by Liu Zhenyun
“Damn you. Come September, we’re going to fire you!”
The child’s cold seemed to be worse when he came home that evening. She had a stuffy nose, she coughed, and she had a bit of a fever. He knew it was the nanny’s fault, but decided not to tell his wife about it, for that would cause another uproar. His wife, for some reason, wore a happy face and didn’t appear to be too worried about the child’s cold; instead, she sat by the bed lost in her cheerful thoughts. That expression told him that something good was up, so he went to the kitchen, where, sure enough, she’d brought back some sausage, and, more importantly, a bottle of Yanjing Beer, which he was sure was for him. Back in his bachelor’s days, he’d loved drinking beer, a habit he’d slowly given up after getting married. Why spend that kind of money? Even if he didn’t care about the expense, when would he find the mood for beer anyway? Baffled by what his wife had in mind, he went into their bedroom.
“Hey, what’s with you today?”
She just giggled.
“What’s so funny? Tell me.” That really confused him.
“All right, I’ll tell you. No more job problem.”
“What? No more? Are you going to the Qiansanmen office? Did the personnel guy agree to a transfer?”
She shook her head.
“You found a new office?”
She shook her head again.
“Then what?” He was getting frustrated.
“I’m not going to ask for a transfer.”
“Why not? Are you feeling sentimental about your current job? Are you okay with the bus ride all of a sudden?”
“Nothing sentimental about the job, but no more bus ride. My boss said a new bus route is being created for our area in September. Just think, with the commuter bus, there’ll be no more public transportation and the commute will only take forty minutes. And on an office bus there will be empty seats. Isn’t that better than taking the subway to a Qiansanmen office? I decided I’ll stay if the bus starts running in September. It’s not the best working environment around, with all the complicated interpersonal relationships, but who can guarantee that the one at Qiansanmen would be any better? Remember the personnel guy’s face that day? You’ve convinced me that crows are black all over the world. If there’s a bus, I won’t ask for a transfer and just try to get through each day. See, problem solved.”
He was pleased. That had been hanging over their heads for some time, causing friction between them. Now the problem was solved. She was happy, which meant she’d be in a good mood and worry free—no more arguments. It was so easy it was hard to believe. They’d gone asking for help, only to have their gift turned down, and in the end it had taken a mere new bus route to take care of everything. Who cared how the problem was solved? He cheered up.
“That’s wonderful. No more problems and no more arguments.”
“No more problems,” she said before adding sweetly, “And who’s been starting arguments? You couldn’t help, so why wouldn’t I argue with you? But I took care of things myself. Now we’ll just wait until September.”
“Right. You took care of things, and we’ll wait till September.”
They were in a very good mood, making their daughter’s illness pale in comparison; they even shared the bottle of beer at dinner. After the child and the nanny were asleep, they enjoyed another round of conjugal bliss, another passion-filled round. But they were red-faced afterward—two nights in a row, when was the last time they’d been that eager? Then they talked some more. September. September would be a good month. Her problem would be solved, the child would be in day care, and the nanny would be gone, saving them a major expense. The future seemed rosy, and they looked forward to the happy days to come. They talked about what to do with the extra money.
“The child’s still young,” she said. “Maybe we should keep the nanny on another year, until our daughter can go to preschool.”
“Absolutely not!” Lin replied vehemently, reminded of the incident that morning. “We do it this year, not because of the child, but because the nanny. We need to fire her.”
His wife, who had major issues with the nanny, was so happy to hear his decisive response she gave him a kiss before rolling over to go to sleep.
5
September rolled around.
As expected, two things happened: his wife got to ride the commuter bus, and they sent the child to preschool after firing the nanny. The first change went smoothly. On September first, a bus showed up to take her to and back from work; life immediately took a turn for the better now that she did not have to leave before the sun was up. No more getting up at six in order to catch public transportation; now she could stay in bed till seven, get ready, have breakfast, and wait on her doorstep for a bus that would take her to her office, seated the whole way. It was no longer a wearying commute. She got off work at five and was home forty minutes later, before it turned dark, which gave her time to rest before making dinner.
She was pleased, of course, but her happiness was soon knocked down a few notches, no longer as complete as when she’d first heard about the bus. Originally she’d thought the route had been added because her boss cared about people in the office, but it turned out to have nothing do with them. His wife had a sister who had recently moved to Lin’s neighborhood, prompting her to pester him into adding a route. It was deflating news, and the commuter bus suffered an instant drop in value. When she complained to Lin, he also felt let down, as if dealt a major insult. But this insult was nothing compared to the humiliation they’d suffered when the personnel guy had turned down their gift. So he told her it didn’t matter who was married to whom or why she got the bus route. The most important thing was that she could ride the bus.
