Chapter 77 The Problem of Identity
"Quickly call 999 and get a white car over here!" The police officers surrounded the driver, shouting frantically.
One of the officers crouched down, checked the driver's breathing and pulse, and shook his head, saying, "He's already dead. Don't call an ambulance, just call a taxi and take him to the morgue!"
The truck that caused the accident stopped abruptly on the side of the road. The truck driver was a middle-aged woman. Upon seeing that she had hit and killed someone, she was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground and cried loudly.
Li Ling went over to comfort her: "Don't worry, Auntie, this is a criminal who crashed into your car while fleeing. It has nothing to do with you."
"Even if we have no connection, we still have to pay compensation!" The middle-aged housewife wouldn't listen to any advice, and her crying became even more intense, muttering repeatedly, "Even if I sold everything I own, it wouldn't be enough to pay for it!"
"That's not necessarily true." Li Ling opened the camera in his pocket, took out a roll of film, and handed it to her.
“Auntie, he just ran a red light. I happened to see him violate the traffic law and I happened to take a picture of him. You can get the photo developed. With evidence in hand, you won’t have to spend a penny.”
The middle-aged woman's ability to stop crying was faster than braking. She looked at Li Ling excitedly, "Handsome, are you serious?"
"More real than Allah, don't worry." Li Ling didn't linger for long, waving his hand as he left.
Inside the van, Li Ling had already anticipated the driver's sinister intentions and had secretly stuffed the bottles of poison into the fish's mouth in advance, precisely to deal with the driver's extortion attempt.
He originally intended to destroy the batch of medicine, but the driver's greed gave him an excuse to frame him.
To ensure a complete frame-up, he secretly followed the driver, observing his suffering and taking precautions against the potential repercussions that might follow.
Now that the driver has been killed in the accident, the matter has come to a perfect end, and he bears no responsibility whatsoever.
Li Ling was never one to let a grudge go unpunished, and this driver wasn't a good person either; his death actually purified the world.
Yes, Li Ling... is contributing to the beauty of the world!
He retraced his steps and turned into a McDonald's restaurant as he passed by. He didn't let Lin Baozai follow him and settled him there.
"Brother Ling, the food made by people from Hong Kong Island is really delicious. You said they all came from Guangdong Province, so why don't they have this kind of food back home?" Lin Baozai said, holding a fried chicken leg in one hand and a hamburger in the other, his face covered in grease.
“This is American-style chicken, not a local specialty of Hong Kong.” Li Ling was a little surprised. McDonald’s entered Hong Kong quite early, but he didn’t see any KFCs along the way.
"By the way, Brother Ling, what did you go out to do just now?" Lin Baozai waited for Li Ling at the restaurant for almost an hour. At first, he was worried that Li Ling would not come back and couldn't eat at all. Later, when he got bored, he took a sip of Coke and found it sweet to his heart. Then he happily ate and drank.
Li Ling didn't explain, just gave a casual answer, and then asked him, "Bao Zai, which district do you live in?"
"I live in Sha Tin District! It's very close to Sha Tin Racecourse!"
"Getting to Sha Tin involves going through mountains, and the roads are difficult to navigate. It will take at least an hour to get there! Eat quickly, I'm going to buy some things first, and then we'll take the bus when I get back!"
Half an hour later, Li Ling returned, looking completely different. He had changed from his old clothes to a fashionable outfit—a costume from the Star Wars series that was all the rage in America. His worn-out leather bag had also been replaced with a brand-new backpack.
"Wow, Brother Ling's clothes are so stylish!" Lin Baozai exclaimed in amazement as he looked at Li Ling's fashionable outfit.
Li Ling chuckled and asked, "Are the clothes nice, but is the person pretty too?"
Lin Baozai gave a thumbs up: "Your clothes are nice, but you're even more beautiful!"
"You little rascal!" Li Ling ruffled Lin Baozai's hair.
"Here you go!" Li Ling handed Baozai a keychain with a black warrior statue hanging on it.
"Wow, so cool!" Lin Baozai turned the Black Warrior over and over, looking at it with great affection.
Li Ling still had one left. "I bought two. I'll give you that one and keep one. Here, and this one too."
As he spoke, Li Ling took out a rolled-up poster from his bag, which was also a Star Wars poster, and handed it to Lin Baozai: "And this poster, let's each take one, as a souvenir for the two of us."
"Thank you, Brother Ling."
"Pack your things, we need to catch the train."
...
Li Ling led Lin Baozai onto Castle Peak Road, a main thoroughfare that runs through Yuen Long town. Many bus stops are built along the street, and they waited for the bus at the 'Yuen Long Police Station Stop'.
"We're going to take the 269D bus operated by Kowloon Motor Bus. This bus route has a history of half a century and runs between Yuen Long and Sha Tin districts in the New Territories. It departs at 5:30 a.m. and runs every 15 minutes."
While waiting for the train, Li Ling described the scenery of Hong Kong Island to Lin Baozai, based on information he had read before entering this world.
“The planning of a new town for Yuen Long only began in 1978. Before that, it was a housing estate. The Hong Kong government was slow in its development. Basic public facilities such as police stations, hospitals, and libraries were only completed less than two years ago.”
The first public housing estate, Long Ching Estate, designed to house the poor, is under construction. Commercial capital has just poured in, acquiring land that is already under development. This explains the abundance of construction sites nearby.
Lin Baozai listened with great interest. He was also very curious as to why Ah Ling, who had just arrived in Hong Kong like him, was so familiar with Hong Kong Island.
“Look at the streets, bicycles and buses are everywhere, but there are fewer private cars. This is because Yuen Long’s economy is underdeveloped. Hong Kong Island is divided into three major regions: the New Territories, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, and is further divided into eighteen districts according to administration.”
Nine of these administrative districts are located in the New Territories. Apart from Tsuen Wan, Sha Tin, and Kwai Tsing, which are close to Kowloon, the other six districts, such as Yuen Long, Tuen Mun, and Tai Po, are considered 'suburbs' by Hong Kong residents. Suburbs signify poverty, backwardness, and lack of prosperity.
Even more than 30 years later, the six districts of Yuen Long are still considered suburban areas by Hong Kong people because they have never been able to develop due to inconvenient transportation.
As Li Ling finished speaking, a 269D bus pulled up at the station.
He led Lin Baozai up.
The carriage was packed and lively, with passengers chatting amongst themselves.
Li Ling followed the aisle, pulling Lin Baozai straight to the back row, where he overheard many conversations that interested him.
"There's a horse race at Sha Tin Racecourse tomorrow, and 'Lucky Brother' will be racing. He's the champion horse, having won seven times already. Bet on him to 'win alone,' and you're guaranteed to win!"
"Buying horses is a gamble; there's no guarantee of winning. But you still have to try your luck, right? What if you win?"