After making an agreement with Tang Zhiyu, Li Wei first asked Huang Meiren to make a reservation at the hotel, then put aside his guesses about what Uncle Tang Xin had done and devoted himself to the work of the trading house.
As the Sino-Japanese War gradually progressed, the Japanese blocked the areas ruled by the Kuomintang more and more tightly. Although some people with the ability and connections still opened up some connections and started smuggling.
However, the amount of smuggling is very, very small. Compared with Li Wei's smuggling channel, it is completely insignificant. Therefore, the smuggling channel in Li Wei's hands has become more and more important.
Moreover, as soon as the smuggled items are transported to the destination, they can basically be regarded as picking up money. In addition, with Dai Li operating as the man behind the scenes, Levi's business is becoming more and more prosperous.
Of course, for now, their smuggling channel is within the area controlled by the Japanese. Kondo Yoshinori will take the initiative to open up channels at various points to ensure a smooth journey within the area controlled by the Japanese.
In the areas governed by the Kuomintang, it was Li Wei (Dai Li) who took action to eliminate all threatening people or objects, thus allowing this smuggling channel to operate unhindered.
With the combination of these two things, it would really be unreasonable for their business to fail.
In addition, Li Wei not only smuggled items from the Kuomintang-controlled areas from Shanghai to the Kuomintang-controlled areas, but also teamed up with Dai Li to smuggle some items that the Japanese urgently needed to Shanghai, such as hog bristles, tung oil and other items.
In this way, both the Kuomintang and the Japanese actually got what they wanted through this channel, and at the same time, the people who handled it also benefited greatly from these things.
In this way, both the Kuomintang-controlled areas and the Japanese unknowingly formed an interest circle. In such an interest circle, if there are other people who are jealous and want to cause trouble, there is no need for Levi and Kondo.
If Yoshinori stood up, the group of beneficiaries from Japan and the Kuomintang would be able to eat up such ambitious people alive.
After all, in this world, blocking someone's way of making money is like killing your parents!
This rule applies to both Chinese and Japanese.
This is also an important reason why although Levi has been causing trouble in Shanghai recently, which has annoyed the Japanese garrison and even started arresting people with great fanfare, his business has not been affected in any way.
To put it bluntly, the greater the risk, the greater the benefit. If Levi really stopped smuggling, those Japanese officers might not feel comfortable!
After all, if these things pass through the checkpoint they guard once, the money they receive can be considered as the income they earned from serving as soldiers for several years.
In the face of huge interests, who is the Emperor of Japan? Can the Emperor of Japan allow them to eat steak, drink red wine, and live a life of debauchery?
It is because of these reasons that Li Wei became more and more concerned about smuggling.
After all these things were settled, Li Wei did not delay, and he and Fang Xueming arrived at the hotel they had already booked.
After all, as a person hosting a banquet, you must arrive a little earlier than the guests.
Of course, not long after Li Wei arrived, Uncle Tang Xin and Tang Zhiyu also arrived.
But this time, Uncle Tang Xin's attitude towards Li Wei became much better, and he immediately called him brother and sister.
After all, in Uncle Tang Xin's eyes, his "brother" and he are very similar, and speaking of it, his "brother" has a deeper relationship with the Japanese than he does.
Therefore, the relationship with Levi has naturally deepened a lot.
"Brother-in-law, do you and your sister have something to do when you come to Shanghai this time?" When everyone started chatting, Li Wei also started to test Uncle Tang Xin at the right time.
As a younger brother, it is normal for him to be appropriately concerned about his sister and brother-in-law's affairs, and it will not arouse suspicion.
Of course, after Li Wei asked this question, he looked at Uncle Tang Xin to see what his reaction was.
After Li Wei's words fell, Tang Zhiyu and Uncle Tang Xin did not answer immediately, but looked at each other lightly, and then Uncle Tang Xin answered Li Wei softly: "Isn't it that I like to study some antique calligraphy and paintings recently?
But because of my clumsy eyesight, I was deceived a lot, so I tried every means to improve my appreciation level."
"You also know that with the emergence of the Sino-Japanese War, due to the independence of the Shanghai Concession, many well-known antique masters came to live in the Concession, so your sister and I came to Shanghai just to visit these famous masters.
Learn from them and improve my appreciation ability." Uncle Tang Xin said to Li Wei with a smile.
To be honest, if Li Wei hadn't sent Yang Zhenggang to secretly investigate Tang Xinshu's whereabouts, he might have really believed what Tang Xinshu said.
But now, how could Li Wei believe Uncle Tang Xin's lies?
Of course, these words may also be used by him to fool other people to conceal his true purpose.
"Oh, that's it! Brother, I don't know anything about antiques, but our country has a long history, and there are indeed many good things. It's just that people in the world have vulgar eyes and can't tell the truth from the fake, and my brother-in-law
With this attitude towards learning, he is already much higher than ordinary people, and this is worth learning from me, brother." Li Wei also complimented Uncle Tang Xin while doing Tai Chi.
Since Uncle Tang Xin didn't want to talk, he couldn't continue to ask questions, otherwise it would be self-defeating. Besides, the reason why Li Wei did this was that he didn't actually want to know the inside story from Uncle Tang Xin, he just wanted to see Uncle Tang Xin's reaction.
That’s all.
Judging from what he had just communicated with Tang Xinshu, Li Wei was even more certain of one thing. The purpose of Tang Xinshu and Tang Zhiyu's trip was not small.
As for why Li Wei had such a guess, of course it was not a conclusion drawn from Uncle Tang Xin's words, but when Uncle Tang Xin was speaking, although Li Wei said he was looking at Uncle Tang Xin, the corner of his eyes was focused on
With Tang Zhiyu.
Therefore, as Uncle Tang Xin's words fell, Tang Zhiyu's expression did seem a bit sad. It was obvious that she knew that Uncle Tang Xin's remarks were just to coax people, that's why she was like this.
"There, there, antiques are just a side street. There is nothing comparable to your career, brother. We all saw it at the Navy Club that night. Brother, you are very popular with Japanese officers. As a brother, you may have to rely on brothers in the future.
You're taking care of me!" Uncle Tang Xin also waved his hand and said.
Li Wei watched him change the topic and understood that Uncle Tang Xin didn't want to continue talking about this aspect. It seemed that his guess was correct.