Chapter 296 Visiting a Refugee Camp
Running with Yue Ning, the students all felt tired and happy.
Even if students from Hong Kong University come from wealthy families, they are not wealthy enough. Although the mainland is poor, every time they go to a place, the hotel is the best in the area. These hotels are not as good as the luxury hotels in Hong Kong, but for them, they are already very good.
The main thing was food. Yue Ning came to the mainland, so of course he wanted to share his cooking skills. They had a turn to taste the food. They were all famous chefs from the mainland. If they hadn't known Yue Ning, they wouldn't even dare to think about it.
Moreover, Yue Ning can find different snacks in the streets and alleys and take them to eat everywhere.
In Shanghai, they eat the seaweed stems in Ningbo cuisine, and in Beijing, they eat soy milk. My God! The taste is indescribable.
Yue Ning seemed to have endless energy. He took them to watch the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square, climb the Great Wall, and visit the Forbidden City.
Looking at these magnificent buildings and historical monuments, who wouldn’t feel proud?
The happiest person on the journey was Pang Qiang, who had food to eat. The one who suffered the most was also Pang Qiang, who almost fell down while climbing the Great Wall.
After returning to Hong Kong, Yue Ning assigned tasks to everyone, including writing research reports on relevant manufacturers for overseas cooperative companies, organizing these materials, discussing with Professor Wan, and writing relevant papers. After being away for so long, although there were people in the company, everyone still had a lot of work to do.
Yue Ning handed the task of writing the paper over to Zhao Jiaying and Zhou Mingxuan. She would first review the first draft and then ask Professor Wan to review it.
Everyone was wailing, is this the holiday? It's even busier than studying.
Yue Ning laughed: "If you stay with me, you will be exhausted!"
Having said that, everyone felt tired but happy.
Before the spring semester started, Yue Ning and his grandson returned to Yuecheng to worship their ancestors.
Her business was booming last year, and everything went smoothly. Of course, she would double her offerings this year. Seeing that, the villagers nearby knew that the big boss from the port city was back.
After returning from Yuecheng, the spring semester of Gangcheng University started. As soon as Yue Ning entered the school, she met the school director who wanted to talk to her. She hurried over to greet him: "Hello, Professor Ma!"
Professor Ma looked at her and smiled: "Did you go to Shanghai and Beijing to promote our school?"
"Yes!" Yue Ning said with a smile, "My idea is very simple, just like my Ningyan. I can't afford to hire the best chefs in Gangcheng if I don't do it. I bring in the best chefs from the mainland with a population of one billion. I can then run the best restaurant in Gangcheng. Many of the top ten richest people in Gangcheng are from the mainland. Gangcheng is connected to the mainland, so naturally we can get more results by bringing in the smartest people from the mainland."
Professor Ma looked at her. This little girl was like a worm in his stomach, and she knew his troubles best.
City University of Hong Kong is now facing multiple challenges. In the entire Asian region, Japan's economy is booming, and the international reputation of many Japanese universities has been rising steadily in recent years. Singapore, which has seized the opportunity, is also developing rapidly. Last year, the University of Singapore and Nanyang University merged to form the National University of Singapore, which is also ambitious.
Recently, there have been frequent reports that National Taiwan University has signed academic agreements with many universities in the United States.
Universities in other parts of Asia have strong government support. Hong Kong's future is uncertain. We can't even keep our own students, let alone attract outstanding students from all over the world. Now it seems that mainland students are a good source. Especially if there are two more talents like the girl in front of us.
Professor Ma smiled and said, “Thank you for your hard work.”
Yue Ning took out a bag of Fuling cakes from his backpack: "Professor Ma, try the cakes I brought back from Beijing."
"Thank you." Professor Ma thought for a moment and asked, "Yue Ning, do you remember the couple from Vietnam you helped before? You wrote a sign for them."
"I remember, I was worried that their ingredients would deteriorate as their business got better, so I went there again on purpose. I saw that their shop had been roughly renovated, but the rice noodles were still so authentic. They were doing good business now, so I felt relieved. Do you like their rice noodles too?" Yue Ning asked.
"No. Last year, there were about 100,000 Vietnamese boat people pouring into Gangcheng. Although Gangcheng is only the first port of call, these refugees will be transported to other refugee reception sites through Gangcheng. But the influx of refugees is too fast and too many. Gangcheng can no longer accommodate so many refugees. So now there are many voices outside calling for stopping the acceptance of refugees." said Professor Ma.
Professor Ma is a scholar in the field of social sciences, and Yue Ning has always been concerned about the issue of Vietnamese refugees.
After the unification of North and South Vietnam, the North Vietnamese government cleaned up South Vietnam, where there were more than 1.2 million Chinese. With their hard work and wisdom, the Chinese were relatively wealthy in Southeast Asia, and it was for this reason that these Chinese became the targets of cleanup. 70% to 80% of the refugees who came to Hong Kong were Chinese.
Professor Ma said, “The school is organizing an event to visit refugee camps, and I would like to invite you to participate to expand its influence.”
In her previous life, Vietnamese refugees were a term in books. In this life, Yue Ning saw real people. Many people in Hong Kong City opposed the government's unconditional acceptance of refugees. Yue Ning actually knew in her heart that it was difficult for Hong Kong City to accommodate so many refugees. However, she could not support this view either. These refugees were too miserable, and most of them were overseas Chinese.
After all, these people are from the same family as us, and we share the same ancestors.
Yue Ning asked: "Professor Ma, then...what is our school's position?"
