January 28th
The Epilogue of Huaxu Village
The village located on the top and side of the earthen hill next to Kowloon Tong Railway is called Huaxu Village. I came here for the first time in the winter of 1950. It was Guocai Li, Lin Yang, Di Yi and me, who first built houses with wood and thatches near the brow of the hill. As the days passed, more and more houses were built in the village. There were 2 major fires within the last year, but none of them spread to the hill. Thus, more and more small houses appeared on the hill. Guocai Li's small house in Huaxu Village was halfway up the hill, and its door plate set by the government was No. 21.
The wooden houses in Kowloon, Hong Kong, were mostly burnt, and until today, only few of them still remain. Before noon, I reached there, and it’s all changed. Houses down the hill were all burned out, and those along the hill path are being torn down today. Only Guocai Li's house is left! All the other houses on the hill are gone, only his house stands there, but of course, his house is also just waiting to be torn down. This makes me recall that the first house five years ago was Guocai Li’s, and the last one standing today is still his. I went there by accident today, and what I saw reminded me about what I wrote above.
