Chapter 68

Xin Nan's grandfather, Xin Zikai, was a respected figure in the antique market in Jin Tian, especially known for his excellent calligraphy, which earned him a good reputation in the domestic calligraphy circle. Many merchants would seek his calligraphy when opening their businesses, and he had a very good relationship with people.

Scholars naturally felt embarrassed to talk about money when writing, but those who sought his calligraphy would always offer a considerable fee, which was a common practice. From a young age, Xin Nan's family was quite well-off, and they never had to worry about money.

After the death of Xin Nan's parents, to provide him with a better education, Xin Zikai entrusted his friend in the capital to send Xin Nan to the affiliated middle school of the capital university. He only returned to Jin Tian during holidays and summer vacations.

Therefore, although Xin Nan had been learning calligraphy and painting from his grandfather, he was not very familiar with his grandfather's business. It was only after taking over the stationery shop that he learned some of the secrets of the antique street that outsiders could not touch.

On the second day after the reopening of "Wen Bao Zhai," a few young men with a rough appearance burst into the shop and laid down some rules for Xin Nan.

The rules were that if he wanted to run his shop peacefully on the antique street, he had to pay them 2,000 yuan every month. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to continue running the shop.

Xin Nan had just graduated from university and was in his prime, so he was not willing to be threatened by these hooligans. After a few words, an argument broke out.

Xin Nan's grandfather was well-known on the street, and some shops had even benefited from his help. When the argument started, people around heard the commotion and gathered around.

They were all people from the street and knew each other. After some persuasion, the hooligans dispersed, but they left a threat: if the money wasn't paid within three days, they would smash the shop!

Xin Nan was not short of money. When his parents died in a car accident, the other party compensated them with over 300,000 yuan. His grandfather also left him over 500,000 yuan. The 2,000 yuan monthly protection fee was not a big burden for him.

However, Xin Nan had a stubborn personality. No matter how much the neighbors and street vendors tried to persuade him, he refused to pay the money. He would rather close the shop than bow to these extortionists.

There were also people on the antique street who were well-connected and respected. Someone relayed the message to the people collecting the protection fee. Out of respect for the mediator, they did not come to smash the shop but gave Xin Nan a month to move out. This was why Qin Feng saw the "For Rent" sign on the door.

"Damn, 2,000 yuan a month, is this a promising business?" After hearing Xin Nan's story, Li Tianyuan was shocked and opened his mouth wide.

Having spent the past two days wandering around the antique street with Qin Feng, Li Tianyuan had gained some understanding of the place.

The antique street was nearly a kilometer long and ring-shaped, with shops lining both sides. There were at least a couple of hundred merchants. If each paid 2,000 yuan in protection fees, that would amount to 300,000 to 400,000 yuan a month.

Li Tianyuan, who had thought that Qin Feng's plan to make 200,000 yuan was a big deal, was now almost drooling.

Thinking about his past behavior of extorting money from elementary school students, earning only 20 to 30 yuan a day, Li Tianyuan deeply realized the gap between himself and those people.

"What do you mean by that? Why learn this instead of something good?"

Hearing Li Tianyuan's words, Xin Nan's expression changed, and he said, "You don't look like a good person. Please leave, my shop does not welcome you..."

To be fair, Xin Nan wasn't wrong about Li Tianyuan. He had a full beard and looked around 27 or 28 years old. He had been fighting and extorting money since he was young, and he was indeed not a good person.

Li Tianyuan was also unhappy with Xin Nan's words and shouted, "Hey, what's so good about being a good person? Haven't you heard that good people don't live long, but bad people live for a thousand years? So what if I'm a bad person..."

Children born in the 1970s and early 1980s were greatly influenced by Hong Kong and Taiwan movies, where good people were often portrayed as being bullied.

Therefore, people of Li Tianyuan's age, especially those who were mischievous, liked to label themselves as bad. Calling someone a good person was like an insult, and Li Tianyuan was one of these peculiar individuals.

"Yuanzi, shut up and go stand by the door..."

Qin Feng glared at Li Tianyuan, interrupting his nonsense, and pushed him to the door. He then said to Xin Nan with a bitter smile, "Brother Xin, my friend has watched too many Hong Kong and Taiwan movies. He's not a bad person, don't blame him..."

"He's so old and doesn't have a sense of right and wrong."

Xin Nan shook his head and said, "I think you're a good person. The shop won't last long, so take whatever you want. There's nothing particularly valuable anyway."

"Brother Xin, I don't want anything..." Qin Feng shook his head and put on a curious look, saying, "I'm just curious, who is so powerful that they can make you leave? Why don't you report it to the police?"

"It's the Yuan family. Why didn't they all get shot during the liberation?"

Offending the local gangsters, the once bustling "Wen Bao Zhai" had become quiet. With someone to talk to, Xin Nan spilled the beans about the background of the people involved.

