Lanterns in Snow (Photo: M. Griffiths)
Read Broken China (Part 1) - September, here
Read Broken China (Part 2) - October, here.
Read Broken China (Part 3) - November, here.
Read Broken China (Part 4) - December, here.
Broken China
(Part 5)
January
Darkness descended on the park outside the window and the lights came on, glinting yellow on the snow. Zheng Long sat and stared at the view. The jade dragon sat on the desk beside him. The book shelves against the wall were now bare. Wu Ming came in to the study. Zheng Long looked up and smiled at her. “Apartment prices have gone down again this month. You are right. Maybe we were lucky. We might have lost everything. The king of real estate has a king-sized headache now.”
Wu Ming nodded. “If we want to come back one day houses will be cheaper. And I’m sure that your brother will take good care of this apartment for us. And your mother.” She lifted her hand to his cheek. “She will be fine.”
He nodded. “Yes.” He looked at his watch. “It’s time to drive Zheng Yue to the language school.”
Malcolm glanced at his watch, checked his timetable, then pulled out his phone. He thumbed through his contacts and pressed ‘dial’. “Happy New Year Henry.”
“And to you my friend. Are you working tonight?”
“Yes we work New Year’s Eve and get tomorrow off. Are you with your family?”
“Yes. We are living here now. Since my company closed down.”
“What?! Really?”
“Yes, last month.”
“Oh wow. Are you doing ok?”
“Yes things are going to be ok.”
“That’s good to hear. Please pass on my greetings to your family.”
“Yes, of course. What are your plans for the New Year tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe I will have dinner with Julia after she spends time with her family.”
“Very good.”
“What about you Henry? What are your plans now? Did you buy the jade from the man I told you about?”
“Ah. No. My wife and I had very big talk about that. I have a better plan now. I am going to stay in the village and help my parents on their farm. I am also going to rent land from our neighbours who have gone to the city. We will make more money from the crops. Also living here we will pay no rent.”
“That’s great. I’m glad things have worked out for you. Is your wife happy?”
“She is happy that my mother and sister can help with the baby. And that I’m not buying the jade. One day I will though…”
Malcolm smiled.
“I have another plan too.” said Henry. “I am going to run for village head, or at least the committee. The election is next month. I will make the village a better place for my son. I have lots of old school friends here. They will vote for me.”
“That’s great.”
“What are your plans Malcolm?”
“Well Julia and I were planning to leave China at the end of next summer. She will go university and I will find a job. But I’m not sure if it will happen. Her father died and she doesn’t want to leave her mother alone.”
“Oh. If you are leaving you must come to visit my village again. I will make you some special tea.”
“Your village? You sound like you have won the election already!”
Henry laughed. “I am confident.”
“I still have to work out how to get that tea set home without it breaking.” He checked his watch again. “Ok. Well, I better go now. I have a class soon. Keep in touch. Bye.”
“Ok. Bye.”
Malcolm put his phone in his pocket as Zheng Yue came through the door.
“Mr Malcolm.”
Malcolm gave him an amused look.
He grinned. “Malcolm.”
“That’s better.”
“Happy Spring Festival.”
Thank you, and a Happy New Year to you.”
“I have something to show you. I mean introduce.” He gestured to a Chinese couple standing in the corridor. “These are my parents. They are coming here to study English until we go to Australia.”
Malcolm shook their hands. “Very nice to meet you. Your son is an excellent student.”
“I have another news.” said Zheng Yue. “I have chosen an English name.”
“Yeah? What did you decide?”
The boy smiled. “I will be called Malcolm.”
A young girl dressed up in bright red jacket scampered in the snow picking up bits of red paper from the long strings of fireworks that where still smouldering on the snow. Her cheeks flushed pink and her breath formed white clouds in the frigid air. A group of adults stood nearby staring at the shop in front of them. Long red posters with shining gold calligraphy decorated each side of the closed roller door. Above the door a new sign glowed. ‘No. 1 Hardware and Household Repairs’. Beneath the words were pictures of a nut and a bolt, an electrical cord, and a plumbers wrench. Lao Chen pulled on his cigarette and nodded to himself. Huang Jinhai patted the other two men on the back. “May the new year be kind to our new business.”
Deng Yimin nodded to Lao Chen and the others. “We are very grateful to you all for your help.”
Lao Chen waved his cigarette in the air. “I am too young to sit at home doing nothing. That’s what my wife says anyway.”
The others laughed.
“People want to fix things now instead of buying expensive new ones. I think we will be successful. And we will sell lots of nuts and bolts and tools too. Don’t you worry.” said Lao Chen.
