Chapter 2: Clearing the Account
Chapter 2: Clearing the Account
Yin Zhaotang commanded his brothers to escape separately, running all the way to shake off the uniformed police.
When we arrived at the bottom of the Lianhong Building on Shanghai Street, we stopped at the door of a mahjong parlor without a sign and asked the parking attendant breathlessly, "Is Uncle Jixiang here?"
"Brother Tang, Uncle Jixiang has been waiting for you inside for a long time, please go in quickly." The parking boy was very respectful to Yin Zhaotang who had arrived.
Because all the henchmen under Jixiang knew that Ah Tong was the best at making money. Uncle often praised him as a potential boss and said that he would be the one to manage all the territories in the future.
Yin Zhaotang stuffed the newly bought Jian brand cigarettes into his pocket and said in a kind tone: "Thank you, brother, take it and smoke it first."
“You’re so polite, Brother Tang.” Although the younger brother said this, his expression looked very pleased. He raised his hand to lift up the yellowed plastic curtain.
Jixiang was sitting at the south seat of a table on the left. He slowly picked up a card and rubbed it seriously with his thumb.
She had a string of small sandalwood Buddhist beads wrapped around her wrist, a Buddhist amulet hanging around her neck, and was wearing a white cotton and linen shirt, as if she had just returned from a trip to Thailand. When she saw Yin Zhaotang coming in, she played her cards with a smile on her face and asked with concern, "Atang, you're sweating all over, what's wrong? You ran all the way from Kwun Tong!"
"Uncle, I just went to the newsstand on the street and happened to run into Ma Wei from Dong'an Society."
"That bastard not only copied us in distributing magazines, but also spread the magazines in our area, thinking that we are loyal people and easy to bully! I took my men and fought back, punching him till his blood boiled. Before I could get enough, the police came after smelling the smell. I had no choice but to run a marathon with the officers as a form of exercise."
Yin Zhaotang said as he came to Jixiang's side. Seeing that Jixiang had just finished drawing the cards, he took the initiative to pick up a second card: "Peng Hu, Erfan, uncles, pay up."
Jin Yaxiong, the next player, pushed down his hand and took out money with a smile: "Jixiang, you are so lucky. You have Atang as your younger brother. He knows how to eat brains and fight. You can lie down and collect money every day. It's comfortable."
"Axiong, when did you become so nice to speak?"
"Ah Tang is not my younger brother, he is my biological son." Jixiang collected the money, sorted the cards, and shouted, "Chao, bring out the rock sugar bird's nest for Ah Tang to rinse his mouth."
"It's really hard to keep an eye on the newspaper sellers on the street and worry about them crossing the line!"
"I asked my sister-in-law to cook this for you specially. It can help you cool down in this hot summer." Jixiang said to Atang.
The little brother named Chaozai took out a big bowl of bird's nest from the refrigerator and handed it to Yin Zhaotang with envy.
In his eyes, Ah Tong has been the most popular person in the past six months and is truly treated like his uncle's own son.
Yin Zhaotang nodded to Chaozi in thanks, picked up the bowl and drank the bird's nest with rock sugar in big gulps. The filling was quite rich and the taste was smooth and refreshing when it went into the mouth.
"Thank you, Uncle Jixiang."
Jixiang said, "We are a family, why thank you? Don't worry if Dong'an's talents come to you. Ah Chao, you can use Dahua's people as you like, just keep the business of the society."
"Dong'an, huh? Do you still think you had Mr. Fu protecting you decades ago? Embarrass him! Damn it!"
All the societies that have been passed down in Hong Kong must have had a period of glory.
The "Dong"-headed branches of the several major branches were mainly composed of people from Dongguan in the early years. The well-known ones include Dongyingshe, Dong'antang, Dongyifu, Dongfuhe and Donglianshe.
