Soon after that, mother was called to cook for Long who was studying in Shouning. Father was left alone in the village. I dared not tell him that the student loan turned out to be a bubble. It was only when I had to kneel down before people to beg for a delay in paying my tuition fees, that father’s remark of“iron rice bowl” seemed more understandable and less dictatorial.
Overall, the whole summer was a long phobia.