Deng Yimin smiled and tried not to think about how half the factory’s engineering store came to rest in their shop. “And thank you for finding a way to keep my husband out of trouble. Even if he is just going to be your trained monkey.”
Huang Jinhai grinned. “I am a technical assistant and shop manager.”
“Assistant shop manager.” Deng Yimin reminded him.
“Come on. Let’s go back to our house and have a drink to celebrate.” Huang Jinhai waved them toward their home.
Deng Yimin nodded. “Yes. Thanks to you three we finally have proper heating and electricity so we can invite people over.”
Huang Jinhai turned and picked up the little girl and her bundle of papers. “Come on sweetheart. Let’s go home before we all freeze to death.”
Julia stood near the warmth of the hot water radiator and stared unseeing out the double glazed window. Snow covered the ground outside and reflected glare from the mid-morning sun into the apartments around the deserted courtyard. Black smudges and coloured papers of fire crackers littered the ground around the buildings from the exuberant fireworks of the previous night’s New Year’s Eve festivities. She frowned as pondered her words.
Finally she sat back down beside her mother at the dining table. She kneaded the large lump of dough on the board in front of her, broke off a portion and rolled into a long even sausage. Then she used a knife cut it into small chunks and pushed them to one side. On her right her cousin used a thin rolling pin to flatten each chunk into a small round disk. Then her mother and her aunt picked up each disc one by one, dipped their chopsticks into a huge bowl of chopped meat and spring onion, and quickly and deftly placed it in the small discs of dough and wrapped them into perfectly formed dumplings. Then they laid them on a large, flour dusted, tray. Their fingers moved with the precision of robots and the tray of dumplings grew ever more crowded. Her aunt chatted idly about the weather, the neighbours and the rising price of pork. When she stopped for a breath Julia stopped kneading and took her chance. “Ma. I have something to tell you.”
Her mother looked up momentarily from her wrapping.
“Yes?”
Julia twisted her flour whitened hands in her lap. “You know I have been studying English for a long time. And also that my job…I don’t like my job anymore…” She bit her lip as an image of her father came to her. His passing made it easier but also harder to say what she wanted. “I have decided to go and study abroad…and maybe stay there.”
Her mother concentrated on the dough and filling in her hands. She nodded slowly. “This is a big step. Are you sure this really what you want to do?”
“I have been thinking about this for a long time.” said Julia trying to match her mother’s casual tone. She stole a glance at her but saw no indication of her real feelings. She clenched her jaw then released it slowly. “There’s something else.” Her cousin stiffened and drop her gaze to the table.
Her aunt cast her a quizzical look but her mother continued with her work.
Julia took a deep breath. “I have a boyfriend and we will go together.” She bit her lip and waited. Her ears burned in the silence that filled the room. Her mother finished wrapping a dumpling. She put it on the tray and looked at Julia.
“Is this young man the foreigner your father forbade you to see?”
Julia nodded, her face turning crimson.
Her mother nodded slowly. “Your cousin said your English had improved a lot this past year. I wondered if perhaps you had…continued your studies despite his disapproval.”
Julia shot a look at her cousin whose face coloured as she continued to stare down at the table.
“At least you managed to keep it from your father while he was ill.”
Julia compressed her lips and blinked back the tears that began to form in her eyes.
“With your father gone your future worries me very much.” She placed her hand on Julia’s arm. She patted it twice and then smiled. “Perhaps now I no longer have to worry.”
Julia stared at her. A tear escaped and ran down her cheek. She wiped her face with her one hand and left behind a white streak of flour. Her cousin looked up and smiled with relief. Julia smiled too. “Ma. You can come and live with us when we are settled so we don’t have to worry about you either.”
“Perhaps.” her mother nodded. She picked a circle of dough and dipped her chopsticks into the bowl for more filling. “Does this foreigner like dumplings?” she asked.
Julia nodded. “Yes. He likes Chinese food very much. He speaks Mandarin too.”
“Very good. Call him now and ask him to lunch. Your uncle and grandmother will be arriving at noon. Your boyfriend should experience a real Spring Festival in China before he goes back to his country.” She smiled. “And it is time we all got to meet him.”
********
Read Broken China (Part 1) - September, here
Read Broken China (Part 2) - October, here.
Read Broken China (Part 3) - November, here.
Read Broken China (Part 4) - December, here.
Tell me what you think. Constructive comments welcome.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
If you like the story share with it with your friends.
********
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)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...
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.
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