Three days later, the pier was shrouded in mist, and the salty smell of water vapor hit my face.
What they held were temporary passes indicating their status as “Observers accompanying the delegation”.
With Uncle Qin's personal coordination and the Industrial Bureau's dispatch letter, the formalities were handled exceptionally smoothly.
At this moment, standing on the shaking deck, watching the figures on the shore gradually change, Zhou Fang still had a strong sense of reality.
"Qingyang...are we...really on the ship to Gangcheng?"
He leaned against the porthole, watching the river surface change from yellow to green, and then gradually to deep blue.
He was amazed by the huge ocean-going vessels, the cargo ships dragging long white waves, and even the seabirds that occasionally flew across the sea.
"Qingyang, look! That ship is great! Even better than ours!"
"The sea! It's really the sea! Why is the water so blue?"
Zhou Fang grew up in Beijing, and this was his first time seeing the sea.
Lu Qingyang seemed much more reserved.
He accompanied Zhou Fang to see the scenery, but most of the time he was observing.
Lu Qingyang and Zhou Fang kept Qin Zhenhua's instructions in mind, kept a polite but distant distance from them, and never took the initiative to participate in the discussion.
At lunch time, in a slightly crowded restaurant, Zhou Fang clumsily used a knife to deal with a piece of overcooked pork chop, which attracted a slightly mocking glance from a man wearing a floral shirt and a gold chain sitting next to him.
Zhou Fang's face turned red instantly, and he was at a loss as to what to do.
Lu Qingyang handed him his chopsticks calmly and said to the waiter in fluent Cantonese: "Excuse me, give me another pair of chopsticks."
Although his Cantonese is very authentic, it is enough to calm the situation.
Seeing this, the man in the flowered shirt looked away angrily.
Zhou Fang looked at Lu Qingyang with gratitude and admiration: "Qingyang, you can even do this?"
"I learned a little bit from my elders in the past." Lu Qingyang mentioned it vaguely, but he was alert in his heart that the environment in the port city would only be more complicated than on the ship.
He whispered to Zhou Fang, "When you get over there, look more, listen more, and talk less. Ask if you understand something, don't be afraid to show your weakness, but don't trust strangers easily. Our goal is very clear, to do our own thing well."
Zhou Fang nodded vigorously, keeping Lu Qingyang's words firmly in mind.
He no longer made a lot of noise like he did in the morning, but followed Lu Qingyang quietly, learning to observe his surroundings and trying to absorb all the information on the ship.
He saw someone secretly exchanging Hong Kong dollars for RMB in a secluded corner of the deck, and saw someone whispering about the upcoming opening of the "Snake Industrial Zone".
As night falls, the sea breeze brings coolness.
The cruise ship was sailing on the dark sea, with only the searchlight on the bow piercing the deep night.
Zhou Fang and Lu Qingyang stood on the deck, away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
There was endless darkness all around, the sound of waves never stopping, and only the starry sky above was exceptionally bright and brilliant.
"Qingyang, what do you think Hong Kong City is like? Is it really full of tall buildings and gold?"
Lu Qingyang said slowly: "There are definitely tall buildings and bustling neon lights, but the gold will run away at your feet. There are the most advanced things there, as well as the most naked rules. It is a paradise, or it may be hell. It depends on whether we have the ability to find what we want there and... get out of it safely."
Zhou Fang nodded thoughtfully, feeling that Lu Qingyang had really become different.
But with him by his side, he felt a little more at ease.
Half an hour later, they arrived at the port city.
The ship slowly approached the pier of Victoria Harbour.
After completing the formalities, they finally stepped onto the shore.
The mist had not yet completely dissipated, but everything in front of him was enough to make Zhou Fang, who was standing on the side of the ship, completely lose the ability to speak, leaving only his mouth slightly open due to excessive shock.
The first thing that catches your eye is the skyscrapers lined up on the shore!
They are not like the sturdy and low buildings in inland cities, but rise up from the ground.
The above are English and traditional Chinese characters that Zhou Fang can fully understand.
The scene on the shore was an explosion of colors that Zhou Fang had never imagined.
The clothes worn by men and women are completely different from the gray, blue and green main colors in the mainland!
Some men wore neat suits and ties, while others wore fancy shirts and bell-bottom pants.
Women made him dare not look directly at them.
She had exaggerated wavy hair, wore a brightly colored dress with an incredibly short hem, and wore thin high heels that revealed her smooth legs.
There were also young people wearing tight jeans and T-shirts, exuding a "trendy" vibe that Zhou Fang couldn't understand.
Huge billboards were plastered all over the building's exterior walls, with blond-haired and blue-eyed foreign models advertising tempting products, striking his visual nerves.
There was a constant stream of people at the dock, all in a hurry.
What made Zhou Fang even more dazzled was the vehicles on the street which made him shudder with fear.
In addition to the common public buses, there are more sedans and double-decker buses emitting black smoke.
The honking of horns, the roar of engines, and the noise of the crowd are intertwined.
You can even see blond-haired and blue-eyed foreigners on the street.
All this hit his nerves.
Lu Qingyang seemed much calmer.
"We don't have anything to do, do you want to take a walk here first?"
In his previous life, he had never had the opportunity to come to Hong Kong. This place was obviously closer to the future, which made him feel playful.
The representative of the inspection team approached the two and said, "You two are running around! Someone asked me to take good care of you."
Lu Qingyang and Zhou Fang scratched their heads, almost forgetting that they were here for fun.
"Secretary Lu?" Lu Qingyang and Zhou Fang were both stunned.
Secretary Lu took a breath and said seriously, "Oh, why did you two act on your own? This port city... is full of mixed people, much worse than our inland areas! What if you get lost or encounter any problems, how are you going to report to the organization?"
"Secretary Lu, please forgive me, we are running around."
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