Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 - 2017 | Page 523

finding their rice gone with the flood. He had no money to visit me that year. So I asked Cuckoo Bird to do me a favour. Cuckoo Bird helped me deliver a bamboo leaf to him as a blessing. Looking at the bamboo leaf, the farmer smiled with gratitude. He was then strengthened and he vowed that he would start from the beginning.” “Was he successful?” asked Reporter Niao. “Definitely! He came to visit me the following year with his spike of rice again!” replied Gran Gran with a contented smile. “Last year when he came, he brought along his granddaughter in her Mickey Mouse costume. He took out the spike of rice but his granddaughter told him pandas eat bamboo leaves! He is now running a rice company and he hires workers to work in his fields.” “There is another visitor who impressed me. He was a cobbler. He came every Lunar New Year. He waved at me and threw a coin towards me. He then made a wish,” continued Gran Gran. “I noticed that his fingernails were all black. I wondered what his occupation was. One day, Cuckoo bird told me that he was a cobbler. He didn’t have a family. He worked in front of a Shanghai dumplings restaurant. Before the rich men met their friends in the restaurant, they usually asked the cobbler to polish their shoes. People in the neighbourhood also asked him repair their shoes. Actually, he not only helped people with their shoes but also with their soul. He chatted with his customers when he was working. As he sat on the pavement all day, he could notice many things that we had missed. Once he saw a beggar trembling in the howling wind and he bought him a bowl of soup from the dumplings restaurant. The beggar then became his friend. Another time he saw an old woman pushing a huge trolley of carton boxes, he put down his tools to help her. The old woman then became a dear aunt to him. Then he helped a homeless boy find his lost coin. He brought him home and treated him as his son. Years have passed. People buy a pair of new shoes instead of going to the cobbler. Although the cobbler has lost his business, his kindness has helped him gain a family. Last Lunar New Year, he visited me with his son, the homeless boy. He asked his son to throw a coin towards me and make a wish, but his son asked him to throw the coin into a pond with turtle instead.” “I understand why Shanghai has been making such significant progress. There are many hardworking fellows who love and care for their city,” beamed Reporter Niao. “And you are so lucky to have Cuckoo Bird to be your messenger and helper to bring you news.” “Exactly! I am lucky to have Cuckoo bird to help me so that I am in close tie with the city. People in Shanghai have their personal cuckoo birds too --- mobile phones and computers. News and information can be obtained anytime and anywhere. Contacts can be more direct and relationships can be maintained more easily too. With technological advancement, Shanghai can continue to make great strides forward,” said Gran Gran. “Thank you, Mr Gran Gran for the interview,” said Reporter Niao, then turning to the camera, “thanks for staying with Old City Animal TV. See you next week!”” She then flew back to her broadcast company.