Chapter 26: Child Laborer Cai Xiaofang
After Zhou Wenhua and Boss Fan finished eating in the Foreign Concession and signed the contract,
he also had the bodyguard send the other back to the hotel, while he got into the car to prepare to go home.
As for where the money Zhou Wenhua invested in Boss Fan this time came from?
It came from the hidden income of his father Zhou Jiawei,
Republic of China business giant Zhang Benzheng, this traitor who defected to the Japanese Army, had money to donate 40 airplanes to the Japanese Army.
It was because he opened Zhengli Money Shop, Zhengji Oil Mill, Zhengji Iron Factory, and Wafangdian Kiln Industry Company in Dalian; as well as Local Bank, Agricultural Bank, and Zhihuan Commercial Bank in Qingdao, and Zhengji Shipping Company in Yantai, as well as Zhenglong Bank, Dongbian Industrial Bank, and Electric Light Company in Longkou, and additionally built dedicated warehouses in Yantai, Tianjin, Andong, and other places.
The key point is that he opened quite a few banks and obtained a lot of money through empty-handed white wolf tactics for turnover,
and also opened a shipping company, owning dozens of steamboats to transport military supplies for the Japanese Army, so he not only received covert financial aid from the Japanese Army but also gained considerable benefits.
While Zhou Wenhua’s father did not become a traitor nor transport supplies for the Japanese Army,
Zhou Wenhua’s father was involved in the banking industry, transportation business, and the business of reselling foreigners’ goods in his hidden assets, so the money came fast and plentiful.
So after auditing all the open account books and hidden accounts of his father Zhou Jiawei,
Zhou Wenhua also discovered this source of his father’s hidden income,
however, when Zhou Wenhua cut off these sources, he still had more than thirty million in remaining income,
so he had money to invest in Boss Fan’s new factory Yongli Alkali Company,
and when deciding to dispose of all loss-making companies, without touching his father’s reserve funds in HSBC Bank, he could still have a certain amount of money for turnover.
However, after cutting off all hidden income sources, Zhou Wenhua also needed to rely on the remaining funds he now had for turnover.
When Zhou Wenhua got into his car again and hurried home,
Cai Xiaofang, the child laborer girl working at his match factory, after getting off work, hurriedly went to some street vendors, bought some soup dumplings, and prepared to find her two brothers,
they were all working as porters at the wharf, although it was only transporting imported rice bags, not dangerous coal lumps,
but this physical labor was also very strenuous, especially since their foreman was not a good person, often whipping people with a leather whip, and as soon as the porters transported a bit slowly, he would swing the leather whip and hit hard.
So it was also a very grueling coolie job.
Moreover, the money earned was not much, and they still had to work continuously in wind and rain.
When the child laborer girl Cai Xiaofang arrived at the place where her two brothers were working,
she also saw from afar her second brother, who because he was carrying two rice bags and walked a bit slowly, was whipped by the fat foreman, cried out in pain, but in the end still had to grit his teeth and persist in transporting under the other’s cursing.
Seeing this, the child laborer girl Cai Xiaofang already had red eyes, feeling extremely sorry for her relatives.
Fortunately, her two brothers were almost at the end of their shift, so she waited outside for a bit and then saw her two brothers come out after getting off work.
The two brothers were both covered in dust and sweat-soaked, especially the second brother Cai Shihai who had been whipped by the foreman, feeling his back burning with pain, but when he saw his own little sister waiting outside for him, he pretended as if nothing had happened, gritted his teeth, and showed a very forced smile.
“Why did you come here? Little Fen!”
“Did your match factory get off work so early today?”
“Or is something wrong? Did someone bully you? Brother will find that person who bullied you and give him a good lesson!”
Then, he puzzledly said to his sister Cai Xiaofang.
“Right! Little Fen, if someone bullied you, just tell us, I will also go give him a lesson!”
After the second brother Cai Shihai finished speaking, the eldest brother Cai Jianbin also chimed in.
“No! No one bullied me, our match factory got a new boss, and he changed the off-work time, and also improved the salary and benefits for all personnel in the entire factory!”
“So after getting paid today, I bought the soup dumplings you two like most to give you to eat, they are authentic Shanghai soup dumplings from the street stall Linji!”
Facing her two brothers’ caring inquiries, Cai Xiaofang shook her head and responded.
And she brought the still hot soup dumplings she bought to her two brothers, handed them with a smile, letting them eat quickly.
“Aren’t you eating any?”
“Or take them home for Mom and Dad to eat! They haven’t eaten something this good in a long time!”
But her two brothers, who were starving after work, shook their heads and asked in return.
“I’ll buy fresh ones for them later!”
“Because our new boss improved the salary and benefits for our match factory, and surprisingly issued last month’s wages according to the new wage system, so my wage is three times more than before!”
“Now the entire factory’s employees are buzzing, and even quite a few people want to introduce their relatives and friends to join our match factory!”
“So I was so anxious to buy soup dumplings today to find you two, also to ask if you want to come work with me at our match factory?”
“It earns more than being porters here, and is not so tiring!”
To her two brothers who cared about their parents, Cai Xiaofang quickly stated the purpose of her visit.
But at this moment, a large dark cloud suddenly drifted in the sky, and it also started raining.
“This damn weather! Raining as soon as it says!”
“Let’s go home first, Little Fen!”
After listening to Cai Xiaofang’s purpose for coming to find them, Cai Shihai and Cai Jianbin also looked up at the sky, and the eldest brother Cai Jianbin was the first to respond.
“Mm! But eat these soup dumplings while they are still hot, otherwise if they get soaked by the rain later, there won’t be any to eat!”
Cai Xiaofang also nodded and said.
Cai Shihai and Cai Jianbin also politely took the soup dumplings, split them, and ate, even Cai Xiaofang ate together.
Soon, the entire sky poured down dense rain.
And Cai Xiaofang and her two brothers also found a place to shelter from the rain, and wolfed down the unfinished soup dumplings in their hands.
After they finished eating, they also braved the rainy weather, threading through streets and alleys to hurry back to their home,
that was a crude home built with straw, wooden boards, and tin sheets, in the suburbs of Shanghai, and there were quite a few such homes here,
here lived the lowest class of people, the scene was truly heartbreaking to see.
Just as Cai Xiaofang and the others returned home drenched,
Zhou Wenhua also returned to his home by car.
And also ate, chatted, and exchanged with the two newly arrived naval officers, and the new members of the security team recruited, totaling about 20 people.
Because Zhou Wenhua planned to use this exchange method to build control and emotional ties between him and this new security team he assembled.
So as not to lose control and emotional connection over this security team.
