The entertainment tycoon of the Republic of China

"..." Rao Xie Yan had guessed a long time ago, but when he heard this sentence, he was still shocked by the pride and determination in it.

That long-ago scene seemed to appear in front of his eyes, and he saw that figure standing alone on the stage, with imperceptible sorrow, confronting thousands of people.

The light was dim and warm yellow, giving his ancient costume a hazy light, and his crimson eyebrows were faintly visible, making it difficult to see his expression clearly.

"What's next?" Xie Yan paused, even if Bai Luoqiu said so, it might not be able to solve the problem.

"After the boss stepped down, the fanciers gradually came back to their senses, and they still didn't want to leave. Fortunately, Mr. Xiang was also in the audience that day. He stood up and said that everyone came to listen to a good show. The voice is not good, so why not give each other face and listen to it next time."

"Mr. Xiang has a high reputation and status. When he speaks like this, everyone has to save some face. Seeing that Mr. Xiang is on the side of the class leader, people with ulterior motives dare not make mistakes, so this matter is settled."

"Mr. Xiang?" Xie Yan's heart skipped a beat, "Xiang Yanlin?"

"Yes." Li Quan nodded repeatedly.

"Who is... who?"

"Ayan, haven't you heard of Mr. Xiang? He is a famous minister of the Qing court who studied abroad. He is just and tough. It has been good, otherwise the Dechun class would not have gained a foothold so quickly." Li Quan said here and sighed, "It's a pity that Mr. Xiang's family suffered a tragedy a year ago, and none of the whole family survived. It's really a good life... "

"..."

"Ayan?" Li Quan saw something wrong with Xie Yan's expression.

"It's nothing." Xie Yan shook her head, suppressing the inexplicable sadness in her heart, "It's really a pity that such a capable person died young."

"Forget it, let's not talk about Mr. Xiang." Li Quan didn't notice that something was wrong, "That's the end of this matter, but I heard another thing from the guys."

"what?"

"It is said that when my father refunded money and tickets to the fans in the audience that day, he apologized one by one, and only one family was missed. That family wanted to argue, but my father scolded them back."

"My father said, 'A man needs a face and a tree needs its skin. When it comes to this, you should also be a little self-aware'. My father has always been a cheerful and smiling tiger in the troupe. This is the first time the guys have seen him get angry so bluntly. Remember It's been a long time."

"What was that family like?"

"I haven't seen it with my own eyes. It is said that a young gentleman took his wife and hugged a child."

"Ayan, why are you asking this? Do you know who that family is?"

"I think I can guess it." Xie Yan rubbed the center of his brows and sighed. The facts were as he expected, but he still had no idea how to deal with it.

"who is it?"

"The Li family, Li Tianwei."

"Mr. Li?" Li Quan exclaimed, then thought of all the things he had seen and heard these days, and approved of this speculation, "Then what should we do now?"

"I don't know, let's find a way to make sure."

Xie Yan sighed, and was about to discuss with Wen Heng, who was opposite, when the young man in a long coat suddenly stood up.

"What's wrong?" Xie Yan followed suit.

"I don't know, but it's probably good news." Xie Yan followed Wen Heng's gaze, and saw a man dressed as a clerk coming hurriedly from the other side of Furong Street.

Wen Heng got up and walked out, bringing the guy in.

"Second Young Master, something has happened—" the simple-faced guy was about to say something, when he caught a glimpse of Xie Yan and Li Quan next to him from the corner of his eye, and hurriedly stopped him.

"It's okay, let's talk." Wen Heng pointed to Xie Yan, "Identify someone, Mr. Xie, the people next to him are his people, and you don't have to hide anything from them in the future."

"Hello, Mr. Xie." The man is a sensible person, he listens to the Wen family's words after eating the Wen family's meal, and when Wen Heng said that, he immediately bent down to say hello to Xie Yan.

