Fiction: Group 2
New Tales of the Pearl River Delta
Good Hope Primary School cum Kindergarten, Law, Yuen Tong-11, Fiction: Group 2
ong long time ago, in a tiny village located in the Pearl River Delta, was a small family. Everyone
had wheat every meal, but they were always famished.
Perhaps you’ll ask, why were they always starving? Well, it is because wheat doesn’t grow
well in wet climates. Wheat only grows in dry places, so it is very difficult to grow it in the Pearl River
Delta.
As a result, the father ordered his two sons, Hung and Yip to beg for more food from relatives. Yip
started to protest, but his father silenced him with a hard stare. “Now, go!” he roared, “And if you come
home empty-handed, I’ll beat you!”
Hung half carried, half dragged Yip to beg for food. As the sky began to go dark, the two brothers
still could not beg for any food.
Suddenly, a kidnapper blocked their way. “Money or life!” the kidnapper threatened them. The
kidnapper also had a huge bronze sword pointed directly to them. Hung obediently took out all the money
they had got while Yip tried reasoning with the kidnapper. “Big brother, please don’t hold us as hostages!
Let us go! We don’t have any money and we have to find food for our family…”begged Yip. The
kidnapper considered a moment before answering, “OH, don’t worry, little boy. As soon as I contact your
parents and if they cooperate, you’ll be safe.”
The kidnapper abducted them to a shabby wooden hut. Then he locked the door and wished
them good luck. The brothers waited for two long-lasting hours. They decided that the kidnapper wasn’t
a wicked man as he didn’t treated them awfully. At last, the kidnapper gave up holding them as hostages
and set them free. However, it required a bargain. “I heard the two of you are looking for food when I
abducted both of you. If you find food, you must share some with me. In exchange, I will give you
freedom. Is it a deal?” he asked. Hung and Yip agreed and they shook hands with the kidnapper.
The brothers were relief that they were free but they were also aware that they were exhausted and
weary. At last, Hung and Yip made up their mind to beg Tin Hau for advice.
They summoned their courage, went to the temple and told Tin Hau their anxiety about food
shortage. They believed that Tin Hau would give them a solution. After they said the prayer, they left.
When they were walking towards other houses to beg for food, they saw a strange, weird and new
plant. The plant had lots of tiny, little seed and a long stem. They tried a little bit of it by boiling it. How
mouth-watering it tasted! How soft it was! They quickly devoured it and picked a lot of the seed and took
it home.
When they went home, they told their startled parents about their discovery. They called this type
of food “rice”. They also shared the rice with the kidnapper. They speeded this type of food out and soon,
everyone in the Pearl River Delta eats rice.
Rice is a solution to the people’s hunger because rice grows well in wet climate, so the Pearl River
Delta provides a great farmland for it.
The citizens were high-spirited to have this type of grain to solve their hungerthat they held a
parade for the two brothers. They wanted to thank Hung and Yip so badly that they decided to make
Hung and Yip a surname. Since then, there are some people that his or her surname is Hung or Yip.
Remember, whenever you have rice for supper, remember to thank Hung and Yip for it. If they
didn’t discover it long time ago, you won’t be eating it right now.
L
