Chapter 731
A Ghost Comes to the Door
"Sir, are you having dinner at home?"
Wang Xiamin brewed a cup of Longjing tea and placed it in front of Xian Yaowen.
"I'm planning to meet someone, but I don't know if I'll be able to, or if it will be today. You don't need to prepare anything. If I stay home, we can go and try some Americanized Chinese food."
As he spoke, Xian Yaowen pulled Wang Xiamin into his arms.
"Is it tasty?"
"You've never been to a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver?"
Wang Xiamin shook her head. "It was my first time going abroad, and I just wanted to try some food I had never eaten before. I ate French meat pie, French pea soup, Montreal smoked meat, Nanaimo noodles, Polish dumplings, and many more. I ate at different restaurants for every meal."
Xian Yaowen touched Wang Xiamin's lower abdomen and asked, "Is your stomach okay? Do you have diarrhea?"
“I usually go to upscale restaurants, so the cooking methods might be different from those hole-in-the-wall eateries. I’ve always had a good time eating there, except for one time when I didn’t feel well. Actually, I really wanted to go to hole-in-the-wall eateries, but my lawyer dissuaded me. He said that white-owned restaurants don’t welcome Chinese people. They either refuse to serve them or only allow them to enter through the back door. You can’t eat in; you can only take out.”
"Oh, in that case it's the right thing not to go, so as not to upset yourself."
“It’s really tough for Chinese people overseas,” Wang Xia said with a sigh. “They have suffered so much to be able to establish themselves.”
"Suffering in a foreign land is inevitable. It's like living by a stream. When you're alone, you can just scoop up a dish of vegetables with a strainer. Then another person comes along, and you negotiate amicably. One person scoops vegetables in the morning, and the other in the afternoon, and everyone gets a dish of vegetables."
Later, the stream became famous, and everyone knew that a single scoop could make a dish. When five, six, seven, or eight new people arrived, the sieve had to be used two or three times to make enough for a dish when there were ten people. Moreover, it was only available every three or four days.
So, the ten formed a "Fence Committee" and drafted a series of rules for recruiting. The basic principle was to protect the interests of the ten by restricting the recruiting rights of newcomers. The specific method was to win over one group of newcomers to attack another group.
"Does the person in charge of allocation incite infighting among those being allocated resources?"
"That's roughly the idea. The fundamental difference between Chinese and white people is not skin color, nor the lack of a strong motherland, but rather their distinct personalities due to different beliefs and lifestyles."
Confucius said, "A gentleman worries about the Way, not about poverty." Mencius said, "The way of the people is that those who have a stable livelihood have a stable mind." Shang Yang said, "Diligent farming and hard work can enrich a family." Han Feizi said, "The extravagant and lazy are poor, while the diligent and frugal are rich."
Emperor Wen of Han issued an edict to encourage agriculture: Agriculture is the foundation of the world, and there is no greater task than this.
Zhu Yuanzhang implemented the Lijia system, requiring people to settle down and do their jobs, and called diligence and frugality the foundation of self-cultivation, combining diligence with managing the family and governing the country.
In his "Imperial Edicts and Extensive Instructions," Emperor Yongzheng explicitly required the people to prioritize agriculture and sericulture to ensure sufficient food and clothing, and to strengthen the concept of achieving wealth through farming.
Sages and generations of feudal emperors instilled the idea that hard work leads to wealth in the people. Their intentions were good: if farmers harvested more grain, the emperor could collect more agricultural taxes, the country would become prosperous, the emperor could be at ease, and the people would become richer and richer. Everyone would be better off.
But the officials were not happy. They said, "I studied hard for more than ten years, and even gave my wife to my superior to get promoted. Just for a little salary that can't support my whole family?"
Hello, I'm not good, Zhu Chongba, don't forget, you're just a stinking beggar. It was the brothers who risked their lives to put you on the throne. Fuck you, you bastard, anyone with the surname Zhu can eat like a pig, but what about the brothers?
I always said beggars are unreliable. They survive by fighting dogs for food. In their eyes, their brothers are all dogs, dogs that are fighting with them for food..."
Wang Xiamin chuckled, "Does the gentleman harbor such a deep resentment towards Zhu Yuanzhang?"
