Restarting life in Siheyuan

After briefly telling Lin Na and the others about gathering in Hong Kong during the Spring Festival, without further explanation, Zhu Xuefeng and Liang Yan headed for Hong Kong first.

"Alas, he is always busy. When will he stop?"

Watching Zhu Xuefeng walking away with Liang Yan, Xia Yuhong sighed. She had spent a lot of effort to convince her parents to go to Hong Kong for the Spring Festival this year. They would set off to visit their grandmother tomorrow just to squeeze out time to accompany him. But he just ran away with Liang Yan saying he had something urgent to do.

"Forget it, be more understanding. You know, he has so many things to do. It's good that he can spend the Spring Festival with us. It's good that he left. During this period, I will stay at home and accompany my parents."

On the other hand, as soon as Yan Zi set foot on the Hong Kong River, she couldn't hold back any longer.

"Brother, can you tell me now where we are going?"

"Go to the opposite side." Zhu Xuefeng, wearing sunglasses, spoke concisely without a single unnecessary word.

"You mean go over there?" Liang Yan's ability to understand was still very strong, but it was a little beyond her expectations.

"Well, don't ask any more questions. I'll make mistakes if I lead you. Don't make me keep making mistakes."

Liang Yan endured it with great difficulty as she watched the star ship cross Victoria Harbour and head straight for the shallow beach.

"Master, the lady is back."

The housekeeper greeted him attentively. Zhu Xuefeng handed over the bag and took off his coat, which the housekeeper quickly took.

"Notify Miss Wu and ask her to go home immediately. Only she should know that I'm back."

"Okay, sir."

The housekeeper hung up the bag and coat, asked the maid to make tea, and hurried to inform Wu Qianqian.

"Why don't you go find Chen Dong first? Didn't they say they have someone over there?"

"He has people over there, but their identities are questionable. They are not good people and have a lot of connections with them. If I look for Chen Dong, they might know I'm coming over before I even show up."

"You mean, his men?"

"Well, I don't believe them." Zhu Xuefeng agreed casually, but Liang Yan looked confused.

"If you don't trust them, why don't you still use them? Otherwise, clean them out and replace them with a new group of people."

"It's not that I don't trust Chen Dong, I just don't trust his former subordinates. Why clean them up? Although I don't trust these people, as long as they are still in Hong Kong, it's fine to use them. Let's not talk about this. Don't ask too much in the future. It's easy to leak information."

Zhu Xuefeng felt around and felt that everything was OK. The old butler was reliable and even sent away the person who made tea.

"This time, we will be a couple. You can only call me husband, not brother. As for why you must know, I won't explain. And tomorrow we have to get two sets of fake identities. Think of a name first. My name is Li Huaide."

"It must be such a big deal to keep it secret, but you didn't let anyone know and you're taking advantage of me. I've already said I won't be the fourth concubine."

Liang Yan pouted in displeasure, Zhu Xuefeng chuckled, "Okay, you think too much, this is for convenience, tomorrow let Qianqian take you to get a perm, make you look more mature, buy a few sets of suitable clothes, and pretend to be more realistic. Okay, I'll go to the study to think about the details, come find me if you have anything, you should go to your own room, call me when Qianqian comes back."

...

Wu Qianqian always fulfilled Zhu Xuefeng's requests without any compromise. As long as Zhu Xuefeng didn't say anything, she wouldn't ask, and everything would be ready the next day.

"The ship will depart tomorrow morning without stopping. It will take 21 hours to reach Keelung Port. It will take a while, so I have prepared some food for you. It's all in the bags."

"This is a newly issued certificate. It is genuine and not afraid of inspection. These two are the certificates of Dongsheng Company and they are matching."

At that time, if you wanted to go through Hong Kong, you only needed Hong Kong documents. You didn’t need to apply for later documents. It was very simple.

Zhu Xuefeng took a look and thought, yes, Inspector Liang was very capable and finished it in half a day. I wonder what position he has been promoted to now.

"Zhao Xiaoxia, this is your ID. Keep it safe. Don't forget the name you chose."

"Got it, Boss Li."

Liang Yan was not used to being dressed as a young woman, so Wu Qianqian patiently corrected some of her habits. Fortunately, Yan was very smart, and for most of the night, she basically acted like that. Zhu Xuefeng did not have high requirements, and he did not plan to show up in public. The Dongsheng Company's certificate was just a backup, and he would not use it if he could. He did not want to cause trouble for his company, but he still had to prepare it first, just in case.

