Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction Group 3 | Page 308

Oh, my word. When my first officer yelled out, ‘Land, ho!’, I couldn’t believe my ears! I mean,
seriously! Land, after so long our hope has been drained from us! Right after that, the waves that were
pushing us have ceased, but we aimed for the best place to anchor our ship and step on the new soil we have
discovered!
We eventually anchored and oh, boy, was it good to step on solid earth! We decided to stay there
for a few days to rest ourselves and recover. Meanwhile, we would sample some exotic plants and animals to
bring back. No one wanted to talk about heading home at that moment – we’ve had enough sailing at the
moment.
1 April 1433 A.D.
It’s been a week since we arrived. We’ve met the locals – they were really nice, they served us
meals worthy of the Emperor to eat! Best not let him know, I guess. Our crew has decided to not take
anything back to the Emperor to not risk our heads, but save some souvenirs for ourselves.
I’ve been enjoying my time here, and so is a couple in the crew. I think after 7 treasure voyages, I
deserve to relax for the rest of my life. This to me is a holiday paradise, and I shall live here for the rest of
my life. My crew have already promised to fake my death to the Emperor. The couple? They’ve gotten
tired of sailing, and decided to start a family on this new piece of land.
Epilogue
Zheng He’s ship arrived at present-day British Columbia, Canada in 1943. The couple gave birth
to 10 children, and these children reproduced to form the largest Chinese Canadian population in Canada.