Lin Yuchan thought for a moment, smiled slightly, and casually pushed Su Minguan’s handwritten note forward an inch, asking: “Perhaps you gentlemen think the money is too little?”

Haggling was secondary—the underlying message was: with Jin Lanhe’s endorsement, you still don’t trust me?

The two gentlemen looked at each other and smiled awkwardly.

They recognized Boss Su’s handwriting. But how could they know she hadn’t seduced that Guangdong helmsman with her beauty and tricked him too?

When the helmsman came to his senses one day and cried out that he’d been deceived, wouldn’t the small fry be the ones to suffer?

—Though this possibility wasn’t high, they still had to guard against it.

“How about,” Liu Dadan suggested, “Miss, you bring the helmsman himself here to personally express his position? Or does Miss have a guarantor—other Hongshun Hall brothers, your father, brothers, relatives, or… or someone else. After all, transferring a tea warehouse isn’t a small matter. It’s not that we look down on you, but a young lady shouldn’t make decisions alone. If there are disputes later, wouldn’t we also be in trouble?…”

The two had adapted to their retired lifestyle, moving slowly, speaking slowly, even drinking tea and pouring water slowly, making Lin Yuchan very uncomfortable.

Mentally exhausting.

However, this almost leisurely slow pace of life was the norm for China’s thousand-year agricultural society. Having stayed in Shanghai too long, Lin Yuchan had almost forgotten that the bustling, fast-paced Eastern metropolis where everyone ran to make money was a freak among freaks on Qing territory.

Of course, Anqing Yixing Tea Warehouse wasn’t the only option. When the steamship continued upstream, Jiujiang and Hankou would certainly have plenty of rough tea transit warehouses. Though not named Yixing, she should be able to find many excellent and reliable ones.

Having planned her retreat, Lin Yuchan’s mindset steadied. She smiled slightly, putting on a harmless expression.

“In Shanghai, there are many female merchants like me. If everyone needed a bunch of guarantors, business couldn’t be done.” She laughed half-truthfully, “But you gentlemen being cautious is appropriate. How about this…”

Halfway through her words, suddenly someone shouted at the door: “Miss Lin! Hey, Miss Lin, why are you here?”

The tea warehouse kept its doors open for business. Liu Dadan thought a customer had arrived and hurriedly apologized as he went out to greet them.

Who knew that the young “customer” at the door completely ignored him, just repeatedly calling: “Miss Lin, Miss Lin, may I have a word!”

Lin Yuchan turned back to see Xu Jianyin bashfully waving at her.

The engineering genius couldn’t be neglected. She quickly glanced at the pocket watch on the table and hurried out to greet him.

“The steamship is completely repaired and ready to sail immediately!” she said cheerfully. “Thank you…”

“Miss Lin,” Xu Jianyin scratched the back of his head, his face slightly red, very embarrassed, “good thing I found you. That… that… globe…”

The globe again. Lin Yuchan’s face warmed slightly, saying matter-of-factly: “It was given to you, no after-sales service included.”

“…Father scolded me, saying I shouldn’t take such expensive things from people. He insists I find you to pay or return it… Miss Lin, I don’t understand social niceties and can’t put on an act. Yesterday, I probably made things very difficult for you. Anyway, here are the banknotes…”

Lin Yuchan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, quickly stepping back two paces to avoid his hand stuffing banknotes at her.

“Young Master Xu,” she said seriously, “how old are you? Why do you still listen to your father in everything?”

Xu Jianyin was like being struck by lightning, his face immediately turning completely red.

“I, I…”

Lin Yuchan calculated the time, feeling somewhat anxious. But she couldn’t show impatience toward Xu Jianyin.

“It’s fine, just accepting a gift. It’s not doing anything wrong. A hundred silver dollars isn’t some enormous sum—you can buy it anywhere in Shanghai. Don’t feel too burdened…”

Xu Jianyin listened dazedly as she said “a hundred silver dollars isn’t some enormous sum,” making a barely audible whimper—the sound of poverty.

