Ban Jiaming looked at her but didn't reply. 'There are no truly selfless people in this world.' He was still waiting for Hailan to reveal the true purpose of her visit.
Hailan didn't make him wait long.
"Mr. Ban Jiaming, you've heard of the Red Velvet Ship, haven't you?"
Of course Ban Jiaming had.
In Haidu, anyone with a bit of sense had heard of the Red Velvet Ship. It wasn't a single vessel, but a class of them. Some even said that the Red Velvet Ship best represented the more radical, fanatical, and fearless aspects of the Haidu spirit—the parts that were often reckless and even unsettling.
Haidu's outcasts, those punished by their families, the desperately poor... or perhaps fanatical adventurers, treasure hunters, and oceanographers desperate for a breakthrough. Batch after batch of these motley crews would board ships—large and small, new and old—and set out on rarely traveled sea routes. They were searching for the end of the sea, dreaming of new continents, and hoping to discover strange beasts, rare plants, mechanical materials, or treasures and ores that no one had ever found before.
The Red Velvet Stone was perhaps the most famous discovery made by these exploration ships to date. In Haidu, at least half of all mechanisms required this material. Its discovery created countless fortunes and legends. From that point on, the name "Red Velvet Ship" became a prayer for good luck.
And they certainly needed the luck. Their routes often passed through dangerous waters where they faced storms, gargantuan beasts, pirates, or crises an ordinary person could never even imagine. Every year, Red Velvet Ships vanished without a trace. And every year, new Red Velvet Ships still departed from Haidu.
Humanity has always gazed upon the sky and the sea, and has never lacked the courage to give of itself for a new world.
As Hailan mentioned the Red Velvet Ship, her brow furrowed slightly.
"As for the decontamination, I can find someone to handle it for you. You'll still only have to pay a single fee, and I guarantee you'll never have to worry about it again." A look of unease crossed her face, and her voice dropped. "But that child caused so much trouble. Isn't the Tower family... going to punish her at all?"
"Of course there will be." The portly supervisor immediately understood her implication. He agreed readily, studying Hailan with a questioning gaze.
Hailan nodded and forced a smile. "That's good," she continued. "You see, I have a younger brother who's about to be assigned to a Red Velvet Ship. The voyage is for a full year. Our whole family is worried sick, of course. My mother has been crying for days. If someone could take his place..."
A look of dawning comprehension finally appeared on Ban Jiaming's face.
Without a doubt, he now understood Hailan's objective.
'To the Tower family, as long as the decontamination gets done, what difference does it make if a low-ranking member is used for that purpose, or sent to board a Red Velvet Ship?'
Once all the details had been smoothly ironed out, Hailan was politely escorted to the door.
Just as she was about to step out the door, she suddenly braced a hand on the frame and turned back. Her eyes met Ban Jiaming's, and she finally couldn't hold it in any longer. "I don't actually want to see anything happen to that child. Mr. Ban Jiaming, she's still one of the Tower family's children, and just a little girl... Can you please look out for her? Otherwise, my conscience won't be clear."
Ban Jiaming nodded repeatedly, muttering a few perfunctory "of course"-es. But it was clear that, as far as he was concerned, this unexpected bit of trouble was already a closed case.
After leaving the Tower residence, Hailan had to sit by the roadside for a while.
Once the weakness in her limbs subsided and she had regained her strength, she hurried all the way back to the nursing tent outside the contaminated zone. There, she changed back into her nurse's uniform.
There were plenty of nurses near the contaminated zone, and she had given a false name at the Tower residence. As long as nothing went wrong, the Tower family wouldn't go to the trouble of finding her.
But even with that understanding, waves of belated fear washed over her, draining the color from her face. When Milady walked into the nursing tent, she found Hailan sitting restlessly.
"Auntie Hailan," she said, striding forward and taking Hailan's hands. "How did it go? Did you succeed?"
Hailan stared at her, still in a daze. It was as if she couldn't quite believe what she had actually done that day.
"I think it was a success. At least, that supervisor agreed to it. He didn't realize I wasn't actually a real inspector. My own heart was pounding the whole time..." She gave a wry laugh. "I know I told you to come to me if you ever needed help, but I never imagined you'd ask for *this* kind of help."