The Bund Saga, Chapter 11: Young in Years, Steadfast in Resolve, Setting Foot on the Bund

The two walked and talked as they went along.

Chen Lin found Liu Lihua to be very talkative and confident, with a certain air of a streetwise woman. She was completely different from the delicate, refined Liu Lihua he had met before. Perhaps because her secret had been exposed to Chen Lin, she now revealed her true nature.

“Mr. Chen, you must have studied under a famous teacher. You see things so clearly. Many of our own knowledgeable elders don’t seem to understand as much as you do. And how do you know so much about foreigners?” Liu Lihua asked Chen Lin, bombarding him with questions.

Chen Lin grew increasingly impatient.

Without turning his head, he said, “I already told you, don’t ask about my matters. I won’t ask about yours.”

“Why not?” Liu Lihua didn’t get angry. Instead, she continued, “We’re on the same path. Shouldn’t we be honest with each other? How about we collaborate?”

“Collaborate?” Chen Lin wasn’t eager to find a bunch of useless teammates.

But he couldn’t say that aloud.

“I’m just a lowly interpreter at a foreign firm right now. I’m not in a position to collaborate with you,” Chen Lin said delicately. “Let’s talk about it when I have more power.”

As they spoke, they arrived at Chen Lin’s thatched cottage.

Night had fallen. Miaomiao was alone at home, terrified. She couldn’t find a tinderbox to light a lamp, so she wrapped herself in a quilt. Upon hearing noises outside, she hid under the bed in fright.

Chen Lin thought his sister was missing and quickly lit an oil lamp to search inside the house.

Eventually, he found Miaomiao under the bed.

“Wuwu... Brother, Miaomiao is scared,” she sobbed, throwing herself into Chen Lin’s arms.

Following behind, Liu Lihua felt a pang of sadness. When she was very young, she had depended solely on her older brother, often staying home alone like Miaomiao. Her brother had taken her traveling far and wide, facing many dangers. Sometimes, she felt that her survival was a blessing from heaven.

“Is there no one else at home?” Liu Lihua asked with concern.

Chen Lin shook his head.

“And your parents?”

Perhaps sensing Liu Lihua’s goodwill, Chen Lin briefly explained the troubles at home.

“Damn the imperial lackeys,” Liu Lihua said, her heart burning with righteous anger. Then, with a caring look, she asked, “You’re working at a foreign firm, but what about Miaomiao? You can’t possibly bring her there, right?”

“What else can I do? Children from poor families grow up fast,” Chen Lin shook his head, having no better solution for now.

But he could promise it wouldn’t be for long, for he already had a complete plan: within a year, he would become a wealthy merchant shaking the Bund with his influence.

“How about letting Miaomiao stay with me? I work at a tailor’s shop during the day, and I can bring her along as my little apprentice. She can stay at my place at night. You know I have plenty of rooms,” Liu Lihua offered.

Seeing Miaomiao reminded Liu Lihua of herself. She didn’t want this little girl to suffer as she had.

“By the way, I’ll have my guild keep an eye on your brother. The people around Yangjing Town are complicated, with many factions intertwined. There are at least a dozen gangs of beggar thieves there,” she added.

“I know. Thank you. Miaomiao staying with you—I’ll pay you monthly, like a boarding fee,” Chen Lin replied politely, which made Liu Lihua feel uncomfortable. She preferred the impatient Chen Lin from before.

Liu Lihua stepped forward, holding Miaomiao in her arms: “If it weren’t for you today, I might have been caught by those scoundrels. I owe you my life; this is nothing.”

“Miaomiao, how about staying with your sister from now on?” Liu Lihua whispered into Miaomiao’s ear.

Miaomiao nodded, “I like being with sister.”

But then she added, “Can sister bring my brother too? I don’t want brother to be alone.”

Miaomiao’s innocent words made Liu Lihua blush, as girls in this era often matured early.

Chen Lin quickly said to Miaomiao, “Miaomiao, you stay with sister. I have to work tomorrow, but I’ll come find you after work, okay?”

That night, Liu Lihua cuddled Miaomiao and slept at the Chen household.

Chen Lin, on the other hand, went to the adjacent "laboratory" to spend the night among his bottles and jars, comforted by the smell of chemical reagents.

He had often slept in the lab before; the strange odors actually helped him sleep soundly.

Early the next morning, Liu Lihua had already prepared breakfast for them.

She emerged from the small thatched hut serving as the kitchen, her face smudged with a bit of dirt: “I made some porridge and heated up some buns. Hurry and eat. Didn’t you say you have to report to the foreign firm today?”

Seeing Liu Lihua like this stirred something in Chen Lin’s heart.

In his previous life, he had treated his girlfriend very well, yet she seemed never to have cooked a single meal for him.

This young girl before him, though much younger than his mental age, appeared more mature than many unmarried women of advanced age he had known in his later life.

“Thank you,” Chen Lin said.

“I told you, don’t be so polite. I’ll help Miaomiao fix her hair. You check if she has anything she needs and help her pack up. Once I finish eating, I’ll take her home.”

“I haven’t been back all night. My brother must be worried sick.”

After breakfast, the three walked to the riverside. At parting, Chen Lin handed Liu Lihua two bamboo tubes.

“These are what I used last night. If you face danger, press the wooden lever at the back toward the enemy.”

“I smelled something like that yesterday. It had a bit of a spicy scent,” Liu Lihua said happily as she took them.

“Indeed, it contains chili. I call it chili water. It’s not lethal, only temporarily disrupts the opponent.”

Watching the ferry depart, Chen Lin waved, feeling reluctant but also as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

Liu Lihua’s appearance was unexpected, but she had truly helped him greatly. At least now, Chen Lin had no worries.

Back at the thatched cottage, he changed into a brand-new long gown and carried a small wooden box. Chen Lin was about to embark on his career at the foreign firm after his time-travel.

The journey from the Chen family’s thatched hut to the concession’s dock was not far.

Two years ago, when the Treaty of Nanking had just been signed, many foreigners came to Shanghai. However, the concession boundaries were not yet set, so they only came to explore and dared not invest heavily.

Now that the concession’s area was confirmed, they considered it their territory.

Thus, the foreigners began to build without restraint.

About five or six hundred meters east of Chen’s home, a gravel road was under construction.

This would later become the Bund Avenue. The river teemed with boats.

Most were Chinese sampans, but a few three-masted sailing ships stood out by the shore.

These ships were much larger than the sampans, though Chen Lin knew that to the foreigners, they were just small patrol vessels.

On the gravel road, a group of Chinese laborers in tattered clothes toiled away—some smashing stones with heavy hammers, others smoothing the road with shovels, still others pulling stone rollers back and forth.

They were all gaunt and malnourished.

Occasionally, a squad of British soldiers in lobster-red uniforms patrolled the road, their leather boots creaking at the crossroads.

When the laborers saw them, their eyes filled with fear. Meanwhile, the British soldiers, along with a few colonial recruits, held their heads high and looked down on the laborers with contempt.