The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 448 I was talking business with them and they wanted to rob me?

On January 1880, 1, a merchant ship approached San Francisco. In the cargo hold beneath the deck, there were crammed a bunch of ragged and skinny Chinese workers.

Everyone held their cloth bag tightly, looking nervous.

Almost all of them knew that they were going to be sent to the United States, but they didn't know what exactly they were going to do.

I just heard that there seems to be a big Chinese person there.

But the unknown is the most terrifying. If they were not forced by guns, they would not want to get on the boat.

Moreover, along the way they had to take a boat to Colon first, then be stuffed into a train in Colon, locked up with livestock such as cattle and sheep, sent to Panama, and then take a boat from Panama to San Francisco.

"The ship seems to be slowing down... Are we almost there?" asked a young man with untidy beard.

"It should be here soon, right? If not, I'll be dead!" Another man touched the marks on the wall next to him. He would carve a mark every day.

After getting off the train, I stayed on the ship for another fifteen days.

Soon, the hatch of the cargo hold was opened, and a ray of sunlight came in, causing the Chinese workers in the cabin to look up.

The glaring sunlight made it almost impossible for them to open their eyes.

"We're almost in San Francisco. Don't sleep any more. We'll get off the ship soon!" someone shouted from the cabin door.

"What did he say?" someone asked.

"We're almost in San Francisco, let's not sleep any more! Zhuzi, wake up... wake up the people over there..."

The Chinese laborers in the warehouse suddenly became agitated.

"What do you think San Francisco is like? What on earth are they bringing us here for?" someone else asked.

In fact, they have been discussing this issue for many days.

"How can those foreign devils be kind? Let's just take it one step at a time. We don't know if we will have the chance to take the money and go home! If I had known this would happen, I would never have come out!" said a Chinese worker with a yellow face.

"Who said it wasn't true? Those people talked a lot of nonsense at the beginning, but when it turned out, they were worse than dogs!" others also said.

"I miss my mother... My mother is waiting for me to go back and get married..." A young man huddled in the corner burst into tears.

But no matter what awaits them, they have no choice.

Soon, the ship docked at the port.

An hour later, the door of the warehouse was opened, and a ferocious-looking mixed-blood shouted:
"You all come out!"

Although the voices are loud, the attitude is much better than before.

The Chinese climbed out of the cabin one after another. The cold weather in San Francisco made them shiver all over and they hunched over.

Looking up ahead, you can see the bustling port and city.

At just a glance, this place is much more prosperous than Cuba, and much more prosperous than the place where they took the train on the road. Foreigners wearing gentlemen's suits and walking sticks can be seen everywhere.

"Can I ask what exactly we are here for?" An older Chinese man who knew a few words of Spanish nodded and bowed with a smile on his face and asked the mixed-race man.

"I don't know! You will know when the time comes!" said the mixed-race man unhappily.

The Chinese man kept smiling and then looked a little surprised.

If it was before, the other party might have kicked him when he asked this question.

But now the other party didn't make any move at all.

Seeing that he couldn't get any information from his question, he looked towards the port again. Someone next to him pushed him and asked, "Look, are there any Chinese people over there?"

Others also looked over and saw a dozen men in gentlemen's suits approaching, and their features gradually became clearer.

"It seems to be true!"

"It's the Chinese!" The people on the boat started to get agitated.

"Didn't they say before that there was a Chinese big shot here?"

"This is a foreigner's place, there aren't any big shots here. But they must be doing much better than us!" Someone immediately said in disbelief.

Soon, this group of people were taken off the boat, and the dozen or so Chinese stood by the boat.

"Hey... sir, where are you from?" A few people came over to talk, and when they saw the clothes on each other, they felt a little inferior.

The crew members didn't drive them away this time.

"From Taishan! Have you heard of it?" Ah You said with a smile, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one for himself, and threw the rest to them. "Do you know how to smoke?"

"Thank you, thank you! Taishan... I've heard of it. My mother is from Taishan!"

"Sir, what is San Francisco? What are we doing here?"

"Just call me Mr. Yan! You're lucky. Brother Wei heard that your plantation in Cuba was worse than dogs! So he was kind enough to buy you back!"

"You have to work here too, but the salary is much better than what you get in Cuba, and we won't treat you like dogs! At least you can live like a human being, have good food and drink, and even have access to brothels!" Aaron said with a smile.

"Is there such a good thing?" The Chinese workers couldn't believe it.

"How much do you earn per month in Cuba?" Ayou asked. He knew that the Chinese workers there were poorly treated, but he didn't know how badly.

A Chinese worker gave a wry smile and stretched out his hand to make a 3.
"3 silver dollars... Those bastards only give us 6 silver dollars a month, and they deduct our food and lodging, so they only give us 3 silver dollars..."

