Siheyuan: Cooking journey

"Well..."

Liu Bo touched his nose, straightened his back, and said solemnly: "Brother Wang, our Shanhai Gang is a harmonious big family. We have been working hard to protect our compatriots and safeguard their interests. How could we collect protection fees from our compatriots? However, so many brothers and sisters in our gang also need to eat and wear clothes, so we set up a Shanhai Consortium to do business. This consortium is a membership-based one, and joining is completely voluntary."

“Once you join, you can share all kinds of information and help each other in business.”

"You know, in the business world, a little news can make someone rich overnight. Because of this, many people voluntarily become a member of our consortium and become our business compatriots. If we make money this month, we will share a little dividend with everyone; if we lose money, we won't take a cent."

Membership fees are actually protection fees.

Obviously, the Shanhai Gang is more ruthless than imagined, and their high-sounding way of distributing dividends is really clever.

He Yuzhu sighed, suppressed the urge to slap Liu Bo unconscious, and asked, "Are there many partners like you in Japan?"

"It's okay."

Liu Bo answered vaguely, glanced at him, and said hesitantly, "Brother Wang, didn't you ask me how to make money before?"

"Now that we've come to this, I won't hide it anymore."

"There is a rule in our Shanhai Gang that whoever can bring in a new member can get a share of the dividends from this member. One member is not a big deal, but if you can bring in ten or so, even if they can't become official members, you can live a comfortable life in Japan with these commissions."

"But unfortunately, almost everyone in the big cities who is willing to add it has already added it."

"But there are still opportunities. In some remote small cities or villages, there are still many compatriots to fight for. If we can attract them all into our warm collective, not only can we make some money, but we can also let them feel the support of the Shanhai Gang and protect them from being bullied."

"This kind of mutually beneficial and win-win situation is worth working towards. Having said that, although fewer and fewer people are leaving China, it is not completely absent. Many people quietly leave with their families, first go to Hong Kong and then sneak into Japan. Facing these newly arrived, lonely and helpless brothers and sisters, we should take better care of them. We should also help those coming from Southeast Asia."

"All these people can become free members of our consortium and receive free job opportunities, accommodation, etc. from us..."

A hint of coldness flashed across He Yuzhu's eyes, and he slowly exhaled, trying to control his emotions.

He understood that behind this seemingly simple initiation into the sect there might be a more horrifying truth.

But he neither wanted to act as a law enforcer nor planned to investigate further.

At this moment, I just want to know how many key figures are hiding behind the scenes, and I will eliminate them all if there is a chance in the future.

"Brother Wang, let's go. I'll take you around Kabukicho. I'm very familiar with that place. I'll find someone nice to accompany you tonight."

After introducing the basic situation of Shanhaihui, Liu Bo did not forget his own plans and enthusiastically invited the other party to go out and have fun together.

"No need. I don't really like that kind of occasion. Please do as you please. I'll go back and rest. If you need anything, please come to the simple hotel to find me."

He Yuzhu shook his head to refuse.

Liu Bo looked at him with some surprise and said with a smile: "Tonight was supposed to be a special celebration for you. If you don't go, what's the point? Actually, I don't really like going there myself."

"That place is indeed nice and lively, but it is basically only open to Japanese people. Foreigners have to work hard to say nice things if they want to go there. And to be honest, there is nothing particularly fun in it..."

"How about this, I'll arrange something special for you in a few days. When we become successful in the future, the most prestigious thing for us is to join the Takarazuka Revue!"

"Speaking of which, I want to ask you something, Brother Wang. You've been in Japan for so long, you must have heard of the Takarazuka Theater, right?"

A complex emotion flashed in He Yuzhu's eyes.

From this sentence, he had guessed that the person who informed him was definitely the owner of the hotel.

Because he only told that person that his ancestors had immigrated here.

As for that famous troupe——

Of course He Yuzhu had also heard of it.

It is one of the top art performance groups in the whole of Japan.

The ticket prices are shockingly high, and usually only rich people are willing to pay for the tickets to watch a play.

Before, Mitsuki Hisayama had invited me to watch their performance. It was said that all the actors were unmarried women and had to remain single until they retired. What was even more special was that all the male characters in the play were played by women.

He Yuzhu felt it was quite new. Although he remembered the incident, he didn't know much about it. He shook his head and said, "It's just a place where operas are performed. I heard that the ticket prices are very expensive. If you want to book the whole place, you have to spend a lot of money."

