20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 861 The rumbling wind
The anti-Japanese protests continued the following day.

The Japanese's intention to acquire Chinese shops was made public through the newspapers, which immediately aroused public anger, and the calls to boycott Japanese goods intensified.

Subsequently, the circumstances of the Shao family father and son were also gradually revealed.

Thus, amidst the massive wave of protests, another demand was added: "Release the Shao family father and son."

Seeing that all sectors of Fengtian were united in their hatred of the enemy and were shouting slogans to punish the traitors, people like Manager Feng, who didn't want to sign the contract in the first place, would definitely not sign it again; and those shops that had already signed the contract were now going back on their word one after another, and went to the Commercial Bureau to complain and ask the authorities to put pressure on them to cancel the transfer contract.

As a result, the commercial and rental rights of Japanese expatriates in Fengtian naturally became extremely difficult.

After several rounds of negotiations, the Japanese side gradually split into two factions.

The Kwantung Army, which was preparing for war, was considered a representative of the hawks and advocated using force to reclaim its "legitimate" rights. However, the consulate and other civilian officials claimed that the overall situation was more important, because the empire's plan for Manchuria was still based on a gradual approach, so they should make concessions for the time being and try their best to avoid escalating anti-Japanese sentiment in the Far East.

The two sides debated repeatedly, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement.

Marshal Zhang employed a balancing act, internally mediating factional conflicts within the Fengtian Army, avoiding alienating the old guard while also being wary of completely offending the new generation of generals; externally, he used public opinion as a pretext to delay the implementation of the Manchurian-Mongolian Five-Route Treaty, simultaneously using the alliance with the North to coerce Japan, and frequently contacting British and American forces to try to attract the attention of Western powers and thus counterbalance Japan's control over the area outside the Great Wall.

At the same time, Lao Zhang spent a lot of money to bribe cabinet members in Japan in order to suppress the Kwantung Government and try his best to maintain Japan-Fengtian friendship in order to obtain more weapons aid.

These measures did indeed suppress the arrogance of the Kwantung Army, forcing the Kwantung Government to compromise and agree to postpone the implementation of the secret agreement between Manchuria and Mongolia.

That being said, dissatisfaction among the Japanese military community towards the Fengzhang Group was growing day by day.

All of these things need not be mentioned further.

In short, the skies above Fengtian are turbulent and unpredictable, and the city's streets and alleys are rife with undercurrents...

As for Qin Huaimeng, although he always hid in his secluded residence in Sun Dew Square, he still heard a lot of public opinion.

Especially after the riots at the South Market yesterday, the phone in the house kept ringing off the hook, and brothers kept coming back to deliver messages. We were incredibly busy.

Without exception, all the news that reached him was bad.

Lao Ye and his companions have disappeared without a trace, and several shopkeepers on Bagua Street and Xue Street have broken their contracts one after another. Everything is going wrong, and they are finding it difficult to move forward.

Qin Huaimeng barely slept all night, and in just one night, his energy and spirits were greatly diminished.

I endured until dawn, and finally managed to get a short rest, but the phone rang again.

"Jingle Bell--"

"Hello?" Qin Huaimeng quickly answered the phone, hoping to receive good news.

However, the voice on the receiver poured cold water on his hopes.

"Master Qin, Manager Ma has also broken the contract."

"Who?"

"Manager Ma!" came the reply from the receiver. "It's Manager Ma who runs the gold shop on Snow Street!"

"Isn't he a Manchu?" Qin Huaimeng frowned. "The Japanese promised to help them restore their country, and that old man was the most enthusiastic one a while ago. Why is he going back on his word now?"

"Uh, well..." the person on the other end of the line stammered, "They said that if a Manchu becomes a traitor, the crime is compounded. I didn't understand before and you misled me. Now I realize that the Republic of China was better. Anyway, I just went to the Commercial Bureau to complain, and they said that we were forced to buy and sell, and that it had nothing to do with them."

"I fucking—"

Qin Huaimeng was about to curse, but after thinking about it, he decided against it and just sighed heavily before asking, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes!" The voice on the other end of the line paused, seemingly hesitant to speak. "Mr. Qin, I really don't know how to tell you this... You! You are now the number one wanted criminal in Fengtian Prefecture! Your rickshaw shop in the east of the city and those two shops in the south of the city have both been seized!"

"What did you say?"

"I saw the notice just posted by the government office very clearly, there's no mistake!"

"What crime were they charging me with?"

"He who treasons and betrays his country shall be executed on the spot!"

