Bitter Sweet Harvest Read Online Free PDF

that had supplied them. Students on bicycles weaved their way through traffic and pedestrians. “Mayhem,” Nelly had commented the other day when a young man pushed past her on a bike.
    “Casey, I need your help. Would you cover for me? I am going to tell my parents that I have to meet up with you early this evening. I have to see Hussein. We have to work things out. It is his last day, he is leaving for Malaysia.”
    A pause followed. An Mei fidgeted, worried that Casey might refuse. “Please,” she whispered urgently into the phone.
    “Just this once,” Casey replied. “Don’t get me into trouble. Otherwise, I’ll be in trouble with your mum. Remember your mother was my mum’s best friend when they were children and I am supposed to be looking after you in Oxford. Not helping you to have secret trysts with your boyfriend.”
    “Thanks a million. Will you call me at home? That way, they will be more likely to be persuaded to let me go.”
    Casey laughed. “I didn’t know that you were that scheming. All right. I know how it is. Even though I have been on my own here for so long, the minute my mother comes to visit, she thinks that she has to know my every move. So out of pity, I’ll cover for you.”

Chapter 3
    “W here is she?” Ming Kong demanded. He pushed away the array of bowls and chopsticks that had been carefully laid out before him.
    Mei Yin and Nelly sat silent. They stared at the clock on the wall. Its ticking seemed obscenely loud. The clock-hand edged slowly round the dial, but there was still no sign of An Mei. They looked at the dishes in front of them, dishes that they had prepared together, their first home-cooked meal in Oxford. During their first week they had eaten nothing except takeaways and hastily made sandwiches until finally Nelly complained. Clutching her tummy, she protested against the grease and the sweetness of the food. “Sweet and sour! Everything sweet and sour! Everything with mayonnaise! We have to have something simple. Let us have something steamed,
ching-ching.
We’ll cook this evening. We will be able to now. We have almost completed the unpacking and cleaning.” So she and Mei Yin had gone to the small Chinese grocery next to the Chinese restaurant in Hythe Bridge Street to stock up with
tofu, choy sam,
lotus roots, ginger and spices. Now the dishes of
tofu
and bowls of lotus root and spare ribs soup lay cold.
    Nelly got up and gathered the bowls and crockery together. “Better get these out of the way,” she said, stealing a look at Ming Kong’s face. His expression alternated: sometimes thunderous, sometimes fearful. It was nearly ten o’clock!
    “She probably forgot. She has not been out with her friends for the entire week. So maybe she is just catching up,” Mei Yin consoled. Inside her, fear was brewing, a fear that was so strong she felt her stomach contracting into a tight ball. “It cannot be that An Mei has done something silly. I spoke to Casey myself,” she whispered to Nelly as they both made their way into the kitchen with the various trays and dishes. “Should we call Casey and ask her again. I called earlier and asked to speak to An Mei. She said she had already left for home.”
    “You wait here. I’ll pop out to the phone booth.” Hastily, Nelly untied her apron, grabbed a jacket from the kitchen door and went out.
    Mei Yin went back to the dinning room. Ming Kong was cradling his head in both hands, his elbows dug deeply into the felt lining of the tablecloth. He looked up, his eyes weary. “What is wrong with An Mei? She is not herself. Is she in trouble? She seems so out of sorts, so distant some times and so affectionate and tearful at other times.”
    Mei Yin busied herself at the sideboard. Cautiously, she ventured an explanation. “She might be anxious. She wants to find a job here now that she is not going back to Kuala Lumpur. She does not want to be dependent on us, especially since our economic circumstances are not what