The eyes of the steamed grouper were still shining, and the oil from the crispy roast goose had soaked into the lotus leaves at the bottom of the plate, while in the very center was a pot of steaming Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, with sea cucumber and abalone gently swaying in the golden broth.
Lin Hu had been itching to get started, his chopsticks hovering around the roast goose plate, when Lin Laosan tapped his hand: "What's the rush?"
As Lin Li sat down, Lin Yao handed her a napkin and whispered, "Grandma, I've tidied up your traditional Chinese medicine books and put them on the third shelf of the study."
"What a good child."
She picked up a piece of abalone and put it in his bowl. As she watched Lin Laosan serve herself soup, she suddenly noticed a white hair at her son's temple, like a thin silver thread hidden in his black hair.
"How is Mr. Huang's health?"
Lin Laosan scooped up some soup and asked, the steam blurring his vision.
"I feel much better," Lin Li said, taking a sip of soup. The gelatinous texture slid down her throat with a sweet taste. "He was able to accompany me to the Penang night market on the last day. He said he would treat me to fried kuey teow, but his wife scolded him, saying he was 'out of his mind'."
She couldn't help but laugh when she recalled how Mr. Huang was chased and beaten by his wife. "He paid a very generous amount for the medical expenses."
Lin Laosan didn't reply, but simply picked up a shrimp dumpling for her.
The "thank you gift" given by Mr. Huang was so heavy that it must have been quite a sum of money.
Lunch passed quickly amidst Lin Hu's chatter and Lin Yao's soft whispers.
As Lin Li watched her two grandsons fight over the last piece of roast goose, she suddenly felt that all the hardships of this trip to Penang were worthwhile.
After dinner, Lin Laosan went to the company. Before leaving, he said he would bring Mr. Yu over for tea that evening, and Lin Li asked him to take the jar of Pu'er tea that Mr. Huang had given him.
That's 60-year-old aged tea, which is said to be more expensive than gold.
When I returned to the bedroom, the sunlight had already pierced through the clouds, casting diamond-shaped patches of light on the floor.
Lin Li unfastened the lock on the rosewood box. Inside, fifty stacks of Hong Kong dollars were neatly arranged, each stack containing ten thousand dollars, bound together with bank slips of paper. On top of the box was an HSBC check with a long string of zeros following the amount.
A total of five million.
She put the cash in a hidden compartment in the wardrobe and tucked the checks into the copy of "Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber".
The afternoon sun was so warm it made me sleepy.
Lin Li lay on the silk sheets, listening to the cicadas chirping outside the window gradually intensify.
In a daze, I was back at my estate in Penang.
Mr. Huang's wife held her hand and said, "If you need anything in the future, just let me know." The housekeeper brought out steaming Bak Kut Teh, and the aroma of herbs mixed with the sweetness of coconut milk filled the room.
When I woke up, the sunlight filtering through the curtains was already slanting down onto the foot of the bed.
Lin Li took out the pocket watch from beside her pillow; the hour hand pointed to four o'clock.
She got up and walked to the window, where she saw Lin Hu and Lin Yao chasing butterflies in the courtyard. Teacher Zhou was sitting in a wicker chair watching them, knitting a small blue sweater in her hands.
"Is Madam awake?"
Uncle Fu brought in afternoon tea, with Earl Grey tea and almond cookies on a silver tray. "Real estate agent Mr. Wang just called and said there's a shop in Causeway Bay for sale. It's in a great location. He asked if you'd like to take a look."
Lin Li took the teacup, the steam condensing into a white mist on her glasses: "How much area? What's the price?"
"Two hundred and fifty square feet, asking price two million eight hundred thousand,"
Uncle Fu handed over a photo. "It used to be a tailor shop, right next to the subway station. There was a lot of foot traffic."
The shop in the photo is located on the ground floor of an arcade building, with a sign that reads "Shanghai Fashion" and a red paper sign that reads "Clearance Sale" pasted on the glass door.
"Let's go take a look tomorrow."
