20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 751: Jianghu Background
Act after careful planning.

After a night of drunkenness, Laizi and his companions rushed to the riverside the next morning.

Yutai Teahouse has a Kunshu hall. Today is the day when the shopkeeper is unlucky. Not long after the door opened, the evil spirit came to cause trouble.

The so-called Kunshuchang is a place where female artists sing, which can be regarded as the characteristic of Yutai Teahouse.

Business has been slow recently. Where it used to be packed with people, now there are only a dozen or so customers. It's not deserted, but it's definitely not busy either.

The female artist on the stage was wearing an indigo cheongsam, holding a clapboard in her left hand and a drumstick in her right hand. Next to her sat a man playing a sanxian, singing a Northeastern drum, Xicheng tune, the piece "Luo Cheng Calls the Guard".

While he was working hard, Laizi and his men broke in.

Everyone hung out together at the riverside and were familiar with each other, especially the old shopkeeper and the female artist. Because Laizi came every day to draw the lottery, the two sides visited each other frequently. At first, no one was surprised, until they saw that there were seven or eight people on the other side, fighting and throwing things, and then they had a vague feeling that they were not friendly.

The beggar stepped over the threshold, glanced left and right, and showed a bad look from the moment he appeared.

The female artist panicked and suddenly lost her tune. She then froze in place, at a loss as to what to do, as if she had forgotten the lyrics.

The audience did not agree. They booed a few times, turned around and looked, then fell silent, with their heads down.

The timid ones were frightened and wanted to pay the bill and leave immediately.

"Sit there!" The kidnapper pointed at the customer in the store and shouted, "I just got here and you want to leave. What do you mean? Do you look down on me?"

"No no……"

The atmosphere in the store suddenly became tense.

Upon seeing this, the old shopkeeper hurriedly came out from behind the counter and greeted them with a smile, "Gentlemen, everyone is here today. Please come over here and take a seat!"

After that, he opened his voice and shouted to the waiter, "Shunzi, stop busying yourself and go make a pot of hot water for Lai Ye and the others first!"

The lair didn't even look at anyone, nor did he obey the old shopkeeper's instructions. He just walked straight to the counter, waving to the customers in the store as he walked.

"Just do what you need to do, it's none of your business!"

"Did you hear that?" The kidnapper chimed in, "Just sing when you need to sing, and listen when you need to listen. What the hell are you looking at?"

No one dared to say anything and pretended nothing had happened.

Gradually, the drum music began to sound again, but it was sung in a bland manner and had lost its previous charm.

The old shopkeeper was not aware of the situation in front of him. He followed Lai Zi to the counter in a daze and asked with a smile: "Master Lai, why are you here so early today? She hasn't finished her performance yet. How about you sit down and wait for a while?"

Laizi seemed not to have heard anything and did not respond. He just stretched his neck to look at the table and saw that a plate of pastries ordered by a customer had not been served yet. He took it up and stuffed it into his mouth without hesitation. While eating, he looked at the female artist singing the drum.

Not only did the old shopkeeper not say anything, he even smiled and said, "Master Lai, please sit down and eat."

"I won't eat it anymore. It tastes cheap."

"That's why you're called an expert. This is indeed a little off. Please take a seat first. I'll ask someone to bring you two more dishes."

"Forget it!" Laizi dusted his hands, turned around, leaned against the counter and asked, "Hey, Old Chen, how's business lately?"

The old shopkeeper clasped his hands together and said with a smile, "Thanks to your concern, although I can't compare to before, I'm doing OK lately."

"Where's your sign?"

Laizi pointed to the wall next to the counter, where several wooden signs were hung, with the prices of food such as tea, cakes, nuts, and noodles with rotten meat written on them.

The old shopkeeper panicked and asked knowingly, "What brand?"

"What sign are you asking me about?" Laizi pointed at the wall. "Old Chen, you are not old enough to be confused. Why are you pretending to be stupid in front of me? There was a sign there at the beginning of the month. Didn't it say 'This store does not accept coupons'?"

"Oh, thank you Mr. Lai for reminding me. The office is undergoing a restructuring recently, so I have already removed the sign."

"Oh, it's good that you've retreated. You need to be more careful next time."

"Yes, yes, if it weren't for..."

"Have you paid the fine?"

The old shopkeeper was stunned. He had guessed the other party's intention in his heart, but he still forced a smile: "Mr. Lai, please don't joke. I sell tea for a small business. If the office issues a notice, I will change it. There is no need to fine me. If I am fined, my work for the past six months will be in vain."

