Republic of China

Chapter 342 Earning Money

Tianjin is a port city that has suffered a lot but hides its scars beneath its glamorous appearance.

Since the First Opium War, Tianjin has been captured repeatedly. The so-called strongest coastal defense artillery of the previous dynasty was no different from paper at that time. It was not that the artillery could not fire far, nor that the bullets did not hurt, nor that the Chinese people were good at civil wars but good at foreign wars.

It was the kneeling diplomacy of the imperial descendants of the previous dynasty in the face of the rapid advance of Western powers.

In addition to the foreigners, Tianjin was also greatly harmed by its own people. On the eve of the Renzi Rebellion, Yuan Shikai created a mutiny in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei in order to find an excuse not to go south to negotiate with Mr. Yixian. In order to make it more realistic, Yuan Shikai issued a secret order to withdraw all the guards from Tianjin, allowing the soldiers and bandits to burn and loot, and countless Tianjin residents lost their homes.

Tianjin has suffered a lot for more than half a century, but when people discuss this city, they tend to discuss which country's concession has the more beautiful architectural style.

Indeed, due to its critical geographical location, many countries chose to set up concessions in Tianjin, which subtly influenced the city's appearance. Many street scenes have a strong exotic style, which illustrates that everything has two sides.

Such a prosperous, huge and rich ancient city is naturally a mixed crowd of good and bad people, Chinese and foreigners, and all kinds of people.

Beneath the bright and beautiful scenes, there are always undercurrents and bloody storms.
For example, after midnight on this day, in the uninhabited area of ​​​​Tianjin South City, a woman's shrill scream was heard from a tobacco kiln, but it did not attract many people outside the kiln's attention. After all, in this area, anything can happen.

Soon afterwards, a car stopped at the entrance of the kiln, followed by a dozen ferocious-looking thugs. Seeing this, people on the street quickly retreated, fearing that they would be chopped to pieces by others.

A man of medium build with a face as black as gold paper got off the car, walked into the opium kiln unimpeded, and came to the private room where the incident occurred.

The host had been waiting there trembling, as if he would wet his pants pocket at any moment. He was not only afraid of the person coming, but also of the state of death of the body in the private room.

"Master Hai, Master Hai, I really don't know what happened."

The visitor said nothing, staring at the corpse on the couch. The private room was still filled with the aroma of burning opium, and the residual heat of the pipe was still there.

But the body was completely cold, and the death was extremely miserable. The entire human skin was gone, leaving only muscle tissue and internal organs. However, the person who came was a ruthless man who had experienced life and death on the bloody streets many times. It was obvious at a glance that the skin was not torn or cut off by external force, as if it had disappeared out of thin air.

"Call over everyone who has come into contact with Dashan tonight. Also, where did you get this batch of opium from?"

"This"

The boss hesitated. After all, some things involved so many things that even a single word could lead to one's death on the street.

But he knew that the man in front of him was not easy to deal with either, so he could only bite the bullet and whisper, "Master Hai, don't you know? In recent years, most of the opium in Tianjin comes from Shanghai, and the goods from Shanghai basically have to go through Taikoo Wharf."

"Understood." The man called to his men, "Send someone to send an invitation to Yuan Wenqiu. On the eighth day of November, when the snow is light, I will treat him to a drink at the Astoria Hotel."

He said he was inviting the host to dinner, but when the host heard this, he could no longer hold his crotch and peed his trouser pocket.

Are the two most ruthless groups in Tianjin ready to fight head-on? I'm afraid there won't be corpses everywhere.

Times are tough and times are tough.

This year, the Central Plains is suffering from drought, floods, and locusts.

If it was just a natural disaster, the common people could grit their teeth and continue to dig for food in the soil, trying to survive the disaster year.

Add to that the man-made disasters, and there is simply no way to survive. The western and southern parts of Henan Province are filled with war, and the rest of the place is even more chaotic, with bandits aplenty. More than half of the ten people are forced into desperate situations, and can only survive by "eating" each other.

