The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 474 It is natural to pay back debts

Alfred Kingston followed the club waiter to the door of Chen Zhengwei's office, where four strong young men in gentlemen's suits were standing.

One of the young men knocked on the door, and stepped aside after hearing the voice inside: "Come in."

Alfred Kingston pushed open the office door and walked in to see Chen Zhengwei sitting behind the desk with his legs crossed.

There was a stack of papers on the table. He was very familiar with the size of those papers. They were the IOUs he had signed these days.

"Kingston!" Chen Zhengwei smiled enthusiastically when he saw Kingston: "How are you having fun here these days?"

"Very good!" Kingston said with a relaxed look.

"That's good! You are my friends. Since you come to my place, I must give you the best hospitality." Chen Zhengwei said with a smile, and then changed the subject:
"But there is a small problem now."

Chen Zhengwei picked up the top IOU with his fingers: "Loan of 3000 US dollars..."

He put the paper aside and picked up another one: "Loan of 2000 US dollars..."

Kingston saw the words on the IOU on the table and felt something was wrong, so he walked forward quickly and said, “Wait a minute!”

You have to know that when he signed, he just signed a blank note.

And now, in addition to one's own signature, there are many other words on those IOUs.

Kingston grabbed an IOU and saw that it not only listed the amount owed, but also the repayment date and even the interest rate.

10% interest per month.

"When I signed it, there was nothing like this on it!" Kingston tore up the IOU in his hand in dissatisfaction and put his hands on the table.

"Isn't this a matter of course? Sign first, and then add the outstanding amount and the figures... every casino does this. It's impossible for them to make a loan contract for you on the spot when you want to borrow money? How would you be in the mood to play if you did that? Our club has always provided the best service to every gentleman!" Chen Zhengwei said as if it was a matter of course.

"You borrowed the money, so it must be correct, right? I can also ask the waiter who helped you with the contract to confront you!"

"What's up with all this interest?" Kingston frowned even deeper.

"When a casino borrows money, it always charges interest. You don't think opening a casino is charity, do you?" Chen Zhengwei smiled.

"You are committing fraud! I will not admit it." Kingston said angrily.

"No, it's a loan! And the court will definitely approve this loan agreement. Whether it's the American court... or the British court." Chen Zhengwei picked up the stack of IOUs on the table and clapped his hands twice.

"Now you owe me $50,000... I know you can't pay it back now... You should have received $20,000 this time, but you lost $10,000 in the casino!"

"But it doesn't matter. I can find someone in the UK to collect the money for me. You know, I have some friends in the UK... and they have very high status!" Chen Zhengwei said slowly.

A vein throbbed in Alfred Kingston's forehead.

He suddenly realized that the previous enthusiasm of the Chinese man in front of him was all an illusion.

In fact, he is a vampire who peels off skin and drinks blood.

"What do you want?" Alfred Kingston said, suppressing the anger in his heart.

"It is only natural to pay back debts..."

"Of course, I don't want to make a big deal out of it. You and I are friends, and I don't want to ruin you." Chen Zhengwei smiled and took out a few more stacks of money from the table and put them on the table.

"I can even help you climb up. You are almost 40 years old now, and major is still too low for you."

"I'm willing to help you, and likewise, you have to help me!" said Chen Zhengwei.

"This is not a friendly thing to do. What exactly do you want me to do?" Alfred Kingston looked gloomy.

He finally understood what Chen Zhengwei was going to do. This bastard had set a trap for him.

The purpose is to help him do something.

However, Chen Zhengwei's answer was beyond his expectations.

"I don't know yet..." Chen Zhengwei smiled and said, "I said, we are friends. I don't want to ruin you, nor do I want to make things worse. So I am willing to give you this opportunity!"

"It's just that I don't need anything right now!"

"I just hope you will remember my friendship and will not turn a blind eye when I need your help in the future." Chen Zhengwei said, pushing the money in front of Kingston.

"This money is what you lost, I give it to you again."

"As for these IOUs, they will be kept in my safe. Perhaps they will never see the light of day. Maybe one day I will ask you to do me a favor."

"You must think I'm setting a trap to cheat you, but you're wrong, Kingston. You come to the casino every day to play, and you lose money. I don't even need you... But I'm actually in a difficult situation. Because I'm a businessman, I can help my friends, but I never do business at a loss. This goes against my principles as a human being."

