Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 103: Make a lot of money
Long before Zheng Yi developed Penang, the entire city of Penang had a population of only about 300,000, which is actually equivalent to an ordinary county town in modern society.

But now its population has almost exceeded one million, and it has one foot halfway into the threshold of becoming a big city.

There are even nearly a thousand new immigrants in this city every day, and everyone is accepted, so they almost never have to worry about finding a job.

However, the entire city's administrative management system is a mess, and it can even be said that there is no management system at all.

After all, the British used to do nothing except collect taxes. Zheng Yi had only taken over for such a short time and was always busy running around. It was impossible for him to just pull out a hair and blow out a breath to create a team of civil servants that could cope with such a large-scale population growth.

So the whole city, to put it nicely, is super lively right now.

To put it bluntly, it's a mess.

It was a complete mess, a complete chaos.

Don't even think about getting a room in the inn. A big bunk bed costs two yuan a month, and unless you live near a well-off village, such as people from Xinyi, Fuqing, or Xiamen, you won't be able to find a place to sleep even if you have money.

Sleeping at construction sites, in factories, and in underground "subway tunnels" is considered pretty good. Even the fishing boats that used to fish on the seashore are now full of people sleeping at night, and there is no distinction between men and women.

Domestic garbage, sewage and feces have now become a major problem in Penang, because there are simply not enough toilets and the processing capacity is seriously insufficient, so that the entire Penang is now filled with a very unpleasant and disgusting stench.

Except for the area near Penang Hill where tycoons like Zheng Yi live, this place was originally a villa area for the British. After Zheng Yi took over Penang, most of the British sold their houses and left, and the Chinese moved in instead.

Every day when I go out, I hear birds singing and flowers blooming, and even the streets are as clean as if they were licked by a tongue. But if I take a short walk down the mountain, I feel that everything is a mess.

It has a very Indian feel.

Of course, this is a temporary solution. The Penang management team is not indifferent. The presidents of various chambers of commerce are very busy now and are also spontaneously carrying out grassroots management.
In fact, it is already the prototype of urban civil servants, but its management capabilities cannot keep up with the speed of the influx of refugees.

All urban management, public facilities, and basic services, no matter how conscientious Zheng Yi and the tycoons are, will undoubtedly have to wait until the city's population gradually stabilizes, or at least stops growing on such a large scale, before they can be gradually improved.

However, there is one exception, and that is school.

The whole of Penang doesn’t even have enough toilets, but it has enough schools.

Almost all the major chambers of commerce, without exception, chose to build schools for their children to go to school as soon as possible as the number of their fellow villagers increased.

In the eyes of Southeast Asian Chinese, children going to school is a much more important matter than adults going to the toilet.

In fact, the Chinese in Southeast Asia are very strange. Historically, they can tolerate bullying, oppression, exploitation, and discrimination, except for the period when Japan ruled Southeast Asia, which was so inhumane that it made it impossible for everyone to survive. At other times, they were really submissive.

As long as we can survive, basic social stability can be maintained.

But there is one rule: children cannot be bullied and must go to school. If anything delays the children from going to school, these Nanyang Chinese will definitely rebel.

Throughout their lives, the Chinese in Southeast Asia, whether they were doing hard labor, working as prostitutes, or smoking opium, or when they were so poor that they had to urinate blood, could give up their dignity and eat less, but they had to save money to build schools for their children and hire teachers.

This time, naturally, is no exception.

In the chaotic and crowded Penang, there are more and more makeshift private schools and secondary schools. Some chambers of commerce have even given up their entire premises to be used as classrooms for children.

One day, Li Xiaowei came down from Penang Hill. He couldn't help but pinched his nose and lit a cigar to smoke against the stench in the street. Then he took many detours and came to the northern part of the city, where he found a school called Fujian Girls' School.

And because he was a man, they refused to let him in.

"Hello, I'm here to look for my sister. My sister's name is Li Jiazhi, and she's a teacher here."

"Hold on."

Seeing that he was well-dressed, holding a cigar, and was really handsome, the lady guard couldn't help but look at him with respect. Instead of making things difficult for him, she asked him to wait at the guard post while she went to make a phone call to inform him.

