Broken China (Part 3) - November

Four families. Four dreams. Four very different paths.

Yingze Park view, Taiyuan, China (Photo: M. Griffiths)

Read Broken China (Part 1) - September, here

Read Broken China (Part 2) - October, here.

Broken China

(Part 3)

November

 

Wu Ming and Zheng Long relaxed in the study and enjoyed the park view. “The agent says our application is progressing well.” said Wu Ming.  

Zheng Long nodded. “I have started negotiations with Wang. He wants to buy the business and our apartments too but he is driving a very hard bargain. He wants to be the real estate king of the city.” He shook his head. “At our expense.” Wu Ming didn’t speak. Zheng Long continued. “You can be friends and business partners for years but people’s true nature comes out when their own money is at stake.

Wu Ming nodded. “I think we should seek other buyers. That will give us more leverage in the negotiations.”

“Yes I will. But prices are still dropping. Other buyers will also bargain very hard.” He stared out the window at the park below. “We will not have as much money as we hoped. We planned to spend six months or a year getting to know the situation in Australia and planning our new business before we invested our money. Now we will have to start straight away and hope we succeed. It will be difficult and risky. Especially since I’m not as good at English as you and Zheng Yue.” He turned to look at her again.

She nodded. “Maybe we do something safer to start with, even if it is not as profitable. We can change later when we know more about the country.”

Zheng Long exhaled noisily. “It will be much harder than we thought.”

Wu Ming smiled. “Zheng Yue can translate for us. We will be like children and he will be the adult!” Zheng Long shook his head and turned back to the window.

 ****

Malcolm sat in the waiting room outside the exam hall. He checked his watch again. Should be finished by now. Finally the doors opened and students streamed out. He stood up and scanned the crowd for Julia. He spotted her and slipped past several others to reach her. “How was it?”

She shrugged. “Ok. I think.” Then she shook her head. “I don’t know. I can’t tell. The speaking was ok and the reading. But the writing part was hard.”

Malcolm smiled. “I’m sure you did fine. Come on, let’s go and get some lunch.”

They walked to a nearby restaurant and ordered some noodles. Julia relaxed with some food in her stomach and they chatted about the cold weather, the spicy noodles and some famous actress embarrassing herself in public. Then Julia’s forehead wrinkled. “My cousin has been acting very strange lately.”

Malcolm raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“She is being nice to me. Usually she is a pain in the neck.”

Malcolm smiled. She was getting much better at colloquial English phrases. “I told you she has changed her mind about us. Maybe she is growing up.”

Julia made a face. “I still don’t trust her.” She finished off her noodles and cradled a bottle of ice tea. Her phone rang. “Ma?” Mother. She nodded. “Hao.” and rang off, dropped the phone into her bag, kissed Malcolm on the cheek and got up. “Sorry. I must go now.”

 ****

Henry closed the hood of the old tractor, picked up the tools scattered on the ground around him and put them back in the small garage and storeroom beside the gate of the walled compound. Then he walked across the dirt yard to a tap. He washed as much of the grease off his hands as he could and wiped them on an old rag. Chickens scuttled out of the way as he walked up the house. The new white tile façade stretched up two stories to the flat roof. A large Fu character in red and gold was inset into the wall near the front door. The house now had plenty of bedrooms for them all, even when he and his family were staying for the weekend, and it was warmer and drier too.

His mother bounced his son on her knee. His wife and sister were in the kitchen chatting and preparing dinner. “Thank you for your help son.” Henry’s mother smiled at him. Without your help our old bones would struggle.”

He sat down on a chair bedside her. “Ma. You and father are not that old. And sister is here to help. I will help you as much as you need.”

“You and your sister make us so proud. She will find a good husband soon I’m sure.” She glanced at him fleetingly. “I know things are not easy for you at the moment…”

“Don’t worry about us. We will be fine.”

“I do worry. If not for the money you spent on our house you could have bought one for yourself in the city.”

Henry shook his head. “No Ma. Houses in the city are much more expensive. We will have to wait a while before we buy one. We are discussing ways to make more money. We will work something out.”

“You are always welcome here, son. This is your home too.”

He nodded and looked across the muddy yard. Could I come back here?

 ****

Deng Yimin sat stiffly at the dinner table, her face tense and lined. “We have to do something. Our savings are gone. We will have no money to pay the mortgage next month.” She lowered her voice. “I will have to borrow from my parents.” Huang Jinhai nodded without lifting his eyes from his chopsticks and the bowl of noodles in front of him. “And before Spring Festival we must pay the school fees for the next semester and next year’s rent for the shop.”

