bookbashuk Chapter 7 Attending the Banquet
Chapter 7 Attending the Banquet
On the second floor of Yuebinlou, there is a private room called "Tingyuxuan".
When Li Ranmo and Shen Qiushui arrived, Han Xiuyun was already there. She wasn't wearing the black silk shirt she wore at the dock; instead, she was wearing a dark purple cheongsam, and her hair was still neatly styled. She was sitting in the main seat, holding a teacup.
"Dr. Li, Nurse Shen, please sit down." Han Xiuyun put down her teacup and pointed to the chair opposite her.
Several cold dishes were laid out on the table: salted duck, smoked fish, and a dish of peanuts.
"You're too kind, Master Han." Li Ranmo pulled out a chair and sat down, with Shen Qiushui sitting next to him.
"It's not that I'm being polite, it's that you saved my brother's life." Han Xiuyun picked up the wine pot and filled the cups in front of the two men. "Huzi was able to get out of bed yesterday, and his fever has gone down. I must toast you with this cup of wine."
After she finished speaking, she picked up her glass and drank it all in one gulp.
Li Ranmo also drank some. The wine was Shaoxing yellow, smooth on the palate, but with a strong aftertaste.
Shen Qiushui took a small sip.
"The food is all you can eat, and the drinks are unlimited." Han Xiuyun put down her glass, picked up her chopsticks and took a piece of duck meat. "Today's meal is firstly to thank you for saving Hu Zi, and secondly... I want to discuss a business deal with Dr. Li."
coming.
Li Ranmo put down his cup: "Please speak, Master Han."
Han Xiuyun didn't speak immediately; she glanced at the two subordinates standing by the door. The two understood, turned around, and left, closing the door behind them.
Only the three of them remained in the private room.
"Dr. Li is a sensible person, so I won't beat around the bush." Han Xiuyun leaned forward and lowered her voice, "At the docks, a third of the ships that ship goods have to go through my hands. Dr. Li should know what the market is like for medicines, especially Western medicines, right now."
"I understand," Li Ranmo said. "More expensive than gold."
"That's right." Han Xiuyun smiled. "But gold has a price, but medicine is priceless. Especially sulfathiazole, a life-saving drug on the battlefield. Right now, more than 70% of what's circulating in the market depends on the whims of Section Chief Wang Qingnian."
She mentioned Wang Qingnian, her eyes fixed on Li Ranmo.
Li Ranmo asked calmly, "Does Boss Han and Section Chief Wang also have dealings?"
"We used to," Han Xiuyun said, picking up a peanut. "He ate the meat, and I drank the soup. But now, we can hardly even get the soup anymore."
"How so?"
"Wang Qingnian's appetite is getting bigger and bigger." Han Xiuyun threw a peanut into her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, "He used to take 30%, now he wants 50%. And that's not all, his henchmen have been hanging around the docks more and more lately, they even want to interfere with my people unloading cargo."
Shen Qiushui gently put down her chopsticks: "Does Boss Han mean that Section Chief Wang wants to eat yours too?"
"It's not that I'm thinking about it, I'm already taking it." Han Xiuyun poured herself a glass of wine. "Last week, a batch of sulfonamides that I was working on was seized by the Department of Health as soon as it landed, because they said the paperwork was incomplete. They were detained for three days, and when they were released, a third of it was missing."
She looked at Li Ranmo: "Dr. Li, where did the missing medicine go?"
"The black market," Li Ranmo said.
"Yes, the black market," Han Xiuyun sneered. "Then they sell it back to hospitals like yours at a high price. They keep my goods with their left hand and sell them to you with their right, making double the money."
The private room was quiet for a few seconds.
The sound of rickshaw bells and vendors' cries drifted from the street outside the window.
"How does Boss Han want to cooperate?" Li Ran asked silently.
"It's simple," Han Xiuyun said. "I have connections to get genuine medicine from Shanghai and Hong Kong—sulfathiazole, sulfonamides, anesthetics, I have them all. But I can't do it openly, because if I do, Wang Qingnian will find out immediately."
She paused for a moment: "So, I have to take the back route. When the goods arrive at the dock, they won't go through the Department of Health's warehouse; they'll go directly into my warehouse. Then, I'll use my boat and my truck to deliver them to your army hospital. I won't use the hospital's official warehouse receipt; you'll receive them privately."
Shen Qiushui asked, "How will the accounts be settled? How will the money be transferred?"
"Money is no problem." Han Xiuyun waved her hand. "I'll give you 70% of the black market price. But there's one condition: cash only, no accounting. For each transaction, you send someone to the dock to pick up the goods, inspect them on-site, and settle the payment immediately."
"What about the risks?" Li Ranmo looked at her. "What if the goods are seized? What if something happens on the way?"
"If the goods are seized, it's on me," Han Xiuyun said. "If something happens on the way, it's also on me. But there's one thing: someone at your hospital needs to be able to get the goods in, hide them, use them, and not let Wang Qingnian's informants find out."
She looked at Li Ranmo: "Dr. Li, do you have this ability in the hospital?"
Li Ranmo did not answer immediately.
He picked up his teacup and took a sip of tea.
"Boss Han," he put down his cup, "you just said that Wang Qingnian's men have been very active at the docks lately?"
"Yes," Han Xiuyun said, "especially these last two days. My men just found out that a large batch of sulfathiazole will arrive at the old warehouse at Pier No. 3 tomorrow night at midnight. Wang Qingnian has already sent people to keep an eye on it; it seems he's trying to intercept it."