In desperation, Zhao Sanyuan and others could only cross Huayuankou back to the north bank of the Yellow River, and then head northeast along the Weiyun River to Tianjin. At least there were not so many beacon fires and gunfire in the north.

It took a lot of time to travel around on this journey. By the time I saw the prosperity of Tianjin, it was almost winter. However, my enthusiasm for coming to the big city was not diminished at all.

Walking on the wide and straight street, you can't see the end at a glance. Cars and rickshaws shuttle back and forth on the road. Shops on both sides are multi-story buildings. Various billboards are dazzling. The commercial atmosphere is strong. It is hard to imagine how beautiful the neon street scene will be at night.

"Big cities are different. Although they are not as good as the capital, they are almost the same as our Fengtian City, right?" Liu Mangfan really reacted like an old farmer entering the city. He felt like he couldn't wrap his head around it and wanted to enjoy the 360-degree panoramic view.

As brothers, Zhao Sanyuan and his friends didn't have the courage to point it out to him.

Are you looking at the street view?
Are you looking at a fashionable modern girl?

But it must be said that the girls in Tianjin do have a unique temperament. No matter whether they are pretty or not, they walk like proud white swans.

Lu Xiucai is different.

At this moment, they happened to arrive at the Jintang Bridge, which was full of steel romance. He pulled Lao Kang aside to explain how awesome the bridge was.

Jintang Bridge connects the two sides of the river and the sea. People come and go on the bridge, and there are boats everywhere under the bridge. The water transport is extremely developed, and it seems that there should be many docks nearby.

Next to the bridge, there is a very eye-catching red building. Zhao Sanyuan couldn’t tell what country’s style it was, but it looked quite beautiful. Later, he found out that it was the headquarters of Tianjin Police Station.

"Master, where shall we stay?"

Mo Wenshan, who was dozing off on the donkey cart, had no interest in all this dazzling array of things. The old liquor he got from somewhere in Ba County two days ago was so good that even the old man with a good alcohol tolerance couldn't resist it and had to take a nap after drinking half a pound.

Perhaps it was the cold wind blowing on the bridge that brought back Mo Wenshan's past memories. He sat up and looked at the bustling Haihe River. He lit his old pipe and began to puff out smoke. He didn't know what he was thinking about. The corners of his mouth smiled lightly with rare tenderness.

"Master? Master, where are we going now?"

Mo Wenshan was brought back to reality by his young apprentice's lack of tact. He said unhappily, "You brought me here, so you decide for yourself."

"But I have never been to Tianjin. Lao Kang has been here, but he said that Tianjin has developed too fast in recent years and many places are no longer available."

"You are here to find the Anqing Gang, not to enjoy the scenery. Why do you want to stroll around until the New Year? Just finish your business and leave."

Zhao Sanyuan sighed heavily, spread his hands and said, "Master, I've already said that I've never been to Tianjin, so how would I know which way the gate of the Anqing Gang opens?"

"Why don't you just ask passers-by?"

Zhao Sanyuan probably never thought much about his master's instructions, so he walked to the rickshaws beside the bridge. Several rickshaw drivers were eating lunch together and chatting about how many jobs each of them had pulled in the morning.

"Everyone, we want to join the Anqing Gang, the price is——"

Before he could finish half of his words, several rickshaw drivers were so frightened that they spat out their food. They looked at Zhao Sanyuan as if he were the god of plague, and without saying a word, they pulled their rickshaws along the way with sparks and lightning, and soon disappeared in the endless stream of people.

Zhao Sanyuan tried to find a few more rickshaw drivers, but the results were similar. He couldn't help but sigh, "Are all the drivers in Tianjin so crazy? They won't even try to make money."

It's impossible to reach the destination directly, so let's do the next best thing.

A fragrance blew in with the breeze. Zhao Sanyuan looked and found several female students in school uniforms walking towards him, chatting and laughing with each other while holding books in their arms.

"The ways of the world, the ways of the world, Lao Kang and Lao Liu always tell me that I must understand the ways of the world."

Zhao Sanyuan muttered to himself, hesitating whether he should give birth to the older sister or the younger sister. After all, she was about the same age as him, and calling her a different one might have a counterproductive effect.

