The two horses "clattered" side by side, each in a canvas bag, and was lifted to the aft deck by a crane.

The "Elizabeth" is a cruise ship with a displacement of 1,300 tons, a pure white all-steel hull, 90 meters long and 10 meters wide, with elegant and elegant hull lines, and the three masts are playfully tilted back at an angle. The fire had risen, and the slender dark brown chimney at the amidships was also slightly angled, looking like a cigar spewing mist from its slanted mouth.

Gao Yi and Lida stood on the pier together, smoking cigars, as the workers of the Xiangsheng Shipyard replaced the last steel pillar for the "Elizabeth" to carry the lifeboat.

The "Elizabeth" is preparing for a voyage to Britain. Rida and his wife have already purchased a property in Charles Newton, Monmouth County, southeast Wales, and have decided to leave Shanghai and move there later this year.

Therefore, Lida can meet the funeral of the old Gao Yi today, which really seems to be fate, which makes Gao Yi always worry about the word "fate" in his heart and adds a heavy weight.

"This is our destiny, and no matter how well we do our work on this land and how much we love life here, we will eventually return to Britain." Rida still seems to have a lot of nostalgia for life in Shanghai, he lamented.

"Why don't you choose to stay here?"

"No matter how much power we have gained here, it will only belong to this place and will never affect Britain, so to the British we will always be just nouveau riche in the Far East, and if we want to get a real position, we must return to England."

Gao Yi shrugged his shoulders, he didn't hold out any hope for Rida's ambitions. would rather be the head of a chicken than a cow, even if he returned to England, it would only be the life of a squire. The founders of Jardine, William Jardine and James Madishon, the two Scots who single-handedly provoked the Opium War, returned to England as two rich dough men.

"Don't you really want to come to my company? I'll mention it to Jack and ask him to take special care of you, and you'll have a good future in the company. ”

Rida changed the subject. Jack is Rida's younger brother, and he will take over the business in Shanghai when Rida leaves.

"Businessmen aren't for me, I just want to work in chemistry." Gao Yi politely declined again.

He was not interested in Rida's invitation. Rida didn't ask him to be a partner who didn't work for money, but to work as a hard-working apprentice. Although his immediate priority now is to find a new source of livelihood, and an apprenticeship can indeed meet this, it is only enough to live on, and he cannot accumulate for the next stage of his development. Although I listened to Rida's meaning, as long as he did a good job, he could be promoted in the system quickly, but no matter how fast it was, it was impossible to promote him the next day, at least there must be a transition period of one to two years. To be honest, give him two years, and the 1,300-ton cruise ship in front of him can be bought. How could he waste his time on irrelevant matters for the sake of so-called priorities?

"Well, since you are so resolute, then wait until I come back from Tianjin, and let me think of a way to see if I can introduce you to Mr. Li Deli and help you arrange a position in Bonemen. Don't worry, young man, I will put you in place before I return to Britain. ”

This Li Deli is Edward Selby Little, a missionary of the American-Israeli Society who opened up Lushan Guling, and in addition to Little's brother in Shanghai, another surname is Little, probably for this reason that he uses the word "Li" at the end of his Chinese name to distinguish it. He had just been hired as general manager by Bunemen, given his extensive network in China and the good personal relationships he had established with many of the Qing dynasty's top officials. In fact, the north-south peace talks that led to Pu Yi's abdication eight years later were coordinated by him.

However, Gao Yi also does not think that this is the right choice to go to work in Bu Neimen. He's a chemist, not an intern who needs to gain experience, so there's no point in going to a chemical company – unless you get a well-paying position, which is simply not possible. Foreigners do things at a glance, and it is difficult for personal relationships to affect work arrangements. Besides, Lida will definitely not help him to seek a senior position, otherwise he will directly arrange one for Gao Yi in his own company, so why bother to go far.

Looking at Rida who was bent on planning for himself, Gao Yi really wanted to tell him: You can just give me money!

It's a pity that he is now playing the role of an aspiring young man with ideals and self-motivation.

"Chuck, you don't have to worry too much about me, I'm actually doing a pretty good job, if it's not bad luck this time, I'll just hire an unreliable coachman......"

