Whether it was 1929 or 2019, rent in Shanghai was expensive.

According to the statistics of 1930, the concession, which accounted for 7% of Shanghai's land area, concentrated 45% of Shanghai's population, of which the largest number of people was the public concession, where 31% of Shanghai's people lived.

At that time, in the central area of the public concession, one mu of land could be sold for 100,000 yuan, compared with the average price of land in Beiping was only 790 oceans per acre, and the price difference was more than 100 times.

Land is expensive, so is rent, and in 1927, tenants in Shanghai even held a large rally to demand that the landlord lower the rent.

In 1929, to rent a small room in the concession, it cost almost 20 oceans a month. It's just a small room, not a suite.

For example, the writer Mr. Guo Moruo was still a dick when he first arrived in Shanghai, so he could only rent a "pavilion room".

The so-called pavilion room is the worst one in a house, this kind of room is generally located above the prescription, below the balcony, about two meters high, with an area of five or six square meters, cold in winter and hot in summer, generally piled up with sundries, even the servants do not want to live there.

It is precisely because housing prices are so expensive that there are so many slums in Zhabei. The common people built huts with thatch, reed mats, bamboo poles, wooden sticks, and yellow mud as shelters.

With Chen Qiang's current income, let him go to the concession to rent a house, it is really a little reluctant, after the ordinary coachman pays the money, it is to earn 20 yuan a month, although Chen Qiang can earn more by going to the dock to pull foreigners, but he is definitely not extravagant enough to rent a room in the concession for 20 oceans.

So Chen Qiang finally decided to rent a room in Huajie, the rent in Huajie is much cheaper than in the concession, the kind of house with electric lights and running water, the monthly rent of a family is 10 yuan, and it is enough for a family to live.

Chen Qiang, a single dog, does not need to rent a whole household, he only needs to spend 5 yuan of monthly rent to be able to rent a place in Huajie with better conditions.

But what Chen Qiang didn't expect was that even if he was willing to pay rent, it would still be difficult to rent a house.

Because he is a single dog, the rent market in old Shanghai discriminates against single dogs.

At that time, there were all kinds of people in Shanghai, and many people came to Shanghai from other places, and they had no means to make a living, so they could only do some illegal things.

Especially for single dogs, if a person has no concern, it is easier to go on a crooked path, the man is likely to be a thief and robber, and the woman may be in the leather and meat business. No landlord would want to rent their house to such a person.

In contrast, people with family members have a much lower probability of doing illegal things, and the family comes to Shanghai to inquire, and they have to think about their wives and children. This kind of person who drags his family with his family is relatively easy to rent a house.

Chen Qiang has no relatives in Shanghai, and he can't find a guarantor, so it is even more difficult to rent a house. Even if Chen Qiang is willing to give money, many landlords are not willing to give the house to Chen Qiang.

Chen Qiang wasted a lot of effort to rent a residence, only one room, which had a bed, a cabinet, a set of tables and chairs, electric lights, a brazier in the corner of the room, and a public faucet. The monthly rent is 5 yuan, the deposit is 15 yuan, and you have to pay three months' monthly rent in advance.

The conditions of this lease are relatively harsh, and many renters at that time were charged one to pay one, and Chen Qiang was regarded as a mortgage three to pay three. But there is no way, if it weren't for this, Chen Qiang wouldn't be able to form a house.

Chen Qiang spent 30 yuan at once, and he bought basins, bedding, thermos and other daily necessities, and spent the savings he had saved after coming to the Republic of China.

In the evening, Chen Qiang bought a roast chicken, boiled water to make a pot of cheap tea, sat at the table, and ate it deliciously.

"It's really enjoyable to have tea and chicken, I haven't had such a good life since I crossed! If you have a little more entertainment, such as listening to music, it will be really pleasant! ”

Chen Qiang crossed Erlang's legs, leaned back on the chair, picked up the teacup, tasted the tea brewed from the inferior tea leaves, and then showed a satisfied expression on his face.

For Chen Qiang, what he tastes is not tea, but this leisurely and quiet time.

In the next second, Chen Qiang suddenly sighed.

"All the money I saved for this sheltered house has been spent, and I have to make money again starting tomorrow. Remember that tomorrow there is a passenger ship from the United States, and you may be able to meet a generous guest. ”

……

As soon as the passenger ship from the United States docked, Chen Qiang was already waiting at the door.

After the ship departed from San Francisco, it passed through Xiangshan, Kobe, Japan and other ports before arriving in Shanghai, so there were not only Americans and Chinese on board, but also many Japanese.

The Chinese and Japanese were naturally ignored by Chen Qiang, and his target was only the Americans, those who had money.

