“How is there no one managing your father?” Su Minguan asked. “Do you have anyone else in your family?”
Lin Yuchan thought of that “home” crawling with rats and cockroaches, her feelings complex.
She shook her head: “Only one younger brother left, but he’s gone missing too. Doesn’t look like he’s been found.”
She and her “younger brother” had never met, so there wasn’t much emotional attachment. But he was an innocent child after all – forget children, even if it were a little dog, having such a family head would be unlucky. Who knows what sins he committed in his past life?
Lin Guangfu had damaged his brain by smoking opium and stubbornly believed the child had been captured by foreigners to have his heart dug out and eaten. Whenever it was mentioned, he would cry bitterly and roll on the ground.
However, whether Lin Yuchan or Su Minguan, both had dealt with foreigners and knew they also had one nose and one mouth – they weren’t monsters from Journey to the West who had such appetites.
“Maybe he was tricked into being sold as a coolie?” Su Minguan pondered. “How old is your brother?”
Lin Yuchan: “Sold as a coolie?”
She suddenly remembered that day when Hed conducted the surprise tax inspection, before leaving he inexplicably asked Wang Quan if he knew any clues about smuggling coolies. Wang Quan was confused, saying the pork we eat all comes from the countryside – no need to smuggle it.
This “coolie” was not that “coolie.”
Su Minguan: “These past two years, coolie traffickers have been rampant, luring young men to Southeast Asia to make money, but imprisoning them to work as free laborers. If young men from Guangzhou families disappear for no reason, they’ve mostly been sold as coolies.”
He found it strange and asked: “You live in Guangzhou – haven’t you heard of this?”
Lin Yuchan thought shamefully that she hadn’t heard of it…
The dark side of the Great Qing was richer than she’d imagined. She asked puzzledly: “Don’t the authorities care?”
Su Minguan said, “Initially, they only kidnapped poor people, so no one cared. It wasn’t until wealthy families’ sons started disappearing consecutively that the authorities began investigating, but they still haven’t found who’s doing it. Some even say the coolie sellers are the authorities themselves. These years with fiscal deficits, they quietly sell vagrants, death row prisoners, and such to Southeast Asia to increase revenue and reduce expenditure…”
He summarized: “So if you can’t find someone for a long time, don’t hold too much hope. By the way, with your current appearance, you should also be careful not to be tricked into coolie houses.”
Having experienced family destruction and death, he was accustomed to scenes of “flesh and blood separation.” He offered bland comfort, not afraid of appearing callous in front of others.
Lin Yuchan smiled bitterly: “Thank you for the reminder, Young Master.”
At the crossroads parting, Su Minguan checked his pockets, confirming the documents exchanged earlier were correct. He suddenly blinked and asked: “You mentioned earlier that Defeng Trading House’s tea-roasting workshop would be unguarded on… the tenth of next month, right?”
Lin Yuchan looked at him in surprise.
He already suspected it was a trap, yet he was confirming the date with her?
Su Minguan shrugged: “Better safe than sorry.”
This person’s eyes were bright and open, yet his every gesture seemed veiled in fog, making his intentions impossible to read.
She couldn’t help but earnestly advise: “Young Master Minguan, have you ever considered that if foreigners truly steal our Chinese techniques, within a few years, all the tea farmers and merchants in Fujian and Guangdong will starve to death.”
Su Minguan hadn’t expected her to speak so directly. He lowered his head and smiled slightly.
“A’Mei, the world is different from before,” he said after a moment. “A country can’t become strong by strictly guarding against everything. Progress comes from mutual exchange.”
Lin Yuchan was stunned. The reasoning was all correct, but the timing was wrong. A hundred years too early.
She said righteously: “The principle is right, but if foreigners learn this secret one year later, our China gets one more year of foreign trade silver. Even if someone will inevitably leak it in the future, I don’t want it to be you.”
Su Minguan sneered: “Am I so special? Thanks for the honor.”
Thus there was a sense of incompatibility in their conversation. Lin Yuchan thought stubbornly, why should she meddle in others’ affairs? Moreover, Wang Quan had already made arrangements – even if he wanted to be a traitor, he couldn’t succeed.
So she nodded, meaning “take care of yourself.”
Su Minguan smiled: “A’Mei, see you when we collect the goods.”
With that, he cupped his hands in farewell.
The moment he turned around, seeing that the area was quiet, he quickly pulled her braid.
“We’re even!”
Lin Yuchan cried out in surprise and spun around. He laughed silently, dusted off his hands, and strode away.
Lin Yuchan completed her “luring the enemy deep” mission and returned to Defeng Trading House to report.
Wang Quan increasingly trusted her abilities, asking this and that, mainly whether Young Master Su had taken the bait and if he would become suspicious.
Lin Yuchan was a messenger between both sides, and both sides were paranoid, each asking her to play along with their schemes. She could no longer figure out how many sides she was spying for. Exhausted, she simply shrugged: “Even if he becomes suspicious and doesn’t come, your business won’t suffer any loss. Why worry unnecessarily?”
Wang Quan thought this made sense and turned to designing the trap – how to create security vulnerabilities in the workshop, how to handle the tea leaves inside, how to forge roasting records, how to modify the “operation manual” to appear normal but actually be malicious, capable of ruining even the finest tea into dregs.
Of course, they had to symbolically place a few guards inside and outside the workshop so he wouldn’t succeed too easily. It would be best if, after he succeeded, they would shout and chase him for a while to make the “secret recipe” seem genuine.
All this was done quietly, not even telling Master Zhan and the others.
After arrangements were complete, Wang Quan became increasingly pleased with himself, his mind already sketching various scenarios: the “traitor” would painstakingly steal the fake secret recipe and treasure it as he presented it to the British devils. The devils would treat it as a precious treasure, immediately set sail for India to implement it exactly, resulting in complete crop failure for Assam black tea that year and immediate bankruptcy of the Assam company…
Wang Quan was an old business hand and naturally knew these dreams might not fully materialize, but even achieving ten or twenty percent would be extremely satisfying, enough to make him famous in Guangzhou’s business circles and earn universal praise.
Wang Quan squinted his eyes and hummed the popular Beijing opera “Heroes’ Gathering” contentedly.
“I intend to let him return, leaving camp gates unlocked… Pretending to sleep fully clothed, stealing glances to carefully observe his actions… Hahahahaha…”
Lin Yuchan returned to the Qi manor and before she could get her footing, was requisitioned by the butler for work. Young Master Qi Ancheng was putting on literary airs, having ordered a batch of Western instruments from Europe, planning to hire musicians and form Guangzhou’s first Western orchestra.
What arrived included tubas, trombones, cellos, violins, and a huge box loaded on a crude cart, obviously containing a grand piano.
“Push!”
The servant girls in the manor were all used like livestock. Lin Yuchan could only bow her head and willingly be a beast of burden, gritting her teeth as she pushed the piano.