"That won't do!" Lai Zi said righteously, "Ding is Ding, Mao is Mao, if you make a mistake, you must accept the punishment. What's the saying, what's the good thing is small and the evil is small..."

Don't do something small for good, and don't do something small for evil.

The old shopkeeper knew what he wanted to say, but refused to respond. He only begged, "Master Lai, let's not make it public. Look at the neighbors around us. We are not the only one who has hung a sign. Business is not good, and the government is not investigating. Why should we bring this up?"

Laizi said, "Old Chen, this will cause trouble sooner or later. The government doesn't pursue it because no one reported you and you don't have to pay the fine. You are always worried and it's not a good thing!"

The old shopkeeper gave a bitter laugh and thought to himself, I've been working in this teahouse for more than 20 years. Not to mention how popular I am, I've never made any enemies with anyone. Apart from a few scoundrels like you, who else on the street would have the time to go to the government office to report me?

Moreover, for small businesses like Yutai Teahouse, even if someone reported it, the government would be too lazy to investigate. But if someone continued to do bad things and wanted to sue it, the government office would naturally not be able to sit idly by. As long as the officials came, no matter whether they were right or not, they would still have to lose money to avoid disaster.

Thinking of this, the old shopkeeper simply asked: "Master Lai, according to your opinion..."

Laizi said impatiently: "I won't bother you with those nonsense. Just give me ten dollars and I'll cover up this matter for you."

The old shopkeeper's heart was pounding, and he said with a sad face: "Master Lai, don't worry, we can talk about it. After deducting the cost, I can't make ten dollars in cash from this teahouse in a day. Business is not good now, you..."

"Business is not easy to do?" Laizi glared and said, "Then why don't you just stop doing it!"

"I……"

"What are you?"

Laizi said, "Old Chen, let me tell you, this money is not the hush money you gave me, but the hard work of my brothers in helping you settle the matter. You are a businessman, you should know that there are some people in this world who are jealous and can't stand seeing others do well. If they report you behind your back, do you think you will lose?"

The old shopkeeper nodded and said, "But these ten dollars in cash... are a bit too much. Mr. Lai, we know each other after all. For the sake of our past friendship, can you please be flexible and lower the price a bit?"

"Tsk, what friendship do you have with me in the face of such a big issue?" Lai Zi said in a pretentious tone, "Refusing to accept the imperial bill is called defying the provincial government! I'm not forcing you to pay me, if you don't want to give it to me, forget it. If there's any problem later, don't blame me for not warning you in advance!"

After saying that, he called his brothers and turned to leave. Business people are all about peace and harmony, and are used to settling things down. Not to mention the ruffians who come to pick a fight, even if there are ordinary customers who are arguing, the old shopkeeper will usually put on a smile and avoid offending them if possible. Seeing this, he hurriedly chased after him.

"Master Lai, please stay. How about this..."

"Don't give me any nonsense advice. It's ten dollars in cash. Either pay me now or we'll see!"

There is no bargaining in extortion, and any slight concession may be seen as bluffing by outsiders.

Laizi doesn't have many other abilities, but he has learned this "business" by himself. He wants ten dollars in cash and won't accept a penny less.

The old shopkeeper had no choice but to grit his teeth and agree: "I'll take the money, I'll take it!"

Lai Zi and the others were very satisfied. They staggered to the counter with the old shopkeeper to get money. Ten silver dollars fell into their hands. It was such a pleasure to get this money!

The kidnapper said hurriedly: "Brother Lai, this is a business. Let's stop hanging around here and go to Guangyuan Bank."

But Laizi said, "Don't worry, the shop can't be moved, let's take a look around first."

Everyone laughed and ran towards the door.

Before leaving, he turned around and reminded the old shopkeeper: "Old Chen, let's put things in perspective. Tonight, we'll draw the lottery as usual. Wait for me!"

The old shopkeeper put on a smile and sent these plague gods away, but he couldn't help but curse under his breath.

At this time, the waiter came over and asked, "Boss, are they here to extort money?"

The old shopkeeper waved his hand and sighed, "I know you're still asking, go back to work!"

"Boss, you have a relationship with them, right? Why do you do this to acquaintances?"

"What kind of friendship is that? Friendship is mutual. They call you brothers, do you dare to ignore them?"

"But don't you know Mr. Li Sanye? Mr. Li is very kind. Why don't we go ask him? Maybe we can get our money back," suggested the waiter.

The old shopkeeper thought about it and finally gave up.

"Forget it. I'll go and beg Mr. Li San. He will definitely return the money to me, but the question is, can he sit here every day?" The old shopkeeper said, "It's easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with the little devils. If you go to Mr. Li San to complain today, they will find ways to cause trouble for you tomorrow. Let's keep quiet!"

