Year of the Golden Dragon Read Online Free PDF Page A

the children next door?”
    “Two bills for the trash collector, five for the security guard and one each for the children next door,” her mother said. “Don’t write their names on the envelopes until we have everyone’s done.”
    “Yes Mama. I know,” Hong Mei replied. She knew if she missed someone, she’d risk not getting an envelope herself.
    When they had finished, Hong Mei gathered up the pretty packages from the table. “Should I go now?”
    “Yes. And don’t forget to say xie xie when you receive your lucky money.”
    “I won’t,” Hong Mei had said as she skipped out the door that day.
    Now, as Hong Mei pedalled home from the café, she thought about her mother. She worked so hard to support the two of them. Hong Mei knew that if she had been born a boy, everything would be different. Baba and Mama probably wouldn’t have started arguing. Her father might not have become so obsessed with his belief in the return of Black Dragon. Maybe, Baba’s monk brothers wouldn’t have had to take him away.
    Hong Mei felt butterflies in her stomach as she thought about going to Beijing the next day. There was absolutely no way she could tell her mother about any of it.
    Now, what excuse would she use to get away? Hong Mei would have to find out what was missing from Mama’s supplies and offer to get it before the holidays. What were they always short of? Soft-shelled beetles? Ridge-backed millipedes? Wait! Dragonfly wings. They were always running out of those.
    And what a wonderful surprise it would be. She imagined walking into the apartment with Baba behind her. Would Mama burst out crying? Whom would she hug first, her or Baba?
    Hong Mei turned the corner and rode into the apartment compound. She jumped off her bicycle and locked it up to the bicycle stand. When she reached their apartment door, she saw that her mother had decorated the entryway. Bright red bunches of firecrackers hung on either side of the front door. A shiny gold and red poster with the luck symbol was nailed to the door. To one side, a small fruit tree stood in a clay pot. There were twenty or thirty miniature oranges growing on the pretty shrub. Hong Mei bent to read the card tied to the orange tree. She smiled when she recognized the name. It was a gift from one of her mother’s patients.
    Hong Mei turned the doorknob and let herself in.
    “Mama, I’m back!” Hong Mei called as she removed her shoes and put on a pair of slippers. She closed the door behind her.
    There was no reply, meaning her mother was on a house call or perhaps giving out more hong bao.
    Hong Mei moved past the green refrigerator which stood as a centrepiece in the one-room apartment. They’d never had a refrigerator before. This one was a gift from another of her mother’s clients – a thankful father of twin boys that Hong Mei’s mother had delivered. A vase of bright pink and red plastic flowers sat on top of the refrigerator along with several photographs of Hong Mei and her mother. There were no pictures of her father.
    Hong Mei picked up an aluminum kettle and filled it with water from the kitchen tap. She turned on the gas burner and placed the kettle on the flame. While she waited for the water to boil, Hong Mei looked at the photographs.
    There were several pictures taken over the years. The one Hong Mei liked best had been taken when she was a very little girl. Her hair was done up into two braids and tied with bright red ribbons. It was winter and she wore a quilted jacket. Her cheeks were rosy, either from the cold or a little rouge that Mama, like many Chinese mothers, had put on her child’s cheeks. Small Hong Mei smiled into the camera as she clung to her mama’s legs.
    She suddenly thought of another time she stood clinging to her mother. That had been the last time Baba had been with them. The night Mama had secretly taken his jade pendant and thrown it away.
    It had started when her father discovered his jade was missing. He couldn’t