Chapter 396 - Westerly's Wish

The tavern on the commercial street was run by the cooperative, but the commercial street itself was open. Under the slogan of “opening the door to find business opportunities,” the commercial street had always been the most valued business project of the Colonial and Trade Department. During the day, the street gate was wide open, and fishermen, merchants, sailors, natives… could all come to the commercial street for shopping and consumption. It was a place with a complex flow of people.

Xu Ke immediately had the company commander of the service company called over and ordered him to first conduct a detailed investigation of Zhang Qianniu’s social circle, to find out if he had any unusual behavior recently, what he had said, where he often went, and with which local people he had close contact. He himself took a few men to the commercial street.

There were not many places selling alcohol on the commercial street. There were only two small taverns, three or four food stalls, and a shop run by the cooperative. Xu Ke had no trouble finding out that Zhang Qianniu had been drinking in a small tavern that afternoon, and had changed drinking companions several times.

This small tavern was privately owned. The owner had migrated from Beigang and rented a shop from the Kaohsiung municipal government to open a tavern, also selling food. The wine was rum and fruit wine wholesaled from the cooperative’s shop here. It was watered down before being sold to customers, but of course, the price was also very cheap, only one-third of that of the tavern run by the cooperative.

Besides being cheap, this small tavern had another attractive feature: oyster omelets. The owner set up a stove at the entrance of the shop and made them fresh every day. The business was very popular and attracted a large number of customers. Even every time a Dutch ship docked, sailors from Southeast Asia and Europe would come to eat this.

The cheap wine and delicious food made the tavern’s customer flow very large. As soon as Xu Ke saw the bustling scene—tables were even set up on the street—he knew this investigation would not be simple.

He and his men showed their credentials and quickly confirmed from a waiter that Zhang Qianniu had indeed been here: he was a regular customer. According to the waiter’s recollection, this navy man liked to drink with people, and he would drink with anyone, whether they were Fujianese immigrants, Taiwanese natives, or foreign sailors.

As for who his drinking companions were, the waiter couldn’t remember clearly. People came and went on the commercial street, and ships came in and out every day. Except for a few regulars, he couldn’t possibly recognize everyone.

Xu Ke was slightly disappointed. He knew that the case had now reached the most laborious and boring “screening” stage. Simply put, he had to investigate everyone connected to Zhang Qianniu, one by one, to find out their background and their activities on the day of the incident.

The commercial street was particularly lively at dusk. Sailors of all skin colors, army and navy soldiers, merchants from Beigang and the mainland, fishermen, residents of native tribes, prostitutes from the Japanese village… were all weaving through the streets and alleys.

Westerly and Father Dermot accompanied Kretia and Zhong Xiaoying on a stroll through the streets of the port. Although the commercial street was not prosperous, it had a much more commercial atmosphere than Fort Zeelandia. Zhong Xiaoying took Kretia to the Kaohsiung branch of the cooperative, which women liked to visit.

The Kaohsiung branch was personally managed by Li Mei, with the aim of attracting small traders from the Fujian coast to trade in Kaohsiung. The Kaohsiung branch also handled import and export trade with the Dutch, so it was quite large: a two-story building with overhanging eaves, large glass display windows, and a dazzling array of “Aussie goods.” Middle-aged female shop assistants in blue cloth cheongsams shouted in various accents to attract customers. Of course, there were also a few Korean public security soldiers with big clubs and big hats: foreign sailors and local natives often caused trouble here after drinking.

Zhong Xiaoying took Kretia to the cooperative to choose some fabrics as gifts—in a week, the Banckert siblings would be returning to Dayuan.

Kretia did not choose silk—it could be bought in Dayuan as well. She chose a high-count cotton-linen blend fabric from Lingao. This high-grade fabric, woven by the Lingao textile factory, was originally only supplied to the Yuanlao and some naturalized citizens, but was now being supplied to the market on a small scale. It was very popular because it was crisp, breathable, and sweat-absorbent.

The cotton-linen knitted socks produced by the clothing factory also aroused her great interest. In fact, she wanted to buy many things in this shop, but Banckert worked for a company known for being stingy and ruthless with its employees. Although he held a high position, his income was not high—of course, he also used his authority to do some smuggling for a small profit, but that was not something to be proud of. As his daughter, she had very little money to spend. So she would pick up an item, look at the price, ponder for a long time, and then reluctantly put it down, repeating this process over and over again. Zhong Xiaoying also enthusiastically helped her with advice. The two women started from the first floor and had already spent an hour by the time they reached the second floor.

Westerly was also enthusiastic at first, but after a while, he became bored. Father Dermot, to avoid the “temptations of the world,” never wandered around in shops. The two of them sat down in the rest area along the street on the first floor. The rest area was next to the large glass display window, from which one could clearly see the street scene. It was furnished with some rattan tables and chairs, and a few green potted plants. Besides providing a place for people to rest, it also sold some cold drinks and tea. But ordinary people rarely patronized it, so it was empty.

