Otherwise, why would he need to personally engage in such a small business as bartering with the military camp?
Now that I can't get the procurement business for the military, I have to think of other business opportunities. Or maybe I should follow the example of the Mei Zhenni family and open a small garment workshop?
As he drove his truck, he kept pondering who could have leaked his family's business dealings with Japan soldiers during the Japanese occupation to the British Army, causing the Britain soldiers, who used to always greet him with a smile, to now be too lazy to even greet him? China person? Unlikely. Why would China person think of attacking an India? They were too busy with their own business struggles. Only India would be so likely.
After much thought, Xia Zuoji concluded that the only person who could have told the Britain soldiers about his dark past was his fellow countryman Mei Zhenni, who had always held a grudge against him for being the first to cooperate with the Japan.
Just then, a truck loaded with vegetables and grains suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, blocking Xia Zuoji's car. The passenger door of the truck opened, and Gao Minghui Xia Zuoji, who was now the designated grain and vegetable purchaser for the British Army military camps in Hong Kong, the New Territories, Kowloon, jumped out and walked towards his car with a smile on his face.
"Boss Xia, it's perfect to run into you. I have something to tell you." Scribe Hui stood outside Xia Zuoji's car window, waved, and said loudly.
Xia Zuoji rolled down the car window, his displeasure undisguised, and asked in fluent China, "What is it?"
"My boss wants to do business with you and asked me to arrange a meeting between you and him at nine o'clock tonight at the Daliang Restaurant in Kowloon," the Scribe Hui said to Xia Zuoji. "You're in luck; you're about to strike it rich."
"Your boss?" Xia Zuoji frowned at Scribe Hui: "Aren't you the boss yourself?"
Scribe Hui, wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve, showing no air of a boss whatsoever. "I'm hardly a boss. I'm just running errands for my boss. But the fact that I'm called 'boss' by outsiders just because I run errands shows how generous my boss is. If he's willing to do business with you, it'll be hard for you to be poor. I'll go deliver the vegetables first. Remember, nine o'clock tonight, Kowloon Daliang Restaurant."
After saying that, he hurriedly returned to his truck, sat down, and had the driver start the car, heading towards the Shek Kong Camp behind Xia Zuoji.
Xia Zuoji parked the truck on the side of the road, pondering the cryptic words spoken by his Scribe Hui. Gao Minghui's boss? Doing business with him? His family owned nothing but a small grocery store; what business could they possibly have? Did they need to talk to an India like him? Don't China person usually prefer doing business with their fellow countrymen?
Lei Yingdong, a cigarette dangling from his lips, rummaged through the cabin and pulled out two cans of Kirin Beer from Japan. He turned and walked out of the cabin, tossing one can to Song Tianyao, who had run outside for some fresh air because he couldn't stand the diesel fuel and the stench of sweat in the cabin. He then pulled the tab and took a sip himself before walking over to Song Tianyao and leaning against the railing, gazing at the sea.
"You came to see me at the pier right after getting off the plane? Should I be flattered or afraid that you like men?"
"What's your relationship with South China Company like?" Song Tianyao didn't open his beer, but instead, with a cigarette between his fingers, turned to Lei Yingdong and asked bluntly.
The name "Nanhua" in South China Company, when reversed, means "South China." This company, which had offices in Macau and Shenzhen, was actually established by the South China Regional Committee of China specifically to procure materials that were in short supply due to the Embargo Order.
Lei Yingdong was taken aback. "Why are you asking this question?"
"Women's Braids, no more than one Hong Kong dollars each, as many as you want. Could you ask the South China Company to help collect women's long braids on the mainland?" Song Tianyao flicked his cigarette ash and stared at Lei Yingdong as he asked.
Lei Yingdong took another sip of beer. "I knew you wouldn't be so kind as to help me for nothing. But why do you have long hair?"
"It's not that I want it, it's that I'm telling you to start stockpiling a batch of hair now. In a few months, you'll be thanking me." Song Tianyao popped open a beer bottle, and Lei Yingdong said.
"My relationship with South China Company is alright, I should be able to receive it. At worst, we can barter, exchange medicine for hair. But why would I hoard so much hair for no reason? Explain yourself! I hate being so secretive." Lei Yingdong said to Song Tianyao with dissatisfaction.
Song Tianyao took a sip of beer, opened his arms to the sea breeze, and said, "I could have made money peacefully, but the kind of person I am just like to stir things up. I want to make money off the United States, take care of my own China person on the mainland, and incidentally, even pick the peaches that the India have worked so hard to grow. Do you think I have a serious illness? I've always felt that if people are like casino cheats, seeing through all the cards they're dealt in their lives, it's actually quite boring. The unknown is what makes it exciting. If you already know for sure that you'll be a millionaire someday, what's the fun in that? It's much more exciting to be chased by Big Tin Yi or Britain sailors while sailing at sea tomorrow, isn't it?"
"You're such a jinx! Big Brother, I really am going to sea tomorrow, can you give me a good omen? I don't understand what you're talking about. If it were me, I'd rather make money peacefully. Of course you're sick, are you seriously ill? Let me show you what it's like to be chased by the British Army with machine guns at sea, I guarantee you'd pee your pants in fear. The unknown is what makes things exciting, I'm not going to believe you." Lei Yingdong wiped the moisture from his face and said, "Once I've saved enough money, I'll go ashore and do some small business to make a living. But you're right about one thing: if I knew now how much money I, Lei Yingdong, would have in the future, and what I would become, it would be really boring. What everyone becomes in the future isn't predetermined, it's something you achieve through your own efforts. Hey, after saying all this, you transferred a hundred boxes of medicine from your pharmacy to me at the original price just so I could help you collect your long hair back home?"
"I told you, you weren't helping me, you were doing it yourself." Song Tianyao yawned and downed his beer in one gulp. "I'm leaving, I have two more people to meet."
Chapter Twenty-One Dinner
"Darling, you don't seem to be in a good mood?" With the help of the maid, Mrs. Bess changed into a simple yet elegant cotton dress in front of the dressing mirror before walking up to Shek Chi-yik herself, straightening the hem of her husband's shirt, and asking gently.