"Don't you want to go for another cup of tea?" Angie Perlis asked with a smile as Song Tianyao hurriedly got up. "Your voice still sounds a bit nasal."
Song Tianyao nodded, and as he walked out of the restaurant, he replied decisively, "No, at least not for the foreseeable future."
Back at his residence on Tai Wo Street, Song Tianyao asked his mother, Zhao Meizhen, to make him some ginger soup. After drinking it, he went back to his bedroom and went to bed.
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Song Tianyao was awakened by the noise in the street. He got out of bed, pulled back the curtains, and looked out. The neighbors were standing by their chamber pots, waiting for the women who would empty them. Every now and then, a neighbor would lift the wooden lid of someone else's chamber pot to peek inside, and then shout and yell.
The tenement buildings on Tai Wo Street were built in the 1930s before the war. Unlike the newer tenement buildings built after the war, they did not have convenient flush toilets. During the day, residents could use the public toilets for men and women at the end of the street, but at night they had to use their own wooden chamber pots. So every morning, women who collected excrement would push wooden carts to the street to empty the chamber pots and transport them to the countryside in the New Territories to fertilize the fields. On ordinary days, residents would not wait downstairs to empty the chamber pots; they could simply leave their chamber pots downstairs. But today, the women were all standing downstairs discussing the matter.
"My son ate three medicinal candies that Auntie Zhen had Ah Hui give him last night, and he pooped out more than a dozen worms!"
"My husband also passed over a dozen worms! This medicinal candy is more effective than Ganji Powder). He had abdominal pain before, and the pharmacy prescribed Ganji Powder for three days, but he didn't pass a single worm!"
"Old Wang next door pooped out six or seven poops, it was terrifying! One of them was even moving!"
"Huh? You even know that Old Wang next door is taking a dump?"
The woman who was busy emptying chamber pots onto the latrine cart was also shouting, "I've been emptying chamber pots for over ten years, and this is the first time I've seen so many insects! Every household has at least a dozen in their toilet, it's terrifying! My scalp is tingling! What kind of magic medicine did they take, some kind of 'Ganji Powder' or some kind of Zhe Gu Cai?"
Song Tianyao's previous concerns about the Flower Pagoda Candy vanished immediately upon hearing the sounds from downstairs. This indicated that the Flower Pagoda Candy, which contained Santonin Deworming Tablets, was effective in expelling worms. Moreover, although the women in the neighborhood downstairs didn't look too good, they didn't show any signs of poisoning such as lethargy or severe abdominal pain.
At this moment, Zhao Meizhen also came downstairs carrying a chamber pot. As soon as she appeared, the women and gossipy old ladies on the street surrounded her, asking all sorts of questions:
"Auntie Zhen, Ah Hui said last night that the medicinal candy was sent by your family? It worked really well, all the worms came out!"
"Yes, do you have any extra medicine, Auntie Zhen? My husband was working at the dock last night and didn't come home to sleep. If you have any extra, a few more pills would be helpful."
"Auntie Zhen is too generous. She handed out medicated candies to almost every household on the street. These medicated candies are really effective at killing worms, much better than those awful- Ganji Powders. My son ate them like candy, and after he finished them, he kept chasing after me asking for more. I asked him, did you make these candies yourself, Auntie Zhen, or did you buy them? Where did you buy these candies?"
Zhao Meizhen was always the most attention-seeking person in the Squatter Area. Now, surrounded by neighbors, she tried her best to stand straight, her short frame conveying a sense of composure. However, lacking the necessary shrewdness, although she tried to suppress the joy of being fawned over, her mouth involuntarily parted into a wide grin.
"This is something my Tianyao specially asked me to share with the neighbors! We've moved to Tai Wo Street, so of course we want to say hello and visit everyone. This medicine candy is a little gift for our first meeting."
She didn't actually know where Song Tianyao got those medicinal candies, so she changed the subject, mentioning again that Song Tianyao was the secretary of the second young Chu Family. Naturally, this made the neighbors around her extremely envious, thinking that these medicines must be for sale by the Chu Family Trading Company. They all praised Song Tianyao's family for being generous and caring towards the neighbors. Meanwhile, Song Tianyao had already dressed and was hurrying downstairs towards the street. Even in the noisy crowd, Zhao Meizhen was observant and heard everything around her. Seeing her son coming downstairs to leave, she called out to Song Tianyao, "Going off to the border so early in the morning?"
"Get to work," Song Tianyao said without turning his head.
Regardless of what Shek Chi-yik and his wife considered, the herbicide for deworming from the Santonin in the warehouse had to be taken out and made into Pagoda Candy. Otherwise, the original dosage of the medicine was too large, with serious toxic side effects, and it would not be able to be sold. It would just sit in the warehouse and wait to get moldy.
This batch of medicine is the stepping stone for his boss Chu Xiaoxin to gain a foothold in Hong Kong, the favorable wind for Song Tianyao to take advantage of in the future, and the sharp blade used to help Likang's embargoed goods business open up a new situation.
Chapter 103 Zhang Yuliang's Appearance
Chunhe Private Club in Shek Tong Tsui is the only high-end private club built in the Shek Tong Tsui area after the war.
Before the fall of Hong Kong, Shui Hang Hau and Shek Tong Tsui were the most famous red-light districts and dens of iniquity on Hong Kong Island. Countless brothels with elegant names inscribed by famous literati and scholars, as well as numerous private clubs designed and built by foreign architects, once attracted Hong Kong's wealthy merchants and noblemen to seek out women and indulge in pleasure.
After the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the once-glittering and decadent Shek Tong Tsui was reduced to ashes by the war. Even after its restoration, it never regained its former glory. Although some private clubs, restaurants, and eateries reopened, they were no longer as prestigious as the famous clubs before the war, and it seemed that those seeking pleasure no longer had the same desire to spend lavishly for a laugh. Shek Tong Tsui never returned to the wealthy scene of numerous clubs and throngs of merchants that it had before the war.
Of all the entertainment venues built here after the war, the only one that could rival the pre-war private clubs was the Chunhe Private Club.
This five-story building, designed by a Britain architect, features a Britain -style stainless steel truss structure. Its specifications are modeled after the Government House and the detached villas of high-ranking Britain officials. The steel bars used in the overall structure of the clubhouse were imported from Canada, and the marble steps at the entrance are made of top-quality natural materials ordered from Italy. Due to its elevated location overlooking the sea, even the glass in this clubhouse is imported thickened glass with bronze window frames, capable of withstanding the severe weather conditions caused by Hong Kong's frequent typhoons.
At this moment, in the café on the second floor of the club, several young men and women were scattered around the various seats, chatting quietly to the accompaniment of elegant jazz trumpet and soprano saxophone tunes played by a small band in a corner.