money player

"I made a special trip here. It was only after you reminded me that I realized that hairy crabs are also a good business."

"Sir, do you want to do business in Yangcheng Lake hairy crabs?"

"I won't do it myself, I'll let others do it." Xian Yaowen picked up the teacup and said slowly: "Like you, many people follow me to work, and some family members don't have their own livelihoods, I have to think about them.

I talked to the waiter before you arrived. We had a crab feast here last fall. A table of steamed hairy crabs cost 500 yuan, and Shaoxing rice wine cost another 100 yuan. The supply was in short supply, and the hairy crabs we imported were not enough to sell."

"Hey, guys, maybe you're bragging. How many people can afford 600 yuan per table?"

Xian Yaowen chuckled, "You've been a dancer for so many years, you'll never be short of prostitutes. There are plenty of people willing to pay for a good meal."

"How many gangsters are there in Taipei? There may be more than 2,000, right?"

"Even if there are 100 people, if one person eats at one table a year, that's NT$80 million. If we assume the restaurant's water is NT$20, there will be NT$6 left, and if we assume the profit is 2%, that's NT$1666. This business only needs two or three people to participate, NT$ per person, which is NT$ a month. This income is already very impressive in Taiwan.

This number does not include the US military. The lowest-ranking private in Taiwan earns $85 a month, while a sergeant earns $150, a captain earns $350, and a major earns $500. They can afford whatever they want to eat.

"I was mistaken. I didn't expect the business you want to run is so small."

"Sixty thousand yuan a year in profit is already a lot, not to mention that this business can be expanded..."

Before Xian Yaowen finished his words, the door of the box was pushed open, and Lucas Charlotte and a gorgeously dressed woman walked in.

"Adam."

"Lucas."

Lucas sat down next to Xian Yaowen without any intention of greeting his female companion.

Xian Yaowen glanced at the woman's face. The woman's eyes were very clear and her appearance was relatively pure, not much like a prostitute.

"Adam, who is this lady?" Lucas lit a cigarette and gestured to Liang Saizhen.

"Pearl, my employee." Xian Yaowen pursed his lips at the woman, "Your girlfriend?"

"Maybe." Lucas shrugged and said in awkward Mandarin: "Lian Qing, I met him in the bathroom."

After hearing Lucas' introduction, Lian Qing's face turned pale.

After the outbreak of the Korean War, Truman ordered the Seventh Fleet to enter the Taiwan Strait. Since then, American military clubs have been established in many places, and some entertainment venues serving the US military have emerged. The Taiwanese version of Pan Pan came into being. What they do is the same as Pan Pan, but the name is different. In Taiwan, they are called bar girls or American military ladies.

Lian Qing is obviously an American military lady.

"Lucas, be a gentleman to the ladies."

Xian Yaowen stood up, walked to Lian Qing and pulled out a chair for her, "Ms. Lian, please sit down."

Lian Qing gave Xian Yaowen a grateful look and sat down gracefully.

Sitting back in his seat, Xian Yaowen put his hand on Lucas' shoulder and asked, "Are you used to Chinese food?"

“Yeah.”

"You order."

"uh-huh."

He asked the waiter to come into the box, Lucas ordered the food, and Xian Yaowen talked to Lian Qing.

"Ms. Lian, I'm Xian Yaowen."

"Hello, Mr. Xian." Lian Qing nodded slightly in greeting.

"Miss Lian, please feel free to order whatever you want. Don't be polite."

Lian Qing twisted his fingers under the table and said, "I can eat anything."

"Oh." Xian Yaowen nodded, "If you are not used to it, I will add more dishes later."

He felt that Lian Qing was resistant to talking, so he said nothing more and turned to talk to Liang Saizhen.

After a while, Lucas ordered the dishes and patted Xian Yaowen on the arm, "Adam, did you meet Joan later?"

"I had dinner with her yesterday." Xian Yaowen turned his head back.

"Are you having fun?"

"not bad."