"When the birds are all gone, the bow is put away; when the hunting dogs are cooked, they are put to death. This has been the case in every dynasty, but Zhu Yuanzhang went too far..." Xian Yaowen waved his hand, "Let's not talk about this, we've gone off on a tangent."
The problem with Chinese people is that they are used to working themselves to the bone just to have enough to eat. Unless a knife is blatantly held to their throats, the only way they can think of to change their dire situation is to work themselves to the bone.
Others take turns profiting on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, but you're secretly profiting all day long, breaking the rules and disrupting the balance. Who else would they target if not you?
Are white people less hardworking than Chinese people?
"No, white people are relatively laid-back, and very few of them would work themselves to the bone."
"Why?" Wang Xiamin asked, her curiosity piqued.
"It's a long story. The original home of white North Americans was in Europe, which is a good place. Influenced by the North Atlantic Current, it has a temperate maritime climate with mild winters and cool summers, and fewer droughts and floods."
For 300 years before 1300 AD, Europe enjoyed a warm climate and a continuously growing population. No major disasters occurred during this period, and people could eat with minimal effort, leading to a peaceful and prosperous life. The upper class was devoted to religion and used it as a pretext to wage wars and weaken the power of lords.
Until the Little Ice Age in the 14th century, the colder climate led to reduced food production and famine, and peasant uprisings began in Europe. However, the disasters were mainly caused by low temperatures and heavy rainfall, rather than severe droughts. After a period of time, the survival of the fittest led to the death of a number of people, and the food was distributed more evenly.
Therefore, peasant uprisings in Europe were usually not very resolute. They would fight the wars as they saw, and once the weather improved, they would all run away. What was the point of fighting? They just wanted to get home and not miss the farming season.
Furthermore, medieval Europe was largely characterized by numerous small states and feudal fragmentation. The bureaucracy and army directly under the king's control were relatively small and their power was limited. In addition, institutions such as parliaments existed to check and balance royal power.
European peasants were primarily exploited by feudal lords or manor owners. The lords and peasants lived in the same area for generations, and for the sake of long-term interests, they dared not over-exploit the peasants. In some cases, they would even lead the peasants to resist unreasonable levies.
China is different. For officials, nothing belongs to them; everything belongs to the emperor. If they don't take advantage of their official hats while they're still on their heads to make as much money as possible, why wait until they retire and go back to their hometown to starve?
Therefore, even if officials in feudal times had a long-term vision, they would only do things that benefited the present generation, because they were eager to monetize their power.
For thousands of years during the feudal era, the greatest benefit the common people received from the sages was the four words "to have their name recorded in history." Everyone cared about their reputation and their face, which is why the officials didn't go too far.
It is precisely because of the severe exploitation by officials that it is very difficult for the lowest-class people to pass on their family lineage. They basically become extinct over time. The fact that we have the opportunity to come into this world can only mean that our ancestors were extraordinary figures who were members of the bureaucratic group and escaped the exploitation that would have wiped out our clan.
So, almost any Chinese person can proudly announce: "My ancestor was a descendant of a corrupt official; back in the day, whenever he was in a bad mood, he would slaughter a few commoners to vent his anger."
Wang Xiamin laughed so hard she was shaking. "Sir, my stomach hurts from laughing. Please stop making me laugh."
Xian Yaowen gently stroked Wang Xiamin's lower abdomen and said quietly, "Europeans have generally not suffered much hardship, and there have been few instances of cannibalism, unlike us, where the last one was less than ten years ago, and it's hard to say whether it will happen again in the future."
The biggest problem in doing business in partnership is the lack of clear responsibilities and rights. It is said that the business belongs to everyone and everyone has to work their butts off, but when it comes to profit sharing, it is the major shareholders who secretly divide it up, leaving no room for the minority shareholders, let alone the retail investors.
If this continues, minority shareholders will naturally start to slack off, deceive superiors and subordinates, and exploit loopholes to line their own pockets. Major shareholders will either follow Zhu Yuanzhang's example and carry out mass killings, but the drawbacks of doing so have long been documented in history and are not advisable.
Either learn to play dumb, ignoring everything except the most egregious cases, and focus your main energy on fooling retail investors, making them believe that the business is still everyone's business, so that even if they don't get the big slices of the pie, they can still smell the aroma of profit.