“You do business in Shanghai, is money that easy to earn…”

Lin Yuchan laughed: “Not really, but…”

Suddenly, she caught something in her peripheral vision. Liu Dadan and Li Tiebi, those two conscientious Yixing old diehards, had their eyes wide as copper bells, obviously also shocked by her bold statement that “a hundred silver dollars isn’t a huge amount.”

Lin Yuchan’s heart stirred slightly.

Might as well show off to the end. After a few more polite exchanges with Xu Jianyin, she laughed: “Not just the globe—in the future, if you need any experimental equipment, you can ask me to purchase it on your behalf. I absolutely won’t be black-hearted like those middlemen you find and swallow your money! Here’s my shop address—letters or word-of-mouth messages both work. I’m not bragging, but after struggling in Shanghai for two years, I do have some connections!”

Xu Jianyin was overjoyed, tongue-tied, taking a long time to manage: “Thank you!”

…

Having finally sent the scholarly genius away, Lin Yuchan hurried back to Yixing Tea Warehouse.

With Xu Jianyin’s interruption, the pocket watch already pointed to nine-oh-nine.

She gently shook her head, closed the watch cover, and put it in her bosom.

“I have to go. You two gentlemen, though our business didn’t work out, friendship remains—perhaps there will be cooperation opportunities in the future. I…”

She suddenly stopped speaking. Uncle Li Tiebi was holding up his iron arms, picking up her contract draft from earlier and studying it carefully.

Liu Dadan asked quietly: “Miss, earlier you said the signing bonus was how much?”

Lin Yuchan suddenly had a jolt of realization. Like a bucket of sudden rain poured over her head, cooling her mind thoroughly.

“By the way,” she asked, “that young craftsman just now was…”

“We know him!” Liu Dadan smiled. “From the arsenal, sons of craftsmen hired by the court, specializing in making guns and cannons, are very capable! We’ve run into him at small restaurants too—very polite young man, knows a lot! He even helped me fix a door lock!”

Listening, Lin Yuchan’s smile bloomed, her fingertips heating with excitement.

Because she was female, the two had never dared fully believe her words.

And just now, a “knowledgeable young man” had chatted with her about money, business, and Shanghai, inadvertently becoming her most reliable guarantor.

Though this young man was young, shy, socially inexperienced, and listened to his father in everything…

But he was male!

This immediately sent Lin Yuchan’s credibility soaring. Liu Dadan and Li Tiebi finally believed that her earlier boasts about Boya Company’s business scale had no water in them.

Lin Yuchan smiled bitterly as she pressed her handprint on the contract.

Well… it was quite interesting.

Such is the variety of life.

At nine fifty-five in the morning, the Chanjuan sounded its long whistle, ready to depart.

Below the ship’s side, the rope ladder swayed. A young lady in robes rolled and climbed onto the deck, causing a small commotion among the onlookers.

First Mate Jiang Gaosheng puffed his cheeks and blew his whistle, one sharp blast indicating everyone was aboard.

Su Minguan pulled her into the cabin with some reproach in his expression.

“Why did you delay so long? Addicted to exploiting my people? Hmm?”

As he spoke, he kissed her without allowing argument, seeing she hadn’t caught her breath yet, then magnanimously let go.

Lin Yuchan lightly gritted her teeth. This man was becoming increasingly audacious, actually doing this anytime, anywhere…

She put on a stern face, asking: “Boss Su, what was the secret code for Yixing shops in the Two Lakes region again? I remember it being particularly tongue-twisting…”

“Hong qi yi zhi tong da wu hu si hai, jia yuan… jia yuan wan pai… guang fa bai zi qian sun?” Su Minguan slowly frowned. “Something like those characters, but, if you say it quickly and mumble a bit, no one will make things difficult for you.”

The Heaven and Earth Society’s great helmsman undermined his organization, actively providing cheating secrets. After finishing, he felt somewhat embarrassed and added: “When there’s a chance, I’ll have someone shorten it…”

“Shorten it to what? Have you thought of something?”

Su Minguan shook his head, using his index finger to tickle under her chin.

“What suggestions does Miss Bai Yushan have? Please speak freely.”

Lin Yuchan pushed away his hand, took a deep breath, and said seriously:

“Women can hold up half the sky!”