"It's okay, don't be so polite, just get down to business." Xie Yan felt a little embarrassed by Wen Heng's move.

Hearing the words, the clerk looked at Wen Heng again, "Second Young Master, our brothers followed the Li family today as you said, and the people in the Li family didn't go out after returning from the White House. Let's find a way to find the Li family. The servant inquired about it, and it is said that they went back and quarreled again, but the servant didn't know what and why they were arguing."

"The few of us didn't dare to relax, and we kept squatting near the Li family. Finally, we found a Li family member who went out alone just now. We didn't dare to startle the snake, so we quickly asked a small and inconspicuous guy to follow him closely. I'm here I will report to you."

"The Li family who went out alone?" Wen Heng raised his eyebrows, "Who is it?"

"It's the young master from the Li family, Li Tianwei, who seems to be heading towards the racetrack. Second young master, do you think you want to go there?"

Li Tianwei, the eldest son of the Li family's generation, is also the owner of Yunlai Tea House, the person Xie Yanfang mentioned just once.

Wen Heng and Xie Yan looked at each other, reading the same decision from each other's eyes.

"How did Li Tianwei get away?"

"Take a rickshaw."

"There's still time, find a way to call a car, and we'll go there right away." Wen Heng got up directly, and Xie Yan followed closely behind.

The Wen family's guys are all well-trained. Before coming, they prepared a carriage and parked it at the intersection of Furong Street. Hearing this, he ran ahead to lead the way. After taking a few sips of his own cup, suppressing the weird taste, he trotted a few steps behind.

The waiters in the cafe knew Wen Heng, so they didn't stop them from paying the bill. After they left the cafe, they walked a few tens of meters to the place where the carriage stopped.

Xie Yan had never been in a carriage before coming to this world, and she was a little curious looking at the small green cloth carriage in front of her.

"Mr. Xie, we have to hide our whereabouts with others, and we can't be too conspicuous. The car we use is just the style of ordinary people. I feel sorry for you to ride all the way." Influenced by Wen Heng's previous words, the guy who led the way thought that Xie Yan's status was extraordinary. , looked down on this carriage, and explained in a loud voice.

"It's okay, I just didn't sit and take a look." The misunderstood Xie Yan touched his nose, "What's your name?"

"I'm Ah Wu, and the driver is my brother Ah Wen."

Hearing this, the tall and thin man holding the rein bowed to Xie Yan, "Hello, Mr. Xie."

"Hello, hello." Xie Yan, who was put on a high hat by Wen Heng, could only nod repeatedly.

"Let's get in the car and go, be careful."

The ruts of the carriage are a bit high, reaching the waist of Xie Yan's body, Ah Wen didn't bring a small stool when he came out this time, Xie Yan had a lot of trouble getting into the carriage, it was Wen Heng who held him up from behind to keep him steady Enter the compartment.

Sitting on the upholstered car seat, Xie Yan rubbed the side of the waist that was supported by Wen Heng's big hand just now, his old face was a bit hard to get rid of, when will he recover the physique of his previous life?

"What's wrong?" Wen Heng got into the car last and sat next to Xie Yan.

"Cough, it's okay." Xie Yan coughed lightly, and changed the subject, "Wen Heng, have you ever been to the racetrack?"

"I've been back to China not long ago, and I've been there once or twice for business, so I don't know much about it."

"I haven't been there yet, only heard about its reputation."

Unlike the bustling Furong Street adjacent to the Concession, the Racecourse is a real man-made cave for selling gold.

About two or three years ago, the racecourse was still a large piece of flat wasteland by the Hankou River. The foreigners in the concession used a series of means to buy it from the Qing court at a very low price under the pretext of wanting to build a racecourse.

After the racecourse was established, foreigners took it as the center and established a series of accompanying entertainment venues, including serious theater clubs, filthy opium halls and dance halls, and even many brothels. here.

