Lu, We Meet Again

"Is this warehouse 50 fiat currency a month? Okay, here you go."

The system in the French Concession was more complete; renting a house involved signing an agreement, unlike in the Chinese-controlled area where it was just a verbal agreement.

Lu Chen rented a small warehouse near Liu Jie's apartment and had Liu Jie move five boxes of morphine inside.

"Xiao Jie, keep a close eye on this warehouse from now on, and make sure no one gets in. Your reward is that I'll pay your rent in the French Concession every month."

Lu Chen looked at Liu Jie and assigned him another task. Actually, this task was optional; the purpose of doing this was simply to win people's hearts.

Liu Jie was quite familiar with underworld forces such as the Green Gang and had some thugs and henchmen under his command.

Ever since his sister Lu Xiulian's incident, Lu Chen has been thinking that he now has the Rat faction, but he can't show it to anyone. He needs to develop his own faction so that he can protect his family and gather intelligence.

Liu Jie was the first step in Lu Chen's expansion of power.

"Brother Chen, this is too much, it's too valuable. You've already helped me so much."

Liu Jie quickly waved his hand, saying that Lu Chen had already helped him a lot, and the warehouse was right next to his house, so it was just a small favor.

"It's alright. Didn't you say your life is mine? I'll do whatever I say. It's just a little money, take it."

After much persuasion from Lu Chen, Liu Jie finally accepted and thanked Lu Chen profusely.

There are still five boxes of morphine left in the car. Lu Chen is now going to find Ka Jingzhou and ask him to arrange a meeting with the French army to trade this batch of morphine.

"Alright, Xiao Jie, no need for thanks. Let's go, I have a lot to do now."

Lu Chen got into the car and had Liu Jie start it, then drove towards Ka Jingzhou's house.

"Oh, right, Xiao Jie, I remember you have a younger brother, right?"

On the way, Lu Chen lit a cigarette, looked at Liu Jie, and suddenly asked a question.

"Yes, what's wrong, Brother Chen?"

Liu Jie glanced at Lu Chen, then turned back to look at the road ahead, not understanding why Lu Chen suddenly asked about his brother.

"Have you sorted out your brother's schooling in the French Concession?"

"Not yet. There's fighting in many parts of the Chinese-controlled area right now, so I don't dare let him go. The tuition in the French Concession is too expensive, and we can't afford it. So I can only let him stay at home and play."

When talking about his younger brother's situation, Liu Jie sighed deeply, his eyes filled with worry.

When he was a child, his parents' circumstances prevented him from going to school. Now, even if he doesn't eat, he still wants to support his younger brother's schooling. But the tuition fees in the French Concession are so high that even if he sells everything he owns, he still can't afford them.

"Oh, I see."

Lu Chen gave a simple reply while smoking, but a different thought was rising in his mind.

Lu Chen had already helped Liu Jie a lot, and he couldn't keep helping him, lest Liu Jie become greedy. Although he could mention it to Ka Jingzhou this time, Lu Chen didn't plan to do so.

Having too many Liu Jies in the first group might not be a good thing.

Secondly, he hasn't yet shown his value to Ka Jingzhou, so Ka Jingzhou might not help him.

"Brother Chen has arrived."

Liu Jie opened the car door and got out. This time, Lu Chen wanted him to go inside with Lu Chen.

Liu Jie was not disappointed that Lu Chen did not offer to help his younger brother. Lu Chen had already helped him a lot, saved his family's lives, and given him so much extra income. He was already very content.

"Mr. Ka, I've got it. Have you made the arrangements on your end?"

This time, it was Ka Jingzhou who opened the door, so Lu Chen simply didn't go inside and stood at the door asking questions.

"Perfect, everything's arranged. Let's head over there."

"Okay, Mr. Card, get in my car."

Lu Chen smiled and sat in the back seat of the car with Ka Jingzhou, while Liu Jie started the car and drove following Ka Jingzhou's directions.

"Mr. Lu, will you be able to continue obtaining morphine in the future?"

Ka Jingzhou took out a small bottle of morphine from the wooden box, looked at it, but didn't look at Lu Chen.

"What? Mr. Ka, isn't this enough?"

Lu Chen frowned, thinking that Ka Jingzhou's appetite was too big. 500 bottles, at 20 yuan per bottle, that's 10,000 yuan. How many more did he want?

