"Old Sun, are you sure this is where you are?"
The fat man asked Brother Guishou (Sun You) with some suspicion.
"I remember it was here. Why was it changed to a paper fire shop?"
Brother Guishou said with a mixture of surprise and grievance.
The three of them stood at the half-open door of the paper fire shop, with very wonderful expressions on their faces.
"Who are you looking for?"
When the three of them were hesitating, a half-bald head stuck out from the shop and asked them.
"Oops! Are they brothers Jia Chao?"
Brother Guishou shouted when he saw the bald man.
"Well...are you Brother Guishou, Lao Sun?"
The bald man who was called Jia Chao had a look of surprise on his face. He walked out in a flash and greeted Brother Guishou.
"How did my brother end up in such a predicament? Where is the original printing society?"
Brother Guishou took a step forward and asked the bald man with concern.
"It's hard to describe in words..."
The bald Jia Chao said with some emotion, but when he saw Ma Xiaoguang and Fatty again, he stopped himself.
"These two are my friends, Boss Ma and Boss Yang. They are both big bosses. They are very reliable people. There will definitely be no problems."
Seeing this, Brother Guishou quickly and solemnly introduced it to Jia Chao.
"Go in and talk."
Jia Chao looked around cautiously and whispered to the three of them.
After entering the Zhihuo shop, Brother Guishou's expression remained as usual, but Ma Xiaoguang and Fatty were eye-opening.
I saw houses, cars, trains, ships, and even an airplane inside!
Of course these are all paper models, but everything is so lifelike that at first glance they look almost real.
In particular, the pair of boys and girls were so vivid that if he hadn't known that this was a paper shop, the fat man would have thought that the bald boss was selling people...
“Boss Jia’s craftsmanship is very good!”
The fat man picked up the plane and sighed while playing with it.
"Alas, in this troubled world, we are just making ends meet. If we are not in the eyes of the Fang family, we are only laughing at you!"
Boss Jia waved his hand and said to the three of them with a wry smile.
Pour old white tea to the guests and officially start the conversation.
"Brother Jia used to be a high-ranking scholar at Xiling Seal Society, and later he set up his own business. He was proficient in metal and stone seal carving, and he also had extensive research on Western printing..."
After sitting down, Brother Guishou began to brag for Boss Jia.
Ma Xiaoguang and Fatty smiled and said nothing, sipping old white tea with relish and listening to Brother Guishou's story.
"Hey, Brother Sun, don't brag for me. In prosperous times, antiques are in troubled times, and gold is in troubled times. In these troubled times, no matter how good the craftsmanship is, it is useless. Otherwise, I would not change the printing house into a paper and fire shop..."
After Brother Guishou played for a while, Boss Jia waved his hands in embarrassment and said modestly.
"Boss Jia, business is not doing well?"
Ma Xiaoguang saw that the atmosphere was almost heightened, so he quickly interjected.
"There will be no need for these when the Japanese come. Many places were almost completely blown up by bombs, and my family members were also killed..."
"I am alone, with nowhere to go, and no other skills. I can only make a living by doing some dead business."
Boss Jia said to Ma Xiaoguang with a lonely expression.
"Yes, once the war started and people were devastated, the culprits were naturally the Japanese. However, let's not talk about that today. Let's talk about a business... Can Boss Jia print this thing?"
Ma Xiaoguang took out a "military ticket" from his body and asked Boss Jia in a low voice.
"Uh...this is it."
Boss Jia picked up the military ticket, looked at it for a while by the window, and said half a sentence hesitantly.
"Don't worry, Brother Jia, since Boss Ma dares to speak to you, he will definitely keep you safe. You can't trust others, but you can trust me."
Seeing this, Brother Guishou quickly stepped forward and said to Boss Jia in a deep voice - it was a reassurance for him.
"I can be considered a person who has been in the world, and I know that the two bosses are not ordinary people. This thing is not difficult to make because it is poorly printed, but the printing..."
Boss Jia waved his hand and quickly explained to Brother Guishou, stopping again at the critical point.
"I'm telling you, your boss is so unhappy. If you have any difficulties, just tell me."
The fat man listened to half of Boss Jia's words, but was a little impatient for the other half, and said with a dark expression.
"No, no, don't get me wrong. I mean it's not difficult to make one or two of these things. I think Boss Ma is going to print them in large quantities. This requires a machine, otherwise it won't be cost-effective."
Boss Jia felt a little frightened when he saw the fat man's sullen face, and quickly continued to explain.
"Well, this is exactly what Brother Guishou said. What equipment is needed?"
Ma Xiaoguang nodded and humbly asked the professionals for advice.
"The printing of banknotes has its own regulations. Generally, there are offset printing and gravure printing patterns, and letterpress printing is used to print the code words on them. However, this military note does not require such trouble."
"The top priority is to get offset printing and gravure printing machines. Our brothers can adjust the ink manually..."
Boss Jia bowed and respectfully replied to Ma Xiaoguang.
People who have traveled through the rivers and lakes are all discerning. After several questions, Boss Jia also found that this one among the three was the one who talked about the matter.
"Boss Jia is indeed an expert in this. Let's get straight to the point. Are you willing to work with our brothers?"
Ma Xiaoguang nodded with satisfaction, took out a check from his body and put it on the table.
This is a check worth a thousand oceans.
Seeing that Boss Jia was still hesitant, Brother Guishou quickly said: "Brother Jia, in these troubled times, we naturally need to find a reliable society... ah no, an organization."
"Furthermore, my junior brother and I both followed Boss Ma, and since then we are no longer wandering around the world. We finally have a place to return to."
Boss Jia pondered for a while, and finally nodded slowly and agreed.
Now that he had made up his mind, Boss Jia was also decisive. He closed the paper fire shop, locked the front and back doors, and left quietly with Ma Xiaoguang and his entourage.
It was already early the next morning when we returned to Fuxi Road in the French Concession.
"It's a bit hasty. Brother Jia will just stay here for a few days, and we will go find a suitable place to live in a few days."
Ma Xiaoguang said to Boss Jia a little apologetically.
Boss Jia said he didn't dare, so he settled down at the residence of Brother Guishou.
Early in the morning, Lao Li and Shopkeeper Luo arrived at the office to report on the printing machine.
"This machine is not easy to operate. I'm afraid it will be difficult."
Lao Li did not embarrass Shopkeeper Luo and quickly reported the situation.
"Both the Chinese community and the concession are afraid that someone will print underground publications, so they have very strict control over the machines. Even if you have money, you may not be able to buy them. The key is that we can't afford to wait."
Shopkeeper Luo saw that Chief Ma had a kind face and quickly added.
"Well, this is normal, I can understand... By the way, you haven't seen any printing factories that need to be transferred or can't be used?"
Ma Xiaoguang fully expressed his understanding of grassroots work, but still asked the two of them unwillingly.
"I saw one like this in Hongkou, but I'm afraid it's even more difficult to deal with."
After hearing this, Lao Li reported to Commander Ma with some hesitation.