Chen Qiang, who spoke fluent English, solicited business at the gate of the dock, while the other coachmen waiting for customers on the side of the road not far away had jealous expressions on their faces.

They also want to solicit business, but unfortunately they don't speak English! So I had to sit and wait.

"Will you say a few words in foreign language soon, look at him."

"What about being able to speak foreign languages? It's not like we are pulling the cart. ”

"I think he can speak two or three sentences of foreign language, if he really has the ability to go to those foreign companies to get a job, to wear a suit and drink bitter water!" The man shook the cigarette pouch and pot in his hand as he spoke.

"What bitter water, that's called coffee!" Someone next to him corrected.

"I don't know what it's called, I've heard people say that it's very bitter, I really don't know why foreigners like to drink it."

The so-called peers are enemies, and when the coachmen saw that Chen Qiang could attract a voice, they were naturally jealous, and they were also talking about cool things.

Chen Qiang quickly recruited guests, two American businessmen, and a lot of luggage. Chen Qiang estimated that this trip would require three cars, two cars to pull people and one car to pull luggage.

So Chen Qiang ran to the drivers, looked around, and found that Liu Laosan was not there, so he opened his mouth to call another person: "Huang Dayan, do you have business?" ”

This driver named "Huang Dayan" doesn't really smoke big cigarettes, he smokes dry tobacco, and he keeps his tobacco bag and pot all day long, so everyone calls him Huang Dayan.

Huang Dayan glanced at Chen Qiang, he had just sarcastically mocked Chen Qiang, but he didn't expect Chen Qiang to give him business now.

"Where are you going?" Huang Dayan asked casually.

"First go to the American Embassy, then to Citibank, and then maybe to their quarters." Chen Qiang replied.

"Three places? Go, go now! Huang Dayan stood up without hesitation.

If you go to three places, you will definitely get more money for the car than in one place.

I only heard Chen Qiang then ask: "I still need a car to pull luggage, which of you will go?" ”

"I'll go!" The other person immediately stood up and followed him, he was the one who said that Chen Qiang was "sassy" just now, and when he saw that there was money to be made, he instantly changed his attitude.

Chen Qiang pulled a car himself, followed by two cars, first to the American Embassy, then to Citibank, and then to the residence.

After the trip, the Americans were very satisfied with Chen Qiang's service and handed Chen Qiang a dollar, and Chen Qiang recognized the head of the person in the middle at a glance, which was Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States.

Lincoln's face appears on a $5 bill, and this $5 can be exchanged for 12 oceans.

In 1925, the basic salary of automobile workers in Detroit reached $5 a day, and of course employers could not hire auto workers for $5 per dollar.

These two American businessmen felt that it was very cost-effective to hire three people and three cars to follow them all morning for $5, and it was impossible to find a taxi driver in San Francisco to follow you all morning for the same price.

At this time, the Great Depression in the United States had just broken out, and at the moment only the stock market on Wall Street was reacting, and the economic crisis had not yet extended to other areas. If we wait a few more months for the Great Depression to spread completely in the United States, it is estimated that these two American businessmen will not be so generous.

Chen Qiang accepted the dollars, then took out four oceans from his arms and gave them to Huang Dayan and another coachman.

"The two of you have worked hard, you have two oceans for each of you, in addition to the fare, the rest is an extra reward from the foreigners." Chen Qiang said.

Huang Dayan and the other two coachmen glanced at each other, and handed down the money with a grateful face.

Under normal circumstances, they spend a morning on this trip, and the price of the car is an ocean, and if they are lucky, the guest may give an extra penny or two.

Chen Qiang is also a coachman, it is impossible not to know the market of the car money, if he gives each of these two people a piece of ocean, the two of them can only accept it, and they can't say anything more, after all, this journey is only worth a piece of ocean.

But Chen Qiang gave two oceans, which is equivalent to double the car money.

Looking at the two coachmen, they actually know that Chen Qiang will get more from foreigners, but since Chen Qiang is willing to give double share of the car money, it is enough to show that Chen Qiang is righteous enough.

On this beach, there are not many righteous people!

Huang Dayan tossed two oceans with his hands, which was equivalent to his income in one day.

At this time, Huang Dayan suddenly remembered that he was still talking about Chen Qiang's cool words at the dock in the morning, which made him feel ashamed.

I only heard Huang Dayan speak: "Brother Chen, if I Huang Dayan offended you in the past, you should bear more." Don't say anything else, if you have a place to find your brother in the future, just ask! ”

The other driver turned on the dog licking mode, put on a familiar look with Chen Qiang, and said: "Brother Chen, if you have a business in the future, you can take care of your little brother!" ”

Chen Qiang agreed. For him, 5 dollars can be exchanged for at least 12 oceans, and what he gave to the coachman was only the small head, and the big head was still taken by him.

