Chapter Summaries

Song Tianyao visited his grandfather, Song Chengqi, at Kuixing Pavilion and brought him the money his father had secretly saved. Song Chengqi read Song Tianyao’s character from his calligraphy and hinted at the young man’s hidden ambitions, then his turbulent past was recounted.

• Song Tianyao arrived at Kuixing Pavilion and Song Chengqi struck him with a pebble before dismissing his students.
• Song Tianyao gave Song Chengqi the bundle of money from his father and told him the family had moved to Wan Chai.
• Song Chengqi sent the money to treat the elderly residents at a nursing home to a drink, then invited Song Tianyao inside.
• Song Tianyao wrote a Liu Kezhuang lyric, and Song Chengqi criticized his sharp writing and called him hypocritical for pursuing his schemes indirectly.
• Song Chengqi’s history was recounted: after fleeing his family’s troubles, he joined East Liang Mountain and became its mountain master when Li Jinzhou died.

Song Tianyao visited his grandfather, Song Chengqi, and explained why he was associating with Hong Kong societies despite Song Chengqi’s Hung Mun principles. The chapter ended with Song Chengqi angrily questioning whether Song Tianyao’s respectable job justified his ties to Fuyixing.

• Song Tianyao gave Song Chengqi three hundred dollars and contrasted his grandfather’s poverty with the wealth of Hong Kong’s self-proclaimed Hung Mun leaders.
• Song Chengqi condemned the societies that claimed Hung Mun ties, described their betrayal of its principles, and warned Song Tianyao to stay out of crooked business.
• Song Tianyao asked Song Chengqi about the family’s names, and Song Chengqi explained who had named his sons and grandsons.
• Song Tianyao revealed that he was on brotherly terms with Fuyixing’s chairman, who had given him more than a dozen gold bars, and asked Song Chengqi to trust his plans for revenge.
• Song Chengqi demanded to know why Song Tianyao needed ties to the societies, and Song Tianyao said his trading firm’s respectable work still required connections.

Song Tianyao reconciled with his grandfather, Song Chengqi, and learned the Hung Mun credentials that could help him deal with trouble in business. He then joined Angie Pellis and Chu Xiaoxin at the Dulles Hotel, where he suggested steering their business conversation toward movies and music.

• Song Tianyao offered to rent Song Chengqi a room, but Song Chengqi refused to leave the Walled City or accept support from the family.
• Song Tianyao promised to bring Third Aunt and Yunzhi back within half a year and said he wanted them to leave the Lin Family with their heads held high.
• Song Chengqi gave Song Tianyao the East Liang Mountain formula and credentials, explaining how Hung Mun members could identify one another.
• Song Chengqi told Song Tianyao to send any opponents he could not frighten to him.
• Song Tianyao arrived at the Dulles Hotel and found Angie Pellis discussing business with Chu Xiaoxin.
• Song Tianyao advised Chu Xiaoxin to change the subject to movies and music.

Song Tianyao agreed to give Chen Judy’s brother a job at Likang while warning Chu Xiaoxin against letting Judy become too involved in the company. After Chu Xiaoxin left, Angie Pellis questioned Song Tianyao’s motives, and he invited her to discuss her meeting with Deputy Director Shi’s wife.

• Chu Xiaoxin asked Song Tianyao to hire Chen Judy’s younger brother at Likang, and Song agreed to give him an easy job after he obtained a driver’s license.
• Song Tianyao joked that he could hire Judy’s relatives and send them to their deaths at sea, frightening Chu Xiaoxin before clarifying that he was joking.
• Chu Xiaoxin left the restaurant for Lichi Nightclub to see Chen Judy.
• Angie Pellis said Song Tianyao’s threat had sounded serious, and he explained that he wanted Judy to understand her place and avoid becoming too involved in Likang’s business.
• Song Tianyao invited Angie Pellis to share wine and discuss her meeting with Deputy Director Shi’s wife.

Song Tianyao and Angie Pellis discussed Deputy Director Shek Chi-yik’s openness to approaches from merchants and concluded that he wanted both money and prestige. Angie proposed abandoning him for a mid-level customs official, but Song remained silent, leaving their plan for the next evening unresolved.

• Angie Pellis told Song Tianyao about Mrs. Beth Mannering Thompson and her visit, while Song inferred that Shek Chi-yik was using meetings with prospective backers to choose a suitable partner.
• Song Tianyao concluded that Shek wanted money and a respectable reputation, and said that satisfying both would cost more than simply paying him.
• Angie Pellis revealed that Shek Chi-yik and his wife would meet them and at least four other Chinese merchants at the Peak Restaurant the following evening, giving each party only five to seven minutes.
• Angie Pellis suggested they approach a mid-level customs official instead, but Song Tianyao stared at his wine and did not respond.

