Chapter 23 (1/2)

Cheng Jia Yang

On the third day of the New Year, Xu Dong invited me out to go horseback riding. The weather was good and we rode for a while before resting.

I flipped open the newspaper and looked at the entertainment section, reading about how famous stars spent the New Year.

“Wu Jia Yi went to England to rest and met a famous film director.” I read aloud and looked at Xu Dong. However, it seemed like his attention was elsewhere. He drank a sip of British soju and said to me, “I need to tell you something, I’m getting married.”

“I didn’t hear wrong right?”

“Hey, I’m already a thirty-something year old man. Get married early then have children early so that once they grow up, I won’t too old. I’ll still be able to discipline them.”

“I see you’ve thought about it thoroughly. Who’s the bride?”

“You don’t know her.”

“You’re sure of this? You’re going to give up being a free bachelor?”

“Too tiring.”

“Well bring sister-in-law with you next time, I want to get to know her.”

“Okay, we can go out and eat together the day after tomorrow.” I went to the restroom. When I came back, I saw Xu Dong from afar. He was holding the newspaper and intently reading.

Not long after, I met Xu Dong’s fiancee. On the fifth day of the New Year, we went out to eat hot pot. She was a very quiet lady; not very pretty, but composed and graceful. She had graduated from Beijing University and now worked to restore ancient paintings and calligraphy at a museum.

In the beginning it was Xu Dong’s mother who introduced them. Before the wedding date was set, the girl’s Beijing family background was thoroughly investigated. She was born into a scholarly family, her father being a well-known scholar. Most importantly, before Xu Dong, she had not dated anyone.

Xu Dong cared for his fiancee very well, but in my opinion, it seemed more like an outer image. Their wedding date was set on May 1st. The girl’s family was religious, and Xu Dong respected that so they prepared a Christian wedding ceremony.

But even chic people had things they couldn’t prevent. Xu Dong had played around for so many years, finally deciding to rest and become a prodigal son. I didn’t know if this could be buried forever.

The Chinese New Year holiday ended, two days later, Fei returned from her home.

I went to the train station to pick her up. The Fei that got off of the train startled me. She lost a lot of weight, her face ridged with sharp edges like in the summer. The coat that she had bought before going to Harbin looked a little haggard.

I took her things, examining her. She smiled at me, “Well? How is it? I lost a lot of fat right?”

“You didn’t get it wrong, right? Being fat one moment and skinny the next can be bad for your heart.”

“Women should be a little hard on themselves.”

“Does that even make sense? Let’s hurry up and go.”

I drove the car towards the direction of the main roads, Fei said, “I want to go back to school for a few days.”

“Ah?” I looked at her. The car was at an intersection. The red light turned on, we stopped.

“Don’t mention it. Xiao Dan’s boyfriend didn’t do well on his exams, so he didn’t go back home during winter break and found a job here, so she stayed here with him. She lives by herself and is scared. Let me go back and stay with her for a while.”

“Oh, what about me? You promised her? Seriously, this person, she’s already grown up, and is living at school, it’s not even outside. What is she afraid of?”

“Ah, but I agreed. Besides, the school isn’t far from the Ministry of Commerce which is close to where I live so you won’t have to transport me too far.

I didn’t speak, but was a little angry on the inside. Fei, you heroine, you really have a sense of obligation.

I escorted her to her house, handing her a business card, “Report to the Commerce Department the day after tomorrow. Find this man, he is the project team leader. Don’t be late.”

“Thank you. Do you want to go in with me and sit for a while?”

“No, I still have things to do.”

“Then bye.”

I got in my car and left. I drove around the streets, getting bored.

Qiao Fei

Fortunately Cheng Jia Yang didn’t come in and “sit”. I went back to the empty bathroom, turned on the hot water, and washed my face and feet. Afterwards I crawled in between the covers and rested. I was in a train the entire day, and I could still hear the rumbling sound, and feel my body swaying.

I really was tired.

The second day of studying, preparing, giving Cheng Jia Yang a phone call, with five sentences.

The third day I went to the Commerce Department, it was a Sino-French cooperation project industry group. I found the person in charge, Zhou Xian Fu, and told him that I was Cheng Jia Yang’s friend. Right after, he started asking me questions in French.

Half an hour later, I got my a.s.signed desk underneath a window. I sighed in relief. It seemed like I pa.s.sed the interview.

The office had a total of seven workers, including three foreigners who spoke better Chinese than me. I sat across from a thirty-something year old woman. The name card on her desk had her French and Chinese name, Mich.e.l.le and Yang Yan Yan. She was quite pretty, but she had an unsmiling, enigmatic face.

Because we were all pretty young, everyone got to know each other very quickly. The foreigners recommended that I make a French version of my name. I said, just call me Fei. The French p.r.o.nunciation of the name was quite pretty.

Working here was so easy, it couldn’t get any easier. Answering the phone, sending fax messages; sometimes Zhou Xian Fu would give me a file to type,but there wasn’t more to it.

My weekly salary was 700 yuan. Later when school starts, I can work every weekend and earn 400 yuan. This was really good. I took the money and called Cheng Jia Yang, I said, “I want to invite you to dinner, do you accept or decline?”

He didn’t answer, but instead thought on the other side of the phone.

“h.e.l.lo?”

“I was thinking of inviting you to a meal there.”

I laughed.

While eating at the northeast restaurant, Cheng Jia Yang asked about my job, “They still didn’t let you be an interpreter?”

“No.”

“What’s wrong? I told Lao Zhou to give you more opportunities to exercise your skills.”

“Hey, you don’t need to help me find an easy way around things anymore, I already have you so I’m lucky enough.”

“Do you get along well with your colleagues?”