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“Brother, why don’t we just let Sister Qinglan take us to Hong Kong? That person you contacted yesterday didn’t seem reliable at all.”
Tan Yan had hit it off with Lin Qinglan on the train, and compared to someone she had never met, she naturally trusted Lin Qinglan more.
“But what if she’s scamming us?”
Tan Hao still didn’t fully trust Lin Qinglan—her sudden appearance felt too coincidental.
But their escape from the mainland was now urgent. Were they really going to gamble on this?
“Don’t worry, both of you. As long as you’ve got the money, I guarantee I’ll get you to Hong Kong.”
“Alright, I’ll give you thirty golden threadfin breams, but you have to get us out of here tonight.”
Tan Hao couldn’t wait any longer. Afraid something might go wrong, he decided they had to leave tonight.
“No problem. Tonight at ten o’clock—meet me here.”
Lin Qinglan hesitated briefly before agreeing. If Lin Qingmei wasn’t available tonight, she’d have to come up with another plan.
After all, Lin Qingmei had a job, and it wasn’t as easy for her to leave as it was for Lin Qinglan.
“Alright, see you then.”
After Lin Qinglan left, Tan Hao and Tan Yan returned to the youth dormitory. The once-busy beach was now quiet, with only the sound of waves.
After lunch, Lin Qinglan secretly pulled Lin Qingmei aside and told her about what happened at the beach.
“What? You agreed to smuggle two people to Hong Kong, and tonight no less?”
Lin Qingmei was so mad at her bestie that she almost laughed in disbelief. Did she even know the route to Hong Kong?
The sea was completely different from land—if you couldn’t identify directions in the vast, endless ocean, you might not even find your way back home.
“I was blinded by money, okay? They offered me thirty golden threadfin breams! I figured—if someone’s gonna earn that money, it might as well be me.”
The more Lin Qinglan spoke, the less confident she sounded. She really didn’t know why she’d agreed to it so impulsively.
“Forget it, I’ll go. Starting tomorrow, you’ll use my identity and go to work at the brigade office. Also, County Chief Wang’s secretary is my high school classmate—don’t let him find out you’re not me.”
Lin Qingmei could only pray that He Xufeng wouldn’t come looking for her in the next few days. With his sharp mind, he’d see through any lie instantly.
She also had to let the brigade captain know. She’d say she was going out to barter for supplies. It was the end of the year, and bringing back some goods for the New Year wouldn’t raise suspicion.
“Why can’t we go together? I want to go shopping in Hong Kong too!”
“What do you think? What excuse could we possibly use for both of us to leave? What about Lin Zheng? Who’s going to look after him? If you want to go to Hong Kong, just wait a bit. When the New Year comes, we can leave under the pretense of visiting relatives and stay in Hong Kong longer then.”
“Fine…”
Even if she was unhappy about it, Lin Qinglan could only listen to Lin Qingmei. After all, she didn’t know how to sail and had a terrible sense of direction.
She wasn’t like her bestie, who could do everything—cars, ships, planes—she had licenses for them all in her past life.
When Captain Lin heard that Lin Qingmei wanted to go to Hong Kong, he was shocked. Although her grandfather used to take villagers to nearby islands to trade for grain, Lin Qingmei had never gone before!
“Who are you planning to take with you? Why don’t you bring your second and third grand-uncles? They’re both tight-lipped and used to work on ocean-faring ships. Your grandfather always brought them along for trading trips. Our village boats can’t sail far into open seas, but going to Hong Kong should be no problem. The weather’s cold now, and there’s not much fish in the sea. Just take the village boat.”
This year’s grain harvest in Linjiawan was poor. After turning in the required public grain, there was hardly any left for the villagers. Captain Lin had been worrying about this for days. Lin Qingmei’s plan came as a huge relief.
He had tried sending villagers out on trading trips under the guise of fishing, but they were timid and only dared go to nearby islands—none had the courage to venture to Hong Kong.
“Alright, I’ll talk to them later. But they’re getting old—are they still willing to go to sea?”
Lin Qingmei’s second and third grand-uncles had once been crewmen under her grandfather. They’d sailed for decades and knew all the nearby islands. Captain Lin’s suggestion to take them along was for her safety—at sea, it was easy to get lost, and having two experienced sailors would solve that.
“They might turn others down, but not you. Your grandfather was good to them—they’ll definitely agree.”
…
Sure enough, when Lin Qingmei asked her second and third grand-uncles, they agreed without hesitation. They arranged to meet at the dock at 9:30 p.m., then returned to their homes to prepare.
They took care of preparing the boat and missing equipment, while Lin Qingmei handled food and diesel.
She had diesel in her space, so she only needed to prepare food at home.
Feeling guilty, Lin Qinglan decided to prepare extra dry food for her sister. They had some lard bits and vermicelli at home, so she used up all their flour to make steamed buns stuffed with vermicelli and lard bits.
Soon, it was 9:30 p.m. When the sisters arrived at the dock, the two old men were already waiting.
“Lan’er, go get them. Uncle Two and Uncle Three and I need to prep the fishing boat and fuel it up.”
There were only two fishing boats in Linjiawan—one large and one small. The small one was good only for near-shore fishing, while the larger one was needed for transporting grain. Tonight, they were taking the big boat. It had two rest cabins, but since the crew had always been male and didn’t bother cleaning, the cabins smelled awful.
If Lin Qingmei wanted to rest on board, she’d have to hold her breath and clean it up.
On the other side, Tan Yan and Tan Hao were nervously waiting at the shore. They had brought all their belongings. If they were being scammed, they couldn’t go back to the youth dorms either.
“Yan, do you think we’re being conned? It’s so quiet here—not a single soul in sight.”
“I trust Qinglan. She wouldn’t lie to me. Don’t be so suspicious, bro.”
“I hope you’re right. Otherwise… I’ll make sure someone pays before I die.”
“Bro, look—someone’s coming! That must be Sister Qinglan!”
Tan Yan saw the beam of a flashlight and ran forward with her luggage. Tan Hao, carrying more and without a flashlight, struggled to keep up behind her in frustration.