Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

The next morning, Zhang Dabiao brought Qin Mancang 300 jin of grain. It mainly consisted of cornmeal, wild vegetable biscuits, a small amount of salted fish and refined rice and flour, ten jin of dried noodles, one jin of white sugar, and five jin of compressed biscuits. He intended to provide some of the grain to Qinjiatun in an emergency, and he would figure out a way to deal with the rest later.

The mutual aid society's grain reserves are only about 500 jin, which has reached the warning line. Moreover, they can't catch any fish or dig up any wild vegetables. They rely on Yan Jiecheng's weekly trips to the suburbs to exchange refined rice and flour for coarse grains, as well as the produce from their small vegetable garden in the backyard. After all, the area is only so big, and even with chemical fertilizers, vertical farming, and intensive intercropping, the yield is still limited.

Qin Mancang was planning to ride his tricycle back to the village today to handle household registration matters and bring the grain with him.

Including the 200 jin I brought last time, I have already completed the task of 500 jin of grain this month.

Meanwhile, Zhang Dabiao and Qin Jingru went to the school together and asked the principal for a week's leave, saying that the factory was short of food and he had to go and help purchase unplanned supplies.

The principal knew Zhang Dabiao's background. It has to be said that he hadn't even graduated from junior high school, yet he was a temporary purchasing agent for the "Red Star Daily Necessities Manufacturing Plant," a part-time designer and researcher, and also a part-time designer in the foreign trade department...

That salary is higher than what he, the school principal, earns!

Actually, the principal felt that whether Zhang Dabiao skipped a grade or not was irrelevant; his salary was already incredibly high, not to mention the bank interest he received over a thousand yuan a month.

Moreover, after graduation, he could choose any job he wanted in the factory or department.

So what's the big deal about taking leave for such a talented person?

It was approved on the spot. After all, Zhang Dabiao had important business to attend to when he asked for leave—to contribute to the factory's vital production targets!

And I assured him confidently that if he needed to ask for leave, he could just send a message. "Your position is special; you hold several positions concurrently. The factory needs you. I'll let the teachers in charge know. Just keep an eye on your studies; there's a grade-skipping exam waiting for you at the end of the semester."

If the principal hadn't clung so tightly to that tin box of Maojian tea, Zhang Dabiao would almost have actually believed that his words came from the bottom of his heart.

However, receiving this trivial token that allows one to "take leave at any time" was a pleasant surprise.

Before leaving in the morning, he had already told Qin Jingru that he had to go out to buy food in other places, so there was no need for him to cook dinner for himself.

It will take one or two days at the fastest, and three to five days at the slowest. This time, the destination may be a bit far.

After leaving the school, Zhang Dabiao found a secluded spot and quickly returned to his "main base".

That's right, he's going to Hong Kong to get grain.

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Upon entering the main base, Zhang Dabiao changed his clothes. In Beijing, he was a student and an orphan, so he had to keep a low profile. Therefore, he dressed in a somewhat shabby and tattered manner, but he didn't care.

But in Hong Kong?

That would be mistaken for refugees.

As the saying goes, "Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse." Zhang Dabiao thought about it and realized that he definitely couldn't pretend to be a Hong Konger because he didn't speak Cantonese!

Last night, he frantically tried to learn Cantonese by browsing the Cantonese movies in his "Main Base" home data center—but he only had a few Cantonese movies downloaded:

Green Snake, The Exorcist, A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box, A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella, King of Comedy, A Chinese Ghost Story II, Ashes of Time, The Eagle Shooting Heroes...

Oh, and there's also the Jade Group series. In addition, all Disney and Pixar animations, as well as Marvel blockbusters, have multiple audio tracks, so you can learn some from them.

It's possible to cram for a few simple words at the last minute, but it's impossible to pretend to be a Hong Konger.

Zhang Dabiao wrote down many commonly used words and phrases in a small notebook, for example—

The most commonly used ones are the "Kanjia Shovel," "Prey Lao Mou," and Jacky Cheung's classic "Eat Shit!" "Hooray!" and "Someone Asks..."

Indeed, swear words are the easiest to learn.

(Please remember 1219.m.k.com for the fastest chapter updates.)

What else is used daily?

"掂" means "okay," "perfect," or "no problem."

嘢—things;

餸—vegetables;

"Qingji" means to chat.

Threads – mental illness;

Go first — I've left first;

Have you eaten yet?

It's alright, thank you! -- It's okay, thank you!

How do I get there?

Excuse me! — Could you please let me through?

……

Then, the English translations were written below, and there was translation software on the computer.

Is it okay for me to pretend to be a Chinese American who grew up in the beautiful Chinatown?

Isn't it perfectly normal to not be fluent in Cantonese?

As for English, Zhang Dabiao isn't very good at it either. He passed Level 3 but didn't pass Level 4. However, he can handle ordinary daily conversations, and if he listens and speaks slowly, he has no problem.

Then Zhang Dabiao put on the suit he had bought when he applied for a job, along with a tie, white shirt, and leather shoes—he thought he could look like a refined scoundrel, but now that he had developed muscles and grown taller, he looked like a thug in a suit!

If his beard were a bit sexier, he'd have a bit of Zhang Jin's vibe!

Then put on those non-prescription glasses for showing off...

If you don't have a suitable hat, just wash your hair, part it in a 3/7 ratio, and apply some gel.

perfect!

Wearing this to Hong Kong wouldn't be too out of place, right? It's already mid-October, so Hong Kong should be warmer than Beijing, right?

After getting ready, Zhang Dabiao put the notebook in his pocket. Since the first stop was Agongyan Village, he figured he should bring some "local specialties." Zhang Dabiao grabbed a Mixue Ice Cream tote bag; he didn't have any other bags, though he had quite a few backpacks and shoulder bags. He wasn't sure if carrying a hard-shell airline suitcase would be appropriate, so he just grabbed a Mixue Ice Cream tote bag. All the other intact packaging bags were piled up on the balcony; he didn't throw them away as trash, figuring the logos and text would be removed after they left.

It contained some compressed biscuits, chocolate, milk candy, tea, wafer biscuits, etc., which shouldn't be out of place as "local specialties".

Then, Zhang Dabiao took a deep breath—

Hong Kong, here I come!

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Zhang Dabiao stepped over it. There was no one in the main room, but there were traces of black dog blood and chicken blood on the floor. Looking back, he saw that some of it had been smeared on the window as well, and there were also some incense ash and talisman paper residue at the foot of the window...

Did they really summon a Taoist priest to perform a ritual?

Zhang Dabiao was speechless, but it didn't matter. The fact that this place was rumored to be a haunted house actually made things easier for him.

I peeked through the crack in the gate and saw that it was locked with an iron chain.

Zhang Dabiao remembered that the villagers just pushed the door open and came in that night, without any iron chains.

There were people walking on the village road outside the door. Zhang Dabiao thought for a moment and then went around to the back door of the village house.

Looking out, one can see the fishing village below the mountain, with its various haphazardly constructed shacks, and the harbor across the river. This village house is on the edge of the village, a location that, for Zhang Dabiao, is—not bad.

The village is located halfway up the mountain, at a high altitude, and Zhang Dabiao's house has an unobstructed view. However, at a glance, the village has very little arable land, with small vegetable plots scattered here and there, and it does not seem to be a village that is mainly engaged in agriculture.

Zhang Dabiao climbed over the wall and walked along the corner of the village house to the main road at the front gate, pretending to have just returned "dusty and weary" from the foot of the mountain.

As soon as it appeared, it was spotted by the villagers.

"Are you from here? Are you looking for someone from here? What are you doing in our village?"