Song Tianyao planned to win Shek Chi-yik’s help by promising a path to both great profits and a good reputation through Likang’s legitimate business. Meanwhile, Chu Yaozong welcomed old friend Du Zhaojian to his home, where they began discussing their circle’s customs and reputations.

• Song Tianyao told Angie Pellis that he would offer Shek Chi-yik a profitable opportunity tied to Likang’s legitimate business and ask him to act for them first.
• Chu Yaozong listened to a Cantonese radio broadcast and reflected on how he had used translated English news to guide his business decisions.
• Uncle Yan told Chu Yaozong that Du Zhaojian had arrived, and Chu went to greet him at the entrance hall.
• Chu Yaozong and Du Zhaojian exchanged jokes and went into the study for tea prepared by Sister Hong.
• Chu Yaozong told Du Zhaojian that Sister Hong was afraid of him, then considered Du’s reputation for kindness, wealth, and eccentricity.

Du Zhaojian visited Chu Yaozong to explain that local Cantonese businessmen were alarmed by Shanghai merchants using predatory tactics to seize Hong Kong industries. He urged Chu and the other local leaders to consider how to respond, while Chu listened to his account of the worsening threat.

• Du Zhaojian presented Chu Yaozong with seven million Hong Kong dollars in principal and offered to pay six years of interest.
• Chu Yaozong declined the interest and told Du Zhaojian to state the purpose of his visit.
• Du Zhaojian said that older friends had sent him to sound out Chu Yaozong and two others about the Shanghai merchants.
• Du Zhaojian described how Shanghai merchants had gained ground in banking and shipping and caused twelve Guangdong-owned financial businesses to close.
• Du Zhaojian warned that Shanghai merchants were also trying to enter his bus and ferry businesses.

Song Tianyao returned to his family’s new home on Tai Wo Street for the first night after their move and joined the housewarming meal. He found Lou Fengyun there on crutches and greeted her teasingly.

• Chu Yaozong argued that the Cantonese merchants should endure the Shanghainese rather than unite against them and risk drawing British support to their rivals.
• Du Zhaojian proposed gathering local chamber of commerce bosses for a charity dinner, but Chu Yaozong urged patience and reminded him how endurance had helped after the Japanese seized his bus company.
• After seeing Angie Pellis back to her room, Song Tianyao left the Dulles Hotel and returned to his family’s new home on Tai Wo Street.
• Scribe Hui opened the door, and Song Tianyao found his family, Chen Tai, Scribe Hui, and Lou Fengyun still eating the housewarming meal.
• Song Tianyao sat beside Lou Fengyun and joked that she was the only guest he had seen come to a feast on crutches despite being seriously injured.

Song Tianyao welcomed Lou Fengyun and her aide Scribe Hui to his family’s new home, then carried Lou upstairs to her apartment in the building she had bought. His mother Zhao Meizhen suspected he was involved with the widow, while Song Chunliang tried and failed to defend him.

• Song Tianyao quietly signaled Song Chunliang that he had delivered the hidden money to Song Chengqi.
• Song Tianyao told Chen Tai he would arrange dock work for him until a driver’s position at Likang became available.
• Zhao Meizhen asked Lou Fengyun whether she would have trouble crossing the harbor, and Lou said she would go upstairs to rest.
• Song Tianyao carried Lou Fengyun upstairs and told his family she lived on the third floor of the building she had bought.
• Zhao Meizhen accused Song Tianyao of pursuing Lou Fengyun and scolded Song Chunliang for trying to defend him.

Song Tianyao reflected on the risks he had taken to win Shek Chi-yik’s favor and the danger his family would face if his plan failed. On the rooftop, he shared beer with Scribe Hui and began asking about his past.

• Song Tianyao carried Lou Fengyun to her bedroom, then told her he had only helped her upstairs out of consideration.
• Song Tianyao went to the rooftop and considered the risks of pursuing Shek Chi-yik rather than finding another way to move Likang’s contraband.
• Scribe Hui brought Song Tianyao beer and a blanket at Lou Fengyun’s request.
• Song Tianyao invited Scribe Hui to sit and drink with him, then asked what he had done before becoming a scribe.

Song Tianyao woke in his family's new home and prepared to start the day, while Zhao Meizhen confronted him about supposedly visiting the widow upstairs. He denied her suspicions and left to get breakfast with her still questioning him.

• Song Tianyao woke early, drank the herbal tea Zhao Meizhen had left for him, and watched the busy street below.
• Song Chunliang and Chen Tai prepared to take the shoeshine tools downstairs, while Zhao Meizhen and Song Wenwen got ready to explore the neighborhood.
• After the others left, Zhao Meizhen warned Song Tianyao not to marry a widow and suggested he marry Suzhen instead.
• Song Tianyao denied having romantic intentions toward the crippled woman upstairs and invited Zhao Meizhen to breakfast.
• Zhao Meizhen pressed him about spending over an hour upstairs, and Song Tianyao explained that he had gone to the roof to drink with Scribe Hui.

