Family With Six Treasures (01)

Edited by Leah Karliner (05/30/1995)

      The Li family lived in Glen Cove, a middle-class community on the north shore of suburban Long Island, N. Y. White families, all living in ranch houses on one-third of an acre, with Green lawns in the front and decked yards in the back were their neighbors.

      Their ranch house was quite large enough when Li’s purchased it, but one by one, three years apart, with the arrival of each of their six one-thousand ounces of gold, they needed a little more space. And, as the Li’s raised their six daughters, the contractor lifted the roof on their single-level home, providing a second level.

      Property values on Long Island increased so much while the Li’s six daughters were growing up that their American neighbors, some with one or two thousand ounce gold children of their own (some had ten thousand ounce gold treasures), easily kept pace with the Li’s and renovated their ranch-style houses into two-story homes. Externally the Li’s house looked just like all of its neighbors. There was only one minor difference: the Li’s were the only Chinese people living in the entire neighborhood.

       Mrs. Li is a pleasingly plump woman of medium height, with a sweet, good-natured personality.

       The Li girls come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes; all are pretty and well-built, with the beauty of flowers, smooth and precious as jade.

       And then, there is Professor Li, the solitary red flower amidst ten thousand green leaves.  He is a tall, slim gentleman, with gray hair, and wears gold-rimmed glasses befitting his scholarly manner.

       Sometimes people ask Professor Li, “Do you have any regrets that you don’t have sons?”

       "If my daughters do not marry foreigners, then, I have no regrets. If they marry Chinese men, their babies will have pure Chinese blood; Grandchildren born of daughters will be virtually same as grandchildren born of sons." Over the years, Professor Li has repeated these words so often that they might as well carved on his forehead.

       Their Number One daughter, Amy, comments, “Dad isn’t serious, is he, Mom?”

       "That's unreasonable. The only guys we know are caucations, that are what Dad called foreigners, " Celia, the Number Three daughter, protests.

       “From my point of view, Daddy didn’t start early enough educating us on his theory of marriage.” Adds daughter Number Two, as she pursed her lips and pushed her glasses up. Her name is Betty.

       Throughout, Professor Li has been sitting quietly, reading his paper.

       The six Li daughters are named alphabetically and sequentially; Amy is the first daughter, the next one is Betty,  Celia is third, Diana is fourth. Number Five is Elsa, And the youngest daughter, Number Six, is Fran. Very clear; easy as A, B, C; without any confusion.

       Addressing all of her girls, but Betty specifically, their mother says, "Didn't Daddy always say you should marry your own kind?" Mrs. Li sticks up for her husband, right or wrong.

       "In my opinion," Number Two Daughter says, looking at her Dad out of the corner of her eye, an impish smile on her face, "What Dad should have done on the day Amy was born was to get two kittens, one white and one yellow. Then our parents should have taken turns saying over and over that the yellow kitten is better looking than white kitten, and then when they were grown, that the yellow cat is better than the white cat!!"

       The mother and the six girls all laugh.

       “Actually, the yellow cat is better looking than the white cat.” Diana tries to stifle the laughter that is welling up inside.

       The professor can no longer ignore their teasing. Of course, he doesn't think they are funny and says quite seriously, "When God created human beings, he put them in the oven to bake. Those that he took out before they were done became Caucasians. The ones which were burned, but still edible became black. And those which were baked just right, to a golden color, are the yellow people. And, the most perfect of these got to be Chinese."

       Teasingly, Mrs. Li states, "Your father is a scientist putting forth his scientific theory. If any of you can develop a more scientific theory, we'll believe yours." She chuckles softly while the six one thousand ounce treasures roll with laughter.

       “Daddy is right.” is daughter number four, Diana’s contribution. “The Chinese Kung Fu fighters are the best looking of all.”

       Elsa, Daughter number five, says what she knows her other sisters are thinking; “Really?”

       Diana, visualizing the handsome Chinese actors who perform Deeds of derring-do in Hollywood's movies, climbing trees and leaping over tall buildings, answers, "Yes, really. Look at the Chinese movie stars. They are all handsome: Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Dean Deng."

       “Dean Deng? Is that his real name or a stage name?”

       “Dean Deng makes so many movies. Two of his most famous are “Dean Deng, The Bell Sounds” and “Dean Deng on the Church Steeple.”

       “Are you pulling my leg?”

       “Would I lie to you?”

       "When it comes to Kung Fu, Of course you would."

(To Be Continued)