From a rational standpoint, she knew her money should still be relatively safe. Although the Great Qing had not yet established a postal service, when the overseas gold rush fever arose in the nineteenth century, many Chinese from Fujian and Guangdong provinces had already emigrated overseas. They worked hard and laboriously, then entrusted fellow townsmen merchants to continuously bring large amounts of overseas remittances and family letters back to their hometowns, called “qiaopi” or “yinxin”—this was China’s earliest private cross-border remittance service, built on the foundation of mutual aid among fellow countrymen. They valued reputation highly and were much more reliable than official courier stations and such.

But emotionally, Lin Yuchan still felt empty and hollow, not quite adapted to this ancient method of remittance that left everything to fate.

She held the receipt, examining it left and right, then decided to put it in the safe. Opening the cabinet door, it was almost empty inside, with only a few scattered banknotes remaining. She broke down again.

“Xiao Bai, tell me, what if this money gets lost on the road…” Lin Yuchan couldn’t help but mutter anxiously, “This is almost all my savings… Was I too reckless… Should I have sent less… This receipt doesn’t look very official…”

Su Minguan watched her rambling coldly, crouched down, and helped her close the safe door.

He had figured out about eighty percent of this girl’s personality. She wasn’t truly regretful, nor was she indecisive—she just wanted to find someone to agree with her, to tell her “you did the right thing, don’t overthink it,” to seek some peace of mind.

But Su Minguan had never seen the true face of the “Central Pacific Railroad” either, didn’t know how reliable it was, and wouldn’t randomly dispense reassurance just to appease her emotions.

So he remained politely silent, and only after listening to her ramble without any new content did he reach out to embrace her, looking at her exaggerated, worried expression with slight amusement.

“If it’s lost, it’s lost.” His thumb rubbed her cheek, “I’ll keep you.”

Doing business involves taking risks. What’s the big deal?

Lin Yuchan immediately got into character, proudly lifting her head and declaring with unyielding integrity: “I want to earn the money back through my labor!—What’s the salary for your family’s bookkeeper again?”

“One tael per month, enough for you to work until the sixty-fourth year of Tongzhi’s reign.”

Lin Yuchan stabbed at his insufferable face with her eyes. How could there be such a good-looking face in this world—the upper half of his face was tender as water, and covering his mouth revealed a gentle, jade-like classical gentleman; yet his lips had distinct contours, quietly pressed downward, and covering his eyes revealed natural stubbornness and rebelliousness that made one feel distant.

Yet when such features were combined on one face, they immediately shone brilliantly with lasting charm.

Making it impossible to stay too angry at him.

Lin Yuchan snorted and turned away in resignation. She didn’t expect ivory to come out of that mouth anyway.

“I got off the boat at three this morning.” Su Minguan pressed his advantage, taking off his outer robe and shoes, removing his hat and fake braid together, then cleanly and openly lay down on her bed, “I only slept five hours last night. A’Mei, please take me in for a while.”

He didn’t treat himself as an outsider—having lain down, he also pulled her down with him in one motion, pushed her inward, used her as a pillow, and contentedly gathered her against his shoulder, even scraping her nape with his knuckles.

Lin Yuchan’s whole body went numb: “…”

Although he had accompanied her around half the foreign settlement today, exchanging currency and sending money—he had indeed worked very hard and she should be grateful and reciprocate—but who told him to be so shameless in broad daylight!

“…No… sleeping… together!”

“Hugging won’t make you pregnant.” Su Minguan’s gaze was sincere, with the patient tone of someone providing scientific education, “Kissing won’t either.”

“This won’t either.”

“This won’t either…”

Lin Yuchan had no choice. Outside the window, cicadas chirped incessantly, as if urgently. Before she knew it, she had fallen, carefully responding, not daring to be too aggressive, yet reluctant to be too cold.

Until he voluntarily stopped, contentedly leaning against her shoulder with his eyes closed.

She gently kissed his face, suddenly feeling he was so well-behaved.

