Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 546

The Greater Bay Area
Korean International School, Gurung, Nirvan - 15
Ghastly, windy, foggy and full of empty dreams is what I would describe the ghost city of Ordos, China.
Tumbleweeds, sandy roads and harmonica playing in the background… is what I could describe my time
there but that wasn’t the truth. It was drifting plastic bags, used lottery tickets and sidewalks full of burnt
cigarette butts. The town was more deserted than a desert and looked more abandoned than Chernobyl.
The empty stores and residential areas gave me a spine-chilling feeling that I’ve never felt before, unlike any
horror movie but one in real life. The limbo-esque town that was once bustling with souls now falls asleep
as Ordos City, China’s ghost town.
The next day, I picked up a newspaper that headlined “The Greater Bay Area, As Great As It Sounds!”
“Dad! Dad! Did you read the paper?” George questioned.
“Yes, George. I saw.”
“Can you believe they’re going to create a megalopolis out of Hong Kong, Macau and other cities?”
“Sounds like a whole country to me…”
In fact an even more absurd thought came to mind.
“George, do you want to move to The Greater Bay Area?”
“If only we had the money.”
“I’ll handle the money, pack your bags!”
“Seriously?”
And just like that, George and I were off to seek new beginnings, far away from Ordos and far away from
Patricia.
Upon landing in Hong Kong, the newspapers and news channels all reported on the implementation of the
Greater Bay Area Scheme. I read the South China Morning Post and I immediately realised how different
Hong Kong is compared to Ordos. The amount of people I saw in the airport was ludicrous, every direction
I turned and I see people. People. People. People.
We arrived at our newly rented house and the first thing we saw on TV were about last night’s meeting
with the GBA leaders. Fights broke out between the citizens who opposed the idea of the GBA and those
who were for it.
That was red flag number 1.
I reassured George
“It’s ok, at least this is way better than Ordos”
“Is is though?” he questioned.
The Greater Bay Area, a millenials haven, was declared an official city on December 1, 2020. The same day
we moved in. I quickly went online to search for a new job to get this new life running and found an
opening in Korean International School to work as an English Teacher. The salary was decent and the
working hours were long but it was a job I was suited to nonetheless so I sent in my CV and hoped for the
best.
Couple days later, I received an email from the school saying I was accepted and I start the next day. George
and I celebrated with an old Ki-Family tradition of hot pot.
I got a little carried away with the happiness and alcohol. Few hours later, few cans later, few bad decisions
later and a few drunk texts later. I was fired.
George took care of me the next morning, spoon-feeding me congee bought from a corner stall down the
road. He checked my pockets right before washing my pants…
“Da-Dad…. Did you go gambling last night?”
“I don’t know, I forgot but why?”
“Because you have a receipt for paying a casino one million dollars!”
“Ok”
I had completely lost track of reality that losing one million dollars was nothing for me, leaving my
hometown was nothing for me and getting fired from a job that I haven’t started working for was also
nothing.
Later that day, I made my way to the bank to try and work something out with my debt and my financial
problem with the accountant.