Ep 1

Eight months ago

“One classic milk tea and one honey oolong milk tea with tapioca.

Regular sugar, regular ice.”

Farrah Lin slid a twenty yuan note across the counter toward the

cashier, who smiled in recognition. Four days in Shanghai and

Farrah was already a regular at the bubble tea joint by campus. She

chose not to dwell on what that meant for her wallet and her

waistline.

While the staff prepared her order, Farrah examined the menu.

She knew nai cha (milk tea) and xi gua (watermelon). She

recognized a few other Chinese characters, but not enough to form a

coherent phrase.

“Here you go.” The cashier handed Farrah her drinks. “See you

tomorrow!”

Farrah blushed. “Thanks.”

Note to self: ask Olivia to make tomorrow’s run.

Farrah stepped out of the tiny shop and walked back to campus.

The sun began its descent and bathed the city in a warm golden

glow. Bicyclists and motorcyclists zipped by, battling with cars for

space on the narrow side street. The delicious smells wafting from

the restaurants Farrah passed mixed with the far-less-pleasant

scents of garbage and construction dust. Street vendors called out to

passersby, hawking everything from hats and scarves to books and

DVDs.

Farrah made the mistake of making eye contact with one such

vendor.“Mei nu!” Beautiful girl. It’d be flattering if Farrah didn’t know the

hard sell that accompanied such a greeting. “Come, come.” The

elderly vendor beckoned her over. “Where are you from?” she asked

in Mandarin.

Farrah hesitated before answering. “America.” Mei guo. She

dragged out the last syllable, unsure whether the admission would

hurt or help.

“Ah, America. ABC,” the vendor said knowingly. ABC: American-

Born Chinese. Farrah had heard that a lot lately. “I have some great

books in English.” The vendor brandished a copy of Eat, Pray, Love.

“Only twenty kuai!”

“Thanks, but I’m not interested.”

“How about this one?” The woman picked out a Dan Brown

novel. “I’ll give you a deal. Three books for fifty kuai!”

Farrah didn’t need new books, and fifty kuai (around $7 USD)

seemed pricey for cheap reprints of old novels. But the vendor

seemed like a nice old lady, and Farrah didn’t have the energy to

bargain with her.

She skimmed the English options and went straight for the

romance: Jane Austen, Nicholas Sparks, JoJo Moyes.Ok, Sparks and Moyes write love stories, not romance, but still.

Given the drought in Farrah’s dating life, she’d settle for any kind

of romantic relationship, even one that ended tragically. Well, maybe

not with death, but with a breakup or something. Anything that

proved the crazy head-over-heels love you found in books and

movies existed in real life.After a disappointing freshman year filled with mediocre dates

and fumbling stops at third base, Farrah was ready to give up on

reality and live in fantasyland full time.“I’ll take these.” She set her drinks on the ground so she could

pick up Pride & Prejudice (her personal favorite),

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