Gossip spread like wildfire among the neighbors and then my mother forced me to kneel at my grandfather’s grave. "Swear to me," she had said, "that you’ll never take the exams again whether it is for postgraduate entrance examination or the civil service examination. Never do anything that embarrasses me again."
I secretly rented a place and tried studying for graduate school entrance exams. However, when she found out, she burned all my study materials and she nearly set fire to the entire apartment.
My girlfriend of four years broke up with me right after meeting my family. Before my aunt arranged an "ideal marriage" for me, she convinced my mother by saying, "I had someone read his fortune. Your son is destined for a life of hard labor. My son is destined for greatness. He should just marry and farm like a good, honest man. That’s his fate."
While I was away, they went behind my back and paid the bride price.
That night, my mother made an elaborate feast and personally cooked the food. It was something she never did. She even drank with me and swore, "As long as you listen to me, I’ll have your father find you a good job. We’ll even pay for your wedding."