Recaps

Angie Pellis secured Mrs. Bess’s agreement to help establish Oxfam, then hurried to the Dulles Hotel to report back to Song Tianyao. Song told her to rest and prepare to appear as one of Oxfam’s founders at its inaugural dinner while he handled the remaining work.

• Angie Pellis left Shek Chi-yik and Mrs. Bess’s villa after breakfast, having won Mrs. Bess’s support for Oxfam and its medicine donations.
• Angie Pellis rushed by taxi to the Dulles Hotel to settle the arrangement before complications arose.
• Song Tianyao was waiting outside the hotel and told Angie Pellis to sleep, buy clothes and perfume, and attend Oxfam’s inaugural dinner as a founder.

Song Tianyao inspected the Flower Pagoda Candy production and urged Chen Qingwen to expand output for the Squatter Area. He offered Chen Qingwen a position at Likang’s new pharmaceutical factory, but Chen Tai confronted him about blocking his dock job.

• Song Tianyao left Angie Pellis at the hotel and took a taxi to Chen Qingwen’s candy shop in Sai Wan.
• Song Tianyao gave the Fuyixing underling money to buy cigarettes and food, then learned Chen Qingwen’s family and helpers had worked through the night.
• Chen Qingwen showed Song Tianyao the two hundred kilograms of medicinal candy they had made, and Song Tianyao asked him to recruit other candy shops to produce more.
• Chen Qingwen agreed to contact other shop owners, then Song Tianyao offered him a job managing Likang’s pharmaceutical factory.
• Chen Tai stopped stirring the sugar, approached Song Tianyao, and asked why he had prevented him from working at the docks.

Song Tianyao arranged for workers and a plastic bag factory to help Likang produce and package medicated Flower Pagoda Candy, then confronted Chen Tai about his recent life on the docks. Chen Tai defended his actions, still unable to see why Song Tianyao was displeased.

• Song Tianyao asked Chen Qingwen about packaging the candies and ordered custom printed plastic bags from a North Point factory.
• Song Tianyao sent Xianyu Shuan to Gao Lao Cheng for extra workers and to arrange urgent production of the bags, giving him money and cigarettes for the errand.
• Song Tianyao warned Chen Qingwen to keep the medicinal powder proportions exact because mistakes could poison people.
• Song Tianyao questioned Chen Tai about enjoying fine food, drink, and respect on the docks.
• Chen Tai explained that he had collected debts for fellow townsmen and sent his earnings home, insisting he had done nothing wrong.

Song Tianyao warned Chen Tai against entering the jianghu, but Chen Tai chose to pursue his own path. Chu Xiaoxin headed to Lichi with Song Tianyao’s money to carry out his plan, while Song Tianyao went to the Zhang Family’s European Coast Company.

• Song Tianyao urged Chen Tai to give up fighting at the docks and offered him steady work, but Chen Tai refused and left to make his own way.
• Song Tianyao accepted Chen Tai’s decision and left the shop to attend to his own plans.
• Chu Xiaoxin complained about Song Tianyao’s conditions but ordered Chen Xingfu to drive him to Lichi, determined to make those who had enjoyed his feast pay.
• Song Tianyao called someone from Likang Trading Company, then visited European Coast Company at 21 Cheung Lung Street.
• Song Tianyao entered European Coast Company and saw the young man who had protected Zhang Yuliang reading a tabloid while drinking tea.

Song Tianyao met Zhang Yuliang to negotiate renewed supplies of deworming medicine for Likang, explaining the scheme that had earned the company seven hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars. Zhang Yuliang praised the plan and recognized that Likang intended to use it for one last fortune before leaving the trade.

