occupied most of the room and three chests of drawers
were against the far wall. “This one is for you.” Harry touched the one nearest
to the door gently.
“The bathroom is through here,” added Lee,
indicating another doorway.
“Thank you. Should I unpack now?”
Cherry knew exactly what she’d done. She’d left
her home and agreed to come and live here with these two men. Men she’d just
now met for the first time, but who she felt she knew well enough to trust.
Certainly they couldn’t have been kinder to her, but it was all very new and strange
and just a little bit frightening, too. Although maybe that was the jet lag
talking.
“Would you like to do it yourself, or should we
help you?” asked Harry.
“Maybe if you just talk to me while I unpack?
Tell me about this area and your neighbors. Where do I go to shop, and that
sort of thing?”
The men carried in her luggage and sat on the
bed as she unpacked. Cherry noticed their English became a lot smoother and
less stilted as they talked, and she realized that they’d been as nervous about
meeting her as she was about meeting them. Now they sounded just as they had in
their many online and Skype conversations. Cherry recalled when she first
realized she no longer had any reason to stay in
America
. If she was ever going to
live out her dreams, now was the time to start.
“Mr. Wang is an elderly widower. He doesn’t
speak English and his unmarried son was killed in the War of Liberation just
before it ended in 1950. That was such a tragedy for him,” Harry said soberly.
“Mr. Zheng is single, in his forties. He speaks
business English. He travels to
Shanghai
frequently with his company.”
“We’ll take you to the shops and introduce you
to the shopkeepers tomorrow morning. Our houses are three rooms, as that is the
government standard. Originally a mother and father would build a house and
plant two pomegranate trees by the door to ensure fertility. As each son
married he would build his house in the courtyard too, until the land was fully
used, or they needed to move away somewhere else. But since the one-child policy
was introduced in 1979 many houses have become vacant, so people can move from
apartments into houses, as we’ve done,” said Harry.
“Since both Lee and I are only part Chinese,
neither of us comes from a traditional family property. Our parents lived in
apartments and so did we until we bought this house.”
“And that’s why I’m here,” said Cherry softly.
“Because of the one-child policy, which has led to female infanticide, and
abortions of females, and
China
’s
gender imbalance. One hundred million missing girls in
China
.”
“We are some of the ‘bare branches’––the one in
six Chinese men with no partner. And homosexuality was a crime here until 1997,
and it was officially considered a mental illness until 2001. Since we are
bisexual and enjoy women as well as each other, we wished to become a triad.”
“And you have come to make that possible. We are
most grateful,” added Lee, returning to his stilted English, and bowing to her
again.
“I, too, am grateful. I’m here willingly. I have
nothing to keep me in
America
.
As you both know my parents separated when I was a child and neither of them
ever really wanted me, so I’ve been on my own for many years. In a few months
I’ll turn thirty. It’s time for me to settle down, and arranged marriages have
been successful for millennia. There’s no reason why this relationship between
us shouldn’t work. No one need ever know you made the second bedroom into a
bathroom and larger main bedroom. No one need know you have a relationship with
each other as well as with me. I won’t share our personal matters with anyone.”
She continued. “I’ve always wanted to travel and
live overseas, to really see another land, and not just be a tourist tripping
through, here one day and gone the next. To live within the culture, and truly
get to know both
were against the far wall. “This one is for you.” Harry touched the one nearest
to the door gently.
“The bathroom is through here,” added Lee,
indicating another doorway.
“Thank you. Should I unpack now?”
Cherry knew exactly what she’d done. She’d left
her home and agreed to come and live here with these two men. Men she’d just
now met for the first time, but who she felt she knew well enough to trust.
Certainly they couldn’t have been kinder to her, but it was all very new and strange
and just a little bit frightening, too. Although maybe that was the jet lag
talking.
“Would you like to do it yourself, or should we
help you?” asked Harry.
“Maybe if you just talk to me while I unpack?
Tell me about this area and your neighbors. Where do I go to shop, and that
sort of thing?”
The men carried in her luggage and sat on the
bed as she unpacked. Cherry noticed their English became a lot smoother and
less stilted as they talked, and she realized that they’d been as nervous about
meeting her as she was about meeting them. Now they sounded just as they had in
their many online and Skype conversations. Cherry recalled when she first
realized she no longer had any reason to stay in
America
. If she was ever going to
live out her dreams, now was the time to start.
“Mr. Wang is an elderly widower. He doesn’t
speak English and his unmarried son was killed in the War of Liberation just
before it ended in 1950. That was such a tragedy for him,” Harry said soberly.
“Mr. Zheng is single, in his forties. He speaks
business English. He travels to
Shanghai
frequently with his company.”
“We’ll take you to the shops and introduce you
to the shopkeepers tomorrow morning. Our houses are three rooms, as that is the
government standard. Originally a mother and father would build a house and
plant two pomegranate trees by the door to ensure fertility. As each son
married he would build his house in the courtyard too, until the land was fully
used, or they needed to move away somewhere else. But since the one-child policy
was introduced in 1979 many houses have become vacant, so people can move from
apartments into houses, as we’ve done,” said Harry.
“Since both Lee and I are only part Chinese,
neither of us comes from a traditional family property. Our parents lived in
apartments and so did we until we bought this house.”
“And that’s why I’m here,” said Cherry softly.
“Because of the one-child policy, which has led to female infanticide, and
abortions of females, and
China
’s
gender imbalance. One hundred million missing girls in
China
.”
“We are some of the ‘bare branches’––the one in
six Chinese men with no partner. And homosexuality was a crime here until 1997,
and it was officially considered a mental illness until 2001. Since we are
bisexual and enjoy women as well as each other, we wished to become a triad.”
“And you have come to make that possible. We are
most grateful,” added Lee, returning to his stilted English, and bowing to her
again.
“I, too, am grateful. I’m here willingly. I have
nothing to keep me in
America
.
As you both know my parents separated when I was a child and neither of them
ever really wanted me, so I’ve been on my own for many years. In a few months
I’ll turn thirty. It’s time for me to settle down, and arranged marriages have
been successful for millennia. There’s no reason why this relationship between
us shouldn’t work. No one need ever know you made the second bedroom into a
bathroom and larger main bedroom. No one need know you have a relationship with
each other as well as with me. I won’t share our personal matters with anyone.”
She continued. “I’ve always wanted to travel and
live overseas, to really see another land, and not just be a tourist tripping
through, here one day and gone the next. To live within the culture, and truly
get to know both
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