Qin Huaimeng's vision went black, and he suddenly slumped into a chair, muttering incoherently, unable to utter a word for a long time.

When he didn't respond on the other end of the phone, she softly called out "Master Qin, Master Qin" twice.

Qin Huaimeng snapped out of his daze and asked, "Am I the only one on the list?"

"Yes!"

"Why are the others getting away with it?" Qin Huaimeng asked indignantly. "Many of them were clearly willing to transfer their shops, so how come they all withdrew?"

The voice on the other end of the line sighed, "Mr. Qin, yesterday afternoon, the yamen sent people to investigate. They visited all seventeen shops. You know, you haven't been showing your face much lately, so they panicked and immediately gave the same story. That's how they pinned all the blame on you! If you could go to the Commerce Bureau and confront them—"

"Bullshit!" Qin Huai cursed. "In this situation, if I went into the city, would I even come out alive?"

"Yes, yes, yes... Master Qin, things are not looking good lately. I think you should stay in the foreign concession for now and not come out!"

"I'm afraid it's not safe to stay in the concession..."

"No, Officer Saito has a good relationship with you!"

Qin Huaimeng was silent for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Never mind, if you don't have anything else, you can hang up now!"

Unexpectedly, the person on the other end of the line said, "Mr. Qin, there's one last thing... Um, I'll be leaving after I finish talking to you!"

"Leave?" Qin Huaimeng immediately became alert. "Where are you going?"

"I have never seen the beautiful landscape of our motherland. I just bought a ticket and am going to go inside the pass to take a look."

"Are you going to run away?"

"No, no, I just... I just went out for a walk, I'll be back in a couple of days!"

Upon hearing this, a vein bulged on Qin Huaimeng's cheek. He gritted his teeth and tried his best to soften his tone, saying, "Stay here, and I'll give you fifty silver dollars. It'll be delivered right away!"

But the person on the other end said, "Mr. Qin, I'll give you sixty yuan, please let me go!"

"One hundred silver dollars!" Qin Huai slammed his hand on the table and stood up. "Tell me where you are right now, and I'll send someone to deliver it to you!"

"Master Qin, you don't need to send anyone to deliver it to me. I'm not a newbie in this business. I've seen plenty of people who would rather die than make money over the years, and few of them have ended well. Money is money! You have to be alive to spend it, right? This is the last call I'm making to you. Don't blame me. This is the end of our relationship."

"Hey?"

Qin Huaimeng held up the microphone and shouted, "Hello? Speak up! You fucking say something! I'll send someone to deliver the money to you right now!"

However, no matter how much he roared, all he got in response was a dial tone. "Fuck him!"

Qin Huai swung the receiver and slammed it repeatedly onto the table, then angrily threw it onto the telephone.

Just as he was about to turn around and go downstairs, he saw that Shou Yunzhang and the others had secretly climbed up at some point and were standing at the door, staring straight at him with a strange look in their eyes.

Qin Huaimeng's heart skipped a beat, but his face remained expressionless. He then slowly sat down and asked in a casual tone, "Oh, you've come too?"

Shou Yunzhang rubbed his hands together and stepped forward to ask, "Master Qin, you seemed quite agitated just now. Did something happen?"

"It's nothing, don't worry!"

"That's good, that's good... So, everything's going quite smoothly for us?"

"Of course, everything is under my control!" Qin Huai crossed his legs, dusted off his clothes, and took out a cigarette from his pocket. "You guys work hard with me. Once I become the boss, I will definitely not treat you unfairly. From now on, the Bagua Street business will be yours, Xiaoxiguan will be yours, and Mr. Shou will naturally be in charge of turning the tables!"

The room was quiet, and the people's reactions were rather indifferent.

Qin Huaimeng chuckled to himself, then picked up the matchbox on the table, steadily struck a match, lit a cigarette, and took a few deep drags.

"Alright, if there's nothing else, you can go now! I'm going to have a smoke here and call Officer Saito later! I'll call you when I have any news!"

They looked at each other, but no one moved.

Qin Huaimeng feigned confusion but asked, "What, is there something else?"

Shou Yunzhang smiled and said, "Hey! It's nothing really. We were just bored downstairs, so we decided to come up and take a look! If you want to call Officer Saito, Mr. Qin, just do it! We're here, so we can give you some advice!"

"Yes, yes, we should discuss things together. We can't always let Master Qin suffer alone!"

"Of course not, one cannot accept a reward without merit!"

"We haven't done anything yet, and Master Qin is so generous. If he were to give me control of Xiaoxiguan, wouldn't I feel unworthy of it?"

