Chapter 45: Brothers, Get Him!
The next day, after paying the remaining money, the land deeds for the two houses were obtained.
Looking at the land deeds in his hand, Cao Weida was filled with emotion.
Before his transmigration, Cao Weida was an ordinary wage earner and never thought he would own a house in the capital.
But he never expected that more than half a year after transmigrating, buying a house had become no different from buying a piece of clothing.
He walked around the siheyuan once and nodded with satisfaction. Renting someone else’s house felt different from looking at his own house.
“Zao’er.”
“Coming, Cao Ge,” Tian Zao ran out with a damp handkerchief. She was cleaning the house with the children.
“I have an errand for you. If you do it well, you’ll get rewarded.”
Upon hearing there was money to be made, Tian Zao’s eyes began to gleam, “Cao Ge, what is it? As long as it’s not illegal and taboo, I’m fine with it!”
“Haven’t you done enough illegal and taboo things?” Cao Weida rolled his eyes and scolded her with a laugh, causing Tian Zao to lower her head shyly.
It’s just a pity that she’s still too young, and can only see so much.
“Alright, stop bothering me,” he said, tossing the key to the siheyuan:
“The house can’t be empty. If there’s no human presence, the house ages faster. You and your kids live in this house for me, and keep an eye on it. I’ll give you ten silver dollars a month.”
Hearing this, Tian Zao’s eyes reddened, “No, Big Brother Cao, you don’t have to do this. We…”
“Alright, alright, why so many words? I’m not not giving you money, and you’re not helping for free. At most, I’ll cover your food and drinks. Don’t expect me to add more money, you know your Cao Ge is poor, I’m almost peeing blood.”
“I’m telling you, I’m paying you to help. If you don’t take good care of my house, I’ll sell all of you to a brothel!”
“Pfft~~” Tian Zao cried and laughed, but her heart was warm.
She wasn’t stupid, of course she knew Cao Weida was helping them, and didn’t want them to feel like they were being given charity.
Cao Ge is truly a good person.
“Cao Ge, don’t worry, I will definitely take good care of the house, no one can steal it!”
Cao Weida laughed heartily, “Don’t be silly. If someone can steal the house, let them steal it. It means they are capable.”
He took out ten silver dollars from his pocket, thought for a moment, and then took out five more to hand over together:
“After you finish cleaning, take the kids for a bath and change into clean clothes. Don’t mess them up again right after cleaning.”
“I’ll have someone bring you some grain later. You can cook your own meals.”
“Alright, I’ll be going back now.”
Tian Zao behind him stared intently at Cao Weida’s departing back, biting her lower lip with her teeth, her eyes misting up.
Having done a good deed, Cao Weida was pulled by Xiangzi to find Little Ear, preparing to have him get some grain.
Unexpectedly, before he could speak, Little Ear spoke first.
“Big Brother Cao, a scout brother reported that someone has opened a gambling den in Half-tail Hutong.”
Half-tail Hutong was within Cao Weida’s jurisdiction, located between Chaoyang Gate and Dongbianmen, a nook and cranny of the city wall.
Because of its remote location, the rent was cheap, attracting many outsiders, which led to a mixed population with many people living by less savory means.
“What’s their background?” Cao Weida’s brow twitched upon hearing it was a casino.
There weren’t many jobs in this era, and if there were, most were labor-intensive.
Those with wharves were stevedores, and those with tunnels dug coal.
These jobs were generally very hard, dirty, and tiring, and the salary was extremely low. Not everyone could endure such hardship.
Those who couldn’t endure the hardship had to find a way to eat.
Otherwise, why would there be so many gangs in the market?
But the market was only so big, how could it support so many gangs?
Thus, those who couldn’t join gangs became street hoodlums.
Some smart ones found alternative routes, affiliating with gangs to do their bidding; some specialized in fighting, some in gathering information, some…
In short, there were all sorts of them. Most of these people were idle all day. When they had money, they frequented Bada Hutong, and when they didn’t, they gnawed on mixed flour steamed cornbread buns and stared blankly.
Although these people couldn’t appear in public, they were brave and aggressive. Therefore, even though they were petty thieves, many gang members liked to use them.
Little Ear had many such people under him, and today he had received such news.
In this era, many people liked to gamble.
Even in the police station, many people liked to gamble, and Sang Liuji, who was no longer human, was one of the representative figures.
It remained to be seen if Sang Liuji, who was currently in trouble, still had the mood to go to the casino.
Moreover, most of those who opened casinos had some background.
Casinos couldn’t just be opened by anyone. Officially, the authorities cracked down on the existence of casinos.
But in reality?
Everyone knew that opening a casino was profitable.
Let alone among the common people, even in official circles, many people were envious of the profits from opening casinos. Therefore, while cracking down on the surface, they secretly colluded and condoned.
