Scarring Jasmine-Chapter Thirty Five Houseguest

11/08/2024 Friday 42-68F Sunny

These days Zhao was very ill-tempered, not only because of Jasmine, but also because of the frustration about his weapons business.

He was a big boss now. He revived his opium smuggling early this year; in January, a few weeks after he came back from Tianjin, he bought three opium dens and one whorehouse; he even had started an office dealing with weapons only. The net profit of running an opium den was about fifty percent per year; running a whorehouse was about one hundred percent; the margin of smuggled opium could reach three to four hundred percent; and smuggling weapons was the highest, as high as four hundred to a thousand percent which depended on what kind of weapons and where they were to be sold.

To Zhao, the opium dens and whorehouse were for him to collect information, to sell opium, as well as for his men’s entertainment; the opium was his base and money source so he could feed his men; but the arms were his main goal—It could allow him to expand both his fortune and influence.

However, he was still new in the arms business, and was surrounded by wolves. They were staring at him aggressively, expecting one tiny mistake so they could attack as fatally as possible. Since Leopard died, he went to Tianjin and made contact with the mafia whose name was Black Beard, who was also Flying Dagger Liu’s rival. He first sold Black Beard some weapons at a very low price, which delighted Black Beard very much; thereafter Zhao used all his social charms to make himself become Black Beard’s good friend so he could become more familiar with the situation in Tianjin. 

After some time, Zhao proposed to Black Bear  that he would like to partner with him in the arms business. Driven by greed and with almost no cost, Black Beard accepted this proposal gladly. Since their benefits were bound together, it wasn’t hard for Zhao to avenge Leopard’s death on Flying Dagger Liu with Black Beard’s support. Three months later, they got a perfect opportunity and trapped their enemy in a tavern. Zhao, Black Beard, Tiger, and Wolf each put one bullet into him. After that, Zhao took over Flying Dagger Liu’s gambling houses and Black Beard got his men. 

After setting his roots in Tianjin, he started to build the foundation of his weapons empire right away. Black Beard introduced him to a warlord who also was Black Beard’s backer. That warlord bought all the rest of the weapons which he stole from Pox-Faced A San, which got him his first bucket of gold and seed capital. “As long as you can supply the best, cheapest weapons, I will have the capability to absorb all of them!” said that warlord.

In the next few months, Zhao and Wolf went to Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Zhanjiang to source the weapons. He made contact with quite a few suppliers in Southeast China, and offered them to the Tianjin warlord; Zhao was the middleman. 

When everything seemed to have been sorted out, he left Wolf there to manage his Tianjin business, and came back to Suzhou with Tiger--It wasn’t for Jasmine but still for his business, because Suzhou’s location was a good strategic base for him: Toward the west, it was a short distance from Nanjing, which was the capital of the central government; further west were Hankou and Chongqing, the biggest cities in the central area. 

So, along the Yangtze River from Suzhou to Chongqing, he could link his potential arms buyers, then load opium on the same boat at the destination port for the return trip eastward. East of Suzhou was the largest city in Far East—Shanghai. Opium and weapons all were hot goods there, and it was a huge market with avid consumption. In Suzhou, he could easily manage the arrival, repacking, and storage of his arms which then sailed southeast to Shanghai, from where he could distribute them to Tianjin, Nanjing, and Chongqing. 

Of course, he could live in Shanghai as well, but he couldn’t change the location of Peach Blossom Dock—It was his dream home; he would house his favorite lady there. Right now, the house was only half done, and no progress had been made on it since he returned from Tianjin because recently, he was a little short of cash. He had planned that once he collected the money from the two boats’ weapons which he just shipped to that Tianjin warlord, he would resume his housebuilding and hopefully he and Jasmine could move in before the summer ended.