Song Tianyao reassured Zhao Meizhen that he had not been involved with a widow, then prepared with Angie Pellis for a meeting with a British pair. He took Angie to Lascar Street to shop for gifts and show her Hong Kong’s antiques market.

• Song Tianyao told Zhao Meizhen he had spent the night drinking with Scribe Hui, and she scolded him for supposedly preferring men to women.
• Song Tianyao visited pharmacies across Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, then bought books to prepare for meeting a British pair.
• Song Tianyao met Angie Pellis at the Dulles Hotel café, where they studied books about hydrology and the Church of England.
• Song Tianyao rejected Angie Pellis’s suggestion to shop at Sincere Department Store and took her to Lascar Street instead.
• Lascar Street had developed from a neighborhood of Indian residents and shops into a Hong Kong antiques and secondhand market.

Song Tianyao and Angie Pellis shopped for antiques on Lascar Street, while Chu Xiaozhong learned that his younger half-brother Chu Xiaoxin would join him at a dinner with Deputy Director Shek Chi-yik. The chapter left Chu Xiaozhong wondering why Chu Xiaoxin was attending.

• Song Tianyao took Angie Pellis through Indian secondhand shops on Lascar Street, where she bought London tea and a silver ink bottle.
• Song Tianyao bought a cigar humidor and British flower-arranging tools as gifts before pulling Angie Pellis away from the shops.
• Chu Xiaozhong left Sincere Department Store with his secretary, Miss Wing Yan, and headed to meet Shek Chi-yik at the Peak Restaurant.
• Miss Wing Yan told Chu Xiaozhong that Liu Fu Zhao, Ji Yueyang, Gu Dexiang, and Chu Xiaoxin would also meet Shek Chi-yik.
• Chu Xiaozhong was surprised that his half-brother Chu Xiaoxin was among the dinner guests.

Song Tianyao uncovered how Chu Xiaoxin had been maneuvered into buying medicine through Likang, then saw a chance to use the stock in a meeting with Shek Chi-yik. As Chu Xiaoxin prepared to meet him, Chu Xiaozhong realized Song Tianyao might have planned the encounter and decided not to interfere.

• Chu Xiaozhong considered rushing to stop Chu Xiaoxin from speaking to Shek Chi-yik about smuggling, but reconsidered because Song Tianyao was involved and told the driver to continue to Queen's Road.
• Chu Xiaozhong told Kong Wing-yan that Song Tianyao's actions had made him wary, and identified Song as Chu Xiaoxin's secretary.
• Chu Xiaoxin asked Song Tianyao what to say at the Peak restaurant, and Song told him to leave the conversation to him.
• Song Tianyao asked Chu Xiaoxin about the Santonin tablets worth three hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars that had been sitting in Likang's warehouse.
• Chu Xiaoxin recalled buying the medicine from Zhang Yuliang through European Coast after Fu Zhong Trading Company had also recommended it.
• Song Tianyao told Chu Xiaoxin that Zhang Yuliang and Chu Xiaozhong had worked together to undermine Likang, but said the medicine could help them propose a partnership to Shek Chi-yik.

Song Tianyao suspected Zhang Yuliang and the Fuzhong Company had schemed to profit from Likang’s unsalable Santonin medicine, and he promised Chu Xiaoxin he would investigate. On the tram to the Peak, Chu Xiaoxin encountered his older brother Chu Xiaozhong and prepared to greet him.

• Song Tianyao explained that Chu Xiaoxin had repeatedly signed for the same unsalable Santonin shipment and suspected a secret deal between Fuzhong and Zhang Yuliang’s European Coast Company.
• Song Tianyao promised to investigate and retaliate if Zhang Yuliang had cheated Likang, while Chu Xiaoxin remained unconcerned about the deal.
• Song Tianyao, Chu Xiaoxin, and Angie Pellis left the Dulles Hotel and boarded the Tai Ping Shan Tramway for the Peak.
• Chu Xiaoxin spotted Chu Xiaozhong arriving with a professionally dressed woman, and Song Tianyao advised him to ask about the Fu Zhong Trading Company if his brother provoked him.
• Chu Xiaozhong entered the tram, and Chu Xiaoxin stood to greet him and asked whether he was going to the restaurant at the Peak.

Song Tianyao watched Chu Xiaoxin bluntly challenge Chu Xiaozhong about Fu Zhong Trading Company, worsening the tension between the brothers. Kong Wing-yan introduced herself to Song and explained her professional background, while Song suspected Chu Xiaozhong had hired her to strengthen his business affairs.

