Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020 | Page 79
Hong Kong Young Writers Awards 2020
here at our ancestral temple, about 50 yards from Shek’s house. His children (Xiao Lu’s
cousins) were studying in Europe. “When do Ah Bo and Ah Loong come back?”
“Oh, not for another month. They need to finish their term exams first.” replied Uncle
Shek as we walked into the ancestral hall.
Xiao Lu observed Uncle Shek with punctilio to ensure that she would do everything
right in lighting the joss sticks, like where to place them. Uncle Shek was a stickler for getting
things right.
Xiao Lu’s family roots were in Foshan. Her great great great grandparents had farmed the
lands and raised family, and this had continued through the generations until about 50 years
ago. Uncle Shek was the last farmer before technology took over everything in Foshan. They
call it the Farming Technology Revolution. Now drones and automated machines do all the
farming. Uncle Shek still reminisces about the old times.
Uncle Shek laid out the dishes. Chicken marinated to perfection, assorted vegetables,
fresh fish with a delicious sauce and a lovely boiled soup. “A delicious dinner Uncle. Lucky
I’m not living with you otherwise I would get very fat indeed!” Xiao Lu joked.
“You youngsters are not getting the exercise we once did. You don’t even walk these
days. Its always drones. Drone here, drone there.”
“That’s why I’m in the gym every day, Uncle. More people walk and exercise on the
pavements now that there is less vehicle traffic. More space is made available.”
“Well, they should take advantage of it. Health is Wealth”.
“Thank you for the wonderful dinner.”
Uncle Shek always had the last say. They embraced before Xiao Lu stepped into the drone
and gave the drone instructions to go home.
When she got home, she planned the next day’s activity. Maybe venture into Macao?
It is a bit crowded there with the entertainment complexes and theme parks. Macao had
changed since its gambling enclave days. Gambling casinos were still around but those were
overshadowed by the theme parks, entertainment theatres and family leisure parks. Tourists
from all over the world converged onto Macao at all times of the year. Drones had to be
shared due to the limited drone parking spaces.
-2 weeks later-
The drone lands outside the Hong Kong restaurant He Wei booked on the 8 th floor.
The receptionist greets Xiao Lu on the balcony and shows her in.
He Wei is seated at the table and stands up.
“You’re finally here! It’s great to see you in person again.”
Food is brought to them by a combination of robot and human waiters. The human
element is still essential in the service industry.
They catch up and talk nonstop. It’s 3 hours by the time they finish the meal.
“It’s my turn!”. He Wei pays. The itemized bill image floats and appears in front of her
one foot away. He Wei says “OK” to the bill, and the bill is settled.
“You know in the past, waiters had to bring paper bills, take your credit card, process it
on a machine and then bring it back to you to sign?” Xiao Lu said, having done some research
on the old videos that were archived.
He Wei raised her eyebrows. “That doesn’t sound efficient at all! You’re always giving me
bits and pieces of history. It’s my turn now. You know what, Shenzhen now has the world’s
largest stock market by market capitalization.” He Wei worked in the financial industry.
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