Lucas lit up a new cigarette, "Is things going well in Taiwan?"

"No problems for now." Xian Yaowen leaned close to Lucas's ear and asked, "Are there often transport planes flying over Okinawa?"

"uh-huh."

"Is anyone smuggling anything?"

"of course."

“How much can you carry at one time?”

“Not too much.”

Xian Yaowen glanced at Lian Qing and said, "I'm going to ship some high-end ingredients that need to be kept fresh. Give me a few names and I'll send someone to contact them."

"Don't bother, I can introduce you."

"No, I'm a legitimate businessman. I don't do illegal business." Xian Yaowen took out an envelope from his pocket and placed it on Lucas' thigh. "You must not do anything that violates military discipline. Someone will write to you regularly in the future."

Lucas picked up the envelope, felt the thickness of the sediment, and grinned, "So, what is this letter?"

Xian Yaowen spread his hands and said, "Gentleman's letter, please be polite to ladies in the future."

Lucas glanced at Lian Qing casually and whispered, "Adam, some things are not what you think... Uh, it's not convenient for me to tell you."

"I'm not interested in secrets." Xian Yaowen sat up straight and said in a normal voice, "Help me get a few red temporary certificates. Pearl needs to go to the American military club to look for business."

Lucas made an OK gesture, "Speaking of business, the advisory group needs a food supplier, are you interested?"

"I'm not interested, but I can exchange with someone else. How long will this opportunity last?"

"Two weeks."

"It's up to Major General Chase?"

"uh-huh."

"OK." Xian Yaowen looked at the knocked door of the box and watched the waiter take out the dishes from the tray and arrange them on the plate. "Lucas, are you married?"

"My son Leonardo."

"Leonardo? Is your wife Italian or German?"

"Germans." Lucas was surprised. "Why did you guess Italy and Germany instead of other countries?"

"You don't know Saint Leonardo?"

"Who?"

Xian Yaowen put his hands together and prayed, "Lord, please save this lost lamb. He is just ignorant..."

"Fuck!" Lucas pushed Xian Yaowen, "It's just a small problem, don't bring the Lord down."

"Ha." Xian Yaowen laughed, "In the Middle Ages, Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese were popular with this name. Later, Leonardo da Vinci appeared, and other people were embarrassed to use this name. As the number of people named Leonardo in these three countries decreased, Germans began to like this name instead.

Leonardo, Leon and Ardo, a man as brave as a lion, Leon comes from Greek and Ardo comes from Old German. So, it is not difficult to guess that your wife has Italian or German ancestry. "

"Shit, Lil didn't tell me."

"It's not important." Xian Yaowen shrugged. "Has Leonardo been baptized?"

"Not yet. Lil and I plan to get Leonardo baptized after he receives his first communion."

"Protestant?"

"uh-huh."

"I would like to be Leonardo's godfather."

"Son of a bitch." Lucas cursed with a smile: "What if it's not Protestant?"

In the Christian tradition, a godfather can generally only serve once in his lifetime. Only Protestant denominations have no strict restrictions and the same person can serve as a godfather multiple times.

"Ha." Xian Yaowen picked up the serving chopsticks and put a piece of salted yellow croaker on Lucas's plate. "This is a famous dish from Chiang Kai-shek's hometown. You are good at ordering dishes. Is this your first time eating it?"

Lucas picked up the chopsticks and fiddled with them for a while. "This is my third time today. I already know how to use chopsticks."

Xian Yaowen signaled Liang Saizhen and Lian Qing to start eating, and then said to Lucas, "The French food that Qiong and I had yesterday wasn't very tasty, but the business in the restaurant is very good, which shows that French food has a market in Taiwan.

If I open a French restaurant, hire a senior French chef, introduce the best ingredients, cook the most authentic French cuisine, and then invite military officers from the advisory group to invest and include the restaurant's coupons in your welfare system, do you think this is a good idea?"

"That's great. The 1st and 15th of every month are paydays for the consultants, and the restaurant can hold promotional activities," Lucas said excitedly.

