Cheng Shi was about to ask someone to ask, but at this moment, a black car drove quickly by the roadside. This was the best car Cheng Shi had seen in this hour.

Moreover, this was a Ford Model T car. Cheng Shi knew that the driver was certainly not an ordinary person. Ford's Model T car was a model produced in the United States after 1908.

Cars were extremely rare in 1920, and since they traveled across the ocean from the United States to Shanghai, the price was naturally not low.

The price of an ordinary Ford Model T sedan reached 10,000 yuan, while the average annual income of rickshaw drivers in Shanghai in 1920 was only 50 yuan.

Ordinary people have to save up for more than 200 years if they want to buy a car. Therefore, it is simply a daydream for the working-class people in the Republic of China to buy a car!

The car that was driving suddenly stopped dozens of meters away. It turned out that a person fell to the ground in front of the car.

Immediately, the surrounding passers-by stopped the car, which was very majestic in Shanghai, and the nearby crowd immediately surrounded it.

Cheng Shi could already see that the people surrounding them were all in the same group. After all, these people rushed up too fast, and how dare they dare to block cars on Shanghai Beach!

The driver of the car quickly opened the door and got out, speaking in authentic Shanghainese.

"Where did you come from? You didn't even look at whose car it was before you hit it! If your car is damaged, can you afford to pay for it?

This car belongs to Mr. Hartung, the director of the public board of directors. Are you still blocking the road here? Why don't you get out of my way!"

However, it is obvious that these people are well prepared and will not be scared away by just a few words!

One of them, a middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader, was the first to speak: "Hey, you guys hit someone with your car, are you still reasonable? Do you think this is true?!"

Cheng Shi already understood that this matter would not be solved so easily. Since these people knew the identity of the other party, they still dared to continue surrounding the other party's car. They were obviously going for them!

The people around also started to boo, surrounding the car and shouting loudly: "Oh, the person sitting in the car turned out to be Mr. Hartong, the famous real estate boss in Shanghai!"

However, even if this is the French Concession in Shanghai, we cannot say that your car hit our people, and you are still justified!"

A burly young man deliberately shouted to the people around him, but Cheng Shi saw him giving the middle-aged man next to him a questioning look!

After getting a look of confirmation, the young man continued to shout: "Mr. Hartung, I am a big boss in the UK, so naturally I look down on us Chinese. We have bumped into people, but we are still safe in the car!"

Then someone echoed: "Who is Mr. Hartung? He owns Aili Garden, the largest private garden in Shanghai, covering an area of ​​300 acres on Jing'an Temple Road. Naturally, he won't care about low-class people like us!"

When the driver saw this, he was a little troubled, so he had to go back to the car to ask for instructions. After a long time, the driver got out of the car again and said, "Okay, tell me how much compensation you need to pay!"

The leading middle-aged man said: "Oh, it depends on what you said, your family has a big business, you have the final say!"

The driver also said impatiently: "Okay, stop talking nonsense, that's all for today, how much do you want!"

The leading middle-aged man then smiled and said: "Oh, why are you so polite? We are all ordinary people. We dare not offend Mr. Hartung. We don't want much money from Mr. Hartung, so we can barely ask for three thousand silver dollars."

Bar!"

The people around who were really watching the excitement gasped in surprise and were about to say something, but when they looked at the burly gangsters around them, they swallowed the words that came into their mouths!

"Okay, tomorrow you can come to the public affairs office to collect the silver coins. I hope you still dare to come here!"

The driver said angrily. He was also shocked when the other party asked for three thousand silver dollars.

Only then did he realize that the other party was deliberately looking for trouble. However, what he didn't understand was what confidence the other party had to blackmail the directors of the public board of directors in such a big way.

After all, three thousand silver dollars is not a small amount, so the driver had to turn around and get into the car!

Not long after, the car started to reverse violently, and the people around subconsciously moved away from the car and moved far away from the car.

A few unlucky ones didn't avoid it and were knocked to the ground, groaning in pain. The car quickly stopped not far away.

The driver stuck his head out and said to the middle-aged man in front of him who was in a daze: "My master said, you can come here tomorrow to get money!"

A group of gangsters in the crowd at the back realized what they were doing and were about to pounce on them, but unexpectedly, the car started to start again.

The car suddenly lurched forward and backward, and others did not dare to get close. Finally, the car suddenly sprinted, scaring the group of people and immediately dispersed!

Then the car drove away and soon drove into the public administration office!

Cheng Shi was thinking quickly in his mind! At this time, he also had a new idea in his mind, but he didn't know if he could do it!

Then Cheng Shi turned around and walked towards the group of people just now!

The burly young man said to the middle-aged man: "Brother, let's just let him go. I'm afraid it won't be easy for us to explain when we go back!"

The middle-aged man shook his head and said helplessly: "There's nothing we can do about it. I'm a director of the public board of directors. How dare you use force? Afterwards, I'm afraid you won't even know how you died!"

It's really dead, and we have no place to reason. Although we do what others say, they won't help us.

We have no choice, our power is too small and we can't afford to offend both sides. If it weren't for the livelihood of my brothers, I wouldn't mess with this director!"

Listening to what this boss said, Cheng Shi felt that this boss was very good at being a good person! He was also very measured in handling things!

But Cheng Shi then thought about it: "Who can be so simple as someone who can look like a person in Shanghai?!"

Cheng Shi walked up to them at this time and said with a smile: "This big brother is very courageous. I admire you very much!"

Several people who heard Cheng Shi's voice suddenly turned around. The leading middle-aged man stared at Cheng Shi coldly, looking up and down at Cheng Shi, who was 1.81 meters tall.

"Thank you for the compliment! I wonder, who is this little brother?!" Li Shan asked with a smile, but his eyes directed his men to surround Cheng Shi.

Cheng Shi seemed not to notice the people around him, but continued to smile and said: "My little brother, my surname is Cheng Shi!"

Li Shan then asked: "What do you mean you came here?!"

Cheng Shi replied: "It's just that I admire your eldest brother's actions just now and ask for an explanation for our brothers instead of using force, so I want to make friends with you!"

"Hmm! I don't dare to take it seriously. I don't know what my brother does?!" Li Shan naturally did not believe Cheng Shi's words.

Only then did Cheng Shi take a closer look at Xia Lishan. This man was slender and had an extraordinary bearing. He looked to be in his thirties, and he clearly had the temperament of a scholar!

Cheng Shi then replied: "To be honest with you, brother, I'm just running errands in the patrol room. I want to talk to you about something, but it's a little inconvenient here now, isn't it?!"

"Well, you are right. Let's leave here first. You all can go back separately. Xiaomi can just follow me!" Li Shan said to the people around him.

A dozen gangsters looked at each other and then scattered away, except for the sturdy young man who stayed!

Li Shan cupped his fists towards Cheng Shi and said with a smile: "Since little brother has something to say, why don't we go have a cup of tea and chat while drinking!"

ps: From 1920 to 1925, the average price of rice in Shanghai was 9.5 silver yuan per city stone, 1 city stone = 160 city catties, that is, more than 5 cents per catty of rice, and 1 silver dollar can buy 18 catties of rice.

During this period, one dollar was equivalent to about 35-40 yuan today. So Hartong really had 700,000 yuan to buy a piece of land to live on and donated 600,000 yuan to build a road!


Chapter completed!