Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 12 | Page 106

New Tales of Old Shanghai
Creative Primary School, Leung, Gabriel - 11
G
ood morning class! Today, we have a special task. We will finally visit the Shanghai Museum!” Miss Lily
announced cheerfully once she had entered the classroom. “We will see a lot of historical items in the
period of Old Shanghai there!” Miss Lily continued.
It was November. My mom had sent me to this boarding school in Shanghai. She wanted me to learn more about
the Chinese culture and language. She thought that would be good for me in the future. Whatever! I did not
really care about what would be good for me in the future. How many kids really care about that? All I knew was
that I had to live on school campus. I was not used to this boarding school business at first, but after two months, I
thought this school was great! The teachers there often organized school trips to places and I love school trips,
especially to museums! Those trips let me be free, away from the old boring school campus. You can imagine how
excited I was when I heard we were going to visit the Shanghai Museum.
Recently, Miss Lily taught us about the Old Shanghai. It was definitely NOT a good place to live! The Chinese
people then lived a harsh life, as the westerners at that time often discriminated against them. Even worse, inside
the French Concession, everything was controlled by the French government – the Chinese law simply wouldn’t
work! As a result, there were many illegal activities – the French Government wouldn’t care about Chinese
robbers, provided that they didn’t affect the French living there.
“Beep, beep…” This sound, which came from the playground, indicated that the bus had arrived. We all lined up
in front of Miss Lily. It has to be an interesting trip , I thought, I can’t wait to get there!
We finally arrived at the Shanghai Museum two hours later. It was a pretty boring ride. Never mind! I told myself.
It will not be so boring inside!
When we entered the museum, Miss Lily started talking, but I wasn’t listening. My attention was all on one of the
pictures. I recognized the place as the Bund. There were lots of Western-styled buildings, but some of them still
had a Chinese-styled banner sticking out. On the left-hand side of the photo was a river! Hmm… It looks like
the Huangpu River , I recalled. A surge of enthusiasm ran inside me, as I figured that it would be a great adventure
if I were standing right on the street. As I was thinking, I drifted into unconsciousness.
The photo stirred into view. I was standing right on the street! I looked around, trying to identify more of this
strange place. I walked towards the French Concession…
Wow! It is so crowded! That was the first thought as I walked into the French Concession. Suddenly, I heard a
distance yowl and an evil laugh. I pictured a big, strong man who wore black clothes grab a small kid and run out
of sight. A woman was shouting.
I ran towards the direction of the shout, even though I was exhausted. I can help! I desperately tried to assure
myself, I can help!
I saw a woman suddenly fall down. She was running out of breath and was panicking. “A big strong man had
taken my son, Ah Fook!” She sobbed when I asked her what was going on. She went on explaining how Ah Fook
had just been kidnapped. “Ah Fook was playing alone while I was washing those dishes in the alley.” She pointed
towards a dark, narrow passage behind the French restaurant. She continued, “Then suddenly, I heard my baby
shouted ‘Help! Ma!’ I dropped the dishes off my hands and rushed to see what was happening, but it was too late.