Chapter 130 No Smoking
He Liu left the village and walked along the official road towards Guangzhou. After just a few steps, he broke out in a sweat.
On the way, he happened to meet Mr. Xu, a teacher in the village, who was driving a ox cart towards Guangzhou City.
I have to go to Guangzhou city to buy rice, cloth, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and so on.
Mr. Xu's son is getting married soon, so he needs to buy some things for the banquet to entertain relatives and friends.
He Liu went up to him and chatted with him for a few words, then shamelessly got on Mr. Xu's ox cart and went to Guangzhou together.
When they arrived outside Guangzhou, the two parted ways. Mr. Xu drove his ox cart to the signboard outside the city gate, ready to see if there was any news worth paying attention to on the signboard.
After all, the Restoration Army had just occupied Guangzhou City. Mr. Xu was a little worried about whether the Restoration Army could govern the city, so he prepared to see if the Restoration Army had any new announcements.
But He Liu didn't care about these. He was only thinking about smoking opium and rushed straight into Guangzhou city.
Faintly, he heard someone shouting behind him.
"It's time to ban smoking..."
But He Liu didn't think too much about it. After entering Guangzhou City, he went straight to the tobacco shop he was familiar with.
I came to the door of the tobacco shop and walked in.
The waiter came forward to greet him.
"Hello, sir. I haven't seen you for a while. Please come in."
As they were talking, the waiter took He Liu into the tobacco shop.
"Sir, do you want a private room or the lobby?"
The waiter asked.
He Liu touched the purse in his arms and said after hesitating for a while.
"Just in the lobby!"
"First, give me two hundred coins of longevity cream. Let me taste the quality of your longevity cream."
He Liu was still worried about his mother's condition, so he only asked for two cents of Fu Shou Gao.
The waiter did not feel disappointed when he heard this, because he knew that once these heavy smokers start smoking, they cannot stop.
He wants the goods worth two hundred taels of silver now because he still has some sense, but that may not be the case after he gets the money.
He shouted very enthusiastically.
"For one distinguished guest in the lobby, two cents of longevity cream!"
"Please come inside!"
He Liu followed the waiter to a couch, which was divided into two parts by a small table.
In one of the parts, there was already a skinny man smoking.
Next to him, there was a prostitute who was massaging his shoulders and back, and she would take a few puffs from time to time.
He Liu was lying on the couch, and soon the waiter brought him the opium paste he had ordered.
He Liu couldn't wait to lie on the couch, light up his pipe, take a deep puff, his face full of intoxication, and his whole body began to feel like he was floating in ecstasy.
He swallowed the smoke into his lungs and then held his breath, fearing that even a bit of the smoke would be wasted.
After a long time, He Liu, who was almost holding his breath to his limit, finally began to breathe and hummed comfortably.
"Comfortable, this is what it means to live a normal life!"
He Liu smacked his lips and spoke.
As he said that, he began to smoke one puff after another.
Before he knew it, the opium paste worth two hundred coins was gone, but He Liu was still not satisfied. After thinking for a while, he spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Waiter, give me another two cents."
As for getting medicine?
He Liu thought that there shouldn't be much difference between ten prescriptions and eight prescriptions.
After a while, the opium was finished.
He Liu said again.
"Waiter, this time I'll give you three coins. Diulei Laomu, the two coins of longevity cream were gone in just a few draws."
As for my mother?
He Liu felt that five prescriptions should be enough for his mother to take for a while.
Upon hearing this, the waiter looked as if he had known this before, and enthusiastically brought three coins of opium paste to Wei Liu.
He Liu stayed in the tobacco shop until the sun was about to set, and then he was helped out by the waiter in a daze.
He looked up at the setting sun hanging in the sky, his head still feeling dizzy.
Suddenly, an evening breeze blew, causing He Liu to shiver uncontrollably, and his mind became a little clearer.
I remembered that I went to the city today to get medicine for my seriously ill mother.
But as soon as he took out his purse, the expression on his face suddenly froze.
Because his purse was empty.
He spent all the one tael and two cents of silver in the opium den in just half a day.
In an instant, cold sweat began to appear on He Liu's forehead, and he muttered to himself.
"It's over, it's over!"
"I spent all my money on opium. I have no money left to buy medicine. What should I do with my mother's illness?"
He hadn't had time to think about all this when he was smoking opium just now, but after the urge wore off and rationality took over again, he couldn't help but start to feel a little anxious.
Suddenly he seemed to have thought of something, and ran towards the city gate, ready to go home.