"What would happen if responsibilities and rights were clearly defined?"
"Individual investors know how much dividend they will receive and how much of their responsibilities they should fulfill. Once they have fulfilled their obligations, they can rest when they need to, and they won't live too tiring a life."
If you want more dividends, you can work harder and strive to become a small shareholder, or join other retail investors to make your demands: this year's business is better than last year's, so the dividends should also increase.
Of course, what's even more tragic than the lack of clear responsibilities and rights is that a good business is based on individual investors working themselves to the bone. This is unsolvable; regardless of whether the business is good or bad, individual investors will be exhausted.
White people don't want to work themselves to the bone like monkeys, so they naturally reject the Chinese who are trying to lead them in that direction. The biggest flaw of the Chinese is that they are too hardworking, which makes them unpopular with locals wherever they go.
Is diligence a sin?
"Moreover, it's a serious crime. Even if you're not ostracized, you'll be exploited. You work your butt off, but when the time comes, the major shareholders will loosen the leash on the vicious dog, snatch all the fruits of your labor, and then go into a period of silence before starting the next round."
Where? Canada?
“Anywhere is possible.” Xian Yaowen patted Wang Xiamin’s hand lightly. “Okay, let’s not talk about this. I’m going to make a phone call.”
Before he could finish speaking, the phone rang.
Wang Xiamin picked up the phone and handed it to him. He took it and listened; it was Yang Leimeng calling.
"Boss, there's a party at the Waldorf Hotel tomorrow night. Would you like to attend?"
"Why didn't you say so this morning? I just made arrangements at noon. Next time there's an evening event, please let me know earlier so I can make arrangements in advance."
After the Kung family lost power and retreated to New York, Soong Ai-ling, perhaps out of a need to maintain her influence through social activities, was keen on hosting parties. Especially after the outbreak of the Korean War, she probably saw the strategic value of Taiwan to the United States and held parties even more frequently, both to win over Chinese elites and to connect with American political and business figures.
The venue for the party was either the Confucius Mansion or the Waldorf Hotel, so as soon as he heard the address, Sin Yiu-man understood what kind of party it was. He was eyeing the money in Soong Ai-ling's hands, but he didn't want to attend a party where people were divided between the two sides.
Moreover, Yang Leimeng didn't say anything this morning, and now she's calling at such an inopportune time, clearly indicating that inviting him to the party wasn't her own intention. Tomorrow is Saturday, and Gu Weijun may have already rushed from Washington to New York to meet his concubine, or Yan Youyun may be a guest at the Kong family mansion.
Behind this phone call, there might be the figure of Soong Mei-ling, or Chiang Kai-shek, who intends to block my way to the left, leaving me only the right.
If it were Soong Mei-ling, he would just want to curse her out. Why couldn't they just cooperate on an equal footing? Why did she have to make him her chamber pot?
They have no tolerance whatsoever as major shareholders. Wouldn't it be better if everyone cooperated amicably to fleece retail investors?
"What a coincidence!"
"Your boss is a big shot, busy with countless affairs. You're lucky if you can even get a chance to flatter me. Why do you expect me to be at your beck and call?"
Yang Leimeng chuckled and said, "Boss, you're really shameless."
"Naughty boy, I'm hanging up now if there's nothing else."
"never mind."
After hanging up the phone, Xian Yaowen said to Wang Xiamin, "Have you been reading the newspaper these past two days?"
“Sir, I have read the newspaper you left in the study.”
Have you been paying attention to the reports about Kong Lingyi?
"The reports about her and that James?"
"James Van Allen II, according to the newspapers, the two met at a charity dinner of the Free China Relief Association. I don't care what their relationship is; I only care about Kong Lingyi's speech at the dinner."
"To form an anti-communist alliance among Chinese Americans?"
"Yes, that call was from Yan Youyun's daughter, inviting me to a party at the Waldorf Hotel. I didn't want to ask who sent the invitation, but it's probably one of those people. It's good that they're getting impatient; I might be able to go back to Taiwan sooner."
"Sir, why don't you agree to participate? You could at least find out what's going on."
