Part two finally!!! 🥺 I loved every bit of this! It's romantic in a clumsy sort of way--not your writing which is fabulous, their interactions! The tension between them as they were cramped in Tin's store is palpable, and the bit where Ah Yee visits on a rainy day was so heartbreaking! I felt like I was punched in the gut!!!
Please, please, please write a follow up piece! Maybe Tin's life/business as HK changes + more people become literate?
It's definitely left plenty of food for thought, mainly:
- that letter writers weren't just parrots and all had a niche! I like to think that my niche would have been savage break up letters (but more likely would be the woman who gossips too much and loses all her business!)
- how they were also therapists/agony aunts of sorts for lonely migrant workers who desperately wanted to share their sadness
- how astute letter writers had to be to 'sanitise' what was being said to them
so in my mind Tin is, despite having the traditional mindset of his times (which i don’t think he should be blamed for), in his heart a good person, and so he doesn’t want to take advantage of the girl with their unequal relationship. He’s also watched A Star is Born (1954) when he was younger and feels like his star is fading whereas her star is rising, career wise, and he knows his ego would be bruised if they ever did get together and she becomes more successful than him. so he prefers to keep their desires to themselves, as everything’s better in the imagination 😉 thanks for reading Tofu! ^^ or should i call you Mushroom Teng 😆
I would say Tin knows it’s a humble job and he’s happy with his station. Ah Yee becomes a high flying executive as she rises as Li Ka Shing rises as well, and she’s gained notoriety as someone who has supported him since the early days. Hehe thanks for allowing me to indulge in my imagination 🤭
“We cannot help but reveal ourselves, even in jobs that ask us to be invisible.” holy this is so poignant, and maybe captures a lot of jobs (and also the beginning of many other stories). thanks for reading Leon and for your support all these posts! 😊 how are you doing?
Has been a pleasure to discover your work in all its different forms! I’m hanging in there, I am finishing off a new poetry comic which will be my first in a good long while.
“She walked through the sunny colonnade in that ridiculous sundress through alternating sunlight and shadow like a fish swimming through dappled waters, until she turned the corner, out of sight.”
Your imagery and analogies are so. GOOD!!!! Adored your characterization and how you brought Tin and Ah Yee and Hong Kong to life with just a few sentences and so much color. Can’t wait to read more of your fiction 🥹
Part two finally!!! 🥺 I loved every bit of this! It's romantic in a clumsy sort of way--not your writing which is fabulous, their interactions! The tension between them as they were cramped in Tin's store is palpable, and the bit where Ah Yee visits on a rainy day was so heartbreaking! I felt like I was punched in the gut!!!
Please, please, please write a follow up piece! Maybe Tin's life/business as HK changes + more people become literate?
It's definitely left plenty of food for thought, mainly:
- that letter writers weren't just parrots and all had a niche! I like to think that my niche would have been savage break up letters (but more likely would be the woman who gossips too much and loses all her business!)
- how they were also therapists/agony aunts of sorts for lonely migrant workers who desperately wanted to share their sadness
- how astute letter writers had to be to 'sanitise' what was being said to them
so in my mind Tin is, despite having the traditional mindset of his times (which i don’t think he should be blamed for), in his heart a good person, and so he doesn’t want to take advantage of the girl with their unequal relationship. He’s also watched A Star is Born (1954) when he was younger and feels like his star is fading whereas her star is rising, career wise, and he knows his ego would be bruised if they ever did get together and she becomes more successful than him. so he prefers to keep their desires to themselves, as everything’s better in the imagination 😉 thanks for reading Tofu! ^^ or should i call you Mushroom Teng 😆
My heart 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 does Tin remain alone for the rest of his life and is it by choice? and would you say Ah Yee is the one who got away?
(Mushroom Teng is the eponymous character of my fiction series 🌞🍄)
I would say Tin knows it’s a humble job and he’s happy with his station. Ah Yee becomes a high flying executive as she rises as Li Ka Shing rises as well, and she’s gained notoriety as someone who has supported him since the early days. Hehe thanks for allowing me to indulge in my imagination 🤭
Made me feel strangely melancholic. Loved reading this.
Pitch perfect! Your story gave so much colour to this fading profession.
We cannot help but reveal ourselves, even in jobs that ask us to be invisible.
“We cannot help but reveal ourselves, even in jobs that ask us to be invisible.” holy this is so poignant, and maybe captures a lot of jobs (and also the beginning of many other stories). thanks for reading Leon and for your support all these posts! 😊 how are you doing?
Has been a pleasure to discover your work in all its different forms! I’m hanging in there, I am finishing off a new poetry comic which will be my first in a good long while.
looking forward to it!
I’ve missed reading your fiction! Guess the future’s very bright for Ah Yee with her new job. Thank goodness she didn’t get married.
Hahahaha yes indeed. Miss you loads! :')
Beautiful, poignant, authentic. Thank you for surfacing people who are otherwise not even noticed.
thank you for your kind words and for dropping by Nandini! i hope i can do more of that in the future (that is, if i know of them…)
You may want to read this post on my substack: https://naturalized.substack.com/p/seema
“She walked through the sunny colonnade in that ridiculous sundress through alternating sunlight and shadow like a fish swimming through dappled waters, until she turned the corner, out of sight.”
Your imagery and analogies are so. GOOD!!!! Adored your characterization and how you brought Tin and Ah Yee and Hong Kong to life with just a few sentences and so much color. Can’t wait to read more of your fiction 🥹
darn, now that you mentioned i wish i said “tropical fish” instead 🤣🙈 i guess we will never be satisfied with edits haha
thanks so much dear 🥹🥹 you’re too flattering.