The small window in the bedroom wasn’t tightly closed, and under the gentle caress of the warm summer breeze, it slowly and quietly swayed, occasionally making monotonous creaking sounds. In the past, when the foreign settlement was prosperous and densely populated, when pedestrians and carriages constantly passed on the street below, and vendors’ calls never ceased, this little window noise was negligible. But today, at this moment, she truly noticed this fragmented yet lazy little sound, along with the surrounding cicada calls, bird songs, rhythmic wind sounds, and the clear fragrance of flowers and trees wafting up from the garden… Like a blank tape with background noise, they together composed a long afternoon.

It seemed that life at this moment had lost so many goals and meanings, making one want to luxuriously and wastefully indulge in this blank space, stretching this brief time longer and longer.

Lin Yuchan was quickly hypnotized, her consciousness becoming somewhat scattered.

But deep in her heart, there was still a small thought, like a spider web pulling at a thread of her clarity. As if she had forgotten something…

Ding-ling-ling, the wind chimes rang softly, with a faint female voice at the door.

“Ah, afternoon tea.”

Lin Yuchan scrambled up, smoothed her wrinkled clothing, and then tiptoed to close the door.

Unexpectedly, there was no appearance of Miss Compton’s close friends’ signature chattering gossip voices at the door.

A note from a servant was tucked in the door crack, saying that due to family business, the ladies had temporarily canceled today’s gathering, and Miss Lin need not prepare.

Lin Yuchan thought about it—that made sense. Most of Miss Compton’s circle of wealthy young ladies’ families had likely lost money in real estate speculation, and with the men at home all in a panic, it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to come out and leisurely enjoy life.

She pushed open the main door and saw an unexpected visitor, so surprised she couldn’t close her mouth for a long time.

“…It’s you?”

Gao Dewen stood smartly in men’s clothing at the entrance of Boya Courtyard, tall and imposing. Behind her, a rental carriage slowly drove away.

“Miss Lin, pardon the intrusion.” Gao Dewen put away Boya Company’s business card, cupped her hands toward her, and strode into the courtyard with large steps, curiously examining the European-style door frame and wall bricks. “How have you been lately?”

A heroine was indeed a heroine. What should have been a chance encounter forgotten in the rivers and lakes, meeting again after half a year, she acted as familiar as if they had just parted yesterday.

Lin Yuchan was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed, hurrying to the kitchen to prepare tea.

“I’m honored you still remember me! How long have you been in Shanghai? Where are you staying? What brings you here? You…”

What she also wanted to ask was: how was her unreliable British husband, Ma Qingchen, doing now?

She still remembered that ridiculous Hankou reception. The foreign medical officer who was determined to climb the Great Qing’s official ladder had, through a series of coincidences, married a “remnant” of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At the moment when news of the “Suzhou massacre” arrived, the love between these two had probably also reached its end.

Gao Dewen smiled, unceremoniously accepting the tea from her hands, as if knowing what she wanted to ask, and said frankly: “After the fall of Tianjing, my husband was transferred to Shanghai, granted a fourth-rank title to supervise the Shanghai Foreign Artillery Bureau. I came along as well.”

Lin Yuchan: “…Congratulations.”

When the husband prospers, the wife benefits. With Ma Qingchen’s official fortune flourishing, Gao Dewen’s standard of living had naturally improved significantly. Although she didn’t like Ma Qingchen, she still offered congratulations.

Moreover, Ma Qingchen’s promotion was likely greatly assisted by “marrying a Chinese wife.” It should be known that nowadays, intermarriage between Chinese and foreigners was extremely rare and not accepted by mainstream society. Ma Qingchen, using his marriage to show loyalty, naturally won the court’s favor.

Lin Yuchan had recently heard gossip that Hede had merit in managing customs, and both Li Hongzhang and Wenxiang were arranging matches for him, introducing several daughters of officials, wanting him to become a Chinese son-in-law to completely win over this capable foreigner. But Hede always expressed that the cultural gap was too deep and he feared wronging the young ladies.

Regardless of how sincere this reason was, at least the meaning of polite refusal was clear.

Comparing this way, Ma Qingchen’s rapid promotion was quite reasonable.

Gao Dewen remained unmoved by that “congratulations.” She sipped her tea, started conversation several times, and finally said: “Miss Lin, now that I’m idle at home, I want to ask you for a favor.”

