In the past, when I was in the capital, every time I saw the big head happily going to see the excitement, Han Xiufeng would say, "Take a shrewd look, and the melon baby will see it late." But today, he, who always says that others are melon babies, has become a melon baby, sitting on the side of the Bund watching the foreigners' boats for nearly an hour, and going not far away to watch the foreigners build houses.

When he was hungry, he asked Su Jueming to go to Jiangbei to buy a few pieces of bread from a hawker who specialized in porter business to satisfy his hunger, and when he was tired of standing up, he sat down to watch, and even took advantage of the fact that foreigners and locals hired by foreigners were not paying attention, and asked Su Jueming to steal a little ash used by foreigners to build houses.

"This looks like dirt and ash, that is, it is ground evenly and finely, mixed with a little water and sand, and plastered on the bricks to build a wall, can the wall be strong?" Su Jueming was as curious, so he dipped his finger in it and brought it to his mouth and licked it with his tongue.

"Take it back and mix it and try to build two bricks, and you'll know when you're done." Han Xiufeng motioned for him to quickly wrap the handful of ashes he stole in his clothes, dusted off the dust on his buttocks, walked to the window of a western-style building, and looked curiously at the portraits hanging in the crystal window.

There are foreigners, there are also Chinese, vivid, is wondering how the foreigners draw, Lin Qingyuan, Zhang Guangsheng, Xiao Wuzi back, as soon as they find them, they smiled and said: "Han Siye, this is a foreigner's photo studio, do you want to accompany you in to take a photo?" ”

"What photo?" Han Xiufeng turned around and asked.

"It's your appearance, what you look like, what the photo looks like," Lin Qingyuan couldn't explain clearly for a while, and said while gesturing: "The foreigner has such a big box, there is a black cloth behind the box, the foreigner hides in the black cloth, holding a foreign lamp in his right hand, you sit in front of the box and look at the box, the foreign lamp flashes, and your appearance is photographed." However, the film is filmed, and foreigners have to wash it with foreign potion, and you can get the photo in three or five days. ”

"Exactly the same?"

"This is a photo, not a portrait drawn by a painter, it is naturally exactly the same."

As soon as Lin Qingyuan's words fell, a passing porter kindly reminded: "This young master, you can know at a glance that you are a scholar, this photo can't be taken randomly, I heard that people say that the soul is dementoring!" If you sit there and let the foreigners take pictures, the three souls and seven spirits will be taken away by the foreigners! ”

"Go, go, you coolie deflated, you know what!" Lin Qingyuan couldn't cry or laugh, and couldn't help but turn around and scold.

Han Xiufeng felt that there were some things that could be tried, but some things could not be tried easily. For example, in a photo, a big living person sat there, and the foreigner hid in the black cloth and held a foreign lamp for a flash, and the appearance was photographed, how can there be such a magical thing in the world, not what is the demon law of the foreigner, not to mention that the two devils surnamed Lin said very clearly, what photos of foreigners wash and use potion, this kind of thing is afraid of people.

In short, if he didn't figure out what the mystery of this photo was, Han Xiufeng would never risk the three souls and seven spirits being taken away by foreigners, so he simply pretended not to ask anything before and got down to business: "Mr. Lin, is there any stock on Citiman's side?" ”

"There are no foreign companies in the Citigroup Concession, but we met a Citi sailor who said he could help us buy a firebird gun."

"What about others?"

"I'm looking for a gun, he's been to the horse racing hall, and he knows about the house you rent, I told him okay, and I'll let him find you when I have the goods."

Han Xiufeng thought about it and asked, "Did he say how many guns he could get?" ”

Lin Qingyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Fourth Master Han, if you buy other foreign goods, you really need as much as you want." But foreign guns are not ordinary foreign goods, and no one cares about them in ordinary times. The Citi sailor probably went to buy it from the sailors on the ship and then sold it to you. ”

"Even if he can get it, he won't be able to get much."

"So if you want to buy in large quantities, you have to go to Ocean Bank."

Han Xiufeng thought to himself that since this was something that could not be rushed, then there was no need to be in such a hurry, so he turned around and said, "You haven't eaten lunch yet, let's go back first, and we'll talk about buying guns tomorrow." ”

"Then do I want to walk around with you again tomorrow?" Lin Qingyuan couldn't help asking.

The salary of two silver dollars a day is a bit high, but Han Xiufeng can afford it, and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Lin, if you have nothing else to do, then you will be here for the next half a month to do the interpreter." As today, wages are paid daily. ”

Lin Qingyuan was almost certain that the person in front of him was from Jiangning, although it was risky to deal with Changmao, but Changmao's money was also easy to make, and even those foreigners in the concession were now doing Longhair's business, how could he miss this opportunity to make a fortune, and hurriedly arched his hand and said: "It's better to be respectful than to obey." ”

"Okay, let's go back first."

……

Han Xiufeng found that on the day just passed, including the way back, as long as it was a foreigner, whether it was a foreign company or a guy from a foreign bank, even those foreigners and sailors who were dressed in tatters and dirty, looked at the Chinese with undisguised contempt in their eyes. Some drunken foreigners and sailors even pointed unscrupulously and laughed at them in foreign words.

