Chapter 158: He Yuzhu Transports Cargo to the Liberated Area

Not long after, Xiao Liang walked quickly into the ship's cabin.

General Chen and He Yuzhu explained the situation to him, and Xiao Liang began to send a telegram. The rhythmic beeping of the radio waves echoed in the cabin, and about an hour later, a reply was received.

General Chen clutched the decoded telegram, grinning from ear to ear. "I thought the ship was going to sink and I was about to go meet Marx, but I never expected to run into a lucky star like you! Headquarters has instructed that the Huaye shall keep half of this batch of weapons, and the other half is to be sent to Yan'an."

He Yuzhu took the telegram, looked at it, and said, "General Chen, which port should I go to to unload the cargo?"

General Chen sighed and said, "In the first half of the year, we still controlled Yantai, Weihai, and Lianyungang, but now most of the ports have fallen. Only Yantai is still under our control; just take all nine ships to Yantai for me."

"General Chen, I must speak the ugly truth first. The medicine, grain, daily necessities, and mechanical equipment are all Miss Liu and Miss Zhao's goods. If it's all on credit..."

"You kid, you think too poorly of us; we still have some money on hand," General Chen laughed.

"As long as there is money, you can pick whatever you want." He Yuzhu immediately beamed.

"You money-grubbing little He, I'm going to do some big shopping this time. The Guangtou Party is currently implementing an embargo against us to try and starve us out, but we definitely won't let them succeed."

"I will take all nine ships to Yantai. You can choose whatever you want from the cargo on board," He Yuzhu readily agreed.

General Chen's eyes lit up, and he asked, "I will report this to my superiors immediately and apply to postpone the plan to go to the Northeast!"

He Yuzhu hurriedly took out the cargo manifest for the nine ships.

The more General Chen looked, the more delighted he became. When he saw Penicillin, Sulfonamides, and Anesthetic listed on the medicine manifest, his voice couldn't help but tremble: "Xiao Li, hurry and pinch me; am I dreaming?"

The Guard Xiao Li honestly pinched his arm hard. General Chen gasped in pain, and with a backhand, gave him a light slap: "You kid, you don't know your own strength!"

He Yuzhu asked curiously, "Your main battlefield with the Guangtou Party Army is in the Northeast; why not transport this batch of weapons there?"

"The transport routes are too difficult," General Chen explained while rubbing his aching arm. "The Guangtou Party Army has blockaded Shanhaiguan, and the weapons simply cannot be transported in."

"If you really need it, I can try to help transport them," He Yuzhu said.

"It's better over there; they can obtain some equipment and supplies through Dalian, which is controlled by the Soviet Army. We are the ones in the most miserable situation!"

"So that's how it is!" He Yuzhu nodded thoughtfully.

"Right now, our only advantage is Yantai Port. Once we get this batch of weapons, Yantai Port will be even safer!" General Chen's gaze was filled with determination.

He Yuzhu understood: "Then I will certainly satisfy your requirements. As for the payment, as long as we don't lose money, it will be fine."

Soon, He Yuzhu ordered all nine cargo ships to sail toward Yantai Port.

As soon as the cargo ships docked, the Huaye mobilized thousands of officers and soldiers to wait at the pier.

When truckload after truckload of supplies were unloaded from the ship's cabin, General Chen grinned from ear to ear.

When the soldiers carried wooden crates printed with the words "M1 Garand Rifle" and "Thompson Submachine Gun" off the ship, General Chen stopped two of the soldiers.

He Yuzhu understood his meaning and hurried to help pry open the crates.

General Chen picked up a brand-new Thompson Submachine Gun and stroked the cold gun body, unable to put it down: "A good gun, truly a good gun! It's just that once the bullets are gone, it becomes a fire poker!"

"General Chen, I happen to have a second-hand American-made bullet production line that I can sell to you cheaply."

"That would be wonderful!" General Chen patted He Yuzhu on the shoulder and said.

He Yuzhu stayed at Yantai Port for two days, handing over a total of 1,500 submachine guns, 20,000 rifles, and a large amount of mechanical equipment, medicine, ammunition, and grain.

General Chen also acted very generously, using almost all of their capital reserves.

Five days after departing from Yantai, the cargo ships finally arrived at Tianjin Port.

The cargo ships slowly docked, and the sound of the steam whistle startled a flock of seagulls.

Liu Rusi was wearing a lotus-root-colored cheongsam with a Western-style knit cardigan over it, standing quietly on the pier.

She saw He Yuzhu walking toward her and said, "You've been gone for six months and have grown quite a bit taller. It seems life in the United States has been good."

He Yuzhu replied with a cheeky grin, "I grew eight centimeters in six months; I'm one meter seventy now."

"You really do look like an adult now!" Liu Rusi said.

"I was already an adult! Sister, have you been well these past few months?"

"Without you causing trouble for me, I've been eating well and sleeping soundly!"

He Yuzhu said with a smile, "The variety of this cargo is quite mixed; it's all things sold in American supermarkets and shopping malls."

"That's great! The prices in Beiping change every day now, and everyone is looking for ways to hoard supplies everywhere."

"I can finally rest easy now. I was worried before that no one would buy these goods and we would lose money! The current fuel costs, crew salaries, and insurance premiums are all very expensive; the shipping costs for the nine ships are more expensive than buying the ships themselves."

"I've heard that quite a lot of these goods were things you picked up." Liu Rusi gave him a meaningful look.

"That is blatant slander," He Yuzhu hurriedly protested, "most of the supplies were bought with real gold and silver."

"I heard you were busy all night in Los Angeles. Given your personality, didn't you do some light-fingered work?"

"We did... take a few things, but not many," He Yuzhu said with a giggle.

"I heard you encountered quite a few difficulties in New York?" Liu Rusi asked.

"You're telling me? There are too many rules in the United States; you need proof for everything you do."

"Tell me about what you saw and heard in the United States!"

"It was too hard when we first arrived in New York. People wouldn't even rent us a house, and we couldn't deposit the cash we brought into the bank. We had no choice but to start by opening a restaurant. However, we opened a restaurant and earned over 900,000 US dollars in just a few months!"

"You kid, you wouldn't starve to death anywhere," Liu Rusi praised.

"Of course. Buying the shipping company plus the ships cost us over three million in total, but we only brought eight hundred thousand, which wasn't enough at all. A lot of the money was earned only after we got there. However, there is a good side to the United States; if you have the ability, it's relatively easy to make money..." He Yuzhu rambled on, telling Liu Rusi about his experiences in the United States.

Liu Rusi watched the goods being continuously unloaded from the cargo hold, her eyes fixed in amazement.

The variety of goods was staggering: from food and beverages to clothing, shoes, and hats, from radios to bicycles, from furniture to bedding... everything one could wish for was there.

Hu Yunbin had already liquidated all the gold obtained from grave robbing, exchanging it for a full 160,000 Big Ocean.

He gave 20,000 to Wang Donglai, 20,000 to Ma Chun, and 2,000 to Xu Damao.

Because Xu Damao had performed a great service this time, Hu Yunbin even specially bought him a small courtyard.

When Xu Damao returned home, he deliberately hid the 120 Big Ocean under the bed, pretending to have discovered them by accident while looking for something.

He handed the Big Ocean to his mother, Cui Xiu, "Mother, Father moved that money to a different place. Look, there's a full 120 Big Ocean."

Cui Xiu held the recovered silver dollars, weeping with joy, and said, "This must be the money your father sent back for us!"