Chapter Three Hundred and Fifty-Eight: The Cihui Tang

Of course, someone wanted to buy a young girl. In fact, not long after their family settled in the temple, they were targeted. First, a few human traffickers sent people to persuade them, some saying that a wealthy family wanted to take a concubine, others saying that a large household wanted to buy a maidservant. The prices offered were not low, and Lu’s mother was moved—rather than letting the whole family die, it would be better to give her daughter a way out and get some silver in return. It was Lu Bai who had some foresight. After hearing this, he struggled to say that it was absolutely impossible.

“Any decent family, whether taking a concubine or buying a maidservant, requires a guarantor—at the very least, a local family that knows their background,” he gasped. “We are outsiders, and we don’t have a guarantor. To buy her just like that is definitely not a good master. You must hold on and not let our daughter fall into a pit of fire!” He couldn’t catch his breath and his eyes rolled back. The whole family cried and shouted and massaged him, and finally, Lu Bai managed to catch his breath again.

Seeing that the Lu family refused to sell, the human traffickers, in addition to trying to persuade them in every possible way, also hired a few scoundrels who specialized in seducing women to seduce Lu Cheng. Fortunately, Lu Cheng had been accustomed to this kind of thing since she was a child and was not moved by their sweet words. Lu Shouye also kept a close watch on her.

But the problem of livelihood could not be solved—they wanted their son to find a job as a clerk, but without a guarantor, no one was willing to take him in. He could only do some odd jobs to get by. Lu Shouye was not like a farmer’s son and could not do physical labor, so he could not earn much money.

Just as the family was at its wit’s end, the people from the Cihui Tang appeared. They didn’t have to say much to take them into the hall.

The Cihui Tang was a special charity hall opened by the Guangzhou Station. The reason was that the Guangzhou Station’s act of taking in refugees had begun to attract attention. The number of refugees they took in was not only large but also lasted for a long time, making it difficult to cover up for long.

The Qiwēi Escort Agency was currently handling the reception of refugees, but many people knew that the Qiwēi Escort Agency was acting on the orders of the Zichéngjì. Such a large-scale reception of refugees, with their whereabouts unknown, coupled with their background of selling Australian goods, naturally led to rumors in Guangzhou City: the Zichéngjì was selling people to Australia. Some even said that their reception of orphans was to use boys and girls to concoct “Australian secret medicine,” and that crystal mirrors were made with this medicine.

Although the Ming government was not very concerned about the life and death of its own people, it still had to inquire about such matters as being sold overseas, which “damaged the prestige of the heavens and insulted the dignity of the country.” Fortunately, the Guangzhou Station had given enough bribes everywhere, and with the help of Gao Ju, Liang Cunhou, and others, the matter did not escalate.

But this incident also served as a wake-up call for them. Continuing this model was dangerous. Even if the government didn’t care, if they were incited by people with ulterior motives, they would not be able to handle the riots of the common people. The lesson was learned from the “missionary cases” that often occurred when foreign missionaries came to China to preach and were suspected by the public when they ran charities and took in orphans and abandoned infants.

Zhang Xin, who was in charge of this matter, had another hidden worry: taking in a large number of refugees was highly suspected of rebellion in ancient times, so Zhang Xin felt that he must find a cover for the Guangzhou Station’s actions as soon as possible.

After discussing with everyone, Zhang Xin decided to bring Liang Cunhou into the fold and set up a charity hall to operate openly, instead of using the Qiwēi Escort Agency—it was too suspicious for an escort agency to do this.

Young Master Liang usually pitied the old and the poor and was very enthusiastic about charity. His status as the son of an official was perfect for providing a protective umbrella for the immigration work.

Guo Yi immediately prepared a gift and went to visit Liang Cunhou, proposing his suggestion. As expected, Liang Cunhou was very interested. Not only did he agree to be the director of the charity hall, but he also donated one thousand taels of silver. The model of cooperation was a typical collusion between officials and merchants: Liang Cunhou mainly provided his name, and the Zichéngjì was responsible for providing the money. Guo Yi also roped in a group of officials’ sons whom Gao Ju and Pei Lixiu had befriended at the Ziminglou: Wu Zhixiang, Dong Jizhong, and others to be the directors of the charity hall. These officials’ sons were not originally interested in charity, but they could not resist Pei Lixiu’s soft persuasion. Hearing that they did not need to spend money and it was just a matter of lending their names, they all agreed. Guo Yi was also willing to spend money. He spent a large sum of silver and went through the connections of the governor’s concubine, and even managed to get a piece of calligraphy from Wang Zunde to add to the prestige.

The charity hall was named “Cihui Tang,” and the people who handled the specific matters were still the original team from the Qiwēi Escort Agency. Zhang Xin separated them and formed this team, directly under his control. Subsequently, several reliable native cadres were transferred from Lingao to strengthen the team.