"So, you're interested?"

"of course."

"Officers don't have to pay to buy shares. They just need to meet two of my conditions. One is to guide the soldiers to dine in the restaurant, and the other is to allow me to sell stored-value membership cards to the soldiers." Xian Yaowen spread his hands, "You know that it takes a lot of money to open a French restaurant. I want to recover the funds in advance."

"Damn it." Lucas cursed with a smile: "Adam, you are a genius. Tell me how much shares you are willing to give, so that I can talk to others."

"I'll keep 30%, and I won't ask how the rest is distributed."

“How much do you think 70% of the shares are worth?”

"If you do what I need, I can guarantee you at least $1 in dividends every month."

Lucas extended his right hand.

Xian Yaowen held it, and a business cooperation intention was reached.

Lian Qing, who had been listening attentively, was very curious about Xian Yaowen. Who was this person and how could he do business with Americans so easily?

Liang Saizhen, who previously could only speculate that the person who could control Narcissus must be good based on Narcissus's ability, now has a clear understanding of Xian Yaowen's social skills. She follows a boss who is generous, capable, and possibly very considerate of his subordinates. It seems that there is hope for her in the second half of her life.

"What do you think of calling the restaurant Lafayette?"

Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette, a Frenchman, was the adopted son who helped Washington build his empire. His contribution to American independence exceeded that of most of the "founding fathers" who participated in signing the Declaration of Independence. He can be called the "International Founding Father of the United States."

“This name is great. You can tell it’s a French restaurant as soon as you hear the name,” Lucas said sincerely.

"Then use this name."

The dinner lasted for two hours. Xian Yaowen declined Lucas' invitation to go to the bar. After sending Liang Aizhen home, he went straight to Tang Jishan's house.

Tang's residence is at the foot of Yangming Mountain, not far from Jiang's residence, Chen's residence, and Yan's residence. Looking up, you can see the Xingao Hotel, where Zhang Xueliang and probably Zhao Yidi lived.

Arriving at the gate of Tang's residence, Xian Yaowen got out of the car and looked in the direction of Xingao Hotel, taking a sip of the Zhang family's luck. If it were any other qualified candidate, the Zhang family would have been exterminated long ago, and Xiao Liuzi would never have the chance to hear "Use the nunchakus quickly, hehehe".

I have to say that the ancestors of the Zhang family worked very hard underground, and there is a lot of smoke coming out of their ancestral tombs.

After exhaling a breath, Xian Yaowen looked up at the stars and for some reason thought of Zhao Gou. From the perspective of a superior, this was an unlucky person who had a Yue Fei under his command.

If Yue Fei was allowed to accumulate reputation, even if Yue Fei himself did not want to, the generals of the Yue Family Army whose interests were tied to his would force the dragon robe on him. If Yue Fei continued to pretend to be a coward in that situation, the generals would chop off his head and let someone else wear the dragon robe.

It doesn't matter who wears it, no one can delay the generals' efforts to follow the emperor. The Broken Bridge Mutiny at West Lake is a matter of time. Zhao Gou is facing a dead end. If Yue Fei doesn't die, the Zhao family's kingdom will be destroyed in his hands.

"No matter how stupid the children of the Zhao family are, they should know how their family became prosperous. Comrade Qin Hui, you have worked hard. The superiors cannot be wrong. You can just take the blame."

The Xian family's chariot has already started moving, so it cannot stop midway. If it stops, the front of the chariot will be in danger.

"Whoever enters the pass first will be the king, and whoever enters the pass later will surrender." Humming a play, Xian Yaowen walked towards the gate of the Tang family's courtyard.

I knocked on the door and entered the living room under the guidance of the housekeeper.

They are both Japanese-style villas, and the layout of the rooms is similar, even the placement of the card tables is almost the same.

After taking a quick look at the layout, Xian Yaowen focused his attention on the people.