"If Mr. Ka's supply chain is stable, then I can ask my partner when I get back to see if we can get some more morphine."

Lu Chen thought about it and figured he would probably get a lot more things from the Japanese to resell in the future, depending on whether his relationship with Ka Jingzhou remained stable.

"A business partner? What's Mr. Lu's business partner's name? Could you introduce us sometime?"

Ka Jingzhou rolled his eyes. He must have some ability to get five hundred bottles of morphine during wartime. He could befriend him.

Looking at Ka Jingzhou, Lu Chen could tell at a glance what he was planning. He didn't have any partners; he was relying entirely on rats.

"Mr. Camille, as you know, I'm a businessman. In this day and age, who would dare reveal their real name and appearance when it comes to such a high-risk business? If I hadn't been learning French from Miss Camille, you might not even know me."

"That's true, alright then."

Ka Jingzhou was somewhat disappointed, but upon reflection, it made sense; everyone values ​​their life.

Finally, Liu Jie parked the car in front of a Western restaurant, and Lu Chen and Ka Jingzhou got out of the car together.

The Western restaurant was mostly frequented by French people and some fashionable young Chinese. The entrance had a revolving door, which is common in upscale places these days.

Lu Chen called Liu Jie, and the three of them walked into the restaurant together. Ka Jingzhou led the two to a table and sat them down, extending his hand to shake hands with the person in front of him.

"Mr. Adrian, this is the friend I mentioned before; he has some morphine on him."

Ka Jingzhou warmly shook hands with the person who stood up from his seat and enthusiastically introduced Lu Chen to him.

"Lu? I didn't expect it to be you. We're really destined to meet."

Upon seeing this familiar face, Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat. Wasn't this the guy who did grain trading with Huang Dayong? How could it be him?

Lu Chen took a few deep breaths to keep calm and reached out to shake hands with Adrian.

"Mr. Adrian, it's nice to see you again."

After they sat down, Ka Jingzhou looked at Lu Chen and then at Adrian, asking with some confusion.

"Did you two know each other before?"

"Yes, I met Mr. Adrian once before."

Lu Chen spoke first, and Liu Jie did not sit down, but stood quietly beside Lu Chen.

"Oh, that makes things much easier, but let me explain anyway."

Ka Jingzhou took a sip of water and began to introduce Adrian to Lu Chen.

"Mr. Lu Chen, this is Mr. Adrian. He is a businessman who also purchases strategic materials for the military."

"Mr. Adrian, this is Lu Chen, a Chinese businessman, who has come to discuss morphine with us."

After Ka Jingzhou finished his introduction, Liu Jie opened the wooden box in his hand and placed it on the table at Lu Chen's signal.

The three were speaking in French, which Liu Jie couldn't understand. He also didn't know what was in the box and didn't recognize it.

"Lu, this batch of morphine is pretty good. The price I discussed with Ka before was twenty French dollars per bottle. Is that acceptable to you?"

Adrian opened the wooden box, took out a bottle of morphine, uncorked it, smelled it under his nose, then put the morphine away and looked at Lu Chen.

"Xiao Jie, go and move all the boxes over here."

Lu Chen turned to look at Liu Jie, who nodded and walked towards the revolving door. After going back and forth twice, he carried all four wooden crates over.

"Mr. Adrian, I have five hundred bottles of morphine here. I'm selling them for a businessman friend of mine. The price is 20 francs."

Lu Chen nodded, implying that the morphine was given to him by someone else to help sell, and was not his own. He was mainly afraid that Adrian would tell Huang Dayong about it when they met.

If Huang Dayong were to contact him directly, that would be fine, since he doesn't understand French anyway. The real concern is that he might be looking for another translator.

"Lu, it's a pleasure doing business with you."

Adrian took out 10,000 French currency directly from his bag. Lu Chen stood up and shook hands with him, and the deal was completed just like that, faster than Lu Chen had expected.

"Mr. Adrian, would you like us to send the morphine back to you?"

"Lu, no need, I'll have someone come and bring it later. This is the best steak here, you should try it."

Adrian waved his hand in refusal. Lu Chen looked at the steak on the plate; it was probably medium-rare and still had some blood in it.

Lu Chen saw it when he sat down at the table, but the steak didn't look very appetizing.

Due to Adrian's invitation, Lu Chenqian took one bite and then stopped eating. He was used to eating fully cooked food and didn't like eating it half-cooked, especially since it was cold.