While hesitating, several female students noticed the strange behavior of the people in front of them.

Tianjin is a place where all kinds of people gather, but the female students seemed to have never seen anyone dressed like this.

The patchwork clothes were all colorfully patched, yet clean and tidy.

His hair was messier than a bird's nest, but his exposed skin was spotless and very clean.

There was a bronze gong hanging around his waist and an ancient sword dangling across his back, making him look like a night watchman or a monkey trainer.

It's weird anyway.

Zhao Sanyuan successfully attracted the attention of several girls.

Of course, appearance is the most important thing. They all think Zhao Sanyuan's dead fish eyes are so charming.
"Hello sir, are you having any troubles?"

A female student with pigtails mustered up the courage to speak first. She had a quiet temperament and a few freckles on her face. Although she was not very beautiful, she was still eye-catching without makeup and in her azure school uniform. "I want to ask you something, but I don't know whether to call you sister or sister."

After a brief silence, there was a burst of laughter.

Several female students did not expect such an answer.

The girl with pigtails covered her smile with a book, unlike some of her classmates who were so unrestrained.

"From your accent, you must be from outside the Great Wall, right? Tianjin is really big and it's easy to get lost. What do you want to ask? We can answer all your questions."

"I want to go to the Anqing Gang."

!!!

The atmosphere took a turn for the worse.

The girls' smiles froze instantly, and they subconsciously stepped back to keep some distance from Zhao Sanyuan.

Zhao Sanyuan was mentally prepared for this. He estimated that the Anqing Gang had a great influence in Tianjin. As they were gangsters, ordinary people would definitely stay away from them.

The pigtailed female student frowned and her tone became serious.

"You seem to be about the same age as us, and you are well-mannered. You are at the peak of your career, as vigorous and energetic as the rising sun. Why do you want to degenerate and go down a path of no return?"

"Hey? I'm not going to join. I'm just going to do something."

"Having anything to do with those evil people is equally despised."

"Girl, your habit of talking to yourself is not good. It can easily hurt people's feelings. I advise you--"

The pigtailed girl handed a pink flyer from her book to Zhao Sanyuan. "In order to cultivate good talents, our school has newly opened an auditing program. As long as you pass the preliminary exam, you can audit some courses. Sir, I sincerely advise you not to go astray. As young people of the new generation, you and I should stay away from evil and do our part for our future."

After saying that, he left with several classmates, and the fragrance gradually faded away.

Zhao Sanyuan stood there, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, thinking that this girl was either too stubborn or too naive.

"Hmm, Nankai University? I seem to have heard from the scholar that it is a top-notch university. Unfortunately, I won't be able to catch up."

What is it like to go to school?
Sometimes Zhao Sanyuan would start to daydream.

Maybe good, maybe bad.

But what is certain is that he likes his current life very much, with a master and brothers.

Just as Zhao Sanyuan was feeling emotional, he suddenly felt a surge of undisguised sharpness.

He turned around immediately and grasped the hilt of the knife with his backhand.

Where the female students originally stood, there was a young man in shorts. The most noticeable thing about him was his short hair. If a fly landed on it, it would be pricked to death. His hair quality was really damn good.

"Is there something?" Zhao Sanyuan asked in a bad tone. The other party's hostility was too obvious. If he really wanted to fight, he wouldn't mind stabbing him a few times and then kicking him into the Haihe River.

The crew-haired young man put his hands in his pockets and sneered, "You are quite brave, kid."

"What do you mean?"

"Xiao Ya, that's the girl from Nankai University with pigtails. Are you obsessed with her? Oh, don't say I didn't warn you. Stay away from her immediately, or else don't blame me for being rude."

Zhao Sanyuan suddenly realized what was going on. He looked at the direction the female student left, then looked at the young man with a crew cut. "Birds of a feather flock together. Why do you two have the same problem? You keep talking to yourself without even figuring out the situation? Come on, I see you look dissatisfied. Let's find a place where we can't see each other and have a fight."