“I thought the route was created to be fair to everyone at the office,” she said, “because the boss cared about us. But no, we are simply accidental beneficiaries. I won’t be able to avoid thinking about the sister-in-law when I ride the bus now, will I?”
“What can we do? Just think, you wouldn’t be able to ride if not for her.”
“It feels weird, like I’m a second-class citizen.”
“Don’t be silly. Second class, third class, what difference does it make? Be thankful for the ride. Let me ask you, is it better to be an accidental beneficiary or to crowd onto a city bus?”
“You’re right.”
“Besides, you’re not the only, are you? Is the bus full every day?”
“Yes. A bunch of spineless riders.”
“So you’re the only who isn’t. Then, go back to public transportation. No one’s forcing you to take that bus. Didn’t we beg for help to get you a transfer? Weren’t we left standing in the hallway with our gift?”
She laughed.
“I was just talking. You’re taking it too seriously. But you’re right. What is backbone worth in our situation? Who has backbone these days anyway? What good does it do? Who cares who’s married to whom? I’ll just keep riding the bus.”
“Now you’re talking.” Lin clapped his approval.
So now she was in a permanent good mood.
But the child’s preschool was a huge headache. Lin’s office did not have one, while his wife’s office did, but it was too far from home, and the child couldn’t take the bus with her. They had to find a neighborhood center, of which there were quite a few. A government office ran one, the district office ran another, the neighborhood and residents’ committees each ran them, and an old lady ran a private center. The first was the best, for the teachers had degrees in childhood education, and the children learned things. Except for the district center, the others were inferior, since the children learned nothing but how to line up, form a circle, or walk down the street. The worst were the one run by the neighborhood committee and the private center, both staffed by old women who were in it to earn a little spending money, and didn’t teach the children anything but games. Their future was tied up with their daughter’s education, so his wife treated it more seriously than her ow
n job situation. He, on the other hand, was indifferent, at least at first. Why was preschool such a big deal? The girl would only be there for two years, so no harm done. But he learned his lesson after his wife chided him for being overconfident.
“I’ll talk to some people. I don’t have any influence and can’t be sure they’ll help us out, so don’t be inflexible.”
The fake Indian woman across the way had a child, about the same age as Lin’s daughter. Lin’s wife told him that they had found a preschool for their kid, the one run by the government office, which she used to make her demand.
“What do you mean inflexible?” she said. “We must focus on the center run by the government office. That’s where their kid is going and that’s where ours is going to go. No need to look into the one run by the district.”
Marching orders in hand, he got started, and quickly realized that placing their daughter in a preschool would be harder than finding a new job for his wife. Preliminary research showed that the government center was indeed well run and rated at the top each year in the city. Some district officials preferred it over centers in their own districts for their children. But there was a quota, and without solid connections, getting in would be harder than going to heaven. The director had exclusive control over the application forms and even the deputy director had no say in whom to admit. But getting a form from the director required a memo from a bureau chief or someone in a higher position. Lin went through the names of all his college friends in the city, but could not come up with anyone who might fit the bill. As the saying goes, any doctor will do when you’re really sick. He could not think of a single college friend, but recalled the old bicycle repairman at his building entrance. As a frequent customer, Lin called the old man Grandpa, and they had become friendly. Sometimes, when Lin forgot his wallet, the old man would let him walk off with his bike first. In one of their chats, Lin learned that the old man’s daughter worked at a nearby preschool. It might have been this one. He was animated by the thought and hopped on his bike to go him. If it was the top center, the old man’s daughter could serve as an opening and help forge a connection, even though she was just a teacher, whose word might not carry much weight. After hearing what Lin had to say, the old man was happy to do what he could. He agreed to enlist his daughter’s help. A word from him was all he needed to enroll Lin’s daughter in the center, if it was the one Lin wanted. It wasn’t. She worked at the one run by the residents’ committee. Disheartened, Lin went home to tell his wife, who first complained about his inability to come up with any connections, before adding:
“Let’s spend seventy or eighty Yuan to buy the director a hefty gift and see if that works. How do you think the Indian girl across the way got in? Her father doesn’t seem to be much of a hotshot, so they must have sent a gift.”
“We don’t even know the woman, so how are we going to send a gift?” Lin said with a wave of his hands. “Didn’t we learn our lesson when we tried to give a gift to the personnel guy?”
“If you have no connections, and we can’t even give the director a gift, what do you say we do?” she demanded angrily.
“Why not just send her to the center where the old man’s daughter works? She’s only three years old, so how much education are we talking about anyway? Didn’t the impoverished Shaoshan area produce our Chairman Mao? It’s all up to the child herself.”
That did not go down well with his wife.