As they talked, everyone found a place to sit down.

Their words were full of politeness, but their body language revealed their true intentions—everyone demanded the right to know!

After all, I received one phone call after another last night.

Even though Shou Yunzhang and the others did not fully understand the current situation, they intuitively sensed that things were changing and that the situation was not looking good.

"Mr. Qin, why don't you call Officer Saito?"

"We'll have to fight sooner or later, so let's not say anything more!"

"Sigh, I have no idea what Saito and the others are planning. I'll just have to call and ask!"

After a few moments of lively discussion, the crowd suddenly fell silent, their gazes fixed on Qin Huaimeng, and they stopped talking.

Qin Huaimeng felt a chill run down his spine. He slowly finished his cigarette before placing his hand on the telephone and saying, "Alright, I'll ask Hou Er right now!"

Unexpectedly, at that moment, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from downstairs.

"Boom boom boom——"

The footsteps quickly climbed the stairs and headed straight for the room.

Qin Huaimeng knew that a brother had come to deliver the news, so he hurriedly got up and was about to raise his hand to stop him, but he was too late.

Before Zhang Shuo could even enter the house, the big-mouthed guy started yelling, "Master Qin! Where is Master Qin? Something's wrong, something's wrong!"

Qin Huaimeng couldn't help but curse under his breath.

At the same time, Shou Yunzhang and the others had already asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"

Zhang Shuo rushed into the room, but upon seeing Qin Huaimeng's expression, he hesitated, unsure whether he should reveal the news in public.

However, Shou Yunzhang and the others had already heard the words.

At this point, trying to have a private talk behind closed doors would be tantamount to trying to cover up the truth, and the brothers would naturally not agree.

Qin Huaimeng had no choice but to wave his hand and say, "Speak! We're all family here, we should discuss things together!"

Zhang Shuo had previously gone to Hou Chuanyan to inquire about the attitude of the Japanese Police Department, and naturally brought back a lot of information. He nodded hurriedly and said, "Master Qin, I just ran into Hou Er, and he told me that it seems like Lao Dou and his gang are going to cause trouble!"

"What trouble?"

“Last night, Li’s men went to Hou Er to complain, saying that Lao Dou’s gang was acting suspiciously, returning to the Chinese territory in the middle of the night, and it seemed like they were preparing to surrender!”

"Old Dou surrendered?" Shou Yunzhang chimed in. "Has he lost his mind? Jiang Lianheng almost died at his hands, how could he possibly let him go?"

"I don't know about that. That's what Whistle Li's people said, but there's no evidence."

"My god, what are you talking about without any evidence?"

"Does it matter whether there's evidence or not?" Zhang Shuo cursed. "What's important is that Whistle Li and the others are now convinced that Lao Dou is planning to surrender, and Sky Eagle is even preparing to break up the partnership. The three families are already on the verge of war and are about to fight. And you still want me to ask for evidence?"

Everyone was dumbfounded and hurriedly asked, "The Jiang family hasn't been wiped out yet, so why are they fighting amongst themselves?"

"Who the hell knows?"

Zhang Shuo spread his hands, pointed out the window, and said, "The three of them just entered the city yesterday. They know more about what's going on in the city than we do. They probably heard something, right?"

"Oh no, oh no!" The morale of the troops wavered, and they shouted to each other, "We're doomed! Lao Ye and the others are missing, the transfer of those seventeen shops can't go on, and now the three in the banner are fighting amongst themselves. What the hell are we going to do?!"

Shou Yunzhang waved his hand, patted his chest, and hurriedly said, "It's alright. It's inevitable that there will be some friction when the flag is raised online. We can talk it out. I'll go and have a talk with them!"

"Okay, I'll go too!"

"Yes, yes, take me with you! I know both the Li and Dou families well. With me here, no one will fight today!"

"I can hold my liquor, trust me. There's no problem in this world that can't be solved with a few drinks. If there is, then we'll have two!"

The crowd jostled and pushed their way downstairs. In the blink of an eye, three or five people went to break up the fight. The rest of the people didn't leave, but they looked rather hesitant. The reason they stayed was probably because they felt it was safer here than outside. Perhaps there were some loyal and righteous people among them, but they were few and far between.

Strangely, Qin Huaimeng did not forcibly stop Shou Yunzhang from leading people to "mediate the fight".

Or rather, at this moment, he simply didn't dare to forcibly stop them.

If he doesn't stop him, at least he can maintain the dignity of being the head of the household; if he does stop him, he might not even live to see Jiang Lianheng come seeking revenge...

(End of this chapter)