Chapter 348: Shopkeeper Huang

“Cock-a-doodle-doo…”

With the loud crowing of the rooster, Nanbao Town, a small town at the southernmost tip of the Han district of Lingao County that had prospered due to mining and trade with the Li areas, began to gradually awaken. White smoke drifted from the chimneys. Small shops had already taken down their door panels and were preparing for the morning market. The National Army soldiers on night duty rubbed their red eyes and came down from the watchtower.

The officer on duty from the National Army came out of the duty room, holding a key. He yawned as he opened the gate of the town. This place was adjacent to the Li area, and the nearest Li village was less than two kilometers away. The conflict between the Han and Li on Hainan Island was very sharp in the Ming Dynasty. Lingao, a major agricultural county on the island, had always been the area with the most acute conflict over land between the Han and Li. Several major Li uprisings in the Ming Dynasty basically occurred in the northern Qiongzhou area.

Although the Li and Miao Affairs Office believed that after the three-pronged approach of trade, missionary work, and cultural and educational infiltration, the possibility of another riot or disturbance among the local Li people was not high, necessary precautions still had to be taken. After all, their control over the Li areas was still weak, and there was a considerable degree of uncertainty. Nanbao was not only a window for trade with the Li areas, but it also had the important Nanbao Coal Mine. Although the quality of the coal here was not high, the lignite, stone, and clay it provided were still in great demand in agriculture and the construction industry.

Therefore, after the end of the Qiongzhou Pacification War, the General Military Affairs Office stationed a platoon of the National Army here, maintaining a high level of alert.

As the town gate opened, some miners rushing to the morning shift and peddlers heading to the Li areas went out one after another. The number of people on the street gradually increased.

Sima Qiudao, wearing a patched robe, climbed out of a bed made of two tables pushed together. The sky was already turning white. It was getting late. He had to get dressed quickly, otherwise the girls living upstairs wouldn’t be able to come down to make breakfast.

The place he lived in was a two-story building along the street. This house was one of the many “shop-houses” built by the cooperative in Nanbao. However, the cooperative had clearly overestimated Nanbao’s development potential. After the establishment of the Nanbao Mining Company, the place had once been very prosperous, but with the continuous supply of coal from Hongji and Qiongshan to Lingao by sea, the low-calorific Nanbao coal was basically reduced to a raw material for fertilizer. If it weren’t for the great demand from the agricultural sector, the Nanbao coal mine would have almost no value in mining.

Fortunately, the demand from Lingao’s construction industry was great, and the stone and clay mined by the Nanbao Mining Company were in a situation of both production and sales booming. As a result, the production scale of Nanbao Mining did not expand further—the coal reserves in Nanbao were not large. As for stone and clay, the high transportation costs of building materials also limited their sales range. The originally planned third and fourth phases of Nanbao were canceled by the Planning Commission.

Without a leading enterprise, Nanbao’s population growth rate dropped sharply. Although a number of small enterprises specializing in deep processing of products for trade with the Li areas, such as rattan and wood processing, traditional Chinese medicine processing, leather and kapok processing, have started operations in Nanbao in recent years, their scale is not large and the labor force they can absorb is limited. The Planning Commission did not arrange for a large number of immigrants here. As for the free immigrants, they preferred the prosperous banks of the Wenlan River, and no one was willing to go to this “remote” area of Nanbao.

Nanbao’s development was not as good as expected, so naturally it could not support too much commerce. Many of the shop-houses built by the cooperative back then became rental residences. After Sima Qiudao and his party arrived in Lingao, the local contact person arranged for them to stay here.

The house was a two-story building with a three-bay facade, and a small courtyard behind it with a few side rooms. The street in front was not bustling, but it was adjacent to the main road. The back door opened to a rather deserted alley. The transportation was very convenient. Huang Zhen, who was in charge of finding a house, took a fancy to this place at first sight.

Huang Zhen was known as “Copper Pen and Iron Abacus.” He was also plump and had the air of a merchant. In this operation, he acted as the “shopkeeper” who had come to Lingao to open a business.

Nowadays, many merchants came to Lingao to open shops and do business, but most of them were in Dongmen Market and Bopu, with very few in Nanbao. Therefore, as soon as he arrived in Nanbao and showed his intention to “invest and open a shop,” the local cooperative director eagerly took him around the town to look at houses. In the end, Huang Zhen chose this place.

For Sima Qiudao, this house was not bad, clean and tidy, and quite comfortable to live in. The only drawback was that it was a bit small for the number of people who had come this time.

This time, the martial arts world of the Central Plains had made a big move. Just the advance party that had arrived here included seven or eight people led by Huang Zhen and Sima Qiudao. More people were to arrive later.

It was naturally impossible for these men and women from famous sects to shave their heads and undergo “purification” to become naturalized citizens. But if they were to be “self-employed,” they would be too conspicuous wherever they went. They could only be hidden in this so-called “shop.”

