The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 217: Zhan Tianyou and the Chinese Students in America

Chen Zhengwei didn't know how to arrange the marriage, so he sent Rong Jiacai to discuss it with Lin Mingsheng.

Even if Rong Jiacai had never eaten pork, he had seen a pig walk. After consulting with his men, he got a wild goose and brought it to the martial arts gym, intending to follow the three letters and six appointments.

However, Lin Mingsheng did participate in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so his story is not that old.

When Chen Zhengwei came to Chinatown, he was one of the few people who cut his braids.

As long as Lin Changning can marry her in a formal way and enter the family with great fanfare, he doesn't care about anything else.

Accepting Dayan meant agreeing to the marriage, and then both parties discussed and simplified the three letters and six betrothal gifts.

Just skip the following questions.

Chen Zhengwei had originally planned to host a banquet for the leading figures in Chinatown on the second day of the Lunar New Year, as that day was also a good day for engagement.

It just so happened that Najib, the engagement, was put on that day.

When the engagement letter is presented, both parties will be officially engaged.

The next step was to present the betrothal gifts, and then they skipped the date of marriage proposal and directly set the date as March 3th.

定亲的日子是1月23，送聘礼的日子是1月28，迎娶的日子是3月17号。

The two of them discussed for a total of one hour, and Lin Mingsheng made the decision directly, and then Rong Jiacai came back to find Chen Zhengwei.

"Brother Wei, it's all settled!"

"Let's do it!" Chen Zhengwei didn't care. Getting married wouldn't affect his eating, drinking and having fun outside.

Besides, Lin Changning is too difficult to deal with. You can’t sleep with her unless you get married.

"It's just a bit of a disadvantage!" Chen Zhengwei thought about it and couldn't help but say.

"Brother Wei, what aspect are you talking about?" Rong Jiacai didn't quite understand.

"I could have received two gifts, but you guys forced me to only receive one!" Chen Zhengwei felt a little cheated no matter how he thought about it.

The two chatted for a few words, and Rong Jiacai took out another booklet.

"Brother Wei, that shipload of goods has been sold! Here's the list! The total is ninety-seven thousand seven hundred and forty dollars!"

In fact, the money has been delivered in the past few days, but the list was only delivered today.

"Shipping is indeed very profitable!" Chen Zhengwei said with a sigh and threw the booklet to Wanyun.

The goods worth 120,000 yuan could be sold for 400,000 yuan when they arrived at the shore.

Of course, these goods are actually worth 180,000 yuan, and other people cannot sell them at such a high price, let alone so quickly.

Rong Jiacai actually distributed all these goods to wealthy businessmen and shops, which is why they were sold out in a short time.

The biggest part of the profit was opium, and the original Hong Shun Tang had to give most of its profits to the city councilors.

"Tell that Peng Ba to spend the New Year here peacefully. I will pay him off after the New Year, and they can go back!" Chen Zhengwei planned to keep the money in his hand for a few days.

After all, James' inheritance has not yet been obtained.

Then Chen Zhengwei picked up a picture album on the table and threw it to Rong Jiacai: "Let them print it!"

"Make the cover look good, something that will stand out at first sight. Print 5,000 copies first!"

The picture album is a newly drawn erotic comic, and its content is based on a very popular novel called "A Tale of Two Cities", and a large number of artistic plots are added in a realistic style.

According to the two painters, the story of "A Tale of Two Cities" can be drawn into six books, and this is the first one.

It was delivered last night. After Chen Zhengwei finished reading it, he asked Wanyun to help him relieve his sexual desire.

Today he has been thinking about a philosophical question: Will this kind of H comics make the brothel business better or worse?

"By the way, remember to print more language versions, including English, German, and Italian!"

"Brother Wei, what about us?" Rong Jiacai asked immediately.

"That's why I told you to learn English. Otherwise, you won't even understand pornographic paintings!" Chen Zhengwei said, pointing out the window:

"Those people out there can't even recognize a bunch of big characters. What's the point of printing Chinese characters? It's better to print English characters!"

"Brother Wei, how many copies do you sell for?" Rong Jiacai asked again.

"Three dollars!" Chen Zhengwei thought for a while and said.

At this time, ordinary novels cost between $1 and $1.5, and novels with many illustrations generally cost between $2 and $5, depending mainly on the fame of the author and the quality of the book.

However, these were all sold to the low-level workers. The paper used was cheap, and he did not need to share money with the authors and painters, and he did not even have to pay taxes. The biggest cost was engraving the plates.