At the card table were Fei Baoshu and his sisters, Wang Youjia, and Jiang Biwei, whom he had never seen before but could easily recognize. Her face shape and eyes were a bit peculiar, and extremely inconsistent with his aesthetic standards. The most positive comment he could give her was "ugly to the point of being frank." After seeing her photo, it was difficult for him to make a mistake.

After looking at the card table, I glanced at the sofa, but didn't see my senior Tang Jishen. I don't know if he was in the inner room or not at home.

He felt that he and Tang Jishen had similar styles of doing things, so he was willing to call him a predecessor, but predecessor is predecessor, and it did not prevent him from crushing Tang Jishen, the old wave, to death.

It's like a woman who is a prospective mother-in-law or a mother-in-law, who deep down dislikes a daughter-in-law who is just like her own daughter-in-law - what a sin it is to marry a daughter-in-law who does nothing; God has eyes, my daughter doesn't have to do anything in her husband's family.

The development of human civilization is still limited to zero-sum games. Resource allocation and power require brutal competition. If someone gains, someone else must lose. The vested interests are inherently sinful. Fundamentally speaking, the poor's hatred of the rich is absolutely just.

Xian Yaowen was trapped in a trap set by Heaven. The more successful he was, the more evil he committed. He was unwilling to self-destruct, so he had to suppress those who shared the same ideals with him other than himself.

This is his goodness, his way of heaven.

Coming behind Wang Youjia, Xian Yaowen glanced at her hand, mixed one set plus a Pong Pong Hu Dan Diao Nanfeng, with Circle Feng Dongfeng Kezi and Door Feng Beifeng Kezi in her hand, and she had to count the number of tables for a while.

"How's Mrs. Tang's luck?"

"I've been unlucky all night. The wind just changed. I guess the mahjong tiles knew that Mr. Xian was coming, so all the good cards went into my hand. I got whatever I wanted." Wang Youjia said humorously.

"So I have made such a great contribution." Xian Yaowen said with a faint smile: "Sister Wang, can I have a share of the joy?"

Wang Youjia turned back and pecked Xian Yaowen's face. "Since Yaowen is interested in this little money, I can't be stingy. If we win, we will each take half."

Fei Baoqi on the opposite side jokingly said, "Yao Wen, Bao Shu is sitting right here, why don't you avoid him?"

"Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Xian is successful in gambling, so she should be unsuccessful in love." Jiang Biwei was unwilling to be left out, so she said, "We are the only ones with bad luck tonight. If we lose again, we will be out of luck."

Xian Yaowen knew that Jiang Biwei was currently living with Zhang Daofan, but he didn't know whether he could call her Mrs. Zhang, so he had to take the risk and said, "Sister Jiang, the first newspaper I read when I came to Taiwan had your article on it. All the words are from the dictionary. You can just pick some and rearrange them to collect royalties. It's easy money to make."

"Hahaha!"

"Hehehe!"

Wang Youjia, Fei Baoqi and Fei Baoshu laughed out loud almost at the same time.

Jiang Biwei rolled her eyes and said, "Mr. Xian, when it comes to making money, the whole of Taipei knows that you, the God of Wealth, have come from Hong Kong. Would you mind taking care of an old lady like me and ask me to write some gossip?"

"That's easy. As long as Mr. Zhang doesn't mind, you can write whatever gossip you want about us, Sister Jiang. There's no limit to the style or number of words. You can even add some extra words. I prefer Zhang Ziping's method of adding extra words to meteorological metaphors. We're holding hands, and you can use fifty-one metaphors."

"Hahaha!"

Although Jiang Biwei covered her mouth, laughter still slipped out from her fingertips mischievously. The reason for her loss of composure was, firstly, because of Xian Yaowen's humorous remarks, and secondly, because she remembered some funny things in the past.

Back then, Lu Xun was worried just because he was writing about a jujube tree with water flowing from its left and right sides. However, he saw in the newspaper that Zhang Ziping used fifteen metaphors to write about rain, and that just one metaphor about water took up hundreds of words. Not only did he get cheated out of his royalties, but the readers' response was surprisingly good, which made him unhappy.

