sea ​​situation

Lu Ming drove to the main hall of the Cao Gang according to the scheduled time. He used to come and leave quietly when he came to the Cao Gang, hardly disturbing anyone, but today is different. When formally calling on the mother-in-law, of course it must be done with great fanfare and no sneaking.

The Cao Gang has other plans. At this moment, the door is wide open, and Lu Ming is greeted with the highest courtesy. This is the etiquette for the gang to receive high-level VIPs, and the son-in-law does not enjoy such treatment.

Standing outside the middle door were two concierge staff. Lu Ming presented a gift, and the concierge staff bowed to invite him in.

After entering the middle gate, the big and small leaders of the Cao Gang lined up on both sides, clasped their fists and saluted him, shouting: "Young Master Lu is welcome."

This situation made Lu Ming feel a little overwhelmed, he could only clap his hands to both sides: "I don't dare to do it, you big brothers have worked hard."

Everyone present was wearing blue cotton gowns, thick cotton boots, and blue silk sash around their waists.Lu Ming was dressed in a suit and leather shoes and a thick woolen coat, which seemed a bit out of place among this group of people.

Lu Ming originally wanted to change into Chinese clothes and do as the Romans do, but he searched through the suitcases and wardrobes, but couldn't find a cotton robe.

You may not be able to buy it on the street. Today is only the sixth day of the first lunar month, and neither the clothing store nor the ready-made clothing store has opened yet.In general, the service industry is less than the tenth or even fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and there are very few stores that are open for business.

Lu Ming walked over awkwardly and came to the Cao Gang lobby.This is equivalent to the ancestral temple of a gang. Only members of the gang can enter, and outsiders are not allowed to enter.

As a special guest, Lu Ming is making an exception to enter the lobby today.

If he hadn't done Cao Gang a great favor, Lu Ming would have married Ming Zhu, and he wouldn't be eligible to set foot here unless he joined Cao Gang according to the procedure.

Lu Ming climbed up the steps and walked to the entrance of the spacious lobby. Ning Zetao, the head of the Cao Gang, stepped out of the door to welcome him, waved his hands with a smile on his face, and then invited him to enter together.

Entering the lobby, I saw a woman around 50 years old sitting at the main seat, Mingzhu and Ning Xiner stood on both sides of the main seat.Behind the main seat are enshrined the gods of the successive leaders of the Cao Gang.

Lu Ming knew that Mingzhu's godmother Ning Qi was sitting on the main seat, so he hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, respectfully and respectfully kowtowed three times.

Lu Ming's behavior made everyone present feel a little surprised. Originally, it was enough to just bow, and there was no need to perform such a grand ceremony.

But Lu Ming doesn't think so, he wants to take this opportunity to thank Cao Gang for everything he has done for Mingzhu.

For a long time, Mingzhu has received meticulous care in Caobang and enjoyed princess-like treatment.

The godmother loves Mingzhu, and loves Mingzhu as her own daughter, but from Lu Ming's point of view, she can't regard other people's love as her own blessing, she should know how to be grateful.

The Cao Gang's attitude towards Mingzhu is also giving the Yuan family face.

Lu Ming knew that the relationship between the Yuan family and the Cao Gang was unusual, but he didn't know to what extent.

The ancestors of the Yuan family were also members of the Cao Gang. There was once a generation of gang leaders, but for some reason they left the Cao Gang and started doing business instead.

Probably because of this relationship, Mingzhu was recognized as a goddaughter by the mother of the leader of the Cao Gang since she was a child.

Of course, there is another way of saying it.

Mingzhu’s godmother, Qi Fang——after she married, she became Ning Qi’s family. Before marrying Caobang, she and Mingzhu’s mother were best friends. Be a daughter so that the next generation can inherit the friendship of the previous generation.

So Yuan Mingzhu became Qi Fang's goddaughter, and Ning Zetao became Mingzhu's mother's godson.

It can be said that Lu Ming has nothing to do with Cao Gang's treatment of Mingzhu, but Lu Ming has always kept it in his heart, waiting for the opportunity to repay Cao Gang.What's more, the Cao Gang tried their best to help An Gonggen when he transferred An Gonggen.

Although the Cao Gang didn't treat him as a "son-in-law" very much before, he didn't care. The students trained by Harvard still have this kind of heart, otherwise he would not risk his life to help the Cao Gang survive the catastrophe.

"Good boy, I am too old to be such a big gift like you. Mingzhu, why don't you stop me." Godmother Ning Qi said to Mingzhu.

"Mother, he is your son-in-law, there is nothing wrong with kowtowing to you, he deserves it." Mingzhu said with a big grin.

