Shen Hui, along with Xue'er, travelled south after a bumpy journey and finally arrived in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. During their two-day stay in Guangzhou city, Shen Hui found a map of Guangdong. After studying it, she discovered that the closest place to reach Hong Kong was a town called Bao'an. So they made their way to Bao'an. Upon arrival, Shen Hui realized that escaping to Hong Kong had become a widespread phenomenon. Many people were doing their best to illegally cross the border into Hong Kong, using various means. This gave her a glimmer of hope. She quietly began to gathering information on how to succeed in such a endeavor, and to her surprise, she managed to learn quite a lot.
There were generally three ways to escape to Hong Kong: traveling on foot, swimming or taking the boat. The routes were typically divided into the eastern, central and western lines. Most of illegal immigrants who made use of swimming across were in excellent physical condition and chose the west route. Starting from the areas such as Shekou and Mangrove Bay, they would swim across Shenzhen Bay to reach the New Territories of Hong Kong. The second option was to cross the border by land, usually via the central route, through the areas like Wutong Mountain and Sha Tau Kok in Shenzhen, by climbing over barbed-wire fences to reach Hong Kong. However, these fences were extremely difficult and dangerous to scale. The third option was traveling by boat, usually organized by smuggling groups, taking the eastern route across the waters of Dapeng Bay. This stretch of water, located between Huiyang and Shenzhen, was just over ten kilometers from Hong Kong. However, the sea was rough and drowning incidents were common. Moreover, the cost of such a trip was typically around 300 yuan or more per person.
Shen Hui thought that swimming was definitely out of the question. She couldn't swim and Xue'er was only five years old. The best option seemed to be taking the boat. It was dangerous but at least there was a chance of success. But the cost for two people was 600 yuan, an unbelievably hug amount for her. She hand only 50 yuan in her pocket. That left her with only one option: crossing by land.
Once having made her decision, she began to prepare everything for their journey. She asked the old woman who was her landlord for the details on how to cross the border by land. Looking at Shen Hui and Xue'er, the lady said:
"Girl, you don't seem like a bad person. Let me give you a word of advice: go back to where you are from. This isn't a easy road to go. My husband and I had two sons and one daughter. One of our sons followed the old government to Taiwan before the liberation. So we decided the whole family would try to get to Hong Kong first and then go on to Taiwan to find my son. We planned to escape to Hong Kong by swimming. As a result, there was only my younger son swimming across the bay and arriving in Hong Kong but my daughter drowned. If my husband didn't have given me his tire to cling to, I would have drowned too. But he was too exhausted in the end and didn't survive. I was saved by the border guards. That's the only reason I'm still alive." She paused, her eyes full of sorrow, then added, "This is the gamble with your life. You're a young woman and such a little girl is with you. It's impossible for you to make it through. You won't survive."
Upon hearing this, Shen Hui couldn't hold back her tears and said:
"Madam, this isn't what I want...but I have no choice. Look at my daughter. Her father, my husband, is an American so she looks like different. I just don't want her to be hurt. That's why I have to take this path."
The old woman looked at Xue'er again and said:
"I noticed there was something special about this child when you moved in. Now I understand. Alright, I can tell you that it is hard to cross by land. You have to not only take a long walk but also avoid the border guards and their dogs. Even the strong young man can't handle it. You're a woman with a small child so there is no way you can make it. Taking a boat would really be your better option."
Shen Hui replied helplessly:
"But I don't have money so I have no choice but to go by land."
The old woman signed deeply without a single word. Instead, she took out a hand-drawing map from the pocket of her inner clothing and said:
"This map was prepared for myself. Actually I have studied this route many times so this time I can lead you there." Hearing this, Shen Hui looked at her with overwhelming gratitude. The old woman continued, "We have to prepare some food and water before we set out."
Upon hearing this, Shen Hui was filled with joy. She truly felt she had met a kind and generous person.
But once they actually set off on their journey, Shen Hui realized it was far more difficult than she had imagined. To avoid the border guards, they had to walk only at night, sticking to remote and hidden paths, never using the main roads. The old woman walked with surprising strength and confidence, but Shen Hui and Xue'er quickly developed blisters on their feet. The pain was unbearable so that they could only inch forward, step by painful step. Xue'er eventually was asleep on her back because of the tired and cried herself out. Finally Shen Hui and Xue'er could go no farther. Exhausted, Shen Hui turned to the old woman and said:
"Madam, you go ahead. Don't let us drag you in trouble."
The old woman said gently:
"It's all right. We can take it slow. Honestly, we're almost there. It will be great if we can get across before dawn. If impossible, we will find a hidden place to take a rest and eat something. We have to wait until nightfall and find the chance to cross."
