Chapter 5
Under strong public pressure from local citizens, the authorities also realized that arresting and deporting people was unpopular, so they changed their policy and began to build resettlement areas for those people. They provided wood and began to build wooden houses on the mountains or open spaces to accommodate these people.
Ye Tianhui cleaned up the abandoned corridor where she was hiding, leaving no trace of anyone having lived there. Then she dodged the crowd in the building and quietly merged into the crowd.
Local police would distribute food to them, such as biscuits or porridge, and Ye Tianhui also drank the free porridge.
In fact, Ye Tianhui has been eating bread, egg tarts and various biscuits these days. She thought they were delicious at first, but after a while, her mouth felt uncomfortable because they were too dry.
Now being able to drink a mouthful of soft porridge is naturally a delicious delicacy.
Unfortunately, the porridge was too salty, so salty that it was unbearable, so I had to drink it with gritted teeth.
Afterwards, Ye Tianhui mixed in with the group, followed everyone and lined up to register his name.
However, when the free meal certificates were issued, Ye Tianhui did not accept them. She had less than HK$1,000 on hand, which was actually enough for her own food and drink, and perhaps even to rent a cheap house. She did not need to compete with everyone for food. She just wanted to have a legal identity, so she had to go through the procedures with everyone else.
At this time, rows of wooden huts had been built. They were very simple, usually made of wooden boards and iron sheets, but they had water, electricity, and public toilets.
However, it is obvious that these huts are not enough to live in, and the local government is helpless. They simply do not have the manpower to do this, so they provide everyone with iron sheets, asbestos tiles, wire mesh and wooden boards and let them build them themselves.
So a flood of people got the building materials and built huts on the edge of the city or in the mountainous areas.
These houses and building materials will naturally be given priority to those with families. She is the one who can feed the whole family and can sleep anywhere, so naturally she doesn't want to compete with others for this opportunity.
Fortunately, she finally received a certificate of residence. Although it was not an official identity, it meant that she could appear here legally and could freely engage in some work.
She knew very well that people needed such a small certificate at any time. In her time, you needed a document to go out. In the mainland, you needed a letter of introduction and certificate from your work unit. Naturally, proof of residence is also required here.
She carefully put away the thin certificate with a red stamp and left.
Not long after she walked away, she smelled the aroma of food and looked back.
Dusk has arrived, and the colorful clouds in the distance are coloring the sky. The high-rise buildings not far away have already turned on their lights, and even in this simple hut built on the mountain, dim lights can be seen and the smell of food wafts in the air.
It should be the simplest porridge and rice, but it is very tempting.
At this time, the woman who was originally frowning also showed a little smile, the children were already playing around the hut, and the men gathered together to talk, discussing topics such as "where to make money".
Ye Tianhui stood there silently, watching this scene in the faint smell of rice.
At this time, Ye Tianhui felt a gaze.
She looked over and saw a tall and thin young man standing beside the hut in the twilight, looking at her.
He was very tall, with a straight back, and had a pair of narrow, sharp eyes, slightly tight brows, and dark, deep eyes. He looked thin and poor, but had an ambitious and stubborn streak.
When their eyes met, the man pursed his lips slightly and looked away.
Ye Tianhui then remembered that she seemed to have seen this person before. It was when the crowd was in chaos that day and some people were scrambling for wood, and he stepped forward to stop them.
Although he looked about the same age as herself, only about twenty years old, he was very cold and tough, and he did things in a cunning way.
Ye Tianhui saw it at that time, but didn't take it too seriously. Now she doesn't care much about people and things that are not related to making money.
She withdrew her gaze, turned around and left.
**********
Walking alone on the streets of Hong Kong, she sees the flashing neon lights and the surging crowds of people. This is a world she has never experienced, and it is also the place where she longs to work hard.
There are a dazzling array of signs on the roadside. When customers come out of the shops, the owners say "Come and shop here when you have time" and say goodbye with a smile.
She passed by a place that looked like a movie theater. There were modern men and women dressed in fashionable clothes. The men were wearing narrow-waisted pants that were tightly attached to their hips, and loose flared pants underneath. Some of them were wearing jeans.
