Chapter 54: Coming to the Mainland to Make a Living
Li Yiwen said he didn't quite understand what Lu Yiming said.
This is actually normal.
Even at that point in time before the time travel, twenty years into the 21st century had already passed, there were still many people who didn't understand.
Not only do they not understand, they are also blindly optimistic about the future and sing praises of the current era - even though the assets of three generations of their family combined cannot even buy a house in the city, and work is becoming more and more competitive, so no matter how hard they try, their hopes of getting ahead will only become slimmer and slimmer.
Lu Yiming didn't want to explain too much, so he just emphasized his tone and said, "Cousin, I'll leave the Internet cafe matters to you for now. Wangzai and I are going to Hong Kong."
"Ah? Come with me? To Xiangjiang?"
Lu Yiming had not told Li Quanwang about going to Hong Kong before. Ever since Lu Yiming went to Hong Kong last time, Li Quanwang had been longing to go there. Now that Lu Yiming said he would take him to Hong Kong, he suddenly became excited, as if he had endless energy.
Lu Yiming glanced at Li Quanwang and teased him, "Yeah, haven't you always wanted to go and have a look? If you don't want to go, just tell me. It's not bad for you to stay and look after the store."
Li Quanwang immediately got angry: "No, I'll go, I'll definitely go!"
Hong Kong was separated from the motherland for a hundred years, and sovereignty was only regained last year. In Li Quanwang's view, Hong Kong is a world of feasting and revelry, and he dreams of going there to see it with his own eyes.
"Well, let's get the visa first. We'll take the ferry over in a few days. I've already called to book the tickets. We'll leave in the evening, so it's a good time to see the night view of the Hong Kong River."
Three days later, with the help of Li Yiwen, the two of them got their passes quickly, and then they set out on a boat that night and embarked on their journey to Hong Kong.
Although he was a second-generation man, Lu Yiming was ashamed to say that he had never taken a ferry on the Pearl River. When he had the ability, he did not make good use of it, and when he wanted to go out and see the world, his family had fallen on hard times and he no longer had the ability.
Now that he has a second chance to live his life, Lu Yiming, who has money in his hands, can go on a trip without any worries.
The lights at the Pearl River Estuary at night are dim, and it seems like two different worlds from the inland behind.
"Isn't this too prosperous? I must have a good time this time. I don't know when I will come next time."
Although it was late at night, the streets were still busy with people and cars. The bright lights shone under the night sky, converging into a sea of stars, which made Li Quanwang dazzled and intoxicated.
When the two men left the port, Lu Yiming saw a burly man in an old military uniform scratching his head anxiously and looking for people to ask for directions.
But the terrible thing is that the sturdy guy doesn't speak Cantonese at all, and his Mandarin has a strong northwestern accent, which is difficult for people from the mainland to understand, let alone Hong Kong locals.
Lu Yiming took a look at his military uniform. Although he didn't want to meddle in other people's business, he couldn't help but walked over and asked in Mandarin: "Friend, do you need help?"
The sturdy man finally found someone who could communicate in Mandarin. He was so moved that he almost burst into tears, as if a drowning man had grabbed the last straw.
He held the envelope in front of Lu Yiming, pointed at the address on it and asked excitedly: "Brother, do you know where this is?"
"Okay, I'll help you take a look." Lu Yiming took the envelope.
"Brother, are you also coming to Hong Kong from the mainland to make a living?"
The sturdy man scratched his head and then introduced himself: "My name is Zhao Tiezhu, I am a retired soldier. I came to Hong Kong to seek refuge with my relatives. My third uncle is doing well here. He heard that I was retired and transferred to a local area, so he wrote to me and asked me to come and find him here. But the letter is written in traditional Chinese characters, and I can't understand it."
In recent years, the mainland has promoted simplified Chinese characters, but Hong Kong still uses traditional Chinese characters. In addition, Zhao Tiezhu, who was born in the 1970s, has only been educated for a few years and can barely recognize a few simplified Chinese characters, let alone traditional Chinese characters.
Lu Yiming was familiar with some commonly used traditional Chinese characters. He looked at the scribbled handwriting on the envelope and took a long time to recognize it: "It says Wah Fung Street, Hung Hom, just north of Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Go there first and ask."
After hearing this, Zhao Tiezhu thanked him repeatedly.
Lu Yiming smiled and waved his hand: "We are all brothers from all corners of the world. Everyone has difficulties when they are away from home. This little favor is nothing."
The two were talking in Mandarin with an accent. There were people coming and going here, and many locals looked at them with a little contempt.
Many Hong Kong people feel that they are upper-class people in the glamorous world of capitalism, while mainlanders are just country bumpkins who are still living in dire straits, so they instinctively look down on mainlanders.
A bucktoothed guy wearing a suit that looked like it had shrunk, with his hands in his pockets and his back hunched, looked at Lu Yiming and the other two with disdain, and then said sarcastically: "It's you mainlanders again, you speak so harshly, you have no culture and no manners, you come to Hong Kong to occupy our living space, you are just a pleasure, you are just wasting air, get out of here and go back to your mainland."
Although Zhao Tiezhu didn't understand what the bucktooth guy said, he felt that it was not a good word from his tone. He immediately got angry and asked Lu Yiming: "Brother, is this guy scolding us?"
Lu Yiming was also unhappy with what Bucktooth said, so he translated it for Zhao Tiezhu.
Zhao Tiezhu was a red and professional guard when he was young, so his temper was naturally bad. After so many years of training in the military camp, his temper became even more explosive. After listening to Lu Yiming's translation, he was furious. He immediately stepped forward, blocked the way of the bucktoothed boy, and shouted: "Stinky boy, I demand that you apologize for what you just said!"
The bucktoothed guy was not at all panicked when facing Zhao Tiezhu, who was at least 30 centimeters taller than him. He even raised his middle finger at him with a smug look.
"You dare to touch me? Hong Kong is not the mainland. We abide by the law here. If you dare to touch me, I will put you in jail and feed you."
"You want a fight? Do you really think I dare not do it?"
Although Zhao Tiezhu still didn't understand, he still understood the internationally accepted middle finger gesture, so he just raised his fist.
Seeing that a fight was about to break out, Lu Yiming quickly stepped forward and grabbed Zhao Tiezhu's fist, whispering: "Don't be impulsive in someone else's territory, let me do it."
Lu Yiming stood in front of Zhao Tiezhu, looking directly at the bucktoothed boy with cold eyes: "Don't say that I killed you without teaching you. I'll give you a chance. It's not too late for you to apologize to us now, otherwise I promise to make you know what cruelty is."