"Fuck, so cruel?" Yan Qingyou was surprised, looking up and down at these Chinese workers, each of whom had dark skin and thin bodies. "Even if you come out to do hard labor, you can't sell yourself for a good price!" 1 silver dollar is equivalent to 1.16 US dollars, and 3 silver dollars is less than 3.5 US dollars.

"If we had known this would happen, we would never have come here!" the Chinese workers sighed.

"Here, you can earn at least 18 US dollars a month, which is more than 15 Spanish silver dollars! For other information, you can find out by asking. Here, all the foreigners know that you are Brother Wei's people and my people, and no one dares to bully you!" Yan Qingyou said with his chin raised.

"Master Yan, is this true? What money do we have to pay?" The Chinese workers couldn't believe it.

"You will know when the time comes! Go through customs!" Yan Qingyou waved his hand, indicating that they could go.

Soon, the Chinese workers told others what they had heard, and the news gradually spread, but most workers did not dare to believe it.

How can there be such a good thing in this world?

Some people also started to think that it was much colder here than in Cuba, and buying clothes would cost a lot of money.

However, they did have some more expectations in their hearts, as long as life here was better than in Cuba.

They really didn't dare to expect more.

Soon, they passed through customs. In fact, there was no one checking at customs and they passed through smoothly.

Then some people took them to Chinatown.

They asked along the way and found out that it was similar to what Yan Qingyou said.

They also found that there were many Chinese people here. Whether at the port or on the streets, those young Chinese people were all dressed in decent clothes and walked with dignity, even a bit of domineering.

On the contrary, the foreigners were very respectful to them.

"Brother...they are..."

"You are all Brother You's people! In San Francisco, you must listen to Brother Wei's words...you must also listen to Brother You's words!" said the thug who took them to Chinatown.

"Brother Wei is...?" The laborers heard the name Brother Wei several times along the way. They noticed that when these people talked about "Brother Wei", they would straighten their bodies, with respect and pride in their eyes.

"In San Francisco, Brother Wei is the boss! When you get to Chinatown later, if you're lucky, Brother Wei will meet you!" The henchman was too lazy to explain more to them. Anyway, they would know everything once they got to Chinatown.

The workers looked at the magnificent and heavy buildings around them (four-story buildings), the decent clothes worn by the pedestrians, and saw the status of the Chinese here... and suddenly felt that this place was much better than they had imagined.

Many people showed envious eyes

I hope I can live like this, at least live like a human being.

Instead of being beaten, scolded and abused on the plantation, they were not allowed to stop working even if they were sick and dying. If they were even a little slower, they would be hung up and beaten, or even have their limbs broken.

……

"Mr. Chen! I have tried my best and only brought back 2,000 people! If it were in the United States, I believe they would know what is more important and no one would reject Mr. Chen. But Cuba is too far away from the United States...so they don't understand and don't care about Mr. Chen."

"Recently, Cuba is in great need of labor, and the price of Chinese laborers has also increased. Even if the contract is only for one year, a weak worker will be charged $150! Those with good health and long contracts can even charge $ to $..."

"I asked many people, but they refused to give in! They even refused to sell the weak laborers. They are vampires."

"For them, even if these workers die on the plantation, they must create enough value for them before they die..."

"I tried my best to bring these people back. I even went around Panama and it took me more than 20 days." Juan said while sitting in Chen Zhengwei's office.

In fact, the fastest way to travel from San Francisco to Cuba is to take a train to Houston, which takes 4 days.

Then take a boat from Houston to Cuba, which only takes three days.

But it was too difficult to transport these Chinese from Houston, so Juan could only go through Panama, which took a much longer journey.

"Four hundred? Five hundred? Are they trying to rob us?" Chen Zhengwei held a cigar in his mouth and smiled.

I was negotiating business with them, and they wanted to rob me? Did they think he was easy to bully?

And they don’t understand or care about themselves?
Are Spanish people arrogant?

Chen Zhengwei likes such arrogant people and hopes that they can still maintain this arrogance even after a hole is drilled in their heads.

I will let them know themselves.

"How much do these people cost?" Chen Zhengwei asked directly.

"Mr. Chen is my biggest partner, and I also care about the cooperative relationship with Mr. Chen! These people... 80 US dollars each, more than people, a total of US dollars!" Juan said directly.

"Go ask Wanyun to bring the money!" Chen Zhengwei signaled to Li Xiwen.

After all, Juan made this trip, which took more than a month, and Chen Zhengwei had no objection to the price.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen!" Juan smiled. In fact, he lost a lot of money on this trip.

Of the laborers alone, except for more than a thousand people, the rest were bought from other plantations.

Based on the price of these laborers in Cuba, plus the transportation costs along the way, he lost nearly two hundred thousand.

But he doesn't care about the money, he believes that he will gain more than this.

"You're so polite. Are we partners? You will make money only when I make money. If you make money, I can make more money!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.

“That’s indeed the truth!”

"Then, as a partner, please tell me about the situation in Cuba!" Chen Zhengwei changed the subject.

(End of this chapter)