Memory is memory after all, and most of the memories about Xidi in my mind are from seven years ago.

World War II made Li Guanyun realize the strength of the United States, and the nationalist thoughts triggered by World War II made him realize that France's colonial rule was in danger. For the future of the family, he resolutely sent Li Weimin, who was only sixteen years old at the time to study in the United States, and only came back twice during this period.

He was involved in the incident of a rascal scoundrel stealing Chinese students' clothes and was arrested and abused by Pingchuan. This was the fourth day after he returned from the United States to prepare to take over the family business. He did not know much about the current situation in Xidi.

It was just an excuse to come out to watch movies with my sister. The main purpose was to watch this largest Chinese community in Southeast Asia, known as "Little Hong Kong".

The brother and sister walked on the crowded streets, talking and laughing, unknowingly walked through the most prosperous fifth county. Confucius Avenue, Mencius Street, Laozi Street, Guangdong Street, Sanduoli... Many streets and alleys are named in Chinese.

Fude Middle School, Yi'an Middle School, Erfu Temple, the prosperous open-air "Phone Bian Market", "Ducheng Theater", "Three-legged Bridge", "Bali Bridge", "Bupi Street", "Little Hardware Street", "Anti-Furniture Street", "Taiping Theater", "Da Luotian Restaurant", "Xintongqing Cantonese Opera Theater", "Yadong Restaurant"...

Along the way, there are almost all Chinese shops, and the "food streets" on the sidewalks, and countless cafes. The Chinese shop plaques are very traditional and eye-catching. People's daily life and customs make people feel a very strong atmosphere of Chinese culture. It feels like the old neighborhood in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and it reminds people of the "Ten Miles of Foreign Field" in Shanghai.

The other two main long streets on the embankment are Sailor Street and Meishan Street.

These two most prosperous long streets are more than two kilometers, and several small streets are connected, connecting the entire commercial and residential blocks. On both sides of the street are either the gang industry of the Wugang Hall or the Chinese industry.

For example, the famous Fushan Hospital, Liuyi Hospital, Zhongzheng Hospital, Guangdong Hospital, Hainan Hospital, Xuangong Theater, Lidu Theater, Tianhong Hotel, Bada Hotel, Hainan Guild Hall, Tianhou Palace (also known as "Grandpa Temple"), Saiqionglin Hotel, Tangshan Shaola, Daguangming Theater, Free Pacific Academy, China General Chamber of Commerce, Jingwu Association, Yuexiu Middle School, Chinese Bookstore, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine Store, etc. Even Mumbai Indians who run the cloth business here can understand and even say some "vernacular".

Governor Fang Street crosses these two streets, along the street, there are three cinemas in Daguang, Shengli and Entertainment. The nearby Laozi Street has the Wenling Hall built by the southern Fujian expatriates more than a hundred years ago. Not far away is the "Bai Tie Street Market" mainly run by Chinese vendors. Guangya Middle School, Lingnan Middle School, Lin William Middle School, Qingzhi Middle School, Nanqiao Middle School, Zhiyong Middle School, Yingde Middle School, Yaohan Middle School and Zhongfa Middle School, which are worthy of Chinese pride are also nearby.

It is not a "sparrow"-style Chinatown in the concept of Western countries, unlike those Chinatowns that only have a few small streets.

It covers nearly half of the land area of ​​Saigon City, including the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, tenth and eleventh counties, and there are only eleven administrative counties in the entire Saigon. If it weren't for seeing it with your own eyes, Li Weimin wouldn't believe that the Chinese area in Saigon is so large.

Today's cinemas are not like later generations. They only have one hall and have to wait for the people inside to finish watching the show before entering.

I bought a movie ticket and walked into a sugar water shop with the little girl. I asked for a portion of sago dew with ice. It was sweet but not greasy and cool. I used rock sugar and didn't add sugar. It tasted good. No wonder the business was so good.

After drinking one bowl, Li Weimin ordered another bowl, and sat in the corner and turned his back to the restaurant, whispered: "Qingqing, how many Chinese are there in Xidi?"

The little girl was asked, and thought for a while before she held her chin and replied: "I heard from Teacher Qian that there are 300,000 people in Chaozhou alone, which is still counted by the guild a few years ago. If I count the Cantonese, Hakka, Minnan, and Hainanese, those who have passed the past few years and those who were born in the past, I think it would not be less than one million."

"so much?"

"There are many people who escaped."

The little girl took a sip of candy water and smiled as if nothing had happened: The proportion of Chaozhou people in Xidi is not high, and the proportion of Chaozhou people in Zuzhen (a province in the Mekong Delta) is high. Nine out of ten Chaozhou people are Chaozhou people. They do business, farm, and fish there. Now they are called Zuzhen's 'Little Chaozhou'."

Looking at my brother's thoughtful look, Qingqing added: "In addition to us Chaozhou people, Cantonese people, Hakka people, Minnan people and Hainan people, there are also Nong people, Dai people, Hemeng people, Dai people, Dai people, and Yao people. Teacher Qian said that they also moved from the mainland, but they came earlier. Most of them lived in the north and mountainous areas, making a living by farming and hunting. Unlike us who like to live together, we are not very good at doing business."