He didn't believe that his family was really out of money!
The reason why that bitch said that there was no money at home was that she must be lying to herself.
Yes, that must be the case!
But before He Liu had run a few steps, he was sweating all over and started breathing heavily.
After smoking opium for such a long time, He Liu's health had long since collapsed.
By the time He Liu stumbled all the way back home, it was already completely dark.
When his wife saw He Liu coming back, she went up to him and asked.
"Boss, didn't I ask you to go to the city to get medicine for mother? Where is the medicine you got? Why did you come back empty-handed?"
He Liu heard this and said anxiously.
"The money was lost on the way, and the medicine was not caught."
"Is there any money left at home? Give it to me quickly, and I'll go get some more."
When He Liu's wife heard this, she didn't believe his lies at all and immediately screamed and cursed.
"Did you lose it or did you smoke opium? Explain yourself to me clearly!"
"He Liu, don't treat people as fools."
"Are you even a human being? Your mother is so sick, and you still use her life-saving money to smoke opium?"
He Liu heard this and said with an impatient look on his face.
"It's just lost. I don't smoke opium."
"Stop talking nonsense, go get all the remaining money from home, I need to get some medicine for my mother."
He Liu's wife cursed loudly.
"Where is the money? Where is the money at home?"
"We didn't have time to sell this year's new grain because you smoked opium. We've sold all our fields and houses. How can we have any money?"
"You even gave your own mother's life-saving money to the opium den. This life is unbearable..."
Seeing this, He Liu became annoyed and immediately wanted to hit his wife.
But his wife was not a pushover either, and she pushed He Liu to the ground.
Then the two of them started fighting!
Although He Liu is a man, his body has been hollowed out by long-term opium smoking.
However, his wife has to work in the fields every day and can be described as strong and healthy.
The two of them fought to a standstill for a while!
There were several bloody scratches on He Liu's face and body caused by his fingernails, and blood was flowing out.
Hearing the noise outside, He Liu's mother struggled to get up from the bed, walked outside with a cane, and said, "Stop hitting me, stop hitting me..."
"Mom can't be cured. Can't I just stay at home and wait for death? Stop hitting me..."
The entire He family was in chaos, and neighbors quietly appeared and began to watch the fun.
"This He family kid is nothing!"
"Who says it's not true? He still uses the money his mother saved his life to smoke opium. Is he still a human being?"
"If he were a human, would he be able to piss off his own father to death?"
"What a prodigal son! He is truly a prodigal son. When Old He was still alive, the He family still had dozens of acres of land and three large tiled houses. But what about now? The He family has lost their land and houses, and the whole family can only squeeze into this broken thatched house to live."
"If Lao He had known his son would become like this, I think he would have preferred to smash himself against the wall..."
"..."
The neighbors have no good impression of He Liu, who has a bad record.
Just as the couple was fighting and the neighbors were watching, suddenly, He Liu's mother fell backwards to the ground.
"He Liu, stop fighting with your wife. Look, your mother has fallen down."
"He Liu, your mother is so mad at you..."
A group of neighbors came forward to check and found that the old lady of the He family had passed away. They all spoke to He Liu.
When He Liu heard this, he was stunned. He didn't react even though his wife scratched his face and body several times.
He pushed his wife aside, ran quickly to his mother, knelt down, and cried out in tears.
"Mother! Oh my mother..."
"Why did you just leave like that?!"
When the neighbors saw this, they couldn't help but feel sad.
Although He Liu was not a good person, his mother was a very kind and friendly person. As neighbors for decades, they couldn't help but feel some sympathy when they saw He Liu's mother die so tragically.
Seeing this, everyone could only come forward to help He Liu deal with his mother's funeral.
He Liu cried and slapped himself, calling himself a worthless person, and kowtowed to his neighbors, hoping to borrow money to buy a good coffin for his mother...
Seeing this, the neighbors found it difficult to refuse, so they took out money in groups of three or four and gave it to He Liu, pooling together several taels of silver to give him.
He Liu kowtowed.
"Thank you all for your help..."
……
Early the next morning, He Liu borrowed a donkey cart from his neighbor and drove all the way to Guangzhou, intending to go to the coffin shop in the city to buy a coffin for his mother.
But when He Liu arrived in Guangzhou, his smoking addiction came back again.
He sniffed, touched the silver and money in his arms, and began to ponder.
As the saying goes, when a person dies, it’s like a light goes out. So, there shouldn’t be much difference between a good coffin and a bad one, right?
