บท 21: Essay (3)
Feng Qi chuckled with good nature while Jun Yang petrified from pure embarrassment, a common response for the young man when he was faced with teasing from Feng Qi.
Feng Qi grabbed Jun Yang's hand and pulled him towards their destination. He ran ahead and the wind carried his words into Jun Yang's ear, "Let's go. Like you always say, I should pay more attention to the studies so we should get moving because standing there is not going to help the situation."
…
Jun Yang was thus pulled to the Mist café. The bell above the door chimed as Feng Qi pushed the door open and the pair walked in.
The lunch crowd had just been served so the place was semi-deserted. Miss M was standing behind the counter, washing the dishes when they walked in. She lifted her head from the bell and when she saw her favorite employee, she greeted them with a bright smile, "Feng Qi, it's so wonderful to see you. And you've brought a friend with you?"
Feng Qi responded with a smile that was equally bright, "Hi, Miss M. Yes, this here is a very special friend of mine." He placed emphasis on the word, special.
The implication of the emphasis was lost on the café's proprietor but not on Jun Yang. The young man grumbled in a whisper, "Would you please make a normal introduction, I don't want people to get the wrong impression of our relationship."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure that people will not get the wrong idea," Feng Qi promised. Jun Yang had a feeling that what he defines as 'the wrong idea' might not be similar to what Feng Qi had in mind.
Jun Yang was about to warn Feng Qi from embarrassing him when Miss M enquired in a confused tone, "Feng Qi, why are you here today? If I'm not mistaken, your shift is tomorrow, right?"
The lady was under the impression that Feng Qi was there to work, an impression that Feng Qi cleared up quickly. "Oh, no. Miss M, I'm here today to work on some school homework."
Miss M was shocked for a second. It was clear that the female owner was also under the impression that Feng Qi was not what they'd call a hardworking student. Regardless, she was glad to see that Feng Qi was showing some seriousness towards his studies. She nodded approvingly and added, "In that case, I'll allow you to use the table near the back. It's quieter over there."
"Thank you, Miss M." Feng Qi led Jun Yang to the table. When Jun Yang passed Miss M, he also nodded his thanks. The lady accepted it with a knowing smile. Jun Yang felt like the lady had gotten the wrong idea about his relationship to Feng Qi but before he could explain it to her, he was pulled along by Feng Qi.
Feng Qi cleaned up the table with a practiced efficiency that showed that he was really experienced at his work. Then, the boys took their seat.
Miss M came over to serve them some drinks. "They're on the house," she said before leaving them to their device.
…
After Jun Yang took his seat, he took a deep breath and tried to pull the topic back to the assignment before Feng Qi made it stray even further. "Feng Qi, what do you think of the play and the assignment?"
When Mr. Sam was going through the play, Jun Yang actually saw his own life being reflected in the plot of the play. The play talked about how the characters were unable to escape the influence from their previous generations. Even though they actively tried to stop repeating the same mistake their predecessor committed, subconsciously, they would still mirror the behavior of the people that came before them. In other words, the play had a theme on the inescapability of family tradition, and the influence across generation, namely the power of current generation in shaping the future generation.
Jun Yang saw shadows of his life in the story because in a way, his life was also shaped by those that came before him. He was the young master of the Jun family and was expected to take over his father's business one day. He was to continue the family legacy.
However, the difference between his life and those of the characters in the play was Jun Yang saw his family tradition as a positive one. He was thankful for the early head-start that he had been given in life. He could admit that he was luckier than most when it came to his birth.
The sons in the play eventually became images of their father and in Jun Yang's case, he would also one day assume his father's responsibility. However, he thought that was a good thing because he looked up to his father.
Therefore, he had the conclusion that if the family tradition was a good one, there was nothing wrong with the cross-generational influence and practices.
Being a considerate person, Jun Yang asked for Feng Qi's input on the assignment before he provided his. He did not want to influence Feng Qi's opinion with his own preconception.
"I think the concept of the relationship between father and son in Fences being a cyclical phenomenon is quite a pessimistic look on family structure," Feng Qi began.
"Pessimistic?" Jun Yang surprised by Feng Qi's choice of word. "Why would you say that?"
"The play places too much confidence in the inescapability of family tradition," Feng Qi argued. "That is quite a cynical view on the power of autonomy in children."
Since Jun Yang saw himself as being reflected as the characters in the play, he could not help but feel a bit offended by Feng Qi's analysis. He tried to approach this from a more academic perspective and shared his thought, "That's because the play frames the concept of family tradition as a negative thing, what if the family tradition is a positive one?"
Feng Qi paused to think about it. He shook his head. "I still don't think it constitutes a positive thing. This type of reading implies that children are weak and are nothing but slaves to the supposedly overwhelming power of family tradition and parental influence."
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