After waiting for more than half an hour, Li Jiazhi finally came out. She looked at Li Xiaowei and said with some dissatisfaction, "I'm still in class. Why are you looking for me? I finally got this job, and now my boss is looking down on me."

Li Xiaowei said with a smile: "If your leader knew that the eldest daughter of the Li family came here to teach, he would be scared to death.

If you really want to teach, let your brother-in-law tell him and you can come here and be the principal. Or you can just raise money to build one and have our family pay for it."

Li Jiazhi shook her head and said, "I don't have that ability. Besides, I only work because I don't want to be bored at home all day. You all are so busy, wouldn't it be boring for me to be alone at home? I'll do whatever I can. If I have a little bit of enthusiasm, I'll make a difference."

"I teach here. Although I don't make much money, I got here because I went through the interview process and passed the assessment.

Everything I do is within my ability. If I do well, it's just for my own pleasure. So why would I ask him for an official position?

Li Xiaowei lowered his head and asked, "Sister, you and your brother-in-law...didn't have a fight? Does he know you work here?"

Hearing this, Li Jiazhi sighed and said, "He knew I was looking for a job and wanted to arrange for me to go to the Finance Bureau to learn accounting from my mother, but I said I wasn't interested and wanted to find a job on my own, so he let me do it."

"It's a pity that he was so busy. I found this job, but before I could talk to him about it, he left on a business trip."

Li Xiaowei quickly asked, "Then do you know where he went?"

Li Jiazhi: "You came to the school specifically to find me, is that just to ask this?"

Li Xiaowei said embarrassedly: "Isn't the police station going to be built soon? I'm a little panicked. My budget...

Oh, I never thought he would be on a business trip. I'm so scared now, but I don't dare to build it. How much money should I pay? There's not much money in the public account of Penang. Sister, can you contact my brother-in-law?"

Li Jiazhi: "No, I can't contact him. He's gone abroad. And the place he went to is very remote. Even the telegraph has no signal."

Li Xiaowei: "There's no signal on the telegraph? Where did it go?"

"Don't you know where he went?"

Li Xiaowei: "Haha, it's not just me who doesn't know. No one in Penang, at least the entire City Hall, knows. Chua, very mysterious, just disappeared."

Li Jiazhi: "Even Qian Qiwen doesn't know?"

“I don’t know. She said she didn’t tell her on purpose, but it’s hard to say. What if that bitch knew but didn’t say anything?

She's just a concubine, huh? She's always showing up in public, and she's not ashamed of it. Ugh!

Li Jiazhi: "She can show up in public because she helps Zheng Yi manage the business, and she is also in charge of the affairs of the Northern Fujian Chamber of Commerce.
Now in Penang, she seems to be the president of the Northern Fujian Chamber of Commerce. Zheng Yi, on the other hand, has become more aloof and has to avoid suspicion in many things. In this respect, I am far inferior to her. "

Li Xiaowei: "What the hell? You are not as good as her? Who is she? How can she compare with you, big sister?"

Li Jiazhi smiled upon hearing this, but remained noncommittal. After all, concubines were permitted in Nanyang, and the woman had already entered the family before the two of them were married, so she couldn't say anything.

"Sister, you said that my brother-in-law took a concubine... Aren't you angry?"

"I'm angry, and naturally I'm not happy about it."

"Then you still..."

"Is it any use for me to be angry? Can I not marry him?"

Li Xiaoshi shook his head repeatedly: "I'm afraid it won't work. Your marriage...ah~"

"That's it, isn't it? Since being angry doesn't mean you can't get married, why bother getting angry? It's only hurting yourself, and besides giving that vixen a free ride, who else is it going to benefit?"

Li Xiaowei: "Sister, you are quite open-minded. But sister, our family has done him a favor after all. Didn't you save his life?
I think, even if he took a concubine, a fucking prostitute, how could she really compare to you? He would definitely treat you well."

Li Jiazhi did not comment upon hearing this.

