Chapter 408: Li Mo

Li Mo was tidying up the room. This was an empty storefront in Zichengji. Since Guo Yi’s return to Guangzhou, not only had his original properties been completely renovated, but he had also broken through the walls of the vacant, enclosed land on Huifu Street to open a row of two-story storefronts to expand his business area.

One of these storefronts was being used for this medical tour. Sun Chang, the head of general affairs at the Guangzhou station, had sent craftsmen to do some simple renovations. The front was for registration and waiting, the second floor was set up as a consultation room, and a simple operating room, paved with ceramic tiles, was set up in the back. Of course, the conditions couldn’t compare to the hospitals in Lingao and other places, but it was still the first of its kind in Guangzhou.

Li Mo was organizing the medicines, equipment, and various supplies that had been transferred from Hong Kong, placing them on shelves for easy access. She couldn’t learn medicine, but she was quite adept at these general affairs tasks. Especially since Deng Bojun mainly handled the “big picture,” she was often responsible for implementing the details. She had learned these things by osmosis from her parents, who had been stewards in the Macau mansion, and she had a natural knack for it. Over time, she became the “Big Sister Li” whom everyone at Bairen General Hospital respected.

Li Mo was very satisfied with her current situation. Her life was simple but fulfilling. Her daughter had been admitted to the Australian masters’ school. She could have boarded there, but Li Mo insisted on having her daughter commute to and from school every day. It wasn’t far from Fangcaodi to the Ministry of Health’s residential area, and the road was very safe.

Li Mo had bought a small house—or an “apartment” in the “new language”—in the naturalized citizens’ residential area with her salary and a loan. Due to her seniority, her income was much higher than that of the newly assigned nurses.

Lingao was a place with far more men than women. Li Mo was not yet thirty, her looks were not bad, and she had a good income. Even though she was a widow with a child, there were still many suitors. Some of them had quite good conditions, but Li Mo rejected them all and continued her single life. As a result, there were rumors among the naturalized citizens of the Ministry of Health that she was hoping to marry a “chief” as a concubine. Others laughed at her for being delusional—a widow with a child trying to climb the social ladder to a chief.

Li Mo just laughed it off. After experiencing so much, she was no longer the naive young girl who could be coaxed into eloping with a few sweet words, nor would she change her mind because of the empty words of those around her.

Li Mo now devoted all her heart and soul to her daughter. Li Quan was enrolled in the Fangcaodi National School, and her academic performance was not bad. She was about to graduate from primary school, and the teachers suggested she continue to high school. Li Mo was a little hesitant. High school would be another expense. Li Quan was not an orphan taken in, nor was she the descendant of a martyr. According to the regulations, the children of naturalized employees were exempt from tuition fees for high school, but they had to pay for miscellaneous fees and meals. Her daughter was not the type of child with outstanding academic performance who could get a scholarship to cover the costs.

Although the monthly miscellaneous and meal fees were not much, they were still a bit of a burden for a single mother with a twenty-five-year housing loan and a daughter to raise.

However, before coming to Guangzhou this time, Chuqing had come to chat with her. After hearing about this, she told her not to worry; she would talk to Master Wu and ask him to sponsor her.

This girl was a kind child after all. Li Mo thought of the girl who called her “sister.” Back when she was being bullied and struggling to survive in the Gou family village, Chuqing was a maid in the inner courtyard. She was not particularly favored and had no connection to her, but she would often secretly bring her leftovers from the inner courtyard. This was what allowed her and her daughter to survive until the day Zhang Xingjiao brought them to Chief Wu.

After they were reunited at the farm, the two of them had always lived together. In the beginning, when the farm was just starting, everyone from the Senators down to the newly recruited farm workers had to work. She had a child and was often overwhelmed, and Chuqing always helped her. Even after she officially married Master Wu, she still treated her and her son with the same warmth as before. This often made Li Mo, who had seen so much of the world’s coldness, feel very emotional.

When she was first sent to Qiongzhou by her husband and entrusted to Master Gou of the Gou family village, she was in such a grand position. A small courtyard was specially built for her, and one of her husband’s brothers was left to look after her. The house was filled with brand-new furniture. Although Master Gou never showed his face, his wife and concubines would come to ask after her well-being, and they would often come to play cards and chat with her to relieve her boredom. The weather in Lingao was hot, and Li Quan had a poor appetite. She instructed the small kitchen to prepare various light dishes in different ways. Every three or four months, someone would send her silver, and they also instructed the person looking after her to buy land locally to cultivate as a disguise. At that time, she really felt that her man was the best seaman in the world.

Unexpectedly, within half a year, her husband died at sea, and his men scattered. The Gou brothers embezzled the goods her husband had left in their care and turned their backs on her. After the brother who was looking after her suddenly died of a sudden illness, they directly seized her land and house. Then she was taken over by the head of the Gou family’s retainers, who abused her and then drove her out. He even threatened that no other man could touch her, almost starving her and her daughter to death. If it weren’t for Chuqing’s righteous help back then, how could she be living a “decent” life like this now, and how could she have returned to Guangzhou?

