"It's hard to say whether a secretary can even beat Brother Hui. Are you trying to send Secretary Song to his death by saying that?" Nine-Tattooed Dragon curled his lip and said disdainfully when he heard Scribe Hui mention Song Tianyao again.
Scribe Hui casually slapped Nine-Tattooed Dragon on the head several times in succession. "Damn it! Secretary Song would throw his life away? He's brain-dead! Unlike you and me, no, unlike you, who only have stupid strength, Secretary Song would be willing to help you get revenge. He only needs to say a few words, and that Handkerchief Qing can order a coffin in advance!"
"Say a few words? You make Secretary Song sound like some kind of fortune teller. Fine, then let Secretary Song help me get revenge. Let's see if she's really that amazing?" Nine-Tattooed Dragon said with a smile, rubbing his head where Scribe Hui had hit him a few times.
"Why would Secretary Song help you for no reason? If you work hard to help Secretary Song deliver vegetables and do chores now, he will naturally take care of you in the future. Forget about revenge, you'll even have women lining up to pick and choose from when you want a wife. Come on, get ready to disembark." As he spoke, Scribe Hui stood up, preparing to continue carrying the shoulder pole.
"Brother Hui, you work so hard for Secretary Song and praise him all the time, has Secretary Song ever taken care of you?" Nine-Tattooed Dragon asked curiously, following behind Scribe Hui.
Sister Fen and her daughter had a good impression of Song Tianyao, as Nine-Tattooed Dragon already knew. This was because Xianyu Shuan died saving Song Tianyao, and Song Tianyao had taken good care of the mother and daughter. However, Scribe Hui did not seem to receive any special treatment. Instead, he was often heard talking to himself and being scolded by Secretary Song. He was also exhausted from delivering vegetables all day long.
Scribe Hui picked up his carrying pole and walked to the gate to queue up. He said to Nine-Tattooed Dragon behind him, "Calculate two hundred dollars of my salary each month and deposit it with Sister Yun. She can use it as needed. Otherwise, where will I get the money to support a glutton like you? Also, my parents' ashes have been moved from the rural mortuary to Donglin Temple for worship. However, Secretary Song didn't tell me about this. Sister Yun only told me privately when I was preparing to go to the mortuary to burn incense for my parents. In his eyes, I'm the most despised good-for-nothing. He's done so much for me. Don't you think that counts as taking care of me? I'm not as smart Secretary Song, so I can only work hard, right?"
"Hey, this Secretary Song sounds nice... Get in line! Anyone else trying to push? Trying to fight?" Nine-Tattooed Dragon saw several people disembarking not following the rules and squeezing in front of Scribe Hui, so he stepped in front of Scribe Hui and forcefully pushed the people who were eager to disembark back into line. Two of them wanted to curse, but seeing Nine-Tattooed Dragon's hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles were cracking, ready to fight at any moment, they immediately lowered their heads and joined the others in queuing.
Once the line was complete, Nine-Tattooed Dragon continued, "After I deliver the vegetables, I'll go catch some eels, take them to visit Secretary Song, and ask him to help me find a wife..."
"Go to hell!" Scribe Hui kicked Nine-Tattooed Dragon from behind. "You're just a good-for-nothing! You might as well be called Nine-Tattooed Dragon! You bastard!"
Nine-Tattooed Dragon dared not speak his anger and obediently shut up and stood still. Scribe Hui's Big Brother demeanor shocked the men who had been chased to the back by Nine-Tattooed Dragon. They wondered who this guy with black-rimmed glasses and dressed as a vegetable farmer was, who could shut up the strong young man with a single kick.
As usual, the two arrived at the Sai Ying Pun Barracks. The barracks' big-nosed quartermaster Harry, was already very familiar with Scribe Hui and his companion. When other vegetable farmers brought vegetables, the quartermaster would have the soldiers check whether they were fresh. But Scribe Hui's vegetables were usually sent directly to the warehouse to be weighed and stored.
After unloading the vegetables, the Scribe Hui, pulled a crookedly written slip of paper with the quantities written on it from his pocket and handed it to the quartermaster who was watching them unload, "42 catties of radishes, 57 catties of bok choy, 51 catties of kale, 37 catties of watercress, and 35 catties of cucumber."
Several British soldiers in charge of supplies had already begun weighing the vegetables. After the weight was confirmed to be correct, the quartermaster spoke in his strange, accented Chinese, honed from dealing with vegetable farmers every day. "Gao, I need your help with something."
"What is it?" The Scribe Hui, whose real name Gao Minghui, wiped his sweat and asked the quartermaster, Harry, breathlessly, "What kind of vegetables do you need? Bok choy? Broccoli? I can ask the farmers when I get back, sir. If you need them urgently, I can deliver them to you this afternoon."
The quartermaster had often asked him to help find rare vegetables for senior officers or their wives, so he assumed Harry was just asking him to find some greens today.
"No, no, no, it's not vegetables. When you delivered vegetables to the Admiralty camp this afternoon, the quartermaster there Mr. Bruce, said the same thing to you. Mr. Bruce and I discussed this before. Gao, you're a trustworthy fellow. We had someone investigate you a few days ago and found that you're the most honest person among all those who deliver vegetables to us, even more honest than those India. You won't take advantage of us soldiers, you won't exchange a small amount of vegetables for a large amount of supplies, and you often bring my wife and children some rare vegetables separately. Mr. Bruce and I both have a very good impression of you. Now that there aren't many supplies left over from the Japan in the warehouse, we're preparing to designate you as the vegetable supplier for the three military camps on Hong Kong Island." "If you do a good job, we can also suggest that the military camps in Kowloon use you to supply vegetables. Of course, this time we actually want to ask you to purchase a batch of grain for our families. They always pay high prices for flour and rice when they buy them on the market. Those China grain merchants always think that the Britain should pay several times more for grain. You are the best person to help us save money. If you may not have enough cash for the goods, we can pay you for the grain first." Quartermaster Harry put away the slip of paper that his Scribe Hui handed him, took out a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Scribe Hui: "This is the amount of grain needed by the families of the three military camps. After you have purchased the grain, notify us and we can send army trucks to transport it back to the camps."
Scribe Hui, took the item with some skepticism. He glanced at Nine-Tattooed Dragon, who was smoking with several Britain soldiers, then at Harry, the big-nosed quartermaster, before finally asking uncertainly, "Me? Help you buy food?"
Quartermaster Harry nodded, looking earnestly at Scribe Hui with his grey-blue eyes, and said, "Your hard work, politeness, and most importantly, honesty have won the favor of the quartermasters of the three military camps on Hong Kong Island. Gao, if you do well this time and demonstrate sufficient ability, I think you can start your own small warehouse or company in the future, specializing in purchasing food and vegetables for our families. You would be a likable boss."