The Beacon of Laiyang Metal

Chapter 17
  Weiyuan drove according to Mr. Liao's guidance and first came to the warehouse he mentioned. Judging from the location, it was not far from the dock, only about 1 kilometer by visual inspection.

The warehouse is surrounded by a wooden fence, and in the middle is an iron gate. On the right side hangs a wooden sign with black characters on a white background, with the words "Magic City Liao's Warehousing Company" written on it. There is no small sign directly behind the gate. There is a two-story building standing in the distance, with about 2 rooms upstairs and downstairs, which must be offices or the like.

It's just that at this time, a lot of people gathered at the warehouse gate, including men, women, old and young. They were crying and shouting something into the gate. They kept beating the gate with their fists in excitement. There were also many people who wanted to try to climb over the wall. However, there were several security men behind the gate, who were trying their best to block the gate to prevent them from coming in. Two German black-backed shepherd dogs in the courtyard kept barking anxiously at the door, trying to pounce and bite them several times. The sounds of people crying, noises, and dogs barking together made the atmosphere at the scene very tense.

Mr. Liao, who was in the passenger seat of Wei Yuan's car, had a look of embarrassment on his face: "What makes Mr. Wei laugh is that these are the family members of the workers who were killed before. They have come to make trouble again and again because the pension compensation has not been agreed upon."

Wei Yuan nodded and didn't say anything. After all, it was the other person's private matter and he couldn't ask more questions. Then the two of them pushed the door and got out of the car. Before they could move forward, they were seen by the people standing behind and shouted loudly. "The man named Liao is here, don't let him escape!"

Immediately, the crowd that was still noisy in front of the gate instantly gathered around. Seeing that it was Mr. Liao himself, the relatives of the victims became even more excited. Several women and children close to the inside were crying and shouting. "Repay the lives of their men", they started tearing them apart. In just a moment, the coat of Mr. Liao, who was originally well-dressed, was torn into strips. Fortunately, several security guards inside the gate arrived at this time and took Wei Yuan and Liao away. The gentleman was surrounded and temporarily separated from everyone.

Wei Yuan really didn't expect to encounter such a situation while visiting a warehouse. At this time, Mr. Liao beside him shouted to everyone:

"Everyone, everyone, your loved ones were killed. I am as sad as you are. Moreover, the company has also suffered heavy losses. Just to compensate the cargo owners for their losses is a huge sum of money. Your pension, I have also paid for it in the past few days. We are trying to find ways to raise funds, and we ask for your grace for a few more days, and we will give you a satisfactory explanation."

As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd shouted: "The man named Liao said it nicely. When I saw you a few days ago, you told us the same thing. It's been almost half a month, and you haven't even seen you yet. How can we believe you? These women and children have lost the backbone of their family. How do you let them live? If you don't give us an explanation today, we will set fire to your warehouse." After that, the crowd began to get excited again, blocking the way. Several security guards on the outside were staggered by the impact, watching the situation get out of control.

At this time, Wei Yuan suddenly saw a few familiar figures and looked closely. It turned out that it was his first time traveling through time. He met Wei Youtian, Han Dazhuang, and a few others at the Chaos Stall. He remembered that these people were on the 2nd. Working on the pier, I didn’t expect to meet him here today.

Before he could think too much, Wei Yuan waved to Wei Youtian and others in the crowd and shouted: "Master Wei, Master Han"

Wei Youtian and others were stunned at first, obviously they did not expect to meet Wei Yuan again on such an occasion. They were just staring at Boss Liao, fearing that Boss Liao would run away and not be found again, until they heard someone calling them. Only then did I notice that the young man standing next to Boss Liao was actually Mr. Wei whom I met at breakfast a few days ago.

At this moment, they saw Mr. Wei waving his hands to several of them, motioning them to come over. Without thinking too much, they pushed through the wall of people in front of them and squeezed in front of Wei Yuan.

Seeing that the situation was getting more and more out of control, and if things went wrong, people would be killed, Wei Yuan hurriedly shouted: "Master Wei, Master Han, you guys remember me, I'm here to inspect Mr. Liao's warehouse acquisition today, this person Mr. Liao is planning to sell this warehouse to me so that he can raise funds to compensate the families of the workers who died. I would like to trouble you to calm down everyone's emotions. It would be best to send a few family representatives to discuss the compensation issue in detail. Don’t cause trouble.”

