Chapter Sixty: First Arrival in a Foreign Land

  New Year's Eve, my mother was discharged from the hospital! After a careful examination to confirm that there were no aftereffects, I accompanied her through the discharge procedures. Once we returned home, my father naturally had a lot to complain and scold about. The reason being that he was the last person to know about this matter.

  In his heart, such a big thing happened without telling him, it was as if he, the head of the family, wasn't taken seriously. Of course, what really made him angry was that his mother had been bullied, and he, as her husband, hadn't stood up for her in time. Although he found out about the Qiu family's downfall the next day, it wasn't as satisfying as teaching them a lesson himself. You should know that my father has never even spoken harshly to my mother in his entire life.

  "My wound has healed, so don't blame me anymore. Didn't I tell you the second day? The kids were also afraid that you would get anxious and angry. Speaking of which, old Lou, these days when I was in the hospital, it was hard on you!" After Mother's words, Father's eyes turned red. What is meant by "to wet each other with a sip of water"? I think this is what my parents are like."

  In the evening, our family sat together, eating New Year's Eve dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala broadcast on CCTV at 8:05.

  "Mom, I want to tell you something!" I said tentatively after dinner, while my mom was washing the dishes. After New Year's, I'll be going to Korea and I don't know how long I'll be gone. Maybe I'll find Little Sister in a few days, or maybe it'll take half a year. During this time away from home, I don't want my parents to worry about me.

  "What's wrong?" Mom asked while washing the greasy bowls and utensils in a pot of boiling water.

  "By the way, after the New Year's holiday, I might go to Korea for a trip!" I scratched my head and decided to explain things clearly to Mom.

  "Korea? Which country is Korea?" My mother stopped washing her hands and asked me. In 1992, China and South Korea established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. Before that, people in the country were more used to calling it South Chosun. No wonder my mother didn't know.

  "South Korea!" I explained to her using a familiar name that old mom often mentioned.

  "Oh, now that you mention it, I remember. Aren't they not on good terms with us? What are you going to South Korea for?" In my mom's mind, her impression of Korea was still stuck in the era of Syngman Rhee and the Korean War. As soon as she heard I was going to an "enemy" country, she immediately became anxious!

  I bet if I said I was going to North Korea, my mom wouldn't be so worried. After all, people of her generation grew up in an environment where they were taught to overthrow American imperialism. So naturally, they don't have a good impression of South Korea, which is in cahoots with the Americans.

  "Uh, go find someone!" I stammered to my mom. Actually, even I myself had no idea what the outcome of this trip would be. Heaven knows where the disciple of the witch was hiding?

  "Looking for someone? In a country as big as this, where are you going to find them? Are you kidding me? We're not the police, we can't be bothered with finding people! " My mom was worried about my safety in a "hostile" country, so she threw the dishcloth into the pot and said to me in an angry tone.

  "Auntie, actually this time MiaoMiao is helping me out. In our unit, a girl ran away from home to South Korea. Her parents were crying and wailing at home. So the leader of our unit entrusted me to go bring her back. But I've never even left the province before, let alone travel abroad, so I'm a bit scared! That's why I wanted MiaoMiao to come with me." Seeing that my mom didn't agree with me going to South Korea, the deceitful words just flowed out of my mouth.

  "Is that so? Then you must accompany Xiaoying on a trip, it's not safe for a young girl like her to run off to Korea alone!" After listening to the demoness' lies, Old Lady's attitude immediately took a 180-degree turn.

  During the Spring Festival, without exception, everyone visits relatives, pays New Year's calls, drinks wine and boasts. I believe you all have had similar experiences. From the first day to the seventh day of the lunar month, which man does not get drunk and vomit several times? Why stop drinking on the seventh day? Because work starts on the eighth day!

  On the eighth day, my dad and mom both went out to work. I went to the Public Security Bureau to ask about my passport. Because it was the first working day after the holiday, people were still somewhat immersed in the festive atmosphere. At that time, computerized offices had not yet become widespread in mainland China. By the time they retrieved my information and gave me a reply that was being processed, it was almost noon.

  It wasn't until the 15th of the first month that, after all the Lantern Festival celebrations had ended in various places, I finally received a call from the Public Security Bureau informing me that my passport and visa were ready! The visa was a business visa because I wanted to stay in South Korea for a longer period of time, and only business visas have the longest validity.

  The visa is valid for 3 months, and the stay period is also a full three months! To know, generally, people can only get a one-month stay period when applying. Especially for business visas, an invitation letter from a Korean domestic chamber of commerce is required to apply. I don't know who has such great ability, but everything was prepared for me without even leaving the house!