As soon as he walked across the small stone bridge, Han Xiufeng, who couldn't hold back any longer, turned around and asked, "Mr. Lin, you are proficient in foreign languages and often deal with foreigners. To be honest with me, what do foreigners think of us, and what kind of people do they think we are? ”

Lin Qingyuan didn't expect Han Xiufeng to ask this, and hesitated for a while before he said embarrassedly: "Fourth Master Han, what are you asking for, we are just doing business with foreigners." ”

"Do they look down on us, do they not treat us as human beings?" Han Xiufeng stared at him and asked.

Han Xiufeng's eyes were aggressive, Lin Qingyuan was stared at and his heart was furious, and he subconsciously said: "How to say it, in the eyes of foreigners, we are ignorant natives, natives, you know, just like we think they drink blood and are not civilized." In fact, they look down on us, and we look down on them. ”

"What about you, you have traveled from south to north, you have seen the world, do you think we and them, who is uncivilized and who is ignorant?" Han Xiufeng asked.

"I ...... I ......"

"But it's okay, I'm not going to be angry."

Lin Qingyuan took a deep breath and said nervously: "Fourth Master Han, although I haven't been to the West, I have been dealing with foreigners for three days, and I have heard them talk about their hometown in the West. The people of the West seem to be doing better than the people of China, and you may not believe it, whether it is the foreigners who come to Shanghai, or the foreigners who go to Hong Kong, Macao, or even Nanyang, they are all desperate in the West and cannot get along. ”

The foreigners I saw today, including those sailors with dirty bodies, were tall and big, which shows that they eat better than the Chinese people. And whether it is the long hair entrenched in Jiangning, or the traitors and criminals in the suburbs of Shanghai, it is still because the poor can't eat, if they can eat enough, who will rebel with their heads, thinking of this, Han Xiufeng didn't ask or say anything, just walked to the house with his head bored.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked to the door, Pan Er and the bookkeeper of the Shanghai branch of "Rishengchang" Wood-all greeted him, and as soon as he saw him, he said eagerly: "Fourth brother, what I said last night is estimated to come true, the situation in the city is not good, and it is not safe here, or we will go back first, Guo ...... The errand assigned by Boss Guo will be done when the rumor passes! ”

Han Xiufeng realized that Lin Qingyuan was a lot of things to say here, so he immediately motioned to Xiao Wuzi to break Lin Qingyuan away, and waited for the second devil surnamed Lin to go away before asking in a low voice, "What's wrong?" ”

"Mr. Wu, the news was brought by you, you can say it." Pan Er turned around and said.

Wu Quanquan hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Master Han, there is nothing to do in the city in the morning, and there is no rumor, but I didn't expect that just after lunch, many big businessmen who do business are like fleeing, packing up their fines, dragging their families and mouths, and rushing out of the city." The shops near our ticket number were all closed, and the more I thought about it, the more wrong it became, so I quickly sent my guy to inquire. I didn't know, I didn't know, I was shocked when I inquired, it turned out that the red cloth in the south of the city was all bought by those Fujianese and Cantonese people! ”

Su Jueming didn't react for a while, and couldn't help asking, "What do they buy red cloth for?" ”

"What do you say?" Han Xiufeng glanced back at him and asked again: "Mr. Wu, such a big move, do the county master and the 'chicken seller' know?" ”

"I shouldn't know," Wood thought about it, and said helplessly: "The city is full of Hui parties, and even those who are on errands in the county government and provincial offices have many Hui parties, even if someone wants to go to report to the county magistrate and 'Selling Chicken Shuang', they don't dare to go, and it is estimated that they will be killed by the Hui Party without seeing anyone." ”

"What about the Zhentai Yamen and the Coastal Defense Department?"

"There are few soldiers in these two yamen, and the same knowledge of Zhentai and Haiphong is estimated to be in the dark."

Pan Er didn't want to die in Shanghai in a daze, so he said eagerly: "Fourth brother, it's not appropriate to stay here for a long time, let's go back quickly!" ”

Han Xiufeng thought that it would be easy to go back, but it would be difficult to come out after going back, and besides, he didn't have an eyebrow about buying a gun, so he motioned for him to be calm and not be impatient, and asked, "Mr. Wu, does Shopkeeper Wu know about such a big thing?" ”

"Shopkeeper Wu went to Songjiang early in the morning to visit Futai, and it is estimated that he will not be able to come back until tomorrow. I was worried that something would happen, so I took the money on the counter and the silver dollars that I exchanged for you today, along with the account books, and a few gentlemen and men who stayed on the counter will also come later. If you don't get the news, you can't help it, and now that you have the news, you can't help but make some preparations. ”

"All moved here?" Han Xiufeng asked subconsciously.

"There is also an eyeliner of the party outside the city, fourth master, at this juncture, I don't dare to go to Songjiang or Suzhou, so I can only move you here first." Wood arched his hands, and said solemnly: "The account books and money are all moved here, and they can't be opened tomorrow, and there can't be no one on the counter, so go back first, and leave everything to the fourth master." ”

"You know that something big is going to happen in the city, and you still want to go back?"

"If it's just a false alarm, Fourth Master, the old club is as kind as a mountain in the next place, and you can't just close the door of the ticket number in the next place."