Some officials, in order to seek personal gain, turned a blind eye to the existence of illegal gambling houses, and even provided protection in secret, collecting huge bribes.
Therefore, in Beiping and even throughout China, the official recognition of casinos was never established, and some crackdowns were carried out, but they were never eradicated. Instead, they seemed to be becoming more prosperous.
“Big Brother Cao, don’t worry. I’ve already arranged for people to play there a few times and inquire. These people are from Tianjin, about a dozen of them, and they haven’t paid homage to the dock yet.”
“If they really had ability and background, they wouldn’t choose to open a casino in a poor corner.”
Cao Weida’s eyes narrowed. Oh, they were quite bold. Without any connections or background, they dared to open an illegal casino in my territory, Cao Weida?
Are they here to bring me wealth?
Competitors are enemies. Those officials who collude with illegal gambling houses are very strict in cracking down on illegal casinos without background.
While eliminating rivals, they could also gain a good reputation among the people. How could they miss such a good opportunity?
Therefore, the Beiping Police Department stipulated that illegal gambling houses could be raided. To further incentivize, a portion of the confiscated money would be turned over to the Police Department, a portion would be used for operational expenses, and another portion could be distributed.
The establishment of a regulation inevitably provides convenience for those who exploit loopholes in the regulation, and this was no exception.
As long as the people conducting the raid presented a united front, who would know how much money they confiscated?
In fact, raiding an illegal gambling house was simple; the difficult part was dealing with the protection umbrella behind it!
And now, an outsider from Tianjin, without any connections or background, dared to open a gambling house. This was like fat meat delivered to his doorstep!
Cao Weida immediately felt tempted. He wasn’t lacking money now, but who would complain about having too much money!
Especially these people who opened illegal gambling houses, they weren’t good people, so he wouldn’t have any psychological burden in cracking down on them!
“Arrange for two people to deliver dozens of pounds of grain to Nanluoguxiang No. 97, and arrange for some brothers to follow me!”
“We’ve been waiting for your words!” Little Ear clapped his hands and immediately gathered twenty to thirty thugs. The group, led by Cao Weida, headed mightily towards Half-tail Hutong.
Along the way, people saw the appearance of this group. Only the vendors who were familiar with Cao Weida were not afraid; others who were not familiar with him quickly dodged.
Men walked close to the wall, and women hurried into alleys to hide. They had truly been thoroughly battered by the gangs of Beiping.
They arrived at Half-tail Hutong in full swagger, and under the guidance of Little Ear’s subordinates, they turned left and right and arrived in front of a courtyard.
Before entering, they could hear the noisy clamor from inside. Two men stood at the door, their shirts unbuttoned, revealing dark skin.
The two men were pushing a skinny, short man who was naked from the waist up, emaciated, and with dull, dark skin.
“We already said, if you have no money, hurry up and get some, don’t just loiter around here.”
“Sir, sir, give me another chance. I, I still have clothes…”
“Get real. You’ve lost your shirt, do you plan to pawn your pants too? You’re not a young girl, we can’t feast our eyes on your pants, so keep them to cover your meager flesh and go home!”
The two gatekeepers laughed heartily, but when they looked up, they saw a crowd of people surging over and were instantly startled, “Hey, hey, stop! Who are you! What are you doing here!”
Little Ear went up and slapped them a few times. The two dared not resist. After a few slaps, they felt as if they saw their great-grandmother.
“Go in.”
Cao Weida couldn’t be bothered with these two. Little Ear’s subordinates immediately ran to open the door.
As the main gate opened, the noise inside became even louder.
This was a courtyard house. Looking in through the open doors, several gambling tables were surrounded by all sorts of people.
The commotion from opening the door was significant. The people inside saw the large group entering and immediately ran into the rooms.
Before long, a man with a brutish face, a shaved head, and a few thugs came out. He cupped his hands as if to ask who they were, but was interrupted by Cao Weida:
“You’ve come to my territory, without greeting or paying homage, and opened an illegal gambling house. You have quite the nerve! Don’t you know the Police Department regulations prohibit opening gambling houses!”
“Be sensible and come back with me to explain yourself.”
The boss’s eyes widened, “I thought it was some big shot, turns out it’s just a stinky patrolman!”
His words were impolite, and his contemptuous tone clearly showed his disdain for patrolmen.
It couldn’t be helped. Regardless of whether it was Beiping or elsewhere, the status of patrolmen was indeed somewhat awkward, as if anyone could bully them.
If it were another patrolman, they might indeed not dare to offend these people. Those who dared to open gambling dens in foreign territories were either powerful outsiders or daring fighters.
But today, these people encountered Cao Weida, so it was as if they hadn’t checked the almanac before going out.
“Damn it, how dare you speak to my Big Brother like that! Brothers, go get them!!” Little Ear gave the order, and the thugs who followed him rushed forward with their clubs, shouting.
