Fiction: Group 4
Chapter 5
As time flew by, Wen’s business was more prosperous than ever. He owned a factory of his own, and
branches soon scattered throughout Hong Kong. Back then, only a handful of enterprises could grow to
such a scale. Despite scolding his brother, he himself had not married. Every day he would check his mail
box to see if Lou had sent him an invitation letter to his wedding. Yet it never came.
At a point, he planned to further his business in Guangdong. In fact, he had chosen Dongguan as the place.
He had arranged everything well. Having an agreement with the government, he was permitted to set up a
manufacturing site but transfer the ownership to the government. In fact, the officials were fascinated by this
plan as benefits were believed to be considerable. Soon, employees were recruited and the factory was ready.
It was mid-summer when the factory began its operation. All the procedures went as Wen planned. For the
first few months, Wen was extremely satisfied with the running of the new factory. When everything was
settled, he made his return trip to Hong Kong.
Chapter 6
Another couple of years passed, and Wen decided to go to Dongguan again to have a regular inspection on
the factory. There he would stay several months and familiarise himself with the economic environment
there.
In less than no time, China changed dramatically. The once productive and ambitious place had suddenly
been penetrated with various kinds of ridiculous slogans and marching crowds. Every day people would
gather and chant hymns of Chairman Mao. Wen had no idea of what the chaos meant, but he had heard of
the term ‘Cultural Revolution’ from his colleagues from Guangzhou. Students, emerging from nowhere,
would parade on the streets and yell slogans ecstatically. Yet, Wen had no idea what exactly was going on.
But there was one thing for sure – the entire movement did not involve him. From the newspapers he read
every morning, only high-rank officials were accused and arrested for an array of treasonable crimes.
Anyway, he focused on his work and was nonchalant of what was going outside.
No one interrupted Wen. No Red Guards broke into the factory; except for a number of times they
commanded Wen to hang the red posters. Everything went well for Wen, until the fifth month.
Chapter 7
By then, the country was literally uncontrollable. Officials were arrested in tens every day and brought to
the gruelling torture of the crowd. One open-minded official who allowed Wen to set up his factory in
Dongguan once suggested the Party to be more lenient to foreign enterprises. The other day he was
condemned of being a ‘capitalist-roader’ and beaten by the Red Guards. Next, all those with close
connection with him were located, including Wen, and faced the same fate as him. Not a single soul was
spared.
At that time, the development of Dongguan was still at a preliminary stage. It was not considered to be ideal
place for the Red Guards to perform corporal punishment on the arrested. As a result, Wen, among some of
his colleagues, was sent to Guangzhou. The torture seemed forever for him. At noon he was brought onto a
stage and carried out the ‘punishment methods’ invented by the Red Guards. For Wen, the one was called
the ‘hanging airplane’. From dusk to dawn he would have his arms hung backwards and his feet raised in the
air, until he became unconscious. Then, he would be forced to kneel on an iron nail mat. The cycle
repeated for weeks.
On the seventeenth day, when Lou was off duty, he took care to visit the execution spot as one of the
managers of his textile enterprise was sent there as well. When he arrived at there, he simply could not
believe what he had seen. The silhouette of his beloved brother caught his glimpse – Wen was the next one
to stand on the stage! This Wen, now shoulders sloped and full of smears and scars on his face, never looked
up once. Lou swiftly squeezed through the crowd and stood in the front. Now he was certain it was Wen
standing some metres before him. ‘Next,’ the Red Guards shrieked. Wen was dragged onto the slippery
