The anti-Qing movement began with the looting of the Eight-Nation Alliance.

Tan Ya went straight to the warehouse by the dock; "Stone, stone!"

"Brother Tan Ya, I'm here!" Shi Tou quickly sat up.

"Where's Yaya?"

"Where is she? She's asleep. Let me tell you, Brother Tan Ya. The Kong family just came to distribute steamed buns, and I finally managed to grab two." Shi Tou said proudly, raising his head.

"Yes! I saw it from a distance just now!" Tan Ya nodded.

"Call them all over, I brought you steamed buns!" Tan Ya gestured to the paper package in his hand.

Soon, a dozen or so dark-skinned, naked little kids gathered around, and Tan Ya gave each of them a steamed bun.

The children didn't stand on ceremony and eagerly ate the steamed buns.

"Slow down, slow down. You're all like starving ghosts reincarnated," Tan Ya said with a laugh, then his eyes reddened.

It's summer now; if it were winter, few of these children would survive. Young Master is such a good man! He's willing to raise them.

Before long, the children finished their steamed buns and stared intently at the few remaining ones in Tan Ya's hand.

Tan Ya knew he couldn't feed them anymore; these children had been hungry for too long, and eating too much would only cause them trouble.

"Alright! You've finished your steamed buns. Now go and help me with some chores. Go and tell all the orphans in the city to come here. They'll all have steamed buns to eat then."

"Whoever brings the most people will get an extra steamed bun!"

"I'll go, I'll go, I know where it is!" a child shouted.

"I know where they are too!" the children exclaimed all at once.

"Alright! Go and inform them quickly! Shi Tou, you don't need to go. Take Ya Ya and wait here for me to come back." After giving these instructions, Tan Ya hurried home!

There is a small path leading east from the dock. Walk for about two miles. A grayish-white saline-alkali land appears in front of you, with a large number of dilapidated shacks built with reeds in the open space.

Tan Ya walked briskly over, and smoke rose from many of the shacks. The aroma of rice porridge filled the air.

It seems that Lu Da led the villagers to carry out the work and bought rice.

After passing through the narrow, dirty alley, Tan Ya stopped in front of a small courtyard.

This is also a thatched hut made of reeds, but it's taller and neater than the other huts. There's also a small courtyard enclosed by reeds.

"Mother, I'm back!" Tan Ya pushed open the broken wooden door and went inside.

Under the eaves of the thatched hut, a woman with half-gray hair was doing needlework. Hearing this, she looked up and gazed at Tan Ya with a loving expression.

"Bao'er! You're back? Where did you get this outfit?"

"Mom, I've already told you, I'm all grown up now. Don't call me Bao'er anymore!"

Tan Ya said helplessly.

"Okay, baby! You still haven't told Mommy where you got these clothes!"

"Mother, I found a good employer today. He paid for it!" Tan Ya said, shaking his head.

"Really? Our Bao'er is so promising. What does your employer do? Where does he live? What do he need you for?" the woman asked eagerly.

"Alright, Mom! We can talk about this later. Look, I brought you some meat buns." Tan Ya interrupted his mother and quickly handed her the buns.

"My son has grown up!" Tan Ya's mother said with relief. "I've already eaten lunch, so I'm not hungry now. You can have it for dinner!"

"Mom, hurry up and eat! It won't taste good if it gets cold. I still have a few steamed buns here!"

Tan Ya hurriedly handed over the meat bun, guessing that the lunch his mother had mentioned would probably be just porridge with hardly any rice in it.

“Mother, the master gave me a lot of money to do something big. We’ll never be so poor again. You won’t have to work so hard anymore.” Tan Ya’s eyes reddened as she spoke.

Since her father passed away, her mother had been working day and night with her not-so-skilled needlework. She managed to raise Tan Ya with great difficulty and even sent him to a private school for a few years.

Before he was even forty, his hair had already turned white from staying up all night.

. . . . . .

Shen Lian led his men back to the General's Mansion in high spirits.

"Xiao Hu, you guys go find Uncle Fu and prepare a quiet courtyard for the children to stay in when they come," Shen Lian said before heading into his study.

Making cigarettes isn't difficult; even without robots, it can be done manually. There are quite a few people growing tobacco in China now, so buying tobacco leaves shouldn't be a problem. The shortage is probably in paper.

I don't know if there are any large paper mills now; I guess not. It seems we need to go back and solve this problem first.

Then there's the tobacco formula; we should be able to find that when we get back. It doesn't need to be a top secret; later mainland products will be a game-changer.

Making cigarettes isn't something that can be done overnight. I'll go back and get some ready-made ones to sell. Let's get a market first.

Lighters aren't too difficult to make! The casing should be easy to solve, and the cotton and wick inside should be easy to manufacture as well. It's just that the flint, steel, and spring will have to be made in the modern era.

Fortunately, these little things don't take up much space, so I'm not worried about not being able to bring them all.

After sketching and drawing for a while, Shen Lian put the paper into his spatial storage.

"Making money is too slow! Is there a faster way?" Shen Lian stretched and wandered around the room.

"Hey! It's really the blind spot under the lamp! Where else can I look?" Shen Lian slapped his forehead as he inadvertently saw the antiques on the display shelf.

I have a spatial ability! I can take these antiques back to sell! Then I can buy gold and silver in modern times and bring them over.

Oh, and you can also buy pearls. At this time, pearls are all natural and extremely valuable, even more so than gold and silver. And with so many modern pearl farms, getting pearls is practically a guaranteed way to make a fortune.

Having finally figured out a way to get rich quick, Shen Lian couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Yue'er, who was in the outer room, couldn't help but peek into the study a few times. Was there something that made the young master happy? He seemed so cheerful!

Meanwhile, Tan Ya carefully washed herself, put on her clothes, and had her mother comb her braids until they were shiny and smooth. With her mother's earnest instructions, she straightened her back and went out the door.

A large group of children, ranging in age from five or six to ten, had gathered on the open space by the dock. They were chasing each other, playing, crying, and making a lively scene.

Many more people craned their necks, gazing at the path to the east of the dock.

"Stone, Brother Stone. Do we really have white steamed buns to eat?" A little boy sniffled and chased after Stone, asking.

"Yes, Brother Tan never lies. A dozen of us just ate some. The steamed buns were fluffy white, fresh out of the steamer, soft and sweet!"

Although he had answered countless times, Stone patiently replied. The boy who asked the question couldn't help but swallow hard. White steamed buns? He had only seen them from afar.