"This is too much of a bully!" The young man was hot-tempered and eager to fight for justice. "I really don't understand. Third Master Li is a member of the Jiang family after all. Why did he bring such a bunch of ruffians with him?"

"Keep your voice down, are you the only one with a big mouth?"

The old shopkeeper put his hands behind his back, walked quickly back to the counter and started calculating with an abacus.

The waiter hurried over and asked, "Boss, am I wrong? We are all brothers of the Jiang family, why don't others do the same as them? Look, the Third Master has never made things difficult for us!"

"What you're saying is that Mr. Li San is a member of the Jiang family and has a salary. Can he be treated the same as those 'in the gang'?"

"So what? Even if we don't compare them to the Third Master, the other famous brothers of the Jiang family have never been like them!"

"You said it too. They are well-known brothers. They are all talented people who have been selected from the 'gang'. They earn a lot of money and are naturally too lazy to do such despicable things."

The old shopkeeper had seen this and had a deep understanding of the ways of the underworld.

In fact, the number of Jiang family's "Xiangzi" has always been maintained at around 50 people. They eat almost all the crops from the farm and don't have to do anything. The Jiang family gives them a salary every month, and it is not a small amount. This was considered "anti-corruption silver" in ancient times.

Everyone has ample funds and has no shortage of money to spend, so naturally they care about reputation and morality in everything and are too lazy to do anything despicable.

However, there are countless people in the Jiang family's "gang". Some of the close ones work in the place; some of the distant ones are scattered in all walks of life, including laborers, hawkers, businessmen, and even government officials.

These people joined the Jiang family in order to avoid being bullied. They usually have their own jobs and earn as much as they work. The Jiang family does not support them in vain. Their styles of doing things are also mixed.

The old shopkeeper shook his head and said, "In the final analysis, it's all because of the recent devaluation of Fengpiao. It's getting harder and harder to make money, so of course those gang members have started to go back to their old ways. Who do you think those gang members are? They're just a bunch of scumbags!"

The guy looked hesitant: "Really? I don't believe it."

"Tsk, you're still too young!" The old shopkeeper sneered, "I'm going to say this today. If the situation in the provincial capital doesn't improve, there will be more and more incidents like today. Before, everyone could make money, and you didn't think it was a big deal. But the harder it is to make money, the more their true nature will be revealed!"

"Boss, isn't that too much?"

"A penny can make a hero fall. When you have no way to make a living, it all comes down to who has the bigger fist."

The old shopkeeper was right.

It is an indisputable fact that Li Zhengxi failed to discipline his subordinates, causing them to become disloyal and sow the seeds of trouble everywhere. However, Laizi and others are by no means isolated cases.

Right now, all walks of life in Fengtian are showing signs of decline, the financial order is out of balance, the assets of many people have shrunk out of thin air, and things like petty thefts have become more frequent. The various "gangs" under the banner of the Jiang family are also eager to try and make some quick money from unconventional means.

Gangs, gangs, the brothers help the Jiang family to strengthen its reputation, so the Jiang family should help the brothers to make money, otherwise who would come to visit the Jiang family?
All problems stem from economic problems.

The chain reaction brought about by the devaluation of Fengtian notes is spreading rapidly in the provincial capital of Fengtian. Everything is changing quietly, including the Jiang family.

The Jiang family has pretended to be respectable people for so many years, and it seems that it is time to show their weakness.

Among all the good men, only one out of ten can survive.

Rotten fish and shrimp are the basic color of the world.

The old shopkeeper had experienced Zhou Yunfu's time as the leader. Not only was he used to seeing the autumn moon and spring breeze, but he was also long past the age of daydreaming about the martial arts world. He immediately raised his chin towards the door and said, "Let them make a scene. If there are no lepers, there will be moles, pockmarks, boils... There will always be people who come to make a scene."

As I was talking, I suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, where did they say they were going?"

"Guangyuan Bank," the clerk asked, "what's the matter? Do you know the owner of that bank?"

The old shopkeeper asked in return: "Have you never heard of the Three Great Families of Fengtian?"

The waiter was young and shook his head in confusion: "I only know that there is a Jiang family in Fengtian."

The old shopkeeper smiled slightly and said, "Well, young people nowadays are blind. Guangyuan Bank is the Su family's business, which means that Su Yuansheng's son is a low-key person who doesn't fight or compete, and doesn't hang around online. They really treat him as a soft persimmon. Wait, they will regret it when they go there."

(End of this chapter)