Dollars are harder than Chinese yuan.

Author: Han Dong / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Han Dong is known for his poetry and long novels, but his short novels are also considered outstanding works in contemporary Chinese literature. This book is a collection of short novels, including eight short stories. The protagonists in the stories are mostly poets, sensitive, fragile, closed off, childish, and disconnected from life. They hold no hope for love and are described in detail by the author with a delicate and profound style, allowing readers to experience the absurd yet real aspects of life through the mundane, boring, and ridiculous stories. The novels well reflect the author's linguistic talent as a poet, with details that leave one amazed. The book includes seven short novels by Han Dong from 1994 to 2000, featuring both classic works like Cross Running and My Plato, as well as recent additions like US Dollars are Harder than RMB. To avoid a "top-heavy" feel in the collection, the arrangement of the stories follows a "reverse chronology," meaning the order is the opposite of the writing timeline. As Han Dong himself said, "This is because my later short novels are shorter in length and have a clear advantage in readability, so they were placed first."
After graduating from college, Hang Xiaohua got married to his classmate. Zhou Mei was almost every boy's dream in those days, and after some effort, Hang Xiaohua finally succeeded, largely thanks to his graceful dancing skills. Back then, not many boys knew how to dance, and those who did were even rarer. Hang Xiaohua used his love for dancing as an excuse to get close to Zhou Mei and finally achieved his goal. Those were all old stories now. Now, their daughter is in second grade, and Hang Xiaohua and Zhou Mei's marriage has been ten years old. Time has proven that Hang Xiaohua is a qualified husband and Zhou Mei is a capable wife. Both are deeply devoted to family life. Additionally, time has its own magic—it has made Zhou Mei age uncontrollably. Hang Xiaohua, on the other hand, has grown more distinguished with age, which can be seen in the eyes of the female university students newly assigned to their unit.
To say that Hang Xiaohua is a qualified and capable husband includes the fact that he resisted all temptations from young women and remained devoted to his family, Zhou Mei, and daughter. Hang Xiaohua strongly disapproved of the trend of having one wife and one mistress. Of course, this didn't mean he had completely lost his necessary vanity as a man. Although Hang Xiaohua still loved Zhou Mei, he knew that such love was no longer worth boasting about. At a university reunion, Hang Xiaohua and Zhou Mei took their daughter along, expecting to earn envious glances, but that wasn't the case. Unmarried or divorced men and women seemed to attract more attention. Even the smart ones, even in marriage, wisely didn't bring their wives. Naturally, not only Hang Xiaohua brought his wife, but others did too, and their wives were at least six to seven years younger than Zhou Mei. They were proud and drew quite a bit of jealousy.
It seems whether one has a woman by their side isn't important; what matters is the age gap between them. This is a reliable sign of success in society—it can determine whether someone is doing well or not. The younger the wife, the better one is doing. Next are those who are unmarried or divorced. Like Hang Xiaohua, who appears with his wife and daughter, it's only a sad reminder that leaves people sighing. Especially for those who once pursued Zhou Mei but failed, now appearing with their young and beautiful wives seems like some kind of revenge. This revenge is aimed at Zhou Mei, but also at Hang Xiaohua, the once-arrogant victor.
Zhou Mei aged suddenly in the eyes of everyone, a scene that was both terrifying and dreadful. Hang Xiaohua and his wife attended the necessary activities and left the alma mater quietly, almost unnoticed. The reunion was just a, and though Hang Xiaohua felt some regret, he soon calmed down. He returned to his usual steady routine, cycling to and from his office in an agency compound, buying groceries, cooking, helping his daughter with homework, watching TV in his free time, and having sex with Zhou Mei once a week. Besides, he sometimes attended dance parties.
As mentioned earlier, Hang Xiaohua was a dance enthusiast in college, and he kept this hobby even after marriage. Of course, he never paid for tickets to those profit-driven dance halls or nightclubs. First, he couldn’t afford it, and second, he didn’t know how to dance like the others there. He was a true dance star, always scoffing at the jerky, exhausting moves of disco. His physical condition didn’t allow it, and he also believed such dancing had no beauty or charm. Hang Xiaohua felt he was getting old and that mingling with a crowd of young people no older than his daughter was inappropriate. Therefore, although he loved dancing, his choices were limited, and he only appeared at unit or conference-sponsored parties. Since such opportunities were rare, Hang Xiaohua valued them greatly, and at almost every such dance, we could see him gracefully dancing. He never missed a song and invited every woman present to dance with him, rotating partners until he was flushed, sweating profusely, and nearly exhausted. Hang Xiaohua considered this a good way to exercise, and besides, he didn’t need to find other time for it.
Zhou Mei couldn’t go to every dance with her husband, as she had to stay home to look after their daughter. Besides, she wasn’t particularly fond of dancing—she had learned it just to get closer to Hang Xiaohua. Now that she had him and their daughter was grown, why dance? Of course, Zhou Mei knew Hang Xiaohua truly loved dancing, which was different from her. She trusted him completely and knew that occasional dancing was fine. It was better for her young husband to let off steam than to stay cooped up at home all day. Zhou Mei understood the importance of making the most of things, showing how wise a woman she was.
Everyone thought it was dangerous for Hang Xiaohua to keep dancing like this. At first, they reminded Zhou Mei, but since she ignored them, they just waited to see what would happen. Ten years passed, and nothing happened. Hang Xiaohua continued to spin on the dance floor with passion and elegance, just as he had in his youth. Hang Xiaohua never brought a partner, but with his outstanding dancing skills, he never lacked someone to dance with. Often, as soon as a song ended, he returned to his seat, but before he could sit down, another song started. He hurriedly left the dance floor to invite another woman. In reality, the breaks between songs were short, and he didn’t need to leave the floor at all, but he always did, trying to sit down, each time maintaining a clear interruption pose. His buttocks never even touched the chair before he jumped back into the next. Why did Hang Xiaohua insist on walking back? Was it an unconscious habit? Or should this be seen as a necessary norm for a mature dancer? Like a trained typist, no matter how she typed, she always returned to the starting key.
In summary, all of Hang Xiaohua’s conscious or unconscious actions at the dance parties only prove that he is an excellent dancer and nothing more.
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