• Song Tianyao apologized to Zhang Yuliang for Chu Xiaoxin’s drunken insult and asked him to resume supplying Likang with deworming medicine.
• Zhang Yuliang demanded that Chu Xiaoxin kneel and apologize publicly, or that Song Tianyao reveal how Likang had profited from the medicine.
• Song Tianyao explained that Likang had repackaged deworming tablets as lung tablets for sale in Vietnam, then as Penicillin for sale on the mainland.
• Zhang Yuliang praised Song Tianyao’s scheme and observed that selling the tablets as scarce Penicillin could earn Likang several million Hong Kong dollars.

Song Tianyao failed to secure Santonin at the price he wanted after Zhang Yuliang raised the offer and revealed he planned to profit from the medicine himself. Song then went to the Cathedral of St John to prepare for Oxfam’s founding ceremony, while Zhang began arranging a scheme to sell Santonin as Penicillin.

• Zhang Yuliang offered Song Tianyao seven hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars' worth of Santonin at sixteen hundred dollars per kilogram, and Song protested that the medicine cost far less.
• Zhang told Song he was raising the price because of the insult Chu Xiaoxin had dealt him, then warned that he would let his associates profit from the medicine rather than let Chu have it.
• After Song left, Zhang instructed Lawyer Pan to register a trading company under Kuang Junlang's name and order bottles and packaging labeled Penicillin for four hundred cases.
• Zhang told Dai Feng to arrange a dinner with the young master of Jiyuan Hongxi Pharmacy and then drive him to see Wei Lin.
• Song traveled to the Cathedral of St John, where Oxfam planned to hold its founding ceremony, and expected Mrs. Bess and Shek Chi-yik to visit and donate food.

Song Tianyao met Shek Chi-yik at St John's Church to discuss how Oxfam could preserve Mrs. Bess's influence and continue its work. He asked Shek to act fairly as deputy director and acting director of the Industrial and Commercial Administration Office after a company cornered medicine supplies and doubled their price.

• Song Tianyao bought a Bible and waited until Shek Chi-yik finished praying with his family before sitting beside him.
• Song Tianyao proposed that Mrs. Bess establish a water-survey organization and later become a visiting or honorary professor at the University of Hong Kong.
• Shek Chi-yik asked what Song wanted beyond titles for Mr. Chu, and Song said he wanted Shek to do his job.
• Song Tianyao explained that a company had monopolized cheap parasite-medicine raw materials and raised the price from eight hundred to sixteen hundred Hong Kong dollars per kilogram.
• Song Tianyao asked Shek to handle the medicine-supply matter fairly, impartially, and openly.

Song Tianyao negotiated with Shek Chi-yik over a drug seizure and charity donation, then arranged public thanks for Shek Chi-yik's wife. Zhang Yuliang found his nephew Zhang Weilin gambling and took him away, leaving Dai Feng to settle the debt and punish a gambler who insulted them.

• Song Tianyao proposed that Likang receive seized drugs and offered Shek Chi-yik a share of the savings, but Shek Chi-yik said the money would go to the governor.
• Song Tianyao identified European Coast Company as the firm hoarding drugs and said flowers and rewards for public gratitude had been arranged for Shek Chi-yik's wife.
• Zhang Yuliang found Zhang Weilin gambling, drinking, and groping a woman in a Yau Ma Tei gambling den.
• Zhang Yuliang led Zhang Weilin out and told Dai Feng to pay his losses and knock out the teeth of the gambler who insulted them.
• Dai Feng placed two hundred Hong Kong dollars on the table, and the gambler picked it up and told him to get lost.

Dai Feng violently punished a gambler who had demanded money, while Zhang Yuliang took Zhang Weilin away from the gambling den and confronted him about his gambling. Zhang Yuliang spared him from immediate punishment by arranging for him to study in the mornings and work at Uncle Junlang’s medicine company in the afternoons, warning him not to gamble again.

