The Brick on the 7th Tower
Sristi Gu
t was a cold winter morning in Shenzen. But the street was already in full swing with people running here
and there to do the final preparations for the Spring Festival. A grand villa stood in the middle of the
neighbourhood, which was the house of a successful bachelor. Handsome, intelligent and wealthy, this guy
had everything it took to impress any girl. But at the same time he was a cold-hearted man, who didn’t care
about anyone. Years before, he had lost his mother who committed suicide because of mental depression
and from then on he had never been in touch with his father, who he blamed for his mother’s death.
rung, Group 3: Fiction, HKMA David Li Kwok Po College
I
On the night of the Spring Festival, as usual he was planning to stay in his comfy house and watch
some movies. At that time, there was a knock on the door. Thinking that it was just one of the fireworks going
off, he ignored it. There was the knock again but this time it seemed more like a bang. Without feeling scared, as
most people would have felt, he opened the door. Outside was an old woman wearing a dark worn-out dress.
‘
Would you be so kind to give me some food to eat and shelter for the night?’ asked the woman. Looking out
into the crowd, the bachelor wondered why the woman didn’t ask others, but only him. ‘Why don’t you go ask
someone else? Because my answer is no.’ replied the bachelor. ‘Those people were right; you are beyond doubt
the most greedy person in this neighborhood. I have a good lesson for people like you.’ said the old woman.
‘
Why don’t you keep those lessons to yourself and get out of my sight, old lady.’ replied the bachelor and with
that he slammed the door hard in the woman’s face. Just as he was about to put on his headphones, he heard the
woman shout at the top of her voice , ‘I curse you to live your life in the body of one of those workers who died
working to build our nation’s pride ‘The Great Wall’. You will only come back to the present once you
understand what love and hardship is.’ ‘Curses don’t work old lady, there is no scientific evidence to prove it.
And that’s speaking scientifically,’ replied the bachelor. And with that the bachelor started the movie.
That night after everyone had gone home to rest, a typhoon was predicted and the observatory asked
everyone to stay home. The bachelor had just woken up from a short nap during the movie when he felt the
house was moving. He thought it was a minor earthquake. Slowly the earthquake became stronger and stronger.
Things started to fall off and the bachelor was just in time to see his mother’s photo about to fall. Running
straight for the photo, the bachelor had not noticed the big vase on top of the cupboard. After catching the photo
and feeling relieved the bachelor was just about to run for the gate with his mother’s photo in his hand when the
vase fell on his head and he blacked out.
Hearing people talking, the bachelor opened his eyes slowly. He was scared to find a group of people
surrounding him. ‘Who are you?’ asked the bachelor confused.’ That’s the same question we want to ask you.
Who are you?’ asked one of the person in the crowd. ‘What do you mean who am I? I have lived in this
neighborhood for 10 years already, now stop fooling with me and get out of my way.’ with that the bachelor
stood up and made his way out of the crowd. When he got to the end he was stunned. It was no longer the place
he used to live; it was a place from the old days of China. Feeling astonished for a while, the bachelor asked the
crowd,’ Where am I?’. The people in the crowd all replied ‘You’re in the state of Qin.’ ‘No this is not true; this
is so not happening to me. So the curse really came true!’ shouted the bachelor.
At that very moment he got a glimpse of several men getting pulled away by a group of soldiers. ‘I
guess they’re getting pulled away to build the great wall.’ thought the bachelor. He then realized that the armies
were now coming to his direction and ran as fast as he could like the other men around. Unfortunately the
soldiers caught the poor bachelor who had already had bad luck the whole day. He was put into a cart with
several other men. On the way to the great wall, the bachelor realized that the man sitting next to him was
staring at the sky the whole time. ‘The sky looks so beautiful and so calm right?’ asked the man. ‘A-Are you
talking to me?’ replied the bachelor. ‘The sky is always calm while the rest of us are always scared to death of
thinking about being caught.’ The man saw the confused expression on the bachelor’s face and introduced
himself. He was called Fan Qi Liang and this was his second time getting caught. The bachelor, now stunned,
was reminding himself to come back to life. He couldn’t believe that the legendary Fan Qi Liang was in front of
him. He had heard about him in an old legend when he was little. Fan Qi Liang ran away from the hardship and
went into hiding into a garden. There he fell in love with Meng Jiang Nu who was the gardener’s daughter and
soon they married. It had only been 3 days since their marriage and now Qi Liang was caught again. Listening
to the real Qi Liang’s story, the bachelor was comparing the truth and the legend which had been told to him
with various modification. By the time Qi Liang had finished his story, the cart had arrived at the Great Wall.