Gu poison

Mr. Tang also tried his best to persuade his guests to stay: "It's not easy to come to Guangzhou, so please stay for a few more days!"

Ouyang slammed twenty silver dollars onto the table: "This is your tea fee for running this business trip. If you want to do it, take it; if you don't, I won't force you. It's a pity to waste such a good talent like you!" With that, he got up and said goodbye to Boss Tang.

Mr. Tang hurriedly said, "Have some morning tea before you leave! Since your sister isn't home, you won't stay a little longer, will you?"

"I've already eaten, I'll come again later!" Before the words were even finished, the person had already gone far away.

Looking at her pretty back, Boss Tang shook his head and said, "She doesn't seem like a woman, she's more like a man!"

Where is her husband?

"She passed away a few years ago, and she had no children. Her only relative was her sister..." Mr. Tang couldn't help but start talking—

The Ouyang family has only two sisters. Lihua was proud and arrogant from a young age and loved playing with guns and sticks. She became a gang leader because of her beauty.

She was the object of many suitors, from wealthy landlords and sons of officials, and her fame spread far and wide. The Ouyang family was originally a humble household with no brothers. Her parents were timid and afraid of trouble, daring not to offend anyone, thus leading to a situation where several families vied for her hand in marriage. The leader of the White Tiger Gang, a powerful figure in Guangzhou, cleverly ambushed and abducted Ouyang, making her his wife. Just as she was immersed in her blissful life, a sudden flash flood swept through her family village in the dead of night, destroying houses and killing her parents. To make matters worse, two years later, the gang leader was ambushed by enemies while riding a horse and died from his injuries; Ouyang then succeeded her husband as the new leader of the White Tiger Gang.

The White Tiger Gang, numbering several hundred, was strictly hierarchical, with the second and third brothers wielding the most power. For a woman to manage the situation was no easy task; yet abandoning it wouldn't suit her strong-willed nature, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth and bear it. Only in front of her sister did she reveal the truth…

At this point, Mr. Tang sighed, "She never listens to our advice, and she doesn't have anyone reliable by her side. It's so difficult!"

Yang Hong couldn't help but look at Ouyang with new respect. It wouldn't be beneath him to manage some affairs for a capable woman who was no less capable than any man. Besides, there wasn't anything serious at home; why not stay in Guangzhou a few more days to earn some money? He then put the silver dollars on the table into his bag.

At noon, a robust young man came to Boss Tang's house and asked who Yang Hong was. Yang Hong stood up and said, "That's me." The man said, "I called for a second-in-command; the boss wants me to go with you to do something."

Ding Er spoke at a measured pace, clearly a trustworthy person. "The boss wants me to call you 'Young Master Cousin' and say you're her cousin," Ding Er said earnestly.

Yang Hong was completely baffled, but he thought: since Ouyang is doing this, she must have her reasons. So he gave a vague reply.

“I’ll take you to find Lu Xing right now,” Ding Er said.

Who is Lu Xing?

"The section chief of the Governor's Office, whom the gang leader met while dancing, is said to be quite shrewd and loyal. This time we're dealing with a hot commodity on the market—foreign cigarettes."

What kind of cigarette?

"Foreign-made cigarettes. Foreigners love to smoke them, and the upper class in the city also follow the trend and smoke them."

"Can it make money?"

"able."

Ding Er told him: Foreign cigarettes have to pay heavy customs duties when they pass through customs, but as long as you don't pay customs duties, you're guaranteed to make a fortune.

Yang Hongru listened as if he were hearing a fairy tale. He said that even a remote mountain village like Qingzhuzhai had to pay all sorts of donations. Could the government really let go of the huge wealth of the major port?

It turned out that Lu Xing, acting in the name of the Governor's Office, obtained a duty-free import document for a thousand cartons of foreign cigarettes from the customs, claiming it was for official business. The White Tiger Gang then used the document to collect the goods from the customs, distributing some to various merchants in Guangzhou and transporting the rest to Fuzhou.

"Incredible! A thousand cartons of imported cigarettes—it would take several rooms to store them all." Yang Hong then asked, "Did the Governor approve this?"

Ding Er said he didn't know and never asked.

Yang Hong was deeply shaken, and the respect and awe he had held for the imperial court and government since childhood was instantly shattered.

Such a world, such a shortcut to wealth—this was the first time he had ever heard of it; he was truly ignorant.

Ding Er then told him about many rules of the underworld, what to say and what not to say, and how to mix truth and falsehood to keep people guessing.

