Chapter 100: The Ruthless Actor (8)
The lights come on and the atmosphere is filled with singing and dancing.
Live a life of luxury and decadence, a life of drunkenness and dreams.
Shanghai at night, Shanghai at night. The foreign concessions, a dream.
Shanghai was bustling at night, and Master Zhan didn't keep his concubines under strict control. Accompanied by the Zhan family's driver and bodyguards, they were free to go out...
"Originally, all entertainment venues were supposed to be closed for two weeks to mourn the death of Lieutenant General Johnson... but after the new ambassador was sworn in, they were immediately approved to reopen. The world really changes so quickly~"
In the car, Shi Sui smiled and chatted with Miao Jue.
However, Miao Jue's attention was attracted by the colorful neon lights outside the window and the bustling streets.
It should have been time to wash up and go to bed, but there were endless rickshaws on the road, and men and women dressed in fashionable clothes were wandering around the streets, talking and laughing.
Miao Jue, who came from the conservative and backward Nanyang, had never seen such a prosperous and lively night.
The car stopped at the famous Shanghai dance hall "Lido".
The driver came down and opened the car door for the two concubines.
Tokiho stretched out her snow-white legs and stepped out of the car.
Fashionable curly hair, exquisite and gorgeous cheongsam with floral patterns, a sweet smile, extremely charming.
The handsome young doorman opened the door for the two distinguished guests.
Shi Sui took the timid Miao Jue's arm and walked into the extremely luxuriously decorated dance hall...
The sound of cheerful music, the singing girls in gorgeous dance dresses performing gracefully on the stage, the band providing passionate accompaniment, and the men and women dancing unrestrainedly on the dance floor.
Shi Sui and Miao Jue were led by the waiter and sat down in a small semi-open private room.
"Give me two sodas, some peanuts and some fruit."
Shi Sui placed the order with ease and gave the waiter a small tip, asking him to take good care of it.
Miao Jue's attention was quickly drawn to the colorful stage.
Everything here is new to her.
There were both Chinese and foreigners in the dance floor, and next to the dance floor were dancers with heavy makeup and seductive poses, waiting to be chosen by customers and earn a living.
The music is so lascivious that you can easily get caught up in it if you are not careful.
The skirts flying up and down in the dance floor seem to have magical powers, making people want to waste their youth in the tunes of beautiful women and lose their time in the midst of singing and dancing.
Intoxicated... I just want to be intoxicated forever... until I forget all the troubles in the world...
Miao Jue felt restrained and uncomfortable at first, but after listening to two songs, he began to sway his head and hum along, and the unhappiness and depression of the past few days were relieved.
The air in the dance hall was dry and hot, and the heat wave that hit me in the face made my spirit and blood excited.
Miao Jue took a big sip of soda to quench her thirst. "Fourth sister, didn't you used to be an opera singer? Do you also like coming here to listen to music?"
"Unless there are special circumstances, opera performances must be held during the day... It's the industry's norm. Besides, ever since the dance halls opened, not many young people are going to see opera anymore. It's mostly elderly men and women who come to watch opera, and many small troupes are on the verge of collapse..."
Shisui crossed her legs and lazily played with her tassel earrings, as if everything she said had nothing to do with her.
After hearing this, Miao Jue suddenly felt very lonely.
Everything colorful in front of me doesn't seem so attractive anymore.
"Fourth Madam, Sixth Madam, curfew is almost up..."
The driver came over and urged them to go back.
Shi Sui readily paid the bill, left the Lido Ballroom, and got into her car to go home.
The melodious singing still lingers in my ears.
It’s a little chilly at night.
Miao Jue was wearing thin clothes, and a gust of cold wind blew over her, causing her to shiver, bringing her back to reality from the glitz and glamour of the world.
"Get in the car." Shi Sui waved to Miao Jue, "I'll take you to see another side of Shanghai."
Shi Sui asked the driver to take a detour: "Take Quxi Road, go around the train station and then come back."
The driver was a little embarrassed: "Fourth Madam, the train station is too chaotic, I'm afraid..."
"Yo~ Now even a little driver can tell me what to do?"
"I dare not...how could I dare..."
The driver had long heard that the fourth wife was in a bad mental state and often scolded anyone she caught.
He had no choice but to follow Shi Sui's instructions and take a long detour to the train station which was just across the road from the British Concession.
"Fourth Madam, if we go any further we will be out of the British Concession."
"Then let's stop here. We'll look around for a quarter of an hour and then go back."
Shi Sui gestured to Miao Jue to look through the car window towards the train station.
It is now a quarter after nine in the evening.
The area near the train station was bustling with people, comparable to the busy scene in front of the dance hall.
But the bustle here is so desolate that it is shocking.
Looking around, the roadside was filled with ragged homeless people holding sacks, and groups of prostitutes in revealing clothes shouting and soliciting customers.
Soon, two groups of thugs armed with sticks and machetes came from the east and west sides of the train station, shouting at each other aggressively.
"Come on, everyone! Leave no one behind! Kill them all!!"
If they disagreed, they would start fighting.
Sticks rained down on their heads and backs, white knives went in and red knives came out, and many people fell in a pool of blood.
Even if they were not stabbed to death, they would be trampled to death by the other party or their own family members.
The shouts echoed throughout the train station. The homeless people fled with their belongings, and the prostitutes scattered and moved to other places to continue soliciting business.
The patrolmen outside the train station passed by but did not stop them.
Fights broke out almost every night and they were used to it.
The patrolmen just squinted their eyes and put their hands on their holsters so that they could draw their guns to defend themselves if they were hurt.
This is the other side of Shanghai...
Gangs are rampant and people are living in misery.
Inside the concession, there is a paradise of debauchery; outside the concession, there is a hell on earth with no one to supervise you.
The road separates people and animals.
Big Shanghai.
Are you talking about the Shanghai with its myriad of winds and rains, or the Shanghai where the people are suffering... ?
…
On the way back to the Zhan residence, Miao Jue was deeply shocked and could not calm down for a long time.
She sat next to Shi Sui without saying a word, with a complicated expression on her face.
Shi Sui didn't say anything, letting Miao Jue digest it on his own.
She looked around out of boredom and suddenly found a small round, white object under the car seat.
Shi Sui picked it up and saw that it was a freshwater pearl earring as big as a lotus seed.
That was what the fifth concubine was carrying today. She probably dropped it accidentally.
Shi Sui didn't want to have anything to do with her, so she handed it to the driver and said, "Give it to the chief steward when you get back."
It was a perfectly natural order, but Shisui noticed an unnatural flicker in the driver's eyes, and a guilty and flustered look on his face, and he even let go of the accelerator for a moment.
Something is wrong, this driver...
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