As for hairstyles, they are even more varied, with curls, dyes and colors, which are bizarre, but also trendy and fashionable.
Many of those men and women were lovers, holding hands, some even hugging each other, and some were kissing passionately on the side of the road.
Ye Tianhui looked at it with some curiosity and found it particularly interesting.
The era she lived in was very conservative, with strict boundaries between men and women. A female general like her could still ride on horses and fight in battles, but for ordinary women in the boudoir, they rarely even left the house.
When she arrived in mainland China, although the situation was much better than her time, there were still a lot of rules and regulations, and no one would kiss on the street.
I didn’t expect people in Hong Kong to be so open-minded.
She watched for a while, and the couple noticed her and started cursing at her, looking very furious. Ye Tianhui knew she was in the wrong, so she ran away in shame.
She walked a few steps and lost sight of the couple, but she smelled a sweet fragrance. When she looked over, she saw an old man pushing a popcorn machine. The popcorn machine was no different from the ones in mainland China, with a fire burning underneath.
Ye Tianhui was tempted by the sweet smell. Since she had Hong Kong dollars, she went forward and asked for one.
The popcorn was freshly made and popped. She waited for a moment and then heard a "pop" sound. The popcorn poured out in a burst of rich and sweet fragrance.
Carrying the bag of popcorn, Ye Tianhui ate while walking, admiring the scenery of the Hong Kong River.
Soon she saw another place selling cart noodles. She went over to take a look and found that the soup looked delicious.
Ye Tianhui had been eating free meals from the government these days, which were either bread, buns, or salty porridge that was so greasy that it made her sick. Now that she saw such delicious noodles, she naturally couldn't help herself and ordered one.
The cart noodle maker was an old lady with trembling hands. After taking Ye Tianhui's money, she took out a bowl with a cracked rim and a rooster pattern on it and filled it with light yellow coarse noodles. She added a few curry fish balls, a small piece of pig skin, two pieces of braised pig intestines, and some leeks, and then stuffed it into Ye Tianhui's bowl.
Ye Tianhui took the bowl, asked for a pair of chopsticks, and looked for a place to sit.
There are many people coming here to eat cart noodles. They all look poor and dusty. They concentrate on eating with big mouthfuls, sweat on their foreheads, and look very satisfied.
At this time, someone left after eating, and Ye Tianhui quickly occupied that seat. After sitting down, she also followed everyone else and took a bite.
Ye Tianhui seldom ate these southern-style meals before, but now she devoured them with relish.
While eating, she could hear people around her talking. Judging from their accents, most of them were Cantonese, but there were also some accents from northern mainland China, a tone that sounded familiar to Ye Tianhui.
At this time, the topic everyone is discussing still revolves around "making money", after all, we have to make a living.
Some said they were going to sell blood, some said they were going to work as minions in casinos, and some said they were going to work as laborers unloading cargo at the docks. After talking about it for a while, I don't know how someone talked about horse racing.
One of them seemed to know the business very well: "That has been approved by the King!"
When Ye Tianhui heard this, she pricked up her ears and listened curiously - she has always been very eager to know about things she doesn't understand.
Obviously, there were other people around who were curious, so that person began to speak mysteriously, saying that gambling was not allowed in Hong Kong, but horse racing was the only entertainment that was authorized by the emperor. There was an area in Hong Kong called Happy Valley because there was a racetrack there.
In Hong Kong today, almost everyone participates in horse racing. There is almost no one who has never played horse racing. In recent years, horse racing in Hong Kong has become even more popular. Ordinary citizens can watch the live broadcast on TV, so their enthusiasm for participation is even higher. Many citizens even shout and cheer wildly in the living room for the horses they bet on.
Ye Tianhui's eyes lit up when she heard this.
To be honest, her specialties in her previous life were fighting, riding and shooting, and marching and deploying troops. She was not good at anything else.
If you ask her to do needlework, she will make her mother angry to death. If you ask her to read and write, she will make her teacher angry and run away. She is not good at anything.
In this life, she was not very good at studying, nor was she good at English. She was often criticized when she worked as a textile worker in a factory.