Yang Hong followed Ding Er to an old-fashioned courtyard house, grabbed the brass ring on the gate, and banged on it hard. After a while, the gate cracked open, and a male servant poked his head out, asking impatiently, "Who are you looking for?"

"It was Master Lu Xing who sent us."

The male servant carefully examined the situation before opening the door. Wow, the lively atmosphere inside was completely different from outside. Peonies were in full bloom in the courtyard, and the peonies were a vibrant red; beneath the arched balcony, a rockery stood, with several fish swimming around; along the eaves of the corridor, a row of birdcages hung, and one of the black-feathered, yellow-beaked mynahs, upon seeing Yang Hong and his companion, cried out in a shrill voice, "Greetings, sir! Greetings, sir!"

A man strode out of the hall and said warmly, "So it's you! Please come in, please come in—"

"This person is Lu Xing."

Lu Xing was a robust man, with a ruddy complexion and a beaming smile. He was originally from a noble family, a member of the Eight Banners, his father a hereditary prince of the Qing Dynasty. Although not as powerful as Prince Gong of his time, he still wielded considerable influence, with disciples and associates throughout much of southern China. After the Xinhai Revolution, Lu Xing transformed himself into a revolutionary. He even landed a good position in the Governor's Office—the head of the General Affairs Section, in charge of finances. While the official rank wasn't high, it was quite lucrative. Lu Xing was no ordinary man; he wouldn't let an opportunity slip by.

“Master Lu,” Ding Er introduced after they sat down in the hall, “this is Young Master Yang Hong, the cousin of Chief Ouyang.”

Yang Hong bowed slightly.

"Oh, Mr. Yang, please have some tea, please have some tea." Lu Xing gestured to the maid to pour tea.

"The boss is too busy and can't spare the time, so he's sending Mr. Yang as his representative," Ding Er said. "You can speak directly to him about anything!"

"Oh." Lu Xing said noncommittally, "Is Chief Ouyang perhaps too disdainful of my small temple to come?"

"Not at all, not at all!" Yang Hong understood what Ouyang meant by calling him his cousin, and quickly said, "Several groups of martial arts brothers came today, and my cousin really couldn't get away."

"Haha, you're really good with words," Lu Xing laughed.

After chatting for a while, the conversation turned to business. Lu Qi stood up, took out official documents, and said, "I also want to sell those thousand cartons of imported cigarettes as soon as possible, otherwise the market will change again. There are many gossipy people in Guangzhou, and it's easy to make a mistake. We need to get the goods out of customs and send them out quickly!"

"Mr. Lu, you've thought of everything very carefully," Yang Hong complimented.

With all the necessary official documents in place, everything went smoothly. A dozen days later, Yang Hong and Ding Er distributed some of the thousand cartons of imported cigarettes to local businesses and transported the rest to Fuzhou. Once the matter was settled, Ouyang instructed Ding Er to give Yang Hong one hundred silver dollars.

Yang Hong was very happy and wanted to ask someone to take the message back to Qingzhu Village so that the village matriarch and Xiaoyu wouldn't worry. However, in such a large city, he didn't have a single acquaintance to ask for help. Yang Hong found the thought amusing and decided to make one more business trip before returning home.

The second deal was with imported liquor, again in partnership with Lu Xing, with Ouyang and Yang Hong splitting the profits 50/50. Yang Hong received another hundred silver dollars. He was delighted and became even more obedient to Ouyang.

That day, Ouyang bought a complete outfit for Yang Hong, including a suit, shirt, tie, and leather shoes, making him look neat, smart, and dashing; possessing both the elegance of an Eastern man and the debonair style of a Western man. Yang Hong, unaware of the reason, was told by Ouyang that he would take him somewhere that evening.

As dusk fell, Ouyang and Yang Hong arrived at the "Empire Nightclub" by carriage.

At the main entrance, two male waiters, dressed in red shirts and white trousers with dark brown skin, stood straight. They looked neither like Chinese nor like foreigners with high noses who looked like skinned snakes. They kept bowing to people who came in.

The ballroom was large, and many people were already dancing. He had never heard the music before, nor did he know where it came from; it was as if an invisible hand was directing the frenzied dance steps of the men and women.

Sitting in the soft leather chair, Yang Hong felt like he was in a daze, completely disoriented by everything before him.

Ouyang pulled him to dance, but he shook his head in fear. At that moment, a very imposing middle-aged man bowed to her and invited her to dance. She then left Yang Hong and twirled along with the man's steps.

Ouyang's dancing skills were superb, her charm captivating and alluring. She greeted one man and nodded to another, her delicate and lovely demeanor mesmerizing many men—a stark contrast to the ruthless female gang leader who wie

……