Selling it for three dollars, that's almost a two dollar profit.

The IRS was only established in 1862. It did not have its own armed department, nor was it as powerful as it would be decades later. It was not even explicitly authorized in the federal constitution.

Chen Zhengwei doesn't care about them at all.

(The federal income tax was not explicitly authorized by the Constitution until the Sixteenth Amendment was passed in 1913.)
The next day, a lawyer came, but he was not Chen Zhengwei's lawyer, but James Audis, who had the same name as James Cook who had just passed away.

The names of foreigners are just those, and it is highly likely that there will be people with the same name as you.

If you randomly shout "Jack" on any street in an Irish community, at least dozens of people will pop up.

"Mr. Chen!"

"Sit down, it seems you are ready?" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

"Yes, I'm ready." James Audis nodded vigorously.

"Wanyun, take out 20,000 yuan and put it in the box."

This money is his initial funding. He needs to first deal with some of the legislators, and then get the remaining money from Chen Zhengwei to deal with the other part.

Then Chen Zhengwei helped him deal with the remaining fourteen.

"Mr. Chen, all your investment will be richly rewarded!" James Audis said with some gratitude.

"Of course!" Chen Zhengwei smiled and threw a cigar to the other party.

He is the only strong sponsor of James Odis.

Without Chen Zhengwei, he wouldn't even be able to pass the first hurdle and couldn't even become a candidate.

After James Audis left, Chen Zhengwei stood up, put on his coat, and asked someone to go to the club to check.

Nowadays, ropes are strung across the streets of Chinatown, and lanterns will be hung up in a couple of days.

When the Chinese New Year comes, the sky over Chinatown is filled with red lanterns.

When we arrived at the club, there were quite a few young people, both men and women, queuing outside with their arms folded.

These people came to apply for jobs as waiters on the first and second floors.

Most of them are of good height and good looks, which is a hard requirement for recruitment.

Male waiters must be 1.72 meters tall, while female waiters must be 1.62 meters tall, and they must have good temperament and appearance.

The salary is also very high. The waiters on the first and second floors earn $15 a week. Moreover, this is a high-end club that serves rich people, so many young people want to come here to look for opportunities.

Seeing the three carriages stop, the young men turned their heads to look over.

First, eight Chinese young men in coats got off the car and stared around. Then a tall young man in a purple fur coat got off the car. He looked at them with interest, especially pausing on a few people, and then he led them into the club.

"Who was that Chinese guy just now? Why is he so impressive?" A young man with brown hair asked in a low voice. He envied his appearance. If nothing else, the sable coat alone would be enough for him to struggle for several years. Others were also curious about this question.

"Chen from Chinatown, the owner of this club, likes people to call him Mr. Chen." Someone immediately whispered a warning.

After hearing this, those who were asking questions shut up.

In San Francisco, especially in the downtown area, you can often hear people discussing this name, whether it is a restaurant, a bar, or anywhere else.

Whenever we talk about Chinese people, we cannot avoid mentioning Mr. Chen.

"Brother Wei!" Inside the club, besides the young people applying for the jobs, there were many other people busy working.

After seeing Chen Zhengwei, they all stood up straight.

"You are busy with your business!"

A young man trotted down from upstairs: "Brother Wei, why are you here?"

The young man's name was Lin Rongcheng. His third uncle was arrested by the Investigation Bureau and took the blame. Later, he came to Chen Zhengwei for help.

In the end, none of the witnesses appeared in court and his third uncle was released.

Then he came to work for Chen Zhengwei and encouraged a dozen of his fellow villagers to come together.

Lin Rongcheng was smart and eloquent, and he quickly became famous under Chen Zhenghu.

He learns English quickly, so Chen Zhengwei assigned him to work when the club was being renovated. He has been doing quite well these days.

"Come and take a look!" Chen Zhengwei said as he looked around.

"I'll take Brother Wei for a spin!"

The club has been renovated at this time, and the walls are covered with solid wood wall panels and gilded in shape.

The floor is covered with wooden flooring, and the entire club is decorated in dark walnut color, which looks very grand.

Moreover, the space is large and the lighting is good, so it doesn't seem depressing.

The air smelled strongly of paint, but that was a minor problem.

There were gas lamps hanging on the walls and in the air, and rows of sofas and chairs were stacked together against the walls.

There is a stage in front, where there will be some performances, and a blank area is left at the edge of the stage as a dance floor.

Chen Zhengwei quite enjoyed dancing the waltz at the banquet last time.

