《On The Same Days》橄榄树

13、27th August Tuesday 2002 Shenyang

　　Men moet het dunne met het dikke drinken
　　(Life is a drink that combines both sweet and sour)

　　Unlike previous Tuesdays when Ling could always soundly remain asleep till 9 or 10 in the late morning, she woke up around 6 and couldn’t sleep further.

　　She passed the test for her cousin with a fairly high score but not the best. She had to deliberately given some wrong answers to not score too much to make the cousin a suspect than a success. The tallest tree will get the most wind they say. The ancient aunt was so happy that her daughter finally got promoted that she planned to offer a few more set-ups to good -hearted Ling.

　　Ling even managed to bring Jane together with the father once to the zoo, though he was more than half of the time on his mobile, and his poker face made Jane a cautious mouse, they did have a little tense laugh in McDonalds, not a bad start at all.

　　She was chosen by □□ for a 3 days training program in Peking together with May and the peacock in two weeks. She had never been anywhere further than Shenyang yet in her entire life.

　　Yet all these couldn’t make her happy at all.
　　Deng was sentenced to be lever cancer carrier after all. He had to be cut open, remove something or even replace something.
　　His father was trying to transfer him to the specialized cancer treatment hospital in Peking, the bank head already went to Peking and treated those experts with the most expensive food and alcohol, including a dozen special gift cigarettes, those hollow cigarettes that were rolled with 100 Yuan RMB’s, 24 each pack. The operation had to be a success. He said calmly to convince himself rather than others.

　　Bamboo turned into a ghost, she lost 5 kilo in less than one month time, was forced to take some free days off work. Otherwise there might be too many real ghosts roaming around from traffic jams or accidents caused by her mindless gestures, for gods sake, she was a traffic police.

　　One good thing was Deng suddenly became normal again after his cancer was confirmed, even better than normal, he was able to talk now, not just listen or shoot people, but having real conversations, even philosophical, with Bamboo, with his parents, with everyone, as if he finally turned into a Buddha after years of icy silent training and the past few weeks fire hot torture. He told Bamboo to stop fool herself as if she was the cause for the cancer, it wasn’t her fault that he loved her, that she had to save some of her tears in case he would live with his cancer for many years, her eyes might ran dry long before that.
　　He told his father to stop wasting money bribing around those cancer experts, as no one would save him if it is his fate to go, no cancer would take him away if it is his fate to stay, he apologized that he hadn’t helped his father in supporting the families for all these years, rather cost a lot instead. He would try to do something from now on, nothing would be too late. The father smiled with red eyes too.

　　He thanked Tiffany & Roc for their spiritual support, congratulated Ling for her training opportunity, even secretively asked Ling to buy some good eye cream for Bamboo, for the black circles under her eyes, he said.
　　To Ling’s parents, he told them to relax. That he’d never allow Bamboo to marry any kind of patient with a short life span, including himself.

　　Ling’s eyes getting wet just by the thought, she did pray very hard in her heart, she did believe there must be a god since her American teacher couple in college believed so, that was a very kind couple. She couldn’t go to church at weekends anymore after she started work in □□, way to busy. But if anyone has to be punished for that, it should be Ling herself, not Deng.

　　Tiffany shouted that she left soup and pickled cabbage for Ling as breakfast and gone with Roc. This was a good side effect, as Bamboo is in no mood to fight with anyone now, Tiffany felt meaningless to hold whatever privileges in whichever battleground. The enemy is gone; there could be no victory without an enemy. She started to make breakfast, just to show that contrary to Bamboo, in the time of crisis, it was Tiffany who was still strong enough to take care of everyone’s stomach.

　　Telephone rang, Ling picked up the extension near her bed, must be one of them forgetting things again, “No way I will bring it to you.” Ling’s only free day often ends up to ran errands to the family.
　　“What?”
　　“Whatever…oh, father!”
　　“What are you not going to bring to me?”
　　“No, no, I thought it was Tiffany, she forgot, I thought she forgot something…”
　　“What did she forget?”
　　“Nothing,” Ling tried to walk out from the dead corner, “Anything urgent made you to call so early?”
　　“Can’t I call early if nothing is urgent?”
　　“Father, you sound very like mother these days. But both of your daughters with temper are not home, you find no row with me.”
　　“I am not looking for a row! You mother wants to know how it is with Bamboo.”
　　“Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
　　“That demented beast acts as if we cancelled her wedding for our own good. It’s her life we are worried about and she should know that.”
　　“Why don’t you tell her what you are telling me now?” Ling said wearily, she never talked to her father like this before.
　　“You do need not only temper, but also manner, a great deal!” her father hung up.

　　One, two, three, the phone rang “I tell you, a bloody great deal of good manner, that is what you need.” Hung up again,
　　One, two, seems he is really angry if he couldn’t even breathe once before redialing,
　　“I am sorry.” Ling wouldn’t risk to heart attacking her father.
　　“I am sorry,” a familiar much younger male voice said exactly at the same time from the other side, god, that stupid driver of Christina again.
　　“Ling, it is me.” He said.
　　“I didn’t hear anything from Christina, no mail, no calls and I have no idea of her number.” Ling got tired of repeating the same conversation time after time.
　　“I wasn’t intending to ask that, I am just calling to say goodbye.” He sounded a lot calmer than before.
　　“Goodbye then!” Ling hated this boy full of sorrow and firmly believed all his bad luck was caused by the dump of Christina, for Christ sake, Tina was never his girlfriend at all.
　　“I am leaving for South Korea next week.”
　　“Nice trip.” Ling knew his father is Korean.
　　“It a one way trip, thank you for being a friend in the past year. I knew I have bothered you a lot.” Actually he had bothered the whole family a lot by the calling with tears in those drunken nights.
　　“Forget about that, congratulations, are you immigrating alone?” Ling felt truly happy and relieved.
　　“I am going to attend a wedding, well, my wedding actually with a Korean girl there
　　“Oh, congratulations again! That is great!” Ling would never have to lie to this poor fellow in deep nights anymore.
　　“That is about it then, good luck to you.”
　　“To you too, bye,”
　　“Bye.