Although Wei Youtian and Han Dazhuang had only met Wei Yuan once, they had an excellent impression of him. When Wei Yuan said this, they did not hesitate. Instead, they turned around and repeated Wei Yuan loudly to everyone. Yuan Gang's words made everyone quiet down.

The few people headed by Wei Youtian still had some authority among the crowd. Seeing that several people were shouting loudly to help maintain order, the crowd slowly quieted down amidst the shouts of several people, leaving only a few people. Women and children wearing white mourning cloths were still sobbing softly.

Seeing that the crowd had calmed down, Boss Liao hurriedly informed everyone of the purpose of his trip, and said that as long as the warehouses, terminals, freighters and other industries could be successfully sold in the past two days, there would be funds to compensate everyone. He hoped that everyone could wait patiently for another two days. On the same day, as soon as there was money, the pension would be compensated to everyone as soon as possible. Finally, everyone was asked to recommend a few representatives to go to the office inside to discuss specific compensation matters.

When everyone gathered together to see what Boss Liao said, and with Wei Yuan testifying by his side, they thought it was impossible to lie, so they recommended several representatives to the office to discuss the specific compensation situation. Wei Youtian and Han Dazhuang, who were quite prestigious among the people, Also among the representatives.

After entering the office and exchanging greetings, Wei Yuan learned that although Wei Youtian and Han Dazhuang were doing the work at Pier 2, there were several familiar fellow villagers working at Boss Liao's place. This time, several fellow villagers were following the fleet. When they went to sea, they were unlucky enough to be caught in a shipwreck, and they were all buried in the sea. Only their widows and children were left behind. They even helped to take care of the funeral affairs of several fellow villagers.

Seeing the pity of their orphans and widowed mothers, Wei Youtian and others often came to help these days. I heard that Boss Liao's fleet had been in trouble for half a month. Not only had the pensions been delayed, but even Boss Liao's people could not see it. I couldn't get angry for a while, so I came over with the rest of the people to ask for an explanation.

After Wei Jian understood the general story of the matter, he said to Wei Youtian and others: "I am indeed here to acquire Boss Liao's dock-related industries. It's just a matter of pension. As an outsider, it's not convenient for me to say more. You know the specifics." You can discuss it with Boss Liao in detail."

"I have just viewed the warehouse. I am satisfied with the location and warehouse area. I will look at the remaining terminals and freighters in detail later. After the price is negotiated, I will hand over the required funds to Boss Liao today. The families of the workers who died will also be able to receive compensation as soon as possible."

When several people who were representatives discussing compensation saw what Wei Yuan said, they all nodded in approval, and then looked at Boss Liao;

Seeing everyone looking at him, Boss Liao said the compensation standard he had planned before, "In addition to 500 yuan, each worker who died will be paid an additional three months' salary." This figure is based on the current price level in the Magic City. Said, it is quite kind. You must know that the living expenses of an ordinary family of three at this time are only 3 oceans per month, and 2 oceans is enough for 500 years of living expenses.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Boss Liao proposed to take Wei Yuan to see the remaining docks and freighters, and said to the other worker representatives: "I want to go see the remaining properties with Mr. Wei. If you are worried, you can go together. It’s also good to be a witness.”

Wei Youtian and others immediately agreed. They were really afraid that Boss Liao would sell the property and run away with the money. If this happened, they would be different from each other inside and outside.

Weiyuan was quite satisfied with the subsequent wharf and two 200-ton cargo ships. Although the wharf and the two cargo ships were not too big, they were barely enough. Finally, after some bargaining, a house facing the street on Nanjing Road was purchased. , a warehouse near Wusong Wharf, a deep-water wharf, and two 2-ton cargo ships, with a total proceeds of 200 yuan.

Later, under the witness of the workers' representatives, several well-known local bosses were found as guarantors. Boss Wei Yuan and Boss Liao completed the transaction. When they saw that the title deed was changed to Wei Yuan's name, it was printed again. The local government's seal, and the property that originally belonged to Boss Liao became Wei. Wei Yuan also got his first piece of real estate in this time and space.

