Fleeing to Hong Kong: Second Try

My sister in Hong Kong and brother in the United States had been paying close at
 tention to my situation. In addition to financial support, they also contacted relatives and friends in Hong Kong to find opportunities for me. Finally, my br-other contacted a friend who fled from Panyu County to Hong Kong a few years ea-rlier, sent him a sum of money and asked him for help. The friend introduced a
 man named Li Yong of Dashan Commune, Panyu County, to me. He was the captain of a production brigade. I asked Li Yong to meet me in Guangzhou. Li Yong was in h-is early 30s. He was sturdy, did not talk much, and was easy-going. He said heo
 Shiqiao Town, Panyu County. So I went to see Wu and Li Yong at Shiqiao. Wu was about 25, a wiry guy with a rather heroic spirit. He told me that his cousin Su-xia, a fisherman, had a private boat, and had long wanted to flee to Hong Kong. But he had no relatives in Hong Kong, and dared not go on his own. Wu said to m-e, "I have talked Suxia into going with us, and he agreed. But when we arrive i-n Hong Kong, you must take care of us!" I said no problem.We discussed carefull-y the departure time and place, and planned to buy a few hundred pounds of cabb-age to pile on the boat. We would pretend to be farmers crossing the Pearl Rive-r Estuary to the east side in Baoan County to sell vegetables. As soon as we we-re at sea and it turned dark, we would immediately turn the boat south and aim straight for Hong Kong. I told Wu that my younger sister also wanted to go; Wu said no problem, the boat had enough space. I gave money to Wu to buy cabbage a-nd other items.On the appointed day, my sister and I took a bus to Dashan Commu-ne. It was getting dark. Per Yong’s prior instruction, we went out of the stat-ion and walked along the single road on the left. Both of us were so nervous th-at we did not want to talk. As night fell, we worried about getting lost or mis-sing Li Yong. That would be big trouble because we dared not ask directions, le-st our stranger’s accent cause suspicion. We kept going for about half an hou-r, finally saw a lonely hut with a light on the roadside and sugarcane fields on both sides. We guessed it was the right place and walked over to ask. It really was! We were greatly relieved.Li Yong came out to meet us. There were several y-oung persons in the front room chatting. They politely greeted us and let us si-t down. No other family members were seen.At this time, someone came in with tw-o long paddles. Yong took them and leaned them against the wall. I asked mysel-f: How could these things be exposed to others? Fortunately, those young people
 didn't say anything and after a while they left. I asked Yong the purpose of th-e two paddles. He said only that they were to be used the next day because the two already on the boat would not be enough. I asked if he were not afraid of t-his gear being seen by others. Yong said no, but did not explain. I still had m-isgivings but hesitated to probe further. Li Yong told us that we would sleep t-here that night. Next day we would have morning tea together at a restaurant in the market town, then board the boat; Wu and Suxia would be there waiting for u-s. I asked if he weren't afraid to board the boat in broad daylight. Yong said no, but again did not explain. I could ask nothing further. That night my young-er sister and I didn't sleep well, but Yong snored without stop. We were awaken-ed in the twilight at four in the morning. Yong led us to a restaurant in town. There were a few diners there already and some greeted Yong. He told them he wa-s going to Guangzhou with his cousin that day. Dim sum was served. I urged my s-ister to eat more, but neither of us was hungry. When Yong had finished, I boug-ht a pack of dim sum and we followed him silently to the river. I suddenly reme-mbered the two extra paddles received the previous night. Yong explained that W-u took them aboard early that morning.Wu and Suxia had been waiting on the ban-k. Suxia was a small fisherman in his early 20s. I handed dim sum to them; they sat on the bank to eat and had a pleasant talk, seemingly unworried. Occasional-ly someone passed by and greeted Yong who explained again that he planned to go to Guangzhou with his cousin.I was on tenterhooks and urged them to get aboard as soon as possible. Yong said, "Don’t worry, nobody cares." Wu smiled and exp-lained: "Here is not the border zone; just like in Shiqiao, no one cares.” I u-nderstood! We had a guilty conscience even if we didn’t steal anything and wer-e worried half to death.Heading Out to Sea Wu and Suxia finished dim sum and ca-lled us to board. Li Yong said he would see us off for some distance and got on the boat. After more than half an hour we paddled into a cove of reeds. The tim-e was still too early so Suxia suggested we rest in the cove for an hour. Li Yo-ng said he would now return home. Wu tried hard to persuade him to go with us. I admired Li Young’s chivalrous behavior and also thought we could use a stron-g laborer like him to help paddle. So I also urged him to go with us, and guara-nteed to take care of him when we arrived in Hong Kong. Li Yong pondered a mome-nt, then relented and promised to go.After about an hour, we again were ready t-o start. Suxia said there might be an inspection during the journey. He asked m-y sister and me to lie down on the bilge under the cabbages that had been broug-ht aboard before we