The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 57 Do you think what I say is bullshit?

"Brother Wei, the owners of those big opium dens want to see you!" Chen Zhenghu pushed the door open and said.

"Oh?" Chen Zhengwei smiled playfully: "Bring them over here!"

Chen Zhenghu went downstairs and said to the three people: "Brother Wei asked you to go up!"

The three of them were delighted. As long as they were willing to meet them, there would be room for negotiation.

"Thank you so much brother!"

Although they cursed loudly in the opium den, they were very honest in person and did not dare to neglect Chen Zhenghu even when facing him.

After being taken to the second floor, the three pushed the door open and saw a short-haired young man in a black suit sitting behind a table with his legs crossed, playing with a cigar in his hand.

Not far from him stood a young man in a suit. He looked very young, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with soft fuzz on his lips.

"Mr. Chen!" The three of them put their hats on their chests and bowed slightly.

"Please take a seat, three bosses!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile.

"Thank you Mr. Chen!"

"Tell me, what do you want from me?" Chen Zhengwei picked up a cigarette and put it in his mouth, looking at the three people through the smoke.

"Mr. Chen, it's like this. This opium den is not only ours, you, Mr. Chen, also have a share!" Boss Sun spoke first.

"Oh? There's a share for me? I didn't even know there was a share for me in this opium den!" Chen Zhengwei sneered.

"It's like this, Mr. Chen. Before, we had to give 50% of the profits to Ansongtang every month. Now that you are in charge here, the 50% of the profits will naturally be given to you!" Boss Sun continued.

"So that's how it is and I'm involved!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.

"Yes! Our few tobacco shops alone can pay Mr. Chen 2,000 yuan a month!" Boss Sun and Boss Li nodded.

"It's quite a lot. Two thousand yuan is enough to support more than a hundred henchmen!" Chen Zhengwei smacked his lips.

Huang Baoru's cigarette factory was so large that it occupied half of the cigarette market in Chinatown, but he only made a thousand dollars a month.

There are several opium dens on one street. Half of the profits they hand over each month are only 2,000 yuan, and the total profit for a year is more than 50,000 yuan. How many opium dens are there in the entire Chinatown?
At least fifty or sixty.

Otherwise, this thing is a very profitable thing!

Not to mention Hong Shun Tang, which controls the entire opium import and export channels, and the various halls that refine opium.

The entire Chinatown opium market makes at least over one million dollars a year.

You wouldn’t know if you didn’t calculate it, but it’s really fucking scary when you do!

Chen Zhengwei had never calculated this number before, but after thinking about it in his mind, he was also shocked by the number.

The three of them saw that Chen Zhengwei looked a little surprised, and smiles appeared on their faces. As long as the other party understood, it would be fine.

They just didn't believe that a gangster could refuse such a large sum of money.

"Don't mention it, such a large sum of money has already tempted me a little!" Chen Zhengwei smiled at the three of them, then changed the subject and said with a curled lip:
"But this money is too hot for me to handle!"

"Mr. Chen, those opium smokers will still take a puff to feel good even if a knife is placed on their necks. Even if our opium den is closed, they will go somewhere else to smoke, and the money will have to be given to others! You can't close all the opium dens in Chinatown, can you?" Boss Li said anxiously.

"You guessed it, I actually had this idea!"

After Chen Zhengwei finished speaking, the three of them froze with an expression of disbelief.

"I'm just kidding you! You guys aren't going to take it seriously, are you? How come you have no sense of humor at all?" Chen Zhengwei laughed, slapping his thigh.

"Mr. Chen scared me!" Boss Li couldn't figure out Chen Zhengwei's thoughts. He thought he had to pay, so he gritted his teeth and said, "I'm willing to pay 10% more! 60%, I'm willing to pay 60%!"

"I'm willing to do that too!" Boss Sun also said.

"Sixty percent...what about you? Why don't you speak?" Chen Zhengwei looked at the last person. Boss Huang had been looking at Chen Zhengwei since he came in.

Apart from the initial questioning, he didn't say a word.

"I will do whatever Mr. Chen says!" Boss Huang said after hesitating for a moment.

"So smart?" Chen Zhengwei laughed, then suddenly pulled out a gun and shot at Boss Li.

boom!
"I've already told you that this money is too much to handle, and you still want to give me 60%? And I also want a share of the fucking opium den? Do you think I'm talking nonsense?" Chen Zhengwei still had a smile on his face, but a fierce light was surging in his eyes.

Boss Li fell to the ground holding his chest. Boss Sun and Boss Huang were so scared that they stood up quickly.

Chen Zhengwei pulled the trigger and shot Boss Sun again.

"Brother Wei!" Chen Zhenghu and his men rushed in and saw two bosses lying on the ground. Chen Zhengwei put the gun on the table.

"Junior brother, do you think they deserve to die?" Chen Zhengwei turned his head and asked Li Xiwen.

"Opium has harmed countless people, they deserve it!" Li Xiwen said firmly.

"Look, my junior brother is more sensible than you! Although he is young, he also knows what is good and what is bad!" Chen Zhengwei pointed the gun at Boss Huang and sneered.

"Mr. Chen, I didn't say anything! If you told me to close it, I would do it without any hesitation. They insisted on dragging me here!" Boss Huang knelt down and begged.

"So you can still speak now!" Chen Zhengwei sneered, casually threw the gun on the table, took out a silk scarf to wipe his fingers, and then lit a cigarette.

