Traditions or Choices 传统还是选择 II

"I read what seduces me, I write what perverts me. "

- Heather Cai -

Traditions or Choices 

A Short Story

Heather Cai

August 2019

---Chinese Swipe Left | 左滑中文---

Part Two | 下

On the morning of the fifth of February, Mei woke me up from a lucid dream. 

“Lotus, everyone is waiting for you to have breakfast.”

“What time is it?” I turned away, didn’t want to leave my dream unfinished.

“Already eight o’clock.”

“Oh, it’s quite early, no?” I turned to lie on my belly, a little annoyed.

“Get up!” Mei pushed maternally. “You’ve slept more than enough, more than anyone in the house.”

“The food is getting cold, Lotus. Come to eat!” mother called in her top voice. 

I reluctantly sat up. My eyes were still wandering in the dream, and the dream was climaxing.

“The sun is burning your arse! Don’t keep us all waiting for you!” father shouted authoritatively. His patriarchal authority sounded so familiar I jumped off the bed. The haunting voices of “You are a failure!”, “You are a garbage!” and “You are a waste!”, returned.

“Lotus, we won’t blame you anymore.” Father burst calmly, lowering a mug onto his lap. “The fortune teller said you can’t achieve anything until 2020. Your luck is turning this year. Don’t screw it. Everybody knows that the cost of living in Shanghai is high, too high for you. Come back to Shenzhen. You can eat at home, sleep at home and save some money for your future. You can’t afford to waste time. Now is your best chance to teach. Ping will help you. He has helped many of his friends. They have all settled down happily.”

Ping, who had been standing aside, suddenly broke in, “The others have been begging me for help, and yet my own sister has been rejecting me. Why?” 

“How stupid! You’ll soon cry!” Mother exclaimed hoarsely. She uncrossed her legs and placed her feet onto the floor with a heavy sound. Her eyes rolled sharply. I was stunned. She had never acted that way before. But now she seemed to be the angriest person in the room. “Don’t you realize you’re thirty-two years old? Don’t you think it’s high time to have a baby?” 

“Calm down, mother. No need to be that angry.” Mei sat across from me, looking right into my eyes with a challenging smile. “I’m sure she is listening...”

No, I’m not. I smirked, intentionally cutting myself off the presence and slowly drifting away.

“Look, once you’ve become an official Shenzhen teacher like Ping, you’ll have a lot of free time to do whatever you like.” Father said appealingly, putting away his mug. “Ping goes to school only when he has classes or meetings. He is offered an almost free apartment and free meals. His job is getting easier and easier. Besides, his salary is great.”

“You all talk too much. She never listens. Stop wasting time!” Ping was annoyed, spilling his words madly. “Why don’t we just start off by letting me drive you to Shanghai? We can spend two or three nights in a hotel near Lotus’s place and decide from there.”

“Yes! Let’s go!” Mother rose quickly from the sofa, laughing. “I’ve prepared a bag of snacks. I heard Shanghai is bigger and worth going for a trip.”

“Say something, Lotus.” Mei moved to my side, patting me on my shoulder.

Seeing that everyone was ready to leave except me, I was perplexed. Is this a groundbreaking comedy or a family game? How long have they been planning this?