However, those two boats’ goods were almost rejected by his buyer. “Brother,” Black Beard said on the phone, “You ought to be more careful with your sources. The last shipment to the boss wasn’t that great and I explained it away, while this time you really made him pissed. According to him, your arms were all garbage—They were not only fake, but most of them couldn’t even function well. I begged the boss to take your goods, but he asked for eighty percent off. He told me that ‘If the gun goes off and I shoot myself, then who’s loss? Tell Zhao next time if he can’t offer me the exact same shit as he sold me in the first place, I will refuse to buy anything from him again. He is in Suzhou; I heard a friend say that a man called some sort of A San, who always has authentic inexpensive supplies also lives there. Ask Zhao to work with A San or get A San gun source, otherwise I will buy from that guy directly.' Those were his words, what else could I say? I couldn’t tell him that the first batch of the weapons which you sold him was stolen from A San, and that you and A San had some other sort of issues. What I can do for you is: I will ask the boss’ favor to let his friend introduce you to A San to make acquaintances, pretending that you never knew A San before. Then perhaps considering the boss’ friend’s face, A San won’t refuse to meet you, therefore you can take that chance to rebuild your relationship with him and solve the current issue first. Step by step, once we have all the contacts we need, we can dump him.”

“Eighty percent off, that fat fart is too greedy! He calculated to the bone!” Zhao slammed down the phone. Based on that discount, after deducting the commission which he had to pay Black Beard, as well as all other costs, this time he lost money. For sure he could and would go back to the suppliers and force them to squeeze out some money to compensate for his loss, but currently the most urgent thing for him to do was to successfully cooperate with that warlord satisfy him. Currently that warlord was his only buyer, and a buyer with a great capability to enhance his business foundation. If he offended him, he would offend Black Beard as well. In addition, Pox-Faced A San’s weapons were much more gorgeous than what he could get, and he could sell them at higher prices easily in north China. So perhaps to find A San’s resources was the most efficient solution, even if he had to let his wallet bleed for a while.

Five days later, Black Beard informed Zhao that the warlord’s friend had promised that he would telephone Pox-Faced A San about Zhao within two days, then they could start from there.

Zhao waited patiently. Two days later when he was in his office, the telephone rang. He picked up: “Hello, who is there?” 

A thick voice arose in his ear through the wire: “Jade-Faced Zhao, this is A San speaking. One friend of mine in Tianjin mentioned you to me and asked me to call you. Your claws are longer than I thought they would be. It seems like you have found luck in Tianjin!” 

Zhao chuckled, “Elder brother, you overpraised me. I am just struggling to make a living. You are my idol; I always long for a chance to apologize to you in person for my stupidity in the past, as well as to learn from you. Could you please give me face and let’s have a drink in Fuchunge? Whenever you are available.”

A San laughed loudly on the phone, “Zhao, you are quite someone! I like that. This evening I will be available.” 

Zhao was surprised to hear that A San accepted his invitation so quickly, and it sounded like A San also expected to see him, therefore Zhao answered: “Awesome! Let’s meet this evening! How about six o’clock?” 

“I will be available after eight.” 

“Great, eight is even better. See you then in Fuchunge!” 

“No, not Fuchunge, I don’t like it there. It is too noisy to meet a long time no see friend. I would like to drink in your house!” 

“In my house?” Zhao was shocked. In case of any misunderstanding, he repeated it.

“Yes, only in your house!” A San emphasized. 

There was a short pause on the phone. Then Zhao resumed the conversation: “Well, sounds good. Let me know where I should send my men to pick you up.” 

“No, no need. I will come over directly. I know where your house is!” 

“Perfect! I look forward to meeting you soon.”

After hanging up the phone, Zhao felt very uneasy. It seemed fishy that Pox-Faced A San wanted to come to his house the first time they met. “What the hell is in his mind? I shall ask Tiger to prepare and hide some armed men in the house, just in case that stupid boar will lay in some tricks for me!”

At about eight fifty, finally Pox-Faxed A San’s car appeared at a far corner of the street. Zhao sneered and said to Tiger: “This pig was fed very well in the past two years. He was lucky; his weapons became the rage in the market during the battle near Shanghai, while we were hiding on that mountain. He made a fortune within five months, then spent his money on buying this car and marrying five new concubines. He is a loon!”

