Highbrow, Lowbrow.

Translated by: MDS

Beijing is a city of fourteen million people, not counting foreigners and migrants.  There are scads of eligible young singles, divorced and separated people.  The ratio of men to women is more than 1.2 : 1.  But when unattached females Suzie Huang and Shan Shan go looking for romance there is a shock in store.

From the end of August through the beginning of September, Beijing's social 'season' is relentless.  There are parties on every corner.  Sometimes even outings to Yunnan province and coastal cities.

These events fall into various categories:  those for the social cream and those open to all; those which are fee-based and those which are free; those which require gifts and those which don't; there where there is food and those where you go hungry.  Suzie Huang thinks that the differences all essentially boil down to the distinction lowbrow and highbrow.

Suzie and Shan Shan have such busy social lives that they don't see each other for two weeks.  However they talk a lot on the phone.  Mostly they exchange notes about how this buffet was disappointing; this host was dull.  Their conversations go something like this:

Shan Shan: Last night this reporter sitting next to me spent the whole night talking about Dostoyevsky:

Suzie Huang: As young as that?

Shan Shan: 22 years old.

Suzie Huang: Well yesterday at the buffet this mega-rich fifty year old businessman told me he liked to rollerskate to work.

Shan Shan: He sounds interesting.

Suzie Huang? Yes, but he had to go to the toilet every ten minutes.

The young pretending to be old, and the old pretending to be young.  Where could a girl go to meet normal people? Suzie Huang bets on highbrow activities.  She thinks that those with an established social position are generally more stable.  Shan Shan on the other hand favours lowbrow.  Her theory is that those who face the least social pressure behave more naturally.

The third weekend that Suzie Huang and Shan Shan go their separate ways, Suzie Huang attends the annual event of an exclusive club.  Shan Shan goes to a beach party.  At the smart-set bash, Suzie Huang is standing uncomfortably rigid because of her black back-revealing evening dress.  She feels like a liquorice stick.  Suddenly she hears someone loudly calling her name.

'Suzie!'

When she turns Suzie is surprised to see an eligible bachelor called Qi; a former colleague from an Internet company. After the slump in internet stocks, Qi had the brains to buy big and then the stocks rose again making him the latest of Beijing's billionaires.  Standing next to Qi is a very tall, immaculately-dressed man she has never seen before.  When Suzie Huang and the tall man make eye contact, Suzie's heart flutters.

At this moment, Shan Shan has just lost her friends at the artificial-beach party.  She is calling for them in the swelling crowd when a shower of beer drenches her.  After she spins to confront the culprit, a regular, honest looking guy presents two rows of smiling and very white teeth.

In the club, Suzie Huang and Qi's friend move onto shaking hands.  Qi's friend has a powerful grasp.  Their handshake is longer than the usual by precisely two seconds.

On the beach, Shan Shan tosses the offender's beer bottle to the ground.  The young man seems unconcerned and extends a warm hand:

'I've got another bottle.  Let's drink it together.'

Late that night, Suzie Huang and the tall man (meet Chao Hui; an architect) are getting intimate in a garden pavilion. At some stage the Internet billionaire discreetly vanishes and the world mysteriously shrinks to two people.

Chao Hui's hand strokes the long hair that flows down Suzie Huang's neck.  He draws her closer.

'Let's go to my place.  I've got ten different kinds of booze, five different kinds of coffee, one balcony and one condom.'

Suzie Huang reflects that rarely before has she received such a munificent invitation.  Although Chao Hui is perhaps a bit slick for an apparently shy person, she decides not to be too harsh.

Chao Hui shares a fashionable duplex apartment with two entrances. As they are alone on the balcony which faces the garden they unexpectedly hear a door open.  The sound of laughter and conversation follows.  Suzie Huang takes a slightly startled step back and very nearly goes over the balcony. 

Chao Hui is there in time.

'Don't worry, it's my room mate. He lives upstairs.'

They stay on the balcony all night and only go in when the birds start making a noise.

At lunch time, Suzie Huang gets up.  She washes, dresses and does her make up.  Feeling positive, she decides that today she will finally call Shan Shan to go shopping.

Chao Hui leads her from the bedroom.  When they get to the hall there are voices on the stairs.  Suzie Huang looks up and nearly collapses as she sees Shan Shan coming down the stairs in full vivacious flow…

From this embarrassing encounter, Suzie Huang and Shan Shan learn a few things.  There's not much difference between highbrow and lowbrow.  Don't lose touch with a friend for too long.  Never spend the night in a shared apartment, even with two entrances.