Early the next morning, Chen Mo changed into a clean Inspection Bureau uniform, fastened his badge at his waist, and stepped out of the inn.
Morning was the liveliest time in Ganzhou.
Breakfast stalls along the street steamed in the chill, white vapor billowing from bamboo baskets in thick clouds, mingling with the fragrance of fried dough sticks and rice porridge.
Rickshaw pullers squatted at street corners, gnawing on dry flatbread. The moment they saw Chen Mo emerge, they jumped to their feet and called out to him.
Chen Mo waved them off and headed north along the street.
He had not gone far when a half-grown newsboy shot out of an alley, clutching a stack of newspapers to his chest.
"Extra! Extra! The situation in Jin City remains tense! The Dock Gang and Green Gang have taken to the streets in protest—freight transport across the city has ground to a halt!"
Chen Mo slowed slightly, took out two copper coins, and handed them over. "One copy."
The newsboy deftly pulled out a newspaper from the stack in his arms. The ink was still fresh, carrying the distinct scent of lead type.
The headline was printed in bold letters: "Situation in Jin City Continues to Deteriorate: Dock Gang and Green Gang Jointly Strike, Japanese Warships Mass Outside Dagu."
He stood by the roadside and read on in the morning light.
The article said that the dockworkers' strike in Jin City had entered its third day.
The cause was that, after that clash between the Inspection Bureau and the Japanese Concession, the Japanese Chamber of Commerce had cut off freight dealings with the Jin City Chamber of Commerce.
This had cost the Dock Gang and Green Gang their livelihoods, so they had simply taken to the streets in protest.
But everyone