money player

Liang Huilan lay down and rested for a few minutes, then turned over and lay on the bed. She reached out her left hand to take the cigarette box, took out two cigarettes, lit them at the same time, and handed one to Lucas.

I lifted my left foot and looked at my knee. It was red. I pressed it lightly with my hand and it hurt a little, but fortunately, there was no swelling and the bone was fine.

I checked the other foot and it was in similar condition.

Lucas noticed her movements and said, "Sorry, I'll be gentler next time."

He spoke Mandarin, and his intonation was not very accurate, but it was not as awkward as it was in front of Xian Yaowen. Lucas was not just someone who could speak a few words.

Liang Huilan glanced at Lucas and spat disdainfully: "You said the same thing last time."

Lucas spread his hands and said, "You are so beautiful. If I hug you, I will lose my mind immediately."

Liang Huilan snorted and said nothing. She knew that the American in front of her was lustful, but he had a clear mind. How could he be so infatuated with her?

Lucas took a few puffs of his cigarette and suddenly said, "Three Mustang fighter planes will fly to Xiamen the day after tomorrow, targeting the artillery positions."

"what would you like?"

"My friend Adam wants to eat fresh broad beans."

"Beans? Vegetables?"

"Correct."

"Who is Adam?"

"You know him, Xian Yaowen."

Hearing this, a gleam of light flashed in Liang Huilan's eyes.

"Master, when you were not here, Jiang Biwei talked about Xu Beihong's paintings and seemed to want to sell them."

After sending Fei Baoqi off, Fei Baoshu said this on the way home.

"If you like any of the paintings, buy two and don't think about waiting for them to appreciate in value. Lizhen brought back many fine works from the mainland, and asked people to place deposits for large-sized paintings with several famous artists, including Xu Beihong."

"Whether you like it or not, you have to buy it. She introduced me to a lady named Qu Shifang. Qu Shifang's husband is Hu Gengnian, a Manchu. There are many antiques and jewelry in the hands of Manchu people in Taipei."

"Oh, what does this Qu Shifang want to sell?"

"Jewelry."

"Old stuff or new stuff?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him yet." Fei Baoshu leaned on Xian Yaowen and said excitedly, "Master, let me tell you, Niu Shifang was married. She met Hu Gengnian in Shancheng. The two of them got together and drove Hu Gengnian's original wife away. Before coming to Taiwan, Niu Shifang had not divorced her original husband. She eloped with Hu Gengnian."

"Jiang Biwei said that?"

"Ah."

"Just listen to it, don't tell anyone about it. It's important for you to keep your mouth shut in your current role, otherwise many people won't do business with you."

Fei Baoshu nodded, "I know what I am talking about."

Xian Yaowen touched Fei Baoshu's face and said, "Don't be involved in the payment and delivery. Let Yao Hongying do it."

"Well, I didn't handle it."

"Was Tang Jishan present during dinner?"

"He's not here. We women are eating together. Before the meal started, Wang Youjia received a phone call. His face looked a little grim, but he immediately pretended nothing happened."

"Well, what are your plans for tomorrow?"

"I'm going to attend the salon on Hengyang Road. Can you accompany me, sir?"

"What time is it?"

"Six o'clock."

"it should be OK."

"Ah."

After returning home, Xian Yaowen went to the study first.

The fax machine was already ringing, and Xie Zhanran, who had gone home earlier, was on duty nearby.

After a while, the fax paper arrived in Xian Yaowen's hands. After translating it and taking a look at the content, his brows immediately frowned. It would be a bit troublesome to transfer 1.5 tons of cement from Okinawa.

He calmed down and thought about how to proceed with this matter.

Diplomacy between countries is not like friendship between people. They may stab each other in the back one second and stab each other in the back the next. They only consider the pros and cons and do not recognize friendship.

The American Empire can be evil, or it can be American Railways, depending on demand.

This can be done, and there will be no major problems during the process. The difficulty lies in the part of settling the accounts later. After thinking for a long time, Xian Yaowen glanced at the four words "Sanjing Bussan" he had written, drew a circle with the pen, and tapped the pen tip a few times.

After a while, he said, "Reply. I can agree to it. It's not easy to do. I'll ask for more shipping fee."

"Yes."

The next day.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Xian Yaowen and Wu Zecheng sat face to face in the Hengyang Hotel. Wang Zhaoyun knelt on the ground and made tea for them.

