When You Wish Upon a Lantern by Gloria Chao

Author:Gloria Chao [Chao, Gloria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2023-02-14T00:00:00+00:00

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Last week’s research had turned up that in ancient China, as part of the Qīxì celebration, single folks would come out at night holding lanterns to try to meet a potential match. Of course I had to make this a part of our festival, and I had to make it a key in Operation Mooncake.

I printed out flyers for the festival as a whole but made a few dozen that highlighted the Lantern Singles Match and sent them to all the single people I knew in the community. And of course, Shue Nǎinai and Mr. Tang received personalized invitations.

As the time for the Lantern Singles Match approaches, Kai and I finish arranging the chairs in the center in two parallel lines, facing each other. A few eager participants are already beginning to hover. One of them is Shue Nǎinai.

“Liya, my favorite, how is my hair?” she asks me as she takes a seat.

Her full-blown perm hasn’t moved the entire time I’ve known her. “Beautiful,” I say with a smile.

She wrings her hands. “Is this lipstick too much? I feel like a clown.” She puckers her pale pink lips, and it’s so cute I want to go track down Mr. Tang this instant.

“You look perfect,” I tell her sincerely.

When the gathering group hits double digits, I start the event, explaining how it will work. Essentially, it’s speed dating plus construction paper lanterns with suggested topics of discussion written on them.

It’s a little cheesy, maybe even derivative of the worst kind of reality show, but I think it’s cute and, more important, I think it will work. Operation Mooncake is the top priority during this event. Mr. Tang needs a little nudging and my hope is that the paper lanterns will help them talk about real topics (unlike many reality shows). Perhaps it’s weird and not how a normal date would work, but what’s normal anymore? Tinder? Catfishing? I stand by my plan.

As a relationship noob, I did have some trouble coming up with the questions, but yay internet. I covered everything from deal breakers to what a typical Friday night looks like to which side of the bed (I didn’t even know that was a thing). And while I did briefly consider finding a way to incorporate first farts, I didn’t.

After I finish my explanation, the seats fill and people start chatting. Mr. Tang has arrived late and is far from Shue Nǎinai at the moment, but that’s exactly why I planned the rotating “dates.”

Kai joins me off to the side. “Hey, partner,” he says softly so only I can hear.

That word makes me grin. “Operation Mooncake is in motion,” I say, matching his low volume. I quietly tell him about how, after everyone took their seats, I backward inducted to figure out who I needed to give what lantern to so that by the time they finish rotating chairs and lanterns (clockwise for the first, counter for the latter), Shue Nǎinai and Mr. Tang will have the lantern topic I planned for them: Tell your partner what you hope your future will look like.

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