Daomu Biji: The Southern Archives

Zhang Ruipu watched as Zhang Haiyan walked down the corridor without looking back, and then said to the young man beside him, “Look at him. Once this young man makes up his mind, he won’t let any emotions get the best of him. But he's sentimental and loyal, which is rare to see.”

The young man beside him asked, “Will he obediently board the ship and investigate the case?”

“It’s hard to predict what he'll do since his friend’s life is in our hands. Schemers always try and come up with ways to solve practical problems, so he'll find an opportunity to rescue his friend. He won’t necessarily comply with the rules we've set.” Zhang Ruipu looked at his pocket watch. “But it should be difficult for him to escape with our people escorting him to the dock.”

“Master, don’t you think he’s uncontrollable? What if he never comes back, or can’t solve the case and decides to come back?”

Zhang Ruipu smiled. “While he's on his way to the dock, those people will tell him clearly what his best option is.”

With that said, Zhang Ruipu looked up and saw Zhang Haijiao staring at them from the other side of the corridor. The little girl didn’t look afraid at all, as if the plague had made her numb to life and death.

Meanwhile, Zhang Haiyan was being escorted by two people. His mind was very clear as walked along the streets.

The two men escorting him had already explained how things would go as soon as he had walked out the door. Zhang Haixia and the others would be taken away from the Southern Archives' Malacca branch, and all traces of them would be removed. If Zhang Haiyan boarded the ship and then snuck off, he would only see an empty house when he returned.

Zhang Haiyan knew how big the rubber plantations in Penang were. Moreover, Zhang Ruipu’s informants were on the ship. If Zhang Haiyan didn’t board and Zhang Ruipu received a telegram about it, Zhang Haixia would be fed to the indigenous headhunters.

That meant that the time he could act was very short. He would have to kill the two people behind him when he reached the next crossroad, and then immediately go back and rescue everyone.

But just as he saw the crossroad and was preparing to do something, the young man next to him spoke up, “I know what you’re thinking, but they’ll already be gone by the time you make it back. Not only is the master watching you, but we also have eyes and ears on this street. Once you pass this crossroad, behave and focus on investigating the case.”

Zhang Haiyan let out a long sigh, straightened his military cap, and quickly dropped the idea.

He wasn’t the type of person who would be torn between things. As long as there was a way out, he would choose the most reasonable method as quickly as possible. But Zhang Haixia was a fastidious person, and it was impossible to say whose way of thinking was right. Over the past few years, both sides had been right and wrong, but now both of them could only rely on whatever Zhang Haiyan could come up with.

“If I die during the investigation, will you let Shrimp go?” Zhang Haiyan asked the young men beside him. When they remained silent and didn’t answer, Zhang Haiyan smiled bitterly.

There was a sudden commotion on the nearby street corner, and he stopped. The two people beside him were very nervous and immediately inched closer to him. Zhang Haiyan didn’t even get the chance to see what had happened clearly before they pushed him forward.

He frowned, thinking that something was wrong if these extraordinary young people were afraid of something on the street. 

He looked over, but found that everything was the same as usual.

The scariest thing in this world wasn't the tiger coming towards you, but the tiger coming towards you and then retreating when it looked behind you. Zhang Haiyan suddenly felt that he was in this kind of situation, but when he looked around, he didn’t see anything.

When He Jianxi was pushed onto the street, he knocked over several pedestrians and caused a commotion.

He stood up, patted his clothes, and picked up the account book before walking back into the shop and getting thrown out again.

He moved to go inside again, but was unsuccessful because the other party came out and beat him directly.

When the other party spoke in Malay, He Jianxi scolded them in English.

Those who knew what was going on knew that He Jianxi was here to collect money, but those who didn’t might think he was an adulterer who got caught.

He Jianxi was an accountant in a British pub that was on the corner of the street. British accounting wasn’t easy to learn, and Malacca only had its first Chinese accountant sixteen years ago.

In fact, there were smugglers training Chinese accountants in Malacca during the era of the East India Company. This group of accountants understood stocks, dividends, and positive and negative balances.

He Jianxi’s master belonged to this group of accountants who helped with smuggling. His master had been hanged, but He Jianxi was acquitted because he was too young. The main product that was smuggled back then was bootleg wine, which was what this British pub specialized in. He Jianxi knew all about the smuggling trade, so he went to work as an accountant there.