　　One, two, three, rang, “I will tell Tina if she ever calls, is that it?” Ling knew he wasn’t finish.
　　“Please do, and spare those calls that I ever made before, will you?” He still felt somewhat painful, he thought a girl out of countryside would be a housewife of him, but after learning a few sentences of English, she just flew away. He had to show her that he could do just as the same.
　　“I promise. Anything else that you want to tell?” Ling become sympathetic; at least he is a loser with love in his heart.
　　“No, uh, no, that is it, bye.”
　　“Bye.’

　　One two, three, “Mayor Hot line 12345 please!” Ling couldn’t bear it anymore.
　　“Stop it, which one of the three are you?” a young female this time, another one who couldn’t distinguish voices of the sisters.
　　“The one with no temper and no manner,”
　　“Then I caught you, dear doggy, has my voice changed that much?”
　　“…Tina? Is that you? My god, it must be you, your voice sounds very far away, I couldn’t tell… how are you? Don’t tell me that you are just fine!” they hadn’t hear each other’s voice a whole year.

　　“If you want me to be your god, you must call me Christ instead of Tina, no, I am not going to tell you how fine I am, in fact I am not fine at all, or maybe I am fine but everything else is not.”
　　“Me too,”
　　So they started to talk, about Ling’s hide and seek, pros and cons, about Christina’s loss without gains, downs without ups, about their family, friend’s lucks and odds. Ling verified her rightness of not going to any Kui Lao’s countries, as it is full of gays, sex, drugs and black criminals. Christina justified her wisdom of escaping a place full of match- makers, alcohols, rituals, briberies and high class under-covered badly corrupted criminals.

　　“Ever regretted?” Ling asked.
　　“Never. I don’t want to blame myself, further I have got no one to blame.”
　　“Shall I go to visit Anna in Peking if she’d still be there by then?”
　　“She’d love to see you, she does have great problem to get herself anywhere now, but she was great on the phone.”
　　“Deng is extraordinary too, why is it all the non-patients who are groaning?”
　　“Just selfish, fear to lose them, you know.”
　　“You are as bad as you were. You just lost your driver. He is getting married in South Korea.”
　　“So I am released from one disease, did he thank me for motivate him to take the action?”
　　“You are getting even worse, maybe some of his curses did work.”
　　“Could very well be, my temper increased, my nerve deteriorated, my tongue stiffened, next time we may have to talk English instead.”
　　“When will be next time?”
　　“Soon, one of the little monsters is making noise; I got to hung you up, take care.”

　　Motionlessly held the receiver for a few minutes, Ling put it back. She couldn’t imagine how any parents would trust the lunatic with their children. Tina had preferred to clean the floor for Ling rather than just keep an eye on her class for a few minutes. Ling promised not to tell anyone about the babysitting, of course not, but what’s there to be ashamed for a part time job? Wasn’t her full time job in □□ considered a professional baby sitter? Who cares?

　　Ling got up, collected her toiletries and underwear in a plastic basket, head to the public shower house in the neighborhood. She was so glad to hear from Tina, until a boy of some 7 years age came in the shower house with her mother, naked, running and inspecting around, god almighty, shouldn’t it be banned from age 5? Without having her hair washed, she headed back home full of annoyance.

　　Lily spared her afternoon out of city hall with some tooth re-aching excuse. They went shopping. Ling was almost sure that Lily must have been dating one of the set ups, her aunt walked with such light steps as if she just lost all her weight, buying loads new skirts and shoes, smiled like an idiot sometimes for no reason.

　　“Tell me who the lucky guy is?” Ling had asked.
　　“When the time comes, you will be the first to hear.”
　　“Time for what?”
　　“Publicity,”
　　“God, you governmental freaks, you are not underground lover of Jacky Chen?”
　　“Worse, tabloid scandals make pop stars more cool, but only make politicians more stink”
　　“Don’t tell me you met a Mayor’s son.”
　　“No, actually more close to a Mayor’s father.” they both giggled. Ling believed Lily was simply too good for any bloody mayor’s son, those were nothing but brainless parasites.

　　She finally managed to fly kites with Fan at cultural square, she loved it. She understood more why her father liked to play the 3 of them, power to hold someone’s tail and influence its direction was absolutely attractive.

　　They ran into May. Ling never wished so badly that Shengyang should have another cultural square, and then she wouldn’t have to explain who Fan is. May would make fun of her for a whole year. So she told he was just a cousin of a cousin out somewhere. He didn’t deny, obviously he wouldn’t be too happy to be discovered as a set up either.

　　May was a piece of walking sunshine. Anywhere she went, she shone the whole place with laugh and spirit. Fan was almost stunned. Ling remembered the story of Lily and Lee, she felt not even a single piece of jealousy, now she believed why Lily wouldn’t try to make it up with Lee; there wouldn’t be anything to make up for if there wasn’t anything really existed. It was only a matter of losing face.
　　But May left earlier, though Ling suggested Fan to send May home, he insisted to stay with Ling and sent her home. He was a gentleman. Or maybe she was just too sensitive. She knew she changed in the past two months.