Wu Zecheng was wearing a neat suit, had thick black hair, a gaunt face, an upright figure, a composed demeanor, and a calm and restrained temperament, which fitted the typical image of a military and political personnel of the Nationalist government.

If we talk about his characteristics, it is that his head is slightly longer than that of ordinary people, and his appearance has nothing to do with the civilian image of a spy.

"Mr. Wu, you are busy and I am busy too, shall we get straight to the point?"

Wu Zecheng pointed at Wang Chaoyun and said, "My woman."

"Mr. Wu, I just said to get straight to the point. Why do you have to complicate a simple issue? Although I was just a small pawn on the periphery of the Military Control Commission that could be abandoned at any time, I still know a thing or two about the Military Control Commission's style of doing things."

Xian Yaowen came to Wang Zhaoyun, helped her up, and sat back on the sofa with his arms around her waist. "I have already swallowed the bait, but Mr. Wu obviously doesn't know how to fish. He used a universal bait that has no specific purpose. I can't guess what fish you want to catch. You might as well just tell me."

"Okay." Wu Zecheng clapped his hands softly. "Mr. Xian is very straightforward. I won't beat around the bush. I have US dollars and some gold bars, which are worth about 100 million US dollars in total. I want to give them to Mr. Xian to manage. I want to get back 200 million US dollars in three years."

"170 million, 15% management fee."

"No problem." Wu Zecheng said readily, "The items are in Taiwan. If you want to take them out, I'll need to trouble Mr. Xian to do it himself."

"Yes, please continue."

"My wife and children are still in the mainland..."

Xian Yaowen pretended to be angry and scolded, "Mr. Wu, this is too much."

Wu Zecheng waved his hand and said, "Mr. Xian, I know you can do it."

"Mr. Wu, you know your identity. It's not easy to get your wife and children out. I won't play tricks on you. 170 million minus 20, you can only get 150 million in three years."

"160."

"155 million, fixed price, Mr. Wu. I'm giving you face by not deducting the price at the beginning."

"We need to enter into a contract between us, a contract that is binding on Mr. Xian."

"No problem. I will write an IOU to Mr. Wu in the name of Huaguang Garment, the Taiwan branch of China Garment, and pledge the shares as collateral."

"make a deal."

Xian Yaowen patted Wang Chaoyun's waist and said, "Mr. Wu, I want the Hengyang Hotel. Name your price."

Wu Zecheng glanced at Wang Chaoyun and said, "Chaoyun and I were in love, so the Hengyang Hotel is my parting gift to her."

"No, Mr. Wu, if you want to give me a gift, please change it. Qianhui and I will live together here in the future. 20 Taiwan dollars will be delivered to Mr. Wu's house tomorrow."

Wu Zecheng chuckled, "Just do as Mr. Xian said. Hengyang Hotel belongs to Chao Yun from now on. I won't disturb you two anymore. I'll take my leave now."

Watching Wu Zecheng's back as he left, Xian Yaowen silently complained, "Damn, a smiling tiger."

The matter between him and Wu Zecheng is not over, today is just the beginning. We can deal with it here, but in Hong Kong, he wants to kill this grandson of Xie Ligong. Damn it, you investigated me so carefully, do you think you are good at intelligence?
"Koya-kun."

Wang Zhaoyun made a charming sound and kissed Xian Yaowen's face like raindrops.

After she had kissed him enough, Xian Yaowen helped her tidy up her messy hair, "Qian Hui, you are free. I will not restrict you in any way. If you meet a man who treats you well and is loyal to you one day, you can be with him."

"No." Wang Zhaoyun shook his head, "I am Gao Yejun's lover."

Xian Yaowen chuckled and said, "I have too many lovers and I am too busy to take care of them all. When I finish my business and leave Taipei, I don't know when I will come next time. You can't keep me company, and I don't want you to keep me company either.

When you are in love, don't push too hard. When you are ruthless, leave some room for the past. This will make it easier."

Wang Zhaoyun looked at Xian Yaowen's face pitifully, "Gao Yejun, don't you care about me?"

Xian Yaowen patted Wang Chaoyun's pretty face and said, "The passion of lovers will fade, but the identity of partners is eternal. I will soon start a business of imported food ingredients and open a French restaurant. You help me manage it and I will give you shares."