……

Whenever an international passenger ferry arrives at the port, Chen Qiang will come to the dock to pull business, and many foreigners who take the international passenger ferry come in groups, or bring a lot of luggage, which cannot be pulled by Chen Qiang's car.

At this time, Chen Qiang will find other coachmen to go with him, and after sending off the guests, Chen Qiang will always give the coachman more money.

In fact, Chen Qiang only gave a small part of his tip to the coachman, but the other coachmen were grateful to Chen Qiang.

This kind of small means to win people's hearts was also used by Chen Qiang as a last resort.

Chen Qiang II is a human being, and of course he understands the truth of making a big move. Now he has made a lot more money than others by relying on his ability to speak foreign languages, and he has made a lot more money than others, which will inevitably attract the jealousy of other coachmen.

It is no exaggeration to say that if one day he was knocked out of a stick, he would be thrown into the Huangpu River, no one would look for him, and no one would collect his body.

Therefore, Chen Qiang can only give some small favors to other coachmen, in this way to resolve other people's malice towards him, and also to tie his own interests with other coachmen.

Although Chen Qiang's small favors cannot benefit everyone, as long as a few people get benefits, it will be enough to dissolve the jealousy of other coachmen.

Those coachmen who have received Chen Qiang's benefits will inevitably stand on Chen Qiang's side and form a small group, and they will even deliberately curry favor with Chen Qiang in order to get the opportunity to make money from Chen Qiang.

The coachman, who has not received benefits from Chen Qiang, is also looking forward to being selected by Chen Qiang one day in the future to pull a more profitable business.

This method can also allow Chen Qiang to gradually establish his prestige among the coachmen, which also gives Chen Qiang an extra layer of umbrella.

A person with authority often gets reverence and trust, even if someone has malice, he can only hide the malice in the bottom of his heart and dare not show it blatantly.

Sure enough, Chen Qiang's trick was very effective, and in just half a month, those ridicules and bad words against Chen Qiang had disappeared without a trace. Many people began to praise Chen Qiang for being righteous enough.

Whenever Chen Qiang appeared at the dock, there would always be several coachmen surrounding him, "Brother Chen" or "Brother Chen", which was called a sweet. They all know that by following Chen Qiang to pull foreigners, they can make an extra profit, so they naturally look like they are kneeling and licking.

Chen Qiang occasionally handed over some unprofitable business to other coachmen, such as some foreigners in second and third class, Chen Qiang asked where the other party was going, and then handed over the business to the familiar coachman, and asked them to pull the foreigner to the destination.

All Chen Qiang paid was to exchange a few words with the foreigners, telling them that the driver would pull them to their destination. Although these poorer foreigners don't pay a lot for the car, it is also a good thing for other drivers to do more business.

Through this means, Chen Qiang quickly gained a firm foothold among the rickshaw drivers in the concession, and became a leader-level existence among the rickshaw drivers in the concession.

……

In addition to earning more than before, Chen Qiang can also earn some points for the opportunity to pull the car, which can be used in the training space at night.

If it is changed to another profession, Chen Qiang will not have so many opportunities to run on the road, and there will be no way to get points.

In this Shanghai beach, it is impossible for a refugee like Chen Qiang to find a "non-deflated" job, and it is impossible to be a chauffeur in the concession car dealership, and those serious foreign firms, without a guarantor, they can't get in, even if you can speak foreign languages, the boss of the foreign bank will worry about whether you are arranged by a competitor to make it bad.

The boss of the foreign bank who can do business in Shanghai, none of them is good at stubble, and the employees who will be foreign will definitely come into contact with the core affairs of the foreign bank, and the boss is eager to find out the eight generations of ancestors of the employees, and a teenager of unknown origin wants to go to the foreign bank, but there is no door!

As for being a translator on the docks, it's even more impossible.

The most ruthless thing in old Shanghai is the "dock tyrant".

Those so-called "smoke tyrants", "gambling tyrants", "car tyrants", and "fishing tyrants" will also talk about some rules to some extent, and everyone will do things according to the rules, and make money with a clear price, and make money in harmony, and they will not use weapons unless they have to.

The dock tyrant is the most unruly, and the murder of people and goods is common for the dock tyrant, because these people are pure fishing, and they are all trading without capital. This gambler still has to have a capital, and these dock tyrants don't even have the capital, they rely on a knife in their hands to speak, and really make money by licking blood with a knife.

There were three major dock tyrants in old Shanghai, the first one was called Shen Guansheng, nicknamed "Dadao Guan Sheng", and the apprentice of Boss Du, one of the "three tycoons", was also a figure in the Green Gang.