"So I thought about it for a long time, and based on the standpoint of a friend, I don't want to cause you too much trouble, so I did this!" Chen Zhengwei stood up and walked to the wine cabinet next to him, took out a bottle of whiskey from it, turned to ask Kingston.

"Would you like some?"

"Half a cup!" Kingston took a deep breath, his expression still uncertain, but it had eased a lot.

"Many people like to make friends with me because I care about my friends!" Chen Zhengwei smiled, walked back to the table with two cups, and poured two glasses of wine.

Kingston picked up a glass and drank most of it. The burning and stinging sensation made him feel much better.

"I can do one thing for you later, and then we can write it off!" Kingston said. "And the interest on it must be cancelled."

"Don't worry, as long as these things don't appear in front of everyone, they are just some papers." Chen Zhengwei smiled.

"Besides, you don't need to be so vigilant. No one can predict what will happen in the future. It may not be that I need your help, but maybe you need my help, right? Just like I said just now." Chen Zhengwei raised his glass to gesture, then took a sip.

In fact, Alfred Kingston's status was not low, but it was not too high either.

He is 37 years old this year, with the rank of major, and is the captain of the Iris protection cruiser, which is a small to medium-sized cruiser, but in the British Navy's warship system, it is considered a large battleship with a displacement of about 3000 tons.

This type of cruiser, due to its high speed and long endurance, is often deployed to cruise in the Pacific Ocean to protect waterway trade.

There really wasn't anything Chen Zhengwei wanted him to do for the time being.

But the other party has already come to San Francisco, so I don’t need to spend a penny more. I can just get some leverage over him, which may be useful in the future.

If he can still climb up in the future, Chen Zhengwei might be willing to give him a push with money.

"Gambling is not a good habit! I will arrange some girls for you later so that you can relax at night. Otherwise, after you leave tomorrow, you will see that all the sows you see at sea are pretty." Chen Zhengwei said with another sly smile.

"I heard that you guys take a few sheep on board. Is that true?"

"Absolutely not!" Alfred Kingston righteously rejected it.

……

The next day, the ironclad ship Swift and the protected cruiser Iris left San Francisco after resting.

He also took away the payment for the transaction, a total of 570 million US dollars.

However, a wooden frigate, the Thetis, remained, and they were also responsible for training Chen Zhengwei's navy for three months.

Chen Zhengwei recruited some more people from the piglet ships. Together with the people from the first batch of piglet ships, there were a total of six or seven hundred people. Some of them had already decided to stay in Chen Zhengwei's navy.

Mainly because of those warships, they are so shocking.

No one expected that Chen Zhengwei actually bought a fleet with eight warships.

Even though most of the ships are now being repaired and having cannons installed in the shipyard, there are still a few Ter-class gunboats parked at the dock, and people gather to watch every day.

This led many people to speculate about Chen Zhengwei's motives.

Then some people decided to give it a try, including the captains of two piggy boats, one named Lao Sha and the other named Huang Yafu. After all, the piggy boats with a displacement of several hundred tons, or the warships with a displacement of several thousand tons, are completely incomparable, especially the Warrior with a displacement of more than 9000 tons.

Moreover, they all know that Chen Zhengwei is short of people. If they join Chen Zhengwei's team now, they may be able to make a name for themselves in the future.

Chen Zhengwei was naturally happy to see this happen, so he recruited all these people.

Now, in addition to the two thousand people selected from the security company, he also has more than two hundred veterans who have been on the ship for many years, and two captains who have led ships to Guangzhou, Nanyang and San Francisco routes.

Chen Zhengwei thought about it and called A-Long over: "Recruit another group of people from the Chinese in San Francisco."

"We have enough people now, but we still need to build ships. We need to recruit and train them first."

"Brother Wei, I've inquired about it these past two days. Now our warships are more powerful than those of the US Navy!" Aaron said with a smile.

"Why else would I buy these ships? I'm not worried about another war with the United States on land, but the navy relies on ships!" said Chen Zhengwei.

He was ready to learn naval tactics, so he telegraphed Churchill and asked him to get him a British naval textbook and have it delivered.

But he is just a human being after all, and he likes to enjoy himself.

Unless it was a very important and critical moment, he would not go on board to command in person.

"Also, how are those cannons being loaded?"

"The cannons on the Warrior battleship are almost installed! I've been going there every day recently. That ship can smash other ships to pieces just by ramming into them, let alone firing! Once the cannons are installed and the crews are trained, can we go to Cuba?" Aaron said.