"I follow Takano-kun's orders."

"I'm leaving. I'm busy these two days. I'll come to see you the day after tomorrow."

"Hay."

Wang Zhaoyun showed the humility of an Oriental woman. She escorted Xian Yaowen to the gate, bowed, and watched him leave.

After the car drove a distance, Xian Yaowen moved his butt to the middle. After a while, Qi Longque stopped the car and Zhou Zhiying got into it.

As they continued driving, Zhou Zhiying said fluently, "Fan Yanting, Liu Jiayi's husband, was transferred to Taipei at the end of last year. He died in the line of duty a few days ago. Last night, I saw a woman paying tribute to him in front of his house."

Xian Yaowen said calmly: "I don't intend to expand the grudge between Liu Jiayi and me."

"The person who was paying tribute to Fan Yanting was called Lian Qing. She was not an ordinary person."

Xian Yaowen stroked his chin and said, "I just met a woman named Lian Qing yesterday. She looks very innocent, but she is a US military lady."

“It’s the same person.”

"Why is her identity so special?"

"She sold the news of Fan Yanting's mission to the Americans, and it seems that the Americans leaked the news to the Communist Party."

"Interesting." Xian Yaowen paused and said, "Don't worry about Lian Qing. The Hengyang Hotel is over. From tomorrow on, follow my wife secretly. If you find that the identity of the person she is in contact with is suspicious, notify me immediately."

"Ok."

"Can you get a car?"

"can."

"The money will be sent to your house in the evening."

After Zhou Zhiying left, the car drove all the way to Monga.

The two characters "艋舺" are both similar to the character "舟", which means boat. It goes without saying that this place must be near water. 艋舺 was the busiest port city in Taipei in the past. It declined due to silting up of the riverbed in the late Tongzhi period, and the port city moved downstream to the Dadaocheng area.

The Monga area cannot accommodate large ships with a deep draft, but small boats can pass through. In the past two or three years, a cement black market has formed in the old warehouses or teahouse alleys in the Xiyuan Road and Yangcheng Street areas, mostly under the cover of building materials stores or rice shops.

There is a saying that goes, black to the extreme is white, and white is the mother of black. In some places, the biggest gangster boss often carries a plaque that says "Crime Killer."

The black market in Taipei cannot be openly displayed in public; it has to be done covertly, especially when cement is a strategic material. One has to be more careful, otherwise it is easy for the authorities to raid it, confiscate it, fine it, and subject it to jail time. Then after a while, something magical happens—the confiscated cement is put back on the shelves of the black market.

From an economic perspective, this is called commodity recirculation.

Xian Yaowen sat on a bamboo chair outside a teahouse opposite a rice shop, watching the owner of the rice shop warmly greeting a customer.

If you don’t have an acquaintance to introduce you, you can only buy rice from this rice shop. If you have an acquaintance to introduce you, you can buy cement.

After sitting for a few minutes, a man wearing a Taiwanese gown sat next to Xian Yaowen.

"Mr. Xian, I'm Ah Xing. Mr. Lu asked me to come."

Xian Yaowen nodded slightly, "Mr. Chen, can I buy cement here?"

"I know everyone who sells cement here."

"Then please buy a little bit of each type of cement. I only need a sample, one or two ounces will be enough. You can deal with the rest as you wish."

At that time, cement is mostly packaged in three to five layers of kraft paper, and the specifications are usually 50KG. However, in order to disguise and split cement into small bags for resale at high prices, black market cement may be packaged in burlap bags or straw bags. It is usually sold in bags, not by weight.

"It will be done soon. Mr. Xian, are you going to wait here?"

"No hurry." Xian Yaowen put a roll of Taiwan dollars tied with a rubber band on the table. "Mr. Lu and I have an appointment tonight. Just give it to me when the time comes. I'll leave first. Please pay for my tea."

"it is good."

Ah Xing's attention had been attracted by the word "100" on the Taiwan dollar. As soon as Xian Yaowen turned around, he immediately grabbed the money in his hand. When Xian Yaowen walked away, the money had been spread out under the table. He counted it and found a total of five 100-yuan bills, twenty 50-yuan bills, and ten 10-yuan bills.

He immediately understood that the five hundred was his hard work fee and the rest was for buying cement. His adrenaline surged instantly, and he picked up a piece and rubbed it repeatedly, unable to believe his eyes.