She was born to be born in troubled times and grow up on horseback. Without those things, she would be an ordinary person, destined to be mediocre.
So for her, if she wanted to make money, she could only rob houses, work as a thug in a casino, or be a martial arts stuntman in a movie.
Now, when she heard about horse racing, her eyes lit up instantly.
The Ye family has been in the military for generations, and there are all kinds of extraordinary people in the family. Among them is one who Ye Tianhui calls Uncle Wen, an old man under her grandfather. He is very knowledgeable about horse judging. When Ye Tianhui was young, she was interested in horses, so she pestered Uncle Wen to teach her, and Uncle Wen taught her everything he knew.
After that, Ye Tianhui served in the army for many years and saw countless fine horses. She mastered Uncle Wen's horse-judging skills, so much so that later, her horse-judging skills were almost unmatched in the Dazhao Kingdom.
I remember that when she returned to the court victoriously to meet the emperor, the emperor would specifically mention that he had obtained several fine horses in his imperial stables, and that she had a good eye and was just waiting for her to come and appreciate them.
Ye Tianhui used her chopsticks to pick up the last piece of curry fish ball and put it into her mouth. As she savored the rich aroma of the curry fish ball, she pondered the matter with satisfaction.
Horse racing, betting, making money.
For someone like her who doesn't work, this seems to be the fastest way to make money.
It's better than being a gangster and robbing houses.
*********
After finishing her cart noodles, Ye Tianhui got up and strolled around. In fact, she had been secretly observing house rental information these days and would take a look at any small advertisements she saw on the street.
Although she has less than HK$1,000 now, it is actually not enough to spend. For example, cart noodles cost about HK$6 or HK$7. If she rents a house, even if it is a low-cost public housing provided by the government, she can only use the public kitchen and bathroom, and plus the rates, that is, taxes, it will cost more than HK$100 a month.
It was naturally impossible for her to apply for public housing now, so she had to go out and look for one herself. With such limited money, she had to find a cheap one, preferably under HK$200, so that she could have some spare money.
However, it was already late that night, so it would be difficult to find her. It seemed that she had to spend the night outdoors and wait until tomorrow.
Fortunately, the weather is warmer now and it’s not too cold at night. If all else fails, you can find a telephone booth or a less crowded stairwell to spend the night.
She strolled around casually at first, and when she passed by a newsstand, she took a look at the newspaper.
She found that other newspapers and magazines were not expensive, but the newspaper about horse racing, called "Ma Jing", cost ten Hong Kong dollars, which was more expensive than a meal.
Ye Tianhui still bought it with great reluctance.
After buying it, she went to a store and flipped through it with the help of the light inside. She found that the content of the "Horse Racing Guide" was quite rich, including the status of the participating horses, the ranking of the races, and the information of the jockeys and horses. There were also comments written by well-known horse critics, which would provide detailed analysis of the participating horses, as well as odds and tips provided by horse critics. There were also some analyses of the problems and drawbacks of the current horse racing industry, criticizing current ills, etc.
Ye Tianhui flipped through the magazine carefully and saw quite a bit, which gave her a general understanding of the horse racing industry here. Unfortunately, the photos in the magazine were not clear enough, so she could only get a general idea.
But with this information, I would never dare to place a bet casually.
This horse racing is not about betting on horses, but about technical judgment. She has limited capital, so how could she dare to squander it?
It seems that she still needs to find an opportunity to take a closer look at the racehorses in order to make a better judgment. It seems that the final betting time is only a few days away. She must make a decision as soon as possible and then take out a few hundred Hong Kong dollars to bet, trying to win and solve this urgent problem.
By this time, it was already dark, neon lights were flickering on the roadside, and the night view of Hong Kong was naturally beautiful. Ye Tianhui admired the modern fashion of Hong Kong people, as well as the prosperity of the lights and wine. She walked forward slowly, and finally found a winding alley. The corners were dark and damp, covered with moss, but judging from the street stalls and the people passing by, this was the cheap accommodation Ye Tianhui was looking for.