Guangzhou was a place she dreamed of. Both her parents were natives of this place. Although she had moved to Macau with her parents before she could remember and became a servant in Li Siya’s family, during her childhood, she would sometimes come to Guangzhou with her parents who were running errands for their master, and sometimes she would accompany the still-toddling young miss. Li Siya’s mother was born in Guangzhou.

Li Mo sometimes missed her sister, but even in her most difficult times, when she was on the verge of starvation, she never thought of trying to return to Macau. She was unwilling to be shamed, and she was unwilling to face the tragic past of her parents’ death after she eloped.

But Guangzhou held only beautiful memories for her. Now that she had some free time, she couldn’t help but feel eager to walk the streets she had known as a child and taste the familiar foods.

But then she thought of the discipline announced to them by the people from the Political Security General Bureau before they came to Guangzhou. The first rule was that they were not allowed to go out on the streets alone, especially young women. The ancient cities were full of scams and tricks, and kidnapping women and children was a big industry. In the past, if a widow had no man in her family, she would be targeted. She would often be either lured away by hired hooligans or directly kidnapped while on the street.

Besides, although the Australians had a prominent reputation in Guangzhou, there was no guarantee that someone wasn’t secretly watching them. Therefore, the Political Security Bureau stipulated that anyone who needed to go out on business must first register and be accompanied by a guard from the security bureau.

Such troublesome procedures made Li Mo give up the idea of going out on the street. Anyway, she would be in Guangzhou for a long time, so there would always be opportunities.

Shi Niaoren rested in Hong Kong for two days. The Hong Kong shipyard concentrated its manpower and resources to give the Octopus another makeover before Minister Shi grandly sailed to Guangzhou.

The waterway from Hong Kong to Guangzhou was already completely under the control of the Navy’s Hong Kong detachment, so the Octopus had no escort vessels. Although since the establishment of the trading post in Hong Kong, the Type 621 tugboats and Dafating boats had frequently traveled between Huangpu and Hong Kong Island, and steamships were no longer a rare sight for the natives on the river and along the coast, this beautifully decorated ship, smoking and churning water as it sailed upstream, still attracted many gazes.

The yacht dropped anchor at the “Guangzhou Grand World” pier outside the Great East Gate of Guangzhou. This was originally a desolate riverbank, but now both banks were bustling construction sites. Scaffolding was everywhere, and workers swarmed up and down like ants. Steam engines chugged and smoked, driving cranes, mixers, pile drivers, and various other construction machinery. The most spectacular was a steam-powered tower crane, with an all-iron frame, reaching a height of twenty-five meters—a whole head taller than the Guangzhou city wall.

The Grand World pier and the road leading to the Great East Gate were the first parts of the project’s infrastructure to be completed. Equipment and materials that had to be transported from Lingao were unloaded directly here. The Octopus would also use this as its mooring point.

The project’s general manager, Zhang Yikun, was already waiting at the pier. A large banner reading “Welcome Imperial Physician Shi” had been hung at the pier, and the welcoming crowd from the Guangzhou station was already there. This was all arranged by Guo Yi to build momentum for Dr. Shi’s group. At first, some people thought that the title “Imperial Physician” was a bit presumptuous, but in this time and space, it was also a respectful title for a doctor, so it was not a big deal.

According to the private propaganda conducted by the Guangzhou station beforehand, Shi Niaoren was originally an imperial physician to the royal family, holding the post of head of the Imperial Medical Academy. Yu E’shui pointed out that the head of the Imperial Pharmacy in the Song Dynasty was a position for eunuchs, so Dr. Shi could only be the head of the academy. Because the Song emperor was kind-hearted and could not bear to see the common people outside the border lack medical care, he had sent Imperial Physician Shi to the Ming Dynasty to practice medicine and save the world.

Shi Niaoren exchanged a few pleasantries with him and then got into the prepared Dongfeng horse-drawn carriage. The Grand World was still under construction, and the air was full of dust, so it was not a good place to linger. The medical tour team, escorted by a group of men from Qiwei, headed towards Guangzhou city.

The street leading to the Great East Gate was both wide and flat, with the sidewalks all paved with stone slabs—the standard was comparable to that of Lingao. Trees had already been planted on both sides of the road, and foundations for future street lamps and trenches for gas pipes had been reserved. According to the vision of the Senators at the Guangzhou station, this road would be the Champs-Élysées of Guangzhou in the future. Although both sides of the street were still wasteland, much of the land had already been acquired by the Guangzhou station through various means—in preparation for further development after the Guangzhou Grand World project took off.

The group quickly entered the city. Lü Yizhong had rushed to the Great East Gate early to take care of them. In fact, even if he didn’t, no one in or out of Guangzhou would dare to intercept or harass the convoy escorted by the Qiwei security guards. Lü Yizhong was just there to show his “diligence and prudence in his duties” to the “chiefs.”

But with his welcome, Shi Niaoren had to stop the carriage to say hello and exchange a few perfunctory words.