The Critical Offer by Yitzhak Nir

Author:Yitzhak Nir [Nir, Yitzhak]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-11-02T16:00:00+00:00

The cries of the crows were swallowed by the thundering waves crashing onto the shore. Her expensive sunglasses were returned to rest on her pretty nose, hiding her slanting eyes that turned to stare at the horizon. He longed to encircle her slim waist with both arms and place his mouth on hers. But he felt that the magic moment had passed.

An old light plane rattled above them, swaying and struggling against the wind gusts and descending northbound on its way to somewhere.

“Take care of yourself,” he whispered in his heart, referring to himself as well.

“How many years have you been in Israel?” he asked, attempting to renew the conversation.

“Almost three years and half.”

“And did you come straight here from America?” he asked, trying to remove some of the mystery that enveloped her.

“Oh no, no. My story is a bit long. Do you have break time from your work?”

“I have all the time in the world for you,” he replied immediately with his ice-breaking smile. Then she told him that she had been only six years old when her father, Joe (Zhou) Yang, an expert in agricultural planning aged twenty-nine, had left her and her mother, boarded a bulk freighter in Shanghai and defected to the United States.

She continued to describe how China had begun to open up to the West: its economy had developed quickly, villages were abandoned, huge cities were constructed, and Chinese industry had begun to conquer world markets. Under the regime’s leadership, investments mushroomed and China became an economic power pushing forward and holding more than half of America’s world debt.

Joe Yang enrolled as a student, succeeded in his studies, fell in love with capitalism and by the age of thirty-nine had completed a PhD in economics. Like many Chinese students in the United States at that time, he simply decided not to return. He had taught at Yale University until his retirement, at the relatively young age of sixty-two.

“Was it possible back then to run away and not return?” he asked.

“I think it was not according to laws of government in Beijing then. But today it is alright. And my father is an important economics professor now!” she answered in pensive English, following the flight of the crows gliding down from the sandstone cliff to the beach, chattering hoarsely among themselves.

“And where does he live now?” he asked, already regretting the question.

“Why?” Again she quickly narrowed her eyes to those firing slits that suddenly appeared hostile.

“No, no. Never mind. It’s just that I studied at New Haven University, so I thought…” The lie rolled smoothly off his tongue. …After all, I really did receive my degree from an extension of New Haven in Israel. …Well, I’ll Google both of them back at the office… He reassured himself and forced his mouth into a smile.

“Thirty-three Sycamore Avenue, Manchester, Connecticut, U.S.A., Mister nice-guy.” She shot at him and widened her eyes again. Her smile seemed to mock his suspicions.

“Why did your father retire so early?”

“In China sixty-two not early.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.