A glimpse of opportunity: Start by marrying a mermaid bride.

Zheng Xuan stood alone in the middle of the river in his boat, the searchlight on the iron-hulled vessel casting a blinding glow on him. At that moment, a sense of loneliness welled up in his heart, giving him a somewhat lone-wolf hero's air.

Meanwhile, Zheng Xuan saw Li Jitong and Song Jin'ao row away and felt relieved.

Once the two of them escape, he will have no weaknesses left.

Thinking this, he saw the foreigner Richard arrive in front of Zheng Xuan's ship in a patrol boat.

The searchlight slanted its beam to the side.

Richard looked at Zheng Xuan, who blinked to adjust to the bright light.

He quickly regained his vision, and Richard met Zheng Xuan's gaze. Richard touched his chin and said, "Have we met somewhere before?"

Zheng Xuan hadn't expected Richard to ask this, but he still managed to improvise, saying, "I have a very common face; in your opinion, most Chinese people probably all look alike."

Richard nodded in agreement. That was quite true. In his opinion, Chinese people do look very similar, just like how white and black people look from a Chinese perspective.

Zheng Xuan said, "Sir, I have brought you the corpse you need."

Zheng Xuan continued...

Richard was indeed drawn to Zheng Xuan's topic and did not continue to pursue Zheng Xuan's appearance. Instead, he looked at the corpse on the ship, where a child's body lay alone.

Richard then jumped onto Zheng Xuan's boat, turned Erdan's body over with his foot, and pulled out a photo from his pocket to compare it, saying, "Hmm, it's that child."

After saying this, Richard looked up at Zheng Xuan and asked, "What about the other one?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan said, "I'll just retrieve one body."

After saying this, Richard frowned and asked, "Just one?"

Then he began to look Zheng Xuan up and down. Zheng Xuan felt like he was being stared at by a venomous snake, but he still suppressed his panic and remained calm.

"Sir, is something wrong?"

Richard then looked at Zheng Xuan and said, "There's nothing wrong. Where did you retrieve the body?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan immediately mentioned a place about ten miles away from the last time the ironclad ship was used. Li Jitong had introduced it to him before. It was a backwater bay where many of the corpses upstream would be intercepted. Since he said it was a place, he couldn't possibly find anything wrong with the location of the corpses.

Richard frowned slightly upon hearing this and continued, "Then why did you come here to find me instead of taking the body directly to the body retrieval team?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan immediately revealed a resentful expression and said, "The body retrieval team said they would give us five hundred silver dollars for finding a body, but according to the rules, the captain takes some and the team leader takes some, leaving me with less than a hundred dollars. I worked myself to the bone to retrieve the body, why should I share the money with them? I might as well just come to you, sir, to exchange for the reward, then all five hundred silver dollars will be mine."

"Oh, aren't you afraid of losing your job doing this?"

Richard scrutinized Zheng Xuan, who said, "To be honest, sir, I'm an apprentice in the corpse retrieval team. I earn five silver dollars a month, sixty a year. These five hundred silver dollars are almost ten years' worth of my wages. As long as I get the money, what does it matter if they find out? At worst, I'll just leave Tianjin and find another city or another job."

Richard, unable to find any fault with Zheng Xuan's words, said, "Aren't you afraid I won't pay you?"

Hearing this, Zheng Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the issue returned to money, it wouldn't be a big problem. However, he absolutely couldn't appear to be indifferent to money, or his persona would crumble.

Thinking this, Zheng Xuan said, "Sir, you wouldn't do that. You look like a noble gentleman. How could someone like you possibly renege on your debt?"

"Heh, you even know what a gentleman is?"

Richard was pleased by Zheng Xuan's use of the word "gentleman," which was much more pleasant than the Chinese calling him "sir."

"Of course, although I was born in China, I still yearn for foreign countries and hope to become a gentleman in a civilized country."

"Oh, so which country do you like?"

"Of course it's France. It's the most romantic country in the world, and everyone there is a gentleman. If I have the chance, I really want to visit romantic Paris."

Zheng Xuan spoke with a look of longing.

Zheng Xuan knew he must feel extremely disgusted right now, just like those fake foreign devils who fawn over foreigners.

But there's no other way; everything is just a means to an end. As long as the final goal is achieved, that's good enough.

Richard was in a very good mood after hearing Zheng Xuan's words, and the corners of his mouth turned up. He was French, and he was very happy to hear Chinese people praising his country.

At this moment, he looked at Zheng Xuan and said, "Here is a thousand silver dollars. Remember, this is a gift from the great Baron Andre."

Upon hearing the news of a thousand silver dollars, Zheng Xuan's heart raced. Good heavens, this was truly a windfall! Zheng Xuan immediately clasped his hands together, his face full of gratitude, and said, "Thank you, great Baron Andrei."

Richard then reached out, and a servant handed Zheng Xuan a thousand silver dollars.

Zheng Xuan accepted the money, and Richard ordered his men to remove the body. However, Zheng Xuan sensed something was wrong; he was afraid that taking this thousand silver dollars would be difficult, because the patrolmen were all watching him.

They worked hard all night but got nothing. If they took the money, the foreigners wouldn't dare do anything to them, but what would happen to them in Tianjin in the future?

Besides, my goal this time isn't money.

Thinking this, Zheng Xuan counted out one hundred silver dollars from the one thousand silver dollars. Just then, seeing Richard and the others leave, Zheng Xuan called out to the patrol captain: "Brother."

Just then, the patrol team looked at Zheng Xuan and said, "Hehe, little brother, you've struck it rich. What are your orders?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan immediately replied, "Brother, you're joking. It's the middle of the night, and the brothers in the patrol battalion are still on duty. It's not easy for them. Here's one hundred silver dollars. Brother, please help distribute it among the brothers. It's just a token of my appreciation."

Upon hearing this, the patrol team member glanced at Zheng Xuan and said, "Hehe, brother, you know how to handle things. I'll take this money; you'll be more accommodating if we meet again. Also, let me remind you, this matter is between the county magistrate and the foreigners."

"You'll feel like you're burning your hands with this money."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xuan immediately clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for reminding me, brother. I understand, but I still don't know your name."

Cao Sanzheng said, "Cao San, people in Tianjin call me Hunter Cao, because I come from a hunting background."

"My name is Zheng Xuan. I won't disturb Brother Cao's business today. I'll invite Brother Cao for drinks another day."

Cao San nodded, and Zheng Xuan turned and left, thinking to himself, "Hunter Cao, the Hunter Sequence?"

With that in mind, Zheng Xuan rowed away in his famous boat. He had exceeded his objective and successfully covered his master and Song Jin'ao's escape, which was a great favor to him.

In addition, I received these nine hundred silver dollars. Although this money is hot to handle, if I manage it well, I should be able to reap some benefits and eliminate the danger along the way.

Honestly, as long as we can save our master, earning even one more penny is a bonus!

I wonder where Master and the others are?