Liu Bo laughed and sighed, "Brother Wang, I think you really don't know the ins and outs of this. What I just said about booking the entire theater of the Takarazuka Theater is just a dream."

"If we buy all the tickets, won't that be considered booking the entire theater? We have the money, so why are we afraid we can't do it?" He Yuzhu looked puzzled.

Liu Bo smiled mysteriously, "Brother Wang, you may not understand, this is not as simple as just spending money to buy tickets." He said with a tacit understanding, "In fact, the story behind the Takarazuka Theater is more exciting."

"It was initially advertised as a singing and dancing performance group. But what is it actually? It is actually used to serve certain important people. The members of this group are all women from beginning to end, and the teacher is no exception. It sounds like an ancient harem, right?"

Liu Bo paused and continued, "To be honest, it is a bit like the harem. The only difference is that it mainly focuses on talent shows. The women who join here are usually the best girls from aristocratic or wealthy families. People from ordinary families occasionally have the opportunity to try their luck, provided that they are extremely beautiful and impeccable. Once you enter this industry, it means you can rise to prominence. For young girls from Japan, this is a good place to change their destiny."

"Entering there means having the opportunity to marry into a prominent family. In their eyes, the entertainment industry is a very dirty place, and celebrities are basically equivalent to commodities for sale or objects to be enjoyed for free. Marrying such people is simply destroying your future." Liu Bo continued to explain, "But it's different in Takarazuka. Those prominent families will even proudly say that their daughters-in-law or sons-in-law are from here."

He Yuzhu nodded in agreement, thinking that it was indeed difficult to handle. He would soon be leaving for the mining life in Kazhou, so this was just a distant dream for him.

Seeing that He Yuzhu didn't react for a long time, Liu Bo turned around and looked at the two brothers without saying anything, so he had to smooth things over: "Oh, don't go too far. By the way, Brother Wang, you are now a member of our Shanhai Gang! As I said before, even the peripheral members of our gang are treated very well. The most basic accommodation problem can definitely be solved!"

After that, he led everyone towards their base. He Yuzhu thought that since they had a place to stay, there was no reason to refuse, so he went with them.

The residence Liu Bo mentioned was in the slums, about ten minutes' walk from the labor office. It was a house that looked quite old.

The house was a two-story building, certainly not as good as those mansions with beautiful gardens, but in this part of the slum, it was better than the small shacks built with various materials.

The two younger brothers, Daniu and Liu He, live on the first floor.

Liu Bo found a room on the second floor for He Yuzhu.

This room is very large and spacious, the air is dry and not damp, it has all the necessary water, electricity and gas supplies, and all the conditions are very good, far better than an average cheap hotel.

This slum has existed for a long time, and the government used to encourage residents to build their own houses here.

But as living conditions deteriorated and after several protests, those who were able to build more stable homes were relocated.

Many of the vacant houses are no longer occupied.

That's how the house they live in now came about.

Liu Bo led the way and introduced the history of the house.

He Yuzhu looked around while listening, and was generally satisfied. Then he found an excuse to return to the simple hotel to get some luggage. When he returned to the hotel, he found that something had happened there: for some reason, the gray-haired Japanese person in charge fell to the ground with his hands and feet twitching.

As a person with a strong sense of justice and responsibility, He Yuzhu would not stand idly by, so he picked up his phone and wanted to call the emergency hotline. But when he was dialing,

He sighed helplessly and finally put the phone down.

It’s not that I don’t want to call for help, I just don’t know which number to dial.

In just a few seconds, the situation of the Japanese leader became worse. Seeing this made He Yuzhu feel even more regretful.

What a shame! I wish I had written down these important emergency numbers.

after come back,

He Yuzhu specifically told Liu Bo about this experience.

After hearing this, Liu Bo's face turned ugly and he looked very dissatisfied.

It seemed that he also felt very sorry for what happened to the hotel manager.

In the following days,

He Yuzhu gradually deepened his understanding of how the Shanhai Gang operated.

Liu Bo's team is responsible for affairs in the Nippori area.

The Nippori area is adjacent to the southern civilian area, and its administrative level is roughly equivalent to that of a township in the Red Country.

Although it is not as prosperous as the center of Tokyo,

But for people in the slums, this place is a world of difference.

There are many so-called friends in this area, and Liu Bo goes to them once a month to collect profit shares.

In addition to handling these official tasks, most of the rest of the time is spent walking around the streets and recruiting people to join the gang.