Fiction: Group 2
New Tales of the Pearl River Delta
Diocesan Preparatory School, Li, Yui Ching - 10, Fiction: Group 2
bored Vivian was walking in the park when she stumbled upon something strange -- the river
was being devoured by a big black hole! As soon as she neared it, it sucked her up. She fell into a
pit of everlasting darkness…
When Vivian woke up, she found that the world had changed. “
What place is this? Why am I here?”
She
thought, confused, her head still throbbing with agony. “
Isn’t this Zhu Jiang City? How come it is so…
big and… advanced!”
After asking some passersby, she realised with a jolt that the black hole had flung her
forward to the 39
th
century!
Just then, a man in black came up to her and said, “You must be Vivian! Please come with me. You have
kept the president waiting for an entire week!” Puzzled, Vivian followed the man instinctively. They
walked to a hovercar which took them to a palatial castle. They entered past the faceless guards.
She was ushered into a richly furnished room; she found a frail old man staring into oblivion. When he
finally realised that Vivian had arrived and he wearily greeted her, “Hello, Miss Wong. I am the leader of
New Zhu Jiang City.” He pointed to the man who had brought her. “This is my helper, Li Yang-Wu.
You may call him Li.” They shook hands and sat down.
“Let’s cut to the chase now,” said the leader to Vivian.
“By 25
th
century, the former Pearl River Delta region merged into the New Zhu Jiang City and became
the ultimate symbol of China. Most people were rich, the streets were clean and there was no war.”
“However, this futuristic city has deteriorated rapidly. Now, citizens do not have enough food to eat,
more and more accidents and natural disasters are happening, the value of our money is decreasing, and
resources are ‘drifting away’ without reason. We suspect that someone has a high-technology computer
that controls the whole China, especially New Zhu Jiang City.”
Suddenly, two scientists ran in anxiously. The first one said, “Bad news, President! We have foreseen that
an earthquake is coming!”
The second continued, “We have warned everyone in the city to evacuate into their basements and to
prepare all the survival materials we have.”
“Well, now you can see the seriousness of the hazards.” The leader said sincerely. “Please help the city
restore its glory. If you two succeed, a reward beyond your imagination will be given to you.” Vivian and
Li nodded; they were persuaded.
As they walked towards the library, Vivian asked Li curiously, “What does the leader do every day?”
Li answered, “Nothing special. Just works all day, but he has 1-3 days off in a month.”
“But what does he do during his holidays?”
“I don’t know.” Li shrugged, “Maybe you could ask him.”
“Maybe,” Vivian replied with a faint smile.
A week later, when they were thoroughly exhausted after staying up looking for evidence, Li suggested
that they could go to the leader’s garden to repose themselves. “There is a beautiful river behind his garden
too,” added Li. “We can also take a look at all those lovely goldfish he owns!”
“Great!” Vivian said, “Maybe we could ask him some questions about the case.”
In the garden, Li spent almost an hour looking for the fish tank, but still he couldn’t find it. Vivian raised
one eyebrow as she commented, “Well, I guess many people get rid of unnecessary belongings.”
“But it
was
there a year before! Ah, here it is.” Li said, pointing to a pile of rocks.
Vivian looked at the ‘water tank’, while exclaiming with a hint of disgust, “What… is this?”
They stared at the fish for a moment -- the good news was that the fish and the water were still there.
However, the bad news was that the water was black and the goldfish inside were all dead! It looked like an
‘aquarium of black death’!
Li widened his dark and deep blue eyes, his face filled with amazement and shock. “How could this be? I
am sure that someone did it on purpose! Who did it?”
Vivian did not answer him; she just pondered around for a while, her mind filled with suspicions and
caution. A few minutes later, she went to the white room confidently, taking long strides. Although Li was
surprised, he followed Vivian, but with less certainty.
A
