Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 306

“What…what is this? Are we in Act 2 now?” Ma He looked around, furrowing his eyebrows. “Woah, this
ship looks too real. Way too real,” He laughed nervously.
Something wasn’t right. He turned to look at the huffy male who kicked him. “Hey, I’ve never seen you
around in the studio before. Who are you?” He stared at the male.
Unfortunately, the male didn’t understand him. “What do you mean by who are you? I’m your master now!
Your king!” The male grinned. Ma He tried to contain his laughter.
“Yeah, yeah, and I’m the President,” He replied.
The male didn’t share his humor, only kicking him again. “I’m not joking around with you! Call me
Master! Now!” the male barked.
Ma He couldn’t stand people ordering him. “Yeah? And who do you think you are? Do you pay my bills?
Take care of me? Or did you give birth to me? Why do I have to listen to you? Do you know who I am?”
He yelled back, only to find other ships facing them already. They were ready with canons and all sorts of
weapons. He reckoned they were enemies. “Hey! Over here! We’re over here!” He yelled at the other
ships.
“Captain Zhang! Is that you?”an exciting voice yelled as the cabin crew suddenly grew even more excited.
“Uh, hmm….yeah! Yeah it’s me!” Ma He shouted back, only to receive another punch from the sailor.
“Shout one more time, and I’ll kill you before they reach!”the sailor barked.
Ma He suddenly realized he wasn’t in the studio anymore. Had he travelled back in time?
The sound of cannons confirmed his thoughts.
One second, he was still tied up on the ship. Then, he was grabbed, and thrown into another ship.
“Captain Zhang!” A servant rushed out. “Are you feeling alright? Did they hurt you? I’ll get you a doctor
immediately!” Ma He grabbed the servant. “Who am I?” He asked. The servant widened his eyes in horror.
“How badly did they treat you? Have you forgotten your identity, captain? You are the great traveler Zhang
He!”
Ma He nearly fell to the ground due to horror. He was…the character he was playing. He laughed at the
coincidence and let the servant take him to his room.
When he woke up, he found that the ship was already at a dock. He went out, only to find people hustling
and bustling around him. A sailor with a scar on his face gave Ma He a hard pat on the back when he came
out.
“A good sleep, cap’n? We’ll have to go onshore and trade today,” the sailor looked excited. “I wonder what
we’ll see here in India!”
Ma He’s first thought was curry, but of course he couldn’t say that. He wasn’t sure if they knew what ‘curry’
was at that time.
Ma He stepped off the ship after reassuring the sailor he would be making fair deals and earning great
amounts of money. He looked around and smiled. Fortunately, no one would be better at selling things than
him, gaining more than enough experience by taking advertisements while he was still an actor. To
everyone’s surprise, Ma He sat at the booth, and began to yell.