Newborn 1927

After arranging things for the first day of the lunar month, Yang Jiefang summoned Chu Shiwu and said, "Brother Shiwu, I need you to go to Yantai City to do a few things. Are you brave enough to go?" Chu Shiwu asked doubtfully, "Right now?" Yang Jiefang replied, "I'll go after dinner." Chu Shiwu didn't agree immediately, but instead asked, "What are you going to do?" Yang Jiefang said, "Go spread rumors: First, the police chief is keeping a mistress, but it turns out that the woman is the mistress of some military bigwig. When that bigwig found out, he was furious and killed Chief Li..." Gao Huilan interrupted, "Aren't I the daughter of some warlord? How did I become a mistress?" Yang Jiefang was both amused and exasperated, and said, "I told you, this is about spreading rumors. Different versions are needed to make people talk about it. The second version is that Chief Li has been in arrears on the opium debt to Hei Xiazi for a long time. When Hei Xiazi couldn't get it back, he secretly killed him." Gao Huilan praised, "This version..." "Good!" Yang Jiefang continued, "The third rumor is that a client of a brothel took a fancy to a girl named Xiao Cui and wanted to redeem her. Madam Wang demanded an exorbitant ransom, raising it three times in a row, refusing to release her. The client, a member of the underworld, simply led his men to kidnap Xiao Cui and robbed Madam Wang of her life savings." Chu Shiwu thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I can handle this." Gao Huilan reminded him, "Be careful, don't expose yourself!" Chu Shiwu laughed, "It's alright, at worst I'll use a few pancakes and find a few people to spread the word; it'll spread quickly." Yang Jiefang said, "After it's over, you need to get away as soon as possible. Don't go to Yantai for a while; come back to Qinglong Village with us. You're still young; learning to read and write with me will benefit you in the future!" Gao Huilan nodded, and Chu Shiwu happily agreed.

Then, Yang Jiefang approached Bao Ziqiang and said, "Brother Bao, I'd like to ask you to come with me to Yantai again. Would you be willing? Mainly, I'm not familiar with Yantai, and I need you as a guide." Bao Ziqiang replied nonchalantly, "What's the big deal? When do we go? I'm available anytime." Yang Jiefang laughed, "Let's eat first, and then we'll set off." Gao Huilan said, "I want to go too." Yang Jiefang said, "Do you know what we're going there for? You insist on coming. You showed your face at the Yihong Courtyard; it's best to stay out of sight now." Gao Huilan said, "I want to go. We can take a carriage; I can hide inside and not show myself, right?" Yang Jiefang shook his head, "That won't work either. What if someone checks the carriage when we enter or leave the city?" Gao Huilan then became petulant and said, "Baozi, if I don't go, you're not allowed to go either." Yang Jiefang was speechless. If this woman wasn't reasonable, who could persuade her? Bao Ziqiang said, "Why don't we go together? Logically speaking, by now that we've escaped Yantai, we won't go back. Maybe we'll be safe if we go into the city now." Yang Jiefang said, "You know how to think in reverse. Let's go together then! Go prepare a carriage." Bao Ziqiang agreed and went to prepare.

Yang Jiefang then spoke with the others separately, asking them to wait at the Chu family's house while he went to Yantai to buy some things before returning to Qinglongzhai together. He also asked if anyone needed anything, offering to buy it for them.

After lunch, Bao Ziqiang drove the carriage, with Yang Jiefang sitting beside him. Inside were Gao Huilan, Chu Gu, and Pang Ya—a group of five heading to Yantai. The journey into the city went smoothly. Yang Jiefang instructed Bao Ziqiang to go directly to the HSBC Bank. Then, Yang Jiefang told everyone to wait outside while he went in alone. He was greeted by a foreign man who spoke fluent Chinese.

Yang Jiefang pulled out an anonymous check for 10,000 taels of customs silver and said, "I need to cash it all. Please withdraw it all for me." The man examined it carefully and said, "Sir, if I may ask, what do you need so much cash for?" Yang Jiefang frowned slightly and said, "Do I have to explain the purpose?" The man quickly shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to pry into your privacy, but 10,000 taels of customs silver is a large sum of money. If converted to silver dollars, it would be at least 800 pounds. It's quite heavy and inconvenient to carry. If you'd like, I can help you break it down into smaller checks or deposit slips. That would be much more convenient." It has to be said, the man's service was quite good. Yang Jiefang thought for a moment and said, "Could you convert some of the silver into gold? That would be much lighter." The man replied, "Of course, sir. Here are our latest gold and silver exchange rates. How much would you like to exchange?"

