Picking the Golden Romance

From New York to Singapore

"Are you kidding me?" Rachel said.They're at JFK right now.As he walks her down the plush red carpet in Singapore Airlines first class, she can't help but wonder if he's playing tricks on her.

Nick grinned slyly, savoring her reaction: "You're going to fly halfway around the world with me, and I'm going to at least make you sit comfortably."

"But it must be very expensive! You didn't sell your kidney, did you?"

"Don't worry, I have about a million flying miles

number available. "

But Rachel still feels a little guilty that Nick paid for the plane ticket with the one million air miles he's accumulated—they don't even need to fly first class now.

When Rachel boarded the lumbering Airbus A380 double-decker plane, a beautiful flight attendant who seemed to have stepped out of a soft-focus print advertisement in a travel magazine greeted them immediately: "Mr. Next flight, let me take the two of you to your first-class cabin." The flight attendant in an elegant tight dress came to the aisle and led them to the private cabin divided into twelve rooms in the front half of the plane.

Rachel felt as if she had walked into a luxurious screening room in a Tribeca hotel-style apartment: in the wing room were two of the most spacious armchairs she had ever seen, with cream-like cushions sewn by Earl leather; two huge flat-screen TVs juxtaposed side by side, and a large wardrobe cleverly concealed within sliding panels of knobbed walnut.A Givenchy cashmere blanket is elegantly draped over the seat for passengers to recline comfortably.

Pointing to the cocktail on the center console, the flight attendant asked, "Would you like an aperitif before take off? Mr. Yang, your glass is Gin and Tonic as usual, and Miss Zhu's is Royal Kiel. It will help you get used to flying quickly." She handed Rachel a goblet filled with a cold sparkling liquid that looked like it had been poured not long ago, and they had already done some research on Rachel's cocktail preferences. "May I ask if you would like to use the recliner before dinner, or convert your wing to a bedroom after takeoff?"

"We want to use this screening room mode first," Nick replied.

After the flight attendant walked away, Rachel said, "My God, this is bigger than my apartment!"

"I hope you don't mind living a 'hard' life - in terms of Asian hospitality, such standards are still low." Nick joked.

"Hmm... I guess so." Rachel curled up in her plush armchair, pressing the remote. "Well, there are more TV channels than I thought. You want a cool Swedish crime thriller." Wow? Whoa - "British Lover"! I want to see it. Wait a minute, how about a movie about the crash on the plane?"

"It's a single-engine plane in the movie, and wasn't it shot down by the Nazis? I don't think so!" Nick said, putting his hand on hers.

Their jumbo jet began to taxi down the runway, and Rachel looked out the window at the line of planes lining the tarmac, lights flashing on their wings, each waiting for its turn to soar across the sky. "Actually, it's only now that I finally have the real feeling that we're going to travel together."

"Excited?"

"Just a little bit. I think being able to sleep in a real bed on a plane is probably the most exciting thing I've ever had!"

"It went from bad to worse after that, wasn't it?"

"Of course, from the moment we met." Rachel blinked and clasped fingers with Nick.

Fall [-], New York City

Seriously, Rachel Chu didn't feel struck by lightning when she first saw Nicholas Young in the garden of Vittorio's Lantern restaurant.Of course he was handsome, but she'd never trusted handsome boys, especially those with an English accent.She spent a few minutes observing him silently, wondering what kind of person Silvia would introduce her this time...

Sylvia Wang-Schwartz, Rachel's colleague in the NYU economics department, walked into her department office one afternoon and said, "Rachel, I've been talking to your future husband all morning." She took it as another stupid plan by Sylvia, and didn't even bother to lift her head from behind the computer screen.

"I'm serious, I found a candidate for your future husband. He just met me in the student union, this is the third time I've met him, and I'm pretty sure he's the one for you."

"So my future husband is a student? Thanks - you know how much I love underage teenagers."

"No, he's a new young and promising professor in the history department, and he's also an advisor to the history committee."

"You know I don't fall in love with professors, especially in the history department."

"I know, but I'm telling you he's special. He's the most insightful guy I've met in years. He's charming and handsome. If I wasn't married, I'd definitely be chasing him."

"What's his name? Maybe I've known him a long time ago."

"Nicholas Young, just transferred from Harvard this semester."

"British?" Rachel looked up, curious.

"No." Sylvia put down the document, sat on the chair, and took a deep breath, "Okay, I'll tell you, but before you veto it, you have to promise to listen to me."

Rachel can't wait to hear her next sentence - what shocking secret will Sylvia reveal?

"He's... Asian."

"Oh my God, Sylvia!" Rachel rolled her eyes, returning to her computer screen.

"I knew you would react like this! Listen to me, this man is in every way, I swear—"

"Of course." Rachel said sarcastically.

"His faint British accent is very attractive, and he is very smartly dressed. The coat he is wearing today is very beautiful, and there are wrinkles where there should be—"

"Not-interest-interesting. Sylvia."

"And he looks a bit like a Japanese actor in a Wong Kar Wai movie."

"Is he Japanese or Chinese?"

"Does it matter? Every time an Asian guy looks at you, you give them that famous Rachel Chu-esque 'don't come Asian' look, and they cringe at the chance."

"I didn't!"

"You have! I've seen it so many times. Remember the guy we met at Yanila's brunch last weekend?"

"I'm very polite to him, okay?"

"You treat him like he has the word 'herpes virus' tattooed on his forehead. Honestly, you are the most hated Asian person I've ever met!"

"What do you mean? I don't hate who I am. What about you? You're married to a white man."

"Mark isn't white, he's Jewish - basically Asian! But that's not the point - at least I've dated a lot of Asian guys."

"me too."