Unexpectedly, the young man with the crew cut made a 180-degree turn in his attitude. He suddenly became shy and awkward, grinning foolishly.

"Do she and I really look like a couple? My friend, you have a very sharp eye. Judging from her accent, she is from another place, right? Come on, let me take you to a restaurant!"

???

Zhao Sanyuan is a little bit confused.

I wonder if all the young people in big cities are crazy?

I'd better stay away from you, so as not to be infected.
Little did he know that Zhao Sanyuan's words hit the young man with a crew cut hard in his heart. In the blink of an eye, he had already thought of seven or eight names for his and the goddess' children.

When I came to my senses, there was no trace of Zhao Sanyuan.

After searching for a while without finding it, he suddenly slapped his forehead and cursed himself, "Damn it, I almost forgot to go to Nanshi to fight with Wang's pot guys, don't miss the time."

Zhao Sanyuan returned to the other side of Jintang Bridge, but found nothing. Lao Kang and others were leaning against the donkey cart and eating delicious stewed meat.

"Didn't you hear anything?"

"Don't mention it."

"It's okay. The old man has given us a way."

"How to say?"

"We're almost out of money, so we have to find a way to earn some. The old man said there's a no-man's land in South City where there's no tax on setting up stalls. Let's go there to earn some money and find out about the Anqing Gang."

Speaking of the lawless area of ​​Nanshi, the 1920s was the period of its fastest development. It may not be more prosperous than the Capital Bridge, but it was definitely the number one den of brothels that operated day and night.

There are many explanations for why it is called the "Three No-Man's Land". The most famous ones are that no one cares about burying people at random, fighting, and cheating. It is a real grey area.

The no-man's land developed too rapidly, expanding larger and larger, and gradually formed the South City.

There are many sheds here, and countless people perform outdoors, including storytelling, drum singing, shadow puppetry, magic tricks, and crosstalk, while the martial arts include swallowing swords, wielding knives, splitting bricks, and breaking rocks.

There were also many fortune tellers, people selling fake medicine and powerful pills, and barbers. Of course, there were also opium dens and brothels everywhere.

An ordinary person could spend a month here and never see the same performance twice, provided that they leave as soon as possible before nightfall, otherwise they will see the other side of the lawless place at night.

Zhao Sanyuan and his companions found a big willow tree to set up their stall. They did not prepare a sign in advance and just took turns sitting there. The four big characters "Seek good fortune and avoid evil" written on the bluestone slab in front of them served as their sign.

Not far away there was a colleague named Zhang. His banner was extremely boastful, with eight great skills written in large letters on it.

One can tell which field a person goes to among scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans; two can tell whether his parents will interfere or not; three can tell how many brothers he has; four can tell whether his wife is virtuous or not; five can tell whether he will have children or not; six can tell good or bad luck; seven can tell his fortune in doing things and making money; eight can tell his life appearance.

In comparison, Zhao Sanyuan's side is much worse.

However, as he had just arrived, he was interested in seeing what his colleagues were doing.

Soon, a famous young man sat down opposite Master Zhang and asked, "Is this fortune-telling accurate? What do you think of our brothers?"

This man has a ruddy complexion and delicate skin. He wears a small hat, but is dressed in traditional clothes. He wears round-framed glasses and is a little thin. I don't know if he has been drained by his good life. He is followed by two followers.

Zhao Sanyuan looked at him and was amused. He thought, you country bumpkin, how can you ask like that? Any experienced person would have at least dozens of tricks to answer you. Besides, your Beijing accent is too strong, plus your dress and temperament, I can guess most of it without even calculating.

Stupid people with lots of money will never be short of money. Why don't you blame me for this injustice?
But Zhao Sanyuan didn't notice that when the man with glasses sat down, Mo Wenshan, who was dozing off in the donkey cart, suddenly straightened up with a puzzled expression. He sucked his fingers to feel the wind, and calculated quickly with his other hand, much faster than Kang Muang.

"It's really a waste of time. I just came here to set up a stall, and I even ran into him?"

(End of this chapter)