Chichang: Friendship is golden

"...make yourself comfortable," said Chichang. "Ever since I was young, I knew that painting was the only thing I wanted to do. It was a compulsion, in a way. If you don't believe me, check this out."

Chichang got up, and went over to his dorm's cupboard. From it, he pulled out a large, black folder. He unzipped it, and revealed a stack of what were obviously exquisite art pieces. He put one sheet out onto the table in front of them. William reached out his hand to pick of the shard of glass. To his disdain, he could not do it - for it was nothing but a painting.

"Wow," he gasped, "you weren't lying."

It was clear that Chichang was trying his utmost to remain modest, yet he could not help but let a slightly proud smirk escape.

"Why didn't you go to art school? Are you actually interested in Chinese History and Ornithology, more than following your talent?"

"I don't know, William. I really don't. How much more of my past are you willing to take in?"

"I've got all the time in the world, it's okay. I'll just get us some tea."

When William came back from the kitchen carrying two steaming cups - his balance perfect from his waitering days - Chichang was sitting at his desk, and quickly closed his laptop when he saw William. He indicated at the other chair, for him to sit on.

"So... I was applying for art school, at the end of last August. I wanted to have first priority for a place, and I'd begun to create a portfolio two years prior. And, well, at the same time, I met this amazing girl. Soraja." He flinched at the mention of her name. Then he opened up his laptop to reveal a picture of two people - a girl with the blondest hair and the whitest skin that William had ever seen, and a boy who looked exactly like Chichang, but with slightly shorter hair - with dazzling smiles of genuine happiness.

"She was from Sweden," Chichang added. "Her father was a famous architect, and moved the family to Taiwan, whilst he renovated our city."

"She has nice bone structure," commented William, then looked down quickly.

"Yeah? Well. Bone structure isn't much good when you're boyfriend's trying to get into a prestigious university, is it?" Chichang sounded bitter.

"How so?" asked William, who still hadn't latched onto the fact that they were about to go into sensitive territory, having never had any contact with the world of relationships himself.

"I was creating my portfolio and... I was spending far too much time with her. I know that now, in retrospect. As I did so, the quality of my work declined. My father told me that I wasn't good enough for art school. This made me so angry, because I knew I was capable, it was all I lived for, apart from Soraja. And at the time, I really thought I was putting my all into it. But that... man told me that I was hopeless, that I was wasting my time. I hated it, I felt lost, art was like my guiding light." Chichang gulped.

Luckily, William had realised by this time that his friend was struggling to tell him everything, so he did not attempt to force him to continue. But clearly, Chichang trusted him enough.

"I started to take it out on Soraja."

William was utterly taken aback. This seemingly pleasant boy, a violent woman-beater? He was lost for words.

"You know... I stole her father's money. Whenever I spent the night there, and the house was dark. He just left it laying around. And then Soraja would get blamed. I know it's terrible, but I've put it behind me now. All I ask is that you don't judge me."

"Okay, Chichang," he replied, with a deep breath. His main thought was one of relief, that he was glad Chichang had not been hitting his girlfriend. "But what happened? Did you get found out?"

"I had to confess eventually She was so hysterical that... that she freaking took an overdose, William. And now she's living back in Linköping. Far away from here, which is the best thing for everyone. I am so thankful that she recovered, but I don't dare contact her again. For one thing, her father would absolutely massacre me."

William bit his lip, and was unsure whether to put his arm around Chichang or not, in order to comfort him. He decided against it. Instead, he swore in Chinese, Japanese, and English. Then he proceeded to say one thing:

"If you don't mind me asking, what has all that got to do with the fact you're here?"

He knew, a few seconds afterwards, that that sentence must have sounded quite rude and hurtful, and he felt immediately remorseful.

However, Chichang appeared unfazed. "Well... after that debacle, and when I was at my lowest, I looked at my portfolio work and I could see that it really was mediocre since I had been with Soraja. I had failed myself, and my father too. Thus, I decided to erase that part of myself, and to spite him - "

"So, you took Chinese History with Ornithology? The most ridiculous course in the world?" asked William, grinning.

