The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 623 I'm Used to Being a Bad Guy

On December 1880, 12, when Chen Zhengwei arrived in San Francisco, the American Minister to Colombia was signing an agreement with the Colombian government.

The Colombian government agreed to pay 1200 million pesos, equivalent to $300 million, as war reparations.

And the port of Santa Marta was leased to the US government for a period of thirty years.

At the same time, the monopoly of some commodities will be abolished and free trade will be allowed.

The United States returned the port of Cartagena to Colombia and signed a 20-year peace agreement with Colombia, and will not actively invade Colombia.

When the news of this unequal agreement spread, the whole of Colombia was in an uproar.

It was also at this time that in South Africa, conflict between the Boers and the British Army escalated, beginning with the September disarmament riots.

On December 12, the day Chen Zhengwei returned to San Francisco, which was also the day the United States and the Colombian government signed an agreement, the Boers mobilized for war.

Later generations have always regarded this day as the beginning of the First Boer War.

……

Not only were there people led by Rong Jiacai at the dock, but even the San Francisco City Government knew that Chen Zhengwei had returned, and the mayor personally led people waiting at the port.

Chen Zhengwei greeted everyone with a smile and exchanged pleasantries for a while before getting on the carriage.

Chen Zhengwei's carriage returned to Portsmouth Square on the edge of Chinatown, where it was already crowded with people waiting to pick up Chen Zhengwei.

"Mr. Chen!"

"Mr. Chen!"

Not only were there members of the Chamber of Commerce, but also many people from Chinatown who had rushed over after hearing the news.

Chen Zhengwei looked outside and said with a smile, "I thought I had won the battle and returned triumphantly."

"Brother Wei, you have won the battle this time. You brought back a lot of Chinese people from Cuba. Although most of them are still on the way, some have already arrived! The news has spread in Chinatown a long time ago!" Rong Jiacai smiled as he sat opposite Chen Zhengwei, with admiration and pride in his eyes.

Although he was not the one going to fight, he also took care of the logistics.

"More than 50,000 Chinese were used as slaves in Cuba. Now they finally have a way to survive!"

"So that's what happened!" Chen Zhengwei suddenly realized. In fact, more than a month had passed and he almost forgot about it.

While the two were talking, several people squeezed out of the crowd and knelt on the ground and kowtowed: "Thank you, Mr. Chen, thank you, Mr. Chen!"

These are the Chinese who were sent back from Cuba. Although most of them were sent to Los Angeles to build roads, a few also came to San Francisco.

Chen Zhengwei held a cigar in his mouth and waved to the outside. Faced with this scene, he didn't even want to get off the carriage.

"I don't buy it! Did you arrange this?" Chen Zhengwei said after taking two puffs of his cigar.

"Of course not. They were the people we brought back from Cuba. They came to thank Brother Wei on their own initiative. I didn't know about it before. Brother Wei, how do you feel?" Rong Jiacai asked with a smile.

Chen Zhengwei smacked his lips: "Not so good!"

"What?" Rong Jiacai asked in surprise.

"I'm used to being a bad guy!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.

But it really doesn't feel good.

He liked to show off that Cicely DuPont wrote a book for him.

But he felt weird that these people were thanking him so much.

Although he likes others to say thank you to him...but not this kind.

In the carriage in the distance, Xu Zichun and Lim Boon Keng looked at so many Chinese people from Chinatown coming to pick up Chen Zhengwei with envy in their eyes.

"The people's will!" Xu Zichun sighed.

Lin Wenqing nodded slightly, his eyes showing thought.

He has seen a lot in San Francisco in the past few months. Chen Zhengwei's prestige here is unmatched.

Today I finally got to see Chen Zhengwei in person. Although he was smiling, there was always a fierce aura about him, like a ruthless and ruthless man with the eyes of an eagle and the back of a wolf.

But it is also because of this that he has been able to achieve such success in the United States.

Apart from this, from other aspects, it can be seen that Chen Zhengwei has great vision for development, which is by no means comparable to ordinary people.

Now that Chinese people have established themselves in the United States, their influence will grow at an extremely fast pace in the next decade.

The biggest weakness nowadays is population.

As long as the population keeps up, we can not only compete with the white people in the United States, but also split the land.

He thought he could send a letter to his family, asking them to arrange some assets here, and then see whether to transfer all of them here.

……

When Chen Zhengwei returned home, he saw Lin Changning, who was pregnant, sitting on a chair with a book in her hand.

"Brother!" After not seeing each other for a few months, Qiao Niang and Zheng Wu have grown a little bit older.

Qiao Niang looks like a grown-up girl now.

But I still jumped on his back when I saw him.

"Brother!" Li Xiwen also had a smile on his face. "You are finally back. I have been looking forward to seeing you every day!"

"Uncle Wei!" Wan Yun was standing behind Lin Changning, smiling strangely at Chen Zhengwei. Lin Changning looked at Chen Zhengwei from the top of the page, then covered his eyes with the book.

The book in his hand was "Cicely's Love Letters", a hardcover edition.

"Why are you still reading at this time?" Chen Zhengwei walked over and grabbed the book.

"How do you know what others write if you don't read it?" Lin Changning said slowly, his brows soft.

