Chapter 38: Initial Success in Career

The Wang Family Rickshaw Company has recently been suffering from a series of misfortunes, as if it were raining on a house with a leaking roof.

First, twenty-four unlicensed rickshaws were seized, resulting in a loss of approximately 2,000 silver dollars. Second, the head of the firm, Wang Chengyun, was sentenced to three years in prison for allowing his subordinates to beat two rickshaw pullers to death, incurring about 5,000 silver dollars in bribes and legal fees. Then, the Wang firm was targeted by robbers who made off with 5,000 silver dollars in cash. In total, the company had already lost 12,000 silver dollars, nearly a quarter of the family's wealth. To make matters worse, they were recently forced to sell off twenty rickshaws at a loss.

Of course, in the eyes of Mrs. Wang and the others, as long as they could see their "enemy," Chen Guangliang, sent to prison as well, it would be a form of sweet revenge.

At this moment, seeing Detective Gao visit, Mrs. Wang hurriedly asked, "Detective Gao, how did it go?"

"Sigh," Detective Gao let out a long breath before continuing, "I've been duped! Mrs. Wang, I originally intended to lure Chen Guangliang into a trap, but I never expected to fall into one of his instead!"

Li Yan and the others frowned, unable to imagine how one could be tricked in such a situation, yet they were filled with a grim sense of foreboding.

"Detective Gao, what kind of trap did he set for you?"

Detective Gao produced a contract and said, "This Chen Guangliang claimed he wanted to buy this batch of rickshaws and coaxed me into signing this sales agreement. I was careless at the time, and who knew he had set a contractual snare?"

Li Yan snatched the contract and began to read it intently.

"What? Payment in installments of 5,000 silver dollars, 500 silver dollars per month, to be paid off in ten months!"

Everyone was struck with disbelief. If that were the case, why wouldn't they just operate the business themselves? After all, the Wang family was currently short on liquid capital, which was why they had put the twenty rickshaws up for sale.

Detective Gao shook his head with a bitter smile, though inwardly he was overjoyed.

The old steward, after reading the contract, said, "Detective Gao, since Chen Guangliang is framing you, you can just have him arrested or tear up this contract!"

Detective Gao replied, "How can I do that? The International Settlement operates on law. It’s all written here in black and white. You ask me to arrest him—ordinary people might be one thing, but Chen Guangliang is now the spokesman for the Transport Bureau and works with the foreigners. I have no power to arrest him."

Li Yan nearly fainted, thinking that if the head of the house found out, he would likely die of rage in prison. Wasn't this a clear case of "aiding the enemy"?

Unreconciled, she said, "The rickshaws and the licenses belong to our Wang Family Rickshaw Company. Detective Gao, can’t you go and take them back?"

Detective Gao smiled bitterly. "Easier said than done. You signed three powers of attorney. To gain Chen Guangliang’s trust, I gave him one of them. In other words, he now has both the power of attorney and a contract signed by me. How can I go back on my word?"

Li Yan felt a rush of blood to her head, as she was the one who had personally signed and stamped those documents. The room fell into an awkward silence.

***

In the end, it was Detective Gao who, unable to bear the atmosphere and feeling somewhat guilty, took the initiative to say, "In a month, the Yangtze Rickshaw Company will deliver 500 silver dollars, and they will continue to do so every month. If they fail to honor the agreement during this time, come to me, and I will certainly stand up for you. It is 5,000 silver dollars after all; it won't be a total loss. I shall take my leave now!"

"This... safe travels, Detective Gao!"

Watching the detective leave, the old steward said, "I will go find Attorney Lin to see if there is any chance to remedy this."

***

At the base of the Yangtze Rickshaw Company, sixty rickshaw pullers arrived immediately. Many had been poached from the Wang Family Rickshaw Company, so the "captured" rickshaws were quickly put into operation. Of the two hundred pullers who had once worked for the Wangs, 80% had now defected to the Yangtze Rickshaw Company, leaving the Wangs with rickshaws but no one to rent them.