Seeing that Zhang Henshui spent two pages writing about cheongsam in "A Noble Family", he was completely unbalanced and wrote a comment in the newspaper: "What is squeezed out is milk, and what is poured in is water."

Jiang Biwei originally thought that Xian Yaowen must be a money-minded person as he was already rich and powerful at a young age. However, she did not expect that he knew stories older than his age. She immediately developed a liking for him.

She also thought about the few paintings she had received from her ex-husband Xu Beihong when they divorced, and that she was already in danger of running out of money. It was not a bad thing to get acquainted with a "capital wolf". When her smile faded, she nodded at Xian Yaowen and said, "Yaowen, talk seriously, don't make me laugh."

As she spoke, she took a card from the wall and played it with a flick of her finger, "South Wind."

"I won." Wang Youjia pushed down his cards happily.

Jiang Biwei glanced at Wang You's cards, her eyelashes twitched, her eyes jumped, and she glared at Xian Yaowen fiercely.

Xian Yaowen was helpless. This was what a card player was like. He blamed the heavens, the earth, and the air, but never his own brain. He had played so many cards, but only a few wind cards had come out. Now he still dared to attack Dasheng Zhang Nanfeng. Wasn't that like walking into a gun barrel?
He chuckled, without any tit-for-tat or flattery, and used Wang Youjia's hearty laughter as a bridge to come behind Fei Baoshu.

It was already 8:15, but Wang Youjia did not say anything further. Perhaps he was invited here just to pave the way for the climax, and he did not intend to rush the attack. After watching Fei Baoshu play a hand of cards behind her, he sat on the sofa and picked up a newspaper from the coffee table.

Jinhua Street.

This street is the main gathering area for Zhejiang people in Taipei, especially a large number of officials from the Military Control Commission, Air Force, and Financial System of the former Jinhua Road (Jinhua + Quzhou). Since they are all from the same hometown, the neighborhood relations on this street are relatively harmonious.

But after the Wu Shi case last year, some Zhejiang-born intelligence personnel, such as the Jiangshan faction of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, were purged, and the Kuomintang government implemented a policy of "biting others to save yourself", that is, if you confessed a few people who were more valuable than yourself, you could get a chance to reform yourself and be acquitted on the spot, and neighbors became cautious in their interactions.

However, Zhejiang officials in the financial system took the lead in distributing American aid, and because flour and milk powder were needed, neighbors still maintained superficial harmony.

There are not many street lights on the street, and there is only a dim street light every few dozen meters. Lian Qing is carrying a bag and her high heels are rattling.

She passed a street lamp and walked a few meters before stopping in front of a house.

Click, a cigarette was lit, he put it in his mouth and took a deep puff... one puff after another, until his fingers felt burning.

She threw away the cigarette butt, took out a handful of incense and a piece of yellow paper from her bag, lit the incense, bowed three times towards the house, squatted down, stuck the incense into the ground, and lit a piece of yellow paper, one after another, slowly burning.

Click, click, tears fall.

"Sister Jiayi, where have you been? Why haven't you come back yet? I'm so sorry. I betrayed Brother Yanting. I killed him... wuwuwu..."

"I didn't expect the Americans would reveal the news to the Communist Party... Sister Jiayi, I didn't mean to do that, I didn't mean to do that, I didn't expect it, I didn't expect it..."

As she choked with sobs, a pair of eyes stared at her from across the window of a house.

There is a mysterious Western-style building on Zhongshan North Road. It is called the Rose Villa by the socialites from other provinces because the courtyard is planted with rare roses and the iron gate is inlaid with rose patterns.

This is the home turf of Mrs. Blue, Liang Huilan, where she holds cocktail parties and salons, attracting American military advisers and business tycoons.

Lucas invited Xian Yaowen to the bar but failed, so he came here.

At this moment, he had just climbed down from Liang Huilan's body and was lying on the bed, gasping for breath. (End of this chapter)