Fiction: Group 3
The Fresh Start
HKMA David Li Kwok Po College, Kaur Saran, Sarneet - 14, Fiction: Group 3
here are we going, father? You still haven’t told me yet.” Li-Hua whispered to the man
walking beside her. They had been travelling for days on end, but her father still wouldn’t
tell her where they were travelling to.
He looked up at her and smiled. He seemed to age a little bit more every day ever since her mother passed. The
lines on his forehead had got deeper and his cheeks were sinking into his skull. He was tired. She could see it in
his eyes, but he still refused to get onto the horse Li-Hua was sitting on.
“We’re almost there.” He told her. Li-Hua sighed. He still wouldn’t tell her. He was a bit stubborn like that
sometimes, so when he, despite her grandmother’s protests, suddenly decided to pack their bags and leave Anhui,
she wasn’t entirely surprised.
Li-Hua wasn’t completely sure how much time had passed, but when her father said that they had reached their
destination, Li-Hua was glad. All the travelling made her feel exhausted, despite that fact that she had been
sitting the entire time.
“Where are we?” Li-Hua asked again, hoping that this time her father would be able to give her a satisfactory
reply. He replied by picking her up from the horse in one swift motion and setting her on the ground.
“Can’t you feel the ocean breeze? Can’t you smell the salt in the air?” her father said, laughing. It took Li-Hua a
few seconds to figure it out, but when she did, her eyes widened in delight.
“Canton?” she said, her mouth forming a smile. When her father nodded, Li-Hua squealed. Her mother was
from Canton, so she had heard all about this place. She had heard about the port, filled with ships carrying cargo
from places far, far away and she had heard about the fair-skinned people who owned them. She heard about
the exotic spices and the finest silk that was traded here, but what excited her most was the sea. She had never
seen the sea before, but from what her mother told her, it was in the most beautiful blue colour and stretched as
far and as wide as her eyes could see.
“What are we doing here, father?” Li-Hua asked. As excited as she was to be here, she didn’t see the point as
her mother’s parents had died years ago and they had no relations here whatsoever.
“I thought we needed a fresh start, didn’t you? Plus, the trade here is booming, so I brought all the tea I could
harvest back in Anhui. We could be happier here, my blossom. We could have a new life.” Her father looked at
her, as if he was waiting for a sign of her approval. Her father was a tea grower, and Li-Hua knew that the price
he was getting for his tea back in An-Hui was barely enough to keep them going.
Li-Hua smiled. “You’re right.” She said. “Mother always talked about the sea. Can we go see it?” she asked,
after a short pause.
Her father gave a little chuckle. “Come on, my blossom. Let’s go to the port.”
~
John Matteson was tired, but he tried not to show it as his daughter chatted enthusiastically. Months ago, he
owned one of the wealthiest British merchant firms, and now, after the Jiaqing Emperor had put a ban on his
most profitable trade, opium, he was at the risk of losing everything.
That’s why he was now in Canton. He had arrived here a couple of hours ago, and now was walking along the
Canton port with his daughter. He had a smile on his face, but he was panicking, trying to think of a way to save
his company from falling into ruin.
“What can I do?” John thought to himself. He rubbed his temples, hoping a solution would just come to him.
He needed the money he got by selling opium to keep his company afloat, but there was no way he could do
that without the Jiaqing Emperor finding out and arresting him and shutting down his firm. What would happen
to his family then? What would happen to him?
“Maybe, if I could get someone else to traffic the opium for me, then I would be safe and my firm wouldn’t
shut down.” He thought. It was not a bad idea, but there was no way he’d be able to find someone who’d do
that. No one would put themselves in danger like that, even if he paid the person handsomely. Not unless they
were desperate enough…
How hard could it be to find someone desperate? He looked around. He knew the harbour was full of rich
traders, because after all, Canton was a thriving trading hub. However, as he looked among the crowds of
people, he spotted one man in particular. The young man looked tired, as if he had the weight of the world on
his shoulders. He was trying so very hard to sell his tea to passers-by, but no one seemed particularly interested.
“W
