Old News from the Republic of China

In the troubled times of Beiyang, Jinmen is in smoke and clouds. Jia Xiaobao, a little teapot who makes a living in a brothel in the French Concession, thought that the greatest fortune in his life would be to learn a few words in foreign language and cheat a little money. Unexpectedly, a sudden assassination plunged him into the torrent of the times. Forced to replace his identity and infiltrate into the powerful Feng family's mansion, he relied on his slick acumen and his ability to talk things out of the business, and he managed to survive in the densely guarded compound and the murderous power struggle. From a deep house in Jinmen to a foreign market ten miles above Shanghai, he dealt with the Green Gang tycoons and Japanese trading companies; from the revolutionary frontier of Lingnan to the war-torn land outside the Pass, he took advantage of the fire between warlords, revolutionary parties and Japanese spies; from the political game in Jinling to the shocking predicament of returning to Jinmen, he turned out to be a key chess piece that influenced the current situation. There are also the eldest lady Feng Ning who returned from studying abroad, the maid Shuangxi whose life experience is a mystery, the Shanghai female student Fang Yimei, the daughter of the Lingnan family Ke Wanyi, the orphan Mu Ping of the Yunnan Army, Zeng Rou of the Baoding martial arts school, the concubine of the Kwantung warlord Su Wanqing... In this great era when the old order is collapsing and new trends of thought are surging, Jia Xiaobao, a little person who does not want to be a hero, has mistakenly moved the lever of history time and time again. Taking the magnificent history of the early years of the Republic of China as a picture, it depicts how a small person used a unique set of survival philosophy in the market to tease the powerful, fight wits against evil, and preserve friendship in the turbulent waves of warlords, surrounded by great powers, and revolutionary waves. Finally, in this change that has not happened in three thousand years, he lit up a beacon of troubled times for himself and his confidante, and found a place to live.