[In 1951, the Taiwan dollar had five denominations: 100, 50, 10, 5, and 1. The 100-denomination note was almost not circulated in the market and was only used for large transactions or official purposes. It took some tricks to spend it. The 50-denomination note was relatively rare. Generally, the largest note on the market was the 10-yuan note, similar to the "Great Unity" era.]
The streets here in Monga are very narrow and the car was parked a bit far away. Xian Yaowen wanted to take a stroll, so he didn't walk in a straight line. He walked left and right and passed an area where stalls were set up. Suddenly, he smelled a fragrance and saw an oyster omelet stall.

He took a quick glance and found that the young stall owner's technique was a bit peculiar. He stopped to admire it for a while and discovered that the oyster omelet was turned over three times and rotated nine times. The aroma it produced was stronger than he had ever smelled before, and his appetite was aroused.

He walked up to him and said, "Boss, I want six, two to take away."

"okay."

The stall owner agreed happily, and his hands and feet became more and more skillful. He quickly made one and sent it to the previous customer, then started to make Xian Yaowen's.

Xian Yaowen saw that the stall owner was wearing faded military pants, so he asked, "Boss, have you just retired from the army?"

"The troops were withdrawn last year. There was no way out in the streets. The money from the withdrawal was enough to buy a broken car. I sell oyster omelets until dusk!" After a long string of words, the stall owner realized that Xian Yaowen was speaking Mandarin. He touched the back of his head and said, "Sorry... I'm used to speaking my hometown dialect."

"It doesn't matter." Xian Yaowen waved his hand. "Boss, you are luckier than others. People from other provinces can speak the local dialect and it is easier for them to integrate into the local community."

"It's the same. This is the territory of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou people. People from Fuzhou are not given preferential treatment." The stall owner turned the oyster omelet over and asked, "Boss, where are you from?"

"Bao'an, Guangdong."

"I heard that it's easier to make a living in Hong Kong. Baoan is next to Hong Kong, so why doesn't the boss go to Hong Kong?"

Xian Yaowen smiled and said, "I just came from Hong Kong. It's not easy to make a living there, so I came here to see if there is anything good to do."

The stall owner took another look at Xian Yaowen's clothes and raised his hand to cover his face as if he was blinded. "Boss, your suit will reflect light. You will make a lot of money in business."

"Haha, thanks to the boss for his good words, if I make a fortune, I will come to patronize your business every day."

"Okay, okay." The stall owner smiled and put a few more oysters into the pot. "With the boss's care, I can become rich too."

"Take care of each other, take care of each other." Xian Yaowen clasped his fists.

The first oyster omelet was ready and given to Qi Longque who was driving. Xian Yaowen chatted with the stall owner. After all six were ready, Xian Yaowen reported the name and learned that the stall owner's name was Lin Atu.

Half past four.

Xian Yaowen and Gao Lan sat next to each other at the door of Shanfeng Bookstore, each holding a red bean ice cream in their hands, and Gao Lan holding an oyster omelet in her other hand.

On the mountain of books, the pages of a book called "Orphans of Asia" by Wu Zhuoliu were turned. Four eyes, two big and two small, swayed from top to bottom and from right to left.

Opposite the two, Kaohsiung was busy wrapping the book cover of Zhang Ailing's "Love in a Fallen City" with the works of Lu Xun and Ba Jin. Because the works of the two were labeled as "communist" by the Information Department, they were all banned. But the more they were banned, the more popular they became among certain groups.

A piece of red bean curd ice licked away Gao Lan's shyness, an oyster omelet confirmed that Xian Yaowen was a good man, and after reading two pages of a book quietly, she became crazy and hummed a ballad.

"Which one is the green on the east hill? Which one is the green on the west hill? My love is mine and mine is mine. My love, let's get married. Oh, my love, let's get married. Today... Today..."

Gao Lan forgot how to sing the next line and scratched her head anxiously.

Xian Yaowen laughed and continued, "Today the flowers are beautiful, tomorrow the flowers will fall. You continue to sing."

Gao Lan grinned and continued singing, "I don't know where it's drifting to, my love, you'd better go find flowers as early as possible. Oh my love, you'd better go find flowers as early as possible..."

After she finished humming, Xian Yaowen asked, "Do you know what song this is?"

"A Green on the East Mountain."

