I tease, "Wow! Twelve hundred dollars! This is one of the benefits of the market economy with socialist characteristics that applies only to you. Unfortunately, I work for a capitalist company. I don't really save up receipts. I can't get reimbursement for anything, even my cell phone bills. Everything I pay for is out of my earnings."
Beibei says, "No, Niuniu, I don't think there is a difference between capitalism and socialism in terms of reimbursements. Think of Worldcom or Enron. In my opinion, reimbursements are to do with one's ranking in the company. For example, general managers and chief representatives of big foreign companies' Chinese offices can get all kinds of allowances and reimbursements."
I agree with Beibei. "I guess you're right. My position is not high up yet. That's why I don't have the power to get freebies."
"I remember five years ago, the former Beijing bureau chief of your news agency, a British man who went to school with CC, was reported, by his driver, for using the newspaper's money to pay for toilet paper at his home and the paintings in his wife's office!"
"If only one day I could become the bureau chief." I sigh.
"But I thought you'd save up receipts for tax purposes," says Beibei.
I sigh. "My income is too insignificant compared to yours. I don't really bother."
Beibei says, "Even if you don't save receipts, you should have some you haven't tossed, like taxi fares, minibus fares, meals, books, gasoline, or different kinds of entertainment expenses. Anything is good except for bus tickets. They cannot be reimbursed."
"It seems to me that your company discourages people from saving money on transportation," I say.
"The rule is the rule! Have you got some receipts for last month?" Beibei asks me.
"Let me check." I rummage through my purse and pockets and find some receipts. After counting, I tell Beibei, "I found receipts for some novels I just bought, but they are only for two hundred yuan. Chinese books are too inexpensive. Next time, if you'd tell me in advance, I'd buy some big pricey art books."
"Niuniu, are you still in bed? Please get up quickly!" Beibei demands.
"Why?"
"It seems to me that the only choice we have is to spend as much money as we can today."
"You want me to go with you to spend money so that you can get reimbursed the next day?" I ask.
Beibei says, "Of course, the best choice would be getting receipts for things I didn't pay for. It would be another source of income. If I can't get that, at least we can have fun and let Chichi Entertainment pay for it!"
"Beibei," I protest, "you sound so corrupt!"
"Not nearly as corrupt as those corrupt government officials!"
Huise shouru, or gray income, is popular in China. In Beibei's case, besides her salary, she gets reimbursed for gasoline, cell phone bills, meals, and gifts. This cash is considered her gray income. Even Lulu, whose pay is one-fourth of mine, can write off the cost of her clothes, her hairdo, her membership at the gym, etc. Plus, she gets boxes of free cosmetics, shampoos, and body massages every month from her magazine. She has told me that when the advertisers can't pay them money, they use their goods in exchange for advertising pages. As for CC, who works in a public relations firm, her cell phone, palm pilot, and the Omega watch are all from clients who give her such a big discount that the items become almost freebies. I'm the only one who works for a foreign company and lives on my salary and has no gray income.
One hour later.
Beibei and I meet in front of the spa. We go to the sauna and take a hot shower. Then, each of us gets a one-hour foot massage, a two-hour back massage, pedicures, manicures, and facials. Beibei and I have spent five hours in the spa. Next on the program is dinner.
"Let's go someplace expensive!" Beibei suggests.
"I'm not into shark fins or fancy nest soups," I say. "I feel this is already sad."
"Yes, I know, you're so Americanized that you've become an animal-rights activist," Beibei teases.
We choose to have a buffet at the revolving restaurant on the top floor of the International Hotel and then hang out at an Irish bar nearby for drinks.
By eleven o'clock Beibei has spent only 5000 RMB – about $600 – not nearly half her goal.
But her luck changes after I go to the lady's room where I find a handwritten ad on the walclass="underline" "Need receipts? I sell them cheaply. Page me at XXXX-XXXX."
I immediately inform Beibei. Beibei rushes into the bathroom, gets the number, and makes the call immediately.
When she comes back to join me, her face radiates joy. "Niuniu, you've helped me make five thousand yuan in three minutes!" Beibei says, hugging me.
"Still no guilty feelings about the easy money?" I ask Beibei.
"Not really. Everybody has to have some sort of gray income. At least, I pay for my own toilet paper."
HUISE SHOURU: Gray income; income other than one's salary, often cash under the table or reimbursements for expenses.
59 Nick, the Star
On New Year's Eve, I invite my single girlfriends Lulu and CC to my house for a potluck dinner. After dinner, we watch the specials on TV together.
One channel features a national English competition of elementary school students. Each contestant gives a five-minute speech on his or her dreams and hopes for the New Year. There are six judges present to award points, and the final score of each contestant is the average of the points, the same as the rules of a diving match. English contests are extremely popular in China; for example, the One-Million-Dollar Show in Hong Kong can draw huge audiences.
"Look. It's Nick on TV!" Lulu has a margarita in one hand and is pointing at the TV screen with the other.
Nick is sitting in the middle of the judges' panel. The camera gives him several close-ups, as the TV presenter explains twice that Nick is an expert from Oxford University. Apparently, he is highly respected.
"My grades were much better than his in Oxford. Why didn't they invite me?" CC protests.
"I guess you look too Chinese. The Chinese like foreign faces better sometimes, especially when it comes to the English." I say.
"Right. I forgot that I'm a fake foreign devil here," CC comments sarcastically.
"I've heard there is a beauty pageant on another channel. Let's appreciate beautiful models instead of that heartbreaker Nick!" I suggest.
We switch the channel to the beauty pageant. Seeing these young, thin, yet beautiful women walk so gracefully on the stage clad only in bikinis, I feel uncomfortable about my own body. I will lose weight and eat less chocolate in the New Year, I silently vow to myself.
After the bikini test, it is announced that each beauty will be given a Q amp; A in English.
"Although I'm not as tall and thin, I speak the Queen's English perfectly." CC comforts herself, trying to find a psychological equilibrium.
But her smile soon freezes as we again see Nick on the TV. On this channel, he is acting as a guest MC. His role is to ask the questions in English to each beauty and to crack jokes. He is confident and princely.
"I didn't know that he's turned into a TV star in such a short time period," CC murmurs. "Before coming to China, Nick was so shy and timid. But now, he has gained confidence. China seems to be a paradise for men. But what about women? These young women here could easily make me, once a college queen, feel fat, plain, unfeminine, and even old. Was it a wise decision to have returned to China from England with Nick?" She wonders.
"This local channel is boring. Let's watch CCTV!" Lulu says.
"Right! Let's watch something intellectual. Like The 59 Minutes," I add.
CC quietly grabs the remote control and quickly switches the channel.
The 59 Minutes features a special edition about China 's progress in the world community over the last year, as well as a forecast of cultural and socioeconomic changes in the New Year.