• Dai Feng beat a gambler unconscious with an iron dice cup after the man demanded money, and the gambler’s companions learned that Dai Feng had been seen near the Shanghainese community in Tsim Sha Tsui.
• Zhang Yuliang took Zhang Weilin to Zhonghe Teahouse while Dai Feng stayed outside to keep watch.
• Zhang Yuliang recalled how Zhang Weilin’s father had brutally punished him for gambling as a boy and warned Zhang Weilin that his own gambling could bring similar consequences.
• Zhang Weilin begged Zhang Yuliang not to tell the family and promised to stop gambling.
• Zhang Yuliang arranged for Zhang Weilin to work afternoons at Uncle Junlang’s medicine company, told him to focus on setting a good example as the Zhang Family’s eldest grandson, and threatened to tell his father if he gambled again.

Song Tianyao met Xianyu Shuan at a Wan Chai food stall after Xianyu had delivered his message to Brother Shing and helped send men to the Chenji Candy Shop. As Xianyu ate with his daughter, he explained his family’s hardships, and Song bought food for his wife to take home.

• Song Tianyao found Xianyu Shuan at the stall with his six-year-old daughter after Xianyu said he had passed Song’s message to Brother Shing, whose men had gone to the Chenji Candy Shop.
• Xianyu Shuan treated his daughter to a meal with the travel money Song had given him, and Song invited them to share his table and bought the girl a soda.
• Xianyu told Song how he had joined Fuyixing for protection, worked as an opium-den bookkeeper, lost that job, and recently been sent to help make candy.
• Xianyu gave Song a State Express 555 cigarette while he smoked a cheaper one, then served most of the meal’s rice and meat to his daughter.
• Song paid for the meal and packed rice and five-spice eel for Xianyu to take to his wife, who had not eaten eel in over a year.

Song Tianyao gave Xianyu Shuan a chance to leave dock work for a job at Likang’s possible pharmaceutical factory and asked him to investigate North Point packaging factories producing medicine boxes. The scene then shifted to Chu Xiaoxin, who invited Lichi’s young masters to a charity ceremony he was organizing to promote Chen Judy and the singers they supported.

• Song Tianyao offered Xianyu Shuan and his wife possible jobs at Likang’s pharmaceutical factory and asked him to investigate factories packaging Penicillin or PAS Lung Tablets.
• Xianyu Shuan repeated Song Tianyao’s instructions and agreed to report his findings at the Dulles Hotel.
• Scribe Hui arrived just as Song Tianyao was leaving and began asking whether he was going to see Sister Yun.
• Chu Xiaoxin announced that he would organize a charity ceremony at the Cathedral of St John and invited the young masters to bring the singers they backed.

Chu Xiaoxin used a charity event for Oxfam’s founding to persuade singers and wealthy young men to attend and donate, following Song Tianyao’s plan. The chapter then shifted to Zhang Yuliang meeting Nie Weisheng privately, where Zhang sought his help.

• Chu Xiaoxin invited the wealthy young men at Lichi to attend Chen Judy’s charity appearance and demanded donations of at least two thousand Hong Kong dollars each.
• Fang Run'an agreed to bring Gu Mei and the Young Masters' Club, promising a separate donation of ten thousand dollars.
• The other wealthy young men agreed to attend, while Chu Xiaoxin reflected that Song Tianyao had correctly anticipated their reactions.
• Zhang Yuliang welcomed Nie Weisheng to a private dinner at Xinhui Restaurant and said he wanted his advice and help.
• Nie Weisheng recalled that his family had entered the embargoed-goods trade during the Korean War, selling Western medicine bought from Zhuxing Trading Company on the mainland.

Zhang Yuliang persuaded Nie Weisheng to pay cash for four hundred cases of Penicillin by pretending he only needed temporary financing, while Nie secretly planned to resell the medicine for a large profit. On May 21, 1951, Song Tianyao and his men prepared for the founding ceremony of Oxfam in Hong Kong.

