Chapter 5 Chapter Four

Li Qinghua and Gao Lanxiang didn't know that when they missed their man day and night, the two men were actually in a place called Malacca in the Malaya Peninsula, which is only a long embankment from Singapore. Back then, Cantonese and Fujianese sang in ballads, and folks said that going to Southeast Asia actually refers to Southeast Asian countries such as Malaya, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei, and Indonesia.At that time, Singapore, together with Malacca and Penang in the Malay Peninsula, belonged to the British colonies, and the two places could freely enter and exit without any restrictions.

Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru still haven't figured out how they were captured by pirates.In hindsight, think about how stupid they were!Are the lives of the two of them worth the little money in the bag?What if the pirates were killed at that time?Moreover, they were too overreaching. With just the two of them, could they take back that luggage bag from those tough pirates?Can they beat those tough pirates?It is a woman's business for a woman to cry and cry. Women can be irrational, but how can they be irrational as men?It's ridiculous to think about it!However, there was one thing they didn't expect, that is, after they fell into the hands of the pirates, those pirates did not harm them. The purpose of the pirates to capture them at that time will always be a mystery.If there is a reason to be found, it is the resistance of these two men, an instinctive suppression and revenge adopted by the pirates.

After leaving the "Jishun", the pirates were completely intoxicated in the carnival after the robbery, and seemed to have forgotten the two men locked in the cabin.Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru never forgot the scene of escaping from the pirate ship.It was already the morning of the second day after they were caught on the pirate ship.It was already dawn, and the sun had just risen from the sea level. Through the portholes, one could see the coastline and the houses of various colors on the coast.The hearts of the two men were suddenly pulled, and they knew very well in their hearts that they would face two choices, either to find a way to escape before the ship landed, or to wait for the ship to land and let the pirates deal with them. Choices are faced with unforeseen variables.Chen Kejing asked Huang Zeru, can you swim?Huang Zeru didn't understand what he meant at first, he said, why do you suddenly ask this?Before he finished speaking, Huang Zeru already realized what Chen Kejing meant, so he hurriedly said, you mean we are going to run away?Chen Kejing said, this is the only way to go, and we have to fight hard for everything, otherwise, once the ship touches the shore, no one can predict what will happen.Huang Zeru responded immediately and said, if we run away, we can't wait to die in vain. Instead of waiting to die, it is better to fight for a way.Tell me, how should we escape?

In fact, there was only one way for them to escape, and that was to escape through the porthole.Since they were locked in the cabin just now, they have already noticed the porthole that might bring them life.The two knew it well, but neither of them went to break it.Of course, there is another reason for this. In the boundless sea, if the pirates let you run, where can you run?Isn't it still going to be swallowed by the waves and buried in the bottom of the sea?But it's different now, the coast is already close at hand, if you don't run at this time, you will have no chance.Besides, they also had to escape. What they cared about most in their hearts was the safety of the two women. The life and death of the two women are still unknown. Where are they?

When it came time to escape, the two men made a verbal agreement on life and death.That kind of life-and-death agreement is a bit similar to the one in Jianghu, except that there is no blood pricking oath.They decided that whoever survived among them must find a way to find the two separated women and bring them back to China.Nanyang is good, everyone wants to go to Nanyang, but how can an unaccompanied woman live in a foreign country?The two men were almost moved to tears by their mission and responsibility, gritted their teeth, and jumped into the sea from the porthole one after the other.

When thinking about this incident afterwards, the two men's minds were completely blank, and they couldn't figure out how they swam to the shore at all.But the actual situation was that the tide was just rising at that time, and the waves were like rolling a curtain, sweeping high and low towards the shore, that is to say, they were pushed to the shore by the rolling tide completely with the help of the waves; And if they are really allowed to swim by themselves, it is unimaginable that they can swim to the shore smoothly. The two men were then sent to Malacca in the Malay Peninsula by the wave.

Malacca is the first recorded kingdom in Malaya history.It is said that Malacca got its name from a tree.In the 15th century, Sumatran prince Sura drifted across the ocean and came to the Malay Peninsula. The prince accidentally saw a mouse deer fighting with a wild animal under a tree. The prince was very worried about the weak mouse deer. .However, to the prince's surprise, the mouse deer finally defeated the mighty beast.The prince felt very relieved and gained unlimited power from it.He thought it was a sacred tree, and the gods protected the mouse deer in secret, so he asked his entourage what kind of tree it was, and the entourage said it was called the Malacca tree.The prince then decided to stay on this land and re-establish the dynasty.He named this land Malacca.

