A doctor who travels through two eras

Seeing the job applicant across from him crying, Lin Sanqi could only hand him a handkerchief and pat him on the shoulder.

Lin Sanqi had never swum in the sea; he always smuggled himself across by plane, reaching the shore in a matter of minutes, so he couldn't understand this kind of suffering.

Qi Kezhi quickly calmed himself down and instead comforted his wife, who was crying beside him, forcing a smile as he said:

"We later learned that on the night we smuggled ourselves across the border, Typhoon Dati made landfall in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Meteorological Observatory issued its first No. 9 typhoon signal in two years."

All I can say is that my partner, my seven companions, and I were incredibly lucky to survive. We were unwilling to spend our lives in a refugee camp.

"Boss, please give us a chance. Don't worry, if you take us in, my wife and I will sell our lives to you. We'll be loyal for life, with no second thoughts."

Lin Sanqi nodded, but the test still had to be conducted, so he picked up an English newspaper and said:
"I'll just test your foreign language skills. You read this news article, and the women will read another one."

Lin Sanqi thought that even if the other party's English was broken and he couldn't speak properly, he would accept it. If they had a foundation in a foreign language, they could practice speaking quickly.

After Qi Kezhi took the newspaper, he read it smoothly and fluently throughout. Judging from his accent, he spoke British English, so his family must have some background in this area.

Zhou Hanzhang also took the newspaper. He was a little nervous while reading it, pausing from time to time, but he still managed to finish reading an article.

After reading the newspaper, the two looked hopefully at Lin Sanqi, the big boss.

Lin Sanqi took two pieces of paper from the side and handed them to the young couple:
"Qi Kezhi, Zhou Hanzhang, welcome to Lingnan Pharmacy. You can fill out the forms over there, then pack up and leave Tiu Keng Leng with us after the interview."

As for your Hong Kong ID cards, the company will handle that, so you don't need to worry about it.

Don't worry, we are a legitimate company. We're putting you in legitimate pharmaceutical sales work, and we won't sell you off to Portland Street.

Chinese people don't deceive other Chinese people. In Hong Kong, we mainlanders should unite and overcome difficulties together, instead of stabbing each other in the back.

People around chuckled, knowing that someone had just been beaten up because of this joke.

Qi Kezhi and Zhou Hanzhang jumped up excitedly, then hugged each other and burst into tears.

Clearly, during their year in the refugee camp, the two had been on the verge of mental collapse, and this was an emotional outburst.

This scene once again drew sighs from the onlookers.

At the same time, it also deprived many people of the opportunity to work at Lingnan Hospital, because they had to read English newspapers on site, which was something that was impossible to do without the ability, and they couldn't even slack off.

They made a great start by recruiting two talented individuals, and both Lin Sanqi and Uncle Lin were very satisfied.

At the same time, they realized that although this was a refugee camp, given the atmosphere in China at that time, a large number of intellectuals would likely travel to Hong Kong, making this refugee camp a place where hidden talents would be found.

Just then, a commotion suddenly arose in the crowd, and everyone cheered at a young man who was running towards them on the opposite hillside.

Lin Sanqi asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why are you all staring at this person?"

A young man replied with a smile:

"Boss, we knew that Shisanlang would definitely apply for the job. He wouldn't miss such a good opportunity."

Lin Sanqi was thinking of a movie from back then, The Thirteen Heroes of the South China Sea. He thought that anyone who could come up with such a name and make everyone cheer must be no ordinary person.

When the man reached the recruitment booth, he was panting heavily and even barefoot.

Lin Sanqi observed for a moment and found that the person was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. He was dark-skinned and thin, but his eyes were bright and piercing, and even with thick glasses covering them, he was unforgettable.

Lin Sanqi was somewhat dissatisfied because his body was covered in cotton yarn dust and he looked very dirty. He preferred clean people.

"Boss, my name is Liu Mengxiong, and I'm here to apply for the job."

After Liu Mengxiong finished speaking, he noticed the dissatisfaction in the boss's eyes, and then smiled nonchalantly:

"Boss, it's not that I don't like to tidy up. I was working at the yarn factory when I heard from my coworkers that Lingnan Pharmacy was hiring, so I dropped what I was doing, asked the foreman for leave, and came over. I didn't have time to change my clothes."

There are many labor-intensive factories next to the refugee camp, such as textile mills, yarn mills, plastic flower factories, and garment factories, all employing mainlanders who have fled to Hong Kong. This is encouraged by the Hong Kong government, since people need a way to make a living; without work, they have no way to survive and are more likely to become unstable elements.

