The White Cockatoo Flowers: Stories by Ouyang Yu

Author:Ouyang Yu
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Transit Lounge Publishing
Published: 2024-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

The journal-keeper’s entry resumes

People had different responses to Rod’s story. Louis dismissed it as nothing surprising, just one of those ‘inside jobs’ that were rife these days. Hotel staff steal and, if not caught, they will carve up the proceeds among themselves. Sean, who had been quiet all the while, disagreed. He pinned it down to the powerfulness of the Australian passport, saying: ‘If you were a Chinese citizen, they would never give you back the bag even if you had called the police. They’d have resolved the issue by giving the lion’s share to the police.’

I don’t know. I have no idea anymore what is true and what is false. I held back from telling them anything about a loss I once incurred when travelling in the Netherlands. I think Rod told us his story because he successfully retrieved his stolen property, and Louis told us his because he had escaped an attempted robbery unscathed. Whereas I couldn’t disclose my irretrievable loss without shaming myself in their eyes but also causing them to look down on me as incompetent and inexperienced in the face of Europeans. I’m holding back this tale till the day I meet someone who has no happy ending to relate but is willing to share their failure with me.

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