There is also a legend that a Hindu prince who was exiled to Malacca rested under a tree in Malacca, and suddenly found that the place was beautiful and beautiful, and finally chose to live here, and named this place Malacca.Of course, there are many legends about Malacca, but no matter which way it is named, Malacca is inextricably linked with China.Zheng He, the eunuch of Sanbao in the Ming Dynasty, arrived in Malacca five times during his seven voyages to the West.It is said that the Chinese immigrated to Malacca when Zheng He's sailors married local Malay girls. Therefore, people here believe that they are the descendants of Zheng He's sailors.There is even a story about the marriage of Han Baoli, the princess of the Ming Dynasty, to the king of Malacca, which adds a lot of beautiful imagination to this little-known little place.In fact, after Malacca and Penang in Malaya became British colonies, a large number of businessmen from all over the world, especially Europe, flooded in.

Development requires a lot of labor, so contract labor appears, which is what people usually call selling "piggies".And those "piggies" are almost all from the coastal areas of Guangdong and Fujian.They were transported to the colonies by "piggy" traders, where they were forced to work as debtors.This kind of indentured immigrant labor has a long history. Malacca and Penang also have special agencies engaged in the sale of "piglets", setting a price for labor and conducting open sales.Although there was a maritime ban in China at that time, citizens were not allowed to freely enter and leave the country, but the ban continued, and a large number of laborers continued to flee to Southeast Asia and many countries through Macau controlled by the Portuguese, or they were simply bought by "pigboy" traders in China. Local officials let people go abroad.This situation continued until Britain and France signed the "Beijing Treaty" with the Manchu Qing government in 1860, which legalized the sale of human beings, and laborers went abroad to a climax.As for Malacca, a large number of Chinese laborers were sold there as coolies.

When Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru were washed onto the beach by the waves, they were already dizzy from the waves.When they wake up a bit, they still don't know where they are.The only thing they are sober is that they are still alive, they have left the group of pirates, this is more important than anything else, as long as they are alive, they can find their own women.The destination of the "Jishun" departing from China was Singapore, which was made clear when the "Jishun" first set off that day.The point is, where will the two women go after they arrive in Singapore?Should we stay in Singapore and wait for them?Or run around the world looking for them?If it's the latter, it's too bad, and it's quite difficult to find them.According to the calculation of time, from the time they were captured by the pirates to the present, it was only two or three days from the beginning to the end. Where would the two women go if they ran again?The greatest possibility is that the two should still be in Singapore at this time.But no matter what the situation is, there is only one way before the two men, and it is the only way they have to go, and that is to travel all over the world to find their woman.