"Thank you Mr. Chen for sparing my life, thank you Mr. Chen..." Boss Huang said tremblingly.

His pants were almost wet and his head was covered in cold sweat. He was glad that he was cautious enough.

However, even he did not expect that Chen Zhengwei would suddenly kill someone while laughing, which scared him a lot.

"I've let you go, you won't show some appreciation, right?" Chen Zhengwei asked with a smile. "I'm willing to give those two opium dens to Mr. Chen! I'll give him another 10,000 yuan!" Boss Huang said with a cold sweat on his forehead.

"Look, this is the right way, that's why Boss Huang lives longer than others!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.

"Zhenghu, drag those two out of the street! Oh, and take them to their home. If they are dead, we can’t take the money with us!" Chen Zhengwei waved his hand.

Then he said to Mr. Huang, "Mr. Huang, if you want to do legitimate business in my place, I welcome you! Except for the opium den!"

"I know I know!"

"You know what to say when you get out, right?"

"Mr. Chen doesn't like opium harming people. Those two people don't know the current situation..."

Chen Zhengwei nodded. "That's good to know. Get out of here! Remember to explain everything clearly when you get out, or else it will be bad if people misunderstand you!"

Otherwise, other bosses on the street would think that Chen Zhengwei was here to kill the rich and rob them. People would be in panic then. How could they do business?

"Don't worry, Mr. Chen, I will definitely explain it clearly!" Boss Huang left the room, wiped the sweat from his head, and felt his whole body was wet.

Then he quickly left the casino and collapsed in his chair as soon as he returned to his opium den.

"Boss, what's going on?"

"Pack up your things. I don't want this opium den anymore and I won't run it anymore..." Boss Huang said with lingering fear. He was almost scared to death.

……

"Senior brother, although you were praising me just now, I always felt like something was wrong! It seemed like you were scolding me!" Li Xiwen said to Chen Zhengwei after Boss Huang left.

"Is there? Which one?" Chen Zhengwei asked in surprise.

"That's the sentence. Even my junior fellow apprentice knows it..." Li Xiwen scratched his head.

"Hahahaha!" Chen Zhengwei laughed!

"Senior Brother, is what you said true?" Li Xiwen asked after hesitating.

"Which sentence is it?" Chen Zhengwei asked lazily.

"Close down all the opium dens in Chinatown!"

Chen Zhengwei put his feet on the table, holding a cigarette in his mouth and said lazily: "Do you know what Chinese people are like in the eyes of foreigners?"

"They say we are insects and bastards!" said Li Xiwen.

"Although it is stereotyped and prejudiced, opium and casinos play a great role in it! In the eyes of foreigners, Chinatown is dirty and chaotic, with opium and casinos everywhere..."

Chen Zhengwei stood up and walked to the window, pointing down and said:
"Look outside, there are heavy smokers everywhere. They are willing to kill their own parents for a puff of opium. We ourselves look down on them, let alone those foreigners."

"In the eyes of the foreigners, they are us!"

"So, senior brother, you have to close down the opium den." Li Xiwen said with admiration in his eyes.

"Yes, it's not for them, they are already useless! But for ourselves!" Chen Zhengwei smiled.

"Closing down the opium dens is only the first step. We Chinese still have to go out!" Chen Zhengwei knew clearly that the Chinese Exclusion Act would be passed in 1882, which was less than four years away.

For the next half century, Chinese people in the United States had absolutely no chance of turning things around.

Even for his own sake, the Chinese Exclusion Act must be stopped.

Therefore, Chinese people must go out instead of hiding in this small Chinatown.

But it is very difficult for Chinese people to go abroad. California now has various discriminatory laws and regulations to restrict Chinese people.

For example, Chinese people are not allowed to own land or property, and most industries do not allow Chinese people to work in them. If you leave Chinatown, you won’t be able to rent a house even if you want to.

Even in industries where Chinese are allowed to work, the requirements for them are more stringent.

Therefore, Chinatown must be unified and its current fragmented state must be ended before it has the qualifications and identity to communicate with the outside world and do something.

Li Xiwen chatted for a few words, and Chen Zhengwei picked up the account book to look through it.

Ansongtang originally directly controlled only two casinos and a brothel, and also had a share of the profits from other casinos and opium dens. The total income was about 8,000 yuan per month. In addition, there were 60 to 70 shops of various sizes in this block, and the total monthly fees were 1,000 yuan.

However, the money distributed by Ansongtang every month is about four to five thousand yuan, plus there are conflicts with other halls from time to time, and they also have to pay for settling in.

In addition, the top leaders of the gang also want to make some money from it, so there is not much money in the account.

"Damn it, I'll dig those guys out for me even if I have to scrape the ground three feet deep!" Chen Zhengwei got angry when he thought about this.

Now that all the opium dens are closed, not only will this part of income be lost, but the customer flow in these two blocks will definitely be affected.

Chen Zhengwei estimates that the combined monthly income of the two neighborhoods is about 10,000 yuan.

It looks like a lot, but it's just enough for me to draw two ten-draws.

Even if he wanted to support subordinates, he could only support about 300 people. He couldn't even support ten companies in a month.

"It turns out that one cannot get rich without unexpected fortune!" Chen Zhengwei pondered and realized that if he hoped to make money this way, he would have to save until the end of time.

As expected, we still have to set our sights on other halls and guilds.

In addition, we also need to recruit people and set up the labor agency company in Portsmouth Square.

(End of this chapter)