Chapter 340 So beautiful? !

Chapter 340 So beautiful? !

When he heard someone saying hello to him, the charterer bit her cigarette butt and looked back. Zheng Jirong's smile grew wider when he saw this, just when he was about to flatter her again.

"How big is your mother?"

The charterer stared at him and shouted, "I know you, and you just say hello to me?"

"."

Zheng Jirong's smile suddenly froze, and he looked at the charterer opposite who was looking at him with her nostrils. He took a deep breath and replied with a smile: "If you don't know her now, you will know her in the future."

He then raised his hands and said, "I, Zheng Jirong, want to rent a house here in the walled city."

"Rent a house"

The tenant woman slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, then turned and walked towards the ladder in front of the apartment building, "Follow me."

In the messy narrow corridor.

Looking at the cigarette hanging from the corner of the charterer's mouth and the curly hair like instant noodles, Zheng Jirong felt like he was at the Regent Hotel, even though he was in the Pig Cage Walled City.

Creak

At the end of the corridor, the charterer opened a creaking wooden door and said, "Here it is."

Zheng Jirong stretched his head into the room and glanced around casually. It had an ordinary layout of one room and one living room, with a few simple furniture placed quietly. The wooden tables, chairs, and beds all exuded a light woody fragrance.

When he stepped into the house, his footsteps made a creaking sound on the floor. The windows were covered with yellowing window paper, and the weak sunlight cast mottled light and shadow. The whole room seemed to be covered with dust, and there was a kind of dust in the air. The smell, the fluttering sound.

"Looks pretty good."

After looking around, Zheng Jirong nodded and said, "It's just a little dirty. I need to hire someone to clean it before moving in."

"Looking at your head-spreading clothes, you must not be short of money." The tenant woman raised her chin towards the patio downstairs. "There are so many poor people down there. As long as the money is available, you can hire as many people as you want."

"What the landlord said makes sense." Zheng Jirong took out his cigarette case, pulled out a cigarette and handed it out, "Then how are the rent, water and electricity calculated?"

The charterer was not in a hurry to answer his question. She first looked at the cigarette in her hand, then raised her eyebrows and stared at the cigarette case in his hand curiously, "What kind of cigarette is this? Why have I never seen it before?" "

"Uh ha ha ha ha"

Zheng Jirong smiled and put the Liqun in his hand back into his pocket, then took a lighter and lit it for the charterer himself, "The specialty cigarettes from my hometown are not sold on a large scale yet. You can try how they taste."

After taking a slow sip, the tenant woman said nonchalantly: "The rent, water and electricity are all added up, so you get one hundred yuan a month, and you pay ten as a deposit."

One hundred yuan a month, ten pay one in repayment?

When Zheng Jirong heard this, he almost couldn't help but punch him out. When he just went upstairs, he saw a rent notice posted on the stairs. The monthly rent, including electric lights and running water facilities, was five yuan. As for the deposit, he had to ask for everything. Did not mention.

When it came to him, it actually doubled more than ten times.

Does he look like a fat sheep?

"By the way," the charterer slowly exhaled a breath of smoke and continued: "You pressed my husband hard last night. He has been injured all night and has not recovered yet. You can pay five hundred for the soup and medicine." It’s ready.”

".Can."

Zheng Jirong nodded readily and agreed this time. Speaking of which, if it hadn't been for the charterer last night, he might still be lying on the straw mat because the back of his head hit the ground.

He then stretched out his hand with a smile and said, "I'm going out later to pawn something. Can I come back later to pay?"

"As something?"

The landlord looked him up and down and asked, "You don't have money to pay the rent, do you?"

"Hahaha, don't worry, charterer, I'm just afraid that you won't be able to find her."

"Haha, I don't care if you believe it or not, but no one here in the Walled City has ever dared to default on my rent."

".I believe it! Of course I believe it!"

on the street.

Contrary to what Zheng Jirong expected, Shanghai in this time and space was not only not as backward and dilapidated as he thought, but was actually very prosperous and fashionable.

There are a dazzling array of merchants on both sides of the road, each with its own characteristics. Some of the shops are traditional Chinese-style buildings with gold-lettered signs hanging on the lintels, selling a variety of goods, from silk and tea to antiques and jade.

More shops are built in Western style, with fashionable dresses, exquisite cosmetics and fashionable accessories displayed in the windows, attracting the attention of many passers-by.

There is an endless stream of pedestrians on the road, and rickshaws and cars shuttle among the crowd from time to time. The shouts of the rickshaw drivers and the honking of car horns add a bit of liveliness and hustle and bustle to the streets.

