A flash of pale lightning illuminated the night sky, and the heavy rain fell at any time, with huge raindrops hitting the sea.
Watching the old friend who had spent ten years of labor camp together in the Salt Lake Farm gradually sinking into the sea, Xiao Lang did not shed tears, even Not feeling sad, he turned around and paddled strongly.
The earthen lifebuoy thrown over by Liu Youjin before he died increased his buoyancy.
The waves were rough, and the patrol aircraft and sailboat of the border guard returned.
A lone light in the distance was land.
Hong Kong is freedom Two hours later, the exhausted Xiao Lang finally landed on the territory of the British colony, Yuen Long, New Territories, Hong Kong.
He was the only one left among the twenty-five stowaways who went to sea with him.
The others either drowned in the storm or were beaten to death by border guards.
Soaked to the skin, cold, hungry, and penniless, Xiao Lang sat on the mud floor and panted heavily.
He took off his life-saving equipment, leaving only a table tennis ball stuffed in his arms, and staggered inland. go.
Three months later, at a construction site in Kowloon, Hong Kong, Xiao Lang, wearing canvas work clothes, was moving bricks.
The temperature in Hong Kong in winter was much higher than that in the mainland.
He was sweating under the heavy physical labor.
His age was not forgiving, and he moved several times.
Brick was breathing heavily.
After all, he was fifty-six years old.
But working as a low-level construction worker is the best job he can find.
It costs 120 Hong Kong dollars a month.
He can eat well and live in a work shed.
If he saves some money, he can also find a girl on the nearby street to relax. , the streets and alleys are full of lights and feasting, and the sound of music is endless, which reminds people of Shanghai before liberation.
Most of the brick-moving coolies are mainlanders who have fled Hong Kong.
They cannot speak Cantonese and are not familiar with the place.
They are easy to manage and have low labor costs.
They work at sunrise and rest at sunset.
They basically have no entertainment life.
Even so, everyone is very happy.
Happy because I can have enough to eat and even have some money left over to send money to relatives in the mainland.
Xiao Lang was older and could not work as well as young people, but he did well because he could write letters for others.
When the workers went out to play, he would lie on the bunk and read the English newspapers he picked up.
The construction site is a commercial building with a three-story design.
The supervisor is a local and the engineer is a geek.
He wears a safety helmet and points everywhere every day.
He is very serious about it.
He doesn't even look at these workers.
One day, a white Rolls-Royce car drove near the construction site, and a few Hong Kong people in suits and ties got out, with polite hats and shiny leather shoes.
They were bossing around.
Engineer Gui Lao went over to talk to them.
The conversation was in English.
Xiao Lang's English has been neglected for many years, but he has improved it recently and can basically understand conversations.
It turned out that the Hong Kong people wanted to add a temporary layer, but Gui Lao firmly disagreed, saying that it could not be built without a design on the drawings.
There was a dispute.
Just when the Hong Kong people seemed to be convinced, a dirty brick mover appeared.
In front of them, he stammered in Cantonese: "Sir, it is allowed to add an extra layer to the foundation.
If the design is proper, there can be an extra rooftop."
All eyes turned to Xiao Lang, and a young man said: "What are you doing?"
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Xiao Lang said: "Actually, I am an engineer."
The young man raised the corners of his mouth and tapped the bridge of Xiao Lang's nose with his hand: "Okay."
A voice came from the car: "Axiang, what's going on?"
The young man immediately ran over to report.
The car door opened, and an old man with gray hair got out of the car.
He was wearing a suit and tie, a snow-white shirt, and a stern look.
He walked up to Xiao Lang and looked him over, and asked in standard Mandarin: "Sir, your name is in the construction industry."
"My surname is Xiao, graduated from the Department of Civil Engineering at Tsinghua University in 1930."
Xiao Lang said.
"Very good.
With your professionalism, I think you can add another layer."
The old man continued to ask.
"Yes, it's absolutely fine to add a layer.
The foundation's weighting redundancy is sufficient."
Xiao Lang kept talking, and the old man nodded frequently.
"Then it's settled, let's add another layer."
The old man agreed.
The engineer Gui Lao became anxious and said: "No, how could this be possible?
You actually listened to the lies of a bricklayer.
He was just a coolie for whatever project he had done."
Suddenly Xiao Lang said in English: "Sir, my graduation project is the first railway and highway bridge in the Huaijiang River in Jiangdong Province.
Later, I undertook the construction of the Beitai Railway Station designed by Liang Sicheng and his wife, as well as the Beitai City Government and other projects.
Maybe you can Understandably, I built an entire city."
The ghost engineer screamed angrily.
The old man raised his cane and pointed at Gui Lao: "You are fired."
Then he said to Xiao Lang: "From now on, you are the general person in charge of this construction site, with a monthly salary of 3,000 Hong Kong dollars.
Do you have any objections?"
Xiao Lang said lightly: "I want five thousand."
"Okay, five thousand is five thousand.
I'll give you one month's salary in advance, get a haircut, take a shower, and change into clean clothes."
The old man signaled, and the young follower took out a large stack of Hong Kong dollars and counted five thousand dollars and handed it to Xiao Lang.
"Thank you."
Xiao Lang took the money, "May I ask what your name is, sir?"
"This is Sir Wei Zhongying." said the young follower.
Xiao Lang leaned forward slightly and watched Jazz get into the car and leave.
When he turned back, everyone on the entire construction site stared at him in shock.
Xiao Lang threw out the five thousand banknotes in his hand: "Brothers, I'm treating you."
Colorful Hong Kong dollars were flying in the sky, and the workers were cheering.
Xiao Lang said silently in his heart: "Old Liu, Old Gong, I have found a job."
In this way, Xiao Lang worked as an engineer in Sir Wei Zhongying's real estate company.
