Tuen Mun in the New Territories is almost 40 kilometers away from Shek Kip Mei in Kowloon. Now that he has made a move to go to Kowloon to work as a civilian, To Yongxiao has no reason to stay in the New Territories.
Carrying his luggage, Du Yongxiao first spent NT$1.5 on a rickshaw, and then spent NT$2 on a tram. After almost three hours of journey, he finally arrived at the famous Shek Kip Mei.
Shek Kip Mei is currently known as one of the three major slums in Hong Kong, the other two being Shek Tong Tsui and Diao Bo Ling.
Carrying my luggage and strolling along the streets of Shek Kip Mei, I saw all low-rise wooden houses, as well as mottled and leaky iron houses, which were in sharp contrast to the eight H-shaped public housing estates not far away.
In fact, these eight H-shaped public housing estates were built due to a fire.
The fire occurred on the night of December 24, 1952, which was the night of carnival for some people on the eve of the Nativity of Jesus. Shortly after nine o'clock, a fire broke out in the Shek Kip Mei cabin area. Although they were rescued, this merciless fire still burned fiercely until the afternoon of the next day, completely burning the wooden houses in the six villages in that area to ashes before it was extinguished. Over 100,000 people were affected overnight, 50,000 of whom were homeless.
The situation was critical. In order to resettle the victims, the British Hong Kong government decided to build 7-storey H-shaped buildings in the Shek Kip Mei disaster area. By the end of 1954, 8 H-shaped buildings were finally completed, becoming the first generation of public housing estates.
Du Yongxiao's home is better. At least he lives in one of these public housing estates. Compared with the dilapidated wooden houses and tin houses in front of him, it is simply a "paradise".
"Give way! Please give way!" A rickshaw carrying a cheongsam girl wearing stockings and raising her long legs ran past Du Yongxiao.
"Moo----!" A cow barked, and an uncle led a big ox past the side.
A child with a naked butt was defecating on the side of the road. He was holding a stone in his hand and his little face was tense. When he finished defecating, he would use the stone to scrape his butt.
"Mahua, hemp flower!"
"Xirong, delicious Xirong!"
Next to the children are various vendors, shouting and soliciting business.
Du Yongxiao's appearance temporarily stopped the shouting around him, and everyone turned to look at him with different expressions.
Du Yongxiao knew what they were thinking without guessing. In this era, word of mouth spread faster than his job.
After Du Yongxiao left sight, everyone whispered among themselves: "I heard that this bad guy has changed his career to a plainclothes job?"
"Yeah, look at what he's wearing, he's already very cool even before he's developed!"
"I'm so envious that that crazy woman has such a good son!"
"Don't let Sister Lian hear these words, be careful to kill you with a knife!"
When he arrived at the public housing estate, Du Yongxiao went up to the seventh floor. Many women, wearing Tang suits and trousers and wearing wooden clogs, squatted in front of their homes to cook, holding big cattail fans and making soup and porridge over honeycomb briquettes. The smoke from the cooking pots was mixed with radishes. The smell of soup, and the taste of thin rice soup.
The children were running up and down the corridor on bamboo poles. Some naughty ones even climbed up the railing and slid down. When they saw Du Yongxiao, they stuck out their tongues at him and shouted: "Catch the thief!"
Du Yongxiao heard a noise before he reached the door of his house: "Sister Lian, your family is going to be prosperous this time! Ah Xiao has become a plainclothes policeman, and from now on you can follow the popular and spicy food!"
"Yes, Sister Lian, we will need your Axiao to cover us from now on! You must accept these eggs!"
A group of men and women blocked the door of Du Yongxiao's house, holding various gifts in their hands, including chickens, ducks, salted fish, and a basket of eggs. They were full of flattery towards the Du family.
Du Yongxiao's mother, Li Cuilian, is thirty-five years old this year. She was a famous beauty when she was young. She was known as the "Teochew Flower". She is still very graceful now. Even if she wears a very ordinary Tang shirt and Tang trousers, she can't block her inherent beauty. .
