Excerpt of “An American Landlord”

Bei Dao
I noticed that Larry liked Chinese food. Eating alone was really boring, so I would
prepare an extra serving for him when I cooked. One day, Larry told me on the quiet
that a woman guest would visit us in the evening. Hearing the news, I hurried to the
kitchen straightway and prepared four dishes with one soup for dinner. The lady
arrived on time. Surprisingly, I found that she was a complete stranger to Larry. Upon
entering, she began to gaze right and left, as if appraising his house. During dinner,
she revealed that she worked in General Motor Corporation as a senior technician
with an annual income of $50,000 (which startled me for income is a rare topic for
American). Then, she pried into Larry’s affairs, and unexpectedly he stayed calm and
responded to all of them with ease. They kept on drinking after dinner and I felt the
romance in the air, so I retreated. Late at night, their sound of sex woke me up. I
guessed everything went on well and was glad about the end of his single life.
I asked him the next day whether they had been in a relationship, but he beat
around the bush and hinted that she would never come again. A few days later,
another lady called on us and the same thing happened all over again, except that this
time I refused to cook for them. Eventually, I couldn’t help asking him what was the
case. It turned out that he had signed up for a singles’ club which exchanged every
member’s ethnicity, age, height, weight, hobbies and telephone number, through
which all members could date freely. It dawned on me why Larry ran directly to the
telescribe after returning home every day. He admitted that he didn’t intend to remarry
in order to enjoy the freedom as a single man.