Chapter 003
The “eldest brother” mentioned by Wang Xingcai refers to his first son, Wang Bohui, who is forty-two years old. He has been a childhood friend and sworn brother of Lu Changsheng, Lu Mingzhu’s biological older brother, and has always taken great care of both Lu Mingzhu and Lu Ping’an.
Mentioning his eldest son inevitably reminded Wang Xingcai of Lu Changsheng.
What a pity that such a brilliant and dashing young man is gone.
Had he lived, the Lu family estate would have been his to command; there would have been no need for Father Lu to flee abroad with the entire family, leaving behind only his own sister.
After a moment’s hesitation, Wang Xingcai swiftly changed the subject, saying to Lu Mingzhu, “I have blank travel permits, already stamped by the local police station, in my study. I will fill them out with your name and Ping’an’s before giving them to you.”
Lu Mingzhu feigned ignorance: “Travel permits? What on earth are those?”
In her previous life, she worked as a screenwriter and had consulted extensive materials while writing scripts; she recalled that before and after the Liberation, people could freely enter and exit the country, but after some time restrictions were imposed, requiring a permit to leave.
This was precisely why she was so eager to go abroad.
Wang Xingcai led her and Ping’an into his study and explained, “What I’m referring to is an exit permit. This year’s border control is not as lenient as in previous years; residents in areas adjacent to Hong Kong must hold either a government-issued passport or an exit permit to cross the border. Nevertheless, some locals still use unofficial routes to conduct business or seek employment without any hindrance. I remember you have a passport, and so does your entire family. Preparing an exit permit now is merely a precaution; it would be best if it turns out to be unnecessary.”
After hearing these words, Lu Mingzhu indicated her understanding.
Wang Xingcai took a fountain pen and two sheets of paper from the drawer—the so-called travel permits—and filled in the names of Lu Mingzhu and Lu Ping’an respectively. In the age column, he directly wrote “18 years old” and “15 years old.” He then completed other details such as their home address, stating the reason for departure as joining relatives, with the journey from Shanghai to Hong Kong. The duration of stay was set for a full three years, from August 1951 to August 1954.
Lu Mingzhu stood nearby, watching attentively.
Knowing that his goddaughter might never return once she left, Wang Xingcai carefully instructed her, “The standard residence permit is usually valid for three months, but I’m making an exception and writing three years for you. After finding your eldest brother, have him first take you and Ping’an to the police station to apply for Hong Kong identity cards; this matter is crucial, as it determines whether you can reside long-term in Hong Kong without being deported. Once you’ve completed the school enrollment procedures, ask your eldest brother to help you purchase a building in a prime location to rent out. Hong Kong is merely a tiny place with too many people and too few houses, resulting in high rents; the monthly rental income will be sufficient to cover living expenses for both you and Ping’an. You are both still young, and education remains the best path forward; do not neglect your studies even while living abroad.”
Having lived in Hong Kong for some time himself, he was quite familiar with the situation there.
Lu Mingzhu readily agreed to everything.
Wang Xingcai paused mid-sentence and suddenly asked, “By the way, Mingzhu, how much money did your father leave you?”
Lu Mingzhu accepted the travel permit with both hands and replied honestly, “My father left me some gold bars and 30,000 silver dollars, along with ten million in cash notes. I also retrieved a substantial amount of unattended cash notes and gold and silver jewelry from the residences of my grandmother and the second, third, and fourth branches of the family. The cash notes total approximately forty million. Adding to this are over twenty thousand silver dollars I had saved myself and the five thousand silver dollars my mother left me. Godfather, before we depart, I plan to convert all the silver dollars, cash notes, and gold and silver jewelry into gold bars. Do you have any connections for this?”
Being new to the area, she found it difficult to liquidate these assets quickly.
Given Wang Xingcai’s vast wealth and established business, he had no intention of coveting his goddaughter’s modest holdings. He remarked, “The state enforces extremely strict regulations regarding precious metals and foreign currencies. Banks only accept gold and silver but do not exchange them back, while foreign currency conversion is severely limited. Trading on the black market would be even less advantageous. Instead, why don’t you exchange your cash notes and silver dollars with me for British pounds rather than converting them into gold bars? Gold is quite heavy; carrying a small amount is fine, but transporting too much during your journey could arouse suspicion and lead to unnecessary trouble.”