Just now, Li Cuilian was wearing a water skirt and chopping vegetables with a kitchen knife. Suddenly so many neighbors came to give gifts, which made her confused. After asking about it, she found out that it was her son Du Yongxiao who had taken a job as a civilian.
The plainclothesmen of this era are amazing. I heard they were like the imperial guards in ancient times, soaring into the sky.
At this moment, Li Cuilian was smiling from ear to ear, but she was unwilling to accept those gifts.
Du Yongxiao's father, Du Dapao, poked his head behind his wife and pulled her from time to time: "Take it! Let's give it a try!"
"I'll accept it and let you exchange it for money before gambling? What a beautiful idea!" Li Cuilian turned around and scolded her husband.
Du Dapao immediately shrank his neck and stepped back.
"I'm sorry, I can't accept these gifts!" Li Cuilian waved her kitchen knife carelessly, "It's not yet certain whether our Axiao will be employed or not. Everyone has sent so many gifts, and I don't dare accept them! To say the least, Even if Ah Xiao really gets a job, I still can't accept these gifts! The reason is very simple, we are all neighbors, and we should help when we encounter problems. As for this gift or something, it is too callous!"
Li Cuilian's "loyalty" speech impressed everyone present.
"Sister Lian is still loyal!"
"Yes, he is much better than her husband, who only knows how to gamble!"
Du Dapao coughed and said, "You give gifts as long as you give them gifts. What do you want me to do?!"
"Sister Lian, you don't have to accept their gifts, but you must accept my gift!" An old man stood up holding a bundle of sugar cane, and at the same time, another man wearing a floral Tang skirt stepped on Clogs, a girl with big black braids.
The girl is sixteen or seventeen years old, with willow eyebrows, big eyes, and lively eyes. She is quite pretty.
"Uncle Ah Shui, what do you mean by this?"
"What I mean is very clear. Our Ali and your Ah Xiao are childhood sweethearts. Last time Ah Xiao saved our Ali on the road, otherwise Ali would have been ruined by that drunkard! So, Ali I have long made up my mind not to marry anyone other than your filial son!" A Shuibo, who usually sells sugar cane on the street, spat and spoke impassionedly.
Li Cuilian was stunned: "Why haven't I heard of it?"
"Of course you don't know anything about the children! In short, I brought Ali here this time to get you to be sure. If possible, we can set their marriage today!"
Li Cuilian was stunned again. She didn't expect that something good would happen, and a daughter-in-law would fall from the sky.
"Ali, what do you mean?" Li Cuilian asked Ali more carefully.
Ali played with the big braid hanging on her chest, not even daring to look at Li Cuilian. She lowered her head and said shyly: "I listen to my father!"
"Look, the kids all said they want to listen to me!" Uncle A Shui opened his mouth, revealing his teeth that were yellowed by smoke. "Now, if you don't have any objections, just accept this bundle of sugar cane first. Make sure it's juicy and juicy." Sweet! Even if it’s just a little bit of our Ali’s love, we might as well agree on the engagement—I didn’t ask for it just because you Xiao Xiao was a plainclothes man, the main reason is that I don’t want to break up this young couple!”
"Uh, this----" Li Cuilian was a little tempted. After all, this is Shek Kip Mei, and many bachelors can't find wives. Besides, this girl Ali is also good-looking, with a big ass, and she is sure to give birth to a boy.
Just when Li Cuilian was about to agree, there was another commotion in the crowd.
"Get out of the way, get the hell out of my way!"
"When we Yiqun do things, we are afraid of death and get out of the way!"
Three big men squeezed in from outside the crowd, all of them were hunky-backed and full of flesh.
When everyone saw it, they immediately hid aside.
Ah Shuibo jumped like a monkey, and even dropped the sugar cane he was holding on to the ground.
The three of them are subordinates of the Yiqun boss "Jin Yagui", and Jin Yagui is the famous "usury" who specializes in prostitution, gambling, loan sharking, murder and arson, and does all kinds of evil.
As for the money Du Yongxiao borrowed before, it belongs to him.