"Yeah. Exactly right!"

They both broke into progressive sniggers, spilling their tea in the process.

Of course William had already told Chichang of his life - at least, all he knew of it - and so they were both at an optimum level of friendship. William's happiness of finding someone with whom he could share both laughter and tears, was immense.

University: A First Time For Everything

Now, at the correct age and time, William began his foray into the world of higher education. Having spent a useful year working in the restaurant and saving up, he was able to afford his very own house as well as paying for university fees from his remaining inheritance money. The university was right there in Taiwan, and what's more, it did exactly the course that had caught his eye.

You see, William was not like other students. He found Maths boring, and Science dull. He didn't see the point in studying music or film, and he was already fluent in his two other languages; he didn't need a degree to tell him that. Instead he applied for a very under-subscribed course, and got in very easily with his excellent grades and spotless record.

He arrived on his first day at the correct lecture theatre, and took a seat in the middle of the room. He didn't want to sit at the back - too far away - or at the front - too nerdy - but the middle was just fine. However, he waited and waited and waited, but no one else showed up. He wondered if arriving fifteen minutes before the lecture was too early. Perhaps he had the wrong room; he checked, but no, it seemed he was in the right place.

He was just about to give up when something at last happened to give him hope: another student walked into the room. He was a good height, with clear eyes and stylish hair, and a long brown-and-grey striped scarf wrapped around his neck. Inexplicably, there was a pencil behind his ear. His shirt was orange. He looked around, quizzically, and since there was no one else, he took the seat next to William.


"Hello." He said.

William was astonished; he looked around for someone else he hadn't noticed or some sort of trick, but on further reflection it seemed the boy really was addressing him. "H... Hello..." He replied, hesitantly.

"You're here for the course, right? Chinese History with Ornithology."

"Yes, that's right." William agreed.

"I'm Chichang. Yilan." The boy said. "So, what's your name?"

"William."

"William? Not very Chinese, is it?"

"Yes, I know." William sighed.

This, believe it or not, was the beginning of a very beautiful and strong friendship. William had never had a friend before, so it was very exciting for him to finally have one. He and Chichang were the only people on the course, and their professor was quite nice, so they spent a lot of time together and had fun every day. They even went shopping together, although William was very careful to check his bag every time he left a shop, just in case he was arrested by Mike Kevinson again. However, these fears seemed to be ungrounded - since he had become friends with Chichang, Mike Kevinson had been nowhere to be seen. William wondered if he was getting in trouble less because Mike Kevinson was not there, or whether Mike Kevinson was not there because he was getting into trouble less. A truly mysterious question.

One day, during a particularly challenging assignment, William buried his head in his hands and let out a long groan, unsure of how he could finish it.


"Hey friend, what's up?" Chichang asked.


"Oh, it's just this work. I'm smart, but this is too hard." William said.


"Just perservere." Chichang said, clapping him on the shoulder. "You know, whenever I come up against something I can't beat, I just keep trying. Maybe I'll need help or maybe I'll have to start again, but I always keep trying until I beat it."


"Really? You've come up against a lot of hard times, then?" William asked.


"Well..." Chichang sighed. "Let me tell you about my life."

Arrest: William's brush with the gavel and block

With his new wages from his waiting job, William decided to treat himself to a lone shopping trip in Taipei.

In the bustling street - for it was nearing New Year - William passed a shop named "Soap 'n' Dope". It looked like quite a new establishment, and so William was naturally intrigued, since his trade had made him now quite the expert in business prospects. Upon entry, he was confronted by a pungence of cinnamon and oranges, and atmospheric panpipes music. William didn't know where to look, for the whole place was just so vivid, a mêlée of scents, flavours and colours.

What caught his eye was not the stack of beautiful - albeit terrifying - carved bird-shaped soaps, but the abominable price tags on them. Seven hundred Taiwanese dollars, for just one?!

