The War of Resistance: From Overseas Chinese Mechanics to King of Nanyang

Hearing that they could provide large quantities of rice, noodles, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea, Chen Amao was quite shocked. After all, these days, anyone who dared to say such a thing must have connections in higher positions.

"Let me formally introduce myself. My name is Huang Zurong, and my father is Huang Qingchang. UOB is a family business." Although Huang Zurong was born into the third wife's family and, strictly speaking, had no right to inherit, the other party was just a small-time hawker who had no idea about such things.

As expected, Chen Amao was indeed stunned. This reminded him of something he had overheard in the black market: some of the car thugs were said to be from prominent families in Southeast Asia, and that people should be polite to them and try not to offend them.

He originally just took it as a joke, but he never expected to actually encounter it, which really left him a bit stunned.

"With such a large family business, why would you come here to work as a cart driver?" Now it was Chen Amao's turn to be confused. Why would someone who could have a comfortable life come back to suffer?

Moreover, the work he did was that of a cart driver, which was hard and tiring, and he was never full.

He truly didn't understand what these people were thinking.

These words immediately provoked Chen Shunwen, who retorted sarcastically.

"The rise and fall of the nation is the responsibility of every citizen. Although we live in Southeast Asia, this is also our motherland, our homeland. Isn't it the responsibility of every Chinese son and daughter to return and defend our motherland?"

With such awareness and mindset, Huang Zurong had to give a thumbs up in praise. If someone else had said this, he would have had some doubts, but at this moment, the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia were truly devoted to their motherland. They sincerely wished that their motherland could become prosperous and strong, so that they, the overseas Chinese who were begging for a living abroad, could have more dignity.

However, Chen Amao only frowned slightly when he heard these words. These things were too far away for him. All he wanted was to have three meals a day with meat at every meal, and preferably to get married and have a few children. That would make his life complete.

Therefore, he neither understands nor wants to hear these grand principles.

"Alright, Awen, do not do to others what you would not have them do to you. Not everyone has your awareness; most people just want a full meal." Huang Zurong had no dissatisfaction with Chen Amao's attitude because he was looking at the world from a later perspective and felt that time was running out for the Japanese army. In fact, at this time, many people were in despair and did not believe that the war of resistance could be won; otherwise, there would have been no Wang Jingwei regime.

For these people living in chaotic times, all they wanted was a full meal.

Living in a peaceful and prosperous era, he couldn't truly understand these people's yearning for peace, but after these few days of hardship, he had gained a basic understanding.

"But..." Chen Shunwen wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Huang Zurong.

"Only when one is successful can one help others. Look at them, they are busy making a living all day long. These things are really too far away from them."

Hearing this, Chen Amao was somewhat moved. It wasn't that he didn't love his country; after all, no one wanted to be a slave to a conquered nation. But times were tough, and many people couldn't even eat meat once a year. Faced with such a life, did they have time to think about these things?

Although he was deeply moved, Chen Amao remained expressionless on his face, only offering a slight apology.

"Mr. Huang is right, but I have little capital and I'm afraid I will have to disappoint you."

Hearing this, Huang Zurong was somewhat disappointed. His idea was to find a middleman to help him handle the supplies, since he had more important things to do and couldn't come every day himself.

If this goes on for too long, it will definitely arouse suspicion from others.

"But I can still handle small batches." The next second, Chen Amao's words made Huang Zurong laugh again.

"It's a pleasure to cooperate." Huang Zurong took the initiative to extend his hand, and the two strong hands clasped tightly together. Then the two discussed some details of the transaction, mainly focusing on whether the other party could go directly to Xiaguan to pick up the goods. After all, he really didn't want to experience that bumpy ride again.

After the other party left with the refined salt, Huang Zurong went to the shop to settle the bill, since he needed to catch a ride back to Xiaguan.

When checking out, Huang Zurong conducted a small experiment: he spent a dozen yuan on the shopping platform to buy ten fifty-yuan notes.

The feel of the banknotes was similar to that of real banknotes, but Huang Zurong was still a little uneasy, so he handed over a fifty-yuan note to the shopkeeper to verify its authenticity.

The shopkeeper was indeed a little surprised to see the brand-new banknotes, but he quickly took them, felt the softness of the paper, and immediately understood what was going on. A smile then appeared on his face.

"Here's fifteen yuan in change."

After this experiment, Huang Zurong had an even bolder plan: to exchange legal tender for gold and silver so that he could accumulate a large amount of wealth in the shortest amount of time.

Since the decision has been made to recruit soldiers, money is definitely indispensable. Leaving aside weapons and equipment, the daily food and drink alone will cost a considerable sum. Relying solely on black market resales is too slow. It may be able to meet the needs in the early stages, but once the number of people increases, it will probably not be enough.

More importantly, he didn't have much time left. The Pacific War would break out in a few days, and the expeditionary force would be going to Burma in just over three months. What he had to do was to build an elite force within that time and send it to Burma with the expeditionary force.

He even had a reason in mind: to protect Myanmar's supplies and the Nanyang Chinese mechanics.

Yes!

Some members of the Nanyang Overseas Chinese Mechanics were active in Yunnan Province, while others remained in the ports of Burma, transshipping supplies to Yunnan Province. When the Japanese army launched a surprise attack on Burma, many of them were captured or killed by the Japanese army, or were forced to flee to India and other places.

Therefore, in order to prevent the tragedy from happening again, Huang Zurong would definitely try to find a way to rescue these people. He even considered organizing all the Chinese in Southeast Asia if he had the strength to do so.

Can white people get it?

Why can't they take it?

Since we're already here, we should at least make some changes.

The general direction may not be able to be changed, but at least some tragedies can be avoided as much as possible.

"Let's go, we'll go back and recruit people." Having confirmed that the purchased fiat currency could be used normally, Huang Zurong had already conceived an even bigger idea. Originally, he was thinking of starting small and recruiting people slowly to give himself some capital to make a living. Now that he knew about this huge bug, he was determined to make good use of it.

"Brother Rong, don't be impulsive. Hiring people is easy, but can you afford to support them?" Chen Shunwen, who was standing to the side, felt that he should still try to dissuade him. Although he had some money, it wasn't much.

"Don't worry, we can afford it. We'll eat meat every meal from now on," Huang Zurong said in high spirits, full of pride.