“Why? Why did the steamship depart on time? Wasn’t it broken? Wasn’t the most crucial part of the steam engine broken?”

Bang! In the dark corner of the corridor, Smith flew into a rage, swinging his walking stick to strike the black woman’s back.

Christmas crouched down, holding her head, not making a sound.

In the distance, a figure flashed by quickly. Smith shouted sternly: “Who’s there?”

The ship worker quickly slipped away to report to Su Minguan.

“…Couldn’t understand what they were saying, but that foreigner was very angry, kept hitting his female slave…”

Su Minguan’s expression was grave as he turned to look at the engine chief, “Old Gui,” lying on the bunk.

“Please describe the situation at that time in detail again.”

After a night of treatment, Old Gui’s injuries had stabilized. He’d been brought back to the ship from the Anqing medical clinic and should recover to normal after a few more days of rest.

Old Gui touched the messy queue on the back of his head, looking apologetic.

“I heard strange noises in the machine and went to investigate. Walking too hastily, I tripped over something, fell to the ground, and everything went black—probably hit some metal component… Sigh, getting old and useless, really sorry to the boss…”

Old Gui had been knocked unconscious quite severely, going over the same few sentences repeatedly.

Su Minguan frowned slightly and got up to go to the deck for fresh air.

This trip he’d planned to be a peaceful passenger, letting his subordinates handle ship operations while he just checked for problems.

But unexpectedly, he’d been fighting battles with no chance for a day’s rest. Dozens of Taiping Army remnants were still hiding in the crew quarters, and there was a foreign passenger in first class constantly making trouble, causing problems on the ship, causing problems off the ship, nearly getting his steamship scrapped.

Unfortunately, because Smith was a foreigner, they really couldn’t act rashly.

If the roles were reversed—a Chinese passenger making trouble on a foreign steamship, even with just slight suspicion—the shipping company could directly tie the person up and turn them over to local authorities for interrogation. The authorities would probably have to apologize to the foreigners, saying lawless elements had sneaked onto the foreign steamship, bringing shame to the Chinese people and troubling the foreign masters, etc.

But even if he tied up Smith, where could he send him?

Foreigners had extraterritorial rights—no yamen along the route would dare take his case.

The nearest American consulate was in Hankou. But Smith’s little actions—bullying Chinese people on the ship, trying to secretly buy precious ancient books at Jinshan Temple—weren’t criminal offenses. Rashly going to the consulate to seek justice would only make him a laughingstock.

As for throwing copper coins into the steam engine, even if it was related to Smith, he hadn’t done it personally, making it impossible to convict him.

As he pondered, suddenly someone tugged his sleeve.

Fertile fields stretched along both banks, with rolling hills in the distance. Beside him, the bright-eyed, white-toothed little girl smiled at him.

Having used profits from speculating on cotton to buy the Anqing Yixing Tea Warehouse in one stroke, she must be feeling extremely proud inside. Now she was radiant, every strand of hair floating with the word “confidence.”

“Dealing with Smith isn’t difficult,” Lin Yuchan quietly offered advice. “Look.”

She pulled him around two corridors. In the stairwell connecting to the first-class cabins, a dark figure was crouched in a corner with knees drawn up.

The black slave “Christmas” held a piece of hard leftover bread, crunching away, absorbed in eating.

Whether Chinese or foreign, the face of oppression was universally the same. Once accustomed to being masters, they didn’t treat slaves as humans.

Lin Yuchan had observed for several days. This Smith was just a foreign version of Huang Shiren. Though he appeared well-dressed and presentable, dining daily on beef, cheese, and wine, Christmas could only get some leftover scraps by helping clean dishes, a treatment similar to Lin Yuchan’s when she was a servant girl.

Based on this woman’s build, she probably only ate sixty to seventy percent full each day. Lin Yuchan had more than once discovered her stealing food from other first-class cabin trash bins.

Moreover, Smith was extremely harsh with her—the slightest disobedience brought beatings and scolding.