The car stopped; A San stepped out. “Elder brother, welcome!” Zhao gave A San a big hug as if A San were his savior, “Your visit graces my house!” 

“Don’t say that Zhao,” A San laughed, “you are too humble!”

They entered the house. The dishes and liquor were served, A San was in high spirits. He and Zhao chatted, talking about different people whom they both knew. Zhao’s flattery made A San very pleased; his face shone like a mirror under the light, while with those pockmarks all over, he also looked like a pineapple. 

When the maid bought in the last dessert, she accidentally knocked over A San’s cup. “Stupid! Hurry! Don’t wet the guest’s clothes!” Zhao scolded. 

“It doesn’t matter!” A San waved his hand at Zhao then caught that maid’s arm, “Don’t be scared little sister. Tell me how old you are?” His big oily nose almost stuck to that maid’s face. The maid was so nervous; she struggled away from him and ran off.  

“Hahaha!” A San burst out laughing. Zhao flattered: “Elder brother is a real handsome debonair man!” 

“Younger brother, to be honest with you, all my life I only fancy two things: One is women, one is money. Women are even more important than money. I make money to have more women; and women also motivate me to make more money.” He held out his thumb and index finger of his left hand to give the hand symbol for the number eight. “So far, I have eight concubines. I sleep with them in turn; meanwhile I also look for fun somewhere else. I need a woman every night; sometimes one isn’t enough, so I need two to three to get myself satisfied!” 

Zhao shook his head, “Awesome! Unbelievable! I admire elder brother so much!” 

“How many concubines do you have?” A San asked. 

“I am useless. I don’t have any concubines but one wife only.”

A San nodded, then drew out a sigh: “Even though I have eight concubines, I still have a big regret buried deeply in my heart for which I always want to find a chance to make up.” 

“Well, I am sorry to hear that. I wish I could help with it.” 

“I think you can.” A San looked at Zhao with a smirk, “More than two years ago, I went to a household surnamed Bai to straighten out some business issue. Early this year, by chance I heard someone say that the daughter of that Bai family was the most beautiful lady in this county. I missed the chance to see her two years ago and hope today I can meet her here. Younger brother, I will rely on you to make it happen.”

The smile on Zhao’s face instantly froze. A San tapped his index finger on the table as if he was timing Zhao’s response. “My wife doesn’t deserve the credit. But anyway, I will go check whether she has gone to bed or not. If yes, then I am afraid I have to disappoint you.” 

“That’s ok. I can go to her room to take a quick look if she is asleep.”

“Damn fat pig!” Zhao thought, but still managed to force a smile. “That won’t be proper. I will wake her up.” 

Zhao left A San and went into Jasmine’s room. She was asleep. Zhao called in her ear lowly: “Jasmine, wake up!” She opened her eyes lazily, saw Zhao, then re-closed them. “Jasmine, don’t be childish! I have a guest in the living room who wants to meet you. It will only take you one minute to see him; I will be there too! You must go! Please do it for me.” He called to the maid, “Chunxiang, help Madam dress!”

Zhao walked back to the living room, where A San was drinking alone. “Sorry for keeping you waiting,” Zhao explained, “My wife will come in a minute!” 

“No problem, I will wait!”

About ten minutes later, Jasmine came in. Her mind hadn’t thoroughly awoken from her sleep, thus she just gave A San a simple bow, then sat next to Zhao on a stool. “Jasmine,” Zhao introduced, “this is my close brother A San! In the future I will rely on his precious advice for our business. Why not pour a cup of liquor for him then you can go back to your room?” 

Jasmine stared at Pox-Faced A San; her lips trembled. Then she turned her face to Zhao, wearing a shockingly furious expression. Then, without a sign, she grabbed the cup in front of Zhao and threw the liquor in it into his face. She ran out of the room.

Zhao sat there, totally embarrassed. Having seen what just happened, A San burst out with loud laughter: “Hahaha, what a remarkable character!”