"It will take at least half a year!" said Chen Zhengwei.

He recruited the veterans of the piggy boats and placed them directly in key positions on each ship. Within half a year, these ships would be ready for use.

All that remains is training while sailing.

"When the time comes, we will go to South America and open up the arms market! And then go to Cuba!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile. He has been thinking about Cuba for a long time.

……

"This damn place!" Standing on the dock of Villa Clara, an important city in central Cuba, Xu Li took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Although he has only been here for more than a month, he has missed San Francisco more than once.

If there's one thing to like about this place...it's probably the coconut? It's pretty refreshing.

Xu Li stood at the dock and waited for a moment. When he turned his head, he noticed that someone was looking at him. They were two young black men, and their eyes were full of ill intentions.

"It's them again!" Xu Li's eyes were somewhat cold and cruel.

These people are a small gang at the docks who make a living by stealing, robbing, kidnapping and extortion. It is said that they are also connected with some resistance organizations... those independent organizations that want to drive out the Spaniards.

Not long after I came here, I was targeted and they even tried to cause trouble.

But he did not come here alone. In addition to two Chinese, there were also a few Germans in his group who came to Havana.

Those niggers have some fear and hatred towards white people.

But the way he looked at this Chinese man... was like looking at a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.

So he never goes out alone.

But even so, he estimated that once those people knew his background, they would most likely attack him.

Because in Cuba, Chinese people are usually coolies on plantations and have little status.

He dressed well and opened a trading company. He looked very rich and was much easier to mess with than white people.

So he thought that it would be better to strike first than to wait for someone to find out.

After giving the two black men a cold look, Xu Li withdrew his gaze, sat on a chair beside him, and began to wipe his sweat again.

It's too hot in this damn place.

Half an hour later, a passenger ship from Houston entered the port and the passengers got off the ship one after another.

Xu Li saw five or six Chinese people coming down from above at a glance.

He immediately stood up with a look of joy on his face, and when the other party came out of the customs at the dock, he went to greet him.

"Danian! Monkey! Shanghai boy..." Xu Li greeted everyone with a smile. Behind those Chinese people, there were a few Poles. Although the two sides were not familiar with each other, they were acquainted with each other.

"You're finally here!" Xu Li finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them coming.

He has been under a lot of scrutiny these days and is under a lot of pressure.

Now that I have help, it’s much easier.

"This damn place is so hot!" Shanghai Boy wiped the sweat from his head. He came to Guangdong from Shanghai County to make a living, and then came to San Francisco. He had a mole on his face and looked unattractive.

Xu Li took the luggage from someone, shook it, and then smiled.

He heard the sound of metal colliding.

"It took a lot of effort to bring it on board..." said Da Nian next to him. They bribed the sailors on the ship to help them bring the guns on board.

"Let's go and talk about it when we get back!" Xu Li said with a smile. When he turned around, he saw that the two black men were still staring at him and whispering to each other.

There was a hint of sarcasm in Xu Li's eyes.

There were originally seven people in Xu Li's group, and this time sixteen more came, making a total of more than twenty people.

Now that he has enough manpower and guns, what is he worried about?
……

When the two black men saw Xu Li and others leaving, they also ran away quickly and hid in a house not far from the pier.

There were a few black men inside, sitting there with their shirts off, fanning themselves.

"Boss, those two Chinese... picked up some more people at the dock today..." said the two black men.

"how many people?"

"More than a dozen of them, well dressed, some Chinese, some white!"

"We should have taken action a long time ago!" a black man complained. "They are short of money now, and they are getting more and more anxious! These Chinese seem to be very rich, and we can get a lot from them."

Just as Xu Li had found out, these black people were indeed related to independent organizations.

The independent organization behind them has been short of money recently, so they have urged them several times.

So they kept staring at Xu Li and wanted to tie him up.

“After all, there are still white people...It doesn’t matter about the Chinese, but those white people are not easy to mess with..." The middle-aged black man who was called the boss was still a little hesitant.

In fact, if it weren't for those Germans, they would have taken action long ago.

"White people deserve to die more!" cursed the black man who spoke earlier.

"And white people are different from white people. Those people have blond hair, and they are not the same as those black-haired people here!"

"Kill them all, and no one will care about them."

"Ask around a little further, if there's no problem, notify them and take action!" The black boss finally made up his mind after hesitating for a while.

(End of this chapter)