She observed carefully and found that this place was obviously different from the prosperous surroundings. The rooms were very densely packed, with endless layers of tube-shaped buildings. There were also some crooked illegal buildings, barely supported by steel bars and wooden boards. Each pigeon cage had a long clothesline with colorful clothes hanging on it.
Nowadays at night, lights are on in every house, and the smell of cooking smoke and the sound of pots and pans banging can be heard. In front of the building, there are people in ragged clothes, as well as some hooligans who look very unruly and are smoking cigarettes. Maybe these are the legendary Young and Dangerous?
Ye Tianhui saw an old man walking forward with a basket of vegetables, so she went up to ask. The old man pointed and said that if she wanted to rent a house, she should go to find Grandma Wang. Grandma Wang's family happened to have an extra house for rent, so the tenant had just moved out.
When Ye Tianhui heard this, she hurriedly followed the old man's instructions and went to a place. She saw that someone was cooking over there. She smelled a sweet and fragrant smell, which was very strong. It made Ye Tianhui drool.
After she passed by, she said hello and asked inside, "Is anyone there?"
She has a good ability to learn languages. She has been listening carefully to the people here speaking these days and has learned some common expressions. Now, when she says this, although it is not authentic enough, it sounds decent.
She called out like this, and an old lady came out. She was wearing a Chinese cheongsam, had short permed hair, and was holding a cooking spatula in her hand.
She saw Ye Tianhui: "What's the matter?"
Ye Tianhui then mentioned that she wanted to rent a house, and she emphasized, "I hope it's cheaper."
The old lady then said that there was a house that was vacant, and if Ye Tianhui wanted to go over and take a look, she could. Ye Tianhui was naturally interested. Even though she could sleep on the street for a night, she hoped to settle down as soon as possible.
When she asked about the price, she was told that a room only cost HK$150. Ye Tianhui asked carefully again and found out that it included water, electricity and taxes, so the price was naturally quite good.
At this time, the old lady finished cooking. Ye Tianhui saw that she made honey-glazed chicken wings, which were colorful, fragrant and delicious.
She averted her gaze and told herself not to look, then followed the old lady to the rental house.
The area in front of the building is not clean. The garbage in the trash can is almost overflowing. Outside the corridor are rows of rusty mailboxes. The densely packed mailboxes also indicate that there are many residents here.
I followed the old lady up the narrow corridor and onto the sixth floor. Every house here has a small door, and the corridor in front of the door is filled with stoves and kitchen utensils from each family. Some people are still cooking at this moment, and the pots and pans are clinking.
When the old lady led Ye Tianhui over, someone would ask from time to time, "Where did this young girl come from?" The old lady would then casually say, "She's a new girl from the north."
Ye Tianhui walked behind, carefully savoring the meaning of the words "Northern Girl".
She thought that she didn't need to imitate their tone of voice and say anything. She thought she was hiding it well, but in fact, others could see through it at a glance.
Some people in this city looked at him with a hint of contempt, while others lay in front of large trucks to buy a glimmer of hope for the poor people who were about to be driven away.
How others view themselves is not important to them.
In any case, the city as a whole accommodated her, gave her a legal identity, and gave her a glimmer of hope for making a fortune.
Ye Tianhui followed the old lady into the empty room, which was actually not a room, but just a place to sleep.
What you see when you enter the door is a bunk bed, with storage drawers underneath, a Jinshan bar on the left, a five-drawer cabinet on the right, and some storage partitions hanging on the wall. These items have filled the entire room, leaving almost no space to stand.
Ye Tianhui asked if it could be cheaper. The old lady looked her over and asked, "Where do you work?"
Ye Tianhui listened and roughly understood that she was asking where she worked. She then said that she had just arrived and had obtained a residence certificate, but did not have a job yet and was currently "looking for a job."
The old lady seemed to feel some sympathy when she heard this and said, "Then be more lenient. Give me some old water first and I will pay you back when you get your salary."
Paying wages should mean paying wages, but is it old water?
Ye Tianhui was puzzled: "Old water?"
The old lady waved her hands: "It's redfish!"
Ye Tianhui: “?”
The old lady had no choice but to say, "One hundred yuan!"