Lin Sanqi immediately understood and thought to himself, "No wonder. Who would expect to work in a shady factory while wearing a sharp suit?"

"So you were at work. It seems you haven't been defeated by life."

Liu Mengxiong laughed heartily:
“That’s right. I worked in a textile factory during the day and worked the night shift at a shipyard in Sai Wan Ho. I could only rest for 4 hours a day. I knew that if I wanted to make something of myself, I could only rely on myself. If I didn’t work hard, Hong Kong dollars wouldn’t fall from the sky.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Sanqi clapped his hands and said:
"Good, well said. We should maintain a revolutionary optimism, haha. By the way, I just heard them all calling you Thirteen Lang. Why do you have that nickname?"

As soon as the question was asked, the crowd burst into laughter again.

Liu Mengxiong also said somewhat embarrassedly:

"These are just jokes from my compatriots. The main thing is that I tried to escape to Hong Kong thirteen times. The first twelve times, I was caught by border guards and repatriated each time because I had no experience."

But I didn't give up. On my thirteenth trip to the border, the border guards recognized me. One of the leaders tacitly approved of me and turned a blind eye. That's how I got to Hong Kong.

Oh, but I didn't swim in the sea; I can't swim. I walked the middle route, cutting a hole in the barbed wire fence in Luohu and crawling through.

Lin Sanqi thought to himself, "I have to thank myself for this. After arriving in Bao'an County, I felt great sympathy for these people who had fled to Hong Kong and asked the border guards to turn a blind eye and not to fire their guns at the drop of a hat."

Of course, the reason he dared to turn a blind eye was mainly due to the tacit approval of a certain superior.

Especially after the massive exodus to Hong Kong in 62, which resulted in many unspeakable events, some higher-level leaders felt that they were all compatriots and should not be treated that way, which led to the subsequent relaxation and tacit approval.

Seeing that his goodwill had enabled these people fleeing to Hong Kong to arrive safely, Lin Sanqi was in high spirits.

"Oh, you're in luck! I heard that going along the middle route is very dangerous. After all, it's a land border, and the patrols are the strictest. The escape rate is not high."

There are four routes to escape to Hong Kong.

These are Dapeng Bay on the east route, the land route in the middle route, and Houhai Bay on the west route.

Most people choose the eastern route because it's the least likely to be spotted while sailing at night, and the bays there are also the shortest.

A small number of wealthy people take the eastern route, which is the route from Yantian to the New Territories, because they can rent boats or hire a smuggler to guide them, which is safer, but you have to be rich.

The middle line is the least popular choice, and the border guards are not to be trifled with. They generally won't allow you to come and go under their noses; that would be dereliction of duty and you would be punished.

Besides, with just one machine gun, they can provide complete fire coverage. If they really wanted to prevent anyone from escaping to Hong Kong, not even an ant could escape.

There is another escape route to Hong Kong, which Lin Sanqi took on his first trip to Hong Kong.

That means first going to Zhongshan County (Zhuhai), then swimming to Haojiang. The coastline here is very narrow, like a river channel, so it's not difficult.

Finally, I transferred in Haojiang and then tried to take a boat to Hong Kong.

However, there is a huge risk involved: once the Macau government catches illegal immigrants, they will definitely be deported back to the mainland and will never send them to Hong Kong on their own initiative.

Hearing Lin Sanqi's words, Liu Mengxiong gave a wry smile and sighed:
"Yes, boss, you're right. I was really lucky. When I crossed the border fence for the thirteenth time, I thought I had reached paradise and escaped to heaven."

Once you get past the barbed wire, the New Territories is still a hellish place, because the Hong Kong police are also making arrests. As long as they catch illegal immigrants, they are all sent back to the mainland, and you are not given a chance to reach the city.

Boss, you don't know, the mortality rate on the central line was no lower than that on the western line, because once you crossed the border you had to run, run as fast as you could, but we didn't even have food to eat back then, so where did we get the strength to run?
So many people died hanging from the barbed wire fence, and many others died trapped in the mud there. The most terrifying thing was the Luohu underpass.

Our initial plan was to go through this culvert first, because it was the most secluded place to reach the barbed wire fence. However, the air inside the culvert was cramped, and people in front got stuck, so those behind could only be pushed in.

I witnessed a five-year-old girl being stuffed into a culvert. She lost consciousness halfway through and when she came out, her face was blue and purple, and she was no longer breathing. Her parents didn't dare to call out and left the body behind and ran away.

I couldn't bear it, so I dug a shallow hole in the mud beside us with my hands and buried her in it. I...I..." (End of Chapter)