“I can’t go. I’m afraid if I go, my photo will be published in a right-wing newspaper tomorrow, and who knows what they’ll write.”
With that, Sin Yiu-man picked up the microphone and made the call.
"Jacob, it's me. Have there been any big movements in the market recently? Stocks, oil futures, real estate, all the markets you know."
"Have."
"Are there any Swiss candies or Panamanian hats involved?"
In the 1950s, Wall Street had some slang, such as "Swiss Candy" which referred to hidden funds transferred in layers through Swiss bank accounts, "Account No. 5" which was Merrill Lynch's code name for money laundering for the Mafia, "Panama Hat" which referred to assets under the cover of Panamanian shell companies, and "ghost ship" which referred to the transfer of funds using Liberian flags.
"Adam, they are always present in the market, no matter when."
"Did you make plans with Jane today?"
“Yeah.”
"The grilled octopus and crepes on Via Moubli in Little Italy are pretty good; I'll bring them over later."
"After 8 o'clock, before 10 o'clock."
"OK, would you like to take a few more fortune cookies?"
The butter crepe rolls are freshly delivered in the early morning from a Mafia-controlled bakery. For every $1 spent, you get a free fortune cookie modeled after Chinatown's, with a harder shell to make it easier to slip in a note with insider information about horse racing. If you bet on the horse according to the information and win, you have to send 10% of the winnings to a designated bar.
The Mafia bribed jockeys and grooms, instructing them to notify the jockey of any horse they wanted to underperform, and to have the grooms add performance-enhancing drugs to the feed of any horse they wanted to win.
Of course, insider information is not guaranteed to be 100% accurate; anything can happen, and the Mafia can influence odds by controlling the accuracy of information.
"Ha, whatever, tomorrow's Saturday, going to the waterway racetrack is a good idea."
"Hmm, see you tonight."
After hanging up the phone again, Xian Yaowen said to Wang Xiamin, "None of the members of these powerful families are easy to get along with. Not to mention the Kong and Song families, even Yu Fengzhi, the spendthrift wife of the Zhang family, is not simple."
News came from Chicago that a group of people were buying up Western medicines on the market. Following them, they traced it to a Panamanian-registered company, Pacific Holdings, whose goods were shipped from the Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles. Following the trail all the way to Hong Kong, they found another company, Phoenix Trading.
“Phoenix Trading?” Wang Xiamin recalled, “It seems that Hong Yingdong handled the last leg of the transport.”
Sin Yiu-man nodded. "He made it. He just finished a shipment."
"Sir, Hong Yingdong is a traitor. Should we sink one of his ships as a warning?"
Xian Yaowen waved his hand and chuckled, "We only have a cooperative relationship with him. It's his freedom to transport goods for whomever he wants, and he can do whatever he wants. However, our cooperation with him will only go so far and will not be expanded further."
Returning to Pacific Holdings, during their investigation in Chicago, they discovered a Chinese man, a large one, whose accent differed from other Chinese individuals.
"A Northeasterner?"
"It's possible. Yu Fengzhi is in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Phoenix Trading, hehe, all the information points to her. The Zhang family has been entrenched in Northeast China for decades. Even a wrecked ship has three thousand nails. Not to mention Zhang Xueliang, it's not surprising that he has some secret deposits overseas."
What's strange is that only half of Phoenix Trading's goods went to Macau, and the other half went to Taiwan.
In addition, two years ago, Sotheby's in the United States auctioned a Ding ware white porcelain child-shaped pillow. I heard from Tang Yiying that this item originally belonged to Zhang Xueliang, and it was probably sold through Yu Fengzhi.
Is there anything strange about selling antiques?
“Selling one or two pieces is not surprising, but selling more is. In recent years, there have been fine antiques for sale in New York and Los Angeles. These are not the kind of large-scale collections that ordinary rich people can afford. Many of them are on the Palace Museum’s collection list.”
"That's not surprising at all. Maybe they're selling it off secretly in Taiwan."
“If the Kong and Song families were involved, it wouldn’t be surprising. But apart from Yu Fengzhi, I haven’t heard of any other powerful family in Los Angeles. If Yu Fengzhi is involved, then her behavior is a bit strange.”
"Swaying left and right, leaning to either side?"
