We meet in a Chinese teahouse on a hot summer’s day.
The fragrance of the Longjing tea lingers in the air.
Twenty years after graduation we’ve both changed a lot,
wrinkles on the face, salt and pepper hair on the head.
But the passion and dream from our youths can still be heard.
I congratulate her on her marriage and second child.
She asks me how my life is. It’s fine, I reply, not wishing
to dwell on the topic. How’s your partner? She persists.
Ta hen hao, I reply, deliberately playing vague. On an impulse,
I decide to show her a picture of my husband, sitting
in a pub holding a beer glass, smiling radiantly to the camera.
He looks nice. She comments, giving my phone back, swiftly
switching to a different topic as if nothing has happened.
For once I know I’ve been accepted by my best school friend.
Note:
Ta hen hao means ‘he/she/it is fine’ in Mandarin.