A century-old wealthy family that rose from Shanghai

Chapter 2 Small tricks

The bustling Zhapu Road Bridge is surrounded by rows of international buildings.

The shantytown in Fangua Lane is like two different worlds.

At that time, Shanghai was the largest city in the Far East and the financial center of Asia, and its prosperity was far beyond imagination.

But all this obviously has nothing to do with Chen Guangliang!
Chen Guangliang was standing in front of his rickshaw, holding a newspaper in his hand, staring at the pedestrians on the road.

The newspaper in his hand was not something he wanted to read immediately, but rather a way for him to attract customers.

It has been three days since he became a rickshaw puller, and he has already mastered the basics of this business.

Of course, he also benefited from having a second uncle who was an old hand in the industry and taught him the knowledge of the industry long in advance and even had experience with it several times.

During these three days, he earned a total of 1.2 yuan, which was enough to meet his basic living needs.

Of course, if he wanted to save money to buy a rickshaw like Xiangzi, he had to earn an average of 60 cents a day, so that he could afford a brand new rickshaw worth 120 yuan (including license plate, etc.) within two years.

It's hard!
In addition to the fact that "things in the world are unpredictable", Chen Guangliang also found that his appetite had increased after his time travel, and he could only survive on 40 cents a day.

So his goal now is to earn at least 1.1 yuan every day, which means earning cents a day.

He has the strength, but the prerequisite is that he has so many orders!
So he simply spent 2 to 4 cents every day to buy a newspaper.

It can be used to attract customers, or you can read it yourself to understand the information of this era.

The rickshaw driver next to him, Lao Zhou, asked curiously, "Xiao Chen, can you read the newspaper?"

The two had just known each other for less than three minutes when Chen Guangliang took the initiative to introduce himself.

"After a few years of private schooling, I have no problem reading the newspaper!"

Old Zhou said disdainfully, "You're so-so. It's better not to read it at all. We rickshaw pullers have our own news circles. What's the point of you studying in a private school for a few years? You're still pulling a rickshaw like us."

There is some truth in this. Rickshaw pullers are information channels that roam the streets and are also a social force.

However, Chen Guangliang obviously disagreed with Lao Zhou's point of view, but he was too lazy to argue.

But he cleverly changed the subject: "I think reading the newspaper is useful. For example, I recently saw a news article that said a British research team, through years of investigation and analysis, came to a conclusion about us rickshaw pullers."

After saying that, he didn't continue.

At this time, other drivers were attracted over.

Old Zhou asked politely, "What conclusion did you reach?"

Chen Guangliang then said, "They say that rickshaw pullers generally don't live past the age of 40 because of the high-intensity physical activity we engage in for a long time. Therefore, this British scholar recommends that we shouldn't work in this field for more than seven years."

Lao Zhou said angrily: "That's nonsense."

"That's right, that's nonsense. Old Zhou is almost forty years old!"

Chen Guangliang said calmly, "I don't know about that. Anyway, this team of scholars said they have done a lot of research and investigation. So, I want to change my career after six years."

Old Zhou said nothing more.

But Chen Guangliang could feel that Old Zhou had listened to what he had just said, and had taken it to heart.

In fact, how could Chen Guangliang be so kind as to tell these things to Lao Zhou and the others?

Just some little tricks!

"Sir, would you like to take a ride?"

Chen Guangliang kept his eyes and ears open and soon shouted to a fat man in his forties.

The fat man wearing glasses originally wanted to take a nearby bus, but when he saw Chen Guangliang waving the newspaper, he walked a distance.

"Please take a seat. Sir, would you like to read the newspaper? Is it free?"

"Little bastard, you know how to do business. Go to the racecourse and remember to run steadily, or I won't pay you!"

The fat man took the newspaper as a matter of course, without any politeness in his words, and his expression was even a little disdainful.

Little red man, that's definitely not a good name.

But for rickshaw pullers, it is a very normal name, including the more commonly heard "red man".

Chen Guangliang was a modern man. If he had heard this sentence at that time, he would have cursed back even if he didn't beat the person.