• Zhang Yuliang told Nie Weisheng that Junlang and Wei Lin needed him to buy four hundred cases of Penicillin temporarily.
• Nie Weisheng calculated that he could earn far more by selling the Penicillin himself and agreed to pay cash without a written agreement.
• Nie Weisheng hurried away to raise the money, while Zhang Yuliang stayed behind and remarked that Nie had refused to put their deal in writing.
• On May 21, 1951, Song Tianyao greeted his boss's associates at the Cathedral of St John for Oxfam's founding ceremony.
• Scribe Hui and Xianyu Shuan directed guests' drivers to park away from the church and gave red envelopes to the reporters covering the event.

Song Tianyao attended Oxfam’s founding ceremony and saw Shek Chi-yik bring high-ranking colonial figures, including the governor’s wife, to support it. Chu Xiaoxin’s public pledge to donate medicine won the British guests’ admiration, while Song remained uncertain about Shek’s plans concerning Zhang Yuliang.

• Song Tianyao saw more than three hundred guests attend Oxfam’s founding ceremony, including Ge Mulian, He Mingguang, and Shek Chi-yik.
• Song Tianyao wondered why the head of the Customs Department had attended the ceremony instead of preparing to investigate the European Coast Company.
• Mrs. Bess presented her research on Hong Kong’s water quality at the ceremony.
• Chu Xiaoxin announced that Likang Trading Company would donate five hundred thousand dollars’ worth of deworming medicine and continue making donations twice a year.
• The British guests were astonished and impressed by Chu Xiaoxin’s pledge to donate medicine worth at least one million dollars each year.

At Oxfam’s launch, Chu Xiaoxin pledged medicine and donations flowed in as Song Tianyao learned that authorities had sealed Western medicine warehouses across Hong Kong. He suspected Shek Chi-yik was behind the operation, but realized its scale required Governor Grantham’s knowledge and authorization.

• Chu Xiaoxin’s donation and Oxfam’s British connections impressed the guests and appeared likely to earn him a Justice of the Peace title.
• Chu Xiaoxin unveiled the first shipment of Shun Brand Flower Pagoda Candy, and other guests pledged medicine, cash, Bibles, and food.
• Xianyu Shuan told Song Tianyao that police, customs, and the British Army had sealed Western medicine companies’ warehouses, including Likang’s.
• Song Tianyao reasoned that Shek Chi-yik could direct customs and involve the police, but the British Army’s participation meant Governor Grantham had authorized the operation.

Song Tianyao suspected that Shek Chi-yik’s sweeping Customs raid had a purpose beyond punishing Zhang Yuliang, so he ordered Fuyixing men to guard the warehouses where confiscated medicines were being stored. Zhang Yulin reassured Zhang Yuliang that the inspections were routine, while Zhang Yuliang left to meet Shanghai merchants.

• Song Tianyao reasoned that counterfeit and expired drugs would only bring Zhang Yuliang fines and reputational damage, and wondered why Shek Chi-yik had involved Governor Grantham and the British Forces in Hong Kong.
• Song Tianyao told Xianyu Shuan to have Gao Lao Cheng recruit one thousand Fuyixing members to guard the Customs warehouses and prevent anyone but Foreign Devils from entering or leaving.
• A European Coast Company employee told Zhang Yulin that Customs had sealed pharmaceutical warehouses and that the British Army had escorted the medicines to the Central Pier warehouse.
• Zhang Yulin told the employee and Zhang Yuliang that the raid was a response to American reports of military medical supplies being smuggled to the mainland, and predicted the companies would recover their goods within two days.
• Zhang Yuliang accepted Zhang Yulin’s explanation and left to meet Shanghai merchants in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Song Tianyao joined a public medicine donation at the Kowloon Tong Old People's Home and reflected on the contrast between its foreign residents and nearby Chinese squatters. Meanwhile, Zhang Yuliang arranged a false accusation against Song, and a crowd gathered outside Song's family home in Wan Chai.