Chuck is Charles' nickname, and Charles is Rida's name.

Although the two have only been together for a few hours, they have been speculative in their words, as if they have become a pair of year-old friends who have exchanged names. Gao Yi calls Rida Chuck, and Rida calls Gao Yi Willy.

"No, Willie, listen to me, my friend, when luck shines our ropes, we should trust the detective's judgment in this matter." Rida interrupted Gao Yi's words, "I know Officer Wilson, he may not be a good police officer, but believe me, young friend, he is definitely an experienced police officer. Rida accentuated her tone as she said the words experienced, "What does it mean to be a bad, experienced police officer?" Meaning he will never get into trouble. This kind of person has the most sensitive sense of smell, and when he comes to remind you without taking a penny, it means that he really sees trouble. ”

"Yes, you convinced me, Chuck, like I said, I've made up my mind anyway and won't be in this business anymore."

"No, it's not enough, young man, you have to know why you can't do it. Danger is only one factor, the point is that this kind of business does not do a person's reputation any good, just look at Jardine Matheson, they gave up this business thirty years ago, why not do it with a profitable business? Because this will lead you to have a bad reputation in the country, and with such a reputation, even if you have money, you will not be able to get the corresponding status. No one will give you a medal, and you will not be knighted. ”

Well, Gao Yi could only raise his hands and surrender. Medals and jazz are simply the standard of a squire, originally he thought that the person in front of him had some lofty ambitions, but he didn't expect that the highest ideal of people is to be a squire. Especially this knight, although it sounds like a nobleman, is actually a commoner title, and the only use is to be able to put the word Sir on the front of the signature, which is really a good thing.

Thinking about it again, this is definitely a kind of sadness of the times, Jardine, Madison, Hogg, McBian, how many Scottish men are calling for wind and rain, but they would rather return to the British countryside to be a household dog.

"I think you should get a job quickly, my friend," Rida continued, unaffected by the exaggerated gestures of surrender, "let your free time be less and keep your wallet full, or you'll probably fall back into cranky thinking, because I know how tempting this kind of business is, and the profits are so high that even if you make up your mind, sometimes you may not be able to resist its temptation." Therefore, I advise you to keep yourself busy, and when you find a new one, the old one will be completely forgotten. Perhaps......" he seemed to suddenly remember something, "are you interested in becoming a teacher?" A chemistry teacher? ”

"Chemistry teacher?" Gao Yi had been a teacher, and at the best universities, and he was sure that he had no interest in the job. However, the chemistry teacher -

Isn't that synonymous with chemistry labs?

What did Gao Yi do with his hard work to earn the first pot of gold? Not to build a secondary school-level chemistry lab? In fact, a large part of the six hundred oceans he had stolen were intended to be used to order instruments and equipment.

"Which middle school chemistry teacher? What is the lab like? Is it fully equipped? Gao Yi asked like a cannon. There is no need to count on universities, which in this era only had a quasi-university in Shanghai, St. John's College, but this college was a church school.

"McThiers Secondary School, a girls' secondary school, I have a certain right of recommendation as a sponsor. As for the lab, I don't know the specifics, but judging by the budget submitted to me, it should be okay. ”

Gao Yi was immediately entangled, in fact, he never thought of maintaining this half-breed identity. Even in the days when old Gao Yi was alive, Gao Yi never imagined that he would live with him forever - when he had the ability to let old Gao Yi enjoy his old age, the two of them would naturally live separately.

But a chemistry lab helped him so much for his next steps. He had also thought about applying to be a chemistry teacher in the past, but there were really not many schools with chemistry experiment conditions in this era, and he was still a black hukou, so he didn't do it later. Now when such an opportunity is presented to him, can he still turn it down? But if he wins this opportunity, it means that he can only live as the son of Lao Gao Yi in the future.

Just when Gao Yi was still in a state of entanglement, Lida helped him make up his mind: "I will write to you immediately to recommend it, and during my visit to Tianjin, I will instruct the servants to keep an eye on this matter, and someone will notify you as soon as there is news." ”