"When did you date an Asian?" Sylvia raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Sylvia, you have no idea how many Asian guys I've dated over the years. Come to think of it, there's a 'geek' from MIT's quantum mechanics department who likes to think of me as a 24-hour cleaning lady; a A Taiwanese student in a fraternity who loves sports and has bigger pecs than mine; and some 'yuppie' from Harvard Business School who's obsessed with Gordon Gekko. Want me to give you an example? "

"I bet they're not as bad as you say."

"But it was bad enough for me, so five years ago I decided to establish a 'no Asians' rule," Rachel said firmly.

Sylvia sighed: "Just admit it, the real reason why you treat Asian boys like this is because they are the type your family wants you to associate with, and you are just resisting by not dating any Asian boys. "

"You're so wrong." Rachel laughed, shaking her head.

"Or as a minority, you think the ultimate way to assimilate into America is to marry the dominant race. That's why you only date Anglo-Saxon white Protestants ... or European socialites."

"Have you ever been to Cupertino? I spent my entire adolescence there. I say that because you will find that in Cupertino, Asians are the dominant ethnicity. Don't compare me to you .”

"Then accept my challenge, don't care about the other person's skin color, try again!"

"Well, I'll prove you wrong. How do you want me to ask this Harvard 'Asian heartthrob' out?"

"You don't need to make an appointment, I have already arranged it. After get off work, we will drink coffee with him at the Vittorio Lantern." Sylvia said happily.

When the rude Estonian waitress came to take Nicholas's drink order, Sylvia put her mouth in Rachel's ear and said, "Hey, can't you talk? Stop being 'Asian'." Don't get close' expression!"

Rachel decided to play nice with her this time and tried to join their conversation.But she soon discovers that Nicholas doesn't realize it's a date at all; Questions like "how does the economics department work".Sylvia, flattered by Nicholas' attention, smiled coquettishly, curling her hair with her hands as they talked and laughed...

At that time, Rachel glared at Nicholas: Does this guy know nothing?Didn't he notice the wedding ring on her hand?
After 10 minutes, Rachel broke the prejudice she had always had and began to think carefully about the situation at hand.Indeed, in recent years, she never gave Asian boys the chance to approach her, and even her mother said: "Rachel, I know it is difficult for you to have a formal relationship with an Asian boy, because you have never met Your father." Rachel felt that this analysis was too simple.If only things were that simple.

For Rachel, the problem actually started when she was just entering adolescence.

She found a phenomenon that occurred when Asians of the opposite sex entered the classroom: those Asian boys treated other girls very well without any strange thoughts, but they had completely opposite attitudes towards her.First, the optical scan: the guys would blatantly assess her physical fitness — by completely different standards than the non-Asian girls:

How big are her eyes?Are double eyelids natural or cut?

How white is her complexion?
How straight and shiny is her hair?

Is she good at having babies?
Do you speak with an accent?

How tall is she without the heels? (Rachel, who is 1.7 meters tall, is considered tall among girls, but those Asian boys are not willing to date girls who are taller than them)

If she happens to overcome the initial hurdles, the real test comes next -- a "test" that all her Asian female friends know, or what Asian boys call the "SAT test."They will first conduct a financial investigation, focusing on the social skills, academic performance and natural aptitude of the Asian woman to determine whether she may be the material for "wife and son for me".Asian boys who do this usually go out of their way to show off their “SAT scores”—how many generations their family has lived in America; what doctors their parents are; how many musical instruments they play; how many tennis camps they’ve been to; how many times they’ve been to tennis camps; Which Ivy scholarship to accept; what BMW, Audi, or Lexus to drive; and approximately how many years it took to be (choose one) corporate executive, general manager of finance, chief technology officer, legal partner, or chief physician.

Rachel was so used to taking the "SAT test" that she felt a little antsy about not having the test tonight.This one doesn't seem quite the same, and he doesn't keep bringing up famous names to inflate himself.The situation was so puzzling that she didn't know how to get along with him.And he's just enjoying his Irish coffee, soaking up the atmosphere around him, exuding perfect glamour.Sitting in the enclosed garden with whimsically painted lampshades colorfully, Rachel begins to see the man recommended by her friend in a whole new light.

Although it is impossible to say how it happened, Nicholas Young did have a curiously exotic quality about him.First, his slouchy canvas jacket, white nylon shirt and faded black jeans, reminiscent of an adventurer returning from mapping the western Sahara desert; Buried in the manner of speech that any schooled boy is accustomed to, is his poised masculinity and eloquent ease.Rachel found herself deeply attracted to him during the conversation, and before she knew it, they chatted like old friends who had known each other for a long time.

At this moment, Sylvia suddenly stood up from her chair and announced that she had to get home before her husband starved to death.Rachel and Nick decide to stay for another drink, and then another, then dinner at the corner tavern, then ice cream at Father Damon Park, and finally a walk through Washington Square Park (because Nick insists on taking her Islamic staff quarters).What a perfect gentleman, Rachel thought.

As they passed the fountain, a guitarist with blond braids was strumming a sad ballad.

"And you're standing next to me, I love how time flies," the boy sang sentimentally.

"It's not the Talking Heads
song? asked Nick. "Listen..."

"Oh my god, that's right! He's singing 'This Must Be the Place,'" Rachel exclaimed.She loves how much Nick knows about the song and can hear it just by listening to the cover.

"He sings well!" Nick pulled out his wallet, took a few dollars and dropped them into the boy's open guitar case.

Rachel noticed that Nick was lip-syncing along.Now he added some extra points, she thought, and suddenly realized that maybe Sylvia was right: the man next to her—had talked with her for six hours and almost forgot the time, and knew her very well. Lyrics to a favorite song—would be the first person she could actually imagine marrying in the future.