The sun passed noon. Lin Yuchan made her final check of the luggage inventory.

The study abroad procedures for fifteen girls had been completed. Tomorrow morning, they would board a ship with Rong Hong and thirty male students, becoming the Qing Dynasty’s first government-sponsored study abroad students.

She rarely ran businesses personally anymore. Dividends and rent from each branch and industry would be regularly transferred to her bank account or delivered by messengers to Little Liu—now her chief accountant’s office.

As long as the Qing Dynasty didn’t fall, her “passive income” would only increase, never decrease. She could completely keep a low profile, buy a garden in Suzhou, and live a comfortable retirement life.

But a healthy person, beyond satisfying basic needs and pleasures, must pursue something else.

Chinese people valued posthumous reputation. Those star compradors and national capitalists, far more successful than her, rarely satisfied themselves with luxurious, wealthy lives. Some gradually donated for official positions, trying to bring their influence from business circles to political circles; some funded scholars and published books to compensate for their past imperial examination regrets; some spent large sums developing their hometowns—building roads, ancestral halls, donating to temples, establishing schools…

Some of these endeavors had meaning, others were pure money-burning. But regardless, wealthy people were never content with “merchant” status, urgently wanting to do something else.

Lin Yuchan now also had some small charitable funds for orphanages, merchant associations, and girls’ schools. But these modest philanthropic activities all paled compared to the “girls studying abroad” project.

The girls were attending their final day of classes at the women’s academy. In just a few months, even the most timid girls had transformed completely. Under Lin Yuchan’s overt and covert encouragement, all had resolved to pursue learning and undertake unprecedented careers for Chinese women.

Lin Yuchan sealed the last trunk, locked her bedroom safe, organized various documents one final time, and sat on her bed in a daze.

She should feel surging emotions and overwhelming pride, but somehow felt inexplicably empty.

Water lilies in the vat were blooming magnificently. Outside the window, osmanthus branches sprouted tiny buds. After a bout of rain, spring flowers like crabapples and wisteria unusually bloomed a second time, climbing over newly posted wanted notices on street corners—those in the foreign concession were police station announcements, those in the county seat were Shanghai County notices. Li Hongzhang used his authority as Zhili Governor-General to mobilize large forces hunting that criminal named Su Minguan.

Lin Yuchan knew she should be happy. This indicated Su Minguan’s plan had succeeded. Li Hongzhang had suffered a major loss and was casting this dragnet in humiliated fury.

After all, though Li Hongzhang was forced to agree not to pursue past society activities, the ringleader still had to be settled—couldn’t be let go. Both to recover some face and eliminate future troubles. Anyone with official experience would do this.

A warm breeze suddenly brushed her face. The door opened abruptly.

Lin Yuchan jumped up. The intruding figure held her tightly.

She felt the missing piece in her heart quietly fill. His warm chest pressed against hers, uneven beneath his clothes—the smell of bandages and medicine.

“How dare you still come!” she scolded tearfully. “Weren’t you supposed to hide in the countryside?”

Su Minguan lowered his head, continuously kissing both sides of her cheeks.

“You’re leaving tomorrow. I had to come see you off.” Su Minguan smiled. “Don’t forget to notify your subordinates—Li Hongzhang has lost major face this time. Your business circles should also be careful not to hit his muzzle and become his punching bags. Don’t organize strikes for now either. Better to swallow anger.”

Lin Yuchan nodded.

The room was empty, with several large trunks stacked against the wall, securely strapped. Su Minguan hazily recalled the day he moved out of this “dormitory.”

Her small bedroom—he had briefly lived there for over a year. Now the furnishings hadn’t changed much, only the bookshelf held several more layers of books, the writing desk had a “New Telegraph Code” and a Western-style small calendar.

August 1872.

Su Minguan recalled that ten years ago, in summer, he was running Yixing Shipping’s first deal, going deep into Taiping tea-producing areas with Rong Hong, stripping clothes to jump into canals and dig mud.

That deal was worth fifteen hundred taels of silver. What a large sum of money.

Then, treating her to “June crabs.” Under Wusong Fort, her first time practicing shooting…

Su Minguan said quietly, “Bring plenty of gunpowder. After departure, don’t be shy about asking Rong Hong to take care of you.”

