Huanying! Welcome to Shanghai, China. The place of all the peculiarities. Where everyone have their own stories about the families living there, especially the Xu's. Their ancestral house that they own for many generations have an infamous garden w...
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It was nearly five o'clock in the afternoon Friday when Timmy, Mei and Tyler arrived home from catering the luncheon in Nanjing. Tyler had fallen asleep on the van. Mei thought Timmy might be peeved at having Tyler along, but Timmy didn't argue at all when Mei said that he didn't want to leave Tyler at Uncle Alex just yet. They've been in town for just three days. Mei wasn't leaving his son alone in a strange place. He remembered Timmy telling him, "of course not. He'll come with us," just like that.
Tyler enjoyed himself. The ladies at the Shanghai Botanist's Association loved having Tyler there, and every time Timmy and Mei came back from collecting plates or refreshing drinks, Tyler had cleaned up the area and organized the coolers in the way Timmy did, instinctively knowing where things were supposed to be.
Mei carried Tyler upstairs and put him on his bed, then turned on one of the floor fans Timmy had brought down from the attic because summer was filling the house, tightening it with heat. Mei changed into shorts and a T-shirt, thinking Timmy was going to do the same before unloading the things from the van.
When Mei went back downstairs, Timmy had, in that short time, brought everything into the kitchen and was unloading the dishwasher and filling the carafes with baking soda and hot water to soak. Timmy was still in his white shirt and slacks, the blue apron still over his clothes.
"Let me help you," Mei said,
Timmy looked surprised to find Mei in the kitchen. "I can do this. When I hire people, it's only to help me serve. You can rest. I don't know if you'd prefer a check or cash, so I went with cash. The envelope is there," Timmy pointed the kitchen table.
Mei paused for a moment. He didn't understand. Wasn't it a good day? Didn't they work well together? The ladies at the luncheon loved Timmy's food, and they complimented Mei on what a nice job he did serving them. But now Timmy was saying that he didn't need his help anymore. Mei just stood there while Timmy continued to work. What was Mei supposed to do? He would go crazy if he couldn't do more than just help Timmy out every once in a while. Timmy didn't even let him do housework. "Can't I help you with anything?" He asks making sure.
"I've got this covered. This is my routine," Timmy replied coldly.
Without another word, Mei picked up the envelope and walked outside through the back to his Toyota. He leaned against it as he counted the money in the envelope. Timmy had been generous. Mei could go out and do something with this money, like what Timmy expects him to. To go and put some gas on his car. Go out and meet someone.
But he didn't have a licensed plate and he might get pulled over. And there was definitely no one he wanted to see again.
Folding the envelope, he put it in the back pocket of his shorts. He didn't want to go back into the house and watch Timmy work, so he walked around the driveway, kicking gravel, which Timmy would probably smooth over later with a rake, putting everything back in order.
