Fiction: Group 2
New Tales of the Pearl River Delta
Ching Chung Hau Po Woon Primary School, Ng, Hei Leong Leo-9, Fiction: Group 2
uangzhou train station was swarming with people. Chan Xiu Ming, or Ming as his family called
him, looked out of the train window: he saw people wearing warm clothes and hats. The guard
told the passengers to pack up their belongings and leave the train. Ming grabbed his bag and
jumped onto the platform. He looked around for his parents, but all he could see were strangers.
Ming began to cry. “Mum! Dad! Where are you?” he wailed. Nobody stopped to help him, everyone was
so busy. He walked around looking for his family. At the information counter Ming told the lady he was
lost. But she was occupied helping other travellers. Ming sat down and cried again.
A man came near and said “Why are you crying?” Ming replied, “I am lost, I cannot find my parents”. The
man, called Mr Chan, worked at the Victory Hotel. He asked Ming to join him whilst he helped him look
for his family.
They went to Mr Chan's hotel and the police was called. They asked Ming many questions. He gave all the
requested information, but could not recall his home address. Ming felt miserable. The police took notes.
Then, Mr Chan gave him a room to stay until he found his family.
Time was passing by quickly and there was still no feedback from the police. Ming was extremely bored. He
didn’t have any friends to play with. So, when walking around the old streets nearby the hotel, Ming made
friends with some children out there. Soon, Ming was playing with them every day and they even stayed in
his hotel room.
One day, when strolling through the streets of the old Sha Mian Island in Guangzhou, a stranger approached
Ming and asked whether he would be looking for something. With some hesitation, Ming told him his
story. The stranger, after some thinking, said he could surely find Ming's family, but he would need to get
paid. He provided his phone number, and requested to call him once Ming could pay $10,000. Then, the
stranger suddenly vanished. Ming was puzzled, because somehow, the stranger resembled his father.
In his desperation, Ming remembered a fascinating book he had once read. It was about some street children
who became thieves in order to make a living in the big city. He knew that stealing was not right, but what
choice did he have? He decided to look around the hotel for valuable items, and quietly took them. Then
he went to the market to sell the things he had stolen. Sometimes, he put the loot into his room. The other
children asked Ming where he got all the things from. He admitted his stealing, but the children admired
Ming, they were impressed. Also by the money he could earn selling the loot. Thus, Ming carried on
stealing, and even more valuable things. It was extremely risky, and Ming had very mixed feelings doing it.
But now, the children even called him the “Thief Lord”. How proud Ming was.
One day, like out of the blue, police suddenly showed up at the hotel. For whatever reason, they knew that
there was a thief here, and went straight to Ming's room where he was just playing with his friends. They
arrested him and the other children and sent them to the police station.
It was a frightful situation. They should be put in jail. But one policeman, who strangely reminded Ming a
little bit of his uncle, took good care of them and even bought some sushi. This, the children took as a
chance to escape. In an unwatched moment, they secretly slipped out by a back door of the police station.
Once outside, they hastily ran to an old colonial building under renovation and, entirely out of breath, hid
inside. It was dark here, huge and spooky. But they found out it was perfect for playing hide and seek,
which made them happy.
It was not for long, however, that the children could hear angrily barking dogs. The police had started a big
search using dogs to sniff for the scent of the children. With their very sharp noses, the dogs could trace the
way the children had walked, and finally found them in their colonial hideaway. The children were
shocked, but this time could no longer escape. The policemen sent them directly to an orphanage for them
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