She hummed and nodded.

“Also, this is inconvenient for me to carry. Could you help me keep it for a while?”

Lin Yuchan looked down. Su Minguan stuffed a thick stack of papers into her hands.

She glanced at them, hardly believing her eyes.

“What is this, stocks?”

First time seeing all-Chinese stocks. No fancy printing, just dense text with a bright red seal at the end, looking like government documents.

“China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company’s first batch of original shares. One hundred taels of silver per share, each certificate worth five hundred to one thousand taels. Purchased at fifty percent of face value, the total market price was six hundred thousand taels of silver.” Su Minguan’s voice was light and proud. “I took Li Hongzhang’s note and collected money from various officials before he could send a notification. Haha, you didn’t see those fawning faces… But this money isn’t safe—it will be traced eventually. Westerners have a term called ‘money laundering.’ I found connections to wash this money several times, buying China Merchants’ Company stocks in batches under your name.”

Seeing she was about to ask, he covered her mouth with his index finger and quickly explained: “China Merchants’ Company is government-supervised and merchant-operated, run like a Western company. These stocks are sacred private property—the government has no right to confiscate them. They also can’t trace your connection to the Heaven and Earth Society. A’Mei, help me keep these. Hongshun Hall and Honghua Hall’s operating expenses for the next eighty years are all here.”

“Bai Yushan” was military strategist and also treasurer. Because literate people were rare in the Heaven and Earth Society, anyone who could read typically took this title and handled all written work.

Of course, Su Minguan, as the number one rule-breaker, practiced “capable people do more work”—society finances were always his responsibility, never making Lin Yuchan do unpaid labor.

This protected her well. Though she had acted as Bai Yushan, various society records rarely showed traces of her involvement.

Entrusting all assets to her now indicated his firm resolve to leave—probably wouldn’t return to Shanghai short-term.

A wave of sadness hit her eyes. Lin Yuchan held the heavy stack of stocks, carefully checking the numbers and seals.

“This afternoon, I’ll go to HSBC and lock the certificates in the vault safe. Don’t worry. I won’t touch them.”

This time, Yixing Shipping truly couldn’t return. How could a small Hongmen rebel enterprise compete alongside court-run businesses?

These six hundred thousand taels in China Merchants’ Company shares were the most generous compensation Su Minguan had risked everything to secure, and the only trace of Shanghai Yixing Shipping’s existence.

Momentarily, she found it amusing. Money snatched from Li Hongzhang’s pocket had inspired Su Minguan to fantastically exchange it for China Merchants’ Company stocks. Li Hongzhang, racking his brains, probably couldn’t discover that rebels had quietly become court shareholders. His painstaking “wealth-seeking” movement would pay annual dividends to the Heaven and Earth Society.

Lin Yuchan closed her eyes to clear her mind, asking: “How many people know about Yixing merging into China Merchants’ Company?”

Su Minguan handed her a sealed letter, his expression serious.

“This is my appeal. I’ve already had it delivered to key society backbone members. I know some will call me a coward, traitor—why didn’t I blow up the ships, why not rebel, not fight to mutual destruction… I want to explain to them that we Hongmen brothers, though upholding anti-Qing aspirations, have always suffered dual oppression from the Manchu court and foreign capital. Now I choose to support the China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company, hoping to use the court’s power to enable us Chinese to compete fairly with foreigners, with no intention of currying favor with those in power. From this transaction, I take not one cent. Moreover, only this way can spare all brothers from Li Hongzhang’s purge… Whether everyone understands or not, I don’t regret this.”

Lin Yuchan didn’t open the letter, placing it directly with the certificates, saying softly: “I understand. They’ll eventually understand too.”

Only before most people “understood,” Su Minguan had better keep a low profile and lie low.

Not just avoiding troops, but also familiar faces.

“Several more letters are troubling you have to have delivered.” Su Minguan said. “Written to merchants I know—Tang Tingshu, Xu Run, Zheng Guanying… China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company is recruiting talent, hiring general managers and assistant managers. They’re all pillars of talent, unfortunately, just doing native goods business with foreigners. If they could assist managing those ships… I’d be at ease.”

Lin Yuchan took the letters, organizing them silently.

