Chapter 48 9 Dragons
Chapter 48 Kowloon
St. John's Cathedral, Central, Kowloon
Inside the solemn and elegant Gothic building, sunlight shines into the church through the colorful stained glass, shining on the ladies who are praying sincerely.
As the singing and blessing led by Father McCall ended, Mrs. Lee also ended her weekly church prayer with satisfaction.
"Dear Lucy, God will see your sincere prayers all the time. Please remember that faith is God's beacon, which guides you forward and makes you feel endless love and supreme grace."
"Bishop McCall, my devotion to the Lord has never needed to be questioned."
Mrs. Li (Lucy) looked at the tall, handsome, and deep-eyed foreign bishop in front of her, and her beautiful eyes could not help but sparkle.
"Of course, Miss Lucy, I have seen your piety. I wonder what you want from me today?"
“Bishop McCall, I have done something bad recently and I want to seek the Lord’s forgiveness and redemption. Can you help me?”
"Obedience is worse than courtesy. Please follow me." McCall smiled and led Mrs. Li back.
Kowloon in the hot summer, the confessional hall after repentance
The small room was stuffy and hot. Although Mrs. Li was breathing heavily and her face was a little flushed, her bad mood was much better after McCall's words of comfort.
"My Lord, every time I hear your advice, I feel as if I were reborn."
"Dear Lucy, the Lord has an important mission for you.
In order to spread the Lord's glory and love to the world, the Lord placed a magical medicine on the passenger and merchant ships traveling to and from Kowloon. With this magical medicine, people in the world can go straight to heaven without illness or disaster.
I believe that with your faith in the Lord, you will pass the Lord's test and obtain the magic medicine. You will not let the Lord down, right?"
Mrs. Li looked at McCall, who was shining brightly in the sunlight, and nodded foolishly.
The figure of the woman walking out of the lush garden was getting farther and farther away. Behind the round window on the second floor of the church, Blank looked at McCall, who was effortlessly making the warlord's wife do things for him, and felt a little resentful.
F**k, just because you are handsome you can do whatever you want? If I had this face, who knows who would become a bishop!
McCall looked at Blank, who was silent in front of him, and there was some coldness in his words.
“That woman’s husband has some tricks up his sleeve, and all the forces in Kowloon have to give him face. Finding the secret medicine with her help is my last chance for you.
The strict control of ships for more than half a month has caused dissatisfaction among all parties in Kowloon.
The Governor wrote yesterday that the strict control of this ship can only be maintained for half a month at most.
If you don't gain anything during this period, then you should prepare to return to Europe and apologize."
Blank wiped the cold sweat off his forehead and said yes respectfully. Seeing McCall leave, he did not stay in the church and hurried to Central to look for clues.
-
Jinliyuan, medicinal materials warehouse
While checking the account of medicinal materials, Li Bingwu was chatting with a middle-aged man in his forties.
"Brother Yutang, your business has been very good recently. Many of these medicinal herbs are almost sold out. Congratulations on making a fortune."
"Brother Wu, you are too kind. If it weren't for the strict control of ships in Kowloon some time ago, many herbal medicine stores would not have much inventory, and my Jinliyuan's business would not be so good."
The middle-aged businessman had slightly gray hair and regular facial features. He wore a dark silk robe with intricate embroidery. A faint scent of medicine lingered around him, and he had an aura of majesty without even getting angry.
"I heard from Mr. Tongchen that your nephew is also planning to come to the south to take a look. Calculating the time, I think he should be here soon."
"It's not easy for young people to see the vast world, but maybe they were delayed by something interesting along the way." When Li Bingwu heard Li Yutang mention Qinhuai, he didn't say anything, but he felt happy in his heart.
"Speaking of which, my son is about the same age as your nephew, and he will be traveling across the ocean and coming back from the other side of the world soon."
When Li Yutang talked about his son, he suddenly seemed like a different person, and his words were full of pride and honor.
"I believe that with Chongguang's intelligence and wisdom, your Jinliyuan and Shuiliyuan will soon be able to open three more branches."
“If it weren’t for your secret medicine, my herbal medicine shop wouldn’t be able to grow so big.
However, there have been strict controls on ships recently, and only a few can freely enter and exit Victoria Harbor. It may not be so easy to bring medicine to the island. "
When Li Yutang heard Li Bingwu praising his son, he felt very happy. He changed the conversation to the main topic and discussed countermeasures with Li Bingwu.
"The ships of the foreigners and the Qing government are unreliable, and the two merchants are transporting harmful substances like opium. If we want them to give up their huge profits and make room for us, the price they offer will only be higher than that of opium.
Now we can only ask the all-powerful Lieutenant Li, whose ship Jiulong no one dares to disrespect."
Li Bingwu frowned as he listened to the advice given by this old man who had been in Kowloon shopping malls for decades.
"This time is different from the past. The production of secret medicine has increased, and there are a lot more goods this time. If we use the warlord's ship and someone finds out, we will lose both our money and our lives."
There was no other way. Ever since the secret medicine was put on sale again, under the secret instructions of the Kowloon Governor, all the major forces were like sharks smelling blood, frantically pursuing the traces of the secret medicine.
Just ask yourself, who wouldn’t want to have an extra money tree out of thin air, especially when this tree can save their lives at a critical moment.
If it were in the past, a few boxes of secret medicine would have been mixed in with Jinliyuan’s medicine ship and shipped in without anyone noticing, but now the large quantity has made it a bit difficult for the two of them to handle.
"Anyway, we still have some inventory in the warehouse. If things don't work out, we can just ship out a small amount recently. When the foreign governor can no longer bear the pressure from all sides and relaxes management again, we can regroup."
Listening to Li Yutang's suggestion, Li Bingwu also nodded.
"This is the safest way. If it doesn't work, just do it. There's no rush to do business anyway."
After much deliberation, the two men realized that it would be safest to temporarily stop the operation, so they immediately decided to release the news and stop sales without hesitation.
Just as the two of them breathed a sigh of relief, a somewhat honest and straightforward coachman walked in with a letter in his hand. He looked at Li Yutang and Li Bingwu and spoke in a somewhat dull voice.
"Master, there is a letter from Foshan, saying it is for Mr. Bingwu."
Li Bingwu took the letter and saw a big "Qin" on the cover.
"Speak of the devil, here comes the devil. Xiao Qin has sent a letter. It seems he is in Foshan, which is very close to us."
While unfolding the letter, he explained the information to Li Yutang. Everything was fine at first.
"Xiao Qin is planning to open a Jinlou in Foshan. Our batch of secret medicine that cannot be delivered may be useful to him."
But in the end, when he saw that Qin Huai wanted him to go to Foshan to resolve the feud with Nanquan, Li Bingwu's expression changed several times.
Seeing that the situation was not going well, Li Yutang also spoke up for Qin Huai.
"Since he dared to let you go, he must have some foolproof plan. I don't understand him, but don't you understand him?"
"Well, then I'll go to this Cantonese Foshan again!"
(End of this chapter)