K R I S TA M A U N E Y E N G L I S H 3 0 9

A P R I L 1 1 , 2 0 1 3

THE LIFE AND LOVE OF HUI

MY FAMILY DENIES MY EXISTENCE, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT MY LIFE THEY SEE THEIR OWN STORY. WELL I HAVE MY OWN

STORY AND I HAVE A NAME.

WEI, MY HUSBAND, AND I HAD AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE. UNLIKE OUR PARENTS WE DID NOT HAVE YEARS TO GET TO KNOW ONE ANOTHER AND SLOWLY FALL IN LOVE, WE WERE STRANGERS.

AFTER OUR HUSBANDS WERE GONE, MY SISTER-IN-LAW AND I LIVED IN THE SAME ROOM. YEAR AFTER YEAR, THE SAME ROOM, THE SAME FAMILY AND NO HUSBAND IN SIGHT. I BECAME LONELY AND RESTLESS, AS THE YEARS DRUG ON IT WAS HARDER TO SEE MY HUSBAND AS A HUSBAND AT ALL. TO TOP IT ALL OFF I WAS WATCHED AT ALL TIMES, IN CASE OF ANY SLIPS I MIGHT MAKE.

I WAS A DAUGHTER AND WIFE OF DUTY, HONOR, AND FAMILY VALUES. ALL OF THIS CHANGE WHEN I MET FENG. FROM THE BEGINNING EVERY INTERACTION I HAD WITH FENG WAS DIFFERENT THAN ANYTHING I HAD EVER EXPERIENCED.

FENG AND I MET WHENEVER WE COULD, WE NEVER HAD LONG WITH ONE ANOTHER. THERE WAS NEVER REAL SEXUAL TENSION BETWEEN US, THAT WAS NOT WHAT OUR RELATIONSHIP WAS TO ONE ANOTHER. OUR FIRST KISS WAS THE FIRST TIME I EVER FELT THAT I COULD BE SOMEONE ELSE, BE APART FROM MY FAMILY, TO BE MY OWN PERSON.

HE GAVE ME A PHOTO. LITTLE DID HE KNOW THAT IN THE END, IT WOULD MEAN EVERYTHING AND NOTHING ALL AT ONCE. BUT AT THE TIME I TRULY BELIEVED IT MEANT THAT ONE DAY I WOULD HAVE A FAMILY WITH FENG. WHERE ONCE MY WORLD WAS GRIM, THEN IT WAS FILLED WITH WONDER.

MONTHS AND MONTHS WENT PAST WITHOUT FENG. I NEVER SAW HIM IN THE VILLAGE, OR ANY OF OUR MEETING PLACES. I NEVER EVEN HAD THE CHANCE TO TELL HIM ABOUT THE BABY. OUR DREAM OF A FAMILY, THE VILLAGE TOLD HIM, SUSPECTING HE DID NOT KNOW ME PERSONALLY. HE NEVER SHOWED AT OUR PLACE, THE PLACE WE ALWAYS WENT. BUT I KNEW ONE DAY HE WOULD COME. HE HAD TO COME.