American Fugitive, a novel, Chapter 3 Family Crisis

Chapter 3 Family Crisis

 

The Ho family lived in a country-style two-story house at a foothill on the East side of the San Francisco bay area. A huge oak tree guarded the front yard, while two tall cypress trees stood in the backyard. Although the house was over seventy years old, its beauty and charm was still undeniable. Entering the living room one could see several large gray wood beams dividing the ceiling into white strips.

One Sunday in March, Ho’s went to the New Life church as usual. After dinner, Caihua went back to her room. Renyi was cleaning up the kitchen table, while Yongshi was washing dishes. Yongshi stopped and turned to Renyi: “This morning at the church, you dozed off as soon as you sat down.”

“I was busy yesterday. Pretty tired.”

“When did you go to sleep last night?”

“Don’t remember,” muttered Renyi.

Renyi knew the answer, of course. He’d read Qiu Huizuo’s memoir until 2 AM. Qiu Huizuo was a member of Lin Biao’s inner circle. Renyi slept in the guest room, which he did quite often in order not to disturb his wife.

Yongshi said, “You sit in front of your computer every day and night. That’s unhealthy. Spending so much time investigating Lin Biao’s case . . . How can you expect to have energy in the morning?”

Renyi was silent.

“This will negatively impact your job as well.”

Renyi put more dirty plates into the kitchen sink. Before leaving the kitchen, he said “Don’t worry about me. Everything is fine.”

Although he firmly believed his own words, Renyi was also aware of the fact that quite a few companies were laying off employees, as the U.S. economy was teetering on the edge of a recession.

Yongshi sighed, as if a disappointing student had just walked out on her.

When a student does not want to put in the required effort, having a good teacher does not help.

* - * - * - * - *

 

The next morning, Renyi went to work in a white shirt and a pair of plain Oxford shoes. The company Renyi worked for had a box-like office with rows of cubicles. When Renyi sat down in his cubicle, a colleague named Mark said “Hi” as he walked by. Renyi said “Good morning.” Mark rolled his eyes and said, “I hope so.” He had a manufactured smile, and left.

Renyi started reading his emails. He opened an email from the human resource department. When he read, “Please stay in your cubicle. Your manager will talk with you individually,” his mood suddenly dropped.

Today is the layoff day. No wonder Mark behaved strangely.

An hour later, Renyi entered a conference room, where his manager met him with a smile. However, he was told that he needed to hand over his job to someone else in the next few days, and after the handover, he could pick up his stuff, and go home. Renyi could not believe his ears. He felt his brain stopped functioning. He was angry with the top managers, because they clearly mismanaged the company. He was angry with himself, for not paying attention to the company’s business situation lately. He knew the U.S. economy was sliding into a recession, and the prospect of landing a new job was grim. But the worst part was that he didn’t know how to tell his wife. Where would I start?

In the afternoon, a blonde woman named Mary from the human resource department met Renyi in another conference room. When Mary explained his layoff package, and how long the medical insurance coverage would be extended for him, Renyi started to understand what the layoff meant. It’s a cruel, cruel world.

 

* - * - * - * - *

After leaving the office, Renyi drove to Caihua’s school and picked her up as usual. They arrived at home as if nothing had happened. But the thing that Yongshi had worried about yesterday had happened. That made Renyi really sad. Lord! Why did the cut come so soon? Why was the cut so deep?

 

At night, Renyi told his wife the bad news. Yongshi didn’t say much. Renyi was relieved. On the next day, he started updating his resume, and searching for a job. However, every few days, one would hear news about some big company laying off thousands of people. Unemployment rate kept moving up. The number of people needing government assistance kept increasing. In one month, Renyi saw company after company freeze their hiring. When he contacted companies about their job postings, some of them would say, “The job postings you saw are outdated. We will remove them shortly.” Every company is busy with layoffs. Is there anybody hiring? Renyi had a hard time suppressing that question in his mind.

As a professor, Yongshi didn’t need to worry about losing her job. Many years ago, Renyi already knew that God had provided a paved, wide open road for Yongshi’s journey through life. The road for him, however, was a winding path in the mountains. Lately, Renyi felt he was walking under moonless night. There was no goal, or Renyi could not see one. Financially, the Ho family would be fine without income from Renyi. But that was out of the question for him, because he wanted to live with dignity.

 

Around eleven at night, Yongshi walked into the study room in pajamas. Renyi had just finished browsing some job websites. He sat in front of his computer, feeling numb. With hesitation, she asked, “Heard anything back?”

“No. We are in a recession. The chance is very low.”

“There are still job openings.”

Renyi didn’t want to continue the conversation. He stood up and said, “I have been looking at job sites every day. What else can I do?”

Yongshi was angry. Didn’t I tell you this could happen? When did you ever listen? She held those words back, because she didn’t want to get into another fight. However, Renyi could tell what she wanted to say without hearing them. After a moment of silence, she said, “I only asked a question. Can’t I ask a question?”

Both were silent. She turned around, and walked out of the room. She needed to go to bed.

 

“Can’t I ask a question?” The words stayed inside Renyi’s head. He had no answer. How could a simple sentence from her hurt so much? He knew that she was under pressure to do more research and publish more papers, so he did quite a lot of house chores, especially during the weekdays. He was fine with that. He knew he had not reached the bar she had set for him, and he would never reach that height. He knew he had to change the situation, somehow.

* - * - * - * - *

Renyi had a cousin in Wuhan named Song Huimin. They communicated through e-mail once in a while. Lately, however, they had communicated frequently. Huimin wanted him to move to Wuhan and start a business venture with her.