Lu Mingzhu’s eyes lit up. “Is that possible?”
Foreign currency is indeed lightweight and highly useful abroad, provided it can be kept safe during the journey without being lost or damaged by water.
She possessed a spatial storage; there was no need for worry.
“It’s feasible. I can still pay the workers in cash or silver dollars.” The Wang family still retained their own enterprises in Shanghai—assets that Wang Xingcai had been unable to dispose of before fleeing but had successfully reclaimed upon his return. Currently, these businesses were flourishing.
Lu Mingzhu thought for a moment. “Godfather, perhaps we should convert my gold bars into pounds sterling as well. My father gave me forty large gold bars, my mother left me twenty-three large ones and fifty small ones, I personally saved up fifty-five large bars and two hundred fifty-four small ones, and we recovered fourteen large bars and thirty-seven small ones from the third branch of the family. Adding all the gold ornaments, including my own, the total comes to approximately two hundred taels.”
Two-tael gold bangles and lockets were everywhere; there were also five or six chains weighing over ten taels each. Such items were fashionable accessories during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai, used to fasten heavy capes. Eileen Chang described them in detail in her novels.
Wang Xingcai quickly calculated the figures. “It should fetch over twenty thousand pounds sterling.”
Lu Mingzhu replied without hesitation, “Deal!”
“Your cash and silver dollars can be exchanged for approximately 7,000 British pounds. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, each pound will convert to 16 Hong Kong dollars.” Having said this, Wang Xingcai took six stacks of British pound notes from his drawer and handed them to Lu Mingzhu. “This is 30,000 pounds. Take it. Tonight, Butler Li and I will bring people to your home to collect the gold, silver, and cash.”
Lu Mingzhu immediately said, “Godfather, that’s too much.”
That’s an extra 3,000 dollars!
Wang Xingcai merely smiled gently. “Consider the excess as pocket money from your godfather.”
She acted very generously.
“Godfather, you are so kind!” Lu Mingzhu exclaimed joyfully, repeatedly expressing her gratitude. She also entrusted Wang Xingcai to rent out the Lu family garden after she and Lu Ping’an departed,
The lease term is thirty years.
After the reform and opening-up, she still hoped to return and live in the Lu family garden.
Old Western-style houses in Shanghai are rare finds; a grand estate like the Lu Family Garden would easily be worth eight to ten billion yuan.
For Wang Xingcai, this was no difficulty; he readily agreed. “Leasing the house directly to the state will help preserve it, regardless of whether they allocate it for cadres’ residence or put it to other uses.”
“No problem.” Lu Mingzhu replied readily, then added, “Since it’s for the state’s use, we can waive the rent.”
Wang Xingcai nodded. “That works too.”
He knew his goddaughter wasn’t short on money.
With her future secured, Lu Mingzhu bid farewell to Wang Xingcai and stepped out of the Wang family garden, finally able to take in her surroundings with a lighter heart.
Everything was old, utterly and everywhere old.
What is prosperity?
It is perhaps the exquisite Western-style mansions in the Lu and Wang family gardens, the lush exotic flowers and rare plants, the elegant attire, and the refined demeanor—not the bustling life of the common streets outside.
Lu Mingzhu watched the ceaseless flow of carriages and pedestrians on the road, finding it all strangely novel.
Sedans, bicycles, rickshaws, wheelbarrows, tricycles, and pedestrians… all weaving back and forth, yet walkers made up about seventy percent of the crowd. Each one was sallow and emaciated, dressed in tattered, patched clothing; many walked barefoot. Most wore expressions of utter numbness, their eyes devoid of any spark.
This scene bore no resemblance whatsoever to the glamorous Republican-era dramas Lu Mingzhu had watched.
If conditions were still this bleak after liberation, how much worse must they have been before?
One could almost imagine that era as a landscape shrouded in dust, dull and devoid of light.
Lu Mingzhu also saw many stylishly dressed men and women.
