If You Can Still Pick Up a Knife, Fight One More Battle
"This is what I mean by cause and effect. If Boss Feng hadn't kicked your brother out of the house because of family matters, he would have been filled with resentment, become addicted to smoking, and wouldn't have died young. My third uncle wouldn't have met my third aunt, Yunzhi wouldn't have become my sister, and we wouldn't have this meal today. This is the result of the cause you planted back then, and today is the same as back then. Boss Feng, there's something I want to ask you clearly: when my third aunt went from the Lin Family to the Feng Family, did she only have a Mui Tsai certificate or did she get a proper marriage certificate? What kind of cause you plant, what kind of effect you will reap in the future. No one can help you with that." Song Tianyao put down his chopsticks and said casually.
Feng Yichang wiped his slightly sweaty forehead with a handkerchief.
He knew, of course, how Lin Yujing ended up in the Feng Family. It was his mother, who was still alive at the time, and the eldest wife of the Lin Family who arranged for Lin Yujing to be married off to the Feng Family in name only. They claimed it was a daughter's marriage, but in reality, it was Mui Tsai's sale. The daughter could fight for the family property if she made a fuss, but the Mui Tsai who was sold would have no connection with her original family anymore, and they wouldn't be afraid even if it ended up in court.
"Although there was indeed a marriage certificate for Yunzhi's Mui Tsai that came to the Feng Family back then, with the passage of time and the chaos of war, that certificate has long been lost. I can say that Yunzhi's mother married into the Lin Family openly and legitimately, but the Lin Family should still have a copy, which will be exposed." Feng Yichang thought for a moment and said truthfully.
Song Tianyao wore a warm smile on his face:
"None of that has anything to do with Boss Feng. If the Lin Family exposes us and problems arise, I, Song Tianyao, will take full responsibility. Today, I only ask Boss Feng and the entire Feng Family to testify for me if necessary, and say that my third aunt was lawfully married into the Feng Family back then, and not sold into the Lin Family as a Mui Tsai. You reap what you sow. Boss Feng, will you help me or not?"
Chapter 398 If I can still pick up a knife, I'll fight another battle.
At the To Kwa Wan pier, Lei Yingdong, wearing a dirty overcoat, emerged from the hold of a diesel cargo ship, still sleepy-eyed. He impatiently asked his men a couple of questions, but when he saw Huang Liu squatting at the bow smoking and playing with the guard dog kept on board, he paused for a moment, then walked over, handed the dog—which was tightly chained but still baring its teeth and jumping and barking at Huang Liu— to his men to take to the stern, and only then did he speak, yawning:
"Brother Six, you came to my boat at noon to harass the male dog and disturb my sleep. Don't you have any sense of public decency? Last night, some of our cargo was detained by Big Tin Yi, and I was busy until dawn to get the money to settle it. I was already furious enough. I finally managed to get some sleep, and you come here again?"
He worked on ships at sea without a fixed schedule, but he mostly loaded cargo and set sail at night, rarely going out to sea during the day. Last night, a cargo ship carrying diesel fuel was overtaken by Lei Yingdong near the waters off Macau. The ship demanded three million dollars, threatening to kill him and sink the ship if he didn't get the money. Lei Yingdong spent most of the night trying to get Lee Kuen, a local Crossing-the-River Pawn, to help him. In the end, he spent 300,000 Hong Kong dollars and gave Lee Kuen's men 50,000 dollars for travel expenses, finally managing to bring the ship and cargo back.
Huang Liu flicked his cigarette butt into the sea, got up, hooked his arm around Lei Yingdong's neck, and pulled him to the railing at the bow of the boat, teasingly saying, "My boss asked me to ask you if you'd be interested in having dinner at his house tonight. I saw this dog is fat enough, how about we have dog meat hot pot tonight?"
Lei Yingdong was very uncomfortable with Huang Liu's actions. When Huang Liu hooked his neck, Lei Yingdong's hand went to his waist. Several of his men in the distance did the same thing.
"Damn it, you're overthinking it. I wouldn't kidnap a poor bastard like him even if I had to. Let's go, let's go, stand further away, even further away." Huang Liu said without turning his head.
Lei Yingdong waved his hand, signaling his men to keep a safe distance from him and Huang Liu.
"A-Yao is so busy right now, he probably won't be in the mood to treat me to a meal. I'm afraid he has ulterior motives, so I'd better not," Lei Yingdong said casually.
As he spoke, Huang Liu whispered in his ear, "My boss has a shipment he'd like you to help transport."
"Medicinal herbs, wigs, what kind of stuff could he possibly need me to transport? Why go through all this trouble like a secret rendezvous? A simple phone call would have sufficed!" Hearing Huang Liu's secretive manner, only to discover it was just Song Tianyao asking him to help transport goods, Lei Yingdong's hard-won drowsiness returned. He unconsciously yawned, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and put it in his mouth to stay awake. "Can't I arrange a big ship for him temporarily? Let me go get some sleep."
"Two hundred kilograms of rubber tree seeds, one hundred rubber saplings," Huang Liu said in a very low voice and at a very fast pace. "The ship will be off the coast of Hong Kong at ten o'clock tonight. If no one picks up the goods, the ship will sail directly into Hong Kong and be inspected by Customs. Then the person who shipped the goods and the ship owner will be waiting to be..."
As Huang Liu spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture.
When Lei Yingdong heard about the 200 kilograms of rubber tree seeds, he almost dropped the cigarette he was holding!
He looked at Huang Liu in disbelief.
Now he finally understood why Song Tianyao hadn't called, but instead sent Huang Liu to see him in person.
Having risked his life smuggling countless goods from Hong Kong to the mainland, he naturally knew which goods were the hardest to obtain. Finished rubber products weren't difficult to acquire; the most difficult thing was obtaining high-quality rubber tree varieties. There were rubber plantations in Hainan, Mainland China, but the local rubber tree varieties were inferior, resulting in low yields and poor quality rubber. There was a lack of excellent original varieties for cultivation and observation, hindering the development of high-quality rubber varieties. He had received such requests, but no Chinese rubber plantation owners dared to do business with him because of the Embargo Order. The United States Embargo Order on rubber-producing countries listed rubber tree varieties as the top priority, and anyone found supplying tree varieties to China was likely to be executed or imprisoned, and their entire family could even be considered China spies—it was even more dangerous than smuggling arms.
"Tell me the route of the other party's cargo ship and the rendezvous method. I will personally take the fastest small boat to Shenzhen, find two other ships to load some steel plates and medicine, and use them to attract the attention of the Britain sailors. This is a matter that could cost us our lives, and we must keep it a secret. There can be no mistakes." Lei Yingdong said to Huang Liu after taking several puffs of his cigarette.
Huang Liu patted Lei Yingdong on the shoulder. "My boss said that as long as you're willing to do it, he'll give you this batch of goods."