Yang Jiefang glanced at the exchange rate; roughly forty silver dollars could be exchanged for one tael of gold (commonly known as "small yellow croaker"). So he exchanged three hundred "small yellow croakers," and with the remaining three thousand silver dollars, the total weight was over one hundred jin (approximately 50 kg). Holding the wooden box containing the gold bars, Yang Jiefang called two bank workers to carry the silver dollars onto the carriage.

Gao Huilan was overjoyed to see that she could actually exchange the money for real gold and silver, and asked, "What do we do next?" Yang Jiefang laughed and said, "Money is for spending, so of course we're going on a shopping spree. Just tell us what you want to buy, we're going to buy as much as we want this time." Fatty said, "I want to eat, lots of delicious things." Gao Huilan rolled her eyes at her and said, "All you ever think about is food." But she still happily agreed.

Yang Jiefang remained seated at the front of the carriage and said, "Brother Bao, do you know where there's a bookstore? If you do, let's go there first." Bao Ziqiang replied, "Of course I know. Get ready. Giddy up—" The carriage quickly stopped in front of a bookstore called Bowen Bookstore. Only Yang Jiefang went inside.

A middle-aged man in a long gown and glasses approached and said, "Sir, are you looking to buy a book? Please feel free to browse!" Yang Jiefang asked, "Do you have any newspapers here?" The middle-aged man replied, "Yes, they're all over here, sir!" Yang Jiefang went over and saw that there were indeed several newspapers, mostly weekly publications. He glanced through the newspapers and asked, "Boss, do you still have any old ones?" The middle-aged man asked curiously, "Expired ones? You want to read them too?" Yang Jiefang nodded and said, "Yes." The middle-aged man replied, "Yes, I do. There's always one or two newspapers that I can't finish buying. They've been sitting here for almost a year. How many do you want?" Yang Jiefang was overjoyed and said, "I'll take them all. Don't worry, I'll buy them at the normal price." The boss shook his head and said, "No need. Just give me a buyback price! I'll look for them for you. Wait a moment!" Yang Jiefang then asked, "Do you have pencils, chalk, and notebooks here?" The boss nodded and said, "Yes, I have them all. How many do you want?" Yang Jiefang said, "Five hundred pencils, five hundred notebooks, and two boxes of chalk. Get these ready first! I'll look at some books, and if I find anything suitable, I'll let you know." The boss was very happy and immediately busied himself packing them up.

Yang Jiefang looked through the bookshelves, row by row, which mainly contained novels from both China and abroad. He browsed very carefully. Suddenly, a copy of *Call to Arms* caught his eye. He immediately pulled it out and saw that it was indeed a book written by Lu Xun. After flipping through a few pages, he was overjoyed. The Qinglongzhai gang needed Lu Xun's voice. So he picked up the book and continued his search.

Just then, the shop door was pushed open, and two young women entered. The woman in front called out as she walked, "Boss Song, do you have all the books I wanted?" Her voice was clear and melodious, and Yang Jiefang couldn't help but look up. The two women who entered were actually young and beautiful, dressed in kimonos. The one in front was slightly younger and walked with a light and lively gait; the woman behind moved with small, delicate steps, her body and head still, appearing very dignified.

The bookstore owner turned around and said, "Oh, Miss Jiang is here? This must be your sister-in-law!" Miss Jiang replied, "Yes." The woman behind her bowed and said, "My name is Yingzi, nice to meet you!" She was Japanese, speaking broken Chinese. Mr. Song had already packed up what Yang Jiefang needed. He turned back to the bookshelf, took a book, and said, "Miss Jiang, this is the 'Anthology of Modern Poetry' you requested; and a copy of 'Call to Arms,' I'll get it for you. Wait… where are the books? They were clearly here." He looked around and realized the books were in Yang Jiefang's hands, feeling a little embarrassed.

