Chapter Nine: Jiang Feng Jin

A black sedan drove over the gravel on the Huangpu River beach.

Qiao Yuan leaned back in the back seat, a cigar between his fingers, the scarlet flame flickering in the river mist.

Chen Kan sat next to him.

The car stopped.

Chen Kan turned around, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses fixed on the desolate beach outside the window: "Master Qiao, you didn't bring me here to kill me and silence me, did you?"

“Of course not,” Qiao Yuan said. “Achen, show Mr. Chen the things.”

Ah Chen immediately took a brown paper bag from the front seat of the car, turned around and threw it to Chen Kan.

Qiao Yuan said, "Take a look at this."

Chen Kan opened the paper bag, puzzled.

A surge of anger suddenly welled up inside him!

Chen Kan's fingers clenched tightly, his knuckles turning white: "You investigated me?"

“It’s not really an investigation,” Qiao Yuan said, stubbing out his cigarette. “I just know some old stories that Chairman Chen doesn’t want to talk about. For example, your mother was a courtesan at the ‘Yihonglou’ in Beiping, who was redeemed by Chen Ping but couldn’t enter the Chen family ancestral hall; for example, when you were seven years old, you had chickenpox, and she knelt at the school board chairman’s door for three hours to beg for a place in the school; and for example…”

Chen Kan sneered, like a wild beast, "For example, I finally met Jintang, but you took her away! You even killed me! If I had become one of those corpses back then, Qiao Yuan, would you be at peace with yourself?"

Faced with his accusations, Qiao Yuan remained calm and, after a long pause, said, "Yes, I wronged you back then. But now that you've survived, you should talk about things that happen to the living!"

Chen Kan looked at him coldly, "What exactly constitutes a matter for the living?"

Qiao Yuan paused, his gaze sharp as a knife, "Old Master Chen sent you back to Jiangcheng not to be the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, but to make you a scapegoat."

Chen Kan's Adam's apple bobbed violently. Suddenly, he raised his hand and slammed his fist on the back of the chair, the knuckles making a dull thud: "What exactly are you trying to say?"

“You and I are both pawns.” Qiao Yuan’s voice was tinged with the smell of river. “Uncle Zhong is your third uncle’s man and also a confidant of the old master of the Chen family. Chen Ping’s case of being a communist sympathizer is not yet closed. The Nanjing authorities are keeping an eye on the Chen family’s central bank positions. If you mess up the arms deal with the British consulate, you can take the blame for your elder brother.”

Chen Kan's face turned pale instantly, as if it had been soaked through by the river mist.

He knew, of course, that what Qiao Yuan said was true; from the very beginning, he was a pawn to be used and discarded.

"So what?" Chen Kan's face was frosty. "Is Master Qiao going to use this to threaten me?"

“I never threaten anyone.” Qiao Yuan pulled another cigar from the cigarette case. “What I want you to do is go with her.”

As the car drove back into the city, Chen Kan kept looking out the window and didn't say anything more.

“I can give the Chen family the land deeds in Hongkou, the warehouses at the docks, and the agency rights for British American Tobacco,” Qiao Yuan said, his voice as soft as a sigh. “As long as you get her on the ship tomorrow.”

Chen Kan turned around abruptly, his eyes behind his gold-rimmed glasses reddening: "You really want her to leave?"

“Yes,” Qiao Yuan said frankly. “She should go to France to study architecture and build the Gothic cathedral she loves, instead of being stuck in this quagmire, fighting with us lonely ghosts.”

Chen Kan's Adam's apple bobbed, and he suddenly laughed, his laughter tinged with tears: "You're so generous. You really want to watch her and me live happily ever after?"

"Of course I don't want to!" Qiao Yuan's eyes reddened. "Just thinking about Jin Tang sleeping with you in the future makes me want to shoot you!"

“I promise you,” Chen Kan suddenly spoke, his voice as soft as river mist, “but you must guarantee that the arms deals at the docks will not fall into the hands of the Japanese.”

When the car reached the intersection of Xiafei Road, Chen Kan suddenly asked, "Qiao Yuan, did you ever love her?"

Qiao Yuan's heart felt like it was being swept away by the tide, cold and aching.

"I loved her," he said, his voice deeper than a stone at the bottom of a river, "but I wasn't good enough for her."

Chen Kan was, after all, a scholar. Even when he put on airs and acted tough in Jiangcheng, he couldn't hide the kindness in his heart. He remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "So you didn't plan to leave on your own?"

Qiao Yuan looked up, and the neon lights outside the window swept across his face.

“Me?” He laughed, a laugh tinged with bloodlust. “I’m Master Qiao of the Green Gang, a thorn in Sato’s side, and a thorn in the Chen family’s side. Every inch of Jiangcheng’s bricks hides my enemies. What right do I have to talk about ‘plans’?”

As Chen Kan got out of the car, Qiao Yuan said, "Tomorrow at midnight, A-Chen will be waiting for you at the Shiliupu Wharf."

Chen Kan nodded, which was taken as an agreement.

The wind slipped in through the cracks in the car window, carrying the salty, damp smell of the Huangpu River and the scent of cigars emanating from Qiao Yuan, swirling around the carriage.

The car started again.

Qiao Yuan suddenly remembered that a few years ago in the spring, Lin Tang was under the crabapple tree in the old house in Hongkou, holding up a sprig of magnolia and smiling at him: "Qiao Yuan, smell it, how sweet this flower is."