Huang Jinhai glanced at their daughter playing on the sofa nearby, beside an old electrical heater plugged into a long extension cord. Deng Yimin followed his eyes. “The heating for the apartment block has just been turned on but ours is not working properly again this year. You promised to get a plumber or someone to fix it. And someone for the electrical wiring.”

His face tightened. “We will think of something. Maybe change the shop? Or maybe we can both get a job somewhere else?”

“What can we do? Neither of us is educated. Factories and shops are closing down…” Huang Jinhai cringed as he saw her eyes moisten. She sniffed and stuck out her chin. “And don’t you dare suggest the stock market again. Your friend is crazy.”

  

 ********

Read Broken China (Part 1) - September, here

Read Broken China (Part 2) - October, here.

Tell me what you think.  Constructive comments welcome.

If you like the story share with it with your friends.

 

********

Read Broken China (Part 4) - December, here next week.

ANNOUNCEMENT:  Founders House Publishing have released the anthology:

After Oil 2: The Years of Crisis

The anthology includes my story Promised Land. Part of my North Queensland Trilogy.

"Founders House is happy to announce that the latest collection of science fiction stories in the ongoing After Oil series is available.

After Oil 2: The Years of Crisis - Edited by John Michael Greer

John Michael Greer, author and host of the popular weekly peak-oil blog, The Archdruid Report, returns with another collection of twelve tales of the post-oil future. As Industrial civilization staggers beneath its myriad disfunctions, ordinary people  endure the long, slow decline that shapes the years of crisis. The old world passes away an a new age takes shape."

The anthology is available now in various formats from Founders House Publishing.

The first anthology: After Oil: SF Visions of a Post-Petroleum World, is available from the publishers, Amazon (Amazon) or, in Australia, from Fishpond (Fishpond).

MORE STORIES....

Missing in the Himalayas - A scientist disappears in mysterious circumstances

Borderline - A border guard in the Himalayas dreams of following in his grandfather's footsteps...
The Chief Inspector - An awkward tension builds between a stressed police inspector and his new assistant...

Under Development - A young idealist hunts for international development work in China. (6 parts)

The Nature of Love - A couple in love enjoy a day out in nature but something is amiss...
 

My Crazy China Trip - (Humour) A novice traveller gets more than he bargains for during 15 days in China. (10 Parts)

 

Love at First Flight - A foreign teacher arrives in China and falls in love with a local, but the path of true love is anything but smooth. (5 parts)


Trial by Fire - When a woman in Tibet self-immolates two witnesses face a dangerous dilemma.  (4 parts)

Arrested Development - A development consultant in China finds life getting out of control. [Rated R]  SHORTLISTED for the Lord Grimdark Award. See the list here.

Beijing Private Eyes - Drama, Romance, Karaoke, Kidnap!   A foreign teacher in Beijing meets an attractive stranger and offers to help, then things get complicated. (A long story in 8 parts)

Tell him he's dreaming - An engineer has an environmental epiphany but things don't work out as planned.  GAINED 5th PLACE in the New Zealand Writers College Short Story competition. See the list of finalists here. 

 

Entries in the post-industrial / peak oil short story competition:
My story 'Promised Land' has been selected for the forthcoming anthology "After Oil 2: The Years of Crisis".  You can read the other entries here.

A previous set of stories was published in 2012 in a book entitled After Oil: SF Visions of a Post-Petroleum World, available from Amazon (Amazon) or in Australia from Fishpond (Fishpond).

Stories set in China:

Winds of Change –  In 2022 a migrant worker struggles to realise his dreams and fulfil his family obligations.

Outside In – It's 2050, the country and economy have changed. A recycler studies for an exam to improve his prospects, and an indentured servant plans her escape.

Seeds of Time – (Sequel to Outside In). In 2055 rural China prospers again after a period of dramatic changes, then things are complicated by a strange visitor and a hidden object.

Stories set in Australia: A North Queensland Trilogy

Robots on Mars – 2025. A space-mad city boy adjusts to life in the country and tries to solve a mystery.    (Note: no actual robots or Martians involved)

Promised Land – (Sequel to Robots on Mars). It’s 2050 and development threatens the rural district. Is it what they really need and if not, how can they stop it?

Heart of Glass - (Sequel to Promised Land). The year is 2099, high school graduates prepare to step into adulthood and the community prepares to celebrate the turn of a new century. 

Tell me what you think.  Constructive comments welcome.