Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 2 -1 2019 | Page 80

Welcome, Zheng He
Diocesan Girls' Junior School, Pak, Hoi Wan Charis - 10
I woke up to the deafening noise. Rubbing my eyes dreamily, I got out of bed and walked to the window.
A blurry image appeared in my vision. It was huge, gigantic. As soon as I saw the clearer view of the object,
I was shocked. The horn of a colossal ship honked loudly as it was sailing towards the shore. People
cheered and there was a commotion.
Fleeing down the stairs, I dashed out of the house with excitement. I pushed my way through the crowd
and settled right in front of the ship. A cool breeze brushed past my face softly as the ship stopped on the
shore. Meanwhile, a crew of sailors stepped out of the ship in an orderly manner, several of them armed
with weapons. Villagers glanced at each other uncomfortably, scared that they would take over our land.
Just at that moment, a tall man, dressed in odd, long robes embroidered with intricate patterns announced
proudly, “I am Zheng He, the leader of our crew, and we have come a long way from China. We are very
much pleased to have the opportunity to stay here in Dai Viet. Don't be afraid, for we are not here to
invade your land!” One of our old villagers who could speak Chinese explained to us Zheng’s message, we
heaved a sigh of relief. And that marked the beginning of our short encounter with Zheng.
After Zheng and some of his crew settled in a small inn, some villagers and I took him on a stroll around the
village. The old villager who could speak Chinese also came with us to act as our interpreter and help
communicate with Zheng. Looking at the wall paintings on the houses, Zheng marvelled that China did not
have such beautiful things and started to share his journeys sailing around Asia. We were entranced by his
funny but exciting stories experienced in different countries, as if we had joined his journeys and were
personally on the scene.
After an enjoyable half day walk, we stopped by a famous restaurant called “Queen of Noodles”. We
ordered a bowl of “Phở” (Vietnamese noodle soup) for Zheng to try. He took a bite of the noodles, and
squinted his eyes on the noodles, looking puzzled. We were afraid that he didn’t like the noodles. Just as I
was about to speak up, he exclaimed, “It smells really good! What ingredient gives such a special and
refreshing taste?’’ “This is a special ingredient called lemongrass. It gives a lemon-lime taste with a tinge of
mint and ginger.’’ I replied promptly. Zheng smiled, “Well, I must bring such a good thing back China for
our people to taste.’’ We then ordered some more dishes and chatted with Zheng about the eating habit in
Vietnam and China. Surprisingly, we found out that both countries had some common food cultures, like
using chopsticks to eat, and rice as staple food. We even gave Zheng lot of lemongrass and other spices
commonly used by us. Zheng, in return, treated us on his colossal ship a Chinese dinner. This was the first
time we had chance to try the Chinese food which was so delicious, for example, wonton soup, stir fry beef
with vegetable, braised pork belly, etc; we also learnt about different Chinese cooking styles.
Zheng stayed with us for a few months, we found that Zheng was not just a traveller, he was in fact very
knowledgeable in many aspects; he taught our soldiers how to make different kinds of weapons; he taught
farmers efficient ways to plant crops; and he even taught us how to speak Mandarin! By listening to the
stories told by Zheng, we were fascinated by the prosperity and the profound cultural background of China.
The happy times always goes too soon. One clear night, when we were glazing stars on his ship, enjoying
the cool breeze from the calm sea, Zheng said “My crew and I are leaving tomorrow to continue our
journey to other countries. Thank you for being our escort during these days and telling me so many things
about your country. I will tell our people how nice the people here are. I hope I will have chance to
return to this lovely place someday in the future…” “Me too, it’s a great pleasure to meet you. I…I…I…”
knowing that I might not have the chance to see Zheng again, I suddenly ran out of words. The next day,
all villagers and I went to the shore. Though we could not bear to part, we all waved goodbye to Zheng
He and his crew.
The huge colossal ship eventually became blurry in my vision and finally, disappeared into the boundless sea.