Come out from grandma's place.

Yang Ming walked forward and found something different from when he first arrived.

When he first arrived, many residents of Kowloon Walled City deliberately avoided him.

Now many men, women and children have come out and are watching from a short distance away.

Yang Ming could tell a lot from the clothes, looks, etc. of these people.

"Mr. Yang, I know you. I often see news about you in the newspaper."

A man wearing a red vest and bending over walked over directly.

At first, Zhang Guohua and others were a little wary.

"Hello."

In the wooden houses in the mountainous area, every 500 people use a public water pipe, and 100 people share a wooden cesspool. Garbage is everywhere, sewage flows across the ground, and the stench is overwhelming.

What they saw just now were cage houses.

"Mr. Lai, where do you live? I want to visit your home?"

"Electricity for daily use? Only some people use it. Most people don't turn on the electricity at night. We don't know where the electricity comes from. Anyway, we have to pay those people to use electricity."

Mr. Lai lives upstairs.

In the past, he felt that the country was poor and many families could not afford to send their children to school.

"What about your electricity?"

Sir turned on the flashlight he had brought in advance, and Yang Ming noticed the narrow stairs going up.

Lai Guowen took Yang Ming and others out of here and walked around to one of the buildings.

In 1971, a Hong Kong newspaper reported that 50 people lived in a 15-foot by 35-foot building in Kowloon, with an average of 10.5 square feet per person, which was not even the size of a coffin.

They have little income, so they can only live where they live.

"Cage houses" are slums that look like canned sardines. Many old, weak and poor people gather in beds in old buildings, each surrounded by barbed wire. Each bed is like a cage, hence the name "cage dwellers".

The walls of the stairs were dirty and had many kinds of advertisements posted on them. Yang Ming was shocked when he saw those advertisements.

Zhou Kaixuan on the side said: "Boss, this should be the cage house in Xiangjiang."

It is actually the same here in Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong.

"Most children in Kowloon Walled City do not have the conditions to go to school. There are kindergartens and primary schools, but most people have no way to go to school. These children have long been the labor force of the family."

"Mr. Yang, we have drilled wells 90 meters or deeper in 77 locations here, and use electric pumps to pump the water needed for daily life into water tanks on the roofs of buildings. From there to each home, the water passes through thin tubes

Transportation. However, as the population skyrockets, especially with the arrival of a large number of new immigrants, the original well water is no longer enough, and some people will use cars to sell water here."

Yang Ming also learned a lot from Lai Guowen.

In addition to these, of course there are things like casinos, but they are controlled by the associations inside.

"How do you solve your domestic water problem?"

This is actually Hong Kong, because judging from those advertisements, everything is illegal.

"Work? We have processing plants here and various service industries."

If there is no salt water here and can only be solved by water from wells, you can imagine the difficulties involved.

Lai Guowen said: "Mr. Yang, be careful. It's very dark here during the day as well as at night. There are electric lights on the stairs, but they often break down."

In the basement facing the road, there is an unlicensed dentist, a stall, a tea ceremony (cafe), and a shop selling "dogs".

In the short term, there may be nothing, but in the long term, in this case, the waist bones will definitely be curved.

Hong Kong Cage Houses, also commonly known as "bed houses", are mainly located in old buildings such as Kowloon. The residents are usually new immigrants or older people. They are a group of old, weak and poor people at the bottom of society living in canned "slums".

Each bed is surrounded by barbed wire, like a cage; in addition to bedding, there are various daily necessities in the "cage".

After Lai Guowen knocked on the door.

There are also some in the building engaged in metal processing industry.

"Mr. Lai, is it inconvenient?"

"Hello, Mr. Yang, my name is Lai Guowen."

...

Lai Guowen nodded and shook his head.

"Mr. Yang, please come in."

If they are lucky, they can leave this place and live and work in other places in Hong Kong, which may change their destiny. Most people will have a bad impression if they hear that these people are from the Kowloon Walled City.

"No, I'm just afraid that Mr. Yang might feel uncomfortable seeing it."

Lai Guowen didn't say it, but Yang Ming also knew it.

In the 1960s, the number of people living in wooden houses increased to 800,000.

At that time, there were 300,000 wooden house residents, half of whom were from families born in Xiangjiang, or who had been living in Xiangjiang before 1946.

For example, Xiangjiang tap water provides salt water, mainly used for flushing toilets, and fresh water, which is used by residents for domestic use.

"sure."

"Sir Yang, this is where we live." Lai Guowen said.

This time Yang Ming finally understood.

"Isn't the water from the Xiangjiang Water Company flowing here?"

Come all the way there.

Before Yang Ming came, he thought water from the Xiangjiang Water Company was provided here.

The old man introduced himself.

Lai Guowen went in first.

There are also some elderly people who have been living in Kowloon Walled City.

Lai Guowen was a little embarrassed.

Yang Ming, Mailisi, Zhou Kaixuan and others were accompanied by Sir and others.

So what will happen to these children who don’t read?

Yang Ming didn't need Lai Guowen to explain, he also understood that basically, in addition to becoming coolies, child laborers, and laborers, some of these children also became new members of criminal gangs.

"No, people from Xiangjiang Water Company won't come here because they can't collect water bills."

In the 1950s and 1960s, building wooden houses was an important way for the poor in Hong Kong to solve their housing problems.

Yang Ming nodded.

ah!

Sir Young wants to see where he lives.

Including gangsters, stealing, robbing, or other things.

When he sat down next to him, Yang Ming looked at the seven or eight-year-old children. Not only were they dirty, they were also fighting with each other.

Because what I saw inside were actually iron cages.

"Then where do you usually work?"

Arriving at the fifth floor.

Yang Ming really couldn't believe it.

It is said that processed foods popular in Xiangjiang, including fish dumplings (fish balls) and meat products, are produced in processing plants with almost no hygienic standards.

Someone opened it inside.

Lai Guowen asked Yang Ming to step aside.

These people who live in "cages" are vividly called "cage dwellers".

The light in the stairway is not on now, maybe it's broken.

There are two people sleeping in each iron cage. There are old people and middle-aged people, all of whom are men. In fact, in this narrow iron cage, a person cannot lie down completely straight inside.

That is to say, if you want to sleep, you can only lie half down or sleep on the side.

The Kowloon Walled City covers an area of ​​27,000 square meters and is home to tens of thousands of people, most of whom are the poorest or new immigrants from China.

Yang Ming was really surprised.

During this time, students in Xiangjiang should be going to school. Why are all these children here?

"Mr. Lai, don't they go to school?"

"Mr. Lai, I would like to come and understand the situation of Kowloon Walled City."

Basically, they are all formed in this environment.
To be continued...