Chapter Seven Down Nine Streams

  In a room of a railway hotel near the city, four men of different ages were drinking wine. The dishes to go with the wine were simple: a plate of fried peanuts and half a kilogram of braised pork head.

  If this were in the past, such a person would definitely stand out in a small town, because the floating population of this small town is not many, and basically, any stranger will be noticed.

  However, during this period, nearly 800 people from all over the country and abroad came to the town to attend Liu Yunjiao's funeral. These four men were not so conspicuous.

  "Sixth son, we're here for Old Man Liu's funeral, behave yourself and don't stir up trouble."

  The oldest man, about forty years old, poured a cup of Erguotou into his mouth with a "gulp" sound, smacked his lips and said: "Liu Zi, what did you go to the Sun family brothers for yesterday?"

  "Big brother, isn't this the place where you used to do business with Old Sun and his people? Now that we're here, we should pay our respects, or others will think we're being unreasonable."

  Sitting opposite the middle-aged man was a young man of twenty-seven or eight years old, about 1.7 meters tall, very thin, with a pointed mouth and chin, his eyes rolling around constantly, giving people a very unstable feeling.

  "You little scamp, full of evil intentions, what are you going to go find those two brothers for?"

  The middle-aged man was very familiar with his subordinate's temperament, and seeing his nonchalant appearance, he said: "Liu Laoye's status in the Jianghu is not to be underestimated. If we really provoke him, from now on, we won't be able to set foot north of the Yangtze River. You'd better not harbor any crooked ideas."

  "What's with Liu Lao Da Ye? Didn't he flee to Taiwan after losing the battle back then?"

  The young man called Liu Zi curled his lip and said in a bad tone, "This old thing has been gone for decades, but it's still so powerful after death. Our gang now has several hundred people, right? Why do those sects always ignore us?"

  This society has always been divided into three six nine classes, and the Jianghu is no exception. From the imperial court to the ordinary people, all can be categorized accordingly.

  In the upper nine streams, there is one stream of Buddhist ancestors, two streams of immortals, three streams of emperors, four streams of officials, five streams of wine makers, six streams of pawnbrokers, seven streams of merchants, eight streams of guests (estate owners), and nine streams of farm owners.

  There is upper nine streams, naturally there will also be middle nine streams and lower nine streams.

  The nine flows are divided into: First flow, raising children; Second flow, medicine; Third flow, Feng Shui (Feng Shui masters, Yin and Yang masters); Fourth flow, fortune-telling (reading the eight characters, fortune-telling masters); Fifth flow, painting and calligraphy; Sixth flow, physiognomy (physiognomists, face-readers); Seventh flow, Buddhist monks; Eighth flow, Taoist priests; Ninth flow, chess and qin (scholars).

  The lowest of the nine classes are: first, shamans and prostitutes; second, great gods (god-shamans); third, watchmen; fourth, barbers; fifth, drummers (drummers, trumpeters); sixth, actors; seventh, beggars; eighth, sugar vendors.

  For thousands of years, the status in Jianghu has also been inherited from these twenty-seven lines of upper, middle and lower classes. Of course, although there are only twenty-seven lines of business, in fact, it extends far beyond that.

  As follows, the fifth flow of "barber" also includes those who repair feet, run errands, pull carts, as well as massage, shop assistants, dancers, and other service industries.

  These people who are drinking look well-dressed, but they are actually beggars from a city in the south. On their clothes, there is a patch that is not noticeable to ordinary people, but to those who know what to look for, it reveals their true identity at a glance.

  A middle-aged man surnamed Hao, who also looks stout and has big ears, appears to be kind-hearted with a benevolent gaze, but in reality is the boss of the beggar gang in that southern city. When stabbing people with knives, he still wears a smile on his face, earning him the nickname "Laughing Tiger".

  And that person called Liu Zi was specially responsible for collecting children's door-to-door skeletons from all over the world, with a high nose and a ruthless hand.

  "Big brother, we can eat and drink well at home, why bother coming to flatter this old fart?"

  Liu's six sons drank a cup of wine, their faces revealing an indignant expression. They rushed from afar to mourn Liu's death, but unexpectedly, the Liu family was lukewarm about it, making it hard for young and vigorous Liu Six to swallow his anger.

  "What the hell do you know? Although Liu Lao has been on the island for decades, he has many friends and acquaintances. In this vast martial arts world of Jiangnan, who dares not to give him some face?"

  Hao Lao Da was scolding, but his face still looked like he was smiling. "Our sect can't be mentioned in the Jianghu, and we've done our fair share of bad things. This time, I'm not asking for anything else, just to make some connections, who knows when it might come in handy in the future."

  Beggars and prostitutes have some similarities, although they have the longest history of existence, but they have always been unable to show their faces, and they also lack the power to intimidate with force. In some struggles, it is often them who suffer in the end.

  So Hao Lao Da took advantage of Liu Lao Ye Zi's death to come and offer condolences, and also sent a considerable amount of incense money, all in the hope of establishing good relations with these people from the martial arts world.

