He was now used to the life of a slave. Till very recently, along with a few other slaves, he had followed their master, carrying baskets on his shoulders. But now the master did not come with them. His financial status had improved enormously. He was on very good terms with the brokers near the Thirteen Factory area. The members of the Association of Brokers were very important in the foreign trade market and they handled all the business on behalf of the Chinese emperor.

Now the master’s business was not limited to meat alone. He had two tea houses along with some other business in Kwangchow. But his main business was opium. Everything else had become secondary.

The Chinese government had enforced strict laws prohibiting the supply of opium. For that reason, it was being smuggled in, with help from a few corrupt officials and abetted by some members of the Brokers’ Association. The Chinese emperor had been trying very hard to end the opium trade. With prohibition becoming stricter, the price of opium had also soared sky-high.

In the beginning, opium-trading was not a problem. It was easy to bribe the officials, and the boats could openly dock at the port. No one was particularly bothered when the supply of opium was unloaded. But now the situation had changed and the governor of Canton had not only ordered the arrest of the smugglers but also punished them severely. He had ordered all the ships to be searched. If opium was found on a ship, the entire cargo was confiscated and the ship was debarred from trading activities.

As a result of this, the smugglers started coming to Lintin Island at the mouth of the Pearl river. This was a British base where ships not sail-worthy on the high seas were docked. The big ships that carried opium unloaded their cargo onto these stationary boats and went back to India for replenishment. From this spot, the smugglers secretly took their quota of opium to Kwangchow and other places in small boats. Being caught meant sure death, but Ho Han and the others were used to playing with death. From Lintin they carried the opium to their master’s secret godowns, where the retailers bought it.

Ho Han’s master had become an opium addict himself. Heating lumps of the narcotic over the flame of a lamp, he would inhale the smoke through a thin pipe and wander into a dream world of his own. He did not go out much these days. Handing over all the hard work to his old slave Ho Han, he drowned himself in intoxication. His involvement in opium smuggling had taught Ho Han quite a few things. He also learnt a lot of things from visiting the port frequently.

The colourful port life amazed him. The vastness and vibrancy of the place, packed with schooners, clippers, Chinese junks and sailing boats, with their variety of flags from different countries, thrilled him. He would often wonder about the countries these ships came from.