Chapter Eight: Moon Falls Over the Begonia
The kerosene lamp hung from the beam at the entrance of the hall. In the lamplight, the lacquer on the eight-immortal table was cracked. Uncle Chen stood by the threshold, holding his pipe, the embers in the pipe flickering.
When Qiao Yuan entered through the curtain of the main hall, his shoulders were still covered with the morning dew from the old house in Hongkou.
Uncle Chen looked at him, hurriedly rubbed his eye bags, and asked, "Was everything alright yesterday?"
Qiao Yuan shook his head, but asked, "Uncle Chen, how well have you investigated Sato Sakura's background? Is it as she herself said?"
Uncle Chen added a pinch of tobacco to his pipe, the spark from the struck match illuminating the deep wrinkles on his face. The old man nodded, his voice resolute: "She wasn't lying. She is indeed Sato Ichiro's adopted daughter, bought from the Fengtian Rouge Brothel a few years ago. But being an adopted daughter, these are just Sato's trained snake women, skilled in all sorts of tricks, their specialty being relaying messages. Anyway, sir, you'd better be careful with this one."
Qiao Yuan suddenly burst out laughing, the sound crashing against the blue brick wall and shattering into a cold echo: "The Japanese are pawns, the Axe Gang is a knife, and even I, the leader of the Crescent Moon Gang, have become pawns on their chessboard."
Uncle Chen started smoking again, and after a while asked, "So, what do you plan to do, sir?"
Qiao Yuan said, "Didn't you hear what she said yesterday? Chen Kan came here to avenge me for killing him and stealing his wife. The Chen family has long been eyeing me like a piece of fat meat. Not to mention those members of the Green Gang who saw how ruthlessly I killed Huang Jinhu and Liang Kuan, who doesn't want to follow suit? I've been driven to the brink of despair for a long time. Now, what other way out do I have but to cooperate with the Japanese?"
Upon hearing this, Uncle Chen continued to puff on his cigarette without saying a word.
Qiao Yuan looked at the old man and said, "Uncle Chen, I know you don't want to see me colluding with the Japanese. Didn't my whole family die in the Japanese bombing back then? But Uncle Chen, don't worry, I won't become a traitor! I'm dealing with a tiger for its skin now, but I won't forget my original intentions!"
Uncle Chen looked at him, tears streaming down his face, "Master Qiao, I've followed you for so many years. Back when we were fighting the Black Tiger Gang, it was you who saved this old man... I know your character, I'm just afraid that you'll reach a dead end and won't be able to turn back..."
Qiao Yuan just smiled and said, "Uncle Chen, I have no father, no mother, no children, and I am all alone now. What am I afraid of? There is only one thing I can't let go of: Jintang, you, and Achen. Even if I die, I will still make arrangements for you."
Hearing his dramatic words, Uncle Chen immediately said, "I'm almost in my grave! What's there to be afraid of? Ah Chen, you can make some plans for him, but what about Madam..."
Qiao Yuan smiled and said, "Yes. You have to do me a favor. Please prepare a boat for me. We'll leave at midnight tomorrow night. Force her onto the boat and go to Hong Kong."
Uncle Chen's hands trembled like leaves in the autumn wind: "Force her? Madam has a fiery temper, I'm afraid she might..."
Qiao Yuan sighed, but a smile played on his lips. "I originally wanted to force her to leave, but Jiangcheng won't let her leave peacefully. I can't watch her stay here; I have to send her away..."
Uncle Chen said, "But Master Qiao, I'm afraid Madam will be even more attached to you now..."
“It’s better than dying in Jiangcheng.” Qiao Yuan’s voice suddenly lowered, choked with sobs. “Uncle Chen, I’ve never asked you for anything in my life. Just this once, please help me send her away, and don’t let her come back.”
Uncle Chen looked at Qiao Yuan's infatuated expression and was speechless.
“If you think it’s feasible, you can come along too,” Qiao Yuan added.
Uncle Chen snorted, "Once I leave, you'll be like a blind, deaf, and stupid person in Jiangcheng! How can I leave you here alone?"
Qiao Yuan couldn't help but laugh when he saw this old man who was stubborn but soft-hearted.
“Alright, you don’t have to leave! But now, I have to go see my wife!” Qiao Yuan laughed like a child, and happily carried the candy cake outside.
...
The vermilion door of the old house in Hongkou was ajar, its hinges badly rusted, and it made a grating creaking sound when pushed open.
Qiao Yuan stood in the courtyard and saw Lin Tang squatting under the half-withered crabapple tree, using a small shovel to add soil to the base of the tree.
"Jintang." Qiao Yuan's voice was colder than the moss on the well platform. "I brought you Shen Dacheng's sweet cakes."
Lin Tang was taken aback, her shovel paused in the dirt, and she asked without turning around, "Why is Mr. Qiao here?"
Qiao Yuan placed the oil paper package on the well platform, and the sweet aroma of the sugar cake mixed with the dampness of the well water spread out.
"Wanted to come see you?"
Lin Tang turned around and wiped her hands with a cotton cloth. "What else is there to say between us?"
