When Master Song announced that the "Life Gate" would be canceled, people immediately began bringing out tools and welding shut the "Life Gate" behind the Chamber of Commerce building.
The "Life Gate" had been opened by Song Tianyou on the day the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce was established. Now, he was personally announcing its cancellation.
As the actual master of Chinatown, he clearly possessed that authority.
The crowd gathered before the Chamber of Commerce looked increasingly grim. Although the "Life Gate" had changed drastically from what it once was in recent times, its existence was still the quickest way for some people to solve their difficulties.
For example, even if borrowing money through the "Life Gate" now involved interest, it was still far lower than the interest charged by private lenders outside. The requirements were also not as high as those of banks.
Things like that meant the "Life Gate" had to stop helping people free of charge, but at least everything remained within the residents' ability to bear. Thus, although many people had seen the changes to the "Life Gate," they had silently accepted them.
In particular, the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce was Bai Shuitang. He was related to the Song Family by marriage, and in the eyes of Chinatown's residents, he practically represented the Song Family.
It could be said that Bai Shuitang was actually very clever. He had figured out exactly where these people's limits lay, gradually changing the nature of the "Life Gate" while successfully plotting under the Song Family's nose.
There were many reasons for Bai Shuitang's success. On one hand, the Song Family's focus had never originally been on Chinatown—Chinatown had merely been created on a whim by Song Tianyou back then.
On the other hand, after Song Ying took over the