Compared to the secret documents I was carrying, my body itself was insignificant. However, it may have served its purpose in the grander scheme of things. I was expecting that they would simply throw my corpse back into the sea, but they didn’t; they actually buried me. They put my grave next to the sea, and in doing so, the ebb and flow of the tide prevented me from resting peacefully. But at least the location allowed me to look into the distance towards home. Most people don’t think much about their home when they’re there, but when they’re not, home is never really far from their minds. Whilst lying in my rather cold and cheerless grave, I often pondered the outcome of my ‘mission’ and wondered what the Americans did about it.

About two weeks later, the smell of flowers wafted through the air around my desolate grave, causing me to open my eyes. Standing in front of my rather dreary burial mound was a woman in a long windbreaker, her hands clasping a bouquet of roses. I didn’t recognize her, and I couldn’t imagine that anyone from this horrible place would have known me, and so I thought she must have come to the wrong grave. After all, since the war began, this whole area had begun to fill up with so many graves, many of them unmarked, that it would not be surprising if she had gone to the wrong one.

But when she opened her mouth and spoke I was amazed: she was telling me what I most wanted to know. She said that the Americans had fallen for it; they had had no reason to suspect the accuracy of the documents I had been carrying and so they hastily transferred their forces from the seventh perimeter to the fourth. Once the Americans had finished moving their troops, the VPA had launched its assault on the now weakened seventh line of defence and swarmed through the remaining American lines. It was a great victory. Finally, she said, ‘Hoˆ` Hải Dương, Bureau Chief Lü has sent me here to convey the gratitude of the Chinese army. You have made an outstanding contribution to your country and your people; you will be honoured for ever …’

I told her I wasn’t Hồ Hải Dương. I told her I was Vĩ Phu. Vĩ Phu!

But did she hear me?

Will anyone ever hear me?