It was one thing to have many people, but there were also several “female heroes.” Although they were all from the jianghu, there was still a distinction between men and women—besides, the masters of these few were all respected elders in the martial arts world—so they couldn’t all sleep in a large common room. Thus, two of the three rooms upstairs were given to them, and one was reserved for the main figure of this operation who had not yet arrived: the first disciple of the Wudang sect, Zhuo Yifan. The rest of the people could only squeeze into the side rooms in the back. Even Huang Zhen could only rest in the small accounting room on the first floor.

Sima Qiudao found it too crowded and noisy, so he simply stayed in the shop hall. Two square tables were pushed together to serve as a bed, which was quite free and easy.

He went to the well platform in the backyard to wash up and saw that Huang Zhen was already rinsing his mouth. He was in his fifties and looked like a merchant in terms of his figure and dress. An abacus was tucked under his arm, and a writing brush was stuck in the back of his waistband, a very strange appearance. Looking at his plump figure and slow movements, one couldn’t tell his level of martial arts.

Sima Qiudao, however, knew that Huang Zhen was the first disciple of the head of the Huashan sect. In terms of martial arts, the only one here who was stronger than him was probably Zhuo Yifan.

“Shopkeeper Huang.” For the sake of concealment, they had already changed their forms of address. “You are up really early.”

“It’s Sima.” Huang Zhen spat out the water in his mouth. “It’s not early anymore. How can a businessman oversleep? As they say, rise at dawn and sweep the courtyard. When you and the shop are clean, the customers will feel happy when they come, and the business will be good.”

Sima Qiudao thought to himself: stop pretending! This Huang Zhen usually liked to present himself as a merchant. This time, he had infiltrated Lingao and was putting on the full airs of a shopkeeper.

However, in the martial arts world where sect background and seniority were important, how could Huang Zhen’s status be compared to his, a junior from the Qingcheng sect? Therefore, Sima Qiudao was still very respectful on the surface. “The shopkeeper is right.”

As they were talking, a woman came out of the house. She seemed a little sleepy and was still rubbing her eyes. Seeing Huang Zhen and Sima Qiudao in the courtyard, she quickly curtsied.

“Miss Nan, you are up so early,” Huang Zhen said with a smile, squinting his eyes.

The woman called Miss Nan was no longer young by the standards of this era, looking to be about twenty-five or twenty-six. She wore a light green blouse and skirt, with a light red tunic over it. Her waist was cinched, giving her a graceful figure. Her pair of dark, sparkling eyes were bright and lively, seeming to speak with their glances. Her face was beautiful, with a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth, making people feel close to her.

Women did not wash up at the well platform. Even women from the jianghu had to maintain some dignity of a famous and righteous sect and could not be too unruly outside.

“It’s not early at all. The sky will be bright soon. If I don’t make breakfast now, everyone will have nothing to eat when they get up.” Miss Nan smiled and went to the kitchen to measure the rice.

Seeing her go in, he whispered to Huang Zhen, “Shopkeeper Huang, are we still going to stay cooped up like this for the next few days?”

The smile disappeared from Huang Zhen’s face. “Didn’t Seventh Master say so? We must follow all his instructions. This place is not like the Great Ming; it’s extremely dangerous.”

The so-called Seventh Master was the person who was receiving them locally. They knew very little about this Seventh Master, only that he was from the Jinyiwei and had been lurking in Lingao for many years.

“Master Shi said this place is like a dragon’s den and a tiger’s lair. I went to their old nest, Dongmen Market, to check it out yesterday—it’s not that much.”

“Zixiao, you must not underestimate the short-hairs. Over the years, countless people from the greenwood have wanted to come to this new prosperous place of Lingao to make a fortune, but they all disappeared without a trace, as if they had sunk into the sea. Among them were several great thieves who had roamed the two capitals and several provinces. It is said that they also lost their way in Lingao.” Huang Zhen was older and naturally more mature. “Seventh Master said that there are many secret agents from the intelligence bureau here, and they don’t follow the rules of the jianghu. Our ways won’t work here. We must be very careful in every move and absolutely not act rashly.”

“Yes, I understand.” Sima Qiudao was somewhat unconvinced. Because he had just been to Dongmen Market a few days ago to meet with Xin Nachun. Although he was shocked by the prosperity of Dongmen Market and the neat order of the streets, he did not see the scene of “a guard every three steps, a sentry every five steps,” with soldiers everywhere and tight security that he had imagined.

When he was wandering the streets of Dongmen Market, he didn’t even feel a trace of danger. The number of imitation short-hairs with shaved heads and changed clothes was countless. The short-hairs were so good at winning the hearts of the people. No wonder they had been occupying Lingao for many years, and the court was helpless.

“Zixiao,” Huang Zhen felt that he was young and might be reckless, and urged, “This time, Master Shi has exhausted all his efforts to send us here, even bringing out a person like Seventh Master from his pocket. We must not fail to live up to his expectations and must investigate this matter to the bottom! Report to the court and save the common people!”

Sima Qiudao nodded, feeling a little more pressure in his heart. It had been more than a month since he infiltrated Lingao, and he had been hiding like this all the time. Sometimes he really didn’t know what he was doing here.

But the purpose of this trip was only known to the first disciple of the Wudang sect, Zhuo Yifan, who had not yet arrived.

Even a figure like Huang Zhen was just an advance party.