Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 95

Journey to the New World
Creative Primary School, Ng, Matthew - 10
One normal day at Island School, Hong Kong, sixth-grader Ming Lee invited his best friend Charlie Silver
to his ancestral home in Guangzhou to spend their Christmas holiday. Charlie accepted his invitation. The
next day, they went to West Kowloon Station and took the High-Speed Rail to Guangzhou South Station.
It was just a forty-eight minute ride. When they arrived at Guangzhou, they were surprised how big their
house was. There were also a lot of traditional Cantonese dishes. Ming was talking most of the time.
A while later, Ming took Charlie to the attic of the house. They took a look at Ming’s baby photos. They
found a high-tech thingy inside a huge box. Charlie turned on the thing and the screen showed some years.
Ming pressed on “2064”. In a flash, they found themselves in front of a big European style paifang which
was surrounded by a lot of tourists taking selfies and photos. But not far away, there were a lot of tall
buildings. Charlie saw a bakery selling Pastel de Nata. He took Ming inside to try some of the famous
Portuguese pastry. As Ming is the smartest kid in class, he quickly knew where they were. They were in the
‘Las Vegas of the East’, Macau. Inside the bakery, there was this girl, called Sofia. She asked, ‘Would you
like a tour of Macau?’ Charlie replied ‘Yes, please!’
They took a bus to Macau Tower. When they arrived, they took a lift to the observation deck. Ming and
Charlie saw Macau Peninsula on the left and Taipa, Cotai and Coloane on the right. Sofia told them that
her family had a treasure but it had been lost since her grandfather passed away. Sofia’s family is of
Portuguese ancestry, while her mum’s side is Chinese. They are descended from a Portuguese colonist. No
one in her family except her grandfather knew where the treasure was. So Sofia asked Ming and Charlie for
help. They both nodded their heads. Sofia’s dad gave them a map which maybe the only clue to the
treasure. Ming found out that ‘Canton’ was the treasure pit, with the help of the map. Sofia told them that
Guangzhou was ‘Canton’.
For the first and the last time, Ming and Charlie took a driverless plane to Guangzhou Baiyun International
Airport. As the three knew nothing about Guangzhou and its history, Sofia decided to ask her friend, Yu, to
help. Yu told them that Guangzhou was once an important port for European traders. Yu took them to the
history museum. In there, they found out that Haizhu Island was the site of the Thirteen Factories after it
was destroyed in a fire. Then, they went to the City Archive, to see if there was any property once owned
by the Lopes family (Sofia’s family). There was one building, once owned by Luis Lopes, who was an
ancestor of Sofia. They quickly went to a shop and bought a ‘digger’ which is a future device that can
automatically dig things up. Outside the building, there was a garden. Yu and Sofia used the digger to try to
dig a clue out. They dug out a note; it says ‘Senhora Maria Ana Zhang, Cantão’. They quickly took this
note to the archive and found out that Senhora Zhang was the mistress of Luis, whom she also had a
daughter with. Charlie shouted, ‘Oh my god!’ They all knew that Senhora Zhang’s daughter is the only clue
left to the treasure. They found that the daughter had a descendant living in Zhuhai. In the archive, she was
known as Christine Zhang-Lopes. Yu, Sofia, Ming and Charlie made their way to Zhuhai by train. They
quickly took a cab to Ms Zhang-Lopes’ house. When Ms Zhang-Lopes opened the door for them, Sofia
explained about the treasure and that she was also a descendant of Luis. Ms Zhang-Lopes had waited this
day to come since she was young. She knew a distant relative would take the treasure away. She showed the
kids the treasure, which was a replica of a boat. She explained that Senhora Zhang and Luis had met on that
boat. She explained that it was extremely valuable to her. Sofia said to Ms Zhang-Lopes, ‘Keep it, it’s
yours.’ Everyone was surprised by Sofia’s kindness. After all of this, Sofia, Ming and Charlie returned to
Macau via Lótus Bridge. On the way back to Macau, Charlie asked Sofia why she did not take the boat
from Ms Zhang-Lopes, she said, ‘Sometimes you will have to let others have it.’ Sofia thanked the boys for
finding their family treasure.