Shen Hui nodded helplessly and hoisted Xue'er on her back. Despite the pain from the blisters on her feet, she continued trudging forward behind the old woman, one painful step at a time. At last, they caught sight of the barbed-wire fence ahead and a flicker of hope lit up in their heart. In her eagerness, Shen Hui wanted to quickened her pace, ready to rush forward. But the old woman grabbed her just in time and pulled her into a nearby patch of dense shrubs. Silently, she pointed her finger toward the direction ahead on a diagonal. Under the beam of the searchlight, they saw two persons clinging to the barbed wire, desperately trying to climb. One of them was at the top. Suddenly a burst of barking came from nearby. The people on the barbed wire fence began to climb even more frantically, trying to get over it. But it was too late. A group of the border guards appeared out of the darkness, the rifles raised and aimed to them. Within moments, two persons had to go down and captured. Three guards escorted them away, while others with dogs continued patrolling the surrounding area. The search lasted until dawn. Fortunately, Shen Hui and the old woman had hidden themselves well and Shen Hui had warned Xue'er to stay completely silent. When the sun rose, they knew that there was no chance for them to cross so they decided to stay where they were and wait for the nightfall. They all were so tired that they fell asleep soon.
When Shen Hui woke up, she found that the old woman was gone. She wanted to get up and look around but she didn't have the courage to do this. She didn't dare to move and all she could do was hold Xue'er tightly in her arms. She pulled out a piece of dry, hardened flatbread from her bundle and tore off a small bit for Xue'er. With the help of a few sips of water, they managed to choke it down. Xue'er, her eyes brimming with tears, could barely finish hers. After a while, Xue'er, apparently, couldn't stay longer so Shen Hui muttered softly to her:
"My girl, just hang in there! We will find your father as long as we can get past that barbed-wire fence tonight. At that time there will be no one who can bully you anymore. Do you understand?"
Xue'er nodded and said:
"I see, mommy but I need to go to the bathroom."
Hearing this, Shen Hui realized she also needed to relieve herself. So she said:
"Alright, let's crawl backward and find a place to pee."
Xue'er nodded. They began to crawl backward slowly. But they didn't have gone far when Shen Hui suddenly found herself staring at the sharp blade of a bayonet. Her heart sank. She lowered her head in despair, pressing her forehead to the ground. Suddenly she heard Xue'er voice crying out:
"Please, uncle, please! Please let us go through. We're not the bad persons. We're just going to find my father. If I have a daddy, the other kids won't bully me anymore. Please, uncle, let us go. Please!"
Shen Hui lifted her head and saw Xue'er kneeling on the ground, kowtowing over and over while she pleaded with the border guards. Overwhelmed with emotion, Shen Hui also burst into tears and knelt beside her daughter, bowing her head to the ground again. One of the guards stepped forward and helped Shen Hui to her feet while another crouched down and gently lifted Xue'er. He looked into her dusty little face and met her bright green eyes. Something seemed to stir in his expression ---- perhaps a moment of understanding. He felt a flicker of sympathy but his duty quickly smothered any trace of sympathy. Besides, he had heard all kinds of excuses and stories from those illegal immigrants before. Steeling his heart, he stood up and pointed his rifle at Shen Hui, saying:
"Enough! Move!"
As they were escorted toward the border patrol station, they passed through a small village. Shen Hui suddenly saw that old woman with bundle standing by the roadside. Their eyes met. The old woman was clearly surprised to see Shen Hui and Xue'er in custody. Her gaze filled with a mixture of helplessness and compassion. When they passed her, Shen Hui mouthed silently: Good Luck! But she didn't make sure whether the old woman understood her meaning or not. For her, it was ended with nothing.
Director Liu of the police station walked briskly into You Tao's office, looking excited and said:
"Secretary You, I just got a call from Guangdong."
You Tao, seated behind his desk, asked eagerly:
"They called you? What's going on? Please tell me quickly."
"The border guards found them. They confirmed it is the woman you're looking for ---- Shen Hui and her daughter. No doubt about it. One glance at that child and it was clear that it was them."
"What are they going to deal with them?"
Director Liu replied:
"Well, the guards decided to send the mother and daughter back. It was said that Shen Hui had a better attitude and cooperated well. We're supposed to send someone to pick them up at the train station. Then we need to give them a serious talk. Let them know they can't keep trying to cross illegally. I mean, even if they have the reasonable excuse, it's still not the right thing. I've heard from the police over there that they often have to pull bodies out of the sea. It's really dangerous, especially with her bringing along such a young child."
You Tao sighed deeply and said:
"You have seen that girl. My junior apprentice sister was really afraid that her girl would be bullied so she had to do this without choice. I had told to her several times but she couldn't let go of her fear. That's why she ran off in secret. By the way, please don't tell anyone else about this. Keep it a secret for me!"
"Don't worry. What kind of relationship we have! We both crawled out from piles of corpses on the battle. In our town, there were only you and I who had fought on the Korean battlefield."
You Tao replied:
"Thank you, my brother! I owe you a meal sometimes."