After working on the construction site for half a year, he transferred to the office building to design, which saved him from the wind and rain.
His monthly salary also increased from 5,000 to 8,000.
The company also equipped him with a Rover car.
Sir Wei Zhongying is a native of Shanghai.
He graduated from Tsinghua University in 1928.
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He moved to Hong Kong in the 1940s.
Now he has a millionaire and was elected as a justice of the peace.
He took good care of his junior student Xiao Lang and helped him buy a 300-foot house. , and also introduced to him his sister Meiying, who had been widowed for many years.
Meiying graduated from St.
John's.
Her husband died in the Anti-Japanese War.
She was well-educated and good-looking.
It didn't take long for the two to get married.
Xiao Lang lived a wealthy life again.
He wore neat suits all day long and had a car.
He was extremely responsible for his work.
People in the company said that they had never seen anyone who worked so hard.
After hearing this, Xiao Lang just smiled lightly and said You don't understand.
At every meal at home, Xiao Lang would put out two pairs of bowls and chopsticks to greet Lao Liu and Lao Gong to eat, as a way of expressing his condolences.
My wife understood his behavior very well and never interfered.
Refugees continued to flee from the mainland, and Xiao Lang often inquired about Gong Zijun's whereabouts, but there was no news.
He heard that the smuggling group on Sha Tau Kok that night got lost in a heavy rain, and were shot dead by border guards.
Their bodies were hung on the border wire fence for a long time.
In May 1962, rumors circulated in Guangzhou that the Queen of England was offering a general amnesty on her birthday, and that stowaways could obtain Hong Kong status.
Suddenly, the railway passenger transportation in Guangdong became tense.
The Guangzhou Railway Station was surrounded by people traveling south, and the Public Security Bureau had to dispatch The police tried to persuade them back, but the people still insisted on going to Shenzhen.
They even stopped sneaking across at night and took advantage of the strength of the crowd.
They joined hands and shoulder-to-shoulder to break through the border crossing through the Sha Tau Kok Bridge.
This matter attracted high-end attention from the British Hong Kong authorities.
The Hong Kong police and the British Chinese Army HKSC were ordered to intercept the refugees at the border and check the goods.
Those without Hong Kong ID cards were immediately deported to the mainland.
For a time, military and policemen gathered from all over the New Territories.
Policemen in khaki uniforms holding rattan flags and batons set up posts everywhere to check people.
Those who did not have ID cards were immediately taken into trucks for interrogation.
If they were determined to be stowaways, they were immediately taken to the port for deportation.
But it was too late.
A large number of refugees had already successfully crossed the border and were hiding in various places in the New Territories.
There was drizzle outside the window, and Xiao Lang was sitting at the dining table in his pajamas, drinking coffee.
On the radio was an English broadcast, saying that tens of thousands of mainland refugees had gathered in the Huashan shanty town in the New Territories, and that the police were about to take action.
Xiao Lang immediately went upstairs to change his clothes, opened the safe, took out tens of thousands of yuan in cash and put it in his bag.
When he went downstairs to get the car keys, his wife gave him an umbrella and said, "Are you going to Huashan?"
"Well, let me see if I can help."
Xiao Lang said.
"I'll accompany you."
His wife quickly changed her clothes and drove with him to the New Territories.
The wipers kept sliding, and the vision in the rain was sometimes clear and sometimes blurry.
Xiao Lang remained silent, holding the steering wheel tightly, and honked the horn fiercely when there was a traffic jam.
"Calm down."
The wife patted his hand gently.
Finally, we drove to the New Territories.
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On the outskirts of Huashan, there was a dense military and police presence.
The roads were filled with police trucks and serious faces under the tarps.
Several policemen in black raincoats stopped Xiao Lang's car and asked for his ID.
Xiao Lang already had a legal Hong Kong identity, was well-dressed, and spoke foreign languages.
Naturally, the police would not embarrass him.
They patted the roof of the car and let him go.
The car moved forward and stopped at the foot of the mountain.
This is a small hill with simple shacks dotted all over the hill.
Refugees after escaping from Hong Kong all live in these haphazardly built shacks.
There is no running water, no electric light, no toilet, and the space is narrow, barely enough to live in.
As far as you can see, everything is The frightened eyes and skinny faces all indicated their status as smugglers.
Xiao Lang and his wife went up the mountain in the rain, but were surprised to find that there were many local volunteers from Hong Kong on the mountain.
They told Xiao Lang and his wife that the most lacking thing on the mountain was drinking water and food.
"I have some money here, use it to buy food."
Xiao Lang took out thousands of banknotes and handed them to a man with messy hair and jeans who looked like a college student.
"Thank you on behalf of the refugees."
The college student took the banknote and turned to leave.
Xiao Lang stopped him again and handed him the car key, "My car is at the bottom of the mountain, a black Rover."
"Are you afraid that I won't come back?"
the college student asked with a smile.
Xiao Lang said: "I believe you won't."
The college student smiled with his white teeth and stretched out his hand: "My name is Sqeenze, a student from the University of Hong Kong."
Xiao Lang shook hands with him: "Xiao Lang, nice to meet you."
Sqeenze took several male and female students down the mountain to buy food.
Xiao Lang said loudly: "I need to recruit some construction workers.
Who is willing to go?"
Immediately a patch of arms was raised, like a forest.
A long-lost voice came from a low shack: "Sir, if you want a counting house, I will settle the accounts."
Xiao Lang's body was shaken, and he could hardly believe his ears.
He walked slowly over and saw a haggard old man emerging from the shack.
He was wearing a stained old man's shirt and big pants.
It was Gong Zijun.
"Lao Gong" "Old Xiao" The two hugged each other tightly, and the tears that had not been shed for a long time were freely shed
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