“She’d only know how to fix a bicycle when she grew up if she spent all her time with a bike repairman’s daughter!” she said. “You haven’t even met the director, so how do you know she won’t take our daughter?”
She was right. Lin decided to go see the director without an introduction or a gift; he’d explain their situation, which he hoped would elicit the director’s sympathy. On the way he tried to reassure himself that he was making the right move; things were always complex in China, so it might turn out all right. Connections can sometimes get complicated, since jealousy can rear its ugly head. So what if he didn’t know the director? Maybe she’d be more sympathetic that way. He believed there had to be some good people in this world, and he might just run into one there.
He realized his naiveté when he got there. The director, a woman in her fifties, was quite pleasant but said that her preschool did not admit children whose parents worked for other government offices. What would parents from their office say if their children weren’t admitted? There was one exception: the preschool wanted to expand, but could not get a permit. Since Lin worked at a government office, if he could help them get one, they would take his child. Lin was deflated. How was he going to help them when he couldn’t help himself? If he could get a building permit, he’d be able to send his child to any preschool he wanted. He wouldn’t have to work so hard on this one.
When he arrived home with the news, a storm was brewing. The nanny, who had learned that they were looking for day care, knew she’d lose her job the moment they found a place and decided to strike first. Upset that Lin’s wife had said nothing to her, she wanted to quit immediately. Lin’s wife found the nanny unreasonable. Why should I talk to you about my daughter’s day care? You say you want to leave before we find a day care, and that can only mean you want to make things tough on us. An argument ensued. Unwilling to pacify the nanny, Lin’s wife said:
“Go ahead, quit. You can leave right this minute.”
Undaunted, the nanny started packing. By the time Lin walked in, she was about to leave with her belongings. Since he had failed to find a day care, the nanny’s imminent departure caught him unprepared. He tried to get her to stay.
“Don’t,” his wife said. “Let her go. The sky won’t fall just because she’s leaving.”
There was nothing he could do, but their daughter was sad to see the nanny go, after spending so much time with her. She rolled around on the floor. The young woman, who had fond feelings for the kid, picked her up, but in the end, she put her back down and ran down the stairs. With the nanny gone, Lin’s wife started to cry, feeling sorry that the nanny was leaving after spending more than two years caring for their child. She told Lin to run over to the balcony and toss down another month’s pay for her.
After that—chaos. With no place to send the child, the couple had to take turns asking for leave so one of them could stay home with her. His wife railed against the nanny for causing such a hardship and then against Lin for being so worthless he couldn’t land a place for their daughter.
“They wanted me to get them a building permit. Not even our section head could manage that,” Lin defended himself. “Besides, let’s not complicate matters and just accept the fact that we have no means to send her to that day care center. Why don’t we just go with the one where the bike repairman’s daughter works?”
Given the way things were, his wife had a change of heart, since they couldn’t keep asking for leave. They went to check out the center and came away with a favorable impression. Though it couldn’t compare with the government-run day care, it was clean, with dozens of children in a number of rooms. There was even a piano in one of them. And it wasn’t too close to any busy streets. Lin was relieved when his wife didn’t say anything, a sign of no objections.
They went home to start getting ready, packing clothes, a pillow, a rice bowl, a spoon, a drinking cup, and a handkerchief, as if they were sending their child off to war. Tears filled his wife’s eyes.
“Mom and Dad can only let you go to a day care run by the residents’ committee, so do the best you can.”
But the situation took a turn for the better right after their child passed the physical exam. The top preschool actually agreed to take her, though naturally that was not due to anything Lin had done. It was, surprisingly, the fake Indian woman’s husband who came to their aid.
Someone knocked at their door the night before the child started school. Lin opened the door to find the fake Indian woman’s husband. They could never figure out what the man did, except th
at he was always dressed neatly, shirt and tie, and rode a motorcycle to work. With a well-to-do neighbor whose home was so much nicer than theirs, Lin and his wife always felt inferior and had only limited interactions with them. The two wives met from time to time, but had never really gotten along, which was why they went on high alert when the husband showed up out of the blue. What did he want? To their surprise, the man sat down on the edge of their bed with a relaxed manner and said:
“I hear you’ve run into a snag trying to find a preschool.”
Lin blushed. Was the man trying to rub it in? He began to stammer a response.
“I want to talk to you about something,” the man said. “I have a spot if you want to send your child there. We were given two, one for my kid and one for my sister’s child, but she changed her mind. If you think this one will do for your child, you can have the spot. We’re neighbors, after all.”
What a pleasant surprise. He looked quite sincere. So Lin’s wife replied with a smile:
“That’s wonderful. Thank you so much. We tried our best, but couldn’t manage to get in and we were ready to send our daughter to the school run by the residents’ committee.”