“America is full of yellow gold.” People always say this before and after I came to the United States. On the first day of my arrival in the United States, one of my elementary school classmates, Po, took me to see a movie. On the way, some young and beautiful ladies standing on the roadside waved to us with smiling faces. I liked them, but I had no money. The next day, I went to a store of a fellow villager. He said that in the United States, you can have whatever you want. Enjoy it, but I didn’t.
About a week later, I got a job as a dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant opened by Taiwanese in Chinatown, Washington, D.C. On the first day of work, a young and beautiful lady who collected money at the front desk was the boss’s sister-in-law. When she was registering, she asked me if I was married. I said I was single. I didn’t mean it, because people say that it is easier to find a job if you are single when working away from home. This restaurant had good business, and the dishwashers were always busy. The first two left because they had other plans. After working for a week, I didn’t feel tired. It was much easier than the work in my hometown. I also helped the chef with the preparation work. Everyone was very happy. The boss’s sister-in-law also often came into the kitchen to talk to me. After lunch, she drove away in her red sports car. Sometimes she asked me if I wanted to go out and play. I was ashamed because I had no money in my pocket, so I said I wouldn’t go. Sometimes when I was busy washing dishes, she handed me a glass of ice cola and said, “Work hard, I will help you.” In the third week, the chef said that he wanted to teach me how to cook, and said that the boss also agreed. Of course, I was happy. At the end of the month, when the salary was paid, because I had to file taxes, the cashier asked me how many people were in my family. I said my family of four, and she screamed coquettishly, “You lied to me, you said you were single!” I was speechless. Later I explained to my boss that I didn’t mean it, I did it to find a job. The boss said that he understood and it was okay. But the cashier regarded me as a liar and didn’t give me a good face. The chef didn’t teach me to cook anymore. I was very embarrassed and prepared to go to another city to work and make money.
Maybe I will find yellow gold somewhere.
Maybe one day I would become a rich man and tell my fellow countrymen that there is yellow gold everywhere in the United States.
Maybe there is no maybe.
(Part 1 of a series)
Mr. Chi immigrated legally to the U.S from a small town in China in 1975. He worked in the food industry, rose in position to head chef, and eventually opened a handful of restaurants before retiring. Mr. Chi now spends his days taking walks around Elmhurst, and writing his life experiences in English, which read like brief social commentaries.
