The People’s Republic of Desire

46 City Versus Country

Thanks to her self-made parents who fled from the mainland to Hong Kong, CC was able to study at Oxford and learned to speak English perfectly. But most of her relatives are still peasants living in Henan Province. CC has little idea how poor her relatives are until she receives a letter from her Aunt Yuxiu, whom she has never met, asking for help. The gist of the letter is that Auntie Yuxiu, who lives in a place known as Monkey Village, wants to come to Beijing to earn money. CC's cousin, Auntie Yuxiu's eldest son, needs money to get married. Auntie Yuxiu wonders whether she can work as CC's housekeeper and CC agrees to pay her 3,000 yuan per month. Later, Auntie Yuxiu learns, to her amazement, that this salary is equal to that of a university professor.

Before moving to Beijing, Yuxiu cycles three hours to the biggest supermarket in the township, searching for a gift for her niece. She buys ten bars of Dove chocolate, the most expensive gift she can think of. But CC rejects the present politely. "Auntie Yuxiu, I don't eat chocolate. I'm afraid of gaining weight."

"My kids, my husband, and I just have enough to eat," Yuxiu once complains to me, "but she is afraid of gaining weight. I don't understand you city people."

It's the first time Yuxiu has seen her niece. She is proud of CC's success, but one thing puzzles her: in their village, people are poor, but they have enough money to buy clothes to keep themselves warm. CC wears a shirt so small it shows her belly button. Even worse, it's worn and torn. So she says to CC: "I can mend the holes and lengthen the shirt by adding a fringe. That way your stomach won't feel cold. When your stomach gets cold, you get sick easily."

"No, I don't feel cold," CC replies. "My T-shirt is designed this way. The shorter it is, the more fashionable and expensive."

Yuxiu is confused and complains to me. "Why is it more expensive? It uses less cloth, so it should cost less!"

Yuxiu has never seen cut-off T-shirts before.

In order to teach Auntie Yuxiu about city life, CC decides to take her to Starbucks. The three of us go there together. CC orders Auntie Yuxiu a coffee. Yuxiu takes a sip and almost gags. "It so bitter – like Chinese medicine!" She looks at the price and screams, "Twenty-eight yuan per cup! That's half a year's tuition for the kids in Monkey Village!"

"You might want to add some sugar and milk," CC suggests.

It amazes Yuxiu that the sugar is free, so she slips ten packets into her bag. She explains to CC that for years, her household couldn't afford to buy sugar. It was a luxury item in Monkey Village. "Do you want sugar?" she asks CC. "No. I'm afraid of getting diabetes," says CC. "What is diabetes?" Yuxiu asks. CC explains: "It means peeing sugar…"

Yuxiu has only recently been able to afford sugar, yet CC is afraid of it. Yuxiu is overwhelmed. But she soon has another big discovery. The white paper napkins are also free. "They are much nicer and smoother than the coarse toilet paper we have to use at home!" She tells us as she pockets a stack.

In the next year, Yuxiu finds there are many differences between CC's life and her own, the city person and the country person, the rich and the poor. For example, she is grateful she no longer has to forage for wild herbs in the mountains and is able to eat meat every day. CC, however, is a vegetarian by choice. CC also tires herself out at a gym, which bewilders Yuxiu, who feels fortunate if she has time to rest and doesn't need to work from dawn to dusk.

Before she leaves Beijing with bundles of money for her son's wedding in Monkey Village, Auntie Yuxiu takes me aside and asks: "In the countryside, getting married late is shameful because it means you don't have enough money to pay for the wedding. Now that both you and my niece CC have enough money for a large dowry, why are you still single?"

I search for an answer and finally tell her, "Perhaps, like wearing smaller clothing, staying single is a stupid fashion followed by city people."