She put down her teacup, walked to her desk, opened a map of Hong Kong, and drew a circle around Causeway Bay with her finger. "The hotel is about to open, and the catering needs to keep up. I want to open a few more restaurants."
Uncle Fu's eyes lit up: "That's a great idea! Ah Zhen's skills should have been developed long ago. Last time, Mrs. Yu ate her shrimp dumplings and has been talking about learning them ever since."
“Not just Cantonese restaurants,” Lin Li pointed to the Tsim Sha Tsui area, “this area could be a good place to open a tea restaurant, selling French toast and wonton noodles, targeting young people who go shopping; Kowloon Tong has many office buildings, so it would be a good place to open a soup shop, offering nourishing soups for takeout.”
Her fingertips moved across the map. "These all need paving. If Wang Sheng finds any suitable ones, keep an eye out for them."
Just then, Lin Yao walked in carrying a workbook, pointed to a page and asked, "Grandma, how do you write the 'shop' in 'shop'?"
Lin Li held his little hand and wrote the traditional Chinese character for "shop" on his exercise book: "This character is pronounced pū, and it means a house for doing business."
She looked at the two little ones' earnest profiles. These shops were not just businesses, but also the foundation left for the children.
"When you grow up, Grandma will hand over these shops to you to manage, okay?"
Lin Yao nodded as if he understood, then grabbed his workbook and ran out.
Lin Li watched his retreating figure, then picked up the book "Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Chamber" again, with a corner of the check peeking out from between the pages.
She recalled Mr. Huang's words before leaving: "If the Lin family ever has any problems in Southeast Asia, I, Mr. Huang, will not hesitate to help."
This trip to Penang yielded more than just medical expenses.
In the evening, when Lin Laosan returned with Mr. Yu, Lin Li was watching Ah Zhen make char siu in the kitchen.
As soon as Mr. Yu entered the door, he exclaimed, "Dr. Lin is finally back!"
He was holding a paper package in his hand. "These are egg tarts I just bought from Luk Yu Tea House. I'm giving them to the kids to try."
Lin Hu snatched the oil paper package, smiled, said "thank you," and handed it to Lin Yao, offering it to Lin Yao and Teacher Zhou to enjoy together.
Mr. Yu laughed as he looked at him, then suddenly leaned closer to Lin Li and whispered, "Mr. Huang called and said that your medical skills can bring the dead back to life and heal the wounded, and that I must get on good terms with you."
Lin Li shook her head and smiled, "Our two families have a very good relationship."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Yu smiled with delight.
Tell Ah Zhen to brew that jar of Pu'er tea. "Try this. Mr. Huang gave it to you; he said it's even better than the tea from your Yu family's collection."
As the aroma of tea filled the air, Lin Laosan took out the hotel's interior design plans: "Mom, take a look at the design of this banquet hall. Mr. Yu said he wanted to hang crystal chandeliers, but I think it's too tacky."
Lin Li looked at the blueprints and pointed to the position of the Chinese-style screen: "Why not use a Suzhou embroidery screen? It's grand yet understated, and it matches our name 'Bayview' perfectly."
She looked up at Mr. Yu and asked, "What do you think?"
Mr. Yu nodded: "Dr. Lin has a good eye! Let's use Suzhou embroidery. I know the best embroiderers in Suzhou, so I'll have her come over and oversee it herself."
The setting sun cast long shadows in the living room, and the light from the crystal chandelier fell on the teacups, giving them an amber glow.
After finishing his tea, Mr. Yu took his leave.
Lin Li stopped Lin Laosan and said, "Come with me tomorrow to look at the shops in Causeway Bay. While we're at it, have Wang Sheng mark out all the nearby shops so we can take over a few at once."
Lin Laosan was taken aback for a moment, then understood what his mother meant: "You mean..."
"We have the hotel, but we still need restaurants and shops."
Lin Li picked up her teacup and looked at the darkening sky outside the window. "Business in Hong Kong needs to be struck while the iron is hot."
As night fell into the living room, Ah Zhen brought out dinner.
Lin Li looked at the table full of dishes and her family chatting and laughing around her, and a smile appeared on her lips.
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