Chinese masters could certainly be equally awful to their servants, but at least everyone shared the same roots and ethnicity, all yellow-skinned with black hair. They also knew that cornered rabbits would bite, and there were precedents of personal servants secretly plotting against masters when pushed too far, so most people left some room, at least maintaining a facade of harmonious master-servant relations.

But Smith was different. In his view, he was a noble European white man while Christmas was an ugly, inferior African black. Academia was full of research proving how these blacks were stupid, lazy, and morally bankrupt—incompletely evolved creatures lagging behind whites by tens of thousands of years, not qualifying as “intelligent humans” in the scientific sense.

Thus, many white slave owners felt no psychological pressure when ordering and abusing their black slaves.

Under harsh oppression, many blacks born into generations of slavery also accepted this reality, believing themselves naturally inferior and only fit to serve white masters.

But since they were human, they still had basic emotions. Though Christmas had a nice name, she’d probably never experienced holiday abundance in her life—clothes and shoes barely provided warmth, a daily diet of leftovers and stale bread, frequent beatings with canes and whips. Lin Yuchan didn’t believe she felt any resentment.

Lin Yuchan knew what she was doing, saying, “I’ll handle this, sister. Get her to come forward as a witness to convict Smith.”

Su Minguan was slightly surprised, seeming disbelieving as he chuckled: “Amei, boasting about things you can’t do is very embarrassing.”

Lin Yuchan’s competitive spirit was aroused. She flicked her braid and raised her head with a laugh: “Bet five silver dollars!”

Lin Yuchan gently approached Christmas, gauging the distance, sitting down three feet away from her with a smile as she placed an opened oil paper package in front of her.

Inside was a sandwich made of steamed buns and salted meat, garnished with cucumber slices. East-West fusion, giving off the aroma of lard and soy sauce.

Christmas was startled, raising her head, her black face showing two white spots—her eyeballs unusually clear.

“For you,” Lin Yuchan said in friendly English. “I bought too much.”

Christmas still looked frightened, her flat nose twitching as she cautiously looked left and right. Seeing no one around, she quickly grabbed the steamed bun sandwich, and in two or three bites, the sandwich was more than half gone.

“Thank you.”

Her upbringing from childhood had trained her to recognize all white people as masters, not daring to look them in the eye. But for these distinctly different-looking Chinese people, she didn’t know how to interact with them.

After all, Master Smith had only brought her to China temporarily to attend to his needs—he wasn’t kind enough to give her cultural lessons.

So these past months, she’d been like a bird dropped into a fish pond, spending twenty-four hours daily feeling out of place. The surrounding scenery was completely different, the Chinese people around her looked strange, treating her with obvious curiosity and hostility.

Since coming to China, she’d never voluntarily spoken a word to any Chinese person. Today’s “thank you” had her nervous for a long time.

The ice-breaking went fairly smoothly. Lin Yuchan smiled and handed over a small porcelain bottle.

“Winter green liniment.” She pointed to the bruises showing on Christmas’s arms. “Apply two or three drops to reduce swelling and pain.”

Christmas hesitantly accepted it, opened the cap to smell, then quickly recapped and tried to return the bottle.

“Mr. Smith doesn’t like the smell of herbal medicine.”

Lin Yuchan: “The smell dissipates quickly. Try it.”

Without allowing argument, she pulled over Christmas’s hand and dropped a few drops on her forearm, gently rubbing them in.

Christmas’s expression changed dramatically.

Of course her dark skin couldn’t show color changes, but her prominent features immediately contorted with panic mixed with wariness, forcefully pulling her hand away.

“No…”

Black skin was considered naturally dirty. When serving in Mr. Smith’s household, even washing her hands twenty times daily, the master and mistress never let her touch their clothing or jewelry.

As for other white people, they kept even farther from their black slaves. Blacks could only go to designated black shops, black barbershops, black churches… even the most remote toilets had to be wastefully built with two pits—one for whites, one for blacks.

Now, a respectable Chinese miss was casually taking her hand. Christmas was terrified.

Though yellow people seemed a level below white people, they were at least higher than her, a black person.

This was Christmas’s first thought.

“Hey sister,” Lin Yuchan chatted while applying medicine, “I don’t want to seem too presumptuous, but Mr. Smith treats you terribly. You deserve a better master.”

