The food was all very good to him, but JieMin had no comparison to the other things on the menu, so he wasn’t sure how to score them. He decided to mark them all a three for now, and score the others against that standard.
The waiter came to his table when he was finished and asked him if he wanted anything else. Dessert, perhaps.
“No, thank you. That was all very good.”
“Excellent.”
The waiter aimed something at his communicator, then departed.
JieMin saw the bill appear on his heads-up display. When he selected to pay it from the account Chen Zumu had set up for him, he was happy to see the tip was added as he had configured it. So that worked.
Then he simply got up from his dirty table and dirty dishes and walked away. That was the practice, but it made him feel guilty for not helping with the dishes.
JieMin walked through the Uptown Market after dinner. It was still a bit early to pay his respects to his dabo and family, because they might still be eating and he didn’t want to impose.
JieMin saw there was a cafe in the market as well as the restaurant. This was more informal. He checked the menu for breakfast and found they had pastries and something called a breakfast sandwich, which consisted of putting normal breakfast items in a pastry. This could be eaten there or taken with you. JieMin thought that might be a good thing for tomorrow morning. If all the tables were taken, he could simply eat it outside.
Back in the apartment, he received a note from his aunt, Chen MinQiang. She had heard from JieMin’s mother that he was there, and he was invited to come by their apartment.
JieMin sent a response that he was coming, and walked down the hall. The door opened as he approached, and MinQiang greeted him with a hug.
“Come in, JieMin.”
“Thank you, Bomu,” he said, using the Chinese word for his father’s older brother’s wife.
“Oh, so old-fashioned. I’m still your Auntie Min, am I not?”
“Yes, Bomu.”
MinQiang laughed and led him into the apartment. It was a big family apartment, with six rooms and a huge dining table. MinQiang and JuanTao had six children – pretty much the Chen average – and the apartment was big enough for eight. All JieMin’s cousins were still in low, middle, and high school.
MinQiang fussed over him. Yes, he had eaten dinner. No, he didn’t need anything for his apartment. She managed to press a few cookies and tea on him and was grilling him on his plans, when JuanTao rescued him.
“JieMin has already finished college, MinQiang. He is an adult by that measure, and his plans are his own.”
JuanTao turned to JieMin.
“I did promise my brother I would be here for you if you need any help with anything. So if anything goes amiss, you will let me know, JieMin?”
“Of course, Dabo.”
“Good. And now you probably have other things to do than entertain your aunt and uncle. Let him go, MinQiang.”
MinQiang let him take his leave but not before giving him another smothering hug.
Back in his own apartment, JieMin decided he would be taking most of his meals in the market or the restaurant across the street.
That night, JieMin had trouble getting to sleep. It was too quiet in the empty apartment by himself. He was used to sharing a bedroom with two younger brothers.
JieMin got up and went over to the window. He opened it, allowing the nighttime noise of the city in.
JieMin went back to bed and fell asleep in minutes.
JieMin was up at seven with the dawn. He showered and put on a clean lavalava. Which reminded him that he needed to learn how to do laundry here. No one had said anything about that.
JieMin went downstairs and across to the Uptown Market. The cafe was open, and it was not yet crowded. He bought a breakfast sandwich and tea, and sat at one of the little tables to eat. It was fun watching the market wake up.
When the cafe started to get crowded, JieMin got up so he would not use up a table and make someone else stand. He walked back over to the apartment building.
ChaoLi was on the reception desk again today, Friday. JieMin knew the university’s offices opened at nine o’clock, and he knew he could get there by walking. It was one-point-four miles south and zero-point-two miles east given the city’s grid system. That he knew. He could walk, but there might be an easier way.
“Good morning, ChaoLi.”
“Good morning, JieMin. How can I help you today?”
“What is the easiest way to get downtown, to the university?”
“If you walk two blocks due east, to Arcadia Boulevard, there is a bus that runs into downtown. Every fifteen minutes. You can pay with your communicator.”
“Good. Thank you, ChaoLi.”
“You’re welcome, JieMin.”
Exiting the apartment building, JieMin walked east along Fifteenth Street between the market and original workshop on one side and the warehouse and the new workshop on the other. He crossed Hospital Street and went one more block to Arcadia Boulevard.
Arcadia Boulevard was much wider than the side streets, with two busy lanes of traffic in each direction. He saw a bus-stop sign on the northwest corner of the intersection and crossed Fifteenth Street to stand there.
Five minutes later a bus stopped to pick him up. The doorway tagged his communicator as he got on, and he paid the fare in his heads-up display. He took a seat
