The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 122 Archives Fire

Late at night, on Mission Street in San Francisco, a horse-drawn carriage arrived in front of a small wooden building. This was the San Francisco Archives.

Rong Jiacai jumped off the carriage with a few people, looked up at the archives, then strode to the door and knocked.

A moment later, a man in his fifties, reeking of alcohol, with a red nose and messy hair, opened the door holding a kerosene lamp.

He first let Rong Jiacai and others in, then looked outside for a few times before closing the door.

After turning around, he looked at Rong Jiacai and others, and rubbed his hands nervously.

A smile appeared on his face: "Money!"

"You know nothing tonight!" Rong Jiacai directly threw a stack of 10-dollar bills to him, a total of dollars.

Lin Yuchang translated beside him.

"Don't worry, I fell asleep after drinking and didn't know anything. Then I was awakened by the fire." The man said quickly.

"Where is the household registration file?" Rong Jiacai asked.

"The whole second floor is full of it!" The other party held the stack of money tightly with greed in his eyes, thinking about how to get more from these Chinese guys.

Rong Jiacai winked at the men beside him, and the two men suddenly took out a rope and tied it around the man's neck.

The man struggled hard, but he couldn't get free, and all his strength gradually left him.

"This matter must not be leaked, let alone let anyone know that it is related to us Chinese."

"This guy is an alcoholic. He might let the cat out of the bag one day and tell the truth!" Rong Jiacai picked up the money on the ground and clapped it in his hands.

He had never thought that there would be a day when he would kill someone so calmly, but after experiencing it so many times, it seemed to become a matter of course.

Rong Jiacai and others went up the stairs and took a look. They saw that every room was filled with densely packed shelves filled with various archival materials.

Lin Yuchang randomly picked out two copies and took a look at them, then nodded to Rong Jiacai with a complicated look.

"Scholar, why do we have to burn down the San Francisco Archives?" Lin Yuchang couldn't help but ask. He was a little scared now.

“How many people in Chinatown can obtain American citizenship now?”

"If Brother Wei asked them to become naturalized citizens... maybe one third? Or a little less." Lin Yuchang said uncertainly.

Even if most people meet the requirements for naturalization, the immigration administration will find excuses to block their application.

"As long as the fire is set, everyone's files will be gone!"

"We are all Americans!" Rong Jiacai felt a little impressed by the boldness of this plan. He was shocked when he found out about it.

He knew that Chen Zhengwei wanted all Chinese to become citizens, but he didn't expect him to use this method.

Then he shrugged and said, "Come to think of it, those new immigrants should thank us!"

If this fire starts, all new immigrants in San Francisco will benefit.

"Drag the body over here!" Rong Jiacai had the body dragged to the archive room on the second floor, and then smashed the body's head on a sharp protrusion on a shelf.

When the fire is set, even if the body is still there, nothing will be visible.

After investigation, it was believed that he accidentally fell down after getting drunk and hit his head and died.

The kerosene lamp was knocked over, causing a fire.

"You go down first!" Rong Jiacai ordered, holding the oil lamp and looking at the shelves inside for a while, then throwing the kerosene lamp onto a shelf.

boom!
The files on the shelf instantly ignited and began to spread rapidly.

Rong Jiacai took a quick look and left quickly. If a fire broke out in this kind of wooden building, it would quickly spread to other rooms.

Especially since the entire archive is filled with flammable paper.

By then it won’t even be in time to put out the fire!
After leaving the archives, Rong Jiacai closed the door and the group left in a carriage.

Soon, the entire archives turned into a ball of flames, the flames turned the sky red and could be seen two kilometers away.

"Uncle Wei, what are you looking at?" Wan Yun got off the bed, hugged Chen Zhengwei's waist from behind, and put her face on Chen Zhengwei's back.

"Such a big fire? We don't even know where the fire is!" Chen Zhengwei said with a smile while standing in front of the window, then shrugged.

