Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4 - 7 2018 | Page 281

Secrets of the Wu Triplets
Buddhist Sin Tak College, Mok, Ka Hei - 17
T
he rain fell softly on the plants in the garden. The pitter-patter of the rain created a shield
around Wu’s family’s triplets. Today was definitely not a good day for playing outside. The
triplets were sitting in their study, doing their homework given by their father. The eldest
brother, Kong, cupped his chin, watching the rainy garden. His homework was spread out on his table.
None of it was done. The second eldest brother, Neng, was leaning on the table, sleeping. Only the
little brother, Jing, was working hard, struggling to finish his homework.
‘It’s so boring! I don’t want to do any homework anymore,’ Kong suddenly yelled. His sound
was so loud that it woke Neng up.
‘Brother, I know you must have a plan to help us escape from this homework mischance,’ Neng
asked, rubbing his eyes. Kong didn’t answer but stared at a room nearby. It was their father’s study, a
forbidden room for them. Knowing Kong’s idea, Neng’s eyes sparkled like stars, hoping to take action
immediately.
Hearing his two brothers’ words, Jing rolled his eyes and said, ‘Don’t be silly you two. Father will
punish us if he knows we have sneaked into his room!’
Kong just giggled and tried to tempt his little brother, ‘But Jing, don’t you want to see what
books are stored in dad’s study? I know you have wanted to enter dad’s room for a long time.’ Jing only
struggled for a few seconds and then put down his homework, looking at his eldest brother with
expectancy. It seemed that he had succumbed to Kong’s plan.
Kong opened the door slightly, looking around to make sure no one would notice them. They
bent over, sneaking into their father’s study one by one. They were so careful that not a single sound
was made and no one knew that the triplets had left their own study.
Two huge bookshelves which were full of books were placed at the two sides of the room, and
in the middle was a desk full of documents and papers. The triplets were extremely excited to enter
this forbidden area. Jing was the most excited one. Once he entered the room, he picked a book,
reading and wanting to absorb as much knowledge as he could. His two brothers were not as studious
as Jing. They just walked around, looking for something interesting.
When Neng walked near the desk, he saw a book. It was covered with no title and its colour was
fading. It must be a book written a long time ago. ‘Maybe there are some secrets written in it,’ Neng
thought, thumbing through the pages. Yet, he couldn’t understand it as the words were outdated and
no longer in use.
Neng frowned and said, ‘Kong, I found a novel, but I don’t know what it says.’
Kong read the book for a while and scolded, ‘Idiot. It’s a dairy. Um, I think it’s a dairy from the Tang
Dynasty.’
‘Tang Dynasty! Really? Let me have a look,’ Jing shouted suddenly. He immediately put down
the book he was reading and took the dairy. The more he read, the more excited he felt. He raised his
chin and was in pure glee. It was a diary about a monk called Zang going on a trip to the West for some