When Grandmother Wong gave Moonie and Mei Ling their one-month-old haircutting party, she invited her old cronies from the village. Auntie Lu said, “Look at Mei Ling’s long fingers. She is going to be an accomplished violinist like Sarah Chang and Midori!” Auntie Lan said, “Look at Moonie’s alert eyes, flashing left to right, already weighing evidence. She is going to be a fine counselor of law. She will be the Johnnie Cochran of Hong Kong!” Auntie Wu said, “How sad—we humans and our delusions. The only certainty about any baby girl’s future is that she will die. She is already a soon-to-be-dead person.”
To this remark, Grandmother Wong grabbed Auntie Wu by the ear, dragged her out the door and kicked the door shut.