The two men left the beach and planned to spend the night at Xiaoxing, looking for their women along the way.The problem is that many things in the world would be as simple as they think.Just as Tang Sanzang had to go through ninety-nine and eighty-one difficulties to learn from the West, their path to find a woman must be full of hardships and twists and turns.The two men walked into a lake unknowingly. Those lakes were clear and green, very beautiful.In fact, the two men had already walked into a tin mining area at this time, and the beautiful lakes were actually abandoned mine pools.The two men didn't know that they were in danger. From the moment they walked into the mining area, someone had already watched them.At this time, someone came over to them, and the other party was also a Chinese.The man seemed to know where they came from, and he seemed to understand very well what the two men needed most right now.He took them to the place where he lived, took out steamed buns and some delicious treats for them.Those foods were a deadly temptation for two men who had been starving for days.Seeing that they ate nothing left, the man asked them if they wanted to find something to do. If they wanted to do it, he could help them. Huang Zeru didn't answer his question directly, but instead asked him where this place is. The man said, Malacca. Malacca?Where is Malacca?Talking about Malacca to two Chinese who don't know the geography of Malaya is tantamount to saying nothing.Chen Kejing said, where is Malacca?Is it far from Singapore? The man said that Malacca is the Malacca of Malaya.how?You want to go to Singapore? Huang Zeru said, yes, we are going to Singapore to find someone.Those who came with us are waiting for us there. When the man heard that they were going to Singapore, he shouted on purpose and said that going to Singapore was too far away, and they couldn't get there in two or three months.The two men gasped when they heard this, thinking how could it be so far away, did they make a mistake?But the fact is that the man was deliberately deceiving them, because the distance from Malacca to Singapore was only more than 200 kilometers at best.In other words, even if the two of them walked to Singapore, it would only take five or six days. The man struck while the iron was hot, and further said, in fact, in my opinion, you can find something to do in the mine first, and say something abrupt. In your current situation, people will starve to death on the road before they reach Singapore. . Despite the scary words, the two men insisted on leaving.Huang Zeru glanced at that person, then at Chen Kejing, and said, let's go!We must delay no longer, for if we delay we shall never find them again.We will never forget the benefactor's kindness, let us repay it someday! The man was a little annoyed with the cold butt on the hot face, but he didn't let it show on his face. He said lightly, it's okay, since you are determined to leave, I can't stay if you want, so how about it, you wait first , I'm going to prepare some food for you on the way, and let you take it away. After the man left, the two men were still moved by this unfamiliar but enthusiastic stranger. At this time, two strong men came, and the strong men asked Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru to follow them, not far away. The strong man had already brought them to a shed area. The shed area was short, not much taller than a person, one piece after another, occupying most of the hill.The shed was pitch black, and nothing could be seen clearly, only when one looked closely could one see pairs of eyes gleaming in the darkness.One of the two strong men pointed to the two empty bunks in the shed and said to Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru, you, and you, each with one bed.Change the clothes at the head of the bed later, remember, you must understand the rules here, and don't mess around. The incident happened suddenly, and the two men were not prepared for it at all. They were dumbfounded when they heard it, and their heads suddenly swelled up to be bigger than a water jar.Chen Kejing hurriedly said, Hey!What are you guys doing here?You are probably mistaken, we are not here to work, we are going to Singapore.Huang Zeru also said, yes, you must have made a mistake, we did not say that we would work here, we have to go to Singapore, there are people waiting for us. The man said, no mistake, someone has already sold you to the mine!do you know?Now that your identities are miners here, you can stay here with peace of mind, it's the same wherever you go to work. The two strong men left after talking, as if they were dealing with similar things almost every day, and they didn't take it seriously at all.But to Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru, it was like a bolt from the blue. Both of them were dumbfounded. They didn't expect that the two living people would be sold without knowing it. As stupid as possible!Can't help feeling angry from the heart, want to find that person to deal with, before leaving, someone stopped them, that person is not big, with a dark face, big and three thick.He pulled them aside and persuaded: Brothers, just swallow this breath, they are in the same group, you can't beat them.If I'm not wrong, you are also from Fujian based on your accent, right? Chen Kejing nodded and said, yes, we are from Fujian. The man said, me too, my name is Zhang Chuanzong, just like you, I was also deceived.However, I am different from you. I clearly know that this is a fire pit, but I want to jump into it.What do you want to do?All for survival.Anyway, you have to endure it first, and then find a chance to escape, recklessly is absolutely impossible. After hearing this, the two felt at a loss before their eyes, unable to figure out what to do.Zhang Chuanzong then asked how they ended up in this situation, and the two of them were afraid that there would be no place to talk about their hardships. As soon as the conversation was opened, they told him everything that happened before and after.After finishing speaking, the two men let out mournful voices like women, crying quite sadly.Zhang Chuanzong listened and watched, he didn't even know how to comfort them.Just say, in short, they have already sold you to the mine, and now you can't leave if you want to, so you