Those fleeing to Hong Kong rushed across the river, anxious and impatient, heading towards their relatives on the other side.
The young women were already crying.
"Uncle!"
"Nannan! Over here, come here quickly!"
"Third Uncle! Third Uncle!"
"My dear girl! Don't be alarmed!"
After picking up their loved ones, they didn't linger for a moment and disappeared into the woods on the shore in the blink of an eye.
Li Ling looked around; the place was empty, and he was all alone.
At this point, the smuggling operation was considered a success.
This smuggling method is a privilege reserved for the wealthy. Poor people swim across the border carrying tires or ping-pong ball bags, only to be beaten with police batons, bitten by wolfhounds, or captured by snake-catching gangs. Their chances of escaping the border are only 30%.
In fact, now that the mainland has reformed and opened up, people have hope for the future and are no longer willing to leave their hometowns. Hong Kong is also changing. Mainlanders can no longer apply for ID cards and will be directly deported if caught. So since the end of 1980, the number of people fleeing to Hong Kong alone has decreased sharply. Now, most of those fleeing to Hong Kong are looking for relatives.
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Chapter 74 Extortion
Upon reaching the other side, Li Ling discovered two people stranded on the riverbank.
One is Lam Po-tsai, and the other is Long Tail Bro.
"Why haven't my parents come to pick me up yet?" Lin Baozai was anxious and scared because he couldn't find his family.
Long-tailed Brother was smoking when he saw Li Ling slowly walking over. He quickly said, "Mr. Li, I have to go back to the beach to get my boat, so I can't take you. Where are you going? Take Baozai with you! His family probably had an accident!"
"Me, take him with me? Aren't you afraid I'll lose him?" Li Ling didn't give an answer as to whether he would take him or not.
"What am I afraid of? He's not my son!" Long-tailed Brother's tone was indifferent yet reasonable. He turned to Lin Baozai and instructed him:
“I only guarantee that I will send you here at a fixed time and place. If your family members don’t come, it’s not my responsibility! When your father gave me the money, I reminded him of this situation. I asked him to add an extra HK$1,000 so that if he couldn’t come for some reason, I would arrange for you to stay with a fellow villager in Wong Jing Wai. But your father is afraid of spending money and refused to buy insurance!”
Baozai, although we're from the same hometown, your dad is too stingy, so don't blame me for standing by. You have two choices now.
"One option is to wait here, but there are many snake dealers in the nearby villages. If they catch you, your father will probably be bankrupt. The other option is to go with Mr. Li, but I can't guarantee when he'll take you home. You should think about it yourself!"
Lin Baozai couldn't hear a word, his little face showing both distress and fear, and he kept wiping away his tears.
Without saying much, Long Tail Brother pulled out a business card and handed it to Li Ling: "Mr. Li, if you want to bring your relatives to Hong Kong in the future, you can contact me. I'll give you a discount! Goodbye, see you later!"
Li Ling accepted the business card, and seeing Long Tail Brother leave, he didn't linger, but turned and entered the woods to the south.
He walked for five minutes when he heard someone calling him, and Lin Baozai jogged after him.
"Hey tall guy, can I keep you company?"
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
“You’re always throwing gold around, you must be from a wealthy family. And you’re not after my money, so I’m not afraid!” Lin Baozai’s nerves began to relax when he saw him smile.
"Follow me if you're not afraid!" Li Ling didn't mind having a little tagalong. Hong Kong's refugee policy was strict at the moment, and since he was an undocumented immigrant, he needed a place to stay in Hong Kong.
The two teamed up and chatted intermittently.
Li Ling looked up at the sky. He had landed at around 4 a.m., and now it was getting light.
The two of them found themselves on a highway, a north-south road.
With few vehicles on the road, the two stood by the roadside waiting patiently, hoping to hitch a ride.
When Lam Po-tsai first arrived on Hong Kong Island, everything seemed strange and wonderful. Looking back, he saw a mountain range, about 150 meters high. He inquired about it and learned that…
"Brother Gao, what kind of road are we on? And what kind of mountain is that?"
"This should be Tin Tsz Highway, which runs through Tin Shui Wai from north to south and leads directly to Yuen Long New Town!"
As for that mountain, it's called Jade Hill, one of Hong Kong Island's tourist attractions. It's not famous, and its status is far inferior to Lion Rock. However, there are two ancient tombs on the mountain, one called "Jade Maiden's Wedding Ceremony" and the other "Immortal's Seat," where two Song Dynasty ancestors are buried. They are considered historical sites.
Wow, our ancestors settled in Hong Kong Island as early as the Song Dynasty?
"The Tang Dynasty already existed here! If we include the North District of the New Territories, people as early as the Qin Dynasty lived here!"
"Brother Gao..."
"My name is Li Ling, stop calling me 'Gao Lao,' it sounds awful!"
"You are indeed tall. I'll call you Brother Ling then. I also call a cousin from my hometown Brother Ling!"
I waited for about an hour, during which I flagged down five cars, but none of them were willing to stop, until a plain gray van drove up.
The front of the car has a Toyota logo on it.
This is the 'Toyota Hiace', which was introduced to Hong Kong Island from Japan in the mid-1970s. Because of its fuel efficiency, durability, simple maintenance, and low price, it dominated the streets of Hong Kong Island within a year or two. It was also easy to modify, had a large interior space, and could carry many people, thus increasing its efficiency in killing people. Therefore, this car was also a favorite of Hong Kong gangsters.
The previous times, it was Li Ling who struck up a conversation when they stopped the car, but this time Lin Baozai volunteered.
He stretched out his hand from afar, and the van saw the two of them and slowly pulled over to the side of the road.
The truck was loaded with seafood, and when the driver rolled down the window, a pungent fishy smell wafted out.
"Hey handsome young man, looking for a ride?" The driver was in his early thirties, with a large head, sly eyes that were also squinted, and a rather unpleasant appearance.