Suddenly she hugged Su Minguan’s neck tightly, asking quietly: “Will I still see you when I return?”

Su Minguan smiled, his eyes sparkling like crystal, gently kissing her lips.

“Police detectives are scurrying everywhere—dodged two or three groups just today.” He laughed lightly. “But the Zhili Governor-General must return to Zhili after all; his reach isn’t long. The Municipal Council and Shanghai County are best at superficial compliance—probably will slacken in three to five months at most. When you return, I’ll meet you at the docks.”

She nodded, forcing an optimistic smile.

“Even if you don’t come, it’s fine,” she suddenly said. “I still like you very much.”

His eyes suddenly reddened, then a kiss filled with domineering breath descended, invading that slightly bitter smile. He closed his eyes, long lashes lowering, peacefully yet turbulently plundering her taste. Bloodstained hands brushed her face, fingertips tracing her neck that spread like flower branches, then downward, in her breathless moments, pulling open those tightly fastened front buttons. He sighed weakly, as if trying to remember every bit of her touch in the darkness.

All her blood went AWOL; she didn’t know where it rushed, her head dizzy, stars before her eyes. A corner of her heart kept sounding alarms—he couldn’t stay long, had to leave quickly, now wasn’t the time for indulgence…

But she couldn’t say anything, skillfully caressed by him. Even through clothes it was burning hot, waist sore and legs weak, like sinking into soft cotton candy, unwilling to think of anything, only wanting to shrink smaller and smaller—intimate moments in this small space were the whole world.

She felt the man’s passion, burning breath suppressed and sprayed by her ear. Simultaneously audible were vague carriage bell sounds.

Someone entering Saigon Road… knocking on a foreign building door, inquiring about something…

Lin Yuchan pushed him in a daze. Opening her eyes, Su Minguan’s pupils were pitch black, reflecting the flushed little woman.

“Detectives.” She said, somewhat panicked, “Seems like at number twenty-one.”

Su Minguan’s eyes narrowed, his hands suddenly intensifying. Her mind went blank, that taut string of tension suddenly snapped, convulsing as she curled up, clinging to him like vines, whimpering as she bit his shoulder, tongue tip tasting blood’s sweetness.

Su Minguan lifted her, quietly listening to street noise, straightening her collar, smoothing her skirt, with a trace of a satisfied smile, waiting for her to recover.

“Number seventeen. Why panic?” he said quietly. “Time for one more round.”

Lin Yuchan ignored this rogue declaration, blushing as she arranged her hair in the mirror.

This man was outrageously arrogant—before fleeing still had to demonstrate his presence.

“In the drawer are five hundred silver dollar notes, various denominations.” She said. “Also a new-style revolver that can fire continuously, two boxes of bullets. Originally I kept it at the merchant association for protection. Your gun is old and jams easily. Bring a backup for safety.”

Su Minguan was silent briefly, obediently collecting the notes and ammunition, then hugging her for a dragonfly-touch kiss.

“Go downstairs.”

Someone knocked on neighbor number nine’s door, asking if they’d recently seen any suspicious strangers. A middle-class Chinese family answered earnestly.

Lin Yuchan’s chest held a pounding heart as she went downstairs lightly.

Soon, number seven’s door was also knocked. Two Chinese detectives showed credentials, politely bowing to Lin Yuchan, saying lately there were river pirates specifically robbing, terrorizing the foreign settlement, very likely hiding nearby…

Lin Yuchan methodically answered their questions, inviting both men inside.

The foreign building still contained clothing and bedding for the Bao Liang Bureau girls. At first glance, this building was a girls’ dormitory.

Lin Yuchan showed credentials, explaining these were orphan girls she sheltered, not a brothel.

The detectives politely requested to go upstairs. Lin Yuchan proactively opened her bedroom door.

Inside was empty, just an ordinary woman’s boudoir. The weather was hot, windows half-open, swaying in the breeze.

The two detectives couldn’t pry further, apologized, had Lin Yuchan sign a document, and politely left.

She locked the door, slowly relaxing, lying on her bed with her eyes closed for a long time.

No one would jump out to startle her again. Su Minguan’s hiding skills were superb—probably no one could find him now.

Lin Yuchan roused herself, finding the HSBC safe key.