Lin Yuchan had also mixed among servant girls and deeply understood the slave mentality. Especially these “house-born slaves” born into slavery had deeply rooted master-slave concepts. If she rashly mentioned “escape” or “resistance,” she’d probably scare them to death, and they’d flee far away.

In comparison, most people had more or less a sense of grievance, thinking, “I work so hard, why can’t my manager see it?”

Sure enough, when Lin Yuchan made this “heartfelt” statement, Christmas looked dejected, smiled bitterly, and bit hard into the sandwich.

“He also forces you to do many things you don’t like.” Lin Yuchan struck while the iron was hot, very indignant on her behalf. “He’s small and can’t fight, but makes you come forward as a thug to bully innocent Chinese civilians. He hides behind pretending to be a gentleman while you take the scolding and dirty looks. In Chinese, this is called a petty person—very mean. I don’t like him.”

She boldly finished the last sentence and observed Christmas’s expression.

No furious anger, even seeming somewhat sympathetic.

Lin Yuchan breathed a sigh of relief.

Of course! The reason human nature is called human nature is because it transcends race, class, wealth, and gender—it’s an instinct all people are born with.

Being treated like that by Smith and still being content—only a ghost could do that.

Christmas sniffed the wintergreen scent on her wrist, silent and brooding.

Lin Yuchan lowered her voice: “Also, he made you sabotage the steam engine but didn’t tell you that if that machine didn’t just shut down but exploded, you’d probably be blown to pieces by now…”

Christmas suddenly stood up as if standing on a volcano crater, jumping back several steps, the sandwich stuck in her throat.

“I didn’t,” she waved her arms defensively, saying angrily, “I didn’t go, it wasn’t Mr. Smith who sent me there! Don’t make wild accusations!”

Lin Yuchan shrugged and also stood up.

“There’s no need to be so loyal to Smith.” Her voice was low, her eyes bright, carrying a seductive quality. “All people are born equal. Your black brothers and sisters in America’s North, many have already become free people with their own families, living in their own houses, earning money with their own hands—actually if you ran away now, Smith is alone and weak, he definitely wouldn’t dare wander around China, he definitely couldn’t find you…”

Christmas was shocked beyond measure, as if hearing some treasonous remarks. Her skin was originally black as a pot bottom, but now miraculously became another shade darker, the whites of her eyes reddened, her prominent brow showing a fierce expression.

Lin Yuchan was momentarily overwhelmed by her height advantage, then immediately mustered the courage to finish her statement:

“If you accuse Mr. Smith of conspiring to sabotage the steamship, he might go to jail and never enslave you again…”

Suddenly, her collar tightened. Christmas had reached her limit, grabbed her, and pressed her against the wall.

The tall black woman holding the petite Chinese girl was like an eagle catching a chick.

“Young miss, you understand nothing!” Christmas gritted her teeth, her white teeth flashing sharp light. “You think you know Americans? You think a few clichéd phrases about freedom and equality can trick me into betraying my master? Those Northerners talk big, fighting wars, liberation, but Southern plantations still work blacks to death daily—who’s coming to liberate us? I don’t like being a house slave, but what other choice do I have?”

Lin Yuchan hadn’t expected Christmas to suddenly turn hostile. Before she could react, she’d already received an earful of rap, immediately breaking into a sweat and stammering: “Don’t, don’t give up hope… the war will soon…”

“My husband was born on Smith’s plantation. I have a son and daughter, both born on Smith’s plantation—they’re the sweetest angels in this world. My husband has already been sold by him, given a new name, and I’ll never see him again in this lifetime. If I don’t obey, he’ll sell my daughter, then my son—I cannot lose my children, even if I go to hell, I won’t! I hate Smith, but even if Smith told me to kill someone, I would do it! Listen, today’s conversation ends here. Chinese miss, next time you tell me any nonsense about freedom and resistance, I’ll beat your ass hard!”

Having said this, she casually tossed her aside. Lin Yuchan was still dazed as she was thrown from the corridor, staggering several steps.

After a long moment, she finally reacted: Was I just… wall-slammed by a woman?