Fiction: Group 4
“Why are you here, Xiao Hong? You should not follow me. I can’t let you stay with me. People will
gossip, and all I have, my reputation, my career will be over.”
“Wo…, wo…(I)…duibuqi (am sorry).”
“What can I do for you, Xiao Hong? You can ask for anything except to ask to stay with me.”
“Wo…”
“As you can see, I am a single man but I don’t need any maid at home. I am used to living alone, and at this
moment, I really don’t want to bother with anything else.”
“Wo…”
“Please leave me alone. I am sorry.”
Xiao Hong cried desperately in front of me. She was still kneeling down in front of me, and I was startled.
That was not my fault that she was so poor, and I was not her relative, so I had no responsibility to take care
of her. She should not expect anything from me though I had my new suit on which might make me look a
bit wealthy, but the fact is I am really not a rich man.
We looked at each other, and I was touched by her honest and sad face again.
“Okay. Let me think for a while. I have got an idea. You may live with my aunt, Daisy. She is living in the
next village.”
“Wo…” Xiao Hong looked grateful for my suggestion, and she was excited to hear this.
“Let’s go now. Let me carry your bags.”
Xiao Hong stopped crying, and tried to stand up after kneeling down on the ground for at least an hour.
“What is your family name, Xiao Hong?” I asked her.
“Zhou. My full name is Zhou Xiao Hong,” she replied with a delightful and clear voice.
“What happened to your parents?”
“They were sick and died. In my village, a plague broke out. My parents were infected and died.” Xiao
Hong looked depressed again.
“I see.”
In order not to recall her repressed and sad memory again, I stopped asking her any questions.
We did not talk to each other until we arrived at my aunt’s house.
I knocked on the door.
“Aunt Daisy, are you here?” I asked.
“Lai, lai (coming),” she said.
I could hear my aunt dashing to the door.
Aunt Daisy opened the door.
“What a pretty girl! Oh, Zhi Ming, you have got a girlfriend!”
“Please, aunt Daisy, she is not my girlfriend. I have got a new worker for you. She is homeless, and she
needs help. Please let her work and stay at your home or your shop. You know, I am a man, and …”
“My dear boy, I know you can’t keep her with you. I will keep her with me. Don’t worry. She will help
me at my shop.”
“Thank you so much for your kind help. I better go home now. It’s late at night. Good night, aunt Daisy,”
I said.
Then, I started to walk away to go home.
“Mr. Zhi Ming. Please wait.” Xiao Hong called me.
“Li. My name is Li Zhi Ming. Maybe you can call me Mr. Li.”
“Mr. Li. Thank you. I wanted to give you back your bag. You dropped your bag on the street.”
Xiao Hong gave me my bag which had another two new suits inside. I might have laid them on the ground
when I looked at her at the market centre.
“Thank you very much. You are a good girl,” I smiled at her.
Xiao Hong did not say “Thank you”. She bowed to me to show her gratitude.
Xiao Hong was a bit shy and did not dare look at me in my eyes.
“Good night, Xiao Hong.”
She smiled coyly. She smiled at me.
Her beautiful smile warmed my heart. My heart melted. It was her lovely smile I could not forget. I kept
thinking about her when I was at home.
“It was right for me to help her. She is honest. She gave me back my bag of new suits, and she acted
demurely.” I said to myself.
