Chinese Cinderella (185-205)

Summary:

When Adeline sent her play, she kept coming back to the teacher wondering if she had any news about the competition. The teacher would always respond to her by saying not to lose hope and to have patience. Adeline was very anxious to be able to get the news because she would be very proud to tell her grandfather this accomplishment she made all because of him. While she was outside playing with her friends, one of the teachers came to get her and told her to come with her. She didn’t want to go because she wanted to be able to finish the game, but the teacher said that the chauffeur was waiting for her. Since she was never picked up from school, she wondered what was wrong and the teacher told her to go comb hair and wash her hand because she was going to be going home, her grandfather Ye Ye died.

            At the funeral, Adeline was the only one crying. Aside from her Aunt Baba, her grandfather was the only person she had left and was one of the only people that ever cared for her. She was sad, because her grandfather would never be able to see how much influence her had on her. Before, she left her mother Niang told her that she needed to get a job when school ended because her father had too many children and would not be able to support all of them so he would not continue to pay for her school expenses. She became very depressed with the combination of her grandfather’s death and worrying about her future.

Once again, the teacher came looking for Adeline telling her that the chauffeur was here again to take her home. She went to her parent’s new house, and went to go to her father who wanted to talk to her. He showed her the newspaper which had her name written on it stating that she had won the competition. She received a medal and a cash prize and was also congratulated for bringing honor to Hong Kong. Her father told her about how one of his colleagues was telling him about it and how proud she was to tell him that she was his daughter. Her father informed her that she would be going to England with her brother this summer to study in medical school. She agreed and thanked her father for the wonderful opportunity. In the end her Aunt Baba sent her a letter. She told her about how happy she was of Adeline being able to go to England. Her aunt reminded her that she would always be there for her, even if they are not together and to read this letter over whenever she was discouraged because it would give her hope. In the letter was a story about a little girl named Ye Xian who lived during the Tang dynasty. Her mother also died, and was mistreated by her mean step mother. She was talented and even with all of the obstacles she faced, she was able to be successful. Aunt Baba said that Adeline and Ye Xian are similar because even with all the hard times, they defied all odds and triumphed.

Quote: “He looked radiant. For once, he was proud of me”(Mah 192).

Reaction: One of the things that Adeline wanted other than to go to England to study was for her father to be proud of her. She always tried so hard just to be able to stand out from the rest of her brothers and sister so her father would acknowledge her. On that day, two of her lifetime dreams came true. I don’t think she could have been any happier.