A few days ago, the newspapers published news about plans to manage the waterways. The municipal government intended to coordinate the planning of the docks, and the news had everyone on edge. Everyone knew that once Puxi City got involved in a business, ordinary people would have no chance of getting into it.
Xu Yi followed the docks until he reached a tin-hulled boat, where he saw two sailors playing cards.
Xu Yi exchanged the secret code with them, and they let him pass. He climbed the gangplank and entered the cabin.
At a glance, he saw that the wooden racks lining the cabin walls were packed with guns beneath the dim yellow lights.
There was everything from expensive Mauser pistols to Hanyang Rifles retired from the battlefield, as well as crude, homemade single-shot pistols.
A thin man in a black suit sat in the middle of the cabin beneath the light. He wore small round glasses and was leafing through a book in a foreign language.
Another man was so burly you could barely see his neck. He leaned against a cargo hold support nearby, rubbing a rifle down with waxed cloth.
When Xu Yi came in, the seated man stood and greeted him.
"Sir, what kind of goods are you looking for?"
He hadn't exchanged the secret code, which meant he wasn't one of the underworld.
Xu Yi had a general idea: most of the guns in this cabin were probably "small-time goods" from Stinky Harbor or the West.
Since the other man wasn't part of the underworld, Xu Yi didn't clasp his hands in a gangland greeting. He simply said,
"I want a pistol."
The man in the black suit adjusted his glasses, went to a nearby rack, and picked up a black pistol about the size of his palm.
"Browning 1900, the Gun Brand Pistol. It holds seven 7.65×17 mm rounds, with an effective range of thirty meters."
Xu Yi fell silent for a moment, then asked slowly,
"Gun Brand Pistol? What's that?"
The man in the black suit smiled and showed him the small pistol-shaped emblem on the side of the gun.
"The gun brand!"
He gently pulled back the pistol's slide. A muted click sounded, and the gun was now loaded.
"Semiautomatic! Just pull it back once to load it. Simple as can be!"
Every trade had its own slang. That made perfect sense.
Xu Yi asked,
"How much for this gun?"
The man in the black suit replied,
"Thirty silver dollars for the gun. A box of bullets costs two silver dollars, fifty rounds per box."
That worked out to six copper coins per round.
In other words, one bullet cost as much as a bowl of mutton soup with extra meat!
Xu Yi clicked his tongue softly.
It was expensive, but he could afford it!
Still, buying one would practically wipe him out.
He looked at the other guns on the rack.
"Do you have anything else you'd recommend?"
Though the man in the black suit wasn't part of the underworld, he could tell Xu Yi was clearly a gang member. Recognizing a potential big customer, he grew noticeably more enthusiastic.
"Of course."
He went to a rack and picked up a small black pistol with a narrow barrel.
"Unicorn Ox. A homemade pistol. One silver dollar apiece. It's single-shot. Don't let its ugly looks fool you; it's just as powerful as any other pistol!
"Of course, reloading is a pain, and it's a bit loud. The moment you pull the trigger, everyone on the street will know.
"The Unicorn Ox's bullets are cheap, too. Fifty copper coins for a box of fifty."
He added,
"If you buy in bulk, I can give you a better price!"
Xu Yi felt tempted.
Could he buy a batch and arm his security team?
The man in the black suit put the Unicorn Ox back on the rack, hurried to another rack, and picked up a rifle half a meter long.
"Hanyang Rifle. This model doesn't come with a bayonet. It uses 7.92×57 mm rifle rounds and holds five shots. As long as you can aim straight, it has a maximum range of two thousand meters!"
Xu Yi knew nothing about firearms, but he had a feeling the man was talking nonsense.
A range of two kilometers sounded a bit far-fetched.
The man in the black suit smiled.
"Don't let the fact that it's a rifle fool you. It's cheap, too. Thirty silver dollars each, with a discount for bulk orders!"
Xu Yi pointed at the Browning M1900—the so-called Gun Brand Pistol—and asked in disbelief,
"It costs the same as this pistol?"
The rifle was so much bigger than the pistol, yet they cost the same?
The man in the black suit patiently explained,
"The Gun Brand Pistol is an imported model made in Gaul. Getting it into Puxi is a hassle, and there aren't any secondhand ones on the market. It's top quality, so naturally it costs more."
"As for the bullets, original Hanyang Rifle rounds cost twenty-four copper coins each."
That was four times the price of bullets for the Gun Brand Pistol—the Browning M1900.
Xu Yi could accept rifle bullets costing more than pistol bullets.
The man in the black suit continued,
"But if you're willing to take secondhand or reloaded bullets, they're cheaper—
"Just twelve copper coins apiece."
He emphasized,
"Bulk orders get a better price!"
Xu Yi quickly weighed his options and said,
"I'll take one Browning M1990 and a box of bullets.
"Two Unicorn Ox pistols and two boxes of bullets."
The total came to thirty-four silver dollars and one hundred copper coins.
To show his sincerity, the man in the black suit even gave Xu Yi the ammunition pouch he wore.
The pouch was made from black nylon cloth woven by machine. It was sturdy, and looked just like the waist bags sold by street vendors.
The pouch could be worn at the waist, with the bag tucked behind the wearer and completely concealed beneath a roomy Tang suit. It held nearly fifty bullets, and even when full, it couldn't be seen through the clothes.
It was a small sale, but the man in the black suit didn't treat his customer with any less care.
That wasn't just because he was still building his business and mostly served little guys like Xu Yi.
He also believed every business started small. Once customers saw the quality of his goods, they'd come back to him if they needed anything.
The man in the black suit escorted Xu Yi to the deck and watched him leave.
Xu Yi took the guns back to Lingtong Hall. He gave one of the Unicorn Ox pistols and a box of bullets to Jin Baogen.
"Usually, no one will come looking for trouble here."
Xu Yi instructed Jin Baogen,
"If anyone does come looking for trouble, and the brothers can handle them, just deal with it. You can use clubs, but don't use knives.
"Remember, no matter what the dispute is about, once blood is spilled, things get hard to handle."
Jin Baogen nodded excitedly.
Xu Yi continued,
"If the brothers can't handle them, then show them the gun.
"Usually, once a gun comes out, that's the end of it. People in the underworld are bad, but they aren't stupid. No one dares to walk straight into the line of fire."
"Even if you show them the gun, try not to shoot if you can avoid it.
"You can threaten the troublemakers with it and tell them to get lost. Usually, if someone points a gun at your forehead, you'll back down unless you're an idiot."
Jin Baogen asked,
"What if they really send an idiot to cause trouble?"
Xu Yi replied,
"He may be an idiot, but you aren't. I'm sure you can find a way to make an idiot leave."
Jin Baogen grinned.
He'd only been joking with his big brother, and Xu Yi had obviously caught on.
Xu Yi still wasn't reassured.
He had never been a boss before, and he still hadn't figured out how to get along with his men. As a result, he insisted on handling everything personally and was always worrying.
"Underworld rules say that as long as no one fires a gun, it's just internal business between gangs—something people can settle among themselves.
"Once a gun is fired, the Constabulary will definitely come. Then things will get complicated.
"Getting arrested is a small matter; I can get you out.
"But if the factory fires you over this, that'll be a serious loss."
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