Chapter 1161 - Sisters Reunited

Guangzhou was a place that lingered in Li Mo's dreams. Her parents had both been natives of this city. Though she had moved with them to Macau before she could remember—becoming servants in the Li Siya household—during her childhood she had often accompanied her parents on errands for their masters, sometimes bringing along the still-babbling young miss, on trips to Guangzhou. Li Siya's mother had been from Guangzhou.

Li Mo sometimes thought of her younger sister too. But even during her most desperate days, when she had nearly become a corpse from starvation, she had never considered finding a way back to Macau. She was unwilling to face the shameful past of her parents' successive deaths after her elopement.

But Guangzhou—this place held only beautiful memories for her. Now with some spare time, her heart stirred with anticipation, hoping to walk the streets she'd known since childhood and taste the foods she'd once been so familiar with.

But then she remembered the discipline the Political Security Bureau had announced before their arrival. The first rule: no one was permitted to go out alone on the street, especially young women. Ancient cities were rife with fraud and kidnapping, and abducting women and children was a major industry. In the past, widows and women without men in the household were constantly schemed against—either seduced by vagabonds hired to lure them away, or simply snatched right off the street.

Furthermore, though the Australian name carried weight in Guangzhou city, there might still be people secretly watching from the shadows. Therefore, the Political Security Bureau stipulated that anyone going out on errands had to first register, and second, be accompanied by an escort from the armed escort company.

These cumbersome procedures made Li Mo abandon her plans—after all, she would be in Guangzhou for many days yet. There would be opportunities.

Shi Niaoren rested in Hong Kong for two days. The Hong Kong Shipyard concentrated manpower and resources to give the Octopus final touch-ups, and only then did Commissar Shi sail grandly toward Guangzhou.

The waterway from Hong Kong to Guangzhou was already completely under the control of the Navy's Hong Kong detachment, so the Octopus had no escort vessels. Though since the commercial station had been established in Hong Kong, the 621 tugs and landing craft had frequently traveled the river between Huangpu and Hong Kong Island—steam ships were no longer a novelty to the locals along the banks—this elaborately decorated vessel still drew countless eyes as it steamed upriver, smoke billowing and water churning.

The yacht dropped anchor at the "Guangzhou Grand World" pier outside the Great East Gate of Guangzhou. This had once been desolate riverbank, but now both shores bustled with construction: scaffolding everywhere, workers swarming like ants. Steam engines chugged and puffed, driving cranes, mixers, pile drivers, and various machinery. Most spectacular was a steam-powered tower crane of entirely iron construction, twenty-five meters high—towering above even the Guangzhou city walls.

The Grand World pier and the road leading to the Great East Gate had been completed early as foundational infrastructure. Equipment and materials shipped from Lingao were unloaded directly here. The Octopus would also berth at this pier.

The Grand World project's general manager, Zhang Yikun, was already waiting. A large banner reading "Welcome Imperial Physician Shi" hung at the pier, with a crowd from the Guangzhou Station there to greet them—all arranged by Guo Yi, naturally, to build momentum for Doctor Shi's visit. Initially, some thought "Imperial Physician" might be presumptuous, but in this era the title also served as an honorific for physicians, so it wasn't considered overstepping.

According to prior propaganda quietly conducted by the Guangzhou Station, Shi Niaoren was originally an imperial physician of the royal court, holding the position of Imperial Pharmaceutical Chief—Yu Eshui had pointed out that in the Song dynasty, the head of the Imperial Pharmacy was a eunuch position, so Doctor Shi could only be a Chief. Because the Song ruler was benevolent and couldn't bear to see the common people beyond the borders lacking medicine, he had sent Imperial Physician Shi to the Great Ming to practice medicine and relieve suffering, and so on and so forth.

Shi Niaoren exchanged a few pleasantries, then boarded a waiting Dongfeng carriage. The Grand World was still under construction, dusty everywhere—not a place to linger. The touring group then departed for Guangzhou city under escort of the Qiwei armed company.

(End of Chapter)