Ye Tianhui finally understood after a lot of guessing: one old fish, one redfin croaker, one hundred yuan, that is one hundred dollars.
Because the 100 Hong Kong dollar note is red, it is called redfin tuna.
She was naturally grateful after hearing this, and immediately reached an agreement with the old lady. She took out a redfish and gave it to the old lady, and settled down here.
She had neither bedding nor clothes, but it didn't matter. It was good enough to have a place to shelter from the wind and rain.
After settling in, she looked around again. Cooking was done in the corridor, and the toilet and bathroom were shared. Of course, this didn't matter to her.
She wants to make a fortune and earn a lot of money. Living here is just a temporary solution. It's good enough that she can make do with it.
She also found that there was a mixed crowd here, including prostitutes and gangsters, and of course some people looked at her with strange eyes, which clearly had ulterior motives.
But that doesn't matter anymore.
Anyway, she has made up her mind that if no one offends her, she will not offend anyone. If anyone provokes her, she will beat them up and rob them of their money.
It is absolutely a fair and justifiable act!
She asked around and bought bath towels, bedding, two sets of simple clothes, and of course some toiletries from a nearby grocery store.
She asked the old man there and bought a spittoon and a mosquito net.
These things cost her a lot of money, but after buying them, she really felt that she had settled down.
She walked back with her things, and when she reached the corridor, she saw a few old men chatting there, apparently discussing "horse racing".
Ye Tianhui deliberately slowed down her pace and pricked up her ears to listen.
It seemed that one of the old men was a horse fanatic. He held a horse racing guide and a pen in his hand, and calculated the odds of winning and the payout in the dim light of the shop next to him. He knew all the racehorses by heart, such as "Good Daddy" and "Upset", which sounded like well-known horses that had won several times in a row.
He also mentioned a man named Ke Zhiming: "Ke Zhiming is also going to participate, he will definitely win!"
A young man nearby heard this and said mysteriously, "Have you heard today's 'secret tip'? Can you buy it?"
The old man waved his hands and shook his head repeatedly: "You don't understand, so you can't buy it. Don't look for secret tips when it comes to horse racing. You have to rely on yourself."
Ye Tianhui stood aside and listened for a while. She knew that the old man's surname was Sun. Uncle Sun had been studying horse racing for decades and was obviously very knowledgeable.
This tip seems to be a secret, like a rumor or something, which experienced horse racing professionals analyze and sell to ordinary people to make money.
She listened carefully and found out that the Jockey Club's racecourse was open to the public and ordinary citizens could go over and watch through the fence. Of course, there was a fee and certain safety regulations had to be met.
It’s troublesome, but it’s okay as long as you can watch it.
After she had listened to it for a while, she took her things and went back. It was already very late at this time and she didn't know the time, but looking at the stars in the sky, she estimated that it must be after ten o'clock in the evening.
She ran to the bathroom to take a shower. This bathroom was naturally shared and very small, only able to accommodate four or five people at most, and there were only three shower heads. It was obvious that there would be a queue during peak hours, but fortunately there were fewer people at this time.
Ye Tianhui took a serious shower, cleaning herself from head to toe, and then used shower gel. The shower gel had the scent of jasmine, which Ye Tianhui found a bit choking. She didn't like the scent, but she endured it in the end.
In her eyes now, this jasmine shower gel is stability, relaxation, and proof that she is finally living like a human being, instead of being chased and beaten, or hiding secretly in an abandoned stairwell.
After taking a shower, she wrapped her wet hair in a bath towel and went back to her room. When the wind blew, Ye Tianhui felt a burst of coolness, and she immediately felt comfortable all over.
These days she first soaked in the sea water, and then hid from place to place, living like a beggar. Now she is finally clean and comfortable, and she even feels that the scent of jasmine on her body smells good.
It smells delicious!
She walked into her room, closed the door, threw herself on the bed, and lay there comfortably, looking at the ceiling and thinking about the words she had just heard.
Try to sneak into the racetrack tomorrow, preferably to watch the horses race up close, and place your bets as soon as you figure out some tricks.
After placing the bet, if I have time, I will try to find out about the Ye family's situation and see if I can meet her biological father to test their thoughts.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
