Deceive Them All, Kill Them All (Continued)
Pointy-Headed Lang and Chen Zhongying (14K) were previously in charge of managing the Yellow Arsenic factory. The Huangzhi Brothers were his direct disciples. They had visited the Yellow Arsenic factory many times. Although they did not understand the refining technology, they were the people who knew the most about Yellow Arsenic refining, Wo On Lok. When he saw Su Wenting and the others looking at him, he nodded slightly, indicating that the pungent smell was the same as the smell emitted when the Yellow Arsenic factory at 14K was producing arsenic.
Previously, there was no guard when entering the rubber plantation, but now the factory was heavily guarded. Moreover, the China person who had not been seen in the rubber plantation before seemed to have all gathered around the factory. More than twenty young Chinese men, some holding old-fashioned rifles and others carrying sharp machetes, were patrolling around the small factory. When some Malay rubber tappers approached the factory, the young men immediately made a "hissing" sound, like shooing away animals, to drive them away.
"Firearms were illegally stored in the rubber plantation..." After exchanging glances Wo On Lok the other Big Brother, Su Wenting finally spoke up with a sigh.
Zheng Zhizhong led the group into the factory, casually remarking, "These days in Malaysia, which rubber plantation larger than fifty acres doesn't have a dozen or so guns hidden inside? Otherwise, it's easy for foreign devils to use the pretext of arresting the Malayan Communist Party to storm into the plantation, burning, killing, and looting."
"Doesn't your possession of guns give them an even bigger excuse? Doesn't that turn the Malayan Communist Party into the Malayan Communist Party as well?"
"The Chinese who are still able to do business peacefully now naturally can't be related to the Malayan Communist Party. We've already got the connections with the Britain. The foreigners actually know there's no Malayan Communist Party here; they're just looking for an opportunity and an excuse to rob us. If we're not armed, we'll be robbed for nothing. But if we have guns, and they dare to rush in, we can shoot them dead. In the end, we'll just have to pay some compensation to the Britain; it won't ruin our entire business." Zheng Zhizhong explained to the group, "These people are my men, not workers."
As they spoke, the group had already entered the factory workshop. There were only a dozen or so busy workers in the workshop, all of whom were Chinese, almost half the size of their group of more than thirty visitors.
At this moment, the workers in the workshop were working in an orderly manner. Five large enamel basins were being heated by a strong fire. Two workers were carefully placing a stack of grayish-white bricks into the heated basins, while two workers wearing masks were pouring a lot of liquid that looked like clear water from two tin buckets. After weighing it on a scale, they also poured it into the basins.
"These are the tobacco blanks." Zheng Zhizhong picked up a grayish-white brick from the side and introduced it to the people in Wo On Lok. "They are extracted from opium. It takes ten catties of raw opium to make two tobacco blanks. You have to mix this stuff with acetic acid and other ingredients in a certain proportion, and then heat and boil it for a full eight hours to complete the first step."
Everyone at Wo On Lok curiously took the opium brick and examined it. Although Wo On Lok had many Opium dens in Hong Kong, Yellow Arsenic was still a novelty to them.
"Boss Zheng, your factory is too small. It's not even as impressive as the high-end Opium dens under our On Lok Hall. The amount of Yellow Arsenic you produce in a month might not even be enough for the daily output of those Opium dens under the On Lok Hall," the Pointy-Headed Lang sniffed and asked Zheng Zhizhong.
Zheng Zhizhong snorted, somewhat annoyed, and said, "Small?"
He strode to a cabinet at the far end of the workshop, opened the door, and took out a packet of Yellow Arsenic inside. He picked up a small amount with his little fingernail and said to the Pointy-Headed Lang, "This much on my fingernail is enough for a smoker's entire day! This one packet is enough to feed two hundred people in a Yellow Arsenic restaurant every day. My factory processes sixty catties of Yellow Arsenic a day. Even if you got all the smokers in Hong Kong to switch to Yellow Arsenic, I could afford it. Besides, the factory can keep expanding. The more you need, the more I can expand..."
"Boss, the Britain have brought military police into the rubber plantation!" Zheng Zhizhong was introducing the situation to Su Wenting and the others when one of Zheng Zhizhong men rushed in and said.
Seeing the change in expression on Su Wenting's and the others' faces, and even several of his henchmen reaching for the weapons they had hidden on their bodies, Zheng Zhizhong calmly put the Yellow Arsenic back down from his fingertips. "It's nothing, nothing. The Britain don't concern themselves with these things. They're just here to collect some fees. Don't worry, I'll be right back."
As soon as Zheng Zhizhong finished speaking, he walked outside. Without Su Wenting's instruction, four of Wo On Lok's Red Pole immediately followed behind Zheng Zhizhong to prevent him from doing anything underhanded.
Almost every one of Su Wenting's men was equipped with a pistol in Sarawak, the capital of Kuching. After all, Malaysia is not Wo On Lok's territory, and it is not exactly peaceful, so everything must be done with caution. Therefore, Su Wenting had already instructed that if there were any problems with Zheng Zhizhong, his men should immediately take Zheng Zhizhong hostage at gunpoint and retreat to Kuching. They Wo On Lok still had some connections in Kuching and could arrange to board a ship back to port at any time.
The others stayed in the workshop to continue watching the workers process the materials. Not long after, Zheng Zhizhong returned to the workshop with a gloomy face. The four Red Pole who were following him quietly shook their heads at Su Wenting, indicating that there was no problem outside.
"Damn it, sorry Mr. Su, Big Brother, something's come up. We'll go back to Kuching for a few days and have some fun, then come back when things calm down," Zheng Zhizhong cursed as he addressed the group in the workshop.
Su Wenting asked calmly, "Mr. Zheng, what happened here?"
"The Britain said that the Opium Prohibition Association of New Fuzhou has been causing trouble again. They reported to them that I was growing opium and refining drugs on my rubber plantation. So the Britain informed me to stop production until the military, police, and the Opium Prohibition Association come to investigate. Only after they find no evidence can production resume." Zheng Zhizhong seemed quite dissatisfied with this news. "I originally wanted to negotiate the business directly with Mr. Su, but now it seems better to go to Kuching or Sandakan. The Opium Prohibition Association of New Fuzhou is difficult to deal with. Although it's an association established by Chinese, even the Britain have to give them some face now."
Hearing that they were going back to Kuching, Su Wenting and the others breathed a sigh of relief. They had already seen the factory and knew that Zheng Zhizhong did indeed know how to produce Yellow Arsenic. No matter how much he could produce each day, as long as he could guarantee timely delivery, that was fine. Moreover, payment would be made after the goods arrived in Hong Kong, so they were not worried that he could cheat Wo On Lok out of his money.