Mismatch

Mismatch Read Online Free PDF

Book: Mismatch Read Online Free PDF
Author: Lensey Namioka
Tags: Fiction
before the orchestra leaves for Tokyo.”
    Sue’s bus arrived, and just before she got on she turned and gave Andy a radiant smile. His stomach twisted—not the sick twist he felt when getting ready to play a solo, but a twist of excitement, like what he felt on the scary Space Mountain ride at Disneyland.

3
    W hen Sue got home that afternoon, she was surprised to find her mother busily cooking. Usually Sue and Rochelle helped out in the kitchen, starting about an hour before dinner. Sue was the one who washed and cut up the vegetables, while Rochelle did the fine slicing of meat for stir-frying. But from the looks of things today, her mother had been cooking for much of the afternoon.
    “Grandma Mei is coming to dinner tonight,” she explained.
    Sue received the news with mixed feelings. She loved her grandmother deeply. Grandma Mei was chubby and full of bounce. Her face was wrinkled, and since she kept it powdered, she looked like a dried persimmon. Dried persimmons are very sweet, and so was Grandma Mei. But she also had a tart side. And Sue was afraid to hear what the tart side would say if she found out about Andy.
    Sue knew that she was Grandma Mei’s favorite grandchild. She usually felt overshadowed by Rochelle, who was prettier and made friends more easily. But Grandma Mei always gave Sue an extra warm hug when she visited, and she liked to say that Sue’s quiet, modest manner showed that she was growing into a true Chinese lady.
    Grandma Mei’s visits also meant treats from Chinatown, like dried plums, shrimp chips, or bread stuffed with sweet bean paste. The only thing Sue didn’t like about her grandmother’s visits was hearing her talk about her painful childhood experiences in China during the Japanese invasion. It always made Sue cringe to picture the horrors her grandmother had suffered. Now, thinking about Andy, Sue dreaded hearing those stories even more.
    As soon as Grandma Mei arrived and saw Sue, she smiled until her eyes almost disappeared in her wrinkled face. After giving her a big hug, she asked Sue whether she was keeping up with her Chinese. Sue wanted to please her grandmother, so she said she practiced every Saturday morning. What she didn’t mention was that her practice consisted of reading a few Chinese picture books for little kids. But at least she was able to learn some Chinese characters this way.
    When Sue’s dad came home, he greeted Grandma Mei politely. Sue knew that the two of them didn’t have much to say to each other, but they were always polite. Her dad, like most Chinese, treated all old women with great courtesy. And her grandmother, like most Chinese, had great respect for professors. Sue knew that in the old days, only scholars who had passed tough examinations could become officials and run the government. Her father’s face still looked young, but his hair had started to turn gray, giving him a look of scholarly wisdom.
    “You must be really busy,” Grandma Mei said to Sue’s father. “So many students to teach!”
    “Not so many,” said Sue’s father. “Thank you for coming all the way across town to visit us.”
    “Your wife drove me,” said Grandma Mei. “So it’s no trouble at all.”
    With this polite exchange out of the way, the family sat down to a Chinese dinner that Sue’s mother had started cooking hours earlier. “You didn’t have to prepare all these dishes,” Grandma Mei told Sue’s mother. “After all, I don’t eat very much these days.”
    Sue’s mother wiped the perspiration from her face as she put down a dish of chicken and sugar snap peas on the dining table. “I have to show that I haven’t forgotten all the cooking lessons you gave me,” she told Grandma Mei.
    Sue knew perfectly well that this was just another polite exchange. Grandma Mei had to tell her mom that she had gone to too much trouble, but she would have been insulted if an elaborate meal had not been prepared for her.
    The dinner was certainly fancier than
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