With the cover of the racecourse, the Hankou government cannot check all the business here. Foreigners here have no scruples and divide up the profits. It is like a "new concession" with no name, because its external subject is still the racecourse. , so the people of Hankou called this piece of land the Wanguo Racecourse, or the Racecourse for short.

The racecourse is a stubborn disease left over from the Qing court. After the founding of the Republic of China, Fang Xunxuan has always wanted to clean it up, but because of the checks and balances of various countries, he could not do it directly. This is why he has a plan to gradually dismantle it from the source of tourists and the economy. It is not far away. Wanli invited Bai Luoqiu, a famous actor in Beijing.

"Second Young Master, Mr. Xie, you want to hear about the racetrack. I may know something about it." Ah Wu, who followed into the car, said.

"Tell me." Wen Heng nodded.

"I don't know how to speak..." Ah Wu touched his thick neck, "Second Young Master, you know that Ah Wen and I are both orphans adopted by the host family. We have no relatives and no reason. We only found a distant cousin who was separated a few years ago. , working at the racecourse."

What's so hard about working on a racecourse?Xie Yan was puzzled for a moment, seeing Ah Wu's expression of not knowing how to continue, recalling some of the more romantic aspects of the racecourse business, he probably had a bottom line in his mind.

"We know that your cousin has the ability to know some of the inside story of the racecourse. Don't go into details about her, just tell what you know." Xie Yan made a relief.

Ah Wu glanced at Xie Yan gratefully, then rubbed her hands awkwardly, "Actually, she didn't tell me anything special, but we went there to see her more often in the past two years, and gradually got to know more. "

"The main part of the racecourse is the racecourse in the middle, but the real bustling place is the row of dance halls and theaters by the river. Every night, half of the people in Hankou City who have spare money like to go there and walk casually. When you enter the family, you can’t get in because of the excitement. Those who perform Beijing Opera, Han Opera, Bangzi, and other local operas, those who perform Pingshu, Drum, eighteen martial arts, and all kinds of foreigner things, only you can’t think of, without them, they can’t do it. .”

"You walk a few hundred meters along the river, and you will see a different scenery. This place is not as lively as the front, and there are many fewer people on the road, but it also has its own characteristics. A kind of low-rise house, almost invisible. No windows, it’s a smokehouse; a small building with several floors, with colored strips hanging on the door and incense, that’s a brothel... My cousin works here.”

"Well, what else?" Xie Yan pretended not to hear the last words that Ah Wu whispered.

"There is also a place outside the racecourse and Linjiang. It is almost out of the racecourse. There is also an inconspicuous residential area. The terrain of this place is very complicated. The houses and roads are built with twists and turns. In the residence of ordinary people who work on the racetrack, people who are not familiar with it used to be stunned in all likelihood."

"By the way, there is another saying about this place—" Ah Wu lowered his voice, "Because it is close to Linjiang, and it is hidden and difficult to be noticed by others. Many men who are brought out from brothels and dare not bring them home will come here. Rent two houses to settle down, and over time, more and more rich kids are known to hide their concubines here."

"If you see that kind of well-decorated house in the residential area of ​​the racetrack, with the door closed during the day, there are nine out of ten people living in the little lover of the master of Hankou."

"..."

"It's really messy enough." Xie Yan commented pertinently, in this extrajudicial land controlled by foreigners, all the darkness that cannot see the light can ferment wantonly.

The seemingly bustling racecourse is also a distorted reflection of the entire Hankou.

"Raise a lover here?" Li Quan, who was sitting in the corner, questioned, "Aren't you afraid of accidents or being taken away?"

"Most of the lovers who are kept here are of no public status. They only want to be fresh for a while. Many of them don't give up after a few years. The abandoned ones have to go to the brothels in Linjiang to make a living... they can be regarded as self-produced and sold. ?”

"Those lovers may not be willing to do this... most of them are poor people." Li Quan grew up among the low-level people, and he was deeply touched by the word "involuntary", and felt a little uncomfortable when he heard it.