Faces of China

This translation was made for information purposes only. The views expressed in the article are that of the author and him alone.

Author: Wang Heyan, journalist at New Century Weekly.

Link to original article: New Century Weekly’s 24th issue

We are family

From time to time this street vendor selling flowers runs into the subway station to hide from the Chengguan.

A couple of days ago I went to the subway station to buy flowers from him when I overheard a guy standing next to him talking on the phone “I’ll buy you a bunch of flowers” whereupon he grabbed a bunch of red roses.

I started laughing and he asked me: “What are you laughing at?”
“Are you buying flowers for your girlfriend?”
I replied with a smile.
“I didn’t say buy, I’m just gonna take them. We are family”. He laughed while he walked towards a street vendor selling bootlegged DVDs. He was wearing a yellow subway uniform saying “Staff”.

I asked the street vendor:
“Are you family?”
He whispered: “No”
I was surprised and asked:
“Well, why didn’t he pay then?”
The street vendor looked up, moving his lips, but then he paused.
Before I had time to ask him again, the guy with the “Staff” uniform came back and said:
“People say these flowers are fake, is that true?”
The street vendor smiled and said:
“That’s not true”
I thought I’d help him out and said:
“They can’t be fake”
Then the guy left.

I whispered one more time:
“Why didn’t he pay?”
I realized the guy was staring at us from the behind the DVD vendor.
The street vendor glimpsed at the guy and had no choice but to continue whispering:
“He’s one of them, and this is their place. If I don’t let them take my flowers, they will not allow me to be here”
“Does he take your flowers on a regular basis?”
I was starting to get angry, but I kept my voice down and smiled so he wouldn’t get any trouble.
The street vendor sighed.
“Today’s civil servants are sometimes just like mobsters.”