Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 307

“The best perfume you’ll ever find on the planet! Come take a look! The first 100 buyers will get discounts!
Buy three get one free...”And so he began to yell, attracting nearly everyone around him. His fellow crew
members were so shocked that they forgot to do their work once there were customers.
“Is there anything wrong?” Ma He stared back at them.
“I would like three!” the seller opposite him yelled, clearly attracted to his products. Ma He took a look at
the products his competitor was selling. Ivory products! He nearly wanted to call the police. “Oh right,” he
muttered, “it’s not illegal here.” He examined the delicate sculptures which were the best he had ever seen.
Sculptures like castles, people or animals could be seen. Ma He was amazed by the fact that all the sculptures
were well crafted. “They should have given me one with my face on it instead of the Oscar’s award,” Ma
He said when eyeing the products.
His attention was then caught by something shimmering in the sunlight to his right. A
sword …and…“Wow, so many weapons!” Ma He looked at the weapons greedily.
“Would you like an exchange of products?” the owner used his own special accent and spoke to Ma He.
“You have very nice perfume. My wife would love it.”
Ma He nodded immediately. The owner took the dagger hanging on the wall, and gave it to Ma He while
Ma He handed him a bottle of perfume. “Have a nice day!” The owner grinned in satisfaction.
The crew found that Captain Zhang had turned quite strange after being kidnapped by the pirates. Perhaps
he suffered from memory loss after the incident. With that thought, the crew looked at him in a pitiful way
and shook their heads, leaving Ma He alone to yell and exchange products that they did not need. “Should
anyone tell captain that we have all those on the ship already?” A crew member nudged the one next to
him. “Just…just let him be…” the other sighed.
The products sold out very soon, and everyone was even more shocked. “See? I told you it would work!”
Ma He grinned proudly. “Should we go back to the ship?” Ma He walked back towards the ship, only to be
stopped by some guards.
“Captain Zhang? Our Emperor would like to meet you,” the guard captain bowed slightly and said. Ma He
had heard about Zhang He meeting emperors and exchanging gifts before, so he wasn’t too surprised.
Taking a little box of perfume with him, he nodded to the guard and said, “Lead the way.”
Although Ma He had seen Indian palaces before when he went travelling, nothing he had seen could
describe the magnificence of the palace before his eyes. It shimmered with gold everywhere, making him
squint as if he was standing in the sunlight. Marble floors, extraordinary paintings…everything was noble
and majestic.
“Welcome, my dear friends from China!”a voice boomed out from the room they entered.
Ma He and his servants bowed to the king sitting in the middle of the room. The king smiled to them and
asked them to rise.
“My friends, you are well-mannered. I am in need of your help, but first, make yourselves at home. Do
you need anything? Tea? Cakes?” The king looked nice, but of course his acting skill couldn’t be compared
to the Oscar nominee’s.
Ma He controlled himself so that he wouldn’t roll his eyes at the king, and with the most polite voice, he
replied, “We are honored, your Majesty, to be of your help. Please tell us what we can do for you.”
The king’s eyes twitched a little. “Well, there have been quite the number of criminals in India lately, and I
wonder if you would have anything for me so that I could…lower the crime rate by warning the citizens of
the punishment for committing a crime.”