1978 Synthetic Writers

Chapter 174 "Shanghai's No. Divine Hand"

Each place has its own style.

The hutongs were replaced by lilongs in Shanghainese, filled with clothes hung out to dry and overflowing gutters, and filled with the smell of cooking fumes from the public kitchens.

Jiang Xian followed his brother-in-law and dodged several SH citizens who were emptying the toilet.

"What's the subject of the article?" Bian Huawei couldn't wait any longer.

“A story set in Shanghai.”

"Shanghai Beach?"

Bian Huawei became interested and turned to greet several neighbors, saying in a soft Wu dialect, "Have you had dinner yet?"

After turning several turns, they soon saw their two nephews playing with diabolos in an open space. When the rope was pulled, the bells would fly up to the sky and make whistling sounds. The children were having a lot of fun.

Bian Huawei called them over. Jiang Xian played with them for a while. Then his sister Jiang Qin came out of the public kitchen wearing an apron and called him excitedly.

"Second!"

"sister!"

"Are you tired from the car ride?" Jiang Qin's eyes were full of doting.

"I'm not tired anymore. I've recovered. My mother asked me to bring you two pairs of insoles."

"understood."

Jiang Qin's face lit up with joy. "You've been on the bus for a whole day. Let's go home and take a rest. I'll make you braised pork tonight."

Jiang Xian nodded, and his sister went back to the public kitchen, where she and two neighbors were cooking. He followed his brother-in-law into a house of 7 or 8 square meters, where it was difficult to find a place to stay, since there were four people living there.

"Come on, smoke."

Bian Huawei handed over a Pujiang brand cigarette, and when he noticed his gaze looking around, he looked embarrassed.

"Jiang Xian, I'm sorry for not taking good care of you. I'll have to arrange for you to stay at the Story Club's guesthouse tonight."

"It's okay. I heard that the conditions at your Story Club guesthouse are pretty good."

"Our previous house was occupied by someone. This is the dormitory of your sister's factory." Bian Huawei said in an embarrassed tone.

During that period, it was very helpless for the head of the household to move his family.

"Oh, look at my brain." Bian Huawei slapped his forehead and hurriedly got up and went out, "I'm going to cook for your sister, and ask your sister to come over and talk to you for a while."

He had just been out for a while when he heard a shout from the door.

"Use less sugar. He can't get used to your Shanghainese cooking."

Jiang Qin took off her apron and reminded Bian Huawei several times before she turned around, walked into the house, looked at Jiang Xian, and said with a smile.

"Shanghainese people love to add sugar when cooking. Everything tastes sweet."

"What are your eating habits?"

"I couldn't at first, but after living here for so many years, I gradually got used to it."

Jiang Qin sat down beside him and took a closer look.

"Yeah, I've gained weight."

"I eat a lot and don't exercise, so I'm giving you the insoles my mom asked me to wear."

Jiang Xian took out the insoles his mother had knitted from his travel bag.

Jiang Qin held the baby in her hand and couldn't help but burst into tears. She wiped them with her hand and said ashamedly, "Our family conditions are not as good as those in Beijing, so we have to let you live outside."

"What are you talking about? How is it unfair to live outside? But this house is really too small." Jiang Xian looked around, "For two children, we must get a bigger house." "This is the dormitory of our factory. Wait for your brother-in-law's unit to take care of it. It should be divided soon."

Jiang Qin glanced at the cigarette butt in his hand, stood up, took out a box of Phoenix cigarettes from under the cabinet and handed it to him, whispering: "Shanghai men are stingy, they are reluctant to give you good cigarettes when they treat you."

"I'm fine with smoking anything." Jiang Xian smiled awkwardly.

He originally wanted to just take one, but ended up letting his sister put the whole pack into her pocket.

I had no choice but to refuse it.

Dinner was served soon. Jiang Qin was a worker who had to work three shifts. She started the night shift at 10 pm. She was afraid that she could not stand the whole night, so she quickly lay down on the small bed and took a nap for a while. When she woke up, she wiped her face, and left in a hurry without saying a few words.

Bian Huawei and Jiang Xian went to the Story Club guesthouse together under the cover of night.

"Is it still to your liking?"

"Yes, I can get used to it."

They soon arrived at an apartment alley. Bian Huawei took Jiang Xian upstairs. It was a suite with two small beds, but Jiang Xian was arranged to live there alone. There was also a separate bathroom with a shower and a flush toilet.

"You just make do here."

"These conditions are good enough." Jiang Xian was satisfied.

Bian Huawei helped him arrange everything. Jiang Xian handed him a Phoenix cigarette and said, "Brother-in-law, have a smoke."

"Oh, thank you."

Bian Huawei took it, lit it, took a puff, and revealed a hint of urgency, "I'll go back first if I have nothing else to do here. I'll go back and take a look at your manuscript."

"No problem, you can go back."

After seeing Bian Huawei off, Jiang Xian took a shower and then paced around the room. He could not see anything outside the window. There was not even the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai at that moment.

I took out a page of storytelling manuscript paper, picked up a pen and tried to draw for a while, but the inspiration [drawing] progress did not move forward at all.

With a hint of confusion and thinking about finding someone to draw illustrations, I lay down on the bed and fell asleep early.

When Bian Huawei returned to the house, the two children had already gone to bed. There was a power outage at night, so he simply washed up, sat at the table, lit the kerosene lamp, and picked up Jiang Xian's manuscript.

The kerosene lamp was squeaking, the flame burning steadily on the wick, and the dim yellow light spread all over the paper.

Bian Huawei felt the thickness of the manuscript, which was probably over 100,000 words long. The font was round and bulging, and the first line was the title of the work:

The Supreme One!

"What do you mean? What does it mean?"

He then looked down:
In the 20s, Shanghai, known as the "Oriental Paris", was full of concessions and bright lights. "The rich are happy, eating meat and wearing silk without any effort, while the poor are busy day and night, with leaking roofs and quilts, and have no food or clothes." Chen Crab, known as the "No. 181 sleight of hand in Shanghai", was stripped naked and driven out of the police station. After meeting up with his friend Ah Tan, he was entrusted by his gang to go to the gambling den No. to investigate the Japanese samurai's cheating.
Bian Huawei stretched out his arms lightly.

This article is really well written as always!

He also knew what "Supreme" meant. Chen Crab and Ah Tan were called a pair of "the two supreme ones who always win in every bet."

"The Supreme Being who always wins every gamble"!
It is very interesting just to recite them, just like reading a martial arts novel, "The Lion King", "Iron Chain Across the River", "A Thousand Miles Alone", "A Stunning Stroke", "Gentleman's Sword", "The Sword Demon Dugu Seeks Defeat", oh, it is very interesting just to listen to these words.

The subject matter chosen was also one that interested him a lot, a subject he had never seen before: "gambling".

I have to say that this uncle of his is really bold and good at writing.

Bian Huawei continued reading.

The afternoon still retained a strong local flavor and was quite enjoyable to read.

"Shuang Tian Zhi Zun" recovered the losses for the gang, causing the Japanese samurai to lose face, and the Japanese side has since sought revenge. On the other hand, Ah Tan also met the rich lady Yu Lian in the concession and won her heart, but the price was that he was ordered by his father-in-law, the mayor, to stay away from Chen Pangxie, a gambler who spent his days making a fortune.

The Japanese Miyamoto family launched a revenge. In order to save Ah Tan, Chen Pangxie's "Shanghai Beach's No. 1 God Hand" was abolished. Miyamoto repeatedly bullied and gave in. The "Supreme Twin Heavens" had no way to retreat.
(End of this chapter)