Chapter 2447: Cooperation
Chen Ding remained in the Shelter's hospital for another two days before being carried back to the Wu residence in a small sedan chair sent by Chen Yin.
Wu Yijun welcomed him personally, escorted him to his quarters, and inquired after his health with great warmth. He urged him to rest well and recover, adding, "Make yourself at home here."
Chen Ding was surprised by such enthusiasm. Originally, he had planned to visit the Wu family in Guangzhou seeking their help in connecting with the Australians. He and the Wu family were distant in-laws—twisted melon vines that barely touched—and had little interaction in the past. He had expected a cold shoulder. To be treated so warmly was unexpected. He was no fledgling; he knew there must be a hidden reason behind this.
Wu Yijun did not hide anything. He immediately recounted his original intention to invite Chen Lin back to their hometown to cooperate in setting up a factory, what had happened after Chen Lin returned, and his sending of people to deliver letters.
"Lin'er sent a letter saying you would come to Guangzhou and asked me to look after you," Wu Yijun said. "There's no need to rush. As it stands, it may not be a bad thing for Lin'er to stay in Nansha. You should just rest here with peace of mind." He then mentioned that he had already purchased the cotton spinning project from the Australians.
Chen Ding naturally understood his meaning and immediately stated his position: "Since you intend to set up a factory, Brother, and this younger brother knows a thing or two about spinning, if you don't disdain my meager skills, I will certainly do my utmost to help!"
"Good! If you can assist me, Brother, this business will be thirty percent more secure!" Wu Yijun was delighted and assumed an expression of extreme frankness. "Brother, you know I originally dealt in dried fruits. Whether it's spinning cotton, silk, or hemp, I know nothing about it. I'll have to rely on you..." As he spoke, he promised Chen Ding a ten percent share of dry stock.
"Let's not talk of dividends for now. It's just that I've never seen these Australian factories, nor do I know what their looms look like. I've heard they use machines entirely, and we have no masters here who know how to use machines. If we really want to set it up, I fear it will take some effort..."
"You need not worry about that. The Australians sent someone to contact me a few days ago, asking me to take a few people to Lingao for a visit and study tour. I wonder if you..."
"I will naturally go." Chen Ding was unambiguous. "It's always good to see it for myself. If the Australians are willing to teach us, that's something we could not ask for more!"
Suddenly, he remembered something: "This... buying machines and going to study... will we have to shave our hair?" There was always a hurdle in Chen Ding's heart. If he didn't cling to the Australians, the hope of starting a career and reclaiming his ancestral property was slim; but if he bought machines and had his head shaved, wouldn't that be an ironclad defection to the Kun? It would be impossible to explain clearly in the future.
"You can rest assured, Brother. The Australians don't enforce head shaving," Wu Yijun laughed. In his view, Chen Ding's worry was not only a minor matter but rather laughable.
Yesterday, cadres from the Senate's Planning Committee in Guangzhou had visited and delivered the relevant documents and paperwork for the visit to Hainan. The destination was twofold: one was Lingao, and the other was the Light Industry Industrial Park in Qiongshan. Many of the production projects up for bidding were gathered there.
A fifteen-day visit and study tour was merely a cursory glance for operating a modern factory, but the Planning Committee hoped to collect opinions and suggestions on the machines from the major bidders through this visit, and simultaneously instill the concept of modern enterprise.
"Can we really go to Lingao?" Chen Ding was still very curious about the legendary Lingao. Previously, he had only heard hearsay from traveling merchants, which likely contained many exaggerations.
"Going to Lingao is no difficult matter. Ships sail every day from the Number One Wharf." Things were proceeding smoothly, and Wu Yijun was increasingly happy. Although Chen Ding couldn't drink alcohol due to his injury, a banquet was still set up, and the two men used kvass instead of wine to discuss the details of setting up the factory.
Chen Ding had originally come to Guangzhou hoping to create a career. Although he had lost his silver and his original plans were ruined, this current opportunity was much easier than starting a business single-handedly—not only was there Wu Yijun, a "local tiger," to preside over the situation, but it was also a business with Australian participation! If he could establish a connection with the Australians through setting up the cotton spinning factory, he would have a backer whether he continued in this line of work or started anew in the future.
The next day, Wu Yijun sent someone to Sanliang to deliver a letter, informing the family that Chen Ding had arrived safely in Guangzhou, had a place to stay and a job, telling them not to worry—he would not be returning for a while.
Li Ziyu looked at the report record and relevant files brought by Zhao Xian and dared not be negligent: after all, a robbery of two hundred taels was a major case in Guangzhou. He immediately reported to Wu Xiang. After returning from his studies in Lingao, he had been promoted to Inspector of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Guangzhou Police Bureau. In terms of police rank, he had also broken away from the Constable range to become a Third-Class Commander—a Police Officer.
