Late at night, the small cargo ship quietly sailed towards Hong Kong. Suddenly, in the distance, Hong Kong patrol boats appeared, prompting the small cargo ship to hastily turn back towards the open sea.
The next evening, at the request of refugees, the ship's captain redirected the cargo ship towards Macau. Perhaps Macau wasn't as vigilant as Hong Kong regarding maritime smuggling. Unfortunately, this hope was dashed as well.
Just as they were nearing Macau waters, several Macau naval patrol boats were seen lying in wait. Everyone's heart sank like a lead weight.
So during the day, the small cargo ship stayed on the open sea, and at night, it stealthily approached Hong Kong. But to no avail, it had to return to the open sea. What was supposed to be a two-day journey had now stretched into nearly a week at sea.
Food was becoming a severe issue, and freshwater was also scarce. The refugees had already finished their own dry rations and had to spend money to buy some dry goods from the cargo ship.
Ashan thought dried squid was quite delicious. A few children held dried squid, sticking close to the ship's chimney, happily roasting and eating them. But after a few days, everyone suffered from constipation, and so the children cried out for real food.
Ashan was no exception, so Ashan's mother had to plead with the crew for a bowl of rice. Thus, the entire family of four, along with a baby, cherished and shared this bowl of rice.
Ten days passed, and the small cargo ship was still adrift in the open sea between Hong Kong and Macau, and people became extremely anxious. Water rations became increasingly strict, and everyone could only use seawater to rinse their mouths and bodies, resulting in cracked lips and skin.
One deep night, Ashan woke up amidst the noisy voices, only to find out that someone couldn't bear waiting at sea any longer, so he stole a lifebuoy from the ship and swam towards Hong Kong. Everyone stood silently by the ship's side, silently wishing him luck. Before long, he disappeared into the dark sea.
Two more days passed, and at the break of dawn, there was a commotion onboard. Someone shouted loudly, "The foreign devils are here! The foreign devils are here!" It turned out that a Hong Kong naval gunboat had quietly approached while it was still dark. Foreign sailors crossed over the ship's railing in a rush.
夜深了，小貨輪悄悄地向香港駛去。忽然間，遙遠的前方出現了香港的巡邏艇，小貨輪只得又調頭向公海急駛而去。
隔日晚上，船老大在難民請求之下，把貨輪轉向澳門駛去。也許澳門沒有香港那麼注意海上偷渡的船隻。不幸的是這個希望也落空了。
就當快接近澳門水域的時候，就看見好幾艘澳門水師的巡邏艇正在守株待兔。大家的心就像鉛錘一樣地沉了下去。
於是白天小貨輪就停在公海上，晚上又偷偷地潛向香港。不成，祇好又駛回公海。原本計劃兩天的航程，現在已經在海上待了近一個星期了。
糧食的問題非常嚴重，淡水也成了問題。難民們自己帶的乾糧早已吃完了，只得花錢向貨輪買一些乾貨。
阿三倒覺得乾魷魚蠻好吃的。三兩小孩子拿著乾魷魚，貼著貨輪的煙囪邊上，烤著吃也自得其樂。但是幾天下來，大家都得了便秘，於是小孩子都哭鬧著要吃飯。
阿三也不例外，於是阿三的媽只得向船員懇求討一碗稀飯來。於是全家四口加上一個嬰兒，珍惜地分享著這一碗稀飯。
十天過去了，小貨輪仍然在香港及澳門間的公海上飄流著，人們變得非常急躁。淡水的配給愈來愈嚴，大家只能用海水來漱口及擦身，於是漸漸地人們的口角及皮膚都乾裂了。
在一個深夜，阿三在吵雜的人聲中醒來，原來有人耐不住在海上枯候，偷了船上一個救生圈跳海游向香港。大伙兒站在船邊默默地向他祝福。不一會兒，他就消失在漆黑的大海中。
日子又過去了兩天，在天剛破曉的時分，船上的人一陣騷動。有人大聲地叫著：「洋鬼子來了！洋鬼子來了！」原來有艘香港水師的炮艇，趁著天未放明，悄悄地靠了上來。只見得洋水兵跨過船舷一湧而過。
