Picking the Golden Romance

new York
On the Sunday afternoon before the long trip, Nick was sorting out the laundry while talking to Rachel about the situation at home.Obviously Nick's parents knew that Rachel was going back to Singapore with him.And, oh, by the way, they also didn't know about her existence.

"I don't understand...you mean your parents didn't know about me all this time?" Rachel was shocked.

"Yeah, they don't know. But I gotta say it's not your problem at all—" Nick argued.

"It's kind of hard to believe that it's nothing to do with me."

"Please don't think that. I'm sorry if you sound like that. It's just..." Nick swallowed nervously, "It's just that I've always wanted to keep the lines between my private life and my family clear, that's all .”

"But isn't your private life the same as your family life?"

"My family's situation is different, Rachel, you know very well how authoritarian Chinese parents are."

"Yeah. But even then, I'd tell my mom about something as important as a boyfriend. I mean, my mom knew you existed 5 minutes into our first date. And then, you're After about two months, I can have dinner with her and enjoy the winter melon soup she cooked."

"You also know that the way you get along with your mother is very special. It's not that simple if you are someone else. If you are my parents..." Nick paused for a long while, carefully thinking about his words, "My family is just different: They value each other's etiquette very much, and they never talk about the topic of love life."

"Are they cold, unable to open up or something? Or have they been through the 'Great Depression'?"

Nick laughed and shook his head. "That's not it. I just think you'll understand when you meet them."

Rachel's thoughts were in turmoil.Sometimes she felt that Nick was really mysterious, and she couldn't understand what he was saying at all.But she still doesn't want to overreact on this one.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me about your family...before I get on the plane and spend the whole summer with you?" Rachel thought for a while, then asked, "It's nothing, um..." Nick didn't go on , secretly considering whether to tell her about the accommodation.

He knew his mom was totally messed up - he'd put it off for too long, and when he called and officially confessed his relationship with Rachel to his mom, she kept silent, giving him an ominous feeling. premonition.

At that time, Eleanor only asked one sentence: "Then where are you going to live? Or where is she going to live?"

Nick suddenly felt that it was not a good idea for the two of them to go back to his parents' house together-at least for a few days.And it would be inappropriate to take Rachel back to Mamaw's house without Mamaw's explicit invitation.They could live in with relatives, but doing so might incur the displeasure of the mother, which could lead to a more serious family revolution.

Unsure of how to get out of his current quagmire, Nick turned to his great-aunt, Rosemary, who had always been good at handling such things, for advice.Rosemary suggested that he book a hotel first, and at the same time emphasized that he would arrange for Rachel to meet his parents as soon as he arrived in Singapore.

"It must be the same day, don't wait until the next day." She warned.

Maybe he could invite his parents to dine out with Rachel so they could meet in a natural setting, somewhere low-key like the Colonial Settlement Hotel.And it is best at noon, not at night. "People are more relaxed at noon." Rosemary further reminded.

Then Nick got in touch with Mamaw himself, formally requesting that Rachel be allowed to attend the regular Friday night dinner—the big gathering the old lady throws for the whole family in her own home.Only after Rachel has actually received an invitation to dinner can they discuss accommodation.

"After seeing Rachel, your grandma will naturally ask you to stay. But if the worst happens, I will personally invite you to live in my house, and no one will dare to say a word." Rosemary Assure him.

Nick decides to keep these clever arrangements a secret from Rachel, he doesn't want to give her a reason to back out of the trip.He wanted Rachel to be prepared before meeting his family, and she wanted her to impress his family on her own.

However, Astrid was right that he needed to give Rachel some initial insight into his family.But how on earth should he explain it to her?Especially now that he is used to not talking about his own family.

Nick sat on the ground, leaning against an exposed brick wall, hands on his knees: "I must tell you I come from a huge family."

"I thought you were an only child!"