“Very likely.” Sin Yiu-man nodded. “I plan to send someone to Los Angeles to investigate. Smuggling Western medicine without even informing us is incredibly impolite. If it’s confirmed, we’ll meet with her.”
"Sir, why bother making a call? Just intercept the ship on the high seas, and the person behind it will naturally jump out."
Xian Yaowen chuckled and said, "Do you think America is a vegetable market? You think Yu Fengzhi can just smuggle whenever she wants? Smuggling business inevitably involves the involvement of forces within the United States. Who knows how powerful those forces are? Maybe they'll intercept the ship over there, and then throw a grenade into the house here."
This isn't even the worst-case scenario; I'm afraid the FBI or CIA will secretly take me away.
Sin Yiu-man patted the back of Wong Ha-man's hand lightly, "That phone call just now was urging you to go back to Hong Kong as soon as possible. Call the airline to book a ticket and take the earliest flight back."
"it is good."
When it came to serious matters, Wang Xiamin immediately reverted to the demeanor of the Xian family's housekeeper, showing no sign of being coy.
"When you get back, tell Mosquito to spend some time investigating the channels for smuggling cultural relics. My intuition tells me there's something fishy going on, and we might have some unexpected gains."
"Ah."
In a corner of Chinatown, a disguised radio detection vehicle codenamed Black Fox, belonging to the CIA's Black Cat Group, was parked.
Inside the car, two members of the Black Cat team were listening to signals while wearing headphones.
"John, there's a signal."
John Downey didn't reply, but listened intently to the radio transmission frequency. After a long while, he excitedly said, "Richard, that's right, it's the Oriental Gem. We've finally caught him."
"Now we can confirm that Tianming Huang is the Oriental Gem. It's time to arrest him."
“Richard, whether or not to make an arrest is not up to us. I estimate that our next task is to go to San Francisco to eavesdrop on other members of the Zhi Gong Tang. No one can guarantee that there is only one rat in the Zhi Gong Tang.”
"Damn it, why is it always us? Los Angeles is monitoring Feng Zhi Yu, and New York is monitoring Tian Ming Huang. We've been working for months straight, it's time for a break."
John Downey shrugged. "If it were up to me, I'd give you a long vacation right now."
"Son of a bitch~"
“Richard, complaining won’t help. We added another person to our surveillance list yesterday.”
"Which bastard is it this time?"
"Adam Hepburn, a bastard of Jewish and Chinese descent, controlled 80% of the Western medicine smuggling in Hong Kong."
"I hate Jews, I hate Chinese even more, Fuck~Fuck~Fuck, I want a vacation, a long vacation!"
Five o'clock in the morning.
Wu Kuiyuan quietly arrived at the surveillance point on Tokyo Street and stood beside Boss Dai.
"Something's been off these past few days. Two foreigners have been taking turns showing up and spying on the boss's house."
"At which point will it appear?"
Boss Dai pointed to the map on the wall, "C1 and D3."
Wu Kuiyuan glanced at the map, then raised his binoculars to look out the window, found two points on the map, and then looked around at those two points.
After a long silence, she said quietly, "A ghost has come knocking. Send someone with me tonight to check the phone lines."
"Should we capture one of them?"
"I'm leaving now, following orders from above."
Wu Kuiyuan came quietly and left quietly.
six o'clock.
Cen Peipei was awakened by the ringing of the telephone.
"Hey."
"Miss, a big customer has come and wants to order 2000 egg tarts, but we don't have enough flour."
"Okay, I'll be there in a bit."
Cen Peipei hung up the receiver, her eyes fixed on the telephone, her heart filled with worry.
21 Club.
The restaurants and bars that New York advertising professionals frequent are places where they can have dinner and a few drinks.
Sin Yiu-man sat at a table, enjoying fresh blue oysters.
Jack Tinker already had a dinner appointment and wouldn't be arriving until after eight o'clock, so he could enjoy his meal in peace and quiet.
Eating blue oysters was a bit monotonous, so his gaze fell on a Chinese girl at the bar—she wore a high-quality silk cheongsam, her features possessing the charm of an Eastern beauty, but her mannerisms were very American. She was talking to a white man next to her, and they didn't seem to be having a very pleasant conversation. (End of Chapter)