• Song Tianyao gave his seat to Chu Xiaozhong and sat behind Chu Xiaoxin beside Kong Wing-yan.
• Chu Xiaozhong asked Chu Xiaoxin about his planned Macau medicine shipment and Shek Chi-yik’s meeting, but Chu Xiaoxin instead asked what Chu Xiaozhong and their uncle had to do with Fu Zhong Trading Company.
• Chu Xiaozhong gave a perfunctory reply, and Angie Pellis redirected the conversation by asking Chu Xiaoxin about the film Night Falls, but No One Sleeps.
• Kong Wing-yan introduced herself to Song Tianyao as Chu Xiaoxin’s company secretary and asked about his previous post.
• Song Tianyao recognized Kong Wing-yan’s professional association and guessed Chu Xiaozhong had hired her to handle company affairs.

Song Tianyao and Chu Xiaoxin waited at Tai Ping Shan before Angie Pellis’s appointment with Mrs. Shek Chi-yik, while Song hinted that Chu would need to rescue someone. The chapter ended with Song promising not to sell the toxic medicines in a way that harmed Chinese people.

• Song Tianyao rebuffed Kong Wing-yan’s attempt to talk privately, pointing out the strained relationship between their bosses.
• Chu Xiaozhong left the cable car at the summit in a dark mood, while Kong Wing-yan wondered why he felt threatened by Song Tianyao and Chu Xiaoxin.
• Song Tianyao told Chu Xiaoxin to be ready to save someone and take them down the mountain by cable car before meeting at the Lichi.
• Chu Xiaoxin warned Song Tianyao not to sell the toxic medicines to mainland China or poison Chinese people.
• Song Tianyao promised Chu Xiaoxin that he would not be a traitor.

Song Tianyao arranged for Chu Xiaoxin to help an injured worker, using the commotion to make an unexpected introduction to Shek Chi-yik and his wife. The chapter ended with Song asking to speak with Mrs. Bess about a matter requiring her help.

• Song Tianyao, Chu Xiaoxin, and Angie Pellis met Mrs. Bess outside the Peak Restaurant and exchanged introductions.
• Shek Chi-yik arrived, and Mrs. Bess introduced him to Song Tianyao and Chu Xiaoxin.
• A gas lamppost exploded, knocking a worker from a ladder, and Song tapped Chu Xiaoxin's heel.
• Chu Xiaoxin helped the injured worker onto a cable car and hurried him down the mountain for medical care.
• Song Tianyao stopped Shek Chi-yik and asked to speak with Mrs. Bess about a matter and request her help.

Song Tianyao offered Shek Chi-yik and Mrs. Bess a role in Likang’s planned organization to investigate Hong Kong’s water supply and parasitic diseases, and the couple recognized it as the opportunity they had long awaited. After leaving them to consider the offer, Song met Gao Lao Cheng at the cable-car station and revealed that Chu Xiaoxin’s accident had been staged to keep him from attempting the dinner conversation.

• Song Tianyao explained Likang’s plan to establish an organization addressing Hong Kong’s drinking-water problems and invited Mrs. Bess to contribute her expertise in hydrological science.
• Mrs. Bess told Shek Chi-yik that the offer was an opportunity to change their circumstances, while Shek Chi-yik urged her to be patient.
• As they waited for the cable car, Song Tianyao praised Shek Chi-yik’s composure and devotion to Mrs. Bess, and Angie Pellis privately wondered whether someone might admire her for loving Song.
• After descending the mountain, Song Tianyao met Gao Lao Cheng, who reported that Chu Xiaoxin and the supposedly injured worker had been taken care of.
• Song Tianyao explained that he had arranged the accident because Chu Xiaoxin could not manage a conversation with Shek Chi-yik, who would later realize that Song had delivered the offer.

Song Tianyao left the Peak after Shek Chi-yik refused to meet him, taking Angie Pellis with him toward Lichi to see Young Master Shun. After Lam Kong tried to approach Angie, Song warned him off and Gao Lao Cheng cautioned Lam that provoking Song could ruin their friendship.

• Song Tianyao thanked Gao Lao Cheng for arranging the workers’ act, gave him money for tea, and said he would meet Big Brother Lei about a job.
• Song Tianyao draped his jacket over the chilled Angie Pellis and offered to drive her home, but Lam Kong volunteered instead.
• Gao Lao Cheng identified Lam Kong as a police officer nicknamed Headless, and Song recognized the name as belonging to a future prominent inspector.
• Angie Pellis quoted Spinoza, took Song Tianyao’s arm, and walked away from Lam Kong.
• Song Tianyao explained the quote to Lam Kong and joked that British women disliked cheap American cars.
• Gao Lao Cheng warned Lam Kong not to provoke Song Tianyao or pursue Angie Pellis, saying it could end their friendship.