After bumping into a grumbling old woman, hastily apologising, then hearing a clutter from above, he left the shop - but not before security alarms sounded.

William felt a twinge in his stomach when a guard grabbed him by the shoulders and said, "If you'd like to follow me, young man." William didn't like to at all, and he noticed the same old woman scrutinising him, and calling - presumably - the police.

In the small room at the back of the shop, William sat on a cold, hard chair, that reminded him of his changing-room schooldays.

"I hope you're pleased with yourself. What will your parents say?" snapped the old woman.

William's eyes welled up. This was the first time since his father died that his thoughts had even touched on the theme of parents in the conventional sense; it occurred to him that he had never even met his mother. Suddenly these thoughts became too much to bear. "I don't have any, you bitch," he replied spitefully.

The old woman, unmoved, continued, "Even so - it is not exactly a thing to be proud of, having this in your bag, without paying." With that, she pulled out a transparent plastic bag, half-filled with about five grams of pink glitter.

"What," asked William, dumbfounded, "is that?"

"Soapy Dope - the original. A kind of holy grail, if you will."

"Pardon?"

"You know what I mean. Five centuries old, held in the very hands of Da-Xia and Bohai. Why wouldn't a little pilferer like you want it? Its name cheapened, sold on the black market." She shuddered at this thought.

William was about to make another vain attempt at insisting against these accusations, when the door was flung wide open.

Inspector Mike Kevinson.

"What seems to be the problem here, Anming?"

"I've just apprehended a young thief."

When Mike's eyes fell upon William, he took the cigarette out of his mouth, and his eyes appeared to glow. "Hello William. In a spot of a bother yet again?"

Anming frowned. "You mean, he makes a regular habit of this?"

She was ignored.

"It would appear so," said William, shyly. He didn't care about this supposed crime anymore. He was now just very confused as to why Mike Kevinson happened to be in Taiwan, where he was.

"These accusations, Anming... you're absolutely sure it was William?"

"Yes. The scoundrel."

"May I look at your CCTV tapes?"

"Why?"

Mike deliberately breathed smoke into her direction. The smell of it clashed with the sweet overwhelming fumes of the stock. "Evidence..."

"Very well, then."

Mike Kevinson took the tape - recorded from half an hour ago - from the archives, and slotted it into the machine. After some fast-forwarding through a cartoon about what appeared to be green condom-shaped creatures, he found the approximate time. "Right, here we are."

From where he was sitting, William could not really tell what was going on on the tiny screen, so he just remained patiently. What he could see, however, was that Mike was watching it several times over. On the fourth time, he flinched, and just stared blankly at the wall until the tape was finished.

"Is everything okay, sir?" William still felt humbled in Mike Kevinson's presence, even though he himself was a man too, now.

"Yeah..." Mike didn't sound convincing at all. "Well - the good news is this. You're free to go, William. What is shown here, is that your apparent theft was merely an accident. You see, these Soapy Dopes" - he hushed his voice to a whisper - "which, by the way, are not at all authentic, and there is no evidence to prove the Da-Xia and Bohai story is more than a legend. None at all." He scratched his lip, looked away, then got out a cigarette from his leather jacket pocket. William was surprised to see that he was using a match to light it. After taking the first, liberating inhalation, Mike raised his voice to a regular tone again. "Anyway, these Soapy Dopes were hanging from the rafters of this establishment. The footage here indicates that a... a crow flew in here, knocking one of the bags off, and by pure... coincidence, fell into your bag."

William felt somewhat unnerved, that calm and collected Mike Kevinson seemed as if he was losing his cool. He was losing his status as a figurehead of confidence.

"What? The boy goes free?" Anming chirped up suddenly.

"Yes. No charges against him this time."

Eighteen: A Very Special Year

Once the trauma of the whole black feather incident was behind him, William joyously awoke one morning to discover that he was eighteen years old. He had already completed all of his exams, one year early, in the hope that he would be permitted to leave as soon as he was done; and done he was. He had scored full marks in both Chinese and Japanese, and his English grades were top scores; not to mention the fact that his other subjects all recieved the highest grade possible. His school years had been a success; not only that, but he had now come into his inheritance!