“Idle” was generally a word used by men. For women, they were naturally supposed to manage the household, with no concept of employment or unemployment.

Only Gao Dewen would use this word for herself, showing she was truly bored to distraction.

Without waiting for Lin Yuchan’s response, Gao Dewen looked into her eyes again and said: “I want to learn foreign customs, learn English, learn Western studies. Please help me find connections. I can provide compensation…”

Lin Yuchan quickly raised her hand to stop her from talking about compensation first.

She carefully asked: “Planning to continue with your husband?”

A momentary bashfulness flashed across Gao Dewen’s face, then she nodded frankly and smiled bitterly: “Otherwise, what choice do I have?”

Indeed, in this era, marriage emphasized no regrets once the move was made. If a man regretted, he could still divorce his wife and take concubines as a remedy; but once a woman married, she had chosen a lifetime path.

Moreover, Lin Yuchan roughly thought that if she were in Gao Dewen’s awkward position, from a self-interested perspective, she would probably also maintain the status quo, using her identity as an official’s wife to secure some wealth and career for herself.

She still retained the title of a court lady. This helped her husband’s career, so Ma Qingchen probably didn’t dare treat her too dismissively.

As for how much love there was in this marriage… actually, throughout history, “love” and marriage had always been completely separate matters. This kind of peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit marriage, was common in both China and the West.

But Gao Dewen was not satisfied with being a caged bird. Lin Yuchan saw determination in her eyes—she didn’t want to be her husband’s appendage; she wanted to properly break into foreign social circles, so those snobbish foreigners would never dare to casually mock her again.

However, learning foreign languages and Western studies wasn’t as easy as it looked for a military general’s daughter with a weak cultural foundation.

Lin Yuchan pondered for a moment.

Hire a foreign tutor? Not to mention the enormous cost, Ma Qingchen would not agree. He would prefer his wife to be a submissive Chinese daughter-in-law and wouldn’t want her to learn more. Gao Dewen’s outing today was done without her husband’s knowledge, and her desire to “learn foreign languages” had not gained his consent either.

The government-run Shanghai Guangfangyan Institute…

That wouldn’t work either. The students there were all trained with government funds and would be given ranks and serve the Great Qing after graduation. They didn’t accept female students at all.

Shanghai had several English night schools for foreign trading company employees, funded by private merchants, with varying quality. The best one was the Yinghua Academy under the Ningbo Guild. According to Lin Yuchan’s knowledge, Zheng Guanying had been studying English there.

But these schools mainly taught commercial English—goods, numbers, bargaining, pleasantries, etc., which didn’t meet Gao Dewen’s needs. And they didn’t accept female students either.

Lin Yuchan suddenly slapped the table and whispered, “Let’s open our school! An English school that accepts female students! How about that!”

Then she shook her head, popping this idea like a bubble.

“Too expensive…”

Just hiring foreign teachers would be a huge expense. The venue could use the Yixing Business Association hall, but with current low land prices, it wouldn’t save much money. Compiling textbooks, ink, paper, and inkstones—these miscellaneous expenses were also considerable…

As for enrollment, besides heroines like Gao Dewen, she didn’t know how many girls in all of Shanghai needed to learn English.

Not to mention the current economic depression—Boya Company couldn’t afford such charity work. Even if she paid out of her own pocket…

The seven hundred-plus dollars had already been boarded the ship to America. She had no money left.

Gao Dewen saw her hesitation and laughed out loud.

“Miss Lin, didn’t I just say I wouldn’t let you help for nothing?” She leisurely took out a stack of money, house drafts from her bag, “My dowry included five thousand taels of silver…”

Lin Yuchan was delighted and surprised, her heart setting off fireworks. Rich lady, please sponsor me!

A famous investment master of later generations had a saying: Only when the tide recedes do you know who’s been swimming naked. Those glamorous merchants and compradors in the foreign settlement, who usually acted so important and made deals worth tens of thousands of taels, only showed their true colors when the financial crisis hit, falling from the wind’s peak with bruises all over, owing debts up to their necks.

And those who could still hold large amounts of cash during the depression…

We’re like wearing the most dazzling swimsuit. When the tide receded, they would be the uncrowned kings.

