Chapter 356: A Trip to Hong Kong

The train rumbled along, and the scenery outside the window gradually changed from the gray, desolate plains to humid, misty hills. Upon arriving in Guangzhou, a warm, humid breeze rushed to meet him.

He Yuzhu did not linger; he released a truck from his space and set off toward Shekou.

It took another two days to reach his destination, mainly because it had been raining for those two days, leaving the roads muddy.

In that era, there were three main routes to get from the Mainland to Hong Kong: the western route, the central route, and the eastern route.

After weighing his options repeatedly, He Yuzhu decided to take the western route, starting from Shenzhen Bay and sailing to Yuen Long in the northwestern part of the New Territories.

As for where the boat would come from, that naturally did not stump He Yuzhu; he had been making preparations for a long time to enter and exit Hong Kong.

He Yuzhu had long since modified a fishing boat. He installed two American-made automobile engines salvaged from the Korean War.

On the night of January 10th, He Yuzhu arrived at Shenzhen Bay.

He Yuzhu walked slowly along the shore, looking for a place to launch his boat, when suddenly, a dark figure crept up close and lowered his voice: "Comrade, are you looking to cross over? One million, and I'll send you across."

"I'm a strong swimmer, I don't want to waste that money," He Yuzhu said.

"Northeast guy! You'll die if you try to swim across!"

"Get lost, you damn snakehead!" He Yuzhu cursed.

Not long after, another man with a scar on his face walked over and started cursing as soon as he arrived: "You little brat, you want to swim across? There are sharks over in Yuen Long! You'll die!"

He Yuzhu said: "Old man, just because you can't swim across doesn't mean I can't."

"Screw your mother, you damn brat. I can't be bothered with you!" Daobalian looked at He Yuzhu's muscular frame, cursed a few times, and turned to run away.

He Yuzhu found a secluded spot and released the boat from his space. He quickly boarded and started the motor.

"Vroom—Boom!!!"

The two engines roared like wild beasts, drowning out the sound of the tide.

He Yuzhu slammed on the throttle, the small boat's bow rose high, cutting through the waves and plowing a white wake under the moonlight.

The deafening roar of the engines scared several groups of illegal immigrants and snakeheads who were preparing to use small sampans.

"Screw your mother! Run, the Lianfang Team is coming!" Daobalian shouted.

Everyone scrambled to abandon their boats and quickly hid in the mangroves and rock crevices along the shore.

Almost simultaneously, several flashlight beams swept over from the distant shore, accompanied by the sound of heavy footsteps and shouting. "Damn it! Who is that? Too arrogant!"

The Lianfang Team leader, Zhang Guowei, rushed to the shore, but only saw the rapidly shrinking white wake on the distant sea, and stomped his feet in anger.

Watching the Lianfang Team take away their boats, the hiding illegal immigrants cursed incessantly: "Damn you! This wicked bastard has killed us!"

In less than twenty minutes, the scrub trees on the Yuen Long shore were already clearly visible.

He Yuzhu shut off the engine, and the fishing boat used its momentum to rush onto the shore.

He nimbly flipped into the water and immediately retracted the small boat back into his space.

"Stop! Move again and I'll shoot!" A shout in English with a heavy British accent came through.

A strong beam from a flashlight hit him in the face.

He Yuzhu squinted, slowly raised his hands, and said calmly in English: "Officer, is there a problem?"

"Show me your identification!"

He Yuzhu nodded and used his other hand to fish out the identification documents Su Qing had prepared for him.

A tall, white British Police Officer approached cautiously, checked the documents carefully, and asked: "Why are you walking out of the sea in the middle of the night?"

"It's hot, can't I go for a swim?" He Yuzhu lied without changing his expression.

"Son of a bitch illegal immigrant, he actually has identification!" the Police Officer cursed under his breath in English.

"Screw you," He Yuzhu retorted in Chinese under his breath, and as he brushed past, he collected the officer's sidearm and the wallet from his pants pocket into his space.

The next day, near the Kowloon Wharf.

The six-story headquarters building of the Eastern Shipping Company stood by the sea, looking quite imposing.

He Yuzhu met Zhao Ying in her spacious office on the top floor.

"It's been two years, Sister Ying hasn't changed a bit."