Liu Fu, the first Chief Chinese Inspector of the British Hong Kong Government, was a veteran of the Dongguan Gang. Many wealthy Dongguan businessmen in the banking industry were also the behind-the-scenes bosses of the Donggang.
Today, the Dongzi Tou is as weak as the Chaoshan Gang. They are both outdated sunset societies, and neither is stronger than the other. As a branch of the Chaoshan Society, Jing Zhongyi was once the largest flour dealer in Hong Kong Island during the Four Inspectors. However, as Lao Lian launched an anti-corruption storm, Jing Zhongyi's former glory ended at the same time as the Four Inspectors.
During the same period, there were also Yiqun, Yixing, etc.
Xin Ji is also a member of the Chaoshan Gang. Its predecessor was Yi'an Tang, but it is now completely controlled by the Wan family.
In today's arena, the strongest are Xinji, Hesheng, Shuifang, Haohaobang and the "Big Four"! The Big Four refers to the alliance of small and medium-sized associations headed by "Lian Gongle, Lianyingshe, Tongxinhe and Quanyizhi", collectively known as the "Big Four Companies", but there are more than just four initials. Brothers of the companies all call themselves members of the "Big Four".
They unite against external enemies when there are conflicts in the underworld, and fight internally when there is competition for interests, but most of them will not go to extremes. They have developed very well in recent years.
Yin Zhaotang was not surprised that Jixiang was willing to step forward, because using pleasure magazines to attract customers was their main source of income at the moment, even though the gang was not strong enough.
If you can't expand your wealth, you have to protect your own territory, otherwise you will have to go back to the countryside in Kwun Tong to sell rice rolls and fish balls.
You have to know that before this, Jixiang was just a gangster living in Kwun Tong. He only had a restaurant under his command to collect protection fees and made a living. He didn't even have the qualifications to work in Kowloon City.
If Yin Zhaotang had not found a way to make money by cooperating with his two uncles who ran horse stables in the society, how could he have the money to sit in the mahjong hall on Shanghai Street and play cards?
Playing cards every day, Xingcai Mahjong Hall is almost becoming his mess. In this situation, shouldn't Jixiang treat him as his own son?
Atang moved a chair over and sat there to watch. When the card game was over, the two uncles got up and said they wanted to go home for dinner.
He just spoke to Jixiang at the right time: "Uncle, it's getting late. I have an appointment with my brothers to eat at a food stall. Do you want to come with us?"
"No need, haha, Achao, bring me my purse." Jixiang twisted the Buddhist beads with a calm expression, but his tone revealed some embarrassment.
He took the briefcase handed over by his younger brother, took out two stacks of Hong Kong dollars from it, and said apologetically: "Ah Tang, it's less than last month. It's because the boss is useless and can't collect the debt from the stinky mouth."
Since they don't have their own place, they can only attract customers for their peers, which is similar to the game traffic diversion in later generations. However, in the game, one person is counted as one order, while their customers count one order for one hour, and they can earn more if they order two hours.
"My account records show that I have recruited 1,700 people and ordered 1,870 clocks, which are 20 yuan per hour, for a total of 37,400 yuan." Yin Zhaotang looked at him meaningfully and took out a small notebook.
Every guest is recorded for easy reconciliation at the end of the month.
Uncle Jixiang narrowed his crow's feet eyes and said unwillingly, "Stinky Mouth forced them to pay 400 yuan per hour, saying that he was a regular customer and that the price would be reduced to 12 yuan per hour starting this month."
"Because the place is his, even if he doesn't give us a share of the money, he can still use the same method to attract customers."
"That only makes 17,640 dollars."
The difference is almost 20,000 yuan.
In 1980, when the average monthly salary of workers was only over Hong Kong dollars, yuan was undoubtedly a huge sum of money, and yuan per month was a profit worth working hard for.
How could Yin Zhaotang bear it? He slammed his palm on the table and said, "Tiao Naxing, you stinky bully my country boy? You blame me, uncle, I'll kill him!"
(End of this chapter)