Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 42 Birthday Banquet, Birthday Gift

On the day of the birthday banquet, the entire Li Garden was decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, gongs and drums were beating, and firecrackers were blasting. Mr. Li's birthday banquet was held as usual.

The Li family also put in a lot of effort and thought this time. In order to make the place lively, they set up a buffet with 108 tables outside the Li Garden. All the industries under Jinluntai and Taiyou Mining were given a paid day off today, and all the workers rushed over to help run the business.

The garden was packed with guests, no matter they were colonial officials, tycoons from the British and Chinese communities, leaders of various societies, hall masters, or even envoys from the Malay Sultan. Almost everyone with a certain status in Kuala Lumpur, whether in the black or white world, came, without exception.

Everyone sincerely wishes the old man good fortune and a long life, and may he have this day every year.

The doorman was so busy just calling out names that he couldn't even begin to remember them all. If you weren't a well-known Chinese businessman, he would just drop your gift and let you in. He really didn't have time to call out your name.

"Kuala Lumpur, Selangor Chinese Hall, Mr. Zhang Yucai has arrived~~, giving birthday gifts~"

"Penang Island, Mr. Xu Shengli, the head of the Xu family in Penang, has arrived~, and presented a birthday gift of 500 acres of Siamese rice fields~~"

"Malacca Executive Councillor Mr. Tan Cheng Lock Tan arrived and presented a 400-acre rubber plantation as a birthday gift."

"Myanmar, Mr. Hu Wenhu, Chairman of Yong'an Tang, has arrived. He presented birthday gifts: a pair of century-old ginseng, a pair of Tianshan snow lotus, and a single dose of Angong Niuhuang Pills."

"Mr. Li Qingquan from the Philippines has arrived and presented a century-old mahogany Guanyin statue."

"Mr. Zhuang Xiyan from Indonesia has arrived~"

"Mr. Yi Guangyan from Siam has arrived~"

"Mr. Xiao Focheng from Siam has arrived~,"

Finally, the doorman, nearly hysterical with excitement, sounded as if he were about to die, shouting, "From Singapore, Mr. Tan Kah Kee, along with his nephew Mr. Tan Lark Sye and his son-in-law Mr. Lee Kong Chian, has arrived with a birthday gift: a scroll of Qi Baishi's birthday paintings."

Most people with a certain status in Southeast Asia came. This was actually impossible to do without someone taking the lead. Li Huaishuang was busy like a top, introducing this and that.

He was already familiar with many of the overseas Chinese leaders in Southeast Asia, especially those in Guangdong, and was a close friend of Li Jiqian. As an early core member of the Tongmenghui and a great writer, he was still very well-known in that era. In such occasions, he had become like a host.

When almost everyone had arrived and most of the auspicious words and polite remarks had been said, he took the initiative to bring up the business:

"Lord Ji Qian, um... I heard that you have a Mr. Zheng Yi under your command. I wonder if he's here today? Um... who exactly is Mr. Zheng?"

"Little Zheng said he wanted to put on a show for my old man. He's been preparing for it the whole time. I wonder what he's been up to. I guess... Boss, go check on Mr. Zheng."

"Brother Zheng is with my eldest sister and Wang Qiaoyun from the Wang family. They're acting so mysterious, and I don't know what they're doing. They say they want to give you a surprise."

"Surprise, even you don't know what it is?"

"Um... I roughly know what Brother Zheng has prepared, but I really don't know what the specific surprise is."

"Hahaha, alright, I also want to see what kind of surprise this kid has prepared for me."

Almost immediately after they finished speaking and exchanged a few pleasantries, a roaring noise erupted from the distant sky. With the buzzing sound, all the guests and friends instinctively turned their heads.

Then they saw two huge kite-like objects, painted in a conspicuous red color, flying towards them from a distance. When they got closer, everyone could see clearly that the canvases on them were painted with gold paint, with the word "Shou" written on one and the word "Fu" written on the other.

"This...this...is this...a plane?"

"I've never seen a plane like this before. Is it custom-made?"

"That thing up there...it doesn't look like an airplane."

Then I heard someone shouting from above: "Angkou~ Li Angkou~, hahahaha, we are here to celebrate your birthday~~ Hahaha, I wish you a long and prosperous life~, I wish you a happy birthday~"

"Who is this? Why does the voice sound so familiar?"

"Is this the girl from the Wang family? I've heard her sing before. What kind of song is this? It sounds weird."

"It seems that she is indeed the girl from the Wang family."

Everyone couldn't help but turn their eyes to Wang Zhaosong, the leader of the overseas Chinese community in Qiongzhou.

"From the voice...it's definitely my daughter, but I don't know what's going on. She's been acting so mysterious these past few months."

It was Chen Jiageng who suddenly asked Li Xiaoshi, "I remember you just said, Brother Zheng, you're with Miss Wang, planning a surprise for Mr. Li? Could it be... this? What on earth are these two things? Are they airplanes?"

"Mr. Chen, I do recognize these two things. They are powered delta-wing aircraft designed by Brother Zheng recently and manufactured by our Taiyou Machinery Factory."

"What did you say? This, this, plane, was built by you?"

"Another design by Mr. Zheng? You can actually build airplanes?"

Li Xiaoshi: "It's not an airplane, it's a powered delta wing. Honestly, it's nowhere near as useful as an airplane."

"What's the difference?"

Just as he finished speaking, he saw a bunch of paper balls being thrown down from under the two powered delta wings in the sky.

The paper balls exploded in the air, turning into ribbons, colorful paper pieces, and flower petals all over the sky.

"What's the difference with this special code? If you can throw paper balls, doesn't that also mean you can throw bombs?"

For a moment, everyone looked at each other, but Li Xiaoshi could no longer suppress the smug look on his face.

(End of this chapter)