Lou Fengyun almost laughed when Song Tianyao mentioned Scribe Hui's impatient yet helpless expression. She walked to the table, dialed Scribe Hui Tianming Company number, and after the call was connected, called Scribe Hui over to answer the phone. Lou Fengyun said, "Ah Hui, A-Yao wants to talk to you."
As she spoke, Lou Fengyun handed the phone receiver to Song Tianyao. Song Tianyao removed his hand from his brow and took the phone. "Scribe Hui?"
Lou Fengyun walked behind Song Tianyao and gently massaged his forehead and brow. Lately, Song Tianyao seemed to be rubbing his brow and forehead more and more often, and she wondered what he was thinking about all day.
"Mr. Song?" came the voice of the Scribe Hui, from the other end of the phone. "You're looking for me?"
"What the hell are you doing right now?" Song Tianyao asked casually.
Without even thinking, the Scribe Hui replied, "Me? I just took a shower because I was sweating a lot. When I heard you calling to find me, I just put on my pants and..."
"Damn it! I'm asking you what important business you're doing right now, are you busy, can you spare some time? I don't want to know if you've even taken a shower!"
"Uh... I've recently partnered with Miss Wanqing's Dad, Mr. Meng, to make a garment factory to produce military uniforms for the barracks. Mr. Meng oversees the factory, and I'm just responsible for running errands between the garment factory and the barracks, taking measurements, and such. Does Mr. Song have anything for me to do?" When the Scribe Hui, heard Song Tianyao scolding him, he didn't seem to feel even a little uncomfortable. His tone didn't show any emotional fluctuation, which showed that he was already used to Song Tianyao scolding him.
"Do you still remember that India guy who told you about Xia Zuoji doing business with the Japan when Hong Kong fell to the Japanese, and then you spread the word among the various military camps?" Song Tianyao took two deep breaths and asked in a softer tone.
He cursed at the other person until they were unmoved, Song Tianyao was too lazy to curse anymore. If he couldn't change Scribe Hui, he had to learn to adapt to that bastard's unreliability.
"It's been a long time, let me think... It was just now when I was delivering food to the barracks, you asked me which barterer had the best relationship with the Foreign Devil in the barracks. I said it was Xia Zuoji, and you asked me to find someone to look into it. I found an India too... Remember! Mei Dirang, the India guy Mei Dirang. He also bartered with the barracks back then. He said that Xia Zuoji used to do business with the Japan army, and that guy had a very bad relationship with Xia Zuoji. He always said that Xia Zuoji's family killed his Dad." The Scribe Hui mumbled in his mind for a while, finally remembering a name.
Speaking of this, Scribe Hui couldn't help but admire himself. The India guy, Xia Zuoji, had always been trusted by the quartermaster in the barracks, and he spoke English. However, Song Tianyao had Scribe Hui inquire about Xia Zuoji's whereabouts, and within days, all the barracks in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories knew that Xia Zuoji had done business with the Japanese army when Hong Kong fell to the Japan. This immediately alienated Xia Zuoji from all the barracks, and even the Nationalist Army stopped paying attention to him. The culprit was none other than Scribe Hui, who, with his silver tongue, spread Xia Zuoji's dark history like a gossip. Whenever he thought about this, Scribe Hui couldn't help but compare it to Song Tianyao's scheme against the Zhang Family, believing he had already acquired half of Secretary Song's cunning and knew how to gossip behind people's backs.
If Song Tianyao knew that his Scribe Hui was mistaking his scheming for gossip, he might not be able to resist killing him.
"Do you know where that guy named Mei Dirang is now?" Song Tianyao continued to ask.
After a moment's thought, Scribe Hui, said, "I remember, I remember. The other India guy lived on Lascar Street, but Mei Dirang her whole family of twenty or thirty people live on Stamp Street in Sheung Wan Market. They ran a small India restaurant and a bicycle shop, selling and repairing bicycles."
"Go see him and tell him that hair is very profitable in Hong Kong right now. You're planning to cooperate with him. He'll be responsible for importing the hair from India, and you'll be responsible for selling it. Each 30-centimeter Braid will cost one Hong Kong dollars. If you think the price is too low, we can negotiate." Song Tianyao gently held Lou Fengyun's hand, which was massaging his temples, and slowly said, thinking through his thoughts, "Just tell him that you received news that Xia Zuoji's hair is too expensive, and some factories are no longer planning to get their goods from him and are preparing to switch to an India supplier. You know a few factory owners; ask them if they have any connections to get hair from India so you can all make money together. If he doesn't believe you, tell him that the factories can sign a contract for 10,000 Braids first, and you'll be paid in cash immediately upon arrival in Hong Kong."
"Uh... ah..." After hearing Song Tianyao's instructions, Scribe Hui hesitated to hang up the phone and act immediately. Instead, he uttered various onomatopoeic words in a hesitant manner on the other end of the line.
Hearing this, Song Tianyao frowned. "Are you taking a dump? What the hell are you yelling about? Speak your mind!"
"Mr. Song, the cost of ten thousand Braids... you're not suggesting Tianming Company should advance the money, are you? You know, we just took out a loan of 500,000 to open the garment factory, and I'm living in constant fear..."
"Are you out of your mind?!" Song Tianyao was so angry with his Scribe Hui, that his brain was probably smaller than a cockroach's. He'd given him a task, and the first thing Hui thought about was who would pay for the contract, making it seem like he was about to swindle ten thousand yuan from Tianming Company without any explanation. "I would swindle ten thousand yuan from you? Of course, the factory will pay. Once you've settled things, you can take the contract to the factory and ask Sister Yun for the money!"
"Hehe, I got it. I'm going to eat shit... no, I'm going to do my job, Mr. Song." Having received Song Tianyao's affirmative reply that he didn't need to pay out of his own pocket, the Scribe Hui hung up the phone feeling refreshed.
After hanging up the phone, Song Tianyao couldn't help but laugh. He closed his eyes and said to Lou Fengyun, "If that bastard Scribe Hui, suddenly becomes normal one day and stops being scolded by me, I doubt he'll even get used to it."
Dijang Mei Zhenni, India known as Mei Dirang in Hong Kong, is squatting in front of a bicycle, inspecting the chain. He is 35 years old and is now the head of the Mei Zhenni family, the eldest brother. Before the fall of Hong Kong, his family ran an India restaurant and a foreign goods store, and were considered upper-middle class among India in Hong Kong.
His father died during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, murdered by the Japan military police for supplying controlled materials such as batteries to the Nationalist Army. While the Mei Zhenni family did indeed run a battery business, the Nationalist Army had already fled after the Japan invasion of Hong Kong; how could his father possibly still be supplying batteries to the Nationalist Army?