Stopping a rickshaw, Zheng Jirong told the driver to take him to the nearest pawn shop, then he sat leisurely in the car with his legs crossed and watched the surrounding scenery.

It is worth mentioning that the journey was not as bumpy as he thought. Whether it was because of the smooth road or the driver's superb pulling skills, an ordinary rickshaw actually gave him the feeling of riding a car.

Ten minutes later, the rickshaw stopped in front of a shop.

Looking at the shop sign in front of him, Zheng Jirong shook his head helplessly and said: "Master, did you hear me wrong? I said a pawn shop, not a rice shop."

"Sir, you don't know something." The driver explained while wiping the sweat from his face with the towel hanging around his neck: "This shop is not only a rice shop but also a pawn shop."

"Mipu is still in the pawnshop business?" Zheng Jirong asked in surprise.

"It's done. Nowadays, almost all rice shops in Shanghai also run small businesses."

Zheng Jirong asked a few more questions and finally figured it out.

The so-called small pawn shop is a pawn shop that has no name, no signboard, and operates secretly.

This kind of small pawn shop can pawn more money, but the interest rate is very high, so it is suitable for dead money to be pawned. If you want to redeem it later, it is best to go to a regular pawn shop.

After thanking the driver, Zheng Jirong asked him to wait for him at the door, and then walked into the rice shop first.

"Sir, do you want to buy rice?" the waiter asked enthusiastically.

Zheng Jirong looked around and said, "Think of it as something."

As soon as he said this, an old man in a long coat came out and whispered: "Sir, please come in."

Since it was a pawn shop, there was no need to take out gold bricks or anything like that, but fortunately, in addition to gold bricks, banknotes, guns and ammunition, he also put a lot of valuable things in his pocket.

As the old gentleman walked into the store, he took out a watch directly from his pocket.

"Swiss handmade mechanical watch, the hands inside are all gold, and the scales are inlaid with diamonds. Please estimate the price."

"Hey, foreign watches like this are rare." Upon hearing this, the old gentleman immediately held the watch carefully with both hands and observed it carefully.

To be honest, he himself had no idea.

After all, in the past, most of the things that were used as pawns were old-fashioned items. This was the first time for him to see high-end gadgets like foreign watches.

Through the magnifying glass in his hand, he saw that the watch strap was white and shiny, reflecting a charming brilliance. It seemed to be made of fine steel. The dial was gaudy and was far more exquisite than the popular pocket watches today. As for the gold hands and diamond scales, that's it. It can only be verified by taking it apart.

But even if they are all fake, this kind of Western goods must be very valuable. After stroking his beard, the old man raised his eyelids and stretched out two fingers: "Twenty dollars."

"What?!"

Hearing this, Zheng Jirong slammed the table, frowned and said in a deep voice, "Are you, old man, deliberately playing tricks on me?"

He snatched the watch back, pointed at it and said, "I bought this in London. The original price was five hundred pounds!"

hiss.

The old man took a breath instantly. Five hundred pounds is almost more than four thousand silver dollars. With this much money, you can buy a western-style building on Xiafei Road!

However, he was really not sure whether this thing was real or fake, so he had to say: "Forgive me for my blindness, for such valuable items, sir, you should go to those big shops."

"What's the most you can give?" Zheng Jirong asked.

Seeing that Zheng Jirong was not only wearing a decent Chinese tunic suit, but not looking like a liar, the old man thought for a while and gritted his teeth and said: "At most fifty oceans."

Well, if he really bought it for 50 yuan, then he would really become a fat sheep.

After all, the business failed to be completed. After walking out of the pawn shop, Zheng Jirong asked the driver to take him to the largest pawn shops in Shanghai.

As a result, I asked several prices, and the one with the highest price was only given one thousand silver dollars.

It was noon at this time, and Zheng Jirong, who always had a huge appetite, was already hungry. He finally chose to pawn at one of the restaurants. The deadline was one hundred days and three points of profit. The pawn was one thousand silver dollars but only nine hundred and seventy yuan. ——One month's interest was deducted.

If Zheng Jirong does not come back to redeem the watch after a hundred days, the watch will belong to the pawnshop.

Speaking of which, Zheng Jirong had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to stay in this place for too long, but the pawn shop's rule was that the minimum period was one hundred days, so he had no choice but to suffer a loss.

Nine hundred yuan of the money was cash, and the other seventy yuan was silver dollars in a bag, with Yuan Datou printed on the front and "One Yuan" on the back.