Before the liberation, Beijing had the Tianqiao, Nanjing had the Fuzimiao, and Jin Tian had the "Three Ungoverned Areas," which were playgrounds for underworld figures and hotbeds of crime.

Before the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, the prosperous area of Jin Tian was around Matou, and there were poems from the Qing Dynasty that said, "The bustling area is the Estimation Street, and the markets in the south and north of the palace are also excellent."

The Houjiahou area was densely packed with teahouses, theaters, restaurants, inns, bathhouses, and brothels, making it a popular entertainment spot in Jin Tian, known as the "Golden Pot."

After the invasion by the Eight-Nation Alliance, the prosperity of Dagu River, Houjiahou, and the area north of the city gate declined, while the low-lying area near the current antique street, covering over a hundred acres, flourished.

Over time, this low-lying area formed a market with vendors selling herbal pills and fake medicine, leftover food from restaurants, barbers, puppet shows, and tea stalls.

Gradually, this market grew larger and was called the South Market of Jin Tian, also known as the "Three Ungoverned Areas."

There were two explanations for the name "Three Ungoverned Areas." One was that "unregulated graveyards, fights, and fraud were not managed." The other was that this large low-lying area was south of the Chinese city, northwest of the French and Japanese concessions, and none of the three countries managed the cases in this area, hence the name "Three Ungoverned Areas."

The South Market, though not large, was a place where all kinds of people, including entertainers, were active. It was home to teahouses, theaters, restaurants, inns, clothing stores, confectioneries, and opium dens.

It was also a place where street performers, such as martial arts practitioners, wrestlers, herbal pill sellers, sheep intestine sellers, bean juice vendors, and storytellers, gathered.

As the saying goes, where there are people, there is a江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the underworld or the world of martial arts). In such a bustling and colorful place, it was inevitable that there would be the presence of military police, secret agents, and gangsters.

Among the "Three Ungoverned Areas," the most powerful and notorious figure was Yuan Huaiwen. At the time, it was said that there was Du Yuesheng in the south and Yuan Huaiwen in the north.

Yuan Huaiwen's father, Yuan Laoxian, was a famous gangster. He had some martial arts skills and wielded a special iron shovel, gathering over a dozen brothers and nephews to dominate the Luchuang area.

In the early Republic of China, Yuan Laoxian and his brothers died one after another, and the Yuan family gradually declined. Yuan Huaiwen, who was rough and uneducated, spent his days fighting and wandering in the "Three Ungoverned Areas." Later, he became a disciple of the Green Gang leader Bai Yunsheng.

At that time, Bai Yunsheng was the most powerful figure in the Jin Tian underworld.

Some people in Jin Tian's military, political, commercial, and cultural circles, such as the chamber of commerce president Liu Jingshan during the occupation, the notorious Wang Hai Ming of the Tianqimiao temple in Muzhuang, and the local tyrant Liu Xiaowu of Wuxian, were all disciples of Bai Yunsheng.

In addition to joining the Green Gang under Bai Yunsheng, Yuan Huaiwen also recognized two godfathers in the early 1930s: one was the military commander Xie Yutian under warlord Li Jinglin, and the other was the Chinese detective chief Liu Shouyan in the Japanese concession, which further fueled Yuan Huaiwen's arrogance.

With these connections, Yuan Huaiwen committed countless crimes in Jin Tian, running multiple casinos and trafficking opium, causing countless families to be destroyed. He also colluded with Japanese spies and organized the "Undercover Squad" in Jin Tian.

In the second year after the liberation, the notorious Jin Tian gangster Yuan Huaiwen was sentenced to death in 1950. However, his relatives and henchmen openly held a grand funeral for him, causing a significant uproar.

The Yuan family that Xin Nan mentioned was Yuan Huaiwen's descendants. Thirty years later, Yuan Huaiwen's grandson, Yuan Bingqi, began to cause trouble in Jin Tian again.

Yuan Bingqi was not old, only about forty years old. Since the early 1980s, he had gathered a group of hooligans and used intimidation and violence to establish a foothold in the former "Three Ungoverned Areas," now known as Chongren Palace.

Yuan Bingqi inherited his grandfather's ruthlessness and cunning. On the surface, he ran legitimate businesses, but in secret, he controlled the underground society in Jin Tian and turned it into a tool for making money.

Without mentioning other things, the monthly income from the antique street alone was in the hundreds of thousands. Combined with his monopoly on some logistics and freight businesses, he had already become a billionaire.

Xin Nan originally did not know these things, but some uncles on the antique street, fearing he would be taken advantage of, told him. Now, he was sharing all this information with Qin Feng.

PS: First update. I'm sick, but I woke up at 11:50 AM. How dedicated I am! Please support me with votes and recommendations!