Student Translation Project
HKBU 2021
Ka Lili Moving to a New Home
​Chan Hay Ching
Dragging her suitcase, Ka Lili stumbled down two flights of stairs on the gravel road, playing the sound of clip-clop, clip-clop. She swallowed. Tree cotton flowers were in full bloom, azaleas were not lagging behind too, but she was not in the mood to care about them today. Pop! An oblivious tree cotton hit her head. Ka Lili threw down the case, about to kick it. She looked back and realised she had not left the building too far! Ka Lili walked on sulkily. Why wasn't there a gust of wind blowing her dress? She was annoyed, cursing the wet April weather.
Living with Bi Shen-ming was a hasty decision. They were classmates from the MA course, a match made in heaven. With people around them cheering, they became a couple. After the one-year course had ended, Ka Lili was still getting used to things. Everything about working, housing and VISA threw her off balance. Bi Shen-ming invited her to shack up with him, and Ka Lili gladly accepted. She soon started living with Bi Shen-ming and his mother (She called her old biddy) in a village house in Fang Ling.
Translated by:
Tsang Ka Po Nancy
Wong Hiu Ki Kim
Wong Viola
Lam Yan Yee Eason
Coursemates all considered that Ka Lili was lucky to have found a whole-package-boyfriend. She looked askance at it. A lucky person would not be as aggrieved as her. They casually bought a few apartments and raised the property prices in Hong Kong. Lili, likes a white cat warding them off misfortune. Having said that, while Bi Shen-ming was willing to marry, Ka Lili was hesitant. The old biddy was something. Everyone would keep away from her for this reason. Bi Shen-ming was considered a Taiwanese. He was eight when his parents divorced. Then his mother got married again after taking him to the mainland to run her business. A few years later, his mother divorced again and returned to Hong Kong. She bought a village house and a few properties in the city. She occasionally went off to the mainland for her business. She was so capable, working her way up on the mainland. Ka Lili is not someone to be taken lightly. She paid no attention when the old biddy talked about the rent, utility bills and housework. Ka Lili slung the bowl back in the kitchen and wiped her mouth after finishing the meal. She then went back to the room and chatted with friends on WeChat. She made the old biddy so mad—her face was gone bright red.
Bi Shen-ming and her were both teachers but taught at different colleges. Bi Shenming taught English while Ka Lili taught Putonghua. They both taught languages, but they had received very different treatments. When speaking English, the students turned all shrinking violet, stammering and apologizing with blushing. When they were speaking Putonghua, they looked carefree and lighthearted. Some of them were even proud of their impure pronunciations. Her students were good. After class, they would talk and laugh with Ka Lili, but they were much more courteous and distant to the English teacher. Ka Lili felt an unconscious and imperceptible disdain in this student-teacher relationship. It wasn’t personal. It was her Mainland background.
Bi Shen-ming couldn’t understand that feeling because he was so popular. He was a“Taiwanese”, an identity that Hong Kong people itch to be. Hong Kong people told off the mainlanders who were spending their money in the city. When the Hong Kong dollar had depreciated, the mainlanders came to Hong Kong and spent money. They still told the mainlanders off. They say the mainlanders had crossed the border as locusts and not being self-respecting. The more money they spend in Hong Kong, the more they are despised. Everything about Bi Shen-ming is very elegant, even his English name: Benjamin. His students have created a fan page called “Our Babe-- Benjamin” They are taking photos of him sneakily. They are also discussing his clothing: fine tartan coat and peaked cap in winter; thin tie and dark red socks under full-break trousers in summer. They keep their eyes open for any woman appearing within ten meters of him. Bi Shen-ming shared everything with Ka Lili excitedly. Ka Lili went shopping with him, matching the outfit for the next day. She doesn’t feel jealous because she thinks he was a kidult. Who would love a kidult?
Her colleagues were good, too. Those who teach Putonghua had immigrated at an early age or have stayed behind after finishing their studies. There were six people in her office who came from different corners of China. They played well together like in a university dormitory: shutted the office door dancing Gangnam Style, doing splits, back-bending, playing YouTube like singing karaoke. It was very loud and boisterous, but they had never had a falling out. As they all left their hometowns, they struck a chord after all the housing and job-hunting. Apart from being crazy in the day, they were not losing one thread when doing things, also candid to share their personal matters. They formed their own circle at school and in Hong Kong, with its sorrow and joy.
What did Hong Kong people think of them? At first, Ka Lili didn’t really care. It was any man for himself anyway, they were just a nodding acquaintance for her. One day, when Ka Lili opened the door, she heard “Woah! I could sense a countrified smell from here!” coming from a male colleague opposite her. Wondering if he means the sense of the make-up powder, or accusing Ka Lili as a prostitute from the north. Ka Lili went back to her seat, zoned out a while, and went out until there was complete silence. She had cared much since then. At that moment, she realised that this place is not a paradise, their mistakes would be enlarged, as described as “the bad tendencies”! Those colleagues who immigrated to Hong Kong when they were young, had immediately drawn the line with Ka Lili, and claimed themselves as “Hongkongers”. They bear the great responsibilities of representing their country, which symbolise “taking naps, sloppy, corruption and rotten ”.
The old biddy made a phone call with her friend, speaking in Taiwanese Hokkien that Lili didn’t understand. Sometimes, she would also speak in Taiwanese Mandarin “Ow! You can get whatever you want when you are loaded, you know, girls can buy everything...” gossiping a bunch of Hokkien words. Lili watched a piece of news about two men from Hong Kong who fought with two Mainland women because of queuing up. What kind of conflict was it? What kind of manners was it? Lili was afraid that she would be turning into a person that didn’t respect herself. No sooner said than done, she decided to move away. She would not have a future with Bi Shen-ming anyway. She didn’t love him at all, and he didn’t love her either. She wanted to live her life seriously, to love someone earnestly.
It was drizzling when Lili got out of the car. She ran into the mall, dragging her suitcase. There were just a few customers in McDonald's. Last week, someone died suddenly at one of the McDonald’s branches, causing a disturbance for six hours, yet the other customers didn’t even notice. Ka Lili was savouring hot chocolate milk. People come and go and never affect each other. Sadness will just affect the families, and as years go by, the sadness would slowly fade away. Life must go on. What a city it is! A few of the same shops, with Hong Kong people scolding big enterprises which are killing creativity, sparing no small businesses. Because of such a familiar setup, Lili felt warm. Rain spattered on the glass window. This morning, Lili was in high spirits and felt the joy of spring. Yet, these feelings were replaced by tiredness, replaced by worries. She was hasty again.
Lili dragged the suitcase, went out of McDonald’s, went out of the mall, went in the rain, went to the colleagues… She penetrated through buildings and buildings, walked past the car park, bypassed the garden, went through the security station… She studied on Hong Kong Island, worked in Kowloon, and lived in the New Territories. Every place she set her foot in belonged to “Li” and “Lee”, either Li Ka Shing or Lee Shau-kee- a few big businesses divided up the whole city. This girl, Lili could not escape the world of the “Lis” and “Lees” regardless of the destination. Stopping amid the rain, Lili looked at the hurrying crowd. The distinct red lights looked like tree cotton flowers in the gloomy rain.
The rain fell, pelting down on everyone’s shoulders.
Photo source: Pinterest