The second is named Li Maoling, Gu Siye's apprentice, this person later became a traitor, and now those old villas in Maoling Village, Yueyang Road, were his property during the Japanese puppet period.

The third is named Zhang Baochun, and his main sphere of influence is the Suzhou Creek River Terminal.

Those porters who work as coolies in the dock need to hand over more than 60% of their income to the dock tyrant, and the pickpockets on the dock have to give 80% of the spoils to the dock tyrant. Other professions that rely on the dock to make a living, and most of the money they make have to be honored to the dock tyrant.

It is said that the driver picks up passengers on the dock, and he also has to give benefits to the dock tyrant. It's just that the bosses behind the rickshaw shop are all high-level leaders of the Qing Gang, needless to say, Gu Siye's kind of generalist boss, Jin Jiulin in the French Concession also has the name of a patrol house, which is much more powerful than the dock tyrant.

is like a dock tyrant like Li Maoling, who simply worshipped Gu Siye as his teacher, how could the apprentice be embarrassed to collect money from the master!

It is also for this reason that the coachman carries passengers on the dock, and there is no need to pay extra filial piety to the dock tyrant.

In fact, those who can make a living on the dock have to be related to the Green Gang, or simply a disciple of the Green Gang, otherwise it is impossible to eat at the dock.

Chen Qiang didn't want to have anything to do with the gang, lest one day he would be tied up and thrown into the Huangpu River, and he wouldn't know who he had offended.

Therefore, Chen Qiang still decided to develop obscenely, honestly be a coachman, and pay the money every day, which is equivalent to having Jin Jiulin covered, at least in the French Concession, he can earn money and live in peace. If he didn't have the identity of a coachman, he wouldn't have the courage to go to the dock to surf the waves, and his life mattered!

……

Towards evening, Chen Qiang pulled the car and ran in the direction of Bugaoli, he planned to return the car, and then buy some food and go home to sleep.

Chen Qiang did not pull the night car, Shanghai was very prosperous at that time, and the French Concession was also a city that never sleeps, but after all, night is not daytime, and in later generations, there are criminals who rob taxi drivers at night.

The loss of money is small, but if you lose your life, it will be a big loss.

What's more, Chen Qiang has a training space, and he will immerse himself in the training space every night for training, and he doesn't have time to pull the night train.

At that time, Bugaoli was still an open space, so there were not many residents in the vicinity of Bugaoli, and the more you went in the direction of Bugaoli, the fewer people there were.

Chen Qiang involuntarily quickened his pace, wanting to arrive at his destination quickly, after all, it was dark and there was no one on the road, so safety was still the priority.

Suddenly, a man rushed out of the alley in front of him, this man was wearing a gray robe, his right hand was covering his stomach, and there was blood oozing from between his fingers, apparently injured.

Chen Qiang was startled by this person, instinctively stopped, braked the car, and the man didn't say a word, rushed directly to Chen Qiang, and jumped into the car before Chen Qiang could react.

"Quick, let's go!" The man said in a Shandong accent.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps in that alley.

"He's running over there!"

"Chase!"

Chen Qiang knew that these people must have come to chase the injured man.

Chen Qiang did not hesitate, pulled up the car and ran away, looking like he was afraid of being caught up.

This is not because Chen Qiang has a good heart to save people, but because he is worried that he will be caught up by that group of people, and he will be beaten as an accomplice of the injured.

Imagine if you are not an accomplice, why would you pull this injured person?

What's more, Chen Qiang's car does not belong to himself, but to the car dealership, in case that group of people rushes over and smashes the car without saying anything, then Chen Qiang will have to pay the car dealership.

Rickshaws could not be manufactured with China's industrial capacity at that time, so they had to be imported from Japan, and the price of this car was not cheap.

So in order not to be beaten and not to smash the car, Chen Qiang could only pull the injured man and flee from here quickly.

While escaping, Chen Qiang was also pondering the identity of the injured man in his head.

"There are so many footsteps chasing behind, and this injured person is definitely not an idle person. After all, this is a concession, and serious people will not be hunted down by so many people. After all, it is the territory of the French, and the patrol officers of the concession are not vegetarians, who dares to break ground on the heads of the French? Unless he's ......"

Chen Qiang suddenly thought of a possibility.

Now in 1929, the world is not peaceful, and at that time, people with a certain identity were bound to be arrested.

Chen Qiang couldn't help but think of the sentence "I'd rather kill a thousand by mistake than let one go".

"Could it be that this injured person in my car is a comrade of the underground party!" Thinking of this, Chen Qiang gasped, and instantly lost his backbone.

——————

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