• Zhang Yuliang asked Lawyer Pan to hire stand-ins to accuse Song Tianyao of commissioning counterfeit penicillin packaging and to arrange mocking newspaper stories.
• Song Tianyao and the charity delegation traveled to the Kowloon Tong Old People's Home to donate medicine.
• Song Tianyao saw the disparity between the foreign residents at the home and the impoverished Chinese residents of nearby Beacon Hill, and quietly said, “There will always be a chance.”
• A crowd of neighborhood women and curious passersby gathered outside Song Tianyao's family home and asked Sister Zhen to show them the money.

Zhao Meizhen tried to recruit a thousand neighbors to lay flowers at a foreigner's villa, offering them ten dollars each, but could not reassure them that she could pay. Lou Fengyun arrived with a box of Hong Kong dollars and silenced the crowd with a threat, preparing to show them the money.

• Zhao Meizhen told the neighborhood women they would be paid to lay flowers at a villa and warned them to pretend they were volunteers from different districts.
• The women challenged Zhao Meizhen to prove she had the money, leaving her unable to answer.
• Lou Fengyun heard the argument and brought Song Wenwen downstairs with a keepsake box full of Hong Kong dollars.
• Lou Fengyun threatened the neighbors, making them fall silent and step back.
• Lou Fengyun told Song Wenwen to open the box and said they could find another group if the neighbors refused the job.

Song Tianyao realized Shek Chi-yik had arranged a customs operation that let Likang pursue profits while protecting Shek and advancing his wife’s status. At the donation ceremony, Mrs. Bess publicly revealed that European Coast had cornered Likang’s deworming-medicine ingredients and doubled their price.

• Shek Chi-yik told Song Tianyao that the customs operation was Likang’s opportunity and that their cooperation would end with this deal.
• Song Tianyao recognized that Shek had enlisted the governor and British Forces to seal pharmaceutical warehouses while shielding himself from responsibility.
• After the ceremony, Angie Pellis told Mrs. Bess about the shortage of ingredients for Likang’s donated medicine.
• Mrs. Bess told reporters that European Coast had reserved Gaili Subsidiary Company’s available raw materials and demanded twice the price from Likang.

After Chu Xiaoxin’s accusation put the European Coast Company under scrutiny at a charity event, Zhang Yulin moved quickly to contain the fallout and sought help from Zhou Xiyu. The chapter left Zhang Yulin asking whether Chairman Chu was behind the powerful attack.

• A Five Counties heir warned his father that Chu Xiaoxin and the British were targeting the Zhang Family, prompting Feng Chunhua to contact Zhang Yulin.
• Zhang Yulin asked Feng Chunhua to have the Pharmaceutical Association families pay Hong Kong newspapers to delay reporting Mrs. Bess’s remarks.
• Zhang Yulin called Zhou Xiyu and truthfully explained the dispute, including Zhang Yuliang’s hundred-thousand-dollar deposit on the Gaili Subsidiary Company’s stock.
• Zhang Yulin asked Zhou Xiyu whether Chairman Chu had orchestrated the attack against the Zhang Family.

Song Tianyao watched the medicine distribution in the Jialin Road Squatter Area while old neighbors saw how far he had risen, including Li Laoshi’s family, who had broken his engagement to Li Suzhen. Elsewhere, Zhang Yulin set out to consult Zhou Xiyu and protect the Zhang Family’s reputation amid a customs raid and the threat of a public scandal.

• Zhou Xiyu reassured Zhang Yulin that keeping the newspapers quiet would leave time to resolve the crisis, and invited him to discuss it over tea with Chairman Chu.
• Zhang Yulin offered Zhou Xiyu a Huang Bi painting as a gift and ordered Chen Fu to bring it to Zhou’s home on Caughton Road.
• Zhang Yulin left his office determined to hold the Zhang Family together while his elder brothers were away.
• Scribe Hui told Song Tianyao that four of Young Master Shun’s friends had left, and Song compared their moves to a chess game.
• Song Tianyao watched Fuyixing members and police officers manage the free Flower Pagoda Candy distribution as residents recognized him and discussed his success.
• Li Laoshi, his wife, and Li Suzhen joined the medicine queue, and Li Laoshi realized why the neighbors had been watching his family when he saw Song Tianyao standing beside the aid workers.