After his promotion, his responsibilities naturally increased. Li Ziyu now not only had to lead an investigation team himself but also handle many specific clerical tasks for the Criminal Investigation Division.
"This case involves a large value, but the difficulty of solving it is considerable—so many days have passed, and we don't even know what the culprit looks like." Wu Xiang looked at the materials. "Is there a specific direction?"
"The clue is the two hundred taels of silver," Li Ziyu said. "The local area has completed the currency reform and banned the circulation of silver. The robber cannot spend the silver directly; he must find a place to exchange it. I think starting from this point should yield information."
"Then do it." Wu Xiang nodded. "You have several cases on hand right now, especially the Mao Family Inn case. Although it's closed, there are still many clues that haven't been clarified. And there's that vague counterfeit currency case... Your burden is heavy enough. Find someone else to handle this case."
"Yes, I'll ask Gao Chongjiu to go. He's most familiar with these underground backdoors."
Wu Xiang expressed no objection, only reminding him to grasp the direction well. Li Ziyu understood his meaning. After returning to the office, he called Gao Chongjiu and handed the case over to him.
Gao Chongjiu had also been promoted after returning from his studies in Lingao with Li Ziyu. However, for retained personnel like him, the future was limited. Although he had been promoted two ranks in police grade as a reward upon his return, becoming a Probationary Commander, his administrative position was only Senior Agent, under Li Ziyu's command.
Gao Chongjiu knew well that he was an "old person" and not trusted by the Australians. Not only was he extremely cautious in his daily work and speech, but he was also very respectful to Li Ziyu, the "new noble." Upon hearing the summons, he immediately put down the work at hand and came over.
Gao Chongjiu was quite surprised after reading the police report because Chen Ding stated that he was attacked near the Old Five Rams Station outside the South Gate. This was originally a water and land transportation hub, a major thoroughfare. In recent years, the Senate had carried out considerable commercial development here, making it increasingly prosperous. With a dense flow of people and gathered merchants, it was a key security area in Guangzhou City, with police security booths on duty around the clock. Not only were there fixed sentries, but there were also patrol police on mobile patrol, and many "activists" had been developed among the local shops and hawkers to act as informants. For a person to be knocked out in broad daylight on the street, robbed of their money, and then transported into the city... it seemed incredible that no one noticed such a commotion.
"Besides, even if no one saw it, why did the robber take him into the city? Isn't that asking for trouble?" Gao Chongjiu said.
Li Ziyu had originally thought this was a simple case, but after Gao Chongjiu mentioned this, he felt there were many suspicious points. He hesitated for a moment and said, "Are you saying this Chen Ding didn't tell the truth?"
"It's hard to say. After all, the two hundred taels of silver is just his own claim—there is no second corroborating witness. Besides, even if he really brought that much silver, it wasn't necessarily robbed..."
Li Ziyu understood Gao Chongjiu's meaning. In handling cases, there was no lack of people who fell into traps due to greed for petty advantages or lust, were robbed or cheated of their money, and being ashamed to tell the truth, claimed they had been drugged or robbed.
This put Li Ziyu in a difficult position. He pondered for a moment and said, "How do you plan to handle this now?"
"Tomorrow, call this Chen Ding over first. I'll talk to him and see if he's lying or not. Then go and ask around if anyone has received suspicious silver recently. Oh, right, why doesn't this record say which smelting shop's mark was on the silver?"
"Probably broken silver."
"If it's broken silver, it will be hard to handle," Gao Chongjiu said. "But if the thieves are a bit smart, they would also chop up the silver before exchanging it."
Li Ziyu's face felt slightly hot. Compared to Gao Chongjiu, he still seemed too green. To cover up his embarrassment, he coughed and said, "I'll leave this case to you."
"Alright, I'll report to you if there's any situation!" Gao Chongjiu finished speaking and gave a nod with a heel-clicking attention stance.
Gao Chongjiu returned to his desk and carefully studied the record and the retrieved file on the brawl case again. The more he thought about it, the less he understood. These two cases were obviously unrelated, so how could they be connected? He decided that before questioning Chen Ding, he first had to clarify a key question: Where exactly was Chen Ding knocked out and injured?
Regarding this question, the file on the Grand Market Street brawl could not help. None of the statements mentioned Chen Ding. It seemed he could only personally ask the relevant personnel and the surrounding onlookers.
The brawl that occurred on Grand Market Street was still in the processing stage. The arrested personnel were detained in two places. The National Army personnel were detained in the barracks at the East City Drill Ground, requiring relevant procedures for interrogation; questioning the citizens was easier, as they were all detained in the City Bureau's detention center.
Gao Chongjiu immediately went to the detention center, interrogated the arrested citizens, and showed them Chen Ding's photo for identification, but regrettably, no one had any impression. Unwilling to give up, he went to the Guangdong National Army Headquarters to apply for permission and went to the barracks to interrogate the relevant personnel. The result was the same. No one remembered such a person coming to the scene.
(End of Chapter)