Father Dermot was a well-known figure in Kaohsiung—especially since he had painted several decorative oil paintings for the cooperative. To maintain his “purity of soul,” he refused to accept payment. The cooperative therefore put him on the VIP list, and as soon as he sat down, a waitress brought two glasses of iced tea.

Father Dermot had once struggled internally with whether iced tea belonged to the “pleasures that tempt the flesh.” However, the other priests had no objection, and he could not find any relevant papal decree—black tea was a unique product of Lingao in the world at that time, so the Pope had no opinion to express.

Whether in Lingao or Kaohsiung, sitting down to drink a slightly sweet, lingering, and bittersweet cold drink was indeed refreshing.

The two of them drank the cool, slightly sweet red tea, and Westerly began to talk excitedly about his stories of installing the large clock with Dr. Zhong these past few days. The various instruments and parts on the large clock gave him endless reveries.

“It’s truly incredible!” Westerly drank the red tea in large gulps and talked nonstop about his impressions. The priest maintained a humble smile and listened attentively. It was not until Westerly paused that he, in a guiding tone, admonished the young man not to be迷惑 by all kinds of novel things, but to serve God sincerely, and so on.

As he was giving this religious sermon, Zhong Xiaoying and Kretia, their faces flushed and sweaty, came over with several large and small straw bags. Zhong Xiaoying ordered more iced tea. When the women arrived, there was even more conversation. Kretia excitedly showed off the various “Aussie goods” she had bought here.

Westerly, however, was not very interested in these Aussie goods. In his days at the clock tower construction site, he had become more and more in awe of the Australians’ science, feeling as if he had discovered a whole new world. A few days ago, when he was chatting with Huygens, he found that Mr. Huygens had the same view. For this reason, Mr. Huygens had even written a few poems to express his feelings.

“Sister, speaking of which, I’m a little sad to be leaving here,” Westerly said. “I really want to continue studying with Dr. Zhong here. I heard he’s going to the savages’ territory to investigate soon…”

When Kretia heard that he wanted to go to the “savages’ territory” again, she couldn’t help but remember the time in Batavia when Westerly had sneaked out of the city alone to “investigate” in the wilderness and was almost eaten by a crocodile.

She quickly said in a guiding tone, “Haven’t you wanted to go to Japan for a long time? We’re going to Japan right after we get to Dayuan.”

When Westerly thought that he was still going to Japan, he stopped mentioning his desire to stay in Kaohsiung. He then turned to Zhong Xiaoying:

“Miss Zhong, are there universities in Lingao?”

“Universities?” Zhong Xiaoying was taken aback. She knew what a university was—Zhong Lishi had told her. Of course, there were no universities in Lingao, but she couldn’t lose face in front of foreigners. So she said, “Yes, there are several universities in Lingao.”

This was a bit of a tall tale, and Westerly also found it hard to believe. Zhong Xiaoying had to bite the bullet and boast, “My father is a professor at Taibai University. Taibai University specializes in astronomy, timekeeping, and mechanics. There is also Desi University, with majors in law, arts, and shipbuilding; and Niaoren Medical University, Nanhai Agricultural University…”

An idea struck her, and she casually made up a few universities using the names of the Yuanlao. She spoke with such conviction that Westerly became a little doubtful. But in Europe at that time, universities were absolute rarities. The Netherlands had a relatively large number of universities, but it was already very impressive for a city to have one university or a “famous school,” let alone several universities in one city—it was simply unheard of.

Zhong Xiaoying was talking nonsense when she suddenly saw the priest sitting next to her and thought, “Oh no, I’m going to be exposed!” This John Dermot was from Lingao. She quickly added a patch, “But these universities only accept the most loyal and reliable naturalized citizens under the jurisdiction of the Yuanlao Senate. Outsiders generally don’t know about them.” Then she gave the poor priest a hard stare, forcing the honest priest’s words back down his throat.

Westerly did not notice the change in Zhong Xiaoying’s expression at that moment. Hearing that these universities “only accept the most loyal and reliable naturalized citizens under the jurisdiction of the Yuanlao Senate,” he couldn’t help but look disappointed.

“So they don’t accept foreign students?”

Zhong Xiaoying thought to herself, “You’re trying to kill me. There are no universities, so how can there be foreign students?” But she said with a calm expression, “I don’t know about that. The Yuanlao Senate would have to hold a meeting to decide. But even if you want to study abroad, your Chinese is too poor—they don’t teach in German there.”

“No problem, I can learn,” Westerly immediately stated. “You see, I’ve learned a lot of Chinese these days. It’s no boast, my sister and I are very good at learning languages.”