Seeing He Yuzhu, Zhao Ying showed no surprise, a playful smile curling at the corners of her mouth: "What kind of hide-and-seek are you two siblings playing? Liu Rusi won't tell me where she lives, and now you've run over here trying to find her through me. You think this is fun, right?"

"She really hasn't contacted you?" He Yuzhu's eyes turned slightly red, "Why would she do this?"

He Yuzhu handed the letter he had read countless times to Zhao Ying.

After reading the letter, Zhao Ying cursed: "This Xiao Si, her brain must have been kicked by a donkey; she's been influenced by the books of Zhang Ailing and Ling Shuhua, and she has a good life but refuses to live it properly."

Hearing this, He Yuzhu also felt it made sense.

Zhao Ying walked over to He Yuzhu, hugged him, and said: "Why don't you take revenge on Liu Rusi and be with me instead!"

He Yuzhu shook his head: "Sister, don't tease me. I'm truly in a lot of pain."

"Liu Rusi seems like an enlightened person, but in reality, her head is full of feudal dross—is that how you describe it over there?"

He Yuzhu lowered his head, having no heart to discuss these things with her.

"Since you're here, stay for a few more days. I have a feeling you won't be able to see her this time," Zhao Ying said.

"Then how do you two communicate?"

"She writes me a letter when she needs something and never shows her face. I really don't know where she is. This city isn't big, but it's still quite hard to find someone who doesn't want to see you," Zhao Ying said.

He Yuzhu nodded and asked: "Forget it, I won't trouble you, I'll find her myself. Is there any difficulty you need me to resolve?"

Zhao Ying shook her head: "Now that the three Jin Hai brothers have founded the 'Brotherhood', their influence is not small, and they have over five hundred men under them. We usually leave the affairs of our shipping company to them to handle. Besides, we have over two thousand security personnel of our own, so small gangs don't dare to provoke us. The most troublesome ones right now are those people at the police station; they come over to extort us at every turn."

"Is there a specific person? I'll take him out," He Yuzhu asked.

"There's someone named Lv Le, he's the Inspector for our area; he's corrupt and extorts us, taking at least a million Hong Kong Dollars every year. Even Jin Hai doesn't dare to provoke him," Zhao Ying said.

"What kind of business do the three Jin Hai brothers do?" He Yuzhu asked.

"What else but the sex industry and gambling," Zhao Ying said.

"It seems this Jin Hai isn't on the straight and narrow either," He Yuzhu said.

"He's not bad, at least he didn't participate in drug trafficking," Zhao Ying said.

He Yuzhu stood up: "I'll try to find my sister; if I can't find her, I'll leave. As for that Lv Le, I'll get rid of him for you."

Zhao Ying grabbed his hand: "We haven't seen each other for several years, I have to host you no matter what, otherwise Xiao Si will scold me!"

"Really, there's no need. I need to travel around, and I have a mission. How about this, let's eat together tomorrow night?" He Yuzhu said.

Zhao Ying cursed: "You brat, are you looking down on your sister? If you leave today, don't come looking for me in the future!"

He Yuzhu felt helpless, "Fine, I'll listen to your arrangements."

At dusk, Zhao Ying set up a banquet at the Queen's Hotel and also called over Jin Hai, Xu Tian, and Tie Lin.

As soon as Jin Hai saw He Yuzhu, he walked up smiling and hugged him tightly: "Brother, I've missed you to death!"

He Yuzhu said: "Master Jin, you have more and more of a big brother's air, but you have quite a bit less hair. Is it a kidney deficiency?"

"You brat, your mouth is still as foul as ever!" Jin Hai laughed and scolded.

He Yuzhu greeted Xu Tian and Tie Lin respectively.

Xu Tian asked: "Zhuzi, how is Beiping now? My father is still there!"

"Beijing is much more peaceful than before; the hoodlums, hooligans, and gangs are all gone," He Yuzhu said.

Jin Hai rolled his eyes upon hearing this.

He Yuzhu said to Jin Hai: "Master Jin, it's not that I'm intentionally trying to disgust you. The gambling and sex industries you run aren't long-term businesses. Once you have money, buy more land or shops."

Jin Hai nodded: "Thanks for the advice, brother. Rest assured, I won't do things like forcing good women into prostitution..."

"Even if you don't, you might not be able to control your subordinates!" He Yuzhu sighed.