Saturday November 14, 2009

Living with the mob

Made In China
By CHOW HOW BAN

In another saga of Du Yuesheng, the budding underworld leader of Shanghai gains the trust of his boss and – more importantly – the boss’ wife.

THE 20-year-old Du Yuesheng tailed his fellow Green Gang compatriot Huang Zhengyi, moving around big colonial villas in the nong tang (typical alley neighbourhood in Shanghai).

Those living in the villas were rich and influential people of old Shanghai. Du was full of envy of the upper-class society and even their servants.

As they stepped into Huang Jinrong’s residence, Du was fascinated by the luxurious and elegant decor and furnishings in the living room: the table and chair made from sandalwood; and the silk sofa and paintings of famous artists, which Du had never seen in his life.

Triad king: Du lived a phenomenal life as the mafia king of old Shanghai, controlling opium trade, brothels, gambling dens and protection rackets in the 1920s and 30s.

Du’s compatriot Huang approached one of the four men who were playing cards on a long table and said: “Boss, the boy whom I wanted to introduce to you has arrived.”

Du knew that the chubby man was Huang Jinrong, the chief of police of the French gendarmerie and mobster in the French concession.

“What is your name?” Huang asked. Du replied, and coincidentally the sheng in his name was shared by Huang’s workers. Without any hesitation, Huang hired Du and assigned him to learn from Ma Xiangsheng in the kitchen.

It took a while for Du to discover the real business behind his boss’ job at the gendarmerie.

One night he was awakened from his sleep by Ma. “Yuesheng, quick, get up! Go to the living hall!”

At the hall, their boss stood in the middle of all the workers including bodyguards, informers, cooks and servants.

“Who became the thief in our house? Come forward or face the consequences!” Huang raised his pitch.

Later, Du found out that the stolen item was actually opium wrapped in a gunnysack. Whenever the goods arrived at Huang’s residence at night, those who were not asked to help out must stay in their rooms.

Du drew a conclusion: opium trafficking was the way to attain wealth, and he would have to earn the trust of his boss and his wife Lin Guisheng to get there.

Lin ran the opium, gambling house, theatre and teahouse business for Huang and was the family’s financial controller. Finally, the best opportunity came when Lin fell sick and Du volunteered to take care of her for weeks.

He became quite close to Lin, but he knew that he must show his real worth. One night he showed his leopard-like guts again and volunteered to trace a missing shipment of opium.

Lin handed Du a pistol before he headed straight into the street to recover the opium that was robbed by pirates. He barely saw anything in the dark streets, but spotted a suspicious trishaw filled with goods.

He ordered his trishaw-puller to give chase, and soon they overtook the other trishaw.

Du stopped the trishaw before pulling off his pistol and holding the pirates at gunpoint within seconds. He tied them up and returned home with the goods. This was the first of many more jobs to come for Du.

After completing a task, he did not ask for any reward but go back to sleep and start the day afresh.

“This is a ruthless and courageous boy, and certainly a big talent!” Lin rated Du highly.

Lin then sent Du to Gong Xing Ji, one of the top three gambling houses in the French concession, where he was supposed to work as a bodyguard.

On his first visit, the boss shooed him away but when he brought along Lin this time, the owner became apologetic and agreed to give Du a job.

Lin tried her luck at the gambling table and told Du to continue her game. Du did not lose his touch as he went on to win 2,400 yuan on his return to the game after stopping the habit.

Du was the only man, apart from Huang, who was allowed to enter Lin’s bedroom. That night, Du came home with the money and handed it back to his boss’ wife.

“I was just playing on your behalf. It was your capital and your luck and I cannot accept it,” Du said.

After pushing the money to each other for a while, they ended up on the bed and made love. Du had an indescribable affection and respect for the woman.

Despite her extra-marital affair with Du, Lin was not possessive. She later found out that he fancied a woman who eventually became his first wife.

“Do you like her? Say it!” Lin asked. Du said he liked the woman but he was too poor to marry her.

Lin supported Du’s marriage plan and made arrangements for him to pay for the wedding and gifts and settle down with his wife at Huang’s residence. A year after he married Shen Yueying, she gave birth to a son who later became the godson of Lin and Huang.

As Du rose to become a prominent aide to Huang in the underworld, he moved into his own residence. He often brought his son to his godparents’ house and maintained a very close relationship with them.

However, their opium business took a heavy blow when their rival Shen Xingshan, who was the chief officer of the British gendarmerie, started to encroach into their territory.

Between 1900 and 1940 during the concession period, Shanghai was divided into the French, British and common concessions. The Chinese government had no control whatsoever over any opium trading or vice activities in these concessions.

Shen sent his runner to Huang’s residence, relaying his warning to Huang to keep his hands off his opium robbery business.

Du was furious on hearing the news. Shen Xingshan is too arrogant and presumptuous, Du thought.

When his boss sought his opinion, he said: “We cannot let this happen! If there is a business, everybody should have an equal chance of doing it. They cannot monopolise it!”

Such was the fire in Du, who would help Huang to not only topple Shen but also expand his empire.

The writer will continue the phenomenal story of Du Yuesheng and his rise from being a servant at a mobster’s residence to Shanghai’s godfather, in future columns.

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