A month later, Wong wrote a letter to his mother. It was about the living and work environment of building
the Great Wall. In the letter he wrote:
Hi, Mum. How are you? The living environment is very good here. Maybe it is even better than home! Also, I
can get enough food after working. I’ve made some friends too! Although I am not living with you, I still enjoy
my happy life. Building the Great Wall is also much easier than farmland work, so don’t worry or think about
me. Enjoy your life. Love from your son.
This is the first letter and the last from Wong to his Mum.
Wong was sad about his life. He didn’t know why he needed to help build the Great Wall, and he couldn’t
earn any wages. Also, for someone who was rich, there was no need for him to help build the Great Wall. It was
because they paid a large amount to some government officials and soldiers who had called them to work. He
though it was so unfair. Although Wong though it was difficult work, he still worked hard. Also, he tried his
best to move the stones although he was hungry, sad and weak.
A month later, one year later, five years later, Wong’s mother did not receive any more letter from her son.
She was so worried. She hoped that her son had just forgotten to write, and was not sick or even dead. As she
was now seventy-five years old and worried about the current situation of her son, she grew sick but was too
poor to see the doctor. It was lucky that she did not get worse but she did not get well, either. One day, she
decided to go and find her son because she was so worried about him.
She packed some simple, cheap clothes and started the journey to the Great Wall. Even though she was so old,
she still chose the cheapest way to travel and walked to the Great Wall. On the way, she fell many times because
the roads were bumpy. She was chased by some savage animals such as wolves. She was also bitten by a snake.
Even though she did not get enough food to eat, she never grumbled. Although the journey to the Great Wall
was very hard and she faced lots of difficulties, she never gave up, because the purpose of her journey was to
find her beloved son. The feeling of worry about her son gave her a lot of positive energy so she could finish the
journey to the Great Wall in a month.
When she arrived at the Great wall, she found that people there all had sad faces. She also saw that people
needed to move the stones from the bottom of the mountain to the top. She remembered that the first letter
written by her son stated the working and the living environments were very good. She thought, ‘Was my son
lying or has the work become much harder since he first wrote the letter?’
At the Great Wall, she kept looking for her son for a week, but she could not find him. The more time she
spent looking for her son, the more worried she was. One day, she asked the head of the laborers, ‘Have you
ever met a boy called Ka Keung Wong? Where is he now? Do you know?’
He answered, ‘Who are you?’
‘
I’m his mother,’ said the poor woman.
‘
Oh, I’m sorry to tell you this news!’ said the head laborer.
‘
What? Bad news or good news?’