Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 274

The New Tales of Old Shanghai
Pui Kiu College, Mok, Tsz Siu - 13
W
ho am I? I am nowhere but yet I am everywhere. I cannot be seen, smelt or touched, yet I can be felt. To
some I seem limitless but to others I am limited. I have seen the most joyful and tragic moments of
humanity but yet I almost always remain emotionless. In all these years I have only been emotionally
touched by one lone person. He is not anyone great in the history, he is just one little shabby street urchin
called Xin .
In 1920, Xin was born in Shanghai. His parents were the servants for a British family living in the I nternational
Settlement. Xin had an adorable sister called Xi Wang, literally means “hope”. His parents hoped for a better life for
their kids as Shanghai had been in constant turmoil at that time. I had always heard from other people that this family
had the luck of the devil.
About two years after the birth of Xi Wang , a fire broke out mysteriously in their house. Xin was alert and brave
enough to rescue his sister from the blazing scene. I watched the flaming house crumbled upon itself. Xin ’s parents were
found dead in the ashes.
Xin and Xi Wang had nothing left. The merciless fire took away their parents and every single piece of treasures.
The two young siblings became orphans and street urchins. I silently observed as the twelve year-old Xin looked after
his vulnerable five-year-old little sister. Xin was not as powerless as he seemed. He quickly learned the ways of a street
urchin lived and the skill of pickpocketing. Slowly but confidently, Xin and Xi Wang survived.
Time passed on, and the war had gotten worse. In the middle of a freezing night, Xin and Xi Wang were sleeping
tight in an abandoned church. Out of nowhere, a bombing came. To Xin and Xi Wang , it seemed as if all hell broke
loose. Due to their low status, they weren’t allowed into the bomb shelter and so they wandered in the streets, hoping
against hope that they would survive the bombing. I followed them unseen, as the witty boy led his sister into the
sewage system. It was awfully disgusting inside, with incredibly huge rats, cockroaches and slime clutching the walls.
“Ah!” shrieked poor little Xi Wang , ankle-full with murky sewage water, “Something touched my leg! I don’t like this
place. Can we go outside?” Xin replied gently, “Not now, I’m sure that it’s nothing. Let me carry you.” And so they
waited, holding their breath, as the bombing struck again and again.
By a miracle, both of them survived. They climbed out of the sewers when Xi Wang started complaining “Brother,
I’m starving.” “Don’t worry, I’ll get some food now and you stay here and wait for me.” Xin comforted her. He slowly
crept towards a house, thinking that it was empty since the owner should be in the bomb shelter. Xin was partially
correct as the owner was not home but he was coming back. Xin went to the kitchen and was desperately shoving food
into his pockets.
“Oi!” yelled the house owner as he walked into the house and saw Xin , “What are you doing here?” He stomped
up to the helpless boy and slapped him hard in the face, then started a brutal process of punching and kicking Xin . The