“Used?” Lin Tang finally turned around, sunlight filtering through her hair and casting dappled patterns of light and shadow on her face. “Didn’t Master Qiao ever use me? He used my father’s life-saving grace to force me to marry you, took my architectural blueprints to curry favor with the French, and even the injury on my leg was left because of your old grudge with the Black Tiger Gang.”
She looked at him coldly, "You hire a young girl, act recklessly in dance halls, and slander my reputation in court the other day. Now you're pretending to be a Casanova. Don't you feel disgusted?"
Qiao Yuan suddenly grabbed her wrist. "I'm just negotiating with the Japanese. They all want the land deeds, the docks, and the shopping malls under our names! Jintang, this is a battlefield, you can't handle it! You're an educated person, you can't tolerate corruption, you can't stay in Jiangcheng! Go!"
Lin Tang just sneered: "Leave? Qiao Yuan, do you think I'm still that little girl you tricked away with your sweet words back then? If you can't bear to part with your property, why don't you just kill me now? Anyway, for you Green Gang members, killing someone is just a piece of cake! Tomorrow, the newspaper will say that I was just trying to kill myself."
She shook off his hand and turned to walk inside.
"Mr. Qiao, if you're not here to kill me, then get out of here! You're not welcome here!"
As Qiao Yuan watched her turn away, he suddenly remembered the day three years ago when she was ambushed and lost her child. She was also wearing a moon-white dress, but her whole body looked as if she had been drenched in blood. She leaned against him and cried, saying, "If this child is born, his eyes will definitely look like yours."
He suddenly lunged forward and hugged her from behind, his chin resting on the crook of her neck, his stubble scratching her painfully.
She angrily tried to push him away.
But he said, "Jintang, just this once, let me hug you."
His voice was so pitiful, as if... a drowning person, only wanting to hold on to the last piece of driftwood with all his might.
Lin Tang's body stiffened like ice, but she didn't push him away again.
Qiao Yuan suddenly smiled. He turned her body around, grabbed her hand and pressed it against his chest, where his heart was beating so fast it felt like it was about to burst out. "Jintang, feel it. It's still beating here because of you."
Lin Tang was stunned at first, then her fingers curled up, her nails digging into his flesh: "Qiao Yuan, you bastard."
“Yes, I’m a bastard.” Qiao Yuan ignored her and held her hand to his lips, gently kissing her knuckles. “But if I die, you have to live well. Go to France to study architecture, build your favorite Gothic cathedral, marry a foreign student who wears a suit, and have two children who love to laugh like you.”
Lin Tang was stunned, and she looked up at him.
But then he laughed and said, "No, no way! How could someone as awful as me die so easily? And I would never allow you to marry someone else! I'm very petty."
"Jintang." Chen Kan's voice drifted in from behind the door, carrying a deliberate gentleness. "I brought the French perfume you mentioned you liked, and I've kept it at the trading company for half a month..."
The moment he pushed open the door, he bumped right into Qiao Yuan's arm, which was wrapped around Lin Tang.
Lin Tang recoiled as if burned, her lower back slamming against the well platform, wincing in pain.
Qiao Yuan's hand hovered in mid-air, then clenched into a fist. He had just been saying, "I will not allow you to marry anyone else," and now he had been caught in this disheveled state.
Chen Kan stood outside the threshold, dressed in a suit and tie like a nobleman who had stepped out of a magazine, but the gloom in his eyes was like thick, unyielding ink.
He stared at Qiao Yuan's hand on Lin Tang's waist, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Mr. Qiao seems to be in quite a mood. You were just about to kill me and Jin Tang at the courthouse, and now you're here to rekindle your romance?"
Qiao Yuan smiled, reached out and hooked his arm around Lin Tang's shoulder, pulling him slightly into his embrace: "Mr. Chen, are you so free? Why don't you come with me to the branch for a cup of tea? I happen to have a business deal I'd like to discuss with you. It's about your Chen family buying arms from the British and American consulates. I have a batch of goods here, and it's 30% cheaper than your channels."
Chen Kan stared at the people with a gloomy expression and said coldly, "I don't do business with people like you!"
"No, I think you should talk to me!"
Qiao Yuan pulled his arm and walked towards the door, not forgetting to look back at Lin Tang, her voice becoming gentle: "Jin Tang, the sugar cake won't taste good if it gets cold, you eat it first."
...
When Ah Chen saw Qiao Yuan and Chen Kan walk out, their arms around each other like brothers, he couldn't help but open his mouth wide, as if someone had stuffed several rotten eggs into his mouth.
However, upon closer inspection, Ah Chen discovered that the two men were actually pointing short knives and guns at each other, exchanging insults and slang. Naturally, Chen Kan was no match for Qiao Yuan in this regard.
Chen Kan said impatiently, "Qiao Yuan, what exactly do you want? Are you planning to kill me and Jin Tang openly, or are you planning to kill me first and then try to coax Jin Tang back to ensure that your assets are not lost? Let me tell you, if you dare to touch me, the Chen family will not let you off!"
Qiao Yuan sneered, "Chen Kan, don't overestimate yourself! I know perfectly well what you are in the Chen family!"
One sentence put a weight off Chen Kan's mind.
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