Later generations have conducted investigations and arguments on the Nong, Miao and Yao ethnic groups in Vietnam all migrated from Yunnan and Guangxi, China, and are actually branches of the Zhuang ethnic group in Guangxi.

Their ancestral home is in Guangxi, their languages ​​are the same, their folk customs are the same, and they advocate Chinese culture. Among them, the Zhao clan, a major surname of the Yao people, was descended from Zhao Tuo (Han) and Yao Ji, the king of Nanyue of Han, more than 2,200 years ago, and more than 1,000 years earlier than Zhao Kuangyin, the Taizu of Song Dynasty.

Li Weimin learned a small language in that era and had a certain understanding of Vietnamese history. He was not particularly surprised. He looked at his compatriots who spoke "vernacular" and Minnan dialect outside the window and murmured: "Yes, we are all Chinese."

What surprised him was that the little girl actually corrected her seriously: "No, we are overseas Chinese!"

There is a difference between Chinese and overseas Chinese. Chinese are foreigners, but they have Chinese ancestry. Overseas Chinese are Chinese, but they live abroad.

Thinking of his "third country" passport issued by the French colonial government, and those compatriots outside who didn't even have a passport and couldn't even speak Vietnamese, Li Weimin suddenly realized that no matter how many Chinese people there were on the embankment, no matter how rich the Chinese were, no matter how much contribution they made to Saigon and even Vietnam, they were always "guests" here.

Touching the scars given by the soldiers of the Pingchuan Sect on his face, he suddenly had an idea. If the number of "guests" increased to a certain level, if the guests had guns in their hands, why can't they "turn on the guest"?

It is only 1954 now, and there are still twenty years left before Vietnam’s reunification. If we can make use of these twenty years, we can do a great career!

It is not easy to have a reworked life, and I am sorry for myself if I don’t make any trouble.

The more Li Weimin thought about it, the more he made sense, and the more excited he became. When did the movie start and how her sister pulled it in, she couldn't remember it. She planned and planned it until the movie was about to end.

I have never watched the Hong Kong version of "The True Story of Ah Q" before. Compared with the adaptation from the mainland, the criticality has weakened, increasing the relationship between Ah Q and Wu Ma.

The plot is average, and I am used to watching Hollywood blockbusters in later generations, but the current shooting is simply ineffective. The Mandarin dialogue sounds quite friendly.

What made him laugh was that the male protagonist was Guan Shan. If he remembered correctly, he should be Guan Zhilin's father.

In this era, people had an incredible interest in poetry. Even more than a dozen Chinese newspapers in Saigon had poetry columns and special poetry issues in bookstores. Thinking of the famous poet Bian Zhilin, Li Weimin suddenly discovered that the name of the beautiful Guan Da may be related to his father's literary hobby.

At the same time, this old movie reminds him of another movie starring Andy Lau and named by Jin Yong - "Fighting to the Sea of ​​Rage".

Shortly after Vietnam was unified, compradors and capitalists began to liquidate socialist transformation. Because most Chinese people were engaged in commerce or handicrafts, they undoubtedly became the targets of liquidation.

The property was confiscated, and many people were even detained and persecuted, and the city refused to live there, forcing them to move to the "New Economic Zone". The so-called "New Economic Zone" is actually a forest with nothing, lack of medical treatment and medicine, and even survival is a problem. How to develop the economy? To put it bluntly, it is to drive the Chinese into the forest to fend for themselves.

If you want to leave, you have to pay a few gold bars to the government and then find a way to leave by fishing boat.

All the property has been confiscated. Where can I go to collect gold bars? Many people can only write letters to relatives and friends abroad for help. Only by paying 1,500 US dollars or equivalent gold and silver to the government can they escape.

There are not only winds and waves on the sea, but also pirates. Millions of Chinese flock to the sea of ​​rage, and I don’t know how many people are buried in the belly of fish.

The living people, lucky enough to immigrate to Hong Kong or Western countries and regions, such as Hong Kong director Tsui Hark. He was locked up in a refugee camp and eventually deported to Vietnam.

History cannot be repeated, we must find ways to deal with the ungrateful bastard over there!

After walking out of the cinema, Li Weimin became more determined to make some noise and never live a resurgence. He took out a few coins and bought a newspaper casually. While looking at the reports on the battle situation in Dien Bien Phu, he said lightly: "Qingqing, I have changed my mind. I want to go to the United States in a few days."

The little girl was stunned and pulled his arm and asked anxiously: "Will you come back to the United States?"

"Of course, at most two months."

"But the wound on your face has not healed yet."

Today is February 18. If nothing unexpected happens, the French army guarding Dien Bien Phu will be wiped out in two or three months.

The Frenchman can't hold on, and the puppets supported by the Frenchman can't hold on. Now is the time to burn the cold stove. Only by establishing good relations with the future President of the Republic of Vietnam can we realize the next plan.

Opportunities must not be missed, and no more mistakes will come.

Li Weimin took a deep breath, patted her hands and said, "It's not like going on a blind date, it's okay."

The little girl raised her head and asked, "Dad wants you to go to Hong Kong, can he agree?"

"I'm an adult, and there are very important things to do this trip to the United States, and he will agree."

"But you just came back!"
Chapter completed!