Yang Jiefang naturally knew he was looking for *Call to Arms*, but he hadn't expected there to be only one copy. Yang Jiefang smiled and said, "Mr. Song, I'm sorry, I want this book too." Mr. Song looked at Yang Jiefang, then back at Miss Jiang, and said, "There's only one copy of this book, you see..." Miss Jiang frowned slightly and said, "Mr. Song, I already ordered it from you." Yang Jiefang knew he couldn't put the boss in a difficult position, so he said, "Miss Jiang, right? My name is Yang Jiefang, and this book is very important to me. Could you give it to me?" Miss Jiang refused, saying, "I already ordered it, why should I give it to you?" Yang Jiefang replied, "Miss, you already have a copy of *Anthology of Modern Poetry*, you can keep that. How about I have Mr. Song order you another copy of *Call to Arms* next time? To show my apology, I'll pay for both books." Yang Jiefang's humble attitude didn't work on Miss Jiang's feelings; she said, "Do you think I'm someone who lacks money for these two books?" Clearly, she didn't want to give up the book.

Yang Jiefang was a little helpless. The woman in front of him was clearly a pampered young lady; who knew what she might do if she was displeased? He didn't care, but he didn't want to see the bookstore owner get into trouble. So, Yang Jiefang patiently said, "This book is really important to me. May I ask what it would take for you to give it up?" Miss Jiang frowned slightly, thought for a moment, and said, "Since you also like this book, you must be a student of Mr. Lu Xun?" Yang Jiefang replied, "I wouldn't dare say I'm Mr. Lu Xun's student, but I do admire him greatly." Miss Jiang said, "Alright, I'll ask you a question about Mr. Lu Xun. If you can answer it, I'll give you the book. Otherwise, I won't give it up." Yang Jiefang smiled and said, "Okay, please ask, Miss!" Miss Jiang said, "Lu Xun is just Mr. Lu Xun's pen name. What was his real name?" Yang Jiefang was slightly taken aback. He had thought it would be a tricky question, but it turned out to be an easy one. So he answered, "Mr. Lu Xun's original name was Zhou Shuren, and he was from Shaoxing, Zhejiang." Miss Jiang was visibly taken aback and said, "How do you know this? Are you close to him?" Yang Jiefang was completely bewildered. Wasn't this something even elementary school students knew? Was such a big reaction necessary? Little did he know that most people at that time only knew Lu Xun and were unaware of Zhou Shuren.

Seeing that he didn't answer, Miss Jiang didn't press the matter further. She said, "Alright, I keep my word. You can have that book. However, I'll pay for my own book. Mr. Song, here's the money for the book, please keep it safe!" She then handed the money to Mr. Song, the bookstore owner. Mr. Song took the money and said apologetically, "Don't worry, Miss Jiang! I'll order another copy for you next time." Miss Jiang exchanged a few polite words and left with the book.

Yang Jiefang casually asked, "Mr. Song, you seem to know this Miss Jiang quite well?" Mr. Song glanced at him and said, "I know a little about her. Her name is Jiang Xiaojun. Her father is an official in the Yantai Customs. Her brother studied in Japan and married a Japanese woman. Now he runs a trading company." He then patted Yang Jiefang on the shoulder, smiled mysteriously, and said, "In this city of Yantai, the men who want to marry her could line up all the way to the port." Yang Jiefang was speechless for a moment, knowing he had misunderstood, and without explaining, he paid the bill and left.

Yang Jiefang placed newspapers and other items in the carriage, then remained seated at the front, beginning a aimless stroll. First, he bought a pile of food, much to the delight of Fatty. Passing a cosmetics shop, he called Gao Huilan to get out and bought her some, much to her pleasure. In this era, clothes were mostly custom-made or hand-sewn; clothing stores were rare. Yang Jiefang and the three women bought a large quantity of fabric to take home and sew. Soon, the carriage was overflowing, but Gao Huilan and the other two women still wanted more. Indeed, regardless of the era, women's shopping prowess is far superior to men's.

As they walked, a beautiful figure suddenly appeared ahead—it was Jiang Xiaojun, the woman in the kimono they had met earlier at the bookstore. Jiang Xiaojun burst out of a shop with a sign that read "Jiang's Trading Company," her face contorted with anger. A young man chased after her and grabbed her hand. Jiang Xiaojun shook him off, shouting, "Brother, I don't care what kind of business you do, but don't sell your sister!" The young man yelled, "Xiaojun, what nonsense are you talking about? I'm doing this for your own good!" Jiang Xiaojun replied, "Then I should thank you, brother!" At this moment, her sister-in-law, the Japanese woman named Sakura, also came out and pleaded, "Xiaojun, listen to me..." Jiang Xiaojun shouted angrily, "Shut up! I treat you like a sister, but you have ulterior motives towards me!" In a fit of rage, she took off her kimono right there in the street and threw it at her sister-in-law before turning and running away. Sakura took the clothes and hurriedly chased after him, calling out as she went.