It's just that when Weiyuan cashed in 30 yuan, something went wrong. In the previous transaction, he always wanted the gold bars to be portable and sell them at a high price in later generations. Most of the funds were converted into gold bars, leaving only the equivalent of 20 yuan. After giving the check of US$5 as a last resort, Wei Yuan made a special trip to Standard Chartered Bank to get gold bars and exchanged them for 5 yuan in cash.

After the first two transactions, many staff at Standard Chartered Bank recognized Wei Yuan. They had seen him only accept gold bars before, but now they saw him running over to exchange gold bars for oceans. Wei Yuan's expression looked like he was a fool.

Wei Yuan secretly scolded himself for being stupid at this moment, which could be regarded as a lesson for him in future transactions. During the Republic of China, it was better to find the ocean.

At the end of the transaction, I saw Boss Liao disbursing the promised pensions to the families of the victims one by one. Seeing that the matter was finally settled, Wei Yuan declined Boss Liao's invitation to have dinner in the evening, although it seemed that he had helped Liao with this transaction. Boss, but after all, it is his family's ancestral business, so why should he rub salt in the wound?

Just as he was about to drive away, he saw four people, Wei Youtian, Han Dazhuang, Li Baoguo, and Zhang Jinghan, whom he had met earlier, waiting in the car ahead of him.

Seeing Wei Yuan coming, a few people rushed to greet him. The leader, Wei Youtian, said: "Brother Da Zhuang was still talking about Mr. Wei a few days ago, saying that if he saw you, he would treat you to a drink. I didn't expect to meet you here today." When we get to Mr. Wei, I will invite you to drink today no matter what, so please don’t refuse.” Wei Yuan and others were determined and could not refuse, so he asked a few people to get in the car and drove to a tavern according to their guidance.

It was already evening at this time, and there was still light in the shop. From a distance, I could hear voices coming from inside. I guess the business was good.

There was a quilted door curtain used by the store to block the wind at the entrance. Before Wei Yuan could reach out, Han Dazhuang opened it for Wei Yuan and signaled Wei Yuan to come forward. Wei Yuan had no choice but to shake his head and told the others not to be polite. some.

"Hey, Boss Wei, you're here. Please come inside. What do you guys want to eat today?" The waiter in homespun Tsing Yi grabbed a greasy rag in his hand and greeted him quickly. Obviously Wei Youtian and the others are here. They were regular customers, and while they asked Wei Yuan to sit down, they shouted to the waiter: "We have distinguished guests today, so please use what you are good at."

Wei Yuan chose a table by the window and sat down, staring at the small wooden signs on the counter that neatly wrote the names of the dishes with a brush. It seemed that this noodle shop was famous for its shelduck, duck soup, and duck. Gizzards, duck intestines, duck feet, and duck heads are all on the label.

The store is not small, with a glossy black counter at the door. There are several black wine jars made of rough earthenware piled next to them. There is rough paper with rough edges on them, and the word "earth fired" is written on them.

There are about 10 wooden square tables widely spaced in the center of the lobby. There are already many people sitting at the tables. Judging from the way they are dressed, they must have worked at the nearby dock.

After a while, the waiter brought the dishes one after another, including braised duck, duck fat pancakes, and duck blood vermicelli soup. Crispy roast duck, duck gizzards/duck intestines platter filled a large table.

Just as the waiter was holding the coarse pottery jar and pouring wine into the several coarse porcelain bowls set up for several people, Wei Youtian stretched out his hand to stop him and said to the waiter, "I won't drink loose wine today. I'll put the lotus in your glass bottle." Bai will get a few bottles first, and we'll settle the accounts together after dinner."

The waiter who poured the wine was a little surprised and joked: "It seems that you guys are really distinguished guests today. You usually drink with a plate of orchid beans, a plate of braised duck, and a few bowls of loose wine." It's sent away, you spent a lot of money today."

Wei Youtian waved his hand, signaling the waiter not to talk too much. After a few glasses of wine, the two of them began to become familiar with each other. They no longer felt the restraint they felt when they first met, and they all began to chat.

"Speaking of today's matter, it is thanks to Mr. Wei that it can be solved so smoothly. To tell you the truth, among the remaining orphans and widows, some with a large population have begun to run out of food, and they can barely survive by relying on everyone's help. If Without Mr. Wei's help in getting this pension, I really don't know how they would survive the next few days. Fortunately, Mr. Wei is generous enough to help." After Wei Youtian said this, several people once again expressed their gratitude to Wei Yuan for his help today.