Walking to the side, there are two separate small halls.

The bar hall covers an area of more than 200 square meters and can accommodate about people. There are many scattered seats near the bar.

The small hall next to it is 100 square meters in size and can accommodate 40 people each.

Chen Zhengwei walked around upstairs and downstairs. There was a small rest area on the second floor, and the rest were rooms of different sizes.

The small ones are about 10 square meters, and the large ones are 20 to 30 square meters. There is a separate bathroom in each room.

The third floor is the casino, with a total of thirty gambling tables, including roulette, dice, blackjack, and baccarat.

Nearly half of the fourth floor is occupied by private rooms, which are reserved for important clients and those whose identities are not convenient to show up in public, and the other half is occupied by offices.

In addition to Chen Zhengwei's office, there are also the club manager's office, finance, and logistics offices.

There are two separate staircases going down to the fourth floor, one is next to the VIP box, and the other is in Chen Zhengwei's office.

After walking around up and down the stairs, Chen Zhengwei was quite satisfied.

"By the way, who is doing the recruitment?" Chen Zhengwei asked.

"Brother Hu is leading people there..." Lin Rongcheng said.

"Fuck, he can't even speak English clearly!" Chen Zhengwei cursed.

"Tell him to recruit more big guys!"

……

When Chen Zhengwei was in the club, a group of seven people came to an ordinary house in New Haven with the address.

Following the knock, the door opened and a 50-year-old white woman appeared behind the door. Seeing three Chinese men in gentleman's suits and a few Germans outside, the woman asked, "Who are you?"

"Is Zhan Tianyou here?" a young man asked. The address showed that this was Zhan Tianyou's boarding home.

"He should have gone to the park over there with his classmates...he will be back before dark." The other party had no intention of inviting them in.

These guys don't look like good people.

Especially those men of Schultz.

"Thank you!" The Chinese young man who spoke nodded and asked about the location of the park. Then the others discussed and decided to leave two people waiting here while the others went to look for it in the park.

After all, time is tight.

At this time in a nearby park, five Chinese young men were chatting on a bench in the breeze. They all had short hair and were wearing suits.

In addition to Zhan Tianyou, the remaining four are Ouyang Geng, Cai Shaoji, Zhang Kangren and Tan Yaoxun. Among them, Zhan Tianyou and Ouyang Geng are from the Engineering Department, and the other three are from the Law Department.

"Lord Zhang is quite dissatisfied with us this time..." Zhan Tianyou sighed.

"He keeps talking about the imperial court and etiquette. He's probably afraid that we don't want to go back!" Tan Yaoxun sneered.

A few days ago, Chen Lanbin, the newly appointed Qing Dynasty ambassador to the United States, summoned these Chinese students in the United States. He was quite dissatisfied with the way they wore Western clothes and had short hair, and even suggested that they interrupt their studies and return home.

You should know that Zhan Tianyou and others were admitted to Yale University only last year.

If they return to China now, all their years of study will be wasted.

"It's all Wu Jiashan's fault!" said Cai Shaoji next to him.

Wu Jiashan was the supervisor of Chinese students studying in the United States. He had previously written to the court, saying that these students "behaved dissolutely, were undisciplined, and learned foreign religions." He simply couldn't stand the fact that these students dressed and behaved in a Western style, resisted kowtowing, and were difficult to discipline.

Now that Chen Lanbin has taken office, Wu Jiashan has made many suggestions.

"We will graduate in three and a half years. I hope he won't cause any more trouble!" Ouyang Geng sighed.

"Forget it, let's not talk about these disappointing things." A few people didn't want to mention it anymore, and then talked about some other gossips about Chinese children studying in the United States.

While we were chatting, two Chinese people were walking towards us from a distance.

"Huh? Look, is that a Chinese?" After looking over, several people were a little surprised. It was the first time they saw a Chinese person other than themselves here, and he was also wearing a gentleman's suit, had short hair, and looked full of energy.

He doesn't look very old, but his eyes and brows look a little fierce.

"It seems to be coming towards us!"

"It just so happens that I'm interested in them too! I don't know where they came from!"

The two Chinese came over and asked, "Which one is Zhan Tianyou?"

The others all looked towards Zhan Tianyou.

"It's me. Who are you?" Zhan Tianyou stood up with some confusion.

"This is Mr. Zhang Yan's handwriting. He is visiting our boss and wants to invite you to spend the New Year with him. And these classmates, why don't you go together?"

(End of this chapter)