This was a street lined with grand Western-style mansions belonging to major capitalists, formerly part of the pre-Liberation foreign concessions, where many celebrities resided. The local residents enjoyed relatively affluent living conditions: men wore white shirts and black leather shoes, their hair slicked with pomade; women donned cheongsams and silk stockings, their hair permed into curls, riding in rickshaws. It possessed a certain refined elegance reminiscent of old Shanghai, something no film or television drama could ever truly capture.
If Lu Mingzhu weren’t so utterly lacking in confidence about facing the turmoil awaiting her more than a decade hence, she would never have wanted to leave her hometown.
How low one sinks when leaving home!
Ping’an suddenly asked in a very soft voice, “Auntie, are we going abroad to find Grandfather?”
Lu Mingzhu replied without hesitation, “We’re going to Hong Kong.”
“Isn’t going to Hong Kong the same as going abroad? Hong Kong is currently a British colony.” Although only fifteen years old, Ping’an, being an adopted son, was intelligent and mature beyond his years, with a delicate mind. Having learned from his grandmother since childhood how to interact with people and conduct business, he was actually more worldly than Lu Mingzhu. “I heard that Grandfather and the others are preparing to go to England, and their first stop will definitely be Hong Kong.”
Lu Mingzhu smiled gently. “You’re so clever! But Auntie has money; we won’t look for him. From now on, we’ll rely on ourselves.”
Ping’an nodded vigorously. “I have money too. Let’s buy a building together.”
“Where did you get the money?” As far as Lu Mingzhu knew, apart from the lucky money received during Chinese New Year, the old lady and Lu’s father never gave him a single cent; they usually treated him as if he were invisible, completely ignoring him.
Only three people cared for him: Mrs. Lu, his original self, and the grandfather who meddled in nothing.
It was said that the grandfather had once doted most on his legitimate eldest grandson, Lu Changsheng, to the extent that even Lu’s father had to step back respectfully. The grandfather had poured all his heart and soul into Lu Changsheng, only for him to die young, leaving no heir.
Although Lu Ping’an was an adopted son, he carried on the lineage of Lu Changsheng, and the old man inevitably felt a certain degree of emotional attachment toward him.
Ping’an shyly told Lu Mingzhu, “Before she passed away, Grandma gave me fifty large gold bars and a chest of jewelry, hidden in a secret compartment in my room. She instructed me to use the gold bars for business when I grew up and to offer the jewelry as betrothal gifts to my future wife. Additionally, Great-Grandfather also gave me fifty large gold bars and a box of jade and precious gems very early on, saying they were reserved for my marriage; these too I have hidden in the secret compartment.”
Lu Mingzhu was delighted. “What’s given to you is yours. Don’t exchange them with your godfather for foreign currency; take them directly to Hong Kong!”
Lu Ping’an, however, replied, “Exchanging them for foreign currency would be more convenient. One hundred large gold bars equal one thousand taels of gold. While they occupy little space due to their small volume, they are extremely heavy and cumbersome, making them difficult to carry personally.”
Lu Mingzhu found his reasoning sound. “Let’s go; I’ll ask my godfather for help!”
Wang Xingcai was not working that day and seemed quite pleased upon hearing this. “It’s right to prevent the outflow of gold and silver. However, I don’t have any British pounds on hand. If we use US dollars instead, the equivalent would be approximately thirty-one thousand plus dollars. I’ll give you thirty-two thousand.”
“Thank you, Godfather.” Lu Mingzhu immediately handed it over to Lu Ping’an.
Upon returning home, Lu Ping’an promptly opened the hidden compartment, moved the large gold bars into Lu Mingzhu’s room, and prepared to hand them all over to Wang Xingcai together.
“I just don’t know what happened to the money Grandma got from selling off her properties before Liberation. I remember when she gave me the gold, her private vault contained over twenty boxes of gold bars and silver dollars piled up like small mountains; in earlier years, it was also stocked with vast quantities of penicillin.” From the conversation between Wang Xingcai and Lu Mingzhu, Lu Ping’an learned that Grandma had given her daughter only 23 large gold bars and 50 small ones, rather than her entire fortune.
Lu Mingzhu shrugged. “I don’t know either; I’m not even sure where her private vault is located.”
“In the magnolia garden behind the Lu family estate lies part of Grandmother’s dowry.” Lu Ping’an had accompanied Mrs. Lu there several times, “but Grandmother has already sold the magnolia garden!”