"Really... give me this gold bar?" the woman asked Song Tianyao uncertainly.
Although Hong Kong is now hailed as having been restored to its former glory, both the Britain and the Chinese in Hong Kong colony are actually gripped by a sense of war panic, as if a dark cloud is hanging over their heads. The fear is that the People's Republic of Mainland China has been established and may at any time send the powerful People's Liberation Army to forcibly reclaim Hong Kong, a British Far East colony. Moreover, Britain's involvement in the Korean War has made the Hong Kong even more uneasy, fearing that after the Korean War ends, the mainland will retaliate against Britain for its participation and make Hong Kong the next battlefield.
Therefore, in Hong Kong, whether rich or poor, officials or businessmen, everyone is trying to exchange their paper money for gold. The nearly ten-year dark period of Japanese occupation has taught everyone living in Hong Kong a lesson: no matter how much paper money is printed or how much money you save, it is not as valuable as gold.
If someone hears that a certain gold shop offers slightly lower gold prices than others, a queue stretching for three or four miles will immediately form outside that shop, with people waiting to buy gold.
Song Tianyao said, "It's not for you, it's half for you, Miss. I'm not as generous as you say. You pay me two thousand Hong Kong dollars, and then this gold bar is yours."
A gold bar like this, if exchanged for cash at a small gold shop at the price of stolen goods, would fetch three thousand five hundred Hong Kong dollars. However, if you keep it and have it made into simple jewelry, or save it and slowly sell it to a large gold shop when gold is in short supply, you could get five or six thousand dollars. Moreover, the woman had seen everything that had just happened. She bit her red lips with her pearly teeth:
"Okay, I'll go borrow some money from my sisters first."
After saying that, she stood up, holding her pipa, bowed to Song Tianyao, and walked briskly towards the stairs.
After the woman disappeared down the stairs, Song Tianyao smiled at Zhao Wenye and said, "Isn't your cousin shameful enough to try and steal tips from Songstress?"
The woman moved quickly; in just five or six minutes, she returned with a stack of fifty-dollar Hong Kong dollars in her slender, fair fingers. It seemed she had borrowed them from the other Songstress, since the rules on this ship dictated that Songstress charged fifty dollars for each drink.
"Here's two thousand Hong Kong dollars, sir." The woman handed the banknotes to Song Tianyao, Song Tianyao didn't even count them, taking half and putting it in his wallet. He then handed the other half to Zhao Wenye, and then gave the gold bar to the woman. "I should thank you, young lady."
Until the woman held the gold in her hands, clutching it tightly and feeling its cool, heavy texture, she couldn't believe it was real.
Last night, when I played music, this man casually gave me two hundred Hong Kong dollars. Tonight, when I played music again, he directly rewarded me with a gold bar.
With this gold bar, I won't need to...
To the woman's surprise, after handing her the gold bar, Song Tianyao looked at her with gentle eyes and said in a relaxed tone, "With this gold bar, you should be able to take off this gaudy outfit, wash off your makeup, and get a good night's sleep. If you still can't deal with the guy who wants to sleep with you tonight, you can use that gold bar to scare him and let him know that someone can protect you with a gold bar, and also find him with a watermelon knife to teach him a lesson."
After saying that, Song Tianyao called out to Zhao Wenye, and the two disappeared at the top of the stairs on the third floor.
The woman could no longer maintain her cold and aloof demeanor. She covered her mouth in surprise and turned to look at Song Tianyao, only to find that the handsome young man had already walked down the stairs without looking back.
It was only then that the woman realized that despite Song Tianyao's generous gifts, he hadn't even asked her name.
Only after returning to land on a sampan did Zhao Wenye, following behind Song Tianyao, clutch a full thousand Hong Kong dollars, ask:
"Brother Yiu, the money you gave me..."
"This isn't for you. Give five hundred yuan to your mom; she's not well, so she should use it to buy medicine. Take the remaining five hundred yuan to my mom's house. I know her best. Her son is the Chu Family's secretary; if she doesn't go around showing off in the Squatter Area, that wouldn't be her. This money is for what she's spent lately. Also, tell her to be careful with it; I haven't had any money to take home recently." Song Tianyao waved to the rickshaws waiting for seafood restaurant business not far away. The two closest rickshaws immediately started turning, their spokes making a loud noise, and sped over like the wind.
Zhao Wenye watched Song Tianyao get into a rickshaw and asked, "Brother Yiu, if you're short of money, why did you generously tip that woman a gold bar?"
Wouldn't it make my aunt's whole family even happier if I took that gold bar home?
"That woman looked terrible in that bright pink cheongsam, and she was wearing light makeup with her hair tied up. I was chatting with a waiter at Lu Yu Teahouse yesterday, and he mentioned that while the Songstress at the seafood restaurant dressed gaudyly, they wouldn't change their outfits too much to avoid upsetting regular customers. That woman looked like a completely different person last night and tonight. Maybe she was forced to go out because she owed money, so she just put on a simple bride makeup and was taken to bed as soon as the restaurant closed. Seeing how unwilling she was, I just helped her out. Besides, it doesn't matter if the gold bar is spent in a brothel, but it's not something you can just throw away on yourself... Never mind, you go home yourself, I'll go to a hotel." Song Tianyao wanted to explain further to Zhao Wenye, but seeing that his cousin wasn't very perceptive, he sighed and said to the rickshaw driver, "Dulles Hotel."
The rickshaw driver's eyes lit up, and he readily agreed, pulling Song Tianyao along the road. He figured the young man going to the Dulles Hotel would definitely pay him well when he got off, and if he said a few more flattering words along the way, he might even earn a few extra dollars in tips.
The rickshaw carried Song Tianyao away, and Zhao Wenye got into another rickshaw, carefully putting the money away on his body. "Excuse me, Jialin Road Squatter Area."
The driver, with a pained expression, agreed and pulled Zhao Wenye towards the Squatter Area Jialin Road Lam Pier Road, a place where the poor of Hong Kong lived. Unlike the other driver, he only wanted the young man in the rickshaw to not shortchange him on his fare after they were delivered.