"We are a newlywed couple. We will travel there before the Spring Festival to learn about the culture and history there, and get to know the market there so that we can find a living in the future."

"Oh, I see, Boss Li, haha."

"You should change your name when you get on board. If you can't pronounce it, just call me De Ge. That should be fine."

"That won't work either. I've seen that bad guy Li Huaide. He always looks at Sister Qianqian with a lecherous look. Why did you have to use his name when you could pick one of your own?"

Zhu Xuefeng was also helpless, "I'm too lazy to think, so I'll just use one, it's much easier, or you can just call me Brother Tao, that's it, I'll just say my nickname is Xiao Tao."

Liang Yan nodded, "Then I'll call myself Yan Zi, which is also a nickname."

Zhu Xuefeng agreed helplessly, "It's up to you. But you are not allowed to call me Senior Brother. There are many spies over there. If you call me like that, it will attract attention."

Liang Yan breathed a sigh of relief, finally figuring out the name. "I know that the Zhang family in the Northeast, who played with weasels, split their home into two, and half of the people followed."

"That's good to know. These are the usual tricks of the aristocratic families. They bet on both sides. Okay, let's stop here today and rest early. It's not easy to sit on the boat for more than 20 hours."

During this period, there were no passenger ships between the two places in name, but in fact there were. The Hong Kong government did not want to offend the mainland, and many supplies still relied on the mainland for replenishment, so there was no nominal navigation, but in fact, cargo ships and passenger ships had never been interrupted. The motorcycles of Dongsheng Company could be sold there, and it was also operated in the same way. The Hong Kong government actually knew everything, but pretended to be confused and did not point it out.

"Tomorrow's ship belongs to Chen Dong and his team. We have 1,000 motorcycles on board. Our motorcycles are selling very well there, and they want to buy our production line and say they can give us 20% of the profits."

"We'll talk about this later. Let's not think about it now. Is Zheng Dayong any good?"

"Very useful, silent, but very alert, and very measured in handling matters. Honey, where did you find them? Find a few more."

Zhu Xuefeng smiled and rubbed Wu Qianqian's head. "What are you thinking? You have to send this to Zheng Xun in a few months. He is here to help you deal with the current troubles. How is the trouble now? Is anyone still harassing you?"

"It's OK. Zheng Dayong showed his hand once, and no one bothered me anymore. But what should I do if he leaves? Wu Qianqian, who had just gained a sense of security, was a little panicked.

"Don't worry, the backup candidates are almost ready. Also, the matter about Daya that I mentioned last time will have to wait. I came here in a hurry this time and didn't have time to deal with it. I will send her here after the New Year. By then, we can notify the autonomous region to start the "Gambling Stone Plan" to enrich our family assets."

Seeing that the two were talking about serious matters, Liang Yan went to bed early. Zhu Xuefeng chatted with Wu Qianqian about the development of Hong Kong and cooperation with North Korea until late at night.

It was already past noon when Wu Qianqian woke up. When she looked at the time, she became a little anxious.

"It's bad, sir. The boat is going to sail in less than an hour. It's all your fault."

"It's still in time. I called Lao Si and asked him to send the boat half an hour later. He was very sensible and said he would personally guard the boat."

"Oh, by the way, you have to make your own arrangements for the Spring Festival. It's hard to say whether your two sisters will come or not, and it's also hard to say when I will be back. If I'm not sure, I won't come to celebrate the New Year."

Although Wu Qianqian didn't know what the master had arranged and didn't ask, her eyes were full of concern and worry.

"Don't think too much, just go with the flow and do what needs to be done. Come on, let's go downstairs and have breakfast. If we're any later, Yan Zi will laugh at us."

We rushed to the dock after breakfast. Everything was fine. It was only five minutes later than the normal departure time. All we could hear was the crew shouting.

"Let's set sail, let's set sail, the inspection is complete, everything is fine, let's set sail."

The large passenger and cargo ship slowly set sail. There were not many people on board, less than three hundred. A few of them had beds, and the vast majority were crowded in the cargo hold, where they had to endure more than twenty hours. They were all smart people struggling for a living. Of course, there were more goods in the cargo hold, all kinds of goods, filling up the entire hold.

