Lu Ming met this big shot in an extremely dilapidated apartment building.
Gao Zhaoqing, a member of the Beiguan Municipal Administration Committee and one of the seven giants of Beiguan.
He was very old, his thin and skinny body wrapped in a patched cloth robe. He was lying on a recliner with a cane beside him. He kept his eyes closed and spoke unclearly, as if there was phlegm in his words.
Sitting next to the recliner was a pretty woman in a dark blue cheongsam, who would pat his chest to help him breathe more easily from time to time and also served as his translator.
Meng Dezhu called the woman "Jiu Sao" and treated her with great respect.
Even at a small gathering in the circle, Lu Ming vaguely heard some conversations and knew that Meng Dezhui belonged to the "Qing faction". He also knew Gao Zhaoqing. However, they never talked about the affairs of this old man Qing, and they were very secretive about it. The same was true for the other six giants, as if they were afraid that there were ears on the other side of the wall and what they said would reach their ears.
But I didn't expect that the place where Mr. Qing lived was so simple. The dilapidated four-story apartment building must be forty or fifty years old. The corridor was extremely dark and there were no corridor lights at all. It seemed that this apartment building should be the old residential building for the residents of the nearby national primary school.
The helmsman of the Qing faction was from a very poor family and had no decent furniture at all. It was hot and humid today, and even the fan was in tatters, with a blade having a gap, and the wind that was blown out was hot.
I was just in a big air-conditioned villa, and suddenly I changed to such an environment, and I felt a little uncomfortable.
"Uncle San said that your patents are doing well. By the end of the year, the total revenue will probably be over a million, right?"
After Gao Zhao cleared his throat and spoke incoherently, Sister Jiu translated. The look in her eyes when she looked at Lu Ming suddenly lit up with surprise. She had never expected that this young man was so capable.
Meng Dezhu, who was sitting next to him with a very respectful attitude, also looked at Lu Ming in shock.
Lu Ming's heart trembled slightly, although he knew that if such a big boss wanted to check the details of his company, he would naturally know everything.
In recent times, several automobile companies have signed patent licensing agreements with Huaxia Technology.
These account transactions were almost transparent to this old man in the Qing Dynasty.
After all, he had no roots or foundation in the East China Sea and had started from scratch. At this stage, it was impossible for him to hide his property from being discovered by people like Old Man Qing.
However, he did have to find a way to hide the cards on his table. Anyone whose cards were seen through at a glance could only be a pawn in any chess or card game.
Old Man Qing muttered a few more words.
Sister-in-law Jiu said, "Uncle San said that you can open an account at Baoyin Bank in the future. It will be safer to keep your account there!"
Lu Ming nodded: "Thank you, Mr. Qing! I understand!" Baoyin Bank is a private bank, unlike the Imperial Bank, where anyone can check its accounts. And it is obvious that if he puts his main financial transactions into Baoyin Bank, it will be equivalent to shielding other people from investigating him, and he will be completely defenseless against the old man Qing.
Actually, having said that, among people of Mr. Qing's level today, there should not be many who can really pay attention to me and check my basic conditions. I don't know why Mr. Qing is interested in me.
Old Man Qing said something else, and Sister Nine said, "Uncle San said that Wenhua praised you very much, and Uncle San thinks you are not bad!"
Wenhua? It took Lu Ming a while to realize that it was Li Guan. There were probably not many people in the world who could call Li Guan by his nickname. After all, one had to be of high status and of the right age.
Then my heart sank. From the first sentence of Old Man Qing, it seemed that he knew exactly what I was thinking, and then he explained it to me.
Although these powerful figures who can manage a city are not ordinary people, there are probably not many who are as terrifying as Old Man Qing.
Elder Qing said a few more words, and Sister Nine continued, "Uncle San also said that the confidentiality principle of the court agreement is very good, and the lawsuit with Liu Hanming is also very good."
Lu Ming smiled bitterly in his heart and could only listen.
"The evidence of the Japanese ghost case was also found by you? Did you work with Mr. Wen to find the bloodstain?"
As Sister Jiu spoke, there was a gleam in her eyes. Although she didn't know who "Mr. Wen" was, she thought that since he was called "Mr. Wen" by Mr. Qing, he must have a very high status.
"It was just luck!" Lu Ming smiled and gave up resisting. Never mind. If a person like him wants to find out his background, he will find out everything he knows.
"You are very humble, young man. That's good." Although Old Man Qing's voice was weak, Lu Ming could understand it.
Jiu Sao was also stunned. The old man seldom spoke clearly, and it took a lot of effort, but it was obvious that he wanted to say this in person, and it encouraged the young man to hear this.
"Thank you for the compliment!" Lu Ming leaned forward slightly and spoke directly to the old man in a low voice. This was also the first time he had a direct conversation with an old man.
The old man was silent for a long time, then he spoke a few words in a silent voice.
Sister-in-law Jiu hesitated and whispered, "Uncle San said that he is old and he can only step down when the parliamentary term changes this time."
Next to him, Meng Dezhu had a frustrated expression on his face.