Shen Qiushui tapped the table lightly with her fingers.
Li Ranmo looked at her.
"Tomorrow night at midnight," Shen Qiushui repeated softly, "around the time we received that batch of imported medicine."
"So Wang Qingnian was operating both openly and covertly," Han Xiuyun said. "Openly, he was seizing your hospital's medicine, while secretly stealing my supplies. He was profiting from both sides."
She picked up the wine pot and filled Li Ranmo's cup again.
"Dr. Li, are you interested in this business?"
Li Ranmo stared at the swirling liquid in the glass.
"Do it," he said.
Han Xiuyun smiled.
"Great." She raised her glass. "Then it's settled. As for the specifics of the handover, what code to use, Nurse Shen, you're meticulous, you decide."
Shen Qiushui nodded and took out paper and pen from her small bag.
"Three hours before the goods arrive, tie a red cloth to the third utility pole on the west side of the dock," she said as she wrote. "When our people see the red cloth, they go to the back door of the old warehouse and knock three times long and two times short. The person who opens the door asks, 'Is it windy tonight?' and the answer is, 'The moon is quite round.'"
After listening, Han Xiuyun nodded: "Okay, let's do it this way."
She called out towards the door, "Ah Bing!"
The door opened, and the henchman poked his head in.
"In charge of the household."
"Go and bring me my sandalwood box."
Ah Bing responded and quickly brought over a palm-sized sandalwood box.
Han Xiuyun took it, opened it, and inside was a copper coin. It wasn't an ordinary copper coin; it was larger than usual, with a polished edge and a red string threaded through the square hole in the center.
"Take these." She took out the copper coins and handed them to Li Ranmo. "At the dock, show these, and my people will recognize you. In case of any emergency, take these to the manager of Xinglong Teahouse and say, 'Master Han owes you tea money,' and someone will naturally take you to see me."
Li Ranmo took the copper coin; it felt heavy in his hand.
"Thank you, Han, for taking charge."
"Don't thank me," Han Xiuyun waved her hand. "We're business partners now, it's mutually beneficial. You get the medicine to save your people. I get the money to support my brothers. As for Wang Qingnian..."
Her eyes turned cold.
"He wants to cut off my source of income, let's see who has the tougher hand."
By the time we finished eating, it was completely dark.
Han Xiuyun escorted Li Ranmo and Shen Qiushui to the restaurant entrance, watched them get into the rickshaw, and then turned back.
The driver pulled the cart along the bluestone road.
Shen Qiushui remained silent until the car turned into a quiet alley, at which point she finally spoke.
"Wang Qingnian is moving faster than we expected." She lowered her voice. "He's definitely got people at Pier No. 3 tomorrow night at midnight. If Han Xiuyun's news is true, we might not be able to get that batch of medicine."
"Really," Li Ranmo said. "She has no reason to lie to us."
"What should we do then?"
"Get ahead of Wang Qingnian." Li Ranmo looked at the dark street ahead, "Or, prevent his men from getting it."
Shen Qiushui turned to look at him: "You want to just take it by force?"
"We'll see." Li Ranmo took the copper coin out of his pocket, weighed it in his hand, and said, "Han Xiuyun gave us this not so we could just play with it."
Do you think she'll make a move?
"She wants to teach Wang Qingnian a lesson even more than we do," Li Ranmo said, putting the coins away. "But we can't rely on her entirely. We have to go to Pier No. 3 tomorrow night."
"It's too dangerous," Shen Qiushui said. "Wang Qingnian's men will definitely recognize you."
"I won't show myself," Li Ranmo said. "You go."
Shen Qiushui was taken aback.
"I?"
"You're a nurse, a new face," Li Ranmo said. "Go ahead and say the hospital sent you to inventory a batch of medical equipment arriving in Hong Kong, and to follow the proper procedures. Even if Wang Qingnian's men see you, they won't suspect anything. You stay there and keep an eye on things, see how many of them there are and how they're arranged."
"And what about you?"
"I'm outside," Li Ranmo said. "If things really come to a head, it would be best if Han Xiuyun's men could handle it. If they can't..."
He didn't finish speaking.
Shen Qiushui understood.
"Dr. Li," she said after a moment of silence, then suddenly asked, "you're cooperating with Han Xiuyun just for the sake of the medicine?"
"Otherwise what?"
"She's a gang member after all," Shen Qiushui said. "Her underhanded dealings are messy. Dealing with someone like that will make it hard to get out of trouble later."
Li Ran smiled silently.
"Nurse Shen, in this world, which path is truly clean?"
The rickshaw stopped at the hospital entrance.
Li Ranmo got out of the car first and reached out to help Shen Qiushui.
The two entered the hospital gate. Old Zhao, the caregiver on the night shift, was dozing off at the table. Hearing the noise, he looked up, then lay back down.
The corridor was dark, with only one light on at the end.
"I'll go to the dock tomorrow night." Shen Qiushui stopped at the top of the stairs. "But you have to promise me that if things don't go well, we'll leave immediately. We can find another way to get the medicine, but we can't let people go back in."
"I know," Li Ranmo said.
"And one more thing," Shen Qiushui looked at him, "should we mention this to Vice Dean Chen?"
Li Ran thought about it silently.
"I won't tell you yet," he said. "I'll tell him when I get the medicine."
Shen Qiushui nodded, turned around and went upstairs.
He gripped the copper coin tightly, the cold metal digging into his palm.
Tomorrow night at midnight, Pier 3.
Wang Qingnian, let's have a go.