He actually likes Zheng Yi very much, but it's not the kind of love that he loves madly. He doesn't mind dating Zheng Yi.
However, if she could make her own decision, since Zheng Yi dared to take a concubine before marriage, there would be no way she would marry him.

But he couldn't be his own master.

This marriage must be concluded.

Then she had no choice but to be open-minded.

However, Li Xiaowei was right about one thing. That woman had no right to be ignorant of her.

In fact, she didn't take the woman seriously.

"But sister, that bitch Qian Qiwen is only a concubine after all, and has no one to support her at home. She's not a threat. You're just kindhearted, otherwise, after you get married, you'll bully her to death. But I heard..."

"What did you hear?"

"Wang Zhaosong has arrived in Penang."

"Qiaoyun's father?"

"Yes, and he's the director of the Education Bureau, which is just the right place to manage a female school teacher like you."

Li Jiazhi: “…………”

"Sister, the Director of the Education Bureau is a powerful position. We Chinese in Southeast Asia attach the most importance to education. It helps build connections, needless to say. So many people are eyeing it eagerly. In the end, my brother-in-law gave it to Wang Zhaosong."

"You say Wang Zhaosong... what qualifications does he have? He's said to be the leader of the overseas Chinese community in Qiongzhou, but his businesses are only in Hong Kong Island, Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Ipoh and other places, and they are all small businesses.

He's involved in real estate, hotels, shipping, all small businesses like that, and has only about a thousand or two employees. The Qiongzhou people don't have much influence in Penang. He became the Education Bureau Director, but he just donated to Hainan Wenchang Middle School, and he's only one of the school directors."

"Why is he the director of the Education Bureau? He's no less powerful than me in the Public Security Bureau. But, do you think this could be related to Wang Qiaoyun? I heard that my brother-in-law has a very close relationship with her."

Li Jiazhi was stunned for a moment, then frowned and said, "Qiaoyun... is my best friend. She and I are best friends."

Li Xiaowei: "Then you have to be more careful, my bestie. These days, only your bestie is scary.

Sister, this Wang Qiaoyun is completely different from Qian Qiwen. Qian Qiwen is a prostitute. After entering the house, she is not presentable.
But Wang Qiaoyun is also the eldest daughter. Although the power of Qiongzhou Gang is far less than that of our Xinyi Gang, and their family members are even less comparable to that of the eldest brother, we still have to be on guard after all.
"I'm not afraid of thieves stealing, I'm afraid of thieves thinking about it. My brother-in-law is not an honest or loyal person. Don't be foolish and let a wolf into your house. These days, the most feared thing is the so-called best friend."

Li Jiazhi: “…………”

For a moment, Li Jiazhi felt increasingly uncomfortable and said angrily, "You're sick. Take care of yourself first. You, as a younger brother, don't need to worry about what's going on between us."

"You should think carefully about how to build your police station and how to be your police chief. Even though you're a major battalion commander under General Bai, don't you know whether you have connections or not?"

"Do it well. If you do well, our family will be proud, and your brother-in-law will be able to explain it to his other bosses. The police station is very important, and he takes it very seriously."

Li Xiaowei: "Oh, I see. That's why I came to find you. Where did my brother-in-law go?"

Li Jiazhi: "He didn't tell you because he wanted to maintain some mystery. After all, he's a manager now. Maybe he wants to create the impression that he's unfathomable?"

Li Xiaowei: "There's no need to exaggerate. I already feel he's unfathomable. Two years, a little over two years, and now... isn't this fucking unfathomable?"

"I just wanted to confirm whether he had any money and how much money he had. I'm not sure, so I don't dare spend it."

Li Jiazhi: "I do know this. I manage his personal accounts, but he doesn't know about it."

"Really? How much money is in his personal account now?"

"More than a million."

"Dollars?"

“Malaysian currency.”

"........."

It seems that he is not as rich as me.

"But he did tell me that he had some money to make and would marry me after he made it."

"how much is it?"

"He said, probably tens of millions."

“Tens of millions of Malaysian ringgit?”

"No, it's tens of millions of dollars."

"Several...tens of millions of dollars? Where can I earn that?"

"He said...it seemed to be in the Middle East."

(End of this chapter)