Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Don't Tell the Ayi

The last time I had a head cold, I made the mistake of sneezing and sniffling around her, and she acted like the world was coming to an end. She immediately ran out and bought pears, brown sugar, and these white ear mushrooms, cooking them all together in a nasty soup that she sat in front of me and forced me to eat.

This time when I got a cold, I was determined not to let her notice. Before she came today, I drank three piping hot cups of herbal tea, and sucked on vitamin C drops. I would blow my nose only when I could hear she was in the other room.

My strategy worked until about 30 minutes before she was done. She was in the study, where I sat, and I had to clear my throat.

Her head whipped around. “Gan mao?” she asked.

“Yi dianr,” I admitted. “Mei wenti.” I didn’t want her to think the cold was too bad. She offered to make me tea, which I refused.

“But you have a cold!” she said in Chinese.

“Yes, but I’m okay,” I said back in Chinese. Since she was done with her work for the day, she was forced to accept that and leave.

Debbie: 1

Ayi: 0

No comments:

Post a Comment