 

One night at the dinner table, Renyi said, “Huimin sent me an email. She said several agencies in China are soliciting open bids for a new software.” It was the third time that Renyi had mentioned business opportunities in China to his wife.

Yongshi asked, “You still want to go to China?”

“Her husband is the Director of the Police Bureau in the city of Wuhan. They have lots of connections.”

“She’s married to a guy her father’s age. Why do you keep in touch with her?”

“So her husband is older by ten plus years. Not a big deal.”

“He’s eighteen years older than her! That is a lot.”

Caihua said, “Stop arguing.”

Yongshi and Renyi fell silent until Caihua left the kitchen.

Renyi said, “Now the U.S. is in recession. But I can do something if I am in China!”

“You can take a break and stay home.”

“This recession is almost like a depression. It can drag on over three or five years.”

“It won’t be that long. Impossible!” said Yongshi.

“You should broaden your horizons a little bit.”

“China is a cesspool. Why do you want to go? To join them in their dirty dealings?”

Yongshi had always had a negative view of China. Renyi knew that, but he continued to argue. “Who doesn’t use connections in business? Americans use connections as well. It’s universal,” he declared.

“Last Sunday, my dad talked about you in our phone conversation: ‘How is Renyi?’ I said you were fine,” she sobbed.

Renyi said, “You are accustomed to the American way of life. I’m not. That’s just how it is.”

“You’ve been here for so many years. How can you say you are not accustomed to life here?”

“You were born into an accomplished, scholarly family. I’m from the countryside. Too provincial. Can’t help it.”

“That isn’t a reason.”

Although she instantly rebuffed his claim, the fact was that Yongshi had adapted to American life quickly after she arrived. It took Renyi a lot longer. Her parents were university professors. His father was a middle school teacher in the country, and his mother was a farmer. The two families did have a gap in terms of education level.

 

After a quiet moment, she asked, “How long will you be there if you go? What will happen to this family? You can’t leave.”

He sighed. “You gave me order again.”

“What will you do in China?”

“Start a business.”

Although he replied in a calm voice, he still felt he was a loser who ran out of options.

“Are you going to investigate Lin Biao’s death?” She asked.

The question surprised him. He knew that she was against all risky endeavors.

“Perhaps. But I won’t do anything risky.” said Renyi.

 

* - * - * - * - *

One month passed. On a Saturday afternoon, Old Wan arrived. He was ten years older than Renyi, also an old timer of the New Life church. Renyi’s house had a separate garage which was attached to the house by a covered walkway. Old Wan parked his car on the walkway. The side door to the house opened. Renyi appeared with luggage in hand. He was going to China to start a business. Although he didn’t tell other people, he would also do some investigation work, and finish his book. As an old saying goes, “The arrow does not return after the bowstring is pulled back.” Once Renyi had the idea of going to China, he had to go.

 

Caihua was sobbing behind the door. Renyi didn’t have time for her, because something else was in his mind. He told Old Wan “I am going upstairs. I will be right back.” Old Wan said “No problem.” Old Wan walked toward Caihua. He hugged her. Caihua started crying.

* * * * *

 

In the master bedroom upstairs, Yongshi sat on the bed and stared at the city scenery through a window. Renyi walked in. He put his left hand on her shoulder. She didn’t move.

He pulled back his hand and turned around. She suddenly stood up. They embraced.

“Take care of yourself. Take care of Caihua,” he said.

“Come back soon.”

He nodded, and they parted. Full of tears, she embraced him again. He was ashamed that he’d become unemployed, and had to leave home to make a living.

“God bless you!” said Yongshi.

“God bless you too!” He turned around and left the room.

 

Old Wan put the luggage inside the trunk of his car. Renyi walked to his daughter, bent down, held her in his arms, and kissed her on the head. She hugged him.

“Obey your mom,” Renyi said.

She nodded.

He turned away and entered the car. The car left.

 

For two months, Renyi cooked, cleaned, and took care of Caihua, including most weekends. Knowing the difficulties his wife and daughter would have to face, he felt like a criminal.

* - * - * - * - *

 

In the evening, Caihua was on the deck on the second floor, listening to music through earphones. Yongshi was inside, talking with her friend Danying on her cell phone. Danying, a college classmate, lived in Washington DC. Danying said, “I know five families. The husbands moved to China to be entrepreneurs. Now ‘the entire army is wiped out.’”

“What do you mean?”

“All of the husbands have become the captives of young women in China.”

“Huh?”

“They divorced, and the young women in China won,” lamented Danying.

Yongshi had heard similar stories before, but she’d never thought they would have anything to do with her. Yongshi was astonished. “Really?” She could hardly believe her ears.

“Men in their forties are treasures.”

“What do I do now? Should I kneel down in front of him and beg?”

“After ten years of marriage, kneeling down is nothing.”

“What?” Yongshi was astonished again.

“That’s nothing.” Danying said calmly.

 

Yongshi started to have a headache. Do I have too much pride? Am I a stupid woman? She closed her eyes and tried to catch a break. Danying sensed something was wrong, and asked “Are you all right?”

Yongshi shook her head to clear up her mind, and said “I am all right.”

DanYing knew she went a little too far and said “Renyi surely will not go that way. Renyi means kind and just. He will not go astray.”

Yongshi shook her head and said, “Only God knows.”

 

Yongshi gazed upon Caihua on the deck. She told DanYing “I need to prepare for dinner.” DanYing said “Take good care of yourself. Don’t work too hard.”

“I know.”

They said goodbye and hung up.

* * * * *

 

After his plane landed in China, Renyi felt relaxed and free. He didn’t know what would happen down the road. He had hope, but he was sad about leaving his family at the same time.

How did life become like this?

Book Site: American Fugitive, a novel