Then Wei Youtian asked: "Mr. Wei has recently purchased a warehouse and cargo ship. Are you also planning to do shipping business?"

"There are some goods that need to be transported by sea to Marshal Zhang in the Northeast. However, the goods transported are some of his own properties. I thought it would be more convenient to have my own cargo ships and docks. I happened to encounter some properties that Boss Liao wanted to sell, so I bought them."

Han Dazhuang, who was on the side, was younger after all. He couldn't hide his words and said, "When I met Mr. Wei for the first time, I felt that he was very impressive. He must be a big business person. I didn't expect that you would get 30 yuan as soon as you sell him. So." How long do you have to spend the money?"

Wei Yuan only felt that this Han Dazhuang was a straight-tempered man, and it was very funny to say whatever he wanted. He just smiled and said nothing. Seeing this, Zhang Jinghan on the side quickly kicked Han Dazhuang under the table to signal him not to be so careless.

Then Wei Yuan said, "Last time I overheard a few people chatting about the daily life at the dock, and they were quite complaining. I wonder how the situation is going?"

Seeing Wei Yuan asking about the daily work of several people, Wei Youtian sighed and said: "The world is difficult. We can barely make a living. The more we earn, the more we will be exploited. The less we earn, the less we will be exploited. In the end, we will not be able to survive." Where can I live? A few days ago, another brother had one of his legs broken because he couldn't pay the head fee. He still can't get out of bed. In a few days, we brothers are going to pack up and go back to our hometown in Ludong. At home It’s better to farm than to be bullied.”

Wei Yuan took a sip of wine, picked up an orchid bean, put it into his mouth and chewed it carefully. After pondering for a moment, he said, "Although I don't have much contact with these brothers, I generally think of the kind of people that Brother Wei and these brothers are." It’s understood.”

"I have just returned to China not long ago, and my career is still in its infancy. It is the right time to hire people with so many things going on. If you don't mind, you can come here to help me first. As for the salary, it will be doubled according to your original salary. Others I can’t guarantee that at least here, I won’t be bullied again.”

As soon as Wei Yuan finished speaking, several people looked up at him with expressions of disbelief.

Wei Yuan and others showed excited expressions, but with a bit of hesitation, as if they could see through their minds, and said in a joking tone: "Don't think that I am sympathizing with you. After all, I am still a businessman. How can a businessman do that?" I am doing a loss-making business. Now I am back to China alone to start a business. It is the time to hire people. In addition to Brother Wei and you, if you have any brothers you can trust, you can also bring them with you. Of course, you must have clean hands and feet and no bad habits. Just treat them as helpers. Brothers".

A few people didn't know that Wei Yuan said this because he was afraid that he would lose face and not want to go.

After several people looked at each other, Wei Youtian said: "Since Mr. Wei thinks highly of us, we would be disrespectful if we refuse. From now on, we will do it for you, Mr. Wei. We can go up mountains of swords and seas of fire. Just say a word, and as for other people's hands, , I will help you arrange it when you get back, you can rest assured that they are all sons of a good family with a clean family background."

After that, several people picked up the wine bowls to respect Wei Yuan. They drank the wine from about 7 o'clock in the evening to about 9 o'clock in the evening. The five people drank 8 bottles of Lotus White.

Even though Wei Yuan prided himself on being able to drink well, he felt dizzy at the moment and was talking a bit loudly. Due to the general lack of entertainment activities at night in this era, only a few pedestrians who returned home late at night were left in the streets that were originally bustling.

Wei Youtian and others saw that Wei Yuan was a bit drunk and were afraid that it would be unsafe to drive, so they offered to take him back together, but Wei Yuan waved his hand and refused.

On the contrary, he was a bit tongue-tied and asked if he wanted to drive them back. Wei Youtian and the others rented a house nearby, so they quickly replied no, and they could walk there in a few minutes.

The two parties agreed that one week later, after Wei Youtian and others resigned at Pier 2, they would bring people to No. 507 Nanjing Road to find Wei Yuan, the shop he bought from Mr. Liao.

Wei Yuan then staggered into the car and started driving away. As the car's taillights got farther and farther away, until they could no longer be seen, they turned around and left. Their eyes were full of hope. For them, Wei Yuan may be the noble person chosen by several people.

(End of this chapter)