Lu Ming noticed it and knew why he was depressed.
When I met him for the first time, he was hoping that Liu Laocai, Wen Liangyu and others would provide more funds so that he could join the seven-member management committee.
I think it is because of this change of leadership that the leader of the Qing faction is going to step down from the Seven-Man Hall, so the Qing faction naturally hopes that someone will take over.
This made Meng Dezhui have extravagant hopes that he shouldn't have, but both Liu Laocai and Wen Liangyu knew that in terms of seniority and reputation, he would never be able to enter the Hall of Seven, so although they both promised, they were all lip service.
The Qing faction can be seen as a political alliance. Among the 57 members of the Beiguan Council, 11 belong to the Qing faction.
Its main body is the Beiguan branch of the Donghai Grand Ecumenical Party. Among the 11 members, including Mr. Qing, 7 are members of the Grand Ecumenical Party. The remaining 4 are independent members without party affiliation, but their political views are affiliated with the Qing faction. There are also leaders of small parties such as Meng Dezhu. For example, Meng Dezhu leads a small party called "Educators League", which mainly recruits teachers as members. It is considered an allied small party of the Grand Ecumenical Party.
Lu Ming was thinking about it randomly. The old man said a few more words. Sister-in-law Jiu said, "Uncle San wants to ask you, do you know what a grand duke is?"
Lu Ming was stunned. In fact, he had only heard of the names of these parties and factions in this world, and had not studied them seriously. Now he thought about it and said, "I think that being a dutiful party means seeking welfare for the people of the world, breaking down ethnic barriers, and working wholeheartedly for the people of the world, serving the citizens! Serve the people! To achieve world peace!" These were the things he had been taught since he was a child, and he could say them out loud.
The word "people" here, used by Lu Ming, is a combination of words that is more intimate than the objective term "citizen", and more equal than the common people. Generally speaking, it has the same meaning as "people" in the Chinese vocabulary of previous lives.
But perhaps, this is the first time I have created this word in this world.
The old man seemed to be stunned for a moment, and suddenly patted the recliner. Sister-in-law Jiu was startled and hurriedly helped him to stand up, whispering: "Uncle San, why do you want to get up? Just lie down!"
Old Man Qing opened his eyes and looked at Lu Ming. For a moment, his cloudy eyes became so deep that people dared not look at him directly.
"People..., this word is well used! Good... cough..."
Just as he was about to say something, Old Man Qing suddenly started coughing.
"Uncle San, don't get excited!" Sister Jiu was startled again and hurried to persuade him, gently patting the old man on the back and glaring at Lu Ming with an angry look.
Meng Dezhu was already stunned. Even if Qing Lao called the other ten councillors to a meeting, it was usually his sister-in-law who expressed his wishes on his behalf. How could he be so excited to sit up and talk to others
Looking at Lu Ming, Old Man Qing nodded slowly, and finally sighed, as if he was tired. With the help of Sister Jiu, he slowly lay back down. But perhaps he was too excited, he suddenly turned over and his breathing became rapid.
Sister-in-law Jiu quickly picked up the porcelain bowl beside her, which contained some medicine, and fed him a small sip with a spoon.
After a long while, Old Man Qing's breathing gradually calmed down and he uttered a few words with a sullen look in his mouth.
Sister-in-law Jiu was stunned for a moment, and said to Lu Ming: "Third Uncle said, Lawyer Lu, if I, the old man, invite you to join the Grand Public Party, would you be willing to let me be your introducer?"
Lu Ming was also stunned, and he could feel that perhaps, what Old Man Qing said now was somewhat different from his original intention of seeing him.
After a brief thought, Lu Ming said, "Mr. Qing, to be honest, I don't know anything about your party, so I still need to think about it, because I haven't seriously thought about entering politics yet."
Jiusao and Meng Dezhu were both stunned. It was such an honor for Qing Lao to be the guide for the Grand Duke Party. Others couldn't even ask for it, but this guy was unwilling to agree to it.
Meng Dezhuo kept winking at Lu Ming, but Lu Ming pretended not to see.
"Good, good, young man, you are steady and promising!" Old Qing laughed twice, and gradually, he fell silent, as if he fell asleep.
"I'm sorry, you two. Master Qing has fallen asleep. I'll take you there!" Sister Jiu stood up.
Lu Ming and Meng Dezhu also stood up.
At the corner of the narrow and dark stairs, seeing Meng Dezhui walking in front without paying attention, Lu Ming opened his briefcase, looked at the checkbook, and then looked at the several red bills beside it. He originally wanted to take the checkbook, but after thinking about it, he took out a handful of red bills, about four or five, and all the pocket money he had with him, grabbed them all and stuffed them into Jiu Sao's hand, which was a total of about four or five hundred yuan.
Sister Jiu was stunned for a moment, but she glanced at Meng Dezhui who was walking in front, stretched out her hand, and naturally put the money into her pocket.
Lu Ming couldn't help but sigh in his heart and slowly went downstairs.
Sister Jiu walked them to the door of the building and waved goodbye. Her attitude towards Lu Ming and Meng Dezhu was no different.