  January 18th, auspicious for weddings and funerals, also suitable for long-distance travel. I brought along the mysterious woman who had somehow managed to scrounge up tens of thousands of Korean won, drove to Wuhan and boarded a flight to Seoul, the capital of South Korea! At that time, I had no idea that the tens of thousands of Korean won in my bag were only worth around 3000 RMB. I thought I had become a wealthy tycoon, but it turned out I was still just a poor bumpkin. I admired the flight attendants' figures on Korean Air, sneaking glances at how the girl next to me was fastening her seatbelt, and then imitated her movements.

  2 hours and 40 minutes later, I arrived at Gimpo Airport. After walking down the stairs, a semi-Chinese and semi-Korean exotic culture came rushing towards me. What I heard in my ears was no longer the familiar Chinese language, but the sound of "ssamida ssamida" all around! At that time, South Korea's plastic surgery industry wasn't as famous as it would be 10 years later.

  What appeared before my eyes were not the handsome men and beautiful women on TV. The men all looked bitter and resentful, while the women all had round faces like big pancakes. Occasionally, there would be one or two who caught my eye, but upon closer inspection, the answer was invariably: Chinese people!

  In that era, people from China, Japan and Korea were easily distinguishable. Chinese people were tall and handsome, Koreans had round faces with narrow eyes, and Japanese people... well, they had those calf muscles! Unlike later on, when everyone started to look the same. As soon as someone appeared in front of you, if they didn't open their mouth, you couldn't tell who was Chinese, Korean or Japanese!

  Talking about Korean address names, it really gave me a headache for a long time! If you want to find a place, it's not this tunnel turning that tunnel, but that tunnel turning this tunnel! Many times I wondered if I could say my hometown has a Guloudong? Guloudong, the gate of Zhonggulou is also!

  However, Korea at that time was still more convenient than later on, at least for Chinese people. Because many places were marked with Chinese characters. Even if you didn't know Korean, writing in Chinese characters would allow locals to guess roughly what it meant. Later on, they implemented de-Sinicization. All the fonts were changed to those curly and twisted ones that look like intestinal obstruction.

  "Hey! (Come on, big brother, let's have some fun!) As I walked through the streets of a foreign country, I had a feeling of having nowhere to go. After wandering around for a while, I turned into an alley and was about to find a place to eat when I heard a loud, shrill voice behind me. Next thing I knew, two heavily made-up Korean girls came running up, one on either side of me, and dragged me towards the little shop with pink lights on the corner!"

  "What are you doing? I'm looking for a place to eat, just eat! Damn it, Mississippi, do you understand?" In my hurry, I had no choice but to use the only foreign language I knew, Japanese, to communicate with them!

  Those two Korean girls saw that I was a foreigner, and they got more and more excited. While pulling and tugging, they were also making "oppa" noises. One of them even had the guts to stretch out her hand and touch my crotch. It wasn't until then that I finally understood what they were up to.

  "Tell me earlier, mine, not yours, got it?" I made a circle with my left hand and raised one finger on my right hand to gesture back and forth while shaking my head at them.

  "Oppa, Hwaiting!" Seeing me leaving, those two Korean girls desperately pulled me and shouted. I don't know what "Hwaiting" means, but I've had Sacchima a few times. I shook my head, waved my hand to break free from their entanglement, and walked forward quickly!

  After passing through that small alley, I turned a corner and arrived at a slightly wider street! On both sides of the road were all kinds of small restaurants, "Authentic Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant", "Northeastern Braised Pork Restaurant", "Fried Noodle Restaurant". Looking at these signs filled with Chinese flavor, smelling the Chinese flavors coming out of the restaurants, I almost burst into tears.

  "Waiter, two bowls of zha jiang mian!" I pushed open the door and walked into a fairly busy zha jiang mian restaurant, shouting out my order as soon as I entered. For my first meal in this foreign land, I decided to go for some Chinese-style fried noodles!

  "Hey, are you from mainland China? Just a moment, I'll bring it over right away!" A young waiter looked at me with surprise and asked, then personally led me to a window seat and sat me down. After that, he quickly turned around to prepare the zhajiangmian for me!

  "Hey buddy, what brings you to Korea?" Before long, two large bowls of spicy sauce-filled fried noodles were brought over. The young man asked me warmly. "Is the water from your hometown sweet and are the people from your hometown close-knit?" When overseas, being able to meet one's own compatriots, I believe most people will feel a sense of closeness and be willing to lend a helping hand.

  "Come find someone!" I slurped up the noodles in my bowl and responded vaguely to his words.