  But what Old Hao didn't expect was that the Liu family, after taking their money, didn't give them any face at all. On the last day of the funeral procession, they weren't even notified, and naturally, they also missed the final banquet.

  Being looked down upon like this, even if Hao Lao Da's city was deep, he was still furious in his heart, and that's why he let his subordinates buy vegetables and drink wine in the reception room.

  "Damn it, boss, I don't accept this. Why can those women from the Orchid Gate sit in the main hall while we men have to drink here?"

  Liu Zi suddenly slammed the table, his eyes red with anger, and said: "And those trash are all included in the outer eight doors, but we're excluded from the outside, what the hell is this?"

  "What? Sixth son, speak softly, don't talk nonsense." Hao Lao Da heard this and was stunned for a moment, then said: "Are you sure? Is someone from the Orchid Gate really here?"

  Orchid Gate is one of the eight gates outside Jianghu, which refers to what we usually understand as prostitutes. These women all rely on selling their bodies for a living, although in the hundreds of professions in Jianghu, it is the most despised profession and also the most indispensable profession.

  In society, there are no longer corpse-transporting workers from Xiangxi, nor craftsmen who make funeral equipment; these industries have disappeared, and people won't find it strange. But the art of orchid cultivation will never disappear.

  From ancient times to the present, no matter how much the authorities suppress it and no matter how people evaluate it, the Orchid Door industry has always been thriving. In 1992, this was especially true in southern cities.

  Of course, it's not saying that all women in the pleasure quarters are from the Orchid Gate either.

  On the contrary, those who work as hostesses in nightclubs are mostly not Jianghu people. The Orchid Gate also has its own special symbol, which is often embroidered on the collar with a phoenix.

  Although he was leading a group of people in begging, Hao Lao Da also looked down on those courtesan women, so after hearing Liu Zi's words, his voice was also filled with anger.

  "Boss, I, Liu Zi, make a living with these eyes, how could I possibly be mistaken?"

  Liu Zi tilted his head and poured a cup of wine into his mouth, smacking his lips before saying: "Isn't that slutty woman the PR manager for our local big shot? If she's not from the Orchid Gate gang, Boss, you can dig out my eyes!"

  Don't look down on beggars, they may not have social status, and people either despise or pity them, but for people like Hao Lao Da, they live more comfortably than the vast majority of people.

  As a high-ranking member of the Southern Beggar's Gang, Hao Lao Da had already become a millionaire several years ago. With their business expanding, they can be said to be making a fortune every day, accumulating a huge amount of black gold.

  As part of the people who got rich along with reform and opening up, Hao Lao Da and others are naturally not strangers to the pleasure grounds. The big rich man shown by Liu Zi is the most luxurious and extravagant nightclub in their city.

  Hao Lao Da originally knew the public relations manager too, but just a few days ago when mourning Old Master, he was busy making connections with others and didn't notice Liu Zi's true intentions.

  "Damn it, Liu's family is too much!"

  Thinking that his own identity and others were not even comparable to some prostitutes in the eyes of the Liu family, Hao Lao Da finally couldn't hold back the anger in his heart, heavily slamming the wine cup on the table, saying: "Sixth son, go buy tickets, we're leaving today. Damn it, our faces may not be precious, but we don't have to kiss other people's asses!"

  "Come on, boss! Since we're here, we should bring something back too!"

  Seeing himself succeed ignited Hao Lao Da's anger, Liu Zi couldn't help but smile and said: "Big brother, since we're here, let's bring back a couple of people, you've always been eyeing the Pearl River market, and now our manpower is indeed insufficient."

  "Yes, big brother, Liu Ge is right."

  After hearing Liu's words, a 35- or 36-year-old man next to him nodded and said: "There are many Hong Kong and Macau people on the Pearl River side, and they are also generous with their money. If we can occupy that piece of land, in the Pearl River Delta, it will be our territory."

  "Oh? Old Two, you think so too?" Hao Lao Da turned his head to look at that person.

  The man who spoke was called Qi Baoyu, originally from the Xiangxi region. Due to his youth, he got caught up in the chaos of that decade and did all sorts of evil things. Later, he couldn't stay in his hometown anymore, so he went to a coastal city and met Old Man Hao.

  "Big brother, find two kids and cut out their tongues, break their legs, and throw them at the customs gate where people enter and exit the country. At least you can earn 1,800 yuan a day, I think it's feasible."

  Qī Bǎo Yù looks like a decent person, but in reality he is full of evil intentions. He is the second-in-command of this beggar gang and often acts as their military strategist, coming up with all sorts of vicious and sinister ideas.

  Hao Lao Da thought for a moment and shook his head, saying: "But this distance is too far, what if something happens on the way?"

  It's not that Hao Lao Da is a good man or anything, the key is that Chuan Zhou is thousands of miles away from their city, it's really not easy to bring him back.