It seemed that because the baby was about to be born, the stubbornness on the girl's face had diminished a lot. She looked gentler and her sword-like eyebrows were not as sharp anymore.

"Do you want the author to sign it for you?" Chen Zhengwei threw the book aside.

"Okay, bring it back someday and have it signed for me!" Lin Changning spoke slowly, then stood up to help Chen Zhengwei take off his wool coat and handed it to Wanyun. Chen Zhengwei looked at the girl's slow pace and really wanted to carry her upstairs.

But looking at her big belly, he had to give up the idea and pinched her face.

Lin Changning had a look of disgust on his face, and his eyebrows arched.

"You're not leaving this time, are you?"

"Let's go, I have to go to Los Angeles to see how my estate is going!"

When he heard the first two words, Lin Changning's eyebrows raised, and they relaxed after he heard the latter.

"The two younger ones will take until next year, and the older one will take two or three years!" Lin Changning complained, "That manor is too big!"

It is indeed very big, 121 square kilometers of land.

Although the main body is not that big, it covers an area of nearly 50000 square meters.

Moreover, it is in the Chinese courtyard style. Several gardening masters were "invited" back from the Qing Dynasty, and their families were also "invited" back.

Chen Zhengwei's subordinates have always been good at doing things.

It will take at least five or six years to complete this manor.

Chen Zhengwei collapsed on the sofa and chatted with Lin Changning about family matters for a while. It was a rare moment of leisure.

A banquet was held in the mansion in the evening, but not many people were invited, just Rong Jiacai, A'long, Green and other trusted subordinates.

The next day, a banquet was held at the Gold Club, inviting some of San Francisco's leading figures and some wealthy people in Chinatown.

Cheerful music was playing in the club, and the leading figures in San Francisco were greeting each other with wine glasses in hand. When they saw Chen Zhengwei, they bowed slightly to show their respect.

Xu Zichun and Lim Boon Keng stood at the edge of the club, watching the scene with wine glasses in hand.

Although I have heard it many times, I also know that Chinese people have a high status here.

But only when Chen Zhengwei is here will you understand why everyone says this is Chen Zhengwei's San Francisco.

……

Also on December 1880, 12, in Los Angeles, a train pulled into the train station with its whistle blowing, and then the carriages pulled away one by one.

"Get off the train, don't crowd, walk this way!"

"Follow the people out of the train station, don't just stand there!"

Groups of Chinese workers poured down from the train and looked around in confusion.

Some Chinese youths in work clothes kept shouting, "Don't just stand there! Go over there!"

"Ashan? Are you Ashan?" Several Chinese laborers who had just got off the train suddenly grabbed a Chinese young man in work clothes next to them, with a look of surprise on their faces.

"Brother Qing? I was wondering when you would come!" Ashan was also surprised when he saw an acquaintance.

"how long have you been here?"

"I'm lucky. I'm more than a month earlier than you!" Ashan said with a smile.

"What's the situation here?" Dozens of Chinese people surrounded Ashan and asked. They didn't trust other people, but they were all sold to Cuba together, just on different plantations.

"It's much better than in Cuba! We can eat as much meat as we want every day! The pay is also high, and you get paid for a day's work." Ashan couldn't help but smile.

He knew what everyone else was worried about.

That's how he got here too.

At that time, I was afraid that I had just escaped from the wolf's den and entered the tiger's den. Although they were all Chinese, they were sold here by their fellow countrymen.

When they heard that they could eat their fill, many people smiled.

"What kind of work do you do? Is it dangerous? Is anyone bullying you?"

"You can do any job. We are short of people everywhere. You will see when you go out. The whole Los Angeles is full of Chinese people! This is our Chinese city!"

"Whether it's dangerous or not depends on what kind of work you do. Road construction is a bit hard, but the pay is good, 1 dollar a day, equivalent to 1 silver dollar. But the labor company takes a cut, 27%. If you work days a month, you can get dollars."

"If you save money, you can buy land here. An acre costs 30 dollars."

"Wouldn't it be possible to buy an acre of land in a month?"

The others all had expressions of disbelief on their faces.

"More than that. Near Los Angeles, it's only $30. Farther away, it's even cheaper, only $10 per acre. There are even cheaper places."

More and more people gathered around Ashan, and soon someone in the distance started yelling, "Stop blocking the way! The road is blocked!"

Ah Shan quickly pulled Brother Qing and the others and said, "You guys go outside first, take a shower, and then register at the labor service company. Wait for me at the entrance of the train station later, and we'll talk then."

Soon, this group of Chinese followed the crowd out of the train station, where there was a row of faucets outside.

Everyone who comes here must take a bath first to avoid contracting an infectious disease.

Then they will be registered by the labor service company and arranged to work in various places.

Words similar to what Ashan said just now spread among these people, and everyone had a look of longing on their face.

With the arrival of these waves of Chinese, Los Angeles has become more lively.

Today, Los Angeles has a population of nearly 100,000, 99% of whom are Chinese.

Along with it, various Chinese restaurants, laundries and casinos also sprang up everywhere.

Of course, all the casinos were opened by Chen Zhengwei's men.

Yung Wing was so busy in Los Angeles that he didn't even have time to visit Chen Zhengwei when he returned to San Francisco.

All the things were piling up in front of him and weighing on him, and he couldn't get away at all.

(End of this chapter)