"Tch!" Long-tailed guy turned around sharply and said to him sarcastically, "Last year, the British bigwig Thatcher visited China and wanted to renew the lease of this land. Our bigwig disagreed, and they were very unhappy. They started negotiating last September and have been dragging it out until now without reaching a conclusion. On their turf, you'd better keep your tail between your legs and act like a grandson!"
------------
Chapter 73 Seeing Half
The sound of the wind along the coast was like the mournful cry of ghosts, which made the hearts of those fleeing the port tremble violently.
They jumped off the boat, crouched down, and looked around warily, not daring to make a sound.
With a sudden wave of his hand, the escapees turned around in unison and sprinted towards the woods a hundred meters away.
Normally, there would be sentries patrolling with dogs on Tsim Nok Tsui Beach after nightfall, but now there is not a single person or dog. This must be due to the influence of Long Tail Brother's "bribery connections".
Just as we entered the woods, a flashlight suddenly shone, and two police officers stood not far away, wearing khaki short-sleeved police uniforms. Khaki was a shade of green, a color of police uniforms that the British had adopted in their tropical colonies. TVB once produced a TV series called "Big Head Green Fights Zombies," in which "Big Head Green" specifically referred to police officers of that era.
After the handover, Hong Kong police uniforms will gradually be replaced by blue service uniforms, but some departments, such as cadets at the training grounds and police officers on duty, will still wear green uniforms.
Smugglers are most afraid of seeing the police. For a moment, the group of people were all silent. Lin Baozai was so scared that he was trembling. Li Ling immediately put his arm around him to prevent Lin Baozai from being too frightened and running away or doing something that would offend the police.
Long-tailed Brother signaled to everyone not to panic and went to talk to the police on his own.
It's time to pay.
The police, armed with flashlights, counted the number of people, collected bribes from Longtail Brother per head, and quickly waved him away.
The process was thrilling but ultimately safe.
After crossing the patrol line, they ran south along the woods.
After running for a mile, Long Tail Bro called a halt and pointed to a vegetable shed ahead: "This place is a hidden outpost, with two policemen and four dogs stationed there day and night. I bribed them and the dogs. At this time of day, they're all at the outpost eating their midnight snack, and the dogs are eating too. They deliberately let us go!"
Long-tailed Brother was showing off his skills, especially to Li Ling, saying, "Mr. Li, if you land alone, you'll be caught 100% of the time. Wasn't your boat fare worth it?"
"We need to hurry on our way, be careful the wolfhounds come back running wild after their midnight snack!" Li Ling urged him impatiently, thinking to himself that this sissy was really talking too much nonsense.
They put all their effort into running south.
Ouch!
A middle-aged man in a formal suit fell to the ground, and the large bag he was carrying on his arm was thrown off as he fell.
With a 'rip' sound, the backpack happened to graz a broken tree branch, and the sharp edge of the branch immediately cut a hole in the backpack.
With a 'whoosh', the contents of the backpack spilled onto the ground. Li Ling glanced at the pile of things that had fallen and his eyes lit up immediately.
Li Ling quickly stepped forward to help the middle-aged man up.
"Thank you, ouch, my things." The middle-aged man had probably strained his back. He clutched his waist and his face twitched. He first thanked Li Ling politely, then quickly looked at his backpack. Ignoring the pain in his back, he hurriedly went forward to pick up his things from the ground.
The middle-aged man picked up the items quickly, and intentionally or unintentionally blocked Li Ling's view with his body, which aroused Li Ling's curiosity about this middle-aged man.
Moreover, this person was dressed formally, unlike other stowaways whose clothes were worn out. However, Li Ling could sense the middle-aged man's wariness towards him, so he did not go forward to help.
Meanwhile, the other illegal immigrants had already run far away. They were all very careful, afraid of getting into trouble.
After finally gathering everything, the middle-aged man carefully checked it over, took out a rope, and tightly tied the tear in the backpack. Then, he turned around and thanked Li Ling, who was waiting for him, saying, "Thank you for earlier, young man."
Li Ling waved his hand, "We're all from the same hometown, no need to be so polite." Looking ahead, where no one else had disappeared, he said, "Let's run!"
"Ouch!" The middle-aged man, seeing that it was just the two of them left, quickly said, "Let's go."
As he spoke, the middle-aged man, protecting his backpack, called out to Li Ling and chased after the main group. Li Ling watched the middle-aged man's back and narrowed his eyes at how carefully he handled his backpack.
"Huff~ Huff~"
The middle-aged man had probably fallen too hard; he couldn't run more than a few steps before clutching his back and being unable to continue.
Li Ling stepped forward and asked with concern, "Brother, are you alright? You look so tired. Let me carry your bag and help you run."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man took a couple of breaths, clutching his aching back and feeling the weight of his backpack. Knowing that he couldn't run for long with the backpack in his current condition, he gritted his teeth and handed it to Li Ling. Li Ling took the backpack, which was indeed quite heavy, and went forward to help the middle-aged man. The two of them started running again.
During the run, Li Ling noticed the middle-aged man's eyes scanning her backpack more than once, which confirmed to Li Ling that there were quite a few valuable items in the bag.
They kept running, but because the middle-aged man was injured, Li Ling had to support him while they ran, so the two of them couldn't go fast and had already fallen behind the main group.
Li Ling's eyes swept across the pitch-black surroundings, where only the chirping of insects could be heard. Confirming that no one else was around, Li Ling slowly moved the middle-aged man's hand upwards, stopping at his neck, and then pressed down sharply.
"snort!"
The middle-aged man groaned, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. Li Ling caught him so he wouldn't fall to the ground.
After knocking the middle-aged man unconscious, Li Ling placed him on the ground, opened his backpack, and found more than twenty bottles and jars, several stacks of Hong Kong dollars (all in thousand-dollar bills), a camera, several tape recorders, and a few pieces of fashionable clothing from that era.
The middle-aged man had just fallen, and the pile of Hong Kong dollars fell out of the tear in his backpack, which caught Li Ling's attention.
Li Ling quickly stuffed some of the items into his backpack. He didn't go all the way, leaving half for the middle-aged man. Besides, Li Ling hadn't used much force when he knocked the middle-aged man unconscious, so he would probably wake up in about ten minutes.
Looking at the middle-aged man who had fainted, Li Ling chuckled, "Brother, it's fate that this thing fell out. We'll split it in half. I'm new here and have nothing of value, so I don't think you'll mind if I take some of your things. It's settled then. Good luck!"
Li Ling placed the middle-aged man in a secluded spot, pressed his backpack under him, stood up, clapped his hands, and with a slight smirk, took his direction and strode off.
After running for half an hour, passing three hills and two villages, we finally stopped near a riverbed five or six meters wide, where the main group had been.
Across the river stood a dilapidated house with a shadowy figure inside, calling out in a low voice, "Is that Longtail Bro?"
"It's me!" Longtail Bro replied. "I'm here to pick you all up!"
With a whoosh.
A dozen or so people suddenly poured out of the tile-roofed house, turning on their flashlights and shining them in this direction.