Because it was not a cruise ship, the cargo ship went directly to its destination, heading north all the way to Jilong. The entire voyage was 780 kilometers, which was not too far, but very time-consuming.

The two of them looked out from the cabin on the third floor, and all they saw was the vast sea. Zhu Xuefeng kept looking to the east, and Liang Yan was bored, so she came over and looked for a long time, but couldn't see anything. "Brother Tao, what are you looking at?"

"Oh, that's the D Sand Islands over there. I was thinking about the ocean over here." "What's there to see? There's nothing."

"You are wrong. There are many small islands over there. Although they are not big, they are all our territory. I am thinking about how to turn the small islands into big islands."

Liang Yan was a little confused. The small island became a big island, and the senior brother was joking again. Seeing that the senior brother was silent, she had to sit down bored, opened the luggage bag, and passed the time with snacks.

The two of them fed the seagulls that were chasing the boat in groups on the rear deck for a while, which made Swallow very happy. It was the first time for her to have such an experience.

"Brother Tao, where do you think these seagulls can rest when they are tired from flying? There is no land in sight in this endless sea."

"This place is not far from the mainland. Even though we can't see it, it's only a few dozen nautical miles away. For seagulls, this distance is easy to cover."

"It's only a few dozen nautical miles, why can't we see it from the boat?"

"You probably don't read enough books. You haven't heard that the earth is round? The sea surface actually has a curvature..."

Yan Zi had a look of admiration on her face. "Brother Tao, you know so much. I didn't know that. They say the sky is round and the earth is square. When I was a kid, I always thought the earth's surface was like a chessboard, square."

How many primary school students in later generations don’t know this? Nowadays, we have been using night schools to promote literacy and solve the problem of literacy, and we really don’t have time to take care of this kind of popular science.

"Let's go back to the cabin for a while."

The sun on the rear deck was so strong that the two of them hid back in the hold. It took a long time for them to occasionally see a small island, and occasionally they would encounter a fishing boat going out to sea to fish. The whole voyage was a bit boring.

"You're regretting this now. This isn't a cruise ship going to Fuso with some entertainment and tea and bars. This is a passenger and cargo ship. That's it."

"It's nothing. It's not like we haven't suffered before. We crossed mountains and rivers together and walked for several days on foot. It's not much harder than this. Here we have food and drink. We don't have to move. When we get tired, we can sleep for a while. There's the sea breeze blowing. I'm very content."

Liang Yan smacked her eyes twice, then leaned back and closed her eyes to rest.

Zhu Xuefeng knew that Liang Yan was an active person, and keeping her trapped on the boat for a day was more annoying than traveling through the mountains and forests. Seeing her closing her eyes to rest, he smiled and stopped disturbing her, closing his eyes and thinking about his mission this time.

Seeing that it was getting late, they woke up Yan Zi and the two of them had a simple meal.

"Where is this?

The sunset covered the sea, a golden splendor. "I can't figure it out. We should have walked one-third of the way. It's still early."

Arm in arm, they went outside to watch the sunset, which was indeed beautiful. Zhu Xuefeng had the urge to get a yacht and live on the sea in the future. The weather was particularly good today, and the winter sun gave people a touch of warmth. The two did not feel cold at all and chatted happily.

In the warehouse, the people who had been sleeping began to move in pairs or threes. They must have been hungry and were preparing to eat some dry food. The sky gradually darkened. Yan Zi found that her senior brother suddenly stopped talking. She turned around and saw Zhu Xuefeng carefully looking at the crowd in the warehouse below.

"What did you find?"

When asked by Yan Zi, Zhu Xuefeng withdrew his gaze, seeming a little unsure.

"I saw someone who seemed like an acquaintance, but he had changed a lot, so I was a little unsure."

"An acquaintance? Why are you here? From the capital?"

"That should be the case. Wait a minute, I'll ask someone."

Liang Yan watched Zhu Xuefeng disappear around the corner of the corridor, and then appeared in Class A with Lao Si, pointing at the warehouse. She was very curious. She had never looked for Lao Si the whole time, and she didn't expect that a strange acquaintance could make her senior brother take the initiative to find Lao Si. Who is this acquaintance?

"That woman, do you remember her?"

Zhu Xuefeng was in the cargo hold, pointing at the chaotic passengers below and asking questions.