started. The bilge was large enough for two to lie down. In the winter of southern China, lying on the bilge was not easy, but still manage-able.I was worried mostly about inspection. Suxia said not to worry, as he knew where the inspection point was, so we could go around by another creek.The boat advanced slowly. About two hours later, I heard someone shout in the distance, followed by Suxia answering loudly. I didn't know what happened and asked in lo-w voice. Wu said: "Hush! Don't make a sound, someone wants to buy cabbage.” To-o bad! I was speechless with fear. I could hear Suxia bargain with the man but finally fail to reach an agreement. After a while, all returned to silence. The-n Suxia began to speak slowly, saying that he had deliberately made the price a bit too high,doubting that man really wanted to buy cabbage, because militiamen or inspectors often tried that to determine one’s true intention. Fortunately, Suxia was a local with the same dialect, so his response was accepted without s-uspicion. Otherwise, if we were caught even before going out to the sea, all ou-r efforts would be in vain. As the sun set in the west, the boat was rowed into the Pearl River Estuary. Suxia pointed at left front to a small island where th-ree patrol boats were berthed, warning everyone to keep silent. As we kept padd-ling eastbound toward Shajing, Baoan County, everyone was nervous for fear the patrol boats would come over and search.Soon, night seemed to fall suddenly, ev-en us lying in the bilge could see it through the gap of the deck. Li Yong orde-red us to throw all cabbage into the sea right away, turned the bow to the sout-heast,and removed the deck to let my sister and me come out. Looking up at the starry sky and feeling the breeze blowing gently on my face, it was really comf-ortable! In front of us on the vast ocean, the water and sky merged. At the far left front, a faint blue light shone in the night sky. Needless to say, that wa-s our goal, the long coveted free world!Wu and Suxia exclaimed excitedly: "Got it! Got it!" They estimated that it was now a favorable north wind and ebb tid--e, so we could arrive at the Hong Kong coast in about four hours. All of us wer-e excited about our upcoming victory. I considered the near future: After four hours, all the humiliations and disasters would be things of the past. From the-n on, I could breathe freely, how wonderful! Suxia and the others envisioned ge-tting jobs and sending money home, so their families would no longer be so poo-r. They also had long been yearning for overseas remittance certificates; with t-hose their families could buy some high-class goods; after one or two years, th-ey would save up some money and begin a small business such as operating a smal-l stall or something similar. Wu said happily to Li Yong: Definitely it would b-e much better than you being a poor captain of a production brigade. Although n-obody was around in the dark sea, we dared only to talk and laugh in low voice. The four paddlers worked more and more vigorously. As we talked and laughed, su-ddenly the bright lights in front illuminated a motorized sailboat speeding tow-ard us. We were scared and leaned on the boat's side, held our breaths and star-ed at the sailboat. A man on the deck of the sailboat drew a large circle on th-e big sail with a powerful flashlight, and then the sailboat passed quickly not far from our boat on the right side. We were greatly relieved. Suxia told us th-at it was a returning fishing boat. Usually when they encountered a fleeing boa-t, would use a long hook to drag the boat back, and the people on the fishing b-oat could receive a little bonus from the government. However, they didn’t do so, revealing that human nature had not been completely distorted, and there we-re still good people in the world. Success Suddenly Blows Away We were glad, bu-t Li Yong was worried: "It may turn into a south wind!" Everyone asked what tha-t meant. Yong said: “Did the person on the motorized boat draw a big circle wi-th flashlight on the sail? I remember an old seaman in the village had said tha-t the circle meant wind, that is, the man warned us there would be strong wind soon. If it is a south wind, that would be too bad, as we would be pushed bac-k.”Everyone felt immediately heavyhearted. We only wished that warning were not true. Hurry up! If we paddled quickly, hopefully after two hours we could arriv-e in Hong Kong.But before long, the north wind gradually weakened. After a shor-t dull windless period, the dreaded south wind arose, getting stronger and stro-nger. Against the wind and the current, any effort to row was in vain, but we h-ad to try hard to stabilize the boat lest it be wrecked by the gusts of wind. W-e were dismayed to see our boat being blown back. My mind went blank.As the sun rose, the wind gradually abated, allowing us to go south again. However, in bro-ad daylight our lonely boat heading south would tell anyone on shore or in a pa-ssing fishing boat that we were fleeing to Hong Kong. But returning was also wo-uld be dangerous. The militia on the shore or the maritime patrol boat would in-tercept. It might be less risky to continue forward. Just as we started to padd-le again, two boats quickly came out from a river of the east coast. Closing to our boat, one of the crew yelled, "Where are you going?"After a moment of silen-ce, Suxia answered: "Shajing."—A village on the east coast."Where are you fro-m?"