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“We have the customs documents, so we’ll wait until daytime to go ashore. As for the two of you”—Lin Er-ye pointed at Tan Hao and his sister—“you’d better get off the boat while it’s still dark. If you get caught, we won’t be able to help you even if we wanted to.”
They were already less than a kilometer from the shore. Once they docked, sneaking off would be almost impossible.
“Follow me. I’ll take you across.”
Lin Qingmei pulled a lifeboat from the ship’s cabin and set it into the water. The big boat was too conspicuous and would be easily spotted if it came ashore, but the lifeboat was smaller. As long as she got them to shore quietly and returned undetected, she was confident the Hong Kong customs wouldn’t notice.
Before long, Tan Hao and Tan Yan were safely dropped off. Just before leaving, Tan Hao gave Lin Qingmei a respectful bow.
“Miss Lin, thank you. If we meet again someday, I’ll be sure to repay you.”
“No need. We were just doing a job for money.”
By the time Lin Qingmei returned to the fishing boat, the Tan siblings had already disappeared into the distance.
They’d already lost quite a bit of time, and now the sky was beginning to lighten.
“Let’s go! It’s almost morning—we should go ashore too.”
Lin Er-ye docked the boat at the pier. With the customs documents Lin Qingmei had prepared, they officially entered under the pretense of purchasing supplies.
……
“Grandpa Er, Grandpa San, let’s check into a hotel and rest for a bit. We can head out to run errands in the afternoon.”
“We’re not tired. Why don’t we just get one room for you to rest in? Your third grandpa and I will go find a grain supplier,” said Third Grandpa Lin, reluctant to waste money on a hotel. He was eager to finish their tasks and return home.
“Don’t rush, Grandpa. Since we’ve made it to Hong Kong, we should take the chance to walk around and buy some things for the family.”
“We won’t go sightseeing. We didn’t bring much money. I’d rather buy more grain,” Third Grandpa Lin replied.
His family had a lot of mouths to feed—three sons and ten grandkids—and he had to buy extra grain from the black market every year to get by. This time, he planned to buy as much as possible and even trade any surplus later.
“Qingmei, you go walk around on your own. Your third grandpa and I will handle the grain supplier. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Worried things might go wrong, Lin Er-ye wanted to secure the grain deal first. After they completed the task, he could take a little stroll and pick something up for his wife.
Since the two elders weren’t interested in sightseeing, Lin Qingmei planned to explore on her own.
She also planned to exchange the ten gold bars (nicknamed “big yellow croakers”) given by the Tan siblings at the bank.
But that could wait until the afternoon. For now, the most important thing was finding a hotel to rest.
Originally, Lin Qingmei wanted to book a modest inn near the pier for her grandpas, but the two old men were too frugal. They’d rather sleep on the boat than spend money on lodging.
Since they refused to stay in a hotel, Lin Qingmei parted ways with them. She took a taxi to Tsim Sha Tsui, while the two elders stayed near the pier to look for grain traders.
In Tsim Sha Tsui, Lin Qingmei first went to the bank and exchanged the ten gold bars for roughly 80,000 yuan.
With money in hand, she then checked into a luxury suite at The Peninsula Hotel and had a good, restful sleep.
The next morning, after breakfast at the hotel, Lin Qingmei went out shopping.
This trip to Hong Kong was the perfect opportunity to stock up on daily necessities and food to bring back.
She passed by a tailor’s shop and bought out all the cotton fabric and batting. She also picked up several classic-style cotton coats and cashmere overcoats.
Nice leather shoes? Bought. Stylish bags? Bought. Socks, hair ties—she bought them all by the box.
She also bought several Rolex watches—after all, she’d have to share with Lin Qinglan when they got back, so she couldn’t buy too few.
Because she bought so much, she would find quiet spots to stash everything into her spatial storage before continuing her spree.
She didn’t forget the local snacks either—buying ten portions of every street food from one end of the road to the other.
She shopped from morning till afternoon, completely forgetting how much she had already spent. Most of the 80,000 yuan from the gold exchange was already gone.
Hong Kong hadn’t yet been handed over at this time, so it was still rather chaotic. That morning alone, Lin Qingmei had already witnessed several street fights.
Her battle instincts were starting to stir. Maybe I should start my “zero-dollar shopping” campaign right here in Hong Kong.
On the other side, Grandpa San and Grandpa Er had also struck gold.
The grain dealer they had bartered with more than a decade ago had now become Hong Kong’s largest grain supplier.
If they hadn’t happened to spot a cargo ship unloading grain at the dock, they might not have found him.
The supplier was named Wang Hua, originally from Guangdong. He had smuggled into Hong Kong during the war.
Wang Hua was thrilled to see Lin San-ye again. He thought the man had passed away, especially since he hadn’t heard from him in over ten years.
Upon hearing they wanted to buy grain, Wang Hua immediately had his workers unload five tons of rice and five tons of corn from the cargo ship for them.
Neither Grandpa Er nor Grandpa San expected things to go so smoothly. If they’d brought more money, they would’ve bought even more.
“Brother Shengli, Brother Qianjin, you must join me for a drink tonight! It’s so rare to see you again—we have to catch up. Don’t worry about the grain on your boat—I’ll have someone watch it for you,” Wang Hua insisted.
(For reference: Grandpa Er’s original name is Lin Shengli, and Grandpa San’s is Lin Qianjin.)
“I’ve been off alcohol for years. How about you go with Boss Wang, Qianjin? I’ll stay and watch the goods,” Lin Shengli said, not comfortable leaving the grain under someone else’s care.
“Old Wang, let’s do it another day. I’m too tired today. Didn’t sleep well last night and ran around all day—I just want a bath and some sleep now,” Lin Qianjin declined.
“Alright, then I’ll come pick you up for dim sum tomorrow morning. You can’t say no this time! I still want to hear how things are back home. I’ve been away for decades—I miss it a lot.”
Lin Shengli and Lin Qianjin exchanged glances and gave in with a nod.
Wang Hua had helped them out a lot—refusing would’ve been rude.
Besides, since he just did them such a huge favor, treating him to a meal was the least they could do in return.