"It's autumn now, the weather is dry, it's normal to catch fire!"

Looking at the big fire in the distance, Chen Zhengwei was very interested. He turned around and picked up Wanyun again. The girl was soft all over, as if she had no bones, and gave people the feeling that she could be rolled into a ball.

"Ah!" Wan Yun cried out softly and was picked up by Chen Zhengwei.

Not long after, a sound that sounded like crying and complaining was heard in the room again.

On the first floor, Wang A-mei never thought that she would be able to return to this house one day, except that the owner of the house had changed. It was also the first time she discovered that the sound insulation of this house was so poor.

The noise coming from upstairs made her sleep uneasy.

……

The next day, it was almost noon when Chen Zhengwei started to yawn, and Wanyun was still lying limp on the bed.

Her physical strength is far inferior to Chen Zhengwei's.

Every time I feel like I have no strength left and can’t even move my fingers.

Especially last night, Chen Zhengwei was in particularly high spirits.

Chen Zhengwei smoked a cigarette and didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he always felt his waist a little sore!

Then he changed his clothes and went downstairs.

"Mr. Chen!" Wang A'mei was cleaning the house. When she saw Chen Zhengwei, she quickly lowered her head and said.

"Mind your own business! Didn't they tell you yesterday? You will live here from now on and you don't have to pay rent. Also, you don't have to do the laundry. You just have to cook!"

"Thank you Mr. Chen for your care!" Wang A-mei said quickly.

Chen Zhengwei casually said "hmm" and left. When he went out, he saw Rong Jiacai sitting on the steps.

Not far away, there were a few thugs squatting on the side of the road throwing dice, and there were a few banknotes and coins on the ground.

"Damn, you like gambling so much? Do you want me to let you work in a casino?" Chen Zhengwei cursed angrily.

"Weige!"

"Brother Wei! We are just playing small games, just for fun." The thugs quickly put the money away.

"Why are you here waiting?" Chen Zhengwei said, hooking his arm around Rong Jiacai's shoulder.

"Something big happened in San Francisco last night. I heard that Brother Wei came here last night, so I came here to wait!" Rong Jiacai said.

"The San Francisco Archives caught fire last night and all the files were burned!"

"Is it so serious? Don't we all have to apply for new files?" Chen Zhengwei raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, we have to do it all over again!" Rong Jiacai nodded.

"Damn, this is such a fucking trouble!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.

"Yes! It is very troublesome!" Rong Jiacai also smiled.

"Let's go have morning tea first and then meet Michael later!" Chen Zhengwei said after thinking for a while.

Tens of thousands of Chinese people need to get their files processed, and they have to have connections with the court to do so.

Naturalization here is done through the court system, not the immigration bureau or city government.

……

"Where was the fire last night? I saw it at home!" Lin Yuanshan casually asked his entourage.

"I heard it's the San Francisco Archives!" the attendant beside him whispered.

"Oh...where?" Lin Yuanshan nodded first, then he was stunned and asked with wide eyes.

"It's the San Francisco Archives..." The follower looked at his boss in surprise, wondering why the boss reacted so strongly.

"Hiss..." Lin Yuanshan took a breath of cold air.

He remembered that Chen Zhengwei had said before that everyone should be naturalized.

However, it was not easy for Chinese workers to become naturalized citizens, especially since at least half of them did not meet the naturalization requirements.

Although many people didn't say it out loud, they might have been feeling funny in their hearts.

But no one expected that the San Francisco Archives would be burned down just two days later.

In other words, the files of everyone in San Francisco are gone!

Next, the city of San Francisco will definitely have to re-issue identities for everyone. It is conceivable how many people will take advantage of the situation by then.

Especially those new immigrants!

Combining what Chen Zhengwei said that day, his tone and demeanor, as well as his usual style of doing things, Lin Yuanshan felt that he was most likely the one who did it.

　After some modifications, it was released after being reviewed and approved at around 3 a.m.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)