Among them were some copper coins that he deliberately broke open. They were yellow and had the words "Dang Shi Wen" printed on them. They were a bit like the fifty-cent coins of later generations, only larger.

In front of the rickshaw,

"Go to the nearest restaurant," Zheng Jirong said, flicking a big ocean ball into the driver's hand, "I'll give you the fare."

After catching it in a hurry, he opened his eyes wide in shock and said, "This, this... this is too much!"

"Take it if it's given to you," Zheng Jirong said with a smile, "Master, you've worked hard for me all morning."

The coachman smiled sheepishly and without any further refusal, he put the ocean in his mouth, bit it, and happily put it into the sandwich pocket in his arms.

"Sir, please don't call me master, just call me Xiangzi."

"I don't fear that my husband will laugh if I tell you this. I am the only one in my family of six who earns money by pulling cars out. Not only do I earn less than half of it every day, but I also have to pay for the car's share to the car dealership. The family has been in trouble for several days. , thank you! Thank you, sir! I bow to you!"

Xiangzi?

Looking at the coachman who was bending down to thank him, Zheng Jirong touched his chin with strange eyes. He must have the same name. After all, the Xiangzi family he knew didn't have that many people.

Seeing the coachman's rosy eyes, Zheng Jirong had mixed feelings in his heart. He raised his hand and patted Xiangzi's shoulder encouragingly.

On the road.

Xiangzi, who had only lowered his head to pull the cart before, maybe because he received a big ocean, started talking more.

"Shanghai is really becoming more and more chaotic every day. Xu Wenqiang and Xu Tycoon were assassinated a few days ago. Last night, the leader of the Crocodile Gang was hacked to death with an ax in front of the police station. Alas, there is collusion between officials and gangsters. , this world is really getting more and more difficult.”

Zheng Jirong couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and said: "I have seen it in the newspaper before. It seems that the person who killed Xu Wenqiang was a gang leader named Lei Hu."

"Sir, you don't know something. What the newspapers said are all false. In fact, there was someone else who sent people to assassinate Xu Wenqiang."

Having said this, Xiangzi looked around and saw that no one was paying attention. He slowed down the car and turned around and whispered: "It's Zhang Wanlin."

"Zhang Wanlin"

Zheng Jirong narrowed his eyes slightly when he heard this. Why had he never heard of this name before?

"Xiangzi, you seem to know a lot of things."

"Hahaha, we drivers are running around outside all day long. We see a lot of people and pull a lot of people, so we hear a lot of new things."

Xiangzi picked up a towel and wiped his sweat, and then lamented: "Shanghai now is almost entirely populated by the so-called Green Gang, Hongmen Brother and Old Association. There are gangs everywhere, and the lives of ordinary people are becoming increasingly difficult."

"Now I just hope to save a little more money and buy a rickshaw of my own."

After hearing his words, Zheng Jirong asked curiously: "Xiangzi, how much money have you saved to buy a car?"

"Hey, it costs over a hundred to buy a good car. Look at me, I don't dare to spend any spare money."

"Take your time. Making money through hard work is the only way to be practical. Work hard and life will become sweeter and sweeter."

".hope so!"

A few minutes later.

The rickshaw stopped at the door of a restaurant. Xiangzi put down the handlebar, wiped his sweat and introduced: "This is a newly opened northern restaurant in Shanghai. It specializes in roast duck and northern dishes. If you don't like it, sir, I will Take you to the next one.”

"Fujude"

Zheng Jirong looked at the three big characters on the plaque, nodded and said: "Okay, let's just go to this one. Thank you for your hard work."

"You're welcome, sir. I'll leave first."

After saying that, Xiangzi raised the handlebar and was about to leave, when a word came from behind him, "Wait a minute."

He turned around and saw Zheng Jirong flicking another silver dollar over, "Although you have to save money to buy a car, don't treat the family badly. Remember to buy some gifts to take home at night."

"."

In the restaurant, as soon as Zheng Jirong entered the door, a waiter came to greet him, "How many gentlemen are there?"

"One."

"Okay, guests please come in."

On the table next to the fence on the second floor, Zheng Jirong sat elegantly on the Taishi chair. After flipping through the menu, he knocked on the table and said: "One duck, write first and then roast it, four cold dishes and drinks, four hot dishes." Let’s have some food and a bottle of brandy.”

"okay!"

"Wait, come back to me"

jingle bell jingle

At this moment, there was a loud shouting and yelling from downstairs. Zheng Jirong looked down through the railing and inadvertently caught a charming figure with his eyes.

Holy shit, so beautiful? ! ! !