Lin Baozai lowered his head in shame, "There aren't any telephones at their workplaces!"
"Do you have any other relatives in Hong Kong?" Li Ling was a little depressed. Her family was so poor that if she asked someone to stay with her, she would probably have to sleep on the floor.
“I used to have an older sister, but she died many years ago.” Lin Baozai’s nose began to sting as he recalled the past.
“My eldest sister loved me the most and was also very capable. She got into the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and worked at the Zhujiang Film Studio. My dad only decided to come to Hong Kong after she died. Brother Ling, I was fostered at my uncle's house for seven years. My dad and mom didn't care about me. Do you think they forgot about me or got the time wrong?”
"Even if I forget you, I won't forget the two thousand RMB!" Li Ling crossed her arms and explained to him:
“Baozai, I suspect that your dad was in a car accident on his way to pick you up, and your dad, mom and older brother should all be in the car, otherwise they wouldn’t have left the home phone empty.”
"A car accident?" Lin Baozai shouted anxiously, "Brother Ling, they won't be killed, will they?"
"What nonsense are you talking about!" Li Ling slapped him. "You won't die, don't worry."
"Oh!" Lin Baozai said dejectedly, "Brother Ling, what do we do now?"
"Didn't you write down your home address? Let's go there."
Do you know the way?
"Tch, I have the entire map of Hong Kong Island in my head, I'm like an Octopus card!" Li Ling raised his hand and pointed north: "Attention! Right turn, march!"
"Okay!" Lin Baozai immediately transformed into a model Young Pioneer, marching in step with perfect discipline.
Leaving the station, you pass many schools; gated campuses are a common sight in this area. Examples include Baptist Lui Ming Choi Secondary School, St. Wah Catholic Primary School, and Wo Che Estate Kindergarten.
"Brother Ling, what is kindergarten?" Lin Baozai asked with a strong desire to know.
“Kindergartens are the same as kindergartens in mainland China. Hong Kong people are used to calling them that. They are mostly private, registered with the Education Department, and provide services for children aged three to six on Hong Kong Island. Children who are five years and eight months old or above can apply for a Primary One place in a government-run or subsidized primary school.”
This is the situation in the 21st century; whether it's still the same these days, Li Ling has no idea.
They walked down another street and turned onto Fengshun Road, where another school was located, with a newspaper stand at the entrance.
Li Ling stopped in his tracks. "Bao Zai, don't rush. Let's go and get some information about Hong Kong Island!"
On the cement wall to the left of the newsstand, the words "Shatin Suzhou-Zhejiang Public School" are written, and above the words, a dozen or so colorful hand-painted movie posters with the same image are pasted side by side.
The text on the poster reads as follows:
"Priority will be given to the midnight screenings at Lisheng and Minle Theaters tomorrow night:"
"first"
—It will shock you, melt you, and leave you with an unforgettable experience!
Starring Leslie Cheung and Weng Jingjing
—The most eye-catching and talked-about youth romance drama of the year!
Lin Baozai was attracted by the long-haired woman on the poster and exclaimed, "Brother Ling, this woman is so beautiful, she looks like a fairy."
"Weng Jingjing?" Li Ling recalled for a moment and introduced her:
"On screen, she's a big star, but off screen, she's a martial arts master's mistress. The martial arts master is fifty years old, has a wife and children, and she's the third party who came between them. She's single-mindedly trying to steal the position of the empress. She's so vulgar and has no ethereal charm whatsoever."
"The Empress? Isn't that the first wife?" Lin Baozai said smugly, "Brother Ling, she stole someone else's husband, so she must be a bad woman. She should be sentenced by the court!"
"The court doesn't care about the couple's feelings, only their property. In reality, who she sleeps with is none of the court's business, not even God can stop her," Li Ling commented on Weng Jingjing.
"To the wives, she was a vixen who should be beaten to death, but to the concubines, she was a successful example of stealing other women's husbands!"
In the public eye, she has moral flaws, but she is also a philanthropist, passionate about charity. She has different images in the eyes of different people, so Baozai, you shouldn't simply judge a person as good or bad.
"I don't understand!" Lin Baozai genuinely couldn't understand. In the eyes of children, people are only divided into two categories: good people and bad people. Moreover, good people must be pure white lotuses, without a single stain, otherwise they are big villains. Apart from that, there are no other categories in their blank fairy tale world.
Li Lingxuan quickly changed the subject, leading the question: "Baozai, do you know why the movie poster was put up here?"
Lin Baozai scratched his head and looked at the building next to the newsstand, which was called 'Shatin Su Zhe Public School'. There was another school nearby called 'Shatin Pui Ying Secondary School'.
He answered uncertainly, "Because there are students here?"
"Bingo!" Li Ling snapped his fingers.
"Secondary schools on Hong Kong Island are different from those on the mainland. They offer junior secondary classes from Form 1 to Form 3, senior secondary classes from Form 4 to Form 5, and pre-university classes from Form 6 to Form 7 specifically for university courses."
The high school students here are quite mature and open-minded; there are many couples dating, so the poster is a targeted advertisement.
At this point, Li Ling stopped in his tracks.
He stopped not entirely because he was watching the news, but because he was thinking of Sister Jialing.
He had a vague impression of the Suzhou and Zhejiang Public School. It was founded by the Suzhou and Zhejiang Association and was located in Wo Che Estate. Wo Che Estate was the second public housing estate to be occupied in Sha Tin District. There were many poor people there, so the gentry donated money to build this secondary school. In fact, most of the primary schools and kindergartens in the vicinity were sponsored by wealthy people and charitable organizations.
Jialing arrived in Hong Kong at the age of fifteen. She was from Suzhou and attended a school for people from her hometown during her secondary school years.
Since the 1960s, Hong Kong Island has experienced several waves of refugee influx. When these refugee children first arrived, they were unable to enroll in government schools and mostly went to school buildings built by people from various provinces.
The Chaoshan, Minnan, and Jiangsu-Zhejiang schools all have their own private schools with no entry requirements. As long as you enroll, you are guaranteed a place to study. Lin Baozai will definitely attend a school funded by his fellow Cantonese.
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Chapter 80 is a bit annoying
I don't know why, but after being published for so long, Chapter 22 was blocked today. I made some changes, but the backend data got messed up, and it took me ages to fix it.
Ugh, so annoying. But thankfully, it's finally done. I don't know if there are any mistakes; I need to check it again.