This tavern also supplied wine to other smuggling spots. Some of the smuggled wines ended up getting intercepted at customs, so some people didn’t want to pay and the tavern would have problems collecting their money.

But He Jianxi could always get the money back. He knew that as a Chinese, the only way for him to survive was to work in places like private wineries, where there was a big flow of money and the owners couldn’t hire foreigners. But if an accountant only knew how to count money and didn’t know how to get the money back, then the owners would lose money and the accountant would soon be fired.

I won’t give in! He Jianxi thought to himself as he was knocked down again.

He was only a little over 1.7 meters tall and also very thin.

If he didn’t get the money, he would be fired when he went back. An accountant who helped with smuggling would die sooner or later if he was out of a job, so he couldn’t give in.

He Jianxi stood up again. At this time, he couldn’t see the people in front of him clearly, but he said loudly in English, “If you don’t want to be hanged, just settle the account.”

When he was knocked down again, he bumped into a kind of vehicle that was comprised of a wicker chair with wheels. Someone was sitting in it, and there were a lot of people around him. There was a strong, middle-aged man leading the procession, and a little girl standing beside the wicker chair.

The group of people picked him up, and the disoriented He Jianxi quickly apologized to them.

But just as he was apologizing, the people from before came over and kicked him so hard that he went flying towards the little girl.

The young man in the wicker chair pulled the little girl away so she wouldn’t be knocked over.

He Jianxi found that he was having trouble getting up this time as his aggressors bypassed the group and continued beating him. He Jianxi held the account book and curled up into a ball as the fists rained down on him.

The little girl looked at the scene and asked the young man in the wicker chair, “Uncle Shrimp, will he be beaten to death?”

Zhang Haixia looked at Zhang Ruipu. He could tell that these people had lost control. Those who had never really beaten someone before were often prone to accidentally killing them because they didn’t know how fierce they were, or how fragile the human body was.

Zhang Ruipu didn’t want to interfere and said, “When you look at someone, look at their appearance. He’s got a strong body that’s special. This kind of person can’t be beaten to death.” With that said, he started to walk away.

Zhang Haixia frowned and said to the group of people in Malay, “Stop it. I’ll help you pay the bill.” Then he handed Zhang Haijiao a stack of money.

The group of people were stunned and slowly lowered their hands. When Zhang Haijiao looked at Zhang Haixia with a puzzled expression, Zhang Haixia said, “If the plantation owner is willing to let us go, he’ll return the money to us. It’s not much. If we can’t go back, the money will be of no use to us. It’s better to save this little brother.”

Zhang Haijiao walked over and handed the money to He Jianxi, who looked up at Zhang Haixia. He then stood up and shook his head. “You’re not the one who owes the money. That’s not how it works. I don’t want it.”

He really didn't look like he was seriously injured.

Zhang Haijiao looked back at Zhang Haixia, obviously not expecting the other party to say something like this.

Zhang Haixia said, “Young man, no matter how good you are at enduring the beating, you’ll die if this goes on.”

He Jianxi shook his head and looked at the people who had been beating him. “It’s time for you to pay. Xiguo Winery has a total of forty-seven yuan to collect. Today, you have to balance the account. You can either pay with money or goods.”

Those people immediately stepped forward to continue beating him again, but Zhang Haijiao grabbed one of thug’s hands, placed the money in it, and then moved the thug’s hand towards He Jianxi.

“Why even bother? The money’s been given to him, and he’ll give it to you. Is the account settled?” Zhang Haijiao asked him softly.

He Jianxi thought it over. His whole body hurt and he knew he couldn’t persist anymore, so he took the money, opened the crumpled account book, and then marked a line out on it.

Zhang Haijiao returned to Zhang Haixia, who was a little surprised at how clever the girl was.

He Jianxi looked at Zhang Haixia and nodded. But just as he wanted to ask him something, Zhang Haixia and the others had already moved forward.

He Jianxi wanted to chase after them, but found that after taking a few steps, he couldn’t move anymore. He squatted on the side of the road and watched them walk away, unable to do anything.

At that time, He Jianxi didn’t know that something was hidden in the money, or how his life would change because of it.

*****

Please note, Tiffany and I accidentally started working on the author's first draft instead of the final version, so chapter 14-28 will have 2 versions. Chapters that have 14.2, 15.2, 16.2, etc. will be the final version until we're caught up to chapter 29. Sorry for the confusion!

The first draft of Chapter 14 is here if you're interested.