Student Translation Project
HKBU 2018
Obsession
Mary Wong
Translated by: Beryl, Effy, Eleanor, Sally
In the Afternoon
The sun shines over each lawn in the campus. Jia qian enjoyed lying on the lawn when she was a student, and now she really wants to try it again. But the bright suit she wears seems to hold her back. She walks close to the trees and breathes some fresh air. She was a little anxious when she thought of what Xiao ming has said. So she took a breath again before she leaves. The lift works well and nothing seems to have happened in it. She wants to know what’s happening in her office because there may be some secrets waiting to be found out.
The policemen haven’t come yet. The whole office is peaceful and quiet, even the air keeps still. Everyone works very hard and no one looks up from their place. At around 3 o’clock, Sam comes to Li tai. With a document in his hand, he softly asks her why she hasn’t sent it to the general affairs department. But his soft voice comes down to something ridiculous. Li tai immediately turns her head back, points to Xiao ming’s seat and curses with the most malicious voice. But Xiao ming doesn’t say a single word. Jia qian sees everything in her eyes and thinks she has the responsibility to figure out the problem. Then she comes behind Li tai, pats her on the shoulder. “Perhaps you didn’t remember clearly, because you didn’t give us this document, and we just sent three documents to the general affairs
department,” she says. Jia qian is so confident that Li tai turns around and looks ather (actually Jia qian is new here).“Are you kidding me? I gave you four documents and explained clearly. Are you criticizing me in front of the boss? If you are not sure about it, please keep your mouth shut. This is your first day here, how much do you know about our work?”
“Li tai, you gave us three documents instead of four, I’m quite sure.” Jia qian restates more firmly, and she can’t help tapping on the floor constantly with her right foot, making a kind of acoustics. She looks around, hoping other colleagues could clarify the truth, but they just keep working. For them, what has happened seems to be commonplace. Now, Jia qian realizes what is wrong in this office – it’s the silence, horrible silence. “All of you just focus on arguing. Who cares about me — an old man? Who can send this document to the general affairs department?” Sam says. Actually he has already walked back to his own office, but when his poor-old-man voice comes out again, both Jia qian and Li tai, who are in fit of anger, feel regret, just like expelling their ill father from home.
“Xiao ming, send the document to the general affairs department, quickly.” Li tai uses her voice to cover all doubts. Without saying a single word, Xiao ming stands up, takes up the document and walks out of the office. Sam closes the door softly to keep it open a little, in that case he can pay attention to the situation outside his office. Li tai has already stopped talking. Jia qian is absent-minded, and she stands in the middle of the office with her heart beating fast. After a long time, she goes back to her seat. At the moment, she hopes her place can be piled up with dozens of document boxes, just like Xiao ming’s, which she can see from her view and is willing to move to.
“The police officers are here” Mei, the cleaner in the office building, shouts in the most humane voice heard today. Everyone in the cubicles of the office begins to move their eyes away from their work. Although some internal telephones ring, no one breaks the silence. On hearing the heavy tread outside the door, Jia qian stands up in the first place. She sees two policemen with uniform standing outside the office. Neither do they have any facial expression nor dramatic action. They are so silent that nothing can distinguish them from the employees here except their uniform. Sam opens the door of his office slowly and says, “Sir, how is Bai yiming? All of us are worried about him. I don’t know what to do without my young vice-director. Life is unpredictable. He was still working here that morning,
but didn’t come back in the afternoon. Life is unpredictable.” The policemen don’t want to answer his question, but to finish the case as quickly as possible. One of the policemen says, “We’ve already finished the investigation, we can’t find Mr. Bai and we don’t know the reason why he’s gone missing. But we will continue our investigation and need you to cooperate.” Li tai breaks in immediately. “It’s been eighteen days, which can be regarded as a long holiday. Now that he hasn’t come back yet, Sam, I think we need to recruit a new vice-director to take over his work.” The police officers leave after a short talk with Sam. Li tai hurries into the boss’s office and closes the door. Jia qian looks at that dusty seat with mixed feelings. Where is Bai yiming? His cup and other daily necessities seem to prove his existence. Now, he may live his life in other places. The items that bare the mark of life restrict Jia qian from thinking of Bai yiming’s death. He may come back tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, and take this cup to the tea room for a cup of coffee. Bai yiming’s profile pops-up in Jia qian’s mind —a man who dares to speak out his mind wears a business suit made out of expensive material. Obsessed with her daydream, she accidentally notices a pair of eyes reflected in the glass of the window, looking at her. She turns back immediately and her eyes directly meet with the eyes—the eyes full of fear, which seems to tell her another story — the true story about Bai yiming. Xiao ming hides his eyes behind the document boxes, but Jia qian can see the tears in his eyes and he dares not let them flow down. At the moment, she wants to shout, and she wants to leave this abnormal office. Who will help this young man? Who will help us?
Li tai walks out of Sam’s office, smiling broadly. It seems that she has won a long-lasting war. Sam closes the door firmly so that he can keep any sound out. Perhaps he begins to plan for another war—a more sophisticated war—contact with higher rank of party members. “Jia qian, you did a really good job on designing the website, thank you! You can drink the coffee and the milk tea in the tea room anytime you want, they belong to our company, so help yourself.” a kind and friendly voice comes into Jia qian’s ears, she looks up to find out who says these kind words. To her great surprise, it’s Li Tai again. Does she suffer from schizophrenia? Not long ago, Li Tai scolded her with
vicious eyes, but now she seems like a total different person. “Although Xiao ming is slow in doing his work, all of our group members care about him and we hope that he can adapt to the working mode. If you have any problem, please feel free to ask me for help,” Li Tai says, just like a good mother. And she also adds some words to praise Jia qian. When Jia qian was a college student, on the debate competition, she always spoke for one team. She never expected that in the work place, some people can speak for the opposition teams at any time. It turns out that they are the winners of the debate competition.