"I am, but I have many relatives, and you will meet many of them. There are three branches of relatives in my family. When outsiders first hear it, it may be a little unbelievable." As soon as the words came out, Nick said Regretted the use of the word "outsider," but Rachel didn't seem to notice it, so he went on: "Like any other big family, I have a talkative uncle, an odd aunt, an obnoxious cousin, And various other relatives. But I'm sure you'll find them interesting once you've met them. You've met Astrid, and you like her, don't you?"

"Astrid is nice."

"She admires you, too, and I'm sure everyone will, Rachel."

There was a pile of freshly dried towels that were still warm on the bed, and Rachel sat quietly beside her, trying to digest what Nick had just said.

This was the most he had ever said about his family, and it gave her a little more confidence in herself.Although Rachel still can't understand how Nick got along with his parents, she must admit that she has seen many estranged families—especially among her Asian friends.

In high school, Rachel spent dreary dinner hours with her classmates in a cafeteria lit by long light pipes.During the dinner, most of the words spoken by those parents and children did not exceed five words.She found that whenever she accidentally hugged her mother or said "I love you" at the end of the phone call, her friends were all incredulous.

Then, probably years ago, Rachel received a humorous checklist titled "Twenty Ways to Tell You Have Asian Parents."The first item on the list reads: "Your parents definitely didn't call just to 'talk to you'".In fact, she doesn't quite understand most of the jokes on this list because she herself had a completely different upbringing.

"We're lucky, you know? Because not all mothers and daughters are like ours," Kari said when Rachel and her mother spoke on the phone that night.

"I found out, Mom. I know our family is different because you're a single mom and you take me everywhere." Rachel thought about when she was little, her mom would be in middle school every other year or so. They see an ad in the World Journal published by the United States, and then they will move to work in a certain restaurant in a certain town.Her mind flashed images of them living in tiny boarding suites in cities like East Lansing, Phoenix and Tallahassee.

"You can't expect someone's family to be like ours. I was 19 when I had you, so young, so we got along like sisters. Don't be too hard on Nick. It's a pity to say, but my relationship with my parents Not very close either. In China, there was no time to develop a good parent-child relationship, my parents were working from morning till night, [-] days a week, and I was in school all the time.”

"But how can he hide such an important matter from his parents? It's not like Nick and I have only been dating for a few months."

"Daughter, you look at this matter with American eyes again. You have to look at the problem from a Chinese perspective. In Asia, everything happens and develops at a suitable time, and you have to follow the rules. I As I said before, sometimes the thinking of these overseas Chinese is more traditional than that of us Chinese. You don’t know Nick’s growth environment, have you ever thought that their family may be poor? You know, not every Asian is very wealthy. Money. Maybe Nick has to work hard and send money back to support his family, and their family won't let him waste it on a girlfriend, or maybe he doesn't want his family to know that you live together half the week. They The family may also be a devout Buddhist!"

"That's why, Mom. It dawned on me that Nick knew everything about us and I knew next to nothing about his family."

"Don't be afraid, daughter. You know Nick, and you know he's a good man, and though he's been hiding things from you, he's confessing to you now. At least he's ready to introduce you to his family—and It's official — that's the most important thing," Carrey said.

Rachel lay on the bed, her mother's soothing Chinese tones calming her down as usual.Maybe she was being too hard on Nick, her insecurities were driving her crazy—her immediate reaction to Nick taking so long to tell his parents about the two was that he felt ashamed of her, or He felt ashamed of their association.

Rachel still remembers that when she talked to her Singaporean friend Wu Peilin through Skype, she excitedly told the other party that she was dating a Chinese. What Peilin said at that time impressed her deeply.Pei Lin came from a wealthy family in Singapore, and she had never heard of the Yang family.

"If he's from some rich or famous family, I must know his family. The surname Yang is not very common here, are you sure he's not Korean?"

"I'm pretty sure he's Singaporean, but you know I don't care if his family has money or not."

"I know, but that's your problem," Pei Lin said with a smile, "I dare say if he passes Rachel Zhu's test, then this family must be very ordinary."