Vanity Fair and City I (3)

All of us are snails in this crazy city, carrying the heavy shell through our life. However, none of us are willing to abandon it no matter how heavy it is.

“I want to work in foreign companies.” He told me his aim in the near future. I understood. Salary in foreign companies is higher than that in other companies, so is the competition.

He was so vain that if he couldn’t work in a foreign company, he would feel ashamed for it. But I sneered: Womanizing bastard, you had spent most of your time changing your girlfriends on the campus, how can you find a good job?

“No, I don’t!” he explained in one of his emails. “Now I have grown up and understood something. I am single now but I don’t want to find a girlfriend recently. I want to find a job first.”

So he started looking for a job. Yes, he had already grown up. I felt so happy for it even though he just regarded me as his friend. I found my job easily last year, so he kept asking me things about finding a job…I can’t change the fact that he always acts like my younger brother in front of me. And I hate always acting like a strong girl or elder sister.

Of course his next step is to save money and buy a house… He didn’t tell me this but it is the goal of most of us. However, the housing price is extremely high in this city…Juliet works hard for her house too, but the price is…

“Look at you, independent female! Your girls always claim ‘to be independent’ and work hard! But the price is that you are much older then the ‘Juliet’ I saw last year!” her ex-boyfriend yelled at her one year later.

My nature tells me I don’t want to be a snail. The increase rate of housing price is unlimited, but my salary is limited…I don’t know how things will be ten years later…
……

And then I met a young westerner. He told me his pursuit, his dream and his cause. He cared about his nation and his people. He was quite heavily into politics…

At first I wondered: What’s wrong with his brain? Then I understood…He cares about those his nation doesn’t really care. He wants to help the poor.

I am struck dumb, marveling at his pursuit…People around me only cares about their own things, such as house, cars, jobs and so on. But he cares about things only granddads care…Not many people can make me respect, but he can.

Then…

“He is going to buy a house.” Melanie talked about her manager boyfriend. “Of course he has to pay for it monthly.”

“I am going to buy a house.” said Peter. “Man should have his own house, or else no woman will marry him.”

“Come on baby.” So men whisper to women. “I have already had my own house.”

“Trust me baby, I will buy a house in the near future…”

Whenever people around me talk about these, I can’t help thinking: What’s wrong with them??? Or, what’s wrong with us???

The difference between that westerner and people around me reminds me of one Chinese saying: Self-cultivating, family-regulating, state-ordering, then the land great governed.