Unfortunately, thanks to his father's wilful ways with money and the last few months of illness, there wasn't really that much of an inheritance - everything of value had to be sold to pay off the debts that had accumulated, not to mention lawyer's fees, and after that all that was left was the house. Although it was a rather large, picturesque house, and the site of at least one good childhood memory, William soon discovered that it was impossible to live in such a grand house and pay all the bills without a job, car, or furniture of any great value. Thus it was he decided to sell the house, and move closer to Taiwan (for no greater reason than that he fancied a change of scenery).


So, young William, now a man for the first time, laid his plans: he would take a gap year, find a job (hopefully in a restaurant, since he liked the idea of serving), save up a lot, and then after that go to the local university. It was quite a good university, and the only one in China that could offer him his chosen subject - but more on that later.



Now that the financial matters were under way, William, having found the perfect house for himself, set out to find a job. He went around all the restaurants, cafes and general serveries of his new hometown, dropping off CVs like there was no tomorrow. Or rather a very long string of tomorrows, all of which needed paying for.



This done, he went home and patiently waited for several days, watching anime over the internet and rereading the entire Death Note saga. Eventually, just when he had decided to try again, the phone rang. Knowing that this could only be either a telemarketing call or an interview offer, he jumped to his feet and had the phone to his ear before the third ring.



"Hello? Mr... William Xu?" The voice at the other end of the phone asked, clearly reading his name from a sheet.



"Yes, that's me."



"Ah, hello. I'm calling from a local restaurant that you applied to for a full-time job, 乌鸦 (Wuya Foods). We would like to let you know that your application has been accepted, and if you could come in for an interview this next friday we would really like to speak to you."

"Ah! Thank you!" William replied, overcome with happiness. Now, for the very first time in his life, someone was giving him a chance.


When he got to the interview that friday, he was pleased to hear from the manager that they were a very strong business, and needed to take on extra staff to cope with the amount of customers they now recieved in the evenings. He showed himself to be willing and eager, and intelligent; but for William this was not enough. He had never been a popular boy and now was no exception. It seemed he was cursed; without being able to say why, the manager had an instinctive distrust of William and everything he said. All his references (old teachers, for the most part) seemed good, and his grades certainly spoke for themselves; but all the same, to the manager, employing William seemed somehow a bit of a risk...



"So, William," He said, to conclude the interview, "Is there anything else you'd like to bring to our attention? Something that qualifies you more than anyone else?"


"Yes, actually." William said smartly, having prepared himself for this question. I believe that, with the town being in such a central location, you have a great need for a translator."

"A translator?" The manager asked, unable to believe his ears.

"Yes." William responded solemnly. "You see, I am fluent in Chinese, Japanese, AND English. Now, if there are any customers from a different country, chances are I will be able to communicate with them better than any of your other staff."

"Hmm," Said the manager, "I think we should test your fluency before we take this any further."


"Alright." Said William. "Let's do it."


Several hours later, having spoken with people of many nationalites in and around the most popular tourist hotel, William was faced by a smiling manager, who had enjoyed these out-of-office japes.


"Good man!" Said the manager. "You're hired!"

From that moment, William was officially a man with employment.

On his first shift at the restaurant, he was serving, getting used to the routine, when someone at the back of the room caught his eye. Although the person was sat with his back to him, the dark hair and coat and the slight red glow of a cigarette caught William's attention. He approached the table, noticing that it was in his covers, and took out his notebook so that he could write down the order.

"Are you ready to order, Sir?"

"Yes." Mike Kevinson said. "I'll have a white wine to begin."

"Mike?!" William gasped. "What are you doing in Taiwan?"

"Working." Mike replied, off-handedly. "Just like you."

As he walked away, William could not help but think how strange it was that Mike Kevinson should show up in his first shift, at his new workplace, in his new hometown. But he quickly dismissed it, as Mike appeared to want nothing more than a glass of wine before he was on his way.