But now, he didn't show any anger, and even had a smile on his face. This was a big order, and the fee was only thirty cents!

After they left the scene.

"My God, that guy is quite good at business. He even knows how to provide free newspapers."

"Old Zhou, do you know that guy? Which car dealership is he from?"

Hu San, whose business was taken away, came to Lao Zhou angrily, feeling a little indignant.

In the blink of an eye, one of his big orders was stolen, and he didn't even have time to react.

"He said it was from Gu's Car Dealership."

"Hey, why haven't I seen him before? And can he speak Subei dialect?"

Gu's Rickshaw Company is owned by Gu Zhuxuan, the "gangster leader" in Zhabei District. It is one of the top rickshaw companies in Shanghai, with thousands of rickshaws under its management.

Gu Zhuxuan had already achieved great success in his career by the early 1920s, not only controlling a rickshaw business but also dabbling in large opera stages, teahouses, and restaurants. Because he had long worshipped the Green Gang leader Liu Dengjie as his mentor—Liu Dengjie, a native of Siyang, Jiangsu, was a senior leader of the Green Gang's Jiaxing Wei Gang—and because Gu Zhuxuan had worked in the police station, he was very well-off.

Currently, Gu Zhuxuan has tens of thousands of disciples, including thousands of rickshaw pullers. Since he was born in northern Jiangsu, most of his disciples are from northern Jiangsu.

"I don't know about that. Maybe he's new here!"

Old Zhou had no intention of investigating Chen Guangliang's background, but was instead frightened by what he had just said.

Afterwards, he couldn't help but tell others about the research conducted by a team of British scholars, which showed signs of human-to-human transmission.

along the way.

Chen Guangliang pulled the cart very steadily and at a constant speed, without any of the problems that a novice would have.

The reason for this is that not only had he been taught and experienced by his second uncle before, but also Chen Guangliang was really strong and knew how to control it.

Before five o'clock, Chen Guangliang came to Wang's house to hand over the car and ended his work for the day.

A new rickshaw costs just over a hundred dollars, and even with the license plate and fees it costs no more than a hundred and twenty dollars.

The car dealer can collect 90 cents in rent for each car a day, and theoretically it will take less than five months to make a profit.

of course.

The car dealership owner is also responsible for repairs, maintenance, taxation, negotiations and other issues, but there is no problem in making a profit within half a year.

There are also many rickshaw pullers in Shanghai who have bought their own rickshaws with their own abilities.

Of course, a few "rickshaw kings" do monopolize many rickshaws. They rely on various social relationships and exploit rickshaw pullers, which makes it easier for them to survive.

Although he worked as a rickshaw driver for only four days, Chen Guangliang had the same idea as Xiangzi from the first day he started working - that is, to own a rickshaw of his own.

"Xiao Chen, you are very punctual!"

"It's my pleasure, Boss Wang."

He happened to meet Wang Chengyun, and he took the initiative to talk to Chen Guangliang. Of course, this was also a necessary procedure to win people's hearts.

Wang Chengyun looked at Chen Guangliang's good figure and said kindly, "Have you made any money these days? If you don't have enough money, you can buy on credit for a few days. We are all from the same hometown, it doesn't matter!"

Chen Guangliang said respectfully, "I earn enough to live on. After paying the bus fare every day, I still have 30 cents left for living expenses."

In fact, he made 70 cents today.

Wang Chengyun patted Chen Guangliang on the shoulder and said, "If you have any questions, you can discuss it with us. Just treat this place as your home. Don't be polite."

"Thank you, Boss Wang."

Chen Guangliang looked moved and then said goodbye and left.

How could the capitalists' tricks fool a social veteran like him?

He just made a promise that he could be Wang Chengyun's ancestor.

Wang Chengyun did not really pay anything, but just wanted to make Chen Guangliang feel "submitted" with a few words so that he could become his disciple in the future, and then he could let him charge into battle when anything happened.

Do you really think you are a fool?
He is different from Xiangzi.

(End of this chapter)