Creative Writing
Le 23 Septembre 2013
Ms. Palmer P7
Samuel Lum
The Adventures of Wing Lung Ping
The sweet cement smelling polluted air entered the nostrils of Wing Lung Ping. He is
standing on the steps of one of China's most prestigious universities, Peking University. Sweat
lingers along his forehead dripping down like rain. But he was grinning for he was recently
notified that he made it in. He just barely made the acceptance list. His family was very proud
since it was seen as a great honor to attend a C9 listed school. A C9 school composed of an
official roster of the nine best universities in China. Of the millions of students who try to get in,
only a small percentage attend. Many of the rejected worked their whole lives for it and end up
crying for weeks or commit suicide. His family saved up enough money to buy him a nice
banquet in downtown Shanghai and Lung Ping loved it. It was his first banquet in years.
Lung Ping was always a good village kid. He was always busy studying or helping his
elders catch fish from the river. One time when his grandma was ill, he spent two days hiking up
a mountain in order to get some medicinal leaves. He was a skinny but tall child, his skin tone
was dark and his eyes were hazel color. Lung Ping always liked being outside, chasing little
rabbits and chickens. He could easily hit a target from fifty feet away with a spear throw. The
greatest achievement in his hunting was a tiger kill; he first threw three spears then fought it by
hand. It was extremely bloody but it proved he was brave and worthy of becoming a leader in the
village.
Education was always the most important thing to him. When he wasn't hunting
outdoors, he was hard at work in his home. He was constantly studying physics, English and
math. All through his life, his friends, family and village folk bugged him about his grades. Only
the best attended the top universities and had the best chance at success. Many of the farmers at
the village were previously students who didn't make it into the top.
Sounds of chatter threaten the quiet walls of his home. It was dinner and his family was
quickly moving into their seats. Beautiful streams of steam rose slowly from the hot pot and
noodle soups rose slowly. The smell simply makes you hungry, dying for food.
“SO LITTLE WING…YOU’RE ALL GROWN UP NOW…PRETTY SOON YOU’LL BE SO
SUCESSFUL WE WONT EVER BE ABLE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!,” his dad happily cried.
“Do this family proud!” said his mom.
“YOU KNOW! Back in my time, hundreds of us nearly starved to death, we could never be
more than peasants. But you, Wing Lung Ping, you are our first honorable child,” his Grandma
exclaimed.
By now his face was red as an apple. He tried to look humble but inside, he was stressed.
He knew how important it was, his whole family, in fact his whole generation seemed to be
counting on him; may his ancestral spirits come to haunt him if he didn’t “make” it. That’s how
he felt while eating.
A few days later, he awoke. The sun was shining away and the village was busy as usual.
It was his first day of school. His family was still asleep. It was getting a bit late so he ran as fast
as he could for the next boat to Beijing. Of course, he grabbed a few steamed pork buns on the
way out. Finally, he arrived at the campus. Anyone looking at the campus would immediately
notice the scenery. The wonderfully designed architecture, thoughtfully placed trees and the
complex sculptures; it felt like a place like no other, with nothing to complain about and nothing
but fresh images to take in. By noon, he was adjusted to his new school schedule, his professors
all liked him and he already had four new friends. The coursework seemed just right and Lung
Ping knew that he could do everything perfectly.
A month has gone by. Lung Ping was right, he was doing very well! He even became
President of the International House and had a 4.0 GPA. Life couldn't be going better for him.
But one day a letter came. "Oh, it's from the school secretary," I thought. Wondering if it was a
check or some money I quickly opened it.
Under Observance by the Board of Trustees
Peking University Tuition for the semester in the amount of 46,000 RMB
Signed,
Walter Scott, Chairman
His face seemed to be embedded in the paper when he suddenly realized that he doesn't
have enough to pay it off! What will he do now? If he doesn't pay it by the next month he would
be kicked out of the school and can no longer go back. He couldn't risk his family knowing. He
scrambled throughout the university looking for jobs or anything that got him money. He was
desperate at this point. He found five jobs that seemed suitable and applied for them. They were
listed for an a assistant chef, garbage disposal laborer, dog walker, valet service and customer
service agent. He went with the three highest paying and only attended a few of his classes so he
could maximize his work times. On a daily basis, he slept for three hours in total and was
working the entire day after.
One day after a long hard shift, he went to math class. He noticed his teacher winking at him
and when he went to talk to her, she acted really strange. "Does she like me," he thought. He
brought up the idea that he wanted to be honest and tell her of his situation." Ms. Li shrugged.
She sighed “I’m not sure what I can do about that... I can try to offer you 5,000 RMB since
you're such a sweet child."
What's the catch?" he thought.
She winked, but all he could do is stare blankly at her. He knew it, but he was at first
hesitant at the idea. They did it in the back closet and he was paid an extra tip.
He was late for his next shift so he ran as fast as he could.
"Lung Pung, where were you?
"I...my teacher held me back for something."
"Rough day eh?"
"Yeah, rough day."
He was an excellent worker. He was good at what he did and even earned raises. He survived
each day. He no longer slept at the campus but instead his supervisor let him sleep in the storage
room. His restaurant let him eat one meal a day; so he only ate one meal. He also found a nice
chair and table from the garbage. The time to submit the dues at the end of the month was
nearing. It was 2 days away. Lung Ping was too busy working to notice. The day before the dues
he had a terrible nightmare. He dreamed that they would shoot him because he didn't have
enough to pay it off. At 3 A.M he awoke, he only could focus on his bill. He began tediously
counting his money, checking constantly at the door just in case something were to peer in.
$45,000, $600, $700, $800, $900...," he ran out of cash. “WHAT?!? " I don't have enough?
Nooooo!" All of a sudden he smashed his head into a wall; it bled for some time. A small
glimmer of light came into his room from a tiny crevice. Something caught the corner of his eye.
"Oh yay! It's another bill! I can finally afford to pay it off! This must have dropped from the
heavens above." He slept happily with a smile that last night.
And so he has enough at last. He walked confidently with his head held high and slammed the
money on the superintendent's desk. It was done. He kept his job at the restaurant too, for they
eventually gave him two meals and a bed to sleep on in their garage. When he left campus, he
left as the most grateful and humble person there. He left with a big charismatic smile and a
shiny framed diploma.