"This question is difficult to answer. The British government has promised to open Hong Kong to receive refugees as a shelter, and the government can only do so. As a government-run school, HKU should cooperate with the government to a certain extent. However, the social problems caused by the refugee issue are prominent now, and Hong Kong cannot take care of itself and accept refugees without restrictions. The Vietnamese refugee issue is testing the conscience and wisdom of Hong Kong people. I hope this trip is open and an action that makes everyone think." Professor Ma asked her, "Will you go?"
"Okay, I'll go. Please arrange a time and let me know." Yue Ning said.
Professor Ma smiled and said, "Thank you. Can you help me contact HTV to record the content and produce the program?"
"Okay, I'll get in touch and tell you right away."
"Thank you."
After returning home from school, Yue Ning contacted Cai Zhiyuan. Cai Zhiyuan asked her in surprise if she was planning to go into politics in the future and that was why she wanted to get involved in these things?
"Go away! The teacher hopes to use my influence to let everyone know the truth and think about this matter."
After talking about business,
"Are you free on the twenty-eighth of the lunar year?"
"Junxian told me that my uncle and aunt in Singapore will come to your house for the New Year's Eve dinner. I will definitely come with them." Yue Ning said.
Cai Zhiyuan told her: "Come earlier."
*
The bus rolled over the muddy road, and Yue Ning looked out the window. The area surrounded by barbed wire was densely packed with simple iron sheds. These iron sheds were crowded with nearly 30,000 refugees, most of whom were Chinese families who drifted from the South China Sea.
Yue Ning got off the bus and followed Professor Ma and the students inside. The smell of salty seawater, coal stove smoke and disinfectant hit her in the face. Some students had already covered their mouths and noses. In the distance, a few ragged children were squatting on the mud and playing. Their clothes were so worn out that their original colors could hardly be seen.
A middle-aged man wearing glasses came up to them. He was the person in charge of the refugee camp contacted by Professor Ma, his surname was Chen.
"Welcome to HKU students." Mr. Chen sighed, "The situation is worse than you think."
He led the students into the camp. The tin house was crowded with people, and the air was hot and turbid. A thin girl huddled in a corner, holding half a piece of hard bread in her hand, her eyes alert and blank.
"She is only six years old," Mr. Chen whispered. "Her parents died at sea, and now she lives with her aunt."
Yue Ning took out a pack of biscuits from his backpack and handed it to her. The girl hesitated for a moment, took the biscuits, and whispered "thank you".
"What can we do to help them?" a classmate couldn't help asking.
Mr. Chen smiled bitterly: "Food, medicine, clean water, these are the most urgent needs."
But they are just students. The students suddenly thought of Yue Ning. Yue Ning is not only a student but also a boss. Can she? The student looked at Yue Ning.
Yue Ning said: "Professor Ma said that this visit is 'open' and allows everyone to think. We will continue to move forward."
The passages between the iron sheds are narrow. The clothes drying overhead block out the sky like flags of all nations. Plastic basins, iron buckets, and broken tires are piled haphazardly in the corners, and stepping on them will splash mud mixed with sewage.
Looking inside from the open door, there were about ten people living in one room. Bedding rolls were piled in the corner, and moldy cotton wool was visible under the straw mats. The only furniture was a low bed made of wooden boards and bricks. Under the bed was a plastic bucket filled with fresh water. That was the drinking water they received every day with tickets.
Sitting on a bench outside the camp medical station was a middle-aged man with one arm. He rolled up his trouser legs and had a hideous scar on his calf.
Mr. Chen said: "He was scratched by the steel bars when the boat capsized."
Hearing their conversation, the middle-aged man turned around and said in Cantonese: "Three hundred people were crowded on the wooden boat. It rained heavily at night, and many people were swept away by the waves..."
One female classmate couldn't bear it and shed tears: "How terrible!"
"Their lives are already so difficult, and now the government is considering setting up fully enclosed refugee camps. What's the difference between that and being in prison?"
"Before I came to visit, I heard people say that life in the refugee camps was very good and that they didn't have to pay for medical treatment. Only after I saw it in person did I know it was true. Would you like this blessing that doesn't cost any money?"
"If they couldn't survive there, would they risk their lives to come to Hong Kong City?"
Several people were talking as they walked.
At this time, a noisy sound was heard, and a group of people were seen gathered near the barbed wire from a distance. Several social workers wearing fluorescent vests were stopping the angry local residents. One of the grocery store owners held up a smashed glass jar and said, "They came to steal cans again! We found them, so they just smashed all my cans."
Behind the crowd, two Vietnamese youths were leaning against a tin roof, smoking with disdainful smiles on their faces.
"What's wrong with stealing your canned food?" The Vietnamese youth came over, blowing out a smoke ring. "I've been drifting on the sea for a month, so drinking a few mouthfuls of your canned soup is polite!"
His companions burst into laughter. He deliberately bumped into the grocery store owner's shoulder, causing the broken glass bottle in his hand to fall and shatter into pieces on the ground. He said, "We are 'political refugees'. What can you do to me?"
Yue Ning rushed forward, grabbed the man's wrist and said, "Is being a political refugee some great status? Is it this old man who made you a refugee? Does anyone here owe you anything?"
"I died once when I was drifting on the sea. Who should I be afraid of?" The young man roared and twisted his body to resist, and his back slammed into the iron shed behind him.
With a loud "crash", the rusted corrugated iron sheet broke like a fragile biscuit, and the collapsed roof poured down with rain and mud. Yue Ning subconsciously pushed the young man aside, but his arm was scratched by the corner of the falling iron sheet, and warm blood oozed out instantly.
“Ningning…”
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