She immediately clung to this lifeline: “Enough, enough! Enough! We can borrow the association’s venue first, even if you’re the only student…”

Gao Dewen: “…Deposited in Dingsheng Money House…”

Lin Yuchan’s vision went dark, and she felt her little heart could barely handle this.

“Sister, wait. This money house might be about to collapse…”

She looked at the flamboyant characters “Dingsheng” on the draft, then carefully read the terms, calculating an annual interest rate as high as 20%.

Obviously, this was recklessly issued by the money house last year when land prices were soaring, trying to raise funds for lending. The Gao family had been away from Qing society for too long and had no idea about this financial trap when arranging her dowry.

Lin Yuchan quickly looked back at the third floor of the foreign building, hesitated for a moment, then stood up, pulling Gao Dewen’s hand.

“Let’s go! We’ll withdraw it right now!”

…

Half an hour later, Su Minguan finished recharging, opened his eyes to find no one beside him, and hugged only a roll of blankets.

The entire foreign building was locked up tight, with only a handwritten note left.

“Sorry, had to leave on urgent business!”

Angry enough to drink a whole pot of the shop’s most expensive tea.

There was indeed still a run on Dingsheng Money House. The clerks ran back and forth wearily.

“Everyone, don’t worry… our boss just got a loan from a foreign company… everything can be repaid, if we’re lying may heaven strike us with lightning…”

The money house was also actively trying to save itself. Qing law stipulated that moneylenders who closed while owing money could face military exile for 120 taels, and hanging for over 10,000 taels, with wives and children still having to continue repaying debts. Although Qing law enforcement was a joke, nobody dared gamble with their lives.

Lin Yuchan was smoothly ushered through the back door.

“Miss, please come in, Madam, please come in, haha.”

Manager Hua thought she was still coming to invest, and was about to enthusiastically introduce some mortgaged properties they were stuck with, when suddenly the tall lady beside her spoke: “Withdrawal.”

Manager Hua’s vision went dark, feeling he’d been tricked again.

But there was no choice. She was already inside, and Mrs. Gao revealed her identity as a foreign official’s wife. Manager Hua didn’t dare oppose her.

Fortunately, there was still some cash on hand today, so he quickly prioritized exchanging her drafts.

However, the interest couldn’t be paid out. Fortunately, Lin Yuchan knew 20% was too outrageous and wasn’t greedy for it, just getting the principal back was like thanking heaven and earth.

Gao Dewen had been in Shanghai for three days and hadn’t toured the foreign settlement much, never having been to a Qing money house. Today’s whirlwind visit, looking at the silver notes in her hand afterward, left her shaken.

If she had come a few days later, wouldn’t this money have been unrecoverable?!

She couldn’t help but look at the clever girl beside her with even more admiration.

Having marched and fought since age fourteen, she knew nothing about financial management. On the way back to Boya, she asked Lin Yuchan which money houses were more reliable and could let her safely earn some interest.

Lin Yuchan smiled bitterly: “Wait three to five months to see which money houses haven’t collapsed yet—those should be the ones with solid credentials. For now, you’d better keep this money in your pocket.”

Gao Dewen looked troubled and nodded.

Lin Yuchan immediately thought of her husband…

Being an official required networking, bribes, and various relationship management. If he was short on cash someday, casually “borrowing” some of his wife’s private money would be completely reasonable, justified, legal, and proper—even the Qing Emperor couldn’t interfere.

Gao Dewen suddenly said, “Would it work to deposit it with you?”

Lin Yuchan almost clutched her heart again.

Entrusting one’s entire fortune to a friend met by chance… Having struggled in the corrupt Qing for so long, she wasn’t used to this kind of noble thinking from the Spring and Autumn period.

Not to mention interest. If a thief broke in someday…

Lin Yuchan would have no choice but to knock on Yixing’s door, shamefaced, and “beg for support.”

She looked into Gao Dewen’s eyes and said seriously, “Sister, today is only our second meeting. You really shouldn’t trust me so much.”