"who sang this?"

"Aunt Bai Guang."

"Do you like her?"

"Yeah." Gao Lan nodded her head vigorously.

Xian Yaowen stroked Gao Lan's hair and said, "Uncle will take you to listen to her singing next time."

"Going back to Hong Kong?"

“No, it’s in Taipei.”

"Uncle is lying, Aunt Bai Guang is in Hong Kong."

"Uncle doesn't lie. I promise you."

"Hook."

The little fingers of the big hand and the small hand are hooked together, the thumbs are pressed against each other, and the seal of keeping the promise is stamped.

"Pull the hook, hang yourself, don't change for a hundred years!"

After completing the contract, Gao Lan withdrew her hand and cast a hopeful look on Xian Yaowen's face, "Uncle, when will Aunt Bai Guang come to Taipei?"

"Uncle will call Aunt Bai Guang tomorrow and ask her if she is filming. If she is not filming..." Xian Yaowen pinched Gao Lan's little hand and spread her fingers, "You click one finger every night before going to bed. When you finish clicking your fingers, Aunt Bai Guang will come."

Gao Lan's eyelids suddenly lifted up, and her brown-black pupils seemed to be lit by a match, shrinking and expanding suddenly, "Really?"

"Yeah." Xian Yaowen imitated the little girl's tone.

Gao Lan giggled, as if someone had thrown a string of crystal wind chimes into the sunlight, and the crisp clashes splashed all over the mountain of books.

Kaohsiung heard the conversation between the two and thought that Xian Yaowen was just teasing the child, but he had some expectations in his heart: what if Bai Guang really came?
Xian Yaowen picked up the little girl and placed her on his lap, then continued reading with her.

While watching, I taught her to hum "Big Big World".

As the setting sun sank into the wrinkles of the distant mountains and the sky was filled with an orange-red color, a middle-aged woman came to the door of the bookstore holding a little girl of five or six years old.

When the woman heard the singing, she glanced at Xian Yaowen and the other man, then pointed to the pile of books and asked the little girl to pick out some.

Xian Yaowen glanced back and continued to teach Gao Lan.

Soon, the little girl picked a book and leaned against the pile of books to flip through it. A few meters away, the sound of Lan Yingying's chirping came from far away and stopped on Xian Yaowen's left.

Sitting next to him, he held a record in his hand and put it under Xian Yaowen's nose, "I bought this record at the temple entrance."

Xian Yaowen glanced at the record cover, which was a plain board with no words or patterns, and asked, "Is there anything special about it?"

"There is only one song, 'Looking for Spring Breeze.'"

"Alone at night, sitting under the lamp, with no one to accompany me, the breeze blowing across the room, this song?"

"Yes."

"It's a Minnan song. No wonder it's sold at the temple. How are the sales?"

In order to achieve cultural integration, the Kuomintang government strongly promoted Mandarin and officially banned the spread of Minnan and Hakka operas and songs. The release of Minnan singing records was not allowed, but this did not prevent underground record companies from releasing them secretly.

"I don't know. The people selling records were guarding me like a thief. I didn't have a chance to observe at all."

"Find someone from this province."

"It's a bit difficult. I only know people from other provinces in Taipei."

"Use your brain to figure it out."

Lan Yingying leaned against Xian Yaowen and said, "I've been walking all day, I'm tired, and I can't think of a solution."

Xian Yaowen glanced at Lan Yingying and said, "You are not tired, you are just used to eating ready-made food. Your brain has degenerated and you can't even do small things well."

Lan Yingying punched Xian Yaowen in the chest, "You said that so harshly."

"There are children, so be careful."

"yours?"

Xian Yaowen glanced at Lan Yingying with disdain and said, "Let's go to Monga tomorrow. There are a group of strong men from Fuzhou who can speak Mandarin."

Lan Yingying grinned, "You won't let me think about it?"

"Your travel expenses are several hundred a day. By the time you realize it, you've bankrupted the company." After spitting, Xian Yaowen said, "Call Yuan Wenhuai tomorrow and check if Bai Guang is filming recently. If not, ask her to fly to Taipei within three days."

Gao Lan's ears perked up.

"Boss, Bai Guang is not from the company."

"I know, please on my own behalf."

"In your own name?" Lan Yingying said with a smile, "Bai Guang may not give you face." (End of this chapter)