My mother is the closest to me, and she shouldn't blame me for such a small thing.
If I buy myself a cheap coffin, can't I use the money I save to smoke opium?
Although He Liu knew that what he did was not a human being, it was really uncomfortable when he was addicted to opium.
He Liu would rather have someone poke his spine than experience that feeling as if ants were crawling in the joints between his bones.
Having made up his mind, He Liu went to the opium den in the city.
Originally he felt a little guilty, but when the opium was lit and inhaled into his mouth, there was nothing else in He Liu's heart except the opium...
Soon, he had prepared himself mentally that there was no difference between a broken coffin and buying a roll of straw mat to wrap a person up in, and he ordered some more opium to smoke.
However, just when He Liu was happy, the door of the tobacco shop was kicked open from outside.
A group of Restoration Army soldiers, as ferocious as wolves and tigers, rushed in from outside, and the leading officer shouted loudly.
"Everyone, squat down with your hands on your head!"
"Don't move, or you will suffer the consequences!"
A group of drug addicts were frightened by the sudden appearance of the soldiers and screamed. Some of them subconsciously wanted to run, but were pinned to the ground by the Restoration Army soldiers.
The owner of the tobacco shop was horrified when he saw this and hurried over to try to please him.
"Sir, Sir, what are you doing?"
"Come to my Tongfu Tobacco House, what's the matter? If you have any request, just tell me, I will definitely do my best to satisfy you, why bother with a big fight?"
Upon hearing this, the Restoration Army officer kicked the tobacco shop owner who came towards him to the ground with a look of disgust, and then said in a cold voice.
"The Grand Commander has ordered that from now on, smoking will be banned under the rule of our Restoration Army."
"All opium dens will be closed down, all opium will be confiscated and destroyed, all opium den operators and service personnel will be jailed and prosecuted, and all smokers will be rounded up and forced to quit."
"This order is to be executed immediately, without any mistakes!"
When the owner of the tobacco shop heard this, he felt like he was struck by lightning.
Although he had heard rumors that the Restoration Army might ban smoking, he never imagined that the ban would come so soon.
"This... this won't do. I need to use this opium den to support my family. It can't be closed down..."
Upon hearing this, the officer just said with a cold face.
"To support a family?"
"Haha, you guys who run a tobacco shop are making money with no conscience, and you still have the nerve to say you're supporting your family?"
"Do you know how many people have lost their families because of you?"
"Why, your family is human? Other people's family is not human?"
"Take all the people away!"
The Restoration Army officer was too lazy to waste time and with a wave of his hand, all the waiters, including the owner of the tobacco shop and the drug addicts were arrested.
They were taken to the parade ground in Guangzhou city!
The reason why it is a parade ground instead of a prison cell is simple.
This time Li Yi wanted to ban smoking, but there were so many people arrested that the cells could no longer accommodate them.
If we catch more people, we’ll have to stuff them into the parade ground!
……
"Grand Admiral, as far as we can see now, the anti-smoking work has been quite effective."
"Today alone, our Restoration Army has closed down 136 opium dens in Guangzhou, seized more than kilograms of opium, more than opium pipes, and arrested more than opium dealers, opium den staff, and opium smokers."
Chen Yucheng came to Li Yi and reported to him.
After hearing this, Li Yi thought for a while and then asked.
“There should be more than that.”
"If I remember correctly, when Lin Zexu destroyed opium in Humen, he confiscated more than 20,000 boxes of opium, totaling more than 2 million kilograms."
"Since the Opium War, the opium trade has become increasingly rampant over the years. Now that our Restoration Army has confiscated opium, there should be no more than 200,000 kilograms."
Chen Yucheng nodded and said after hearing this.
"To reply to the Grand Commander, this is only what was seized in Guangzhou City today."
“The provincial capitals surrounding Guangzhou have not had time to conduct a thorough investigation.”
"Moreover, the majority of opium in Guangzhou should be in the hands of those foreign merchants. Three days have not yet passed, and no one from them has come to pay the opium to the Grand Governor's Office..."
Li Yi heard this and nodded.
"Is that so? This governor is getting anxious."
"But remember not to be careless about banning opium. Over the years, opium has caused too much harm to China. Since I want to do it, I must eradicate it completely and completely eliminate this scourge."
"Yucheng, I believe you won't let me down!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Yucheng nodded vigorously.
It feels really good to be entrusted with an important task!
……
PS: I’m stuck in writer’s block and can’t write any code, so there’s only one update today.
(End of this chapter)