Chapter 402 Belarus (please subscribe and vote)
“Of course, with Brother Fan here, you will live a long and safe life.” Cheng Qianfan laughed and said.
Roughing the hair of ‘junior brother’ vigorously, Cheng Qianfan put it down, said hello to his master and his wife, and said goodbye to leave.
Getting into his car, starting the car, and driving away in no hurry.
Cheng Qianfan lit a cigarette, thought for a moment, smiled and shook his head.
Ma Yishou is the kind of person who is shrewd in small things and will not make big mistakes in big things, but he will inevitably be confused sometimes. These words today are not something that Master Ma can say.
“The master’s ability to marry his master’s wife is a blessing gained from the Ma family’s previous life.” Cheng Qianfan said with admiration in his heart.
…
“It’s been eight lifetimes for your Ma family to have a daughter-in-law like me.” Ma Shiniang pointed at Lao Ma in the yard.
Lao Ma pursed his lips, took a sip of wine, and said nothing.
“But you told Qianfan what I said?” asked the master’s wife.
Lao Ma was silent and nodded slightly.
Before Cheng Qianfan came, the woman told him that Cheng Qianfan would come to visit sooner or later, and would most likely bring Qin Detai's greetings from the smiling tiger.
The woman told him how to speak.
She even asked him questions, forcing him to practice in advance.
"I always feel..." Lao Ma finally said.
"What do you think?" Ma's wife scolded, "You don't have that ability yourself... Of course, we don't care about the ability to work hard. I just hope that in this troubled world, I can live peacefully and my family will be safe from illness and disaster."
“Lao Ma, don’t be stupid.”
"You have no power. In this world, we do not bully others, nor can we be bullied by others. So we have to find a reliable backer. Although Qianfan is your apprentice, you also know..."
"I understand, I understand." Lao Ma shook his head irritably and said. He pointed at his son again, "Did you ask Juntian to say those words?"
"It's me, what's wrong?" Ma's wife asked, "I work for others, not just to keep the family young."
Lao Ma looked at his wife and then at his son. Surprisingly, he didn't refute. He poured himself a cup of wine and drank it down in one gulp.
He knew that there was something his wife had not said, and those words could also be understood as a statement of allegiance in a sense.
…
Henry Road, Fifty-eight Lane.
“Everyone is here?”
Qiao Chuntao glanced at Bai Er, who was standing in a row near the corner, and asked lightly.
The person he was questioning was an old Belarusian man wearing a top hat.
The old man had a pipe in his mouth. He took a puff and found that the pipe was out. He knocked the pipe on the wall angrily and answered in half-baked Shanghainese.
Qiao Chuntao understood. What the other party meant was that time was short and these were the only people.
Qiao Chuntao nodded towards Jiang Laosan.
"Sixty francs per person, hire for one night." Jiang Laosan held a thick stack of francs in his hand, "As I said in advance, there may be no danger, and you can go home tomorrow, or you may be unlucky and die."
When the White Russians heard this, their expressions were strange. Some were thinking silently, while others were communicating in low voices with their companions.
Some people are clamoring that the price is too low and asking for an increase.
But no one left.
These are white Russians who are suffering from hunger and cold.
Earning sixty francs a night was something they could not even dream of. (PS1)
Even though that old guy Sumanrokov had to take away twenty-four French coins, if they lived frugally, thirty-six French coins would be enough for them to live a life without hunger for half a month.
Qiao Chuntao looked at everyone coldly, observing the reactions of these Bai Russians.
Those Belarusians clamoring for more money, he will not use.
These people are mostly strong men with good physical fitness, but they are also greedy and will be a safety hazard.
There are many White Russians on the beach in Shanghai.
More than a decade ago, with the failure of the Belarusian provisional government loyal to the Tsar, tens of thousands of Belarusians began to flee Vladivostok and enter China.
A considerable number of Belarusians came to Shanghai, a metropolis in the Far East.
In order to survive, the nobles and high-level intellectuals among these people will teach ballet, open cafes, restaurants, etc. as their main means of livelihood.
These down-and-out White Russians are in sharp contrast to other wealthy foreigners in the concession.
At the beginning, because of the Chinese people’s natural fear of foreigners, some people were deceived by the deceitful White Russians.
Later, everyone in Shanghai knew that these White Russians were different from the British, Americans, and French. The reason was very straightforward:
At the nightclub, many Belarusian dancers came almost overnight.
Even with the door ajar, there was a White Russian woman.
For a time, quite a few Chinese men chanted the slogan of "bringing glory to the country" and donated money generously. They even formed vicious bidding and disrupted the market.
…
Qiao Chuntao finally selected nine Belarusians.
There are three people in a family.
The four of them are two pairs of brothers and sisters.
The other two are a mother and son.
Sumanrokov glanced at the buyer who was wearing sunglasses, a sun hat, and a windbreaker with the collar turned up.
Then he shouted to the other compatriots who were not selected that everyone should forget about today's incident and not be allowed to mention it to anyone.
If someone has a big mouth, Uncle Sumanrokov will not hesitate to throw the person into the Huangpu River to feed the fish.
Qiao Chuntao brought a truck over and directly pulled the nine Belarusians into the truck and left.
Jiang Laosan took four people with him and escorted them in the rear car.
“Sumanrokov seems to have noticed something.” Yang Changnian, who had been observing in the dark and had not shown up, said with a frown.
“Few people are willing to hire a family,” Qiao Chuntao said.
Yang Changnian nodded, understanding where the problem was.
Generally, gangs and businessmen would hire White Russians, and most of them would hire strong and healthy people to serve as thugs or bodyguards.
There are also those who hire women or boys and girls, which naturally has other purposes.
In the past, there were cases where some people hired a family, and then detained the women and children, threatening the young men to do some risky work.
However, this situation was later resisted by black market ‘human traffickers’ such as Sumanrokov and the ‘Shanghai Russian Overseas Autonomous Association’, a similar Belarusian gang.
Because this kind of behavior will make people panic, many Belarusian families dare not come out to find work, which affects the profits of Belarusian gangs and human traffickers.
So, generally speaking, hiring a family is now very rare in the ‘black market’.
“Do you want to kill Suman Luokov?” Liu Yuchu, who was driving, asked.
"No need." Qiao Chuntao shook his head. Sumanrokov was a smart man. He noticed the abnormality, and then told other Belarusians to keep their mouths shut. This was not only a sign of goodwill, but also a warning:
I haven’t seen anything, so don’t take my chances.
"We must take a warning from what happened to White Russia." Yang Changnian said, "This is the fate of slaves who have subjugated their country."
"They did not subjugate the country, they were just driven out." Liu Yuchu said.
Qiao Chuntao was silent for a long time and said:
Many of our compatriots live worse than them.
…
Zilaihuoxing East Street.
Sanbonjiro personally welcomed guests from afar.
“Okada-kun, you’re fine.”
“Sanbon-kun, after we said goodbye before, you and I agreed to get together in Shanghai, the Empire of Japan. I didn’t expect it to come true so soon.” Toshihiko Okada said with a smile.
The two shook hands and entered the study.
The outer courtyard was immediately on high alert.
“Okada-kun, why do I need to trouble you to come to Shanghai from Hangzhou in person?” Sanbonjiro asked.
“There is a top-secret information coming from the ‘Zhichi’, and I believe Sanbon-kun will be very interested in it.” Toshihiko Okada smiled and said slowly.
PS1: When Cheng Qianfan was on patrol a year ago, his monthly salary was eighty French currency, which is equivalent to about one hundred and fifty yuan today.
(End of this chapter)