Gao Dewen laughed heartily: “I know in my heart which people can be trusted and which friends are worth making. Miss Lin, back then at the reception, you risked being blamed by the foreigners to help me out of trouble; when news of my father’s death came and others were waiting to see the joke, you helped me keep my last bit of dignity—I know you weren’t doing it for any reward from me. But people like you are too rare nowadays. If I can’t even trust you, what difference is there between me and those selfish, contemptible people in this flashy world?”

Lin Yuchan bit her lip, momentarily feeling her nose tingle.

Old Huang’s ingratitude was like a knife that hardened her heart. She warned herself that jungle society was full of traps everywhere, and blind trust in others was digging a pit for herself.

But today, suddenly, those hardened parts melted again, and a soft emotion touched something deep in her chest.

Was this how others saw her?

Did those she had casually helped, who might never see her again in their lifetime, have this impression of her?

Lin Yuchan thought for a moment and said seriously, “The matter of money storage needs careful discussion. As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows—my suggestion is that you store this money in separate places… Well, give me some time, and I’ll help you think of several options.”

As she spoke, she also retrieved a letter from the mailbox.

Opening the door, she saw that Su Minguan had already left. He was meticulous and wouldn’t let others notice that someone else had stayed overnight in this building, thereby causing suspicions about Miss Lin’s conduct.

Lin Yuchan felt momentarily guilty and planned to apologize to him next time.

But then she discovered her handwritten note on the counter, pressed under the inkstone, with several lines he’d written on the back.

“Make it up to me next time!”

Really wouldn’t take any loss!

She quickly hid this note.

Gao Dewen certainly wouldn’t leave readily. She was curiously observing the shelves and bookshelves in the foreign building—currently, Boya’s main office didn’t have so many diverse, strange goods. The shelves mainly displayed some sample pieces and detailed introductions of their own tea, cotton, and local products. Of course, the legacy left from Rong Hong’s era—Rong Hong’s translation works, various small poems Chang Baoluo had published in newspapers, and a small number of photographs from the past few years—were all framed and hung on the walls, elevating this small foreign building’s prestige to the best in all Shanghai.

Lin Yuchan let the heroine tour while she ground ink and picked up her brush.

To borrow the Yixing Business Association’s venue for running a women’s school had nothing to do with Boya and needed discussion with the board of directors. The several committee members of the board were all relatively open-minded foreign trade merchants, and as long as funding was in place and it didn’t affect the association’s operations, they shouldn’t face too much opposition.

She bit her brush tip and began making a budget.

The long afternoon suddenly became full and tense. Having already enjoyed the brief lunch break, the current Miss Lin was full of energy again and didn’t want to waste a single moment.

She was quite familiar with school operations. Assuming they started classes with five students, they would need to hire at least one teacher and one supervisor, plus office supplies, postage, equipment maintenance, textbooks and handouts, travel expenses, meal costs…

Gao Dewen came over, half-understanding what she saw, and asked with a smile: “Shall we spend all my five thousand taels and open a big academy for all Shanghai girls to study? Would that be enough?”

Lin Yuchan didn’t look up: “First, find me ten girls willing to learn English whose families don’t object.”

Gao Dewen wanted to accomplish something grand, but one couldn’t bite off more than they could chew. Spending five thousand taels in a big fanfare to run a school would first scare the local government to death: Mrs. Gao, please stop! What are you trying to do? Restore the Taiping Kingdom?

“Five hundred taels to test the waters is sufficient.” Lin Yuchan smiled and made the decision, “As the financial backer, the initial courses will naturally be exclusively customized for you. Next Sunday at the association meeting, please join us to inspect the venue. As for the remaining four thousand plus taels…”

She casually tidied up her notes and opened a new letter.

She didn’t mind giving Gao Dewen some free financial advice. But investment had risks, and they weren’t that familiar yet, so she couldn’t be too aggressive…

Lin Yuchan’s gaze suddenly fixed, then she pulled out blueprints from the yellow envelope, spread them out to examine carefully several times, and suddenly beamed with joy.

Gao Dewen came over, her eyes wide, completely unable to understand what was drawn on the paper.

“Tea processing machinery designed by the great talent Xu Jianyin!” Lin Yuchan was extremely proud, introducing: “Mrs. Gao, want to find somewhere for those thousands of taels? Come be a Boya shareholder!”