Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4567 | Page 379

Old Tales of Shanghai
King George V School, Sommerville, Ethan – 13
O
nce upon a time in the city of Shanghai lived a boy called Ming who was from a very poor family. They
lived in a hut on the outskirts of Shanghai near a paddy field. They were so poor that they could not afford
to eat 3 meals a day.
Ming’s parents decided to sell him to the one of the biggest restaurants in the city when he was 12 years old.
When he arrived at the restaurant it smelt like nothing Ming had ever smelled before. He looked around at all the
food there was and he could not believe it.
In the restaurant Ming had to clean dishes, tables and floors and advertise the restaurant. Having worked so hard
and doing all his work, he did not earn anything. The owner treated him very badly and only gave him a bowl of
rice once a day.
He slept in a tiny room that had rats and cockroaches running around on the floor.
Everyone who worked in the restaurant was disgusted at the sight of Ming as he was very smelly and had no clean
clothes.
Since Ming has been treated so badly he started stealing food from the restaurant every night when everyone was
asleep. Ming always dreamt about going back to his family with some money. One morning Ming’s owner found
some food crumbs on the floor which he knew were from his food. He then checked the fridge and found that all
the food was gone.
The owner observed Ming for a few days and noticed that he was getting fatter and fatter and looked much
healthier. He also noticed that Ming wasn't complaining about the food anymore and so the owner suspected that
Ming was the one that had been stealing from him.
One rainy evening the mean owner kicked Ming out of the restaurant when they caught him stealing food.
Ming ended up living on the streets and begging for money so he could buy food. This lasted a long time until one
day a rich family helped him. They took him to Shanghai. The couple had wanted a son for many years. This
couple treated him with so much love and kindness. Ming loved his new family but he still remembered his own
parents and wanted to give them a good life just like his. He decided to ask his new family if his own parents could
live with them. The kind couple said that they would buy them a house right next to theirs and would give them
work so that they would be able to feed feed themselves.
A few weeks later Ming went to his old village to visit his parents and he told them the good news. Ming helped
his parents pack their things and took a train to the new house. Ming’s parents and his new family met at the new
house and it was around Christmas time. So they had a magical Christmas together with lots of Ming’s favorite
chinese food and presents.
As time went by Ming studied hard and got a degree in business. He then started his own company in the big city
of Shanghai. He focused his business on the food industry that grew very popular over time.
During this time Ming got married and had 5 beautiful children. Over the years Ming’s family monopolised the
food industry all over China that made them very rich.