She pinned the magnolia flower to his chest.

He said at the time, "What do the Green Gang people need these delicate things for?" But then he turned around and asked Ah Chen to buy a string of them, which he hung in his suit pocket for an entire spring.

His eyes suddenly welled up with tears.

Chen Kan looked at him without saying a word.

The car continued driving forward, passing through the brightly lit concession area, through the factory district filled with coal smoke, and heading towards Hongkou.

The sound of the waves on the Huangpu River grew louder and louder, like someone singing a song about parting, singing "Years will pass, and all the good times and beautiful scenery will be in vain," singing "Even if I have a thousand kinds of feelings, who will I share them with?"

Qiao Yuan suddenly smiled.

At least, he can still give her a chance at spring.

A spring without swords or intrigues, only magnolia blossoms and sweet cakes.

...

Ah Chen couldn't help but turn around: "Master Qiao, do you really believe him?"

Qiao Yuan didn't speak, he just stared out the window.

"Ah Chen," he suddenly spoke, his voice as soft as a dream, "tell me, how many times in a lifetime can a person gamble for the one they love?"

Ah Chen's eyes reddened: "Master Qiao..."

"I'm betting on Chen Kan's sincerity towards her." Qiao Yuan stubbed out his cigar in the ashtray. "And I'm also betting on myself... that I can protect her in her final moments."

As the car passed Jing'an Temple, Qiao Yuan asked Achen to stop by the roadside. He walked into the temple gate, knelt down in front of the Guanyin statue, and his knees hit the prayer cushion with a dull thud.

He never believed in ghosts or gods in his life, but three years ago, when Lin Tang had surgery, he went to a nearby church.

And now, he has come here again.

He suddenly laughed, thinking to himself that he wondered if the Bodhisattva and Jesus would fight. He had never had any faith in his life, and he wondered if God knew about it and was therefore punishing him.

But at that time, he not only knelt before Jesus, but also knelt here for an entire night, begging the Bodhisattva, "If you want her to live, I am willing to shorten my lifespan by ten years."

The incense sticks in the incense burner were burning brightly, and in the swirling smoke, he seemed to see Lin Tang wearing a moon-white cheongsam, standing under the crabapple tree, holding a piece of osmanthus sugar cake in her hand, smiling like a flower.

“Jintang,” he whispered to the Guanyin statue, his voice swallowed by the incense, “If there is an afterlife, I will definitely plant crabapple trees all over the yard with you.”

A river breeze swept in from the temple gate, lifting the hem of his long black robe, making it look like a butterfly with broken wings, slowly falling in the moonlight.

...

Chen Kan returned to the Chamber of Commerce.

"Chairman Chen certainly knows how to pick his timing." Uncle Zhong's voice emerged from the shadows. "So engrossed in business with Qiao Yuan that he forgot the time?"

Chen Kan took off his gold-rimmed glasses and wiped the fog off the lenses with his sleeve.

What did Qiao Yuan say to you?

Chen Kan looked up at him, frowned, his expression revealing undisguised disgust, and a sneer on his lips, "Uncle Zhong, you've hidden so many spies around me. When we got back to Jiangcheng, weren't all the things you made me do just what the old man told me to do? I'm just your puppet. How could you not know what Qiao Yuan and I were talking about!"

"Chen Kan! If you really listened to me, how could you have sealed off the opium dens and dance halls!"

"Yes, that's not just Qiao Yuan's business, it's also the business of those foreign bigwigs." Chen Kan's voice was filled with undisguised sarcasm. "The Chen family guards the government's purse strings, but what they do is all sorts of shady dealings!"

"This is none of your business!" Uncle Zhong stood up. "What exactly did Qiao Yuan ask you to do?" He looked Chen Kan up and down, then suddenly said, "Does he want you? Is he pretending to be a good guy, saying he'll send you and Lin Tang away from Jiangcheng?"

Chen Kan paused for a moment, then put his glasses back on without saying anything.

Uncle Zhong scoffed, pulled out an enamel cigarette case from his pocket, lit a cigarette, and the smoke swirled around his face. "You believe Qiao Yuan's words? How many people has he killed? Wasn't it him who did what you did in Jiangcheng back then?"

“Since Uncle Zhong knows everything,” he looked up, his voice carrying a hint of desperate resolve, “he should also know that I no longer want to be a pawn of the Chen family.”

"A pawn?" Uncle Zhong's face darkened, cigarette ash falling onto his blue cloth robe. "The Chen family feeds you, clothes you, and makes you the chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and you're complaining about being a pawn?" He leaned forward, his voice like a snake's tongue, "Chen Kan, don't forget, your mother's memorial tablet is still in the dilapidated temple outside the Chen family ancestral hall. If you dare to betray the Chen family, I'll make sure she can never set foot in the Chen family again!"

Chen Kan's face turned pale instantly. He remembered his mother's dying words: "Kan'er, my biggest regret in this life is not being able to enter the Chen family ancestral hall. If you have the ability, then put my memorial tablet in there..."

“Uncle Zhong,” he lowered his head, “I know what to do!”

Uncle Zhong laughed and patted him on the shoulder: "That's more like the descendants of the Chen family."

Chen Kan watched his retreating figure, then suddenly grabbed the teacup on the table and smashed it on the ground. The teacup shattered into pieces, and tea splashed onto his suit trousers, resembling a dark flower.