"You mean her? I know her. She came from the north and started working in our bar last year. She got into a fight with a customer because she didn't want to go with him. Big brother remembered your teachings and came to help her. Since she couldn't continue working in the bar, he told her to come here and do some independent work. She has been riding our boat, making one or two trips a month, mainly to sell fruits from here."

"Oh, what's her name now?"

The fourth brother understood Zhu Xuefeng's nonsensical sentence.

"My name seems to be He Lin. Do you know her?"

Zhu Xuefeng has been confirmed, although his image is very different from that in the photo.

"He's a friend of a friend. So, look after him when you have time and don't let anyone bully him."

"Yes."

Zhu Xuefeng did not stay any longer. He said a few words to Lao Si and returned to the cabin on the third floor.

"Brother, who is it?"

Zhu Xuefeng glared at her, and Liang Yan stuck out her tongue, "Brother Tao, who is that?"

"A friend of a friend, I didn't expect him to come here, it's amazing."

Seeing that Zhu Xuefeng was unwilling to say more, Liang Yan stopped asking and just leaned on the window, looking down at the woman just now. She really couldn't tell what was special about her.

"Don't pay attention to her, she's just an ordinary person. We just happened to meet her. Let's not contact her to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Yan Zi was still very sensible. After hearing what her senior brother said, she withdrew her gaze, returned to her small bed, and dozed off again.
In the first half of the night, the cargo ship arrived at Gaoxiong Port in the south, unloaded a small amount of cargo and passengers, and continued northward. At dawn, it successfully arrived at Jilong Port.

Zhu Xuefeng had been observing the situation along the coast all the way and was somewhat disappointed. This might be the result of the confrontation and friction in the previous few months. The western coastline was extremely heavily guarded, with barbed wire nets on the beaches. It was really difficult to go into the sea and land.

There were warships cruising on the sea, and searchlights were constantly sweeping the coastline. It seemed that the plan was difficult, and Zhu Xuefeng frowned, feeling helpless.

As they were docking at Jilong Port, they found that the place was much more peaceful. To the north of Jilong Port, there was no more tense and tense situation. Above it was the East China Sea. Here was a sea area where three forces intertwined, which seemed more peaceful than the Strait. Zhu Xuefeng knew that if they continued to go a little north-east, Diaoyu Island would be 170 kilometers away.

The landing was smooth and the sky gradually brightened. The area near the port was very lively, with vendors loading and unloading goods, shops everywhere along the street, and a large amount of fruits and agricultural products gathered near the port.

Liang Yan held Zhu Xuefeng's arm with a sweet look on her face, her eyes wandering around the various fruit stalls. Although she had been in Hong Kong for a while, she still didn't recognize many of them.

At that time, the industry of Taiwan was very weak. It was mainly based on agriculture with some light industry. As for the rapid development of the electronics industry, it would take some time.

"Sir, would you like to take a look at the fruits? These are the oranges we just brought from Hsinchu. Look, they look so good. You can try them. They’re free..."

Perhaps it was because Zhu Xuefeng was dressed like a businessman, or perhaps he saw Liang Yan looking at the fruit stall with great interest, the vendor immediately stepped forward to solicit customers.

"I'm sorry, we just got off the ship and we have to find a place to stay first."

"Oh, there are several hotels on Suzhou Road ahead. You are from Hong Kong, right? Guests from Hong Kong like to stay there. It's cheap, clean, and close to the port, so it's convenient to buy anything..."

The vendor was very enthusiastic and seemed to want to leave a good impression, so Zhu Xuefeng smiled and thanked him.

"Thank you. We'll come back to see you after we're settled."

The two found a hotel with better conditions. The accommodation registration was also very simple and could be processed with Hong Kong ID.

"What do we do next?"

After putting down her luggage and bag, Liang Yan sat down on the bed. She was not tired after sailing for more than 20 hours, but she felt suffocated. Now she finally had her feet on the ground, which felt good.

"The next step is of course to have breakfast. Didn't the young man just say that Hangzhou Road is full of delicious food? It's not far from here. Let's go fill our stomachs and drink some hot soup first, then come back and rest."

"Oh." Liang Yan didn't ask any more questions. She simply packed up and followed him out. The climate on the island in January was quite comfortable. There were shops on both sides of the narrow street. The early vendors had already started business. Maybe because it was not far from the port, the streets were already bustling early in the morning. From time to time, scooters passed by with a brisk roar. The motorcycles of Dongsheng Company were indeed very popular here.

(End of this chapter)