Zhang Xin learned his lesson and not only focused on taking in refugees, but also organized common charitable activities such as distributing medicine and tea in the summer, cotton-padded clothes in the winter, and porridge and coffins on a daily basis. From time to time, he also repaired bridges and roads in the two counties of Guangzhou. In terms of taking in refugees, he no longer focused only on outsiders, but also successively established traditional charitable facilities such as “orphanages,” “nursing homes,” and “chastity halls” to take in local poor people who had lost their ability to work.

These measures greatly diluted the original situation of the Guangzhou Station’s large-scale recruitment of manpower, but Zhang Xin never stopped his steps of recruiting refugees. He ordered the Cihui Tang to organize special reception teams to go through the streets and alleys every day, entering various temples to take in outside refugees. As long as they were suitable, they were immediately taken away by coaxing and deception.

Guo Yi was not stingy with silver in this regard. He bribed all the yamen runners, scribes, and other minor officials in Panyu and Nanhai counties, as well as the Guangzhou government. With the support of Liang Cunhou, a young master from a noble family, the matter of recruiting people went very smoothly.

Although the Lu family looked destitute, it was clear at a glance that they were not from a peasant background. The reception team knew that the Australians were very interested in “city people,” especially since this family had a young girl. They didn’t have to say much before the Lu family was taken in. After that, they had no choice in the matter. First, they were “purified,” then they signed a deed of sale, and finally, they were sent directly to Lingao.

Lu Bai was carried into the special medical center of the quarantine camp. This place was isolated and specifically used to treat sick refugees: on the one hand, to avoid loss of manpower and infection; on the other hand, to give the doctors a chance to practice. The Ministry of Health used this place as a designated internship unit, and the trained doctors, nurses, and various new drugs from the pharmaceutical factory all gained experience here.

The patients who could survive the combined ravages of the Mongolian doctors, inexperienced nurses, and various new drugs with unknown efficacy and side effects were cured. Those who could not endure it were finished. Of course, many people died, but many were also saved. The first batch of crude sulfa drugs produced by the coal chemical complex proved its effectiveness, side effects, and the dosage required to be effective without killing the patient here.

Lu Bai once again proved that he was a person with strong vitality. Although he was skin and bones when he was discharged from the hospital, he survived and recovered. After a month of recuperation, he was even able to participate in the basic military training that every refugee had to undergo.

After the quarantine period, the entire Lu family was settled in the newly established Jialai Commune. Before the settlement, a few managers dressed in blue cloth “interrogated” the whole family, asking about everything about the Lu family, big and small, and even thoroughly questioned them about the family Lu Cheng failed to marry into.

The Jialai Commune was the fourth commune established by the Civil Affairs Committee, focusing on agricultural development. It was also the second field development of Wu Nanhai’s Agricultural Committee after the development of Meitaiyang. About three thousand immigrants were settled in the five new settlements built here.

The Lu family once again had their own house—although it was not large, it was at least their own. As for the mortgage for the house, it could be repaid over 20 years, which was almost like a giveaway to them.

In addition to the house, the commune also provided basic daily necessities and enough clothes for everyone. At first, they ate in the cafeteria, but later they were paid wages, and Lu’s mother started cooking on her own. The first time the family sat around the table for a meal, they couldn’t help but cry. They felt as if they had had a nightmare.

After several months of displacement, they finally lived in a clean house again, sheltered from the sun and rain, and had hot meals every day. For the former petty citizens, it really felt like they had climbed out of hell, and the Australian chiefs were the compassionate Bodhisattvas who saved all sentient beings.

Life gradually stabilized, and the surprise of the many new things they saw in their daily lives slowly faded. In the blink of an eye, the Lu family had been in Lingao for eight months. In these eight months, life had been smooth and quiet. The Lu family were small merchants, and Lu’s father and son were not good at farming, but they were both literate and knew how to use an abacus. After simple training, they became clerks and accountants in the commune.

Clerks and accountants were considered minor cadres. Lu Bai was very satisfied with the current situation and began to think about arranging marriages for his children. But arranging marriages was not easy—there were more men than women in Lingao, and the majority of the large number of immigrants were also male. The price of betrothal gifts was shockingly high.

In order to earn enough for the betrothal gift and pay the monthly mortgage, Lu’s father and son did extra physical labor after work to earn a few work points. Lu Cheng’s mother signed up to be a worker in the textile factory. After work, she cultivated a small private plot at home and raised a few chickens on credit from the Heaven and Earth Society to supplement the family’s income.

But such subsidies were still a drop in the bucket for the amount of the betrothal gift. After Lu Bai did the math, he found that even if the price of the betrothal gift did not rise, it would still take five years of this to save enough for his son’s marriage—and that didn’t even include the down payment for a house for his future son and daughter-in-law. According to Wu De’s rules: the first house for immigrants had zero down payment, but the second one required a 30% down payment, which was not a small sum!

Lu Cheng felt that she should also contribute to her brother’s marriage. After thinking about it, she felt that her current income from working according to the dispatched labor and calculating work points was too little. It would be more cost-effective to work in a factory as an employee and get a salary.