Chapter 367: Crossing the River to Lingnan

The woman nodded, indicating she would.

Yang Qing let out a sigh of relief and then lay directly on the bed.

"Hurry up and sleep; tomorrow morning I'll get you across."

"By the way, who is he?"

The woman said timidly.

"My father-in-law."

Yang Qing glanced at her with a complex expression.

"Don't play tricks, otherwise your secret will be known to all."

"After I cross the river, you take your Yangguan Road, I'll cross my single-log bridge."

"Understood."

The woman's expression relaxed.

"Understood, understood."

"Tomorrow early, if I can see clearly, I'll pole you across."

The two reached an agreement, and Yang Qing lay on the bed and closed his eyes.

The woman was huddled to one side.

With the threat gone, her thoughts began to race.

She looked at Yang Qing, then at the old man tied up in a bundle.

She felt an inexplicable stirring.

Until the candle burned out, the cabin became pitch dark.

The woman crept over, rustling.

Yang Qing wasn't asleep at all; how could he dare sleep now?

"Isn't that just courting death?"

So when the woman approached, Yang Qing grabbed her hand.

And the woman slid over, slick.

"Man, give me a child."

Yang Qing grabbed both her hands, stopping her next move.

"Don't play tricks, get some rest."

His voice was icy cold.

"Don't force me to throw you into the river to feed the fish."

The woman shivered and shrank back.

At four o'clock, the sky was already bright.

The man also woke up; after the woman told him the situation, he advised.

"Let me handle it instead; now it's flood season, the river currents are very complex."

"Although she can steer the boat, her strength is insufficient."

Yang Qing glanced at the man, hesitated—if this man tried any tricks in the river, he would have no way to deal with it.

So he shook his head.

"You can direct, or let her come; when strength is needed, I will step in."

The man knew Yang Qing didn't trust him, so he didn't say anything more.

As the boat surged into the river,

The man nervously stared at the river surface.

"Hold the course, don't fight the current."

"Use force, counter force."

"There's a whirlpool ahead—go around, go around."

……

……

Yang Qing made it to the opposite bank, narrowly escaping danger.

As he was leaving, the man called out to him.

"Comrade, could you help leave a child?"

His expression was sincere and yearning.

The woman also looked toward Yang Qing.

Yang Qing, however, shook his head.

He couldn't possibly leave his descendants to them.

Moreover, he couldn't accept the behavior of these two people.

It was too chaotic.

"I still have things to do; goodbye."

Perhaps out of reluctance, he added another sentence.

"Scrape together some money; when you have time, go to a big hospital—many illnesses there can be treated."

After saying that, he dove into the grass and disappeared.

Seeing Yang Qing leave, the woman hurriedly untied the man's ropes, then asked.

"Should we report?"

The man shook his head.

Forget about today's matter.

Let's quickly tidy up, start fishing, and when we go back, don't come to the riverbank again.

The woman paused, then said nothing more.

This time she was also frightened; thinking about what would happen if people found out, she felt fear in her heart.

Yang Qing left the riverbank and forgot those two people entirely.

Now he was wearing a man's clothes.

His clothes were then thrown to the man.

As for whether the secret would be exposed, he didn't really care.

When the incident happened, he didn't even know where he was.

If the man were smart, he should know what to do.

Time flew by.

Another half month passed.

Yang Qing disguised himself, forged identity papers, and affected an awkward dialect all along the way.

Finally he reached the banks of the Chang Jiang.

Here it was much better, because the river was lined with docks and steamships.

Large and small vessels were scattered densely.

The ships were even more varied.

On a small skiff, an old man with a few cormorants drifted on the river.

The old man smoked a pipe, sitting at the bow.

Yang Qing sat in the cabin, occasionally throwing down a rope tied to a stone.

The old man couldn't help but ask curiously.

Young man, what's the use of throwing this back and forth?

Yang Qing sat in the cabin, feeling his legs go weak, while the old man sat at the bow, relaxed and carefree.

Regarding the old man's question, he answered seriously.

Sir, I am drawing water ripple information.

See how deep the water is.

This information is very important for flood control and cargo transport.

If the water isn't deep enough, large ships can't pass.

If you don't know the water depth, you can't estimate the flow rate; this is very important for building dikes along the river.

This is water conservancy studies.

The old man was dazed, only feeling it was very high-class.

He didn't doubt at all, thinking Yang Qing's rope and stone were too crude; could the Water Conservancy Bureau really be so poor it couldn't afford even basic equipment?

He also didn't wonder why they gave him a small boat instead of a large one.

Because Yang Qing took it very seriously.

He wrote and drew, and the diagrams were very professional.

It looked very high-end.

Just like that, Yang Qing acted clueless, his arms almost giving out from fatigue.

After half a day, he finally reached the opposite bank.

Yang Qing waved, bade farewell to the old man, still holding two fish.

Yang Qing slipped away, carrying a bag and holding two fish.

After crossing the river, there were even more vehicles to hop onto.

Yang Qing headed south, and after a month he reached Lingnan.

Thinking about the tractor smuggling export, Yang Qing even wanted to check the situation at the Xinhui Agricultural Machinery Factory.

In the end he restrained himself; he couldn't court death.

Now Yang Qing had become as dark-skinned as the Lingnan locals.

Besides the wind and rain of the journey, his whole appearance had changed greatly.

When he appeared before He Xin, he feared even He Xin wouldn't recognize him.

Then a few more days passed.

Yang Qing finally arrived at the seaside.

The smuggling route there was not easy.

Only the stowaway route could be taken.

Actually, border control isn't too strict; there are still many loopholes, and one can climb over the barbed wire.

But taking this route, one might face inspections from both sides.

On the Gangdao side, appearances still need to be kept up.

Three years ago, there were too many people, and repatriations also occurred.

Those caught were just people who had run across on land.

This route looks simple but actually carries the greatest risk.

Because repatriation is possible, border guards sometimes also fire.

The simplest is to take the smuggling route, which can directly bring you to Victoria Harbor (Victoria Harbor's area is large, covering both north and south shores of Gangdao).

You step ashore and you're already in the city.

As for the others, whether they swim over, smuggle across the sea, or smuggle overland, they all end up in the countryside, still a remote, mountainous rural area.

To curb the mainland's influence, this place remains countryside even two thousand years later.

To reach the city, there's still a long way to go.

In this era, the Police Superintendent are a bunch of monsters; if you have no money and they catch you, the women may be forced to take clients, the men end up in the Black Kiln.

When you encounter a sham, you're lucky and get deported.

If you're unlucky, you end up putting your strength into the Black Kiln.