Chapter 3, The Dock is No More

  Two days later, "White Swan" sailed into the Pearl River and is expected to arrive at Guangzhou Wharf at 3 pm.

  After lunch, passengers returned to their cabins one after another to check their luggage and make preparations for disembarking.

  Wu Shaotong bought a second-class cabin ticket when he boarded the ship from England, which was a separate room. At this moment, he is packing his luggage like everyone else.

  He opened his trunk and found only a German army uniform, two sets of summer and winter clothes; his graduation certificate, the Excellent Student Cross Medal, and the straight Browning pistol were all in an iron box. As for his wallet, apart from a few Imperial Marks and thirty silver dollars exchanged from the consulate before departure, there was nothing else.

  That's all his possessions.

  The luggage had just been sorted out, and the "Whitechapel" sounded a distant, muffled whistle, announcing its formal entry into the terminal port. The sound of service staff knocking on doors came from the corridor, urging passengers to take their luggage to the deck to wait for disembarkation.

  Wu Shaotong picked up his suitcase, opened the door and walked out onto the deck. The deck was crowded with passengers of all shapes and sizes, including Chinese people, Westerners, and fake foreigners who were neither Chinese nor Western.

  He gazed out at the front of the cruise ship for a while, and saw that the Guangzhou dock was very lively, with people surging forward, bustling about.

  "Zhen zhi." A familiar voice came from behind him.

  Wu Shao-t'ung turned around and saw that it was Hu Han-min who had just come out of the cabin with his own luggage.

  Hu Hanmin also lived in the second-class cabin, so the two people had a lot of contact during these two days. However, since they first discussed the topic of revolution on the deck, at other times they only talked about some foreign experiences.

  Wu Shaotong smiled and walked over, saying: "Zhang Tang brother, it seems we're about to part ways."

  Hu Hanmin walked over with a smile and said, "Why the hurry to say these things? Either get off the boat and come to my place for a little sit-down, I can introduce you to a few friends."

  Wu Shaotong thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid it's not convenient to disturb you today. I have to rush to the Army Ministry to submit my resume before nightfall, or else I'll have to sleep on the streets tonight."

  Hu Hanmin nodded slightly and said, "Well, in that case. After getting off the boat, I'll leave you an address. Once you're settled, don't forget to send someone to notify me."

  Wu Shaotong smiled and said, "Of course."

  At this time, the "Whitechapel" sounded a deep whistle again, and the ship's speed gradually slowed down. Soon the liner entered the passenger port of Guangzhou Wharf, and a crowd of people rushed to the dock, including those who came to meet their relatives, dock workers, and rickshaw drivers, instantly becoming crowded.

  The liner had finally dropped anchor, and the sailors cleared a path on deck and on shore to let first- and second-class passengers disembark before third-class passengers.

  Wu Shaotong and Hu Hanmin walked down from the boat together.

  When they arrived at the dock, Hu Hanmin was about to invite Wu Shaozong to leave the port together and bid farewell outside the dock.

  But suddenly a shout came from the crowd: "Zhan Tang, Zhan Tang? Over here!"

  Wu Shaotang and Hu Hanmin both looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a few people wearing Western suits squeezing over from among the crowd. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that none of these individuals had queues behind their heads; given their acquaintance with Hu Hanmin, eight or nine out of ten were likely members of the Tongmenghui.

  "Look, my friend has come to pick me up. Come on, follow me and I'll introduce you," said Hu Hanmin, pulling Wu Shaozhong along as he went over.

  Wu Shaotong naturally followed him along the way.

  The crowd at the dock railing bumped into each other, and several men in suits shook hands with Hu Hanmin enthusiastically. The youngest of them even took the lead in taking over Hu's luggage from his hand. Seeing that Wu Shaozhong was following Hu Hanmin, he was about to go forward and take over Wu's luggage as well.

  "Zhan Tang, it's been a while! The ship schedule said we'd arrive at noon, but we're three hours late, what a wait!" A slightly chubby middle-aged man with a Hunan accent exclaimed.

  "How about it, Mr. Nanyang has also sent a friend to return with you?" Another young man wearing glasses, thin hair and a small mustache smiled and said, while sizing up Wu Shaotong beside him.

  Hu Hanmin burst out laughing and introduced Wu Shaozong, saying: "This is a new friend I met on the boat. He just returned from studying at a military academy in Germany." Lowering his voice, he added, "This new friend also has his own views on revolution!"

  The slightly fatter middle-aged man raised his eyebrows and smiled: "Really? That's great!"

  Wu Shaotong nodded to Hu Hanmin's three friends, with a courteous smile, and said: "I am Wu Shaotong, also known as Zhenzhi, nice to meet you all."

  "He pointed at the slightly fatter middle-aged man and said: 'This is my close friend, named Wang Shouzheng, from Changsha, Hunan.'"

  Wu Shaotang's face changed slightly, and the name Wang Shouzheng was quite familiar to him. He associated it with the fact that the other party was from Hunan, and his physique seemed a bit chubby, making it highly likely that he was actually Huang Xing, another veteran figure of the Tongmenghui.

  Huang Xing is almost as famous as Sun Yat-sen. Because of his frequent participation in uprisings over the years, he had already been listed by the Qing government as a wanted man, and Huang Xing had used several aliases to hide his identity, including "Wang Shouzheng".

  Wu Shaotong had some confidence, but it was not convenient to say so at this time, so he could only pretend to be normal and nodded his head in response to Wang Shouzheng.

  Hu Hanmin introduced the young man with glasses, saying: "This is none other than Zhu Dafu, a renowned scholar in Guangzhou, whose courtesy name is Zhixin. He is currently teaching at the Guangdong Higher Education Institute and Law School."

  Wu Shaozhong couldn't help but sigh inwardly, today following Hu Hanmin he really got to know many revolutionary pioneers.

  After the Xinhai Revolution, Zhu Zhixin was also a prominent figure. When the Guangdong Military Government was established, he was responsible for reorganizing all the troops in Guangdong Province. Of course, Zhu Zhixin's greatest achievement is his foresight and analysis of socialism, which can be said to be the first generation of Marxist and Engels' preachers in China. The famous "Das Kapital" and "The Communist Manifesto" were translated by him.

  He pointed at the last young man and said: "He is Chen Yunsheng, studying at the Law and Political Science Academy. This should be his fourth semester this year."

  Wu Shaotong didn't know much about Chen Yunsheng either, maybe he was just a small role that wasn't well-known.

  After exchanging pleasantries, Zhu Zhixi said: "No need to say more idle words, come on, I've already booked a restaurant, let's go there and have a good chat about old times. Zhenzhi is also going."