Chapter 2: The stormy waves are 148 toward conflict 5

These are several inappropriate buildings. The main body of the building is made of brick columns and the surface is covered with gray. The three houses are surrounded by concave shapes, leaving a large courtyard in the middle. The spacious courtyard is just tied with horses. Perhaps for the convenience of police training, there is no garden like other yamen. The place in the building that can make people find Chinese flavor is the red lanterns under the corridor on the first floor and a pair of stone lions at the door. This building is the Shanghai Police Station.

Shanghai, a new city, is probably the place with the most Westernized buildings in China, and even Guangzhou cannot catch up with it.

Chaton's house is a complete small western-style building with a garden. It is adjacent to the Yangtze River and is surrounded by green trees. As a temporary residence, Chaton is very satisfied. It is extremely difficult for a foreigner to own a house in China. This is the result of Chaton's years of operation in China. Whether it was the former Shanghai magistrate or the current Shanghai zhizhou, they all felt Chaton's enthusiasm and hospitality. Speaking of which governor of Jiangsu and the governor of Liangjiang, the court officer, has received the benefits of this British businessman.

Chaton operates the trade to buy silk, tea, and porcelain from China to Europe. But this is just Chaton's hidden business. His biggest income still comes from opium. The transportation of opium from Mumbai to China is much closer than the Sino-Europe trade, but the profit is much higher. Of course, there are some risks, but can you make money without taking risks? Besides, isn't it just to take risks to Europeans to spread all over the world?

Chaton is a British man, and he doesn't understand the rules of many Chinese people. If you want to sell opium in China without the consent of Chinese officials, it is nonsense. To interact with these officials well, Chaton must find a suitable Chinese. This person must be able to speak well, have the courage to do everything for the sake of interests, and have some ability to move in the officialdom. Guo Yaping just met these conditions. After the Fengtaihang congratulations to Guo, Guo Yaping, the owner of "Fengqingtang", became Chaton's comprador.

After coming out of the messy train station in Guangzhou, Chaton and Guo Yaping got on a carriage and rushed to the western-style building.

The weather was very gloomy and it became dark early. A dark oil lamp was lit up in Yangcun on the bank of the Yangtze River. The light of the oil lamp was as faint as a fireflies in the darkness at night. Compared with the brightly lit Shanghai continent (the newly established continent) on the other side, Yangcun seemed dark and quiet.

The sound of horse hooves suddenly came in the quiet evening. A four-wheeled carriage driving the night road broke the tranquility of the village.

With the sound of dogs, the farmers came out of the brick house to inspect the land. They recognized Guo Er, a fake foreign devil holding a torch in the front of the car. Everyone knew that it was the boss of the foreign house at the end of the village, and they shrank back one by one.

The car was sitting in Chaton and Guo Yaping. On the way back, they passed by the west gate of Shanghai. Compared to usual, the place was much more depressed. Occasionally, you can still see teams of police patrolling everywhere. It seems that the situation in Shanghai is definitely not much better than that in Guangzhou.

Both of them seemed to be in the carriage. The dark carriage made people heavier. Chadon lifted the curtains and wanted some light to penetrate. His eyes were covered in darkness, and the mist of the night blocked his sight. He couldn't help but curse: "A nasty country."

The boring time passed slowly, but finally got through it. The carriage finally stopped outside the western building. The servants in the house knew that it was the master who had returned, and they welcomed them out. A young butler was preparing the meal again.

These Chinese people are very quick-witted. This makes Chaton feel a little more comfortable.

Upon the second floor of the villa, Chaton sat down comfortably in a fur-covered seat.

The orange-red lights on the second floor of the villa were lit up, illuminating the clean dining table in the middle of the house. Chaton did not wait too much, and the red wine and food were ready.

Chaton forked up a piece of braised pork and swallowed it beautifully. Although Chaton felt that China was annoying during the ban on smoking, he felt the benefits of this country again, which was salty and light.     The smell of fragrant and smooth, fat but not greasy, made Chaton feel that every chewing movement was a gift from the Lord.

"Mr. Chaton, I got off the train just now and I had already contacted the local officials here."

Chaton asked, wiping his hands and lips with a napkin, “What do they say?”

Guo Yaping's eyes turned and said, "No problem. They promised to calm things down a little and then met with us. It seems that Shanghai is much quieter than Guangzhou."

Chaton nodded and said nothing. He picked up the fork and forked a piece of braised pork again. While eating, Chaton was thinking in his heart. The intuition told him. The Chinese in front of him did not tell the truth. It seemed that the situation in Shanghai was not easier than that in Guangzhou. However, Chaton did not express his doubts. No matter what, he had decided to leave China in a crazy manner for the time being. He went to Macau for a while first. See the development of the situation and make plans again.

The reason why Guo Yaping did not tell Chaton the real situation was because he had a plan. Now the "Fengqingtang" business in Guangzhou has been taken over several places. Fortunately, Guo Yaping is more careful. He wrote other people's names whenever opium-related businesses are favored by Boss Guo. Those innocent people who are benefited by Boss Guo are now locked up. At first, Guo Yaping thought that as in previous years, the situation was over. Who knew that this time the situation was beyond Guo Yaping's expectations. Many officials who usually spend a lot of money were taken care of by the inspectors.

.      When Guo Yaping went to find out about the news with his old relationship, these corrupt officials who usually call themselves brothers are now closed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The two of them spent the whole night with ulterior motives. The next day, Guo Yaping claimed to go for activities again.

Chaton waited for Guo Yaping to leave and ordered the car to prepare, and he decided to go to Shanghai to see a friend.

When he arrived in the city, Chadon felt that he hadn't come for a while, and Shanghai had some changes. The pulse of this city seemed to be beating with Europe, and Chadon often felt like he was returning to Macau here. Of course, Shanghai's vitality is something that Macau can never catch up.

Under a square building with a floor and bottom, Chadon recognized the storm light at the door. There was also a horizontal line drawn by Chadon with his cane when he came last year.

Pushing open the wooden door facing the street by my friend, Chaton saw three people busying around a pile of dark iron castings.

Hearing a sound, he looked back at the door, Chatton immediately recognized the man's face, and he shouted happily, "Hey, my friend, Paul."
Chapter completed!