"Pearl, mother is a sensible person. It's not the old age anymore. You young people are all fashionable with new etiquette. You don't need to talk about these old rules." Of course, the changes in the world are well known.

After this set of etiquette, Lu Ming has completed the process of paying homage to his mother. Ning Zetao asked him to sit on the chair next to him.

Lu Ming didn't sit. Even if he didn't know the rules of the Cao Gang, he knew where this place was. Even Ning Zetao didn't have a seat, so how could he be willing to sit.

Ning Qi saw that Lu Ming was not used to staying in the lobby and was a little restrained, so he smiled and said: "Don't you have something to talk about? Then go do your work, Lu Ming, from now on you will not only be Cao The son-in-law of the gang, and the family of the Cao gang, the door of the Cao gang is always open to you, you can come if you have anything to do, and you can say anything, you are welcome."

Lu Ming cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, godmother."

He also knew that although Ning Zetao was the leader of the Cao Gang, his mother Ning Qishi was actually in charge. Inviting him this time was to complete a ceremony and make Lu Ming his own family.

Is there any difference between the son-in-law Ning Qi said and his own family?It stands to reason that the son-in-law is his own family. In ordinary people's homes, this is indeed the case, but it is different in gangs.

"My family" in the gang is a very special title. If it is in the imperial court, it is equivalent to a gold medal for avoiding death issued by the emperor.

"My family" does not necessarily have a blood relationship with the clan leader, nor does it have to be the clan leader's in-laws, and they don't have to join the gang, but they can enjoy all the rights and benefits of being in the gang.

If Lu Ming hadn't contributed to saving the Cao Gang, he would never have become a member of the Cao Gang in his life.

This is the rule established by the ancestors. To become one's own family, one must obtain the unanimous consent of the leaders of the Cao Gang and go through a set of complicated rituals.

Worshiping ancestors, burning incense paper with names... If the smoke from the burning disperses, it means that the ancestors did not agree. The green smoke from the burning must form a column, which means that the successive leaders of the Cao Gang have recognized this person .

The status of "my family" in the Cao Gang is lofty and detached. As long as he needs it, the whole Cao Gang will go all out, even if the gang is destroyed.

This kind of collective consciousness formed in the farming era later evolved into a class consciousness of killing one's life for benevolence, which is a later story.

Lu Ming still doesn't know the many tests he has passed, and he doesn't care about the so-called family members. Even if he knows the lofty status of his family members, he won't care.

If it wasn't for Mingzhu, he probably wouldn't have had much contact with the Cao Gang in his life, let alone risk his life to accompany him.

It's not that Lu Ming is pretentious, he's not a random person, he won't cause trouble outside, and the blessings from the Cao Gang are basically meaningless.

If you really run into trouble and you can't solve it yourself, there is Sheng Youde, the power of the Sheng family is far greater than that of the Cao Gang.In other words, what Sheng Youde couldn't solve, the Cao Gang couldn't solve either.

Different from the Qinghong Gang, the Cao Gang has a relatively simple composition, mainly composed of boatmen, ship workers and porters on both sides of the canal. This gang is somewhat similar to the shipping union organization, and of course it also has the nature of a gang.

Most of the members of the Cao Gang come from the bottom of society, later called the oppressed working class. They have a relatively simple background and are very simple, but if anyone offends the Cao Gang, it is definitely more troublesome than offending the Qinghong Gang.

Compared with the Cao Gang, the Qinghong Gang is a mixed bag, with people of all kinds from the upper class to the lower class, and the bottom class, and more of them are ruffians, rogues, and street fighters.

The social reputation of the Qinghong gang is extremely bad, because pornography, gambling, and drugs are their way of making money. To put it bluntly, they only recognize money but not people.

Of course, the big boss of the Qinghong gang is also moral, thanking you for your kindness, and avenging your revenge.

Although many of the versions of the stories about Huang Jinrong and Du Yuesheng circulated in the market are fabricated by unscrupulous literati, some of them are true.

The rules of the Cao Gang are absolutely not to intervene in pornography, gambling, and drugs. It's not that they are afraid of the Qinghong Gang, but that they are unwilling and not allowed to do things that are harmful to nature and reason.

They would rather take risks to smuggle all kinds of goods, ranging from a bag of matches to arms, as long as they can get it, they can all be found in the list of smuggled goods.

In recent years, the Cao Gang has mainly smuggled valuables such as cars, pistols, and medicinal materials. Although the risks are higher, the profits are huge. After all, there are tens of thousands of people in the Cao Gang waiting to eat.

Prices in the market kept rising, and Caobang would not be able to support his family if he only relied on shipping and the little money on the wharf.