have arranged all this, why should I worry about it?" Jiang Lianheng complained with a smile.

Hu Xiaoyan said: "I have made all the arrangements, but you are messing with me!"

"No, no, I know everything now, how can I deliberately make trouble?" Jiang Lianheng leaned forward and suddenly lowered his voice and said, "I think you are overreacting. Over the past ten years, my family must have saved up dozens of large yellow croakers, and we have also reserved cash in the basement. Why make a fuss? Don't scare yourself."

"What are you thinking? That's the family's savings, we can't touch it easily." Hu Xiaoyan immediately dispelled Jiang Lianheng's idea, "The most important thing now is the business in various places at home. Most of the public accounts on the counter are still based on Fengpiao. Now that Fengpiao is depreciating, if one day we can't make ends meet, we have to prepare cash in advance."

Jiang Lianheng was speechless.

He also knew that this matter was difficult to handle, but Marshal Zhang insisted on issuing more Fengpiao. What could the merchants and citizens in the provincial capital do?
In fact, the simplest way to deal with it is that from today onwards, all businesses on the Jiang family counter will declare to the public that they only accept cash and no notes.

But that is simply impossible to achieve. Even if the guests are willing to cooperate, the provincial government will definitely not agree.

Fengpiao was the legal currency in the three northeastern provinces. Logically speaking, if any merchant dared to refuse to accept Fengpiao, the government could accuse him of "disrupting finance."

Of course, if those small businesses with unique shops do this, the government will probably be too lazy to catch them, and it would be impossible to catch them.

But the Jiang family was different. Their business was too big and too diverse, ranging from insurance to rent collection, from brothels to gambling dens, from hotels to theaters. They owned insurance companies, Xita Apartments, Huifangli, Heshengfang, Songfengzhuyun, Huiyou Club, Chunqiu Theater, Shenshui Sand and Gravel Factory...

No matter where the business is, it is a well-known and big business.

Jiang Lianheng is one of the representative figures of Fengtian's business community. He also serves as vice president of the Fengtian United Chamber of Commerce and honorary chairman of the Fengtian United Trade Union.

If someone of his status dared to post a notice at the door of his shop saying "We only accept cash, no Fengpiao", it would be tantamount to openly questioning the financial order of the provincial government, defying provincial government laws, and discrediting the value of Fengpiao. Finally, he would be accused of colluding with foreign countries and squeezing the blood and sweat of the people of Guandong. Then the good days of the Jiang family would be over.

There are big difficulties.

Precisely because Jiang Lianheng was Marshal Zhang's eyes and ears, he should have supported Fengpiao unconditionally. Even if there was an abyss ahead, he had to jump in and there was no way back. Otherwise, it would be disloyalty and betrayal.

Jiang Lianheng was helpless and could only shake his head and sigh: "Old Zhang is the same. If so many Feng tickets are suddenly issued, it would be strange if the market is not in chaos."

Hu Xiaoyan said, "Xiaobei wrote to me the day before yesterday, saying that his troops were being mobilized. It was not convenient to say it clearly in the letter, but the Security Command had heard that the Fengtian Army was probably going to continue to expand southward, and the additional Fengtian notes were probably going to be used as military expenses."

"Without the backing of real money, printing paper notes is useless!"

"Why don't you understand? Lao Zhang is gambling. As long as the Fengtian Army wins the battle on the front line, why worry about where to collect money? In other words, as long as the Fengtian Army can keep winning, Fengtian tickets can survive this hurdle!"

"That will take time, right? Otherwise, if it continues to fall at this rate, I'm afraid the Fengtian Army will collapse before it wins!"

Jiang Lianheng sighed and said thoughtfully: "In short, after the 50 million notes are issued one after another, it will be enough to keep the family assets from shrinking."

"You are too optimistic!" Hu Xiaoyan immediately poured cold water on him, "Let me tell you, our family's assets will definitely shrink. It's not just us, all the business families in Fengtian are the same. It's just a matter of how much loss. If it's just a little loss, it's not bad. I'm afraid..."

"Could it be any worse?"

"Well, I hope not. I hope... Anyway, you should pay more attention to it recently. It's not convenient for me to go out, so you should ask for information frequently."

Hu Xiaoyan looked worried, and it seemed that she was not only worried about the gains and losses of money, but also had concerns in other areas.

She didn't say anything, because it would be useless to say anything. There are always some things in the world that cannot be avoided, and you can only deal with them as they come...

In the following days, Jiang Lianheng actually followed Hu Xiaoyan's advice. Every day after waking up and having breakfast, he would carefully read the newspaper and check the market price of exchanging foreign currency. He also made appointments with several old friends in the official circle, either in groups of three or five or in private, to try to get some behind-the-scenes information.

After that, he prepared a generous gift and went to visit the head of the official silver bank in the three northeastern provinces in person. He promised many benefits, and only then did he increase the amount of cash that the Jiang family could exchange.

Man proposes, God disposes.

I thought that after making all these preparations, there would be nothing to worry about, and that if there was anything to worry about, it should be the provincial government.

Unexpectedly, after getting up and having breakfast that day, I went to sit in the living room for a while, intending to read the news in the newspaper to kill time, but I found that the coffee table was empty, without even a newspaper.

"East Wind——"

Jiang Lianheng stretched his neck and asked, "Hasn't the newspaper been delivered yet? What time is it now? The morning paper will become the evening paper later."

Zhang Zhengdong had just sent Jiang Ya to school and didn't know the situation, so he stood up and said, "I'll go out and ask."

Unexpectedly, as soon as he pushed open the door of the mansion, he saw Chuanghu rushing into the yard in a hurry. Without even having time to say hello, he approached, lowered his head, and then crawled in from under Dongfeng's armpit.

"My boss——"

"Here I am!" Seeing that he looked flustered, Jiang Lianheng stopped teasing him and asked directly, "What's wrong? What's the matter?"

Chuanghu was panting, wiped his mouth, and said hurriedly: "The workers in the provincial capital... the provincial capital printing factory are calling for a break!"

(End of this chapter)