Chapter 43: Chapter 43: The Gains from Charity

Weber looked up. "That must be Father Hans."

The door opened, and a younger priest walked in.

He was in his early thirties, tall, with an upright posture and a sharp, alert gaze. Werner could tell at a glance that this man was no simple priest.

"Father Hans," Weber said, making the introduction, "this is the Mr. Werner I mentioned to you, and this is Ms. Eva."

"A pleasure to meet you, Father Hans." Werner nodded respectfully.

Father Hans sized Werner up, then walked over to the medicine crate to inspect it closely. "The quality is excellent. Weber told me about your partnership. On behalf of St. Paul’s Church, I thank you."

"St. Paul’s Church?" Werner asked.

"Yes, I’m from St. Paul’s Church in East Berlin," Father Hans explained. "Our two churches often collaborate on charitable activities. Weber told me you could provide medicine from West Germany, so I came to see for myself."

"Father Hans’s church is a bit larger," Weber added. "And their charity budget is more substantial."

Father Hans nodded. "Our monthly charity budget is about 600 Marks. If the medicine is high-quality and reasonably priced, we’re willing to establish a long-term partnership."

Werner was delighted. ’That’s much larger than the 200-Mark budget from Weber’s church.’

"Of course, that’s no problem. I can provide a steady supply of various common medicines, and I’ll give the Church a discount."

"What are the specific prices?" Father Hans asked.

Werner took out a price list. "Aspirin, market price 5 Marks, for the Church it’s 3.5 Marks. Penicillin, market price 12 Marks, for the Church it’s 8.4 Marks. Sulfa pills, market price 8 Marks, for the Church it’s 5.6 Marks. It’s all a 30% discount."

Father Hans did a quick calculation. "The prices are very fair. However, I’d like to know, is your supply source stable? Our charity work cannot be interrupted."

"Very stable," Werner said confidently. "I have a reliable channel in West Berlin. I can restock once every two weeks."

"Excellent." Father Hans nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Weber. "Our two churches could place a combined order. The quantity would be larger, and perhaps Mr. Werner could give us an even better price."

"If the two churches cooperate and the monthly purchase volume reaches 800 Marks or more, I can take another 5% off. That’s 5% off the already discounted price," Werner immediately proposed a better offer.

Weber and Father Hans exchanged a glance, both looking pleased.

"Then it’s settled," said Father Hans. "We’ll purchase once every two weeks, with a combined order from both churches."

"No problem." Werner nodded. "By the way, besides regular medicine, if you need any special drugs, I can also try to source them. Things like nutritional injections, vitamin solutions, and so on."

Father Hans’s eyes lit up. "That is very important. We often receive parishioners who are in frail health and require special nutritional support."

Werner noticed a particular emphasis in Father Hans’s tone when he said "parishioners who are in frail health." ’Clearly, these "parishioners" are not ordinary people.’

"I understand." Werner nodded. "I’ll bring some samples of nutritional supplements next time."

Weber took two documents from a drawer. "These are charity certificates from our two churches. If you run into any inspections during transport, you can show them these."

Werner took the certificates, overjoyed.

With certificates from two churches, the security of his transport operations had increased significantly.

Once the deal was settled, Weber counted out 200 Marks, and Father Hans produced 400 Marks.

"We’ll take 600 Marks’ worth of goods for now," said Father Hans. "We will gradually increase the purchase volume in the future."

Werner appeared humble as he accepted the money. "It’s my honor to be able to contribute to the Church’s charitable work."

"Mr. Werner," Father Hans said seriously, "our charity work can be quite special at times and requires absolute confidentiality. I hope you can understand."

"Of course, I understand," Werner said solemnly. "A businessman’s first principle is to protect his client’s privacy."

Father Hans nodded in satisfaction. "Very good. Then we will meet here every two weeks, at the same time as today."

When they left the church, both priests personally saw them to the door.

"May God bless you," Weber said.

"And may God bless the charitable work of both of you as well," Werner responded.

On the way back, Eva couldn’t help but ask, "Don’t you think there’s something special about that Father Hans?"

"He certainly doesn’t seem like a typical priest," Werner said in a low voice. "And those ’parishioners in frail health’ he mentioned... I don’t think they’re ordinary church members."

"Are you saying..."

"It’s likely related to political prisoners," Werner said. "I’m guessing they’re providing medical support for some political prisoners who are about to be released or who need special care."

Eva looked a little worried. "If that’s the case, won’t we... get dragged into something dangerous?"

"Not at this stage," Werner reassured her. "We’re just medicine suppliers, providing normal medical products. Plus, we have the cover of the Church’s certificates. The risk is manageable."

He paused for a moment, a glint of ambition flashing in his eyes. "More importantly, if my assessment is correct, there could be a massive business opportunity waiting for us behind all this."

After returning to their residence, Werner began to calculate the day’s gains: he had secured the cooperation of two churches, with potential monthly earnings of over 2,000 Marks. He had also obtained two valuable charity certificates. More importantly, he had confirmed that these churches were indeed involved in some kind of secret activity involving special personnel.

He wrote in his notebook:

"Dual Church Project: Monthly income approx. 2,000-2,400 Marks. Medium risk, excellent cover.

Father Hans: Key figure from St. Paul’s Church, suspected involvement in special activities. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Special Clients: Frail health, require nutritional support, possibly related to political prisoners.

Next Steps: Stabilize supply to build trust, seek opportunities for deeper involvement."

"Werner," Eva said, sitting on the edge of the bed, "what do you mean by ’business opportunity’?"

"If the West German Government is truly willing to pay to ransom political prisoners," Werner said, putting down his pen and looking at her, "then this is about much more than just selling medicine. The entire operation will require all sorts of services: medical care, transportation arrangements, identification papers... Every step is a business opportunity."

Outside the window, the East Berlin night was quiet.

The streetlights were dim, and a patrol car occasionally passed by. In this seemingly calm city, all sorts of undercurrents were stirring.

* * *

Werner sat at the wooden table in his small apartment, several relief supply distribution forms he had "borrowed" from the Church spread out before him.

Under the dim light of a desk lamp, he meticulously scanned the dense columns of numbers on the forms, searching for any abnormality.

’This Otto’s appetite is getting bigger and bigger,’ he thought, circling figures on the paper with a pencil and calculating the discrepancies.

None of the accounts added up. The shortfalls were shockingly large.

A few weeks ago, Werner had started making frequent appearances at St. Martin’s Church.

On the surface, he was a smuggler passionate about the Church’s charitable work, providing them with various smuggled medicines at discounted prices and voluntarily shouldering the risks.

In reality, he was trying to infiltrate the Church to find an opportunity to get involved in the future political prisoner exchanges and make a huge profit from them.

To build a good relationship with the Church, Werner acted with immense enthusiasm.

He helped organize relief supplies, assisted in distributing food, and even volunteered for dirty and strenuous tasks.

In the process, he learned a crucial piece of information: church organizations in West Germany donated large quantities of relief supplies to churches in East Germany every month.

"These supplies are shipped from Hamburg Port and enter East Germany through special religious channels," Priest Weber had once let slip. "Because it involves religious charity, the government usually doesn’t interfere too much."