have to find a way slowly. Huang Zeru got up anxiously and said, according to you, we can only stay here?Can't we go to Singapore? Zhang Chuanzong said, of course.After a pause, he said, didn't I tell you guys, I have to think of a way slowly. It is true that Huang Zeru and Chen Kejing's wishful thinking is not willing to stay in the mine. The fact is that they no longer have the right to choose to leave, that is to say, they have no way to leave here.From now on, they must go down to the mine pool with the miners to mine cassiterite and pull cassiterite carts every day. They must also wear uniforms uniformly issued by the mine. The uniforms are very wide and have different Arabic numerals printed on the back. , one size per person, it looks a bit like a prisoner's uniform, but you still have to wear it.The miners have almost no sense of time when they commute to and from get off work. Anyway, they work from dawn to dusk, and they can stop work when they can't see their fingers. That is the life they will start. The tin mine in Malacca is an open-pit mine, and the mining technology is relatively simple, so stupid people don’t need to be taught how to do it.Therefore, most of the coolies recruited to the mines were young people under the age of 30 from Fujian and Guangdong, and they generally signed contracts with the mines.In other words, most of them came here by selling themselves voluntarily. As for the situation Zhang Chuanzong said, it refers to the fact that they were too gullible to believe the agitation of the traffickers in the "pigboy" shop before making a decision, so they easily sold themselves to the traffickers , Later, it was too late to regret.After the miners knew what happened to Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru, they sympathized with their situation very much, and took care of them everywhere so that they would be less wronged.But even so, for Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru, the most realistic and urgent thing they need to do right now is to quickly find their own woman, other than that, any comfort and warmth will be of no help to them.As long as I think of my woman's whereabouts so far, and I don't know where she has fallen, I will feel endless longing and desolation in my heart.They always want to escape here, but looking around, there are invisible eyes staring at these miners everywhere, where can they escape to? After about three months like this, it was already winter.In fact, Nanyang, which is located in the subtropical zone, is not too cold even in the coldest winter. There is no frost, let alone snow, and the average daily temperature is still above ten degrees Celsius.For Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru these three months, it was like living a life like hell.Excessive physical labor made them darker and thinner, their hair grew and their beards grew. If you look at it from the outside, compared with three months ago, they all suddenly became ten years older.More importantly, their bodies and minds are suffering from longing almost every moment, especially in the first month of these three months, although they are in the mining area, their hearts are almost every day. When planning how to escape from this tin mining area, they even conducted a pre-escape assessment of the environment of the entire mining area.Of course, this overly revealing performance did not escape Zhang Chuanzong's eyes, and he really sweated for them.He reminded them very seriously not to show your face about everything. Once you show your face, it is tantamount to telling others your plan. Then, people must pay attention to you and guard against you. Difficult to achieve.There are some things you have to do in the opposite direction, for example, you obviously don’t want to stay here at all in your heart, but instead you have to show that you are full of enthusiasm and love for the work here, so that people can relax their original vigilance against you Sex, feel at ease with you.Only by paralyzing the other party, then you will have more room to move, and you will become passive and active, so as to achieve your goal. Although Zhang Chuanzong was very rude, what he said was very reasonable. The two men who wanted to escape from the mining area listened to his words and began to feel at ease, thinking that there might be no way out.They have become very restrained and extraordinarily honest. Like all miners, they work at sunrise and rest at sunset.They seem to have merged with the miners of the mine. In this way, it came to that unusual night, like all the nights in which the more dangerous and thrilling situations are described in all novels, that night, the sky was as dark as ink, the wind was heavy and the rain was heavy, strictly speaking, it was not raining, the The rain was like the wind blowing all the seawater in the South Pacific back and forth to pour down the mining area. The sheds where the miners lived were almost instantly smashed to pieces by the violent rain. If they collapsed, they would all collapse. There was nowhere to hide. The miners ran and wailed in the heavy rain. The power lines in the mining area had already been blown off by the wind. The lights in the entire mining area were extinguished, and it was pitch black.It was at this time that Zhang Chuanzong shouted at the two men who had been trying to escape from the mining area: What are you waiting for?Haven't you always wanted to escape?What time is it now, why don't you run now? These words reminded Chen Kejing and Huang Zeru, and they realized that the opportunity had come!For a moment, the blood all over his body rushed to his head with excitement.Zhang Chuanzong said, turn over the mountain in front of you, go straight west, don't stop!Remember my words, God has blessed you and fulfilled you! The two of them were only excited, they wished they could fly far away, and before they had time to say goodbye to Zhang Chuanzong, they turned around and ran away.It is better to say that it is to fly than to run. They are like two runaway horses, running to the outside of the mining area.Later, when they recalled that rainy night that they will never forget in their lives, they would inevitably feel a sense of emotion, thinking, it was really thanks to that storm, how could they have been relieved if it hadn’t been for that storm?