It wasn't that the Yangtze Rickshaw Company's rent was cheaper, but many pullers joined out of admiration, compounded by the negative influence of the Wang firm’s deadly scandal. By now, the Yangtze Rickshaw Company had about 380 pullers, a scale far exceeding that of the original Wang firm. Regarding the rickshaws themselves, the company now managed six projects labeled A through F, totaling 125 vehicles, also surpassing the Wangs.

As the twenty rickshaws filed out of Fanguanong, Chen Guangliang returned to his office. Because of the rapid growth, his three subordinates were no longer enough, so he had decisively called his cousin and uncle to the base to help. He now had five subordinates, all earning 15 silver dollars a month. Chen Guangliang himself took a salary of 25 silver dollars, bringing the total payroll for the six of them to 100 silver dollars. Additionally, as the base was too small, he had expanded it, raising the monthly rent to 15 silver dollars. The operating expenses for the Yangtze Rickshaw Company were now about 150 silver dollars a month, which, against a monthly rental income of nearly 3,800 silver dollars, remained at a very low ratio of 4%.

In his office, Chen Guangliang sorted out the assets of his six projects:
Project A (3 vehicles, 33.33% stake): Operating for 2 months and 23 days, asset value grew from 600 to 820 silver dollars, a profit of 35% excluding the appreciation of the licenses.
Project B (6 vehicles, 29% stake): Operating for 1 month and 23 days, asset value grew from 1,200 to 1,500 silver dollars, a 25% appreciation.
Project C (12 vehicles, 41.6% stake): Operating for one full month, asset value grew from 2,400 to 2,760 silver dollars, an appreciation of about 15%.
Projects D, E, and F were also steadily progressing.

In total, he held an average stake of 39% across 125 rickshaws, equivalent to full ownership of 49 vehicles. It was now difficult to expand further in the rickshaw business, so Chen Guangliang decided that starting next month (September), all six projects would shift to a monthly dividend model, distributing profits between the 3rd and 6th of every month.

Personally, he expected to receive nearly 1,200 silver dollars per month, and after nine months, his share would reach about 1,500 silver dollars as Project F finished paying off its debts. This did not include the "merchandise sales rights" he was reclaiming, which were expected to bring in over 200 silver dollars a month. This would give Chen Guangliang a monthly income of 1,400 silver dollars.

His personal debt currently stood at 8,350 silver dollars; including interest, the total would not exceed 10,000 silver dollars for the year. He could pay it off in seven months. Furthermore, he still had 1,800 silver dollars in cash on hand (he had only personally invested 4,200 into Project E). He was in no rush to pay off those debts, however, as he wanted to expand his business into other industries, such as real estate.

Now that Chen Guangliang had eliminated potential threats and secured his position, he even borrowed the 5,000 silver dollars from Zhou Xinggao (effectively laundering the money for him). With 6,800 silver dollars at his disposal, it was time to purchase some land.

It is worth noting that Chen Guangliang could not yet be considered a "wealthy man"; even in seven months, he would only be "moderately wealthy." His current net worth was roughly 4,800 silver dollars, and in seven months, it would be about 18,000. Of course, this assumed no further growth, but in reality, he would continue to expand.

In Shanghai, this was not a vast sum. A scholar like Lu Xun could earn 7,000 silver dollars a year. Professor Zhang Qihua’s annual income was three or four thousand, excluding his publication fees. Renowned doctors and lawyers conservatively earned no less than 5,000 silver dollars annually. Even a top-tier textile worker could earn 240 silver dollars a year, totaling tens of thousands over a lifetime. Thus, Chen Guangliang was still just an ordinary person on the Shanghai Bund. By the purchasing power of later generations, he could only afford to buy two decent apartments.

"Work hard to make money."

This thought quickly took root in Chen Guangliang’s mind. In these chaotic times, money represented "risk resilience." If the warlords came to squeeze him, he could withstand it; if he wanted to support the war effort, he would have the funds; and most importantly, when the time came to flee, he would have enough to take with him.