Student Translation Project 
HKBU TIIS 2023

Translated by:

Au Ho Laam

Eric Mak Wing Fung

Mike Kong Han Xiao

Lu Sze Kei

Ho Sze Wai

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Ka Lili was dragging her suitcase down the two flights of stairs. The suitcase clattered on the gravel road. Ka Lili swallowed. The Kapok and Cuckoo were in full bloom, but Ka Lili did not care about them. The Kapok seemed so ignorant of her emotions that one flower plopped on her head. She dropped the suitcase aside and was about to kick it when she turned around and realised the house was still in sight. She gave up and kept on walking. “Where is the wind when you need it to blow up my skirt?” Ka Lili was angry and cursed the humid April weather.

 

Moving in with Bi Shenming was a hasty decision. They were doing the same MA course. Everyone believed that they were perfect for each other. So, they started dating. After a year, she was adapting to her new life. However, things like searching for a job, hunting for a house, and applying for a visa stressed her. Bi Shenming offered to live together, and Ka Lili agreed. Then she moved in with him and his mother (Ka Lili called her “Old Biddy”) in Fan Ling.

 

Ka Lili’s classmates said she was lucky to have found such a tall, rich, handsome boyfriend. However, she didn’t see it that way. Someone truly fortunate should not have to endure so much hardship. While others casually purchased properties, unintentionally inflating the Hong Kong real estate market, she felt more like a scapegoat bearing the burden for their actions. Even if Bi Shenming was willing to marry her, Ka Lili might not be ready for a marriage. Old Biddy was a hard nut to crack, and this turned people away from marrying her son. Bi was born in Taiwan. His parents divorced when he was eight. After that, his mother brought him to mainland China to start her business ventures. She remarried but divorced again only a few years later. Eventually, she returned to Hong Kong and purchased a village house and some other properties in the city. She went to mainland China occasionally for business, as she said. She was no simple person to have made such a great success in mainland China. Ka Lili, however, was not to be easily manipulated. When Old Biddy brought up matters like rent, bills and housework, Ka Lili turned a deaf ear to her requests. After a meal, she would hastily clear her plate, wipe her mouth, and then return to her room and chat with friends on WeChat. This pissed Old Biddy off, whose face would turn livid with rage.

 

Bi Shenming and Ka Lili worked in different universities. One taught English, and the other taught Putonghua. Both of them were language teachers, but they were treated differently. When students spoke English, they stuttered and stumbled over words, blushing in apology. But when they spoke Putonghua, they communicated and conversed unabashedly, disregarding the precise pronunciations. Some might even take pride in their imperfect tones. This happened quite often. Students were friendly and would chat and laugh with Ka Lili after class. To the English teacher, they were just being polite. However, Ka Lili could sense an unconscious contempt that was not easily detected, although it was not directed at her personally but rather at her mainland background.

 

Bi Shenming could not understand this feeling as he was too popular. He was a “Taiwanese”—— many Hong Kong people wished to be Taiwanese. They hurled abuse at the Mainlanders and even scolded them while they spent the money. When the Hong Kong dollar depreciates, Hongkongers still hurled slurs at the mainlanders and said they were locusts crossing the border. However, it could be attributed to the lack of self-respect among mainland Chinese people that the more money they spent, the more they were looked down upon. Bi Shenming was elegant, just like his name “Benjamin”. His students created a Facebook fans club—— “Beloved Benjamin”, sneaking him and discussing a fine tartan coat, a duck-tongue hat that he wore in winter, his thin summer tie, and dark red socks underneath a pair of suspenders. They also kept an eye out for the girls who surrounded him. Bi Shenming delightfully shared everything with Ka Lili. She accompanied him to shop for clothes and put together an outfit for the next day without feeling jealous, which was such a big baby. Who would love a big child like that?

 

She had good colleagues. Those who taught Putonghua immigrated as children or stayed behind after their studies. Six people sat in different areas at her office as if living in a college dormitory, playing together, closing the door and dancing “Gangnam Style”, splitting, back bending and even opening YouTube to have a fun karaoke. They got along with each other perfectly and happily. Everyone lived far from home, worrying about finding houses and applying for jobs. Although they usually went crazy, they became meticulous in what they did, and they were sincere in sharing their personal affairs. They formed a circle of their own with sorrows and joys at school, even in Hong Kong.

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But what did other Hong Kong colleagues think of them? Ka Lili didn’t care much about it since they were acquaintances. One day, when Ka Lili opened the door, she heard a male colleague say, “Wow! What a strong northern vibe!” She didn’t know whether he was referring to her makeup or calling her a “country-bumpkin”. Ka Lili returned to her seat and fell into a trance, waiting until there was no sound outside. She realised this was no longer a happy place; immigrants’ mistakes were exaggerated and generalised as “evil”. Her colleagues, immigrants, immediately drew a clear boundary and identified themselves as “Hong Kongers”. They believed they were responsible for representing their country: “laziness, indolence, corruption, and decadence”.

 

The old biddy was chatting with her friends on the phone, speaking in Hokkien that Ka Lili did not understand, sometimes interjecting a few Taiwanese-styles Mandarin words, “Oh my dear! You don’t know, with money, you can buy everything. Girls, well, you don’t understand. They can buy everything they want...Blablabla, another round of Hokkien. Ka Lili had read a news article about two Hong Kong men and two Mainland women getting into a physical fight over a queue dispute. What conflict? What manners? Ka Lili was afraid of becoming those people who did not have respect for themselves. Walking the talk, she had decided to move out immediately. She thought there was no future between her and  Bi Shenming anyway. She didn’t love him, nor did he love her. She wanted to live thoughtfully and love someone sincerely. 

 

When she got out of the bus, the rain pitter-pattered. Ka Lili was dragging her suitcase, hurrying into the mall, finding only a few scattered customers in McDonald’s. Someone died suddenly at a McDonald’s branch last week, which caused a commotion among the staff for six hours while other customers remained unaware. Ka Lili was drinking her hot chocolate milk, enjoying every gulp. People come and go, minded merely their own business. The bereaved were the only ones who were heartbroken; as time passed, the sorrow would gradually fade at the end of the day. Everyone had to make it through. What a city! Few rigid shops remained, and Hongkongers criticised corporations for stifling creativity and wiping out small businesses. Ka Lili felt at home because of this familiar pattern. Rain tap-taped on the glass window; the passion and aspiration when Ka Lili went out this morning had been replaced by weariness and anxiety: she rushed again.

 

Ka Lili dragged her suitcase, walked out of the McDonald’s, out of the mall, into the rain, toward her colleagues…She passed building after building, walked through the parking lot, went around the park, passed by the security counter…She studied in Hong Kong Island, worked in Kowloon, and lived in the New Territories. The land she set foot on was all under the surname of Li, either Superman Li or Uncle Li, two of the wealthiest persons in Hong Kong. Several big businesses divided up the entire Hong Kong. She, Ka Lili, could never fly away from Li’s hands no matter where she went. Stopped under the rain, Ka Lili observed the rushing passers-by, looked through the drizzle and mist of grey, and unveiled the red traffic light in the distance with red cotton.

 

The rain fell upon everyone.