Song Tianyao’s charity distribution was disrupted by Shek Chi-yik’s move, forcing him to reconsider his conflict with the Zhang Family before returning to Hong Kong Island. As he departed, Auntie Hong mistook his courtesy to his former neighbors for hope that he would marry Li Suzhen, while Suzhen noticed his closeness with Angie Pellis.

• Li Laoshi tried to take Auntie Hong and Li Suzhen home, but Auntie Hong left the queue after recognizing Song Tianyao.
• Song Tianyao sent Auntie Hong three bags of medicine candy and spoke with Angie Pellis about Shek Chi-yik forcing him into a dangerous clash with the Zhang Family.
• Song Tianyao told Scribe Hui to get two rickshaws so they could cross the harbor back to Hong Kong Island.
• Auntie Hong bragged that Song Tianyao had remembered his old neighbors, while Li Suzhen watched him leave and noticed Angie Pellis use the same handkerchief he had used.
• Auntie Hong reassured Li Suzhen that they could visit Auntie Zhen and persuade her to soften.

Zhang Yulin met Zhou Xiyu and Chu Yaozong to discuss the Zhang family’s interception of Likang’s deworming tablets and the public backlash. After receiving a message from his butler, Chu Yaozong fixed Zhang Yulin with murderous intent, then left to meet a young Chiu Chow man.

• Zhang Yulin visited Zhou Xiyu’s villa and joined Zhou and Chu Yaozong for tea.
• Chu Yaozong asked Zhang Yulin about the customs and British Army raids on pharmaceutical warehouses and Likang’s role in the dispute.
• Zhang Yulin admitted that A-Liang had intercepted Likang’s medicine and offered to apologize and transfer it at the original price.
• Chu Yaozong told Zhang Yulin that the Chu family and the Chiu Chow Chamber of Commerce were not involved, then began to say more before Uncle Yan arrived with a message.
• Chu Yaozong glared at Zhang Yulin with murderous intent, but Zhou Xiyu interrupted by serving tea.
• Chu Yaozong left to meet a young Chiu Chow man who had come to his home.

Zhang Yuliang realized Song Tianyao had outmaneuvered him and ordered Dai Feng to have Song killed. At the docks, Gao Lao Cheng struggled with the many tasks Song had assigned him and wondered whether secretaries were all so capable.

• Zhou Xiyu explained that Chu Yaozong had tested Zhang Yulin and urged him to investigate Zhang Yuliang.
• Lawyer Pan told Zhang Yuliang that the police had raided the packaging factory and that Oxfam had launched with Chu Xiaoxin as a founder.
• Zhang Yuliang concluded that Song Tianyao had arranged the trap and that his schemes involving the deworming medicine were at risk of exposure.
• Zhang Yuliang ordered Dai Feng to arrange for unfamiliar men to kill Song Tianyao as soon as possible.
• Gao Lao Cheng complained to Mangongshi about handling Song Tianyao's many assignments and asked whether secretaries were all so formidable.

Song Tianyao ordered Gao Lao Cheng to help the police raid a North Point factory producing counterfeit penicillin packaging, prompting Zhang Yuliang to order Song's death. Meanwhile, Zhao Meizhen guarded a treasure box while Lou Fengyun counted its money.

• Mangongshi told Gao Lao Cheng that Xianyu Shuan had returned with a message from Song Tianyao about raiding a factory in North Point.
• Gao Lao Cheng recruited Lam Kong and police officers, while Fuyixing men helped raid the factory and Mangongshi arranged for photographs of the counterfeit packaging and workers.
• Lawyer Pan informed Zhang Yuliang of the raid, and Zhang ordered Song Tianyao killed.
• Zhao Meizhen barred the door and guarded the treasure box as Lou Fengyun counted 7,933 dollars and 75 cents and reassured her.