Family With Six Treasures (04)

     Mrs. Li realized that her husband has not reconciled himself to the marriage of his Number One Daughter and is, in fact, very unhappy about it. Their Number Two Daughter has been very much on her mind because Betty will soon be graduating from Columbia University. Then they’ll be facing the same issue.

     One Saturday, when she arrived home from the supermarket, Mrs. Li didn’t follow her usual procedure of putting away the groceries. She sat down next to her husband, who was in the living room, reading the newspaper.

     “Today, while I was shopping, I met another Mrs. Li.”

     "In Chinese, the name Li is the most popular last name, Meeting a Mrs. Li is not noteworthy to be excited about," said Mr. Li, without an iota of interest evident in his voice. He continued to read.

     “The Mrs. Li I met is a very hospitable woman. Do you know why she is so hospitable?”

     “Of course. They have too much rice and so much money that they don't know what to spend it on," Professor Li pretended that he had no ears and made it very obvious that he did not want to engage in conversation with his wife.

     Last night, he watched the game on television; but he liked to read about the game's finer points in the sports section the next day.

     Mrs. Li was not about to give up. She was as excited as an explorer who discovered a new continent. She experienced some conflict because she knew that she should take the groceries in. She shouted, "who wants to help me by putting away the groceries?" Almost immediately, three beautiful young girls rushed down the stairs to help their Mom with the groceries.

     Mrs. Li sat on the couch next to her husband, lowered her voice, and said mysteriously, "Mrs. Hospitality Li says that she too has lots of daughters and that in America it is very difficult to find that many Chinese sons-in-law. Therefore it is up to the parents to help. So, they invite lots of the young, single male Chinese to their house. They are trying to give their daughters every opportunity to find suitable husband.”

     When Professor Li heard these words, his face registered. He slapped his leg with the palm of his hand and exclaimed, "Now I understand totally. It's no wonder we were never on the guest list when they had a party. I thought they did not invite us because they are new riche and that scholarly people intimidated them. It is our beautiful daughters that intimidate them. They know their girls couldn't stand such competition!"

     Professor Li’s mood has changed totally. Now, he is all ears. He wants to know everything about Mrs. Hospitality Li’s strategy.

     Daughter number Two, Betty, lived in the student dorm on the Columbia University Campus. She was engrossing with experiments, thesis preparation, and applying for admission to medical schools, with little opportunity to go home to Glen Cove.

     Suddenly, Professor Li took great interest in Betty's activities. He picked her up at the dorm to take her home for the week-ends. But all Betty did at home was staying in her room to study.

     Betty's parents were studying too. They were concentrating very hard on the guestlist Professor Li had compiled on all Chinese graduate students attending Columbia University. Names, photographs, curriculum vitae on each student. Professor Li had been even more careful and precise in collecting the students' data to invite to his house than he'd ever been with his Bio-Chemistry experiments.

     Now he and his wife are seated at the kitchen table perusing the assembled material. Professor Li handed his wife the folder he has just examined, saying, "We must invite him. This one's father is the Dean of Law School at the National Taiwan University.”

     Mrs. Li looked at the photo from another folder and told her husband, "This one is very handsome. We must definitely invite him."

     "Yes, we must invite him because he is on Dean's list again," countered Professor Li.

     “Healthy looking.”

     “Influential family.”

     “Father owns a big company.”

     Gradually, they finished preparing the guest list.

     Meanwhile, Betty, who had grown tired of studying in her room, decided that she needed to walk around and stretch her legs. Wearing blue jeans and a matching jean vest, she came downstairs. Her legs were long and thin, and her overall appearance was more that of a high fashion model than a med student. Her dark shiny hair almost reached her waist; she hasn't had time to have it cut. Behind her eyeglasses, Betty's eyes were long and slanted, with dark eyebrows. Her lips were a beautiful shade of red, very shapely and reminiscent of a delicious fruit that grew in the water in China.

     Betty noticed that her parents were so deep in discussion that they didn’t even realize she was in the kitchen. Curious to know what was engrossing them, she moved closer.

     Mrs. Li was planning the party. “Buffet style. I think we should serve a buffet. Should we have wine?”

     “Should we?” asked the Professor.

     When Betty heard that her parents talked about serving alcoholic beverages, she interrupted, "My roommate's cousin needs money. He knows how to serve drinks. He could be a bartender at your party and earn the money." Betty seemed to be very interested in helping her friend's cousin earn money.

(To Be Continued)