The New Year Boyfriend

By Zoey Gong

At 27, Winnie is on the verge of becoming an old maid. And she's just fine with that. In medical school and studying for admission to an exclusive training program, Winnie just needs a few more years to get her life in order before she can even think about getting married.

But her mother has other plans.

Winnie's mother orders her to return home for Chinese New Year to meet a young man she is sure Winnie will agree to marry if she only meets him. But Winnie won't let anything—even her overbearing mother—stand in the way of her own goals and dreams. So she does the one thing she is sure will get her mother off her back—she hires a New Year boyfriend.

Kai's life is a wreck. Working two jobs to help pay for his mother's cancer treatments, Kai has no time for family, fun, or love. But when he sees a job advertisement for posing as a New Year boyfriend, he can't pass up the opportunity for some quick and easy cash.

It was supposed to be strictly a business arrangement. But as Winnie and Kai's worlds come crashing down around them, their fake relationship might be the only real thing they have left.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Red Empress Publishing
• Release date: Jun 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393411574

Zoey Gong

ZOEY GONG was born and raised in rural Hunan Province, China. She has been studying English and working as a translator since she was sixteen years old. Now in her early twenties, Zoey loves traveling and eating noodles for every meal. She can usually be found chasing after her active child, being ignored by her cat Jello, and dreaming up her next book.

Book preview

1

One. Two. Three. Breathe.

Winnie leaned over the comatose woman as she administered CPR. Winnie and her fellow interns had been on rounds with their mentor when the woman went into shock and stopped breathing. Winnie had been closest to the woman, so she wasted no time getting to work while waiting for a crash cart.

One. Two. Three. Breathe.

Winnie lowered her ear over the woman’s face to feel for breaths when she felt a strong arm shove her out of the way.

You’re too weak! the much larger Australian man, a fellow intern, said as he pushed her out of the way and started administering CPR himself. Winnie cringed as she heard the woman’s rips pop from the force of the man’s compressions.

Winnie felt the blood rush through her ears, but she stood aside. The woman needed help. Winnie’s pride would have to take a backseat for the moment.

The woman finally gasped and coughed as she opened her eyes. Her hands went to her chest and she groaned in pain. Just then, a group of orderlies and another doctor arrived and wheeled the woman away.

The other interns went over to the male student and clapped him on the back, congratulating him on saving the woman’s life.

Dr. Fisher, Winnie finally spoke up to the group’s mentor. I had everything under control.

I know, the mentor said. William. The person who starts an intervention must be allowed to complete the task. Changing tactics mid-save only delays the life-saving methods.

Winnie felt some vindication, but she could see that William was not at all cowed by Dr. Fisher’s admonition. Her next words only made matters worse.

But good job saving that woman’s life, Dr. Fisher went on, and Winnie would swear she saw the mentor wink at the fellow student.

Thank you, Dr. Fisher, William said, and he smirked at Winnie as he left the room, followed by most of the rest of the class.

Winnie clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

Wow, Brock, one of Winnie’s best friends and a fellow intern, said. That was brutal.

More than brutal, Lian, Winnie’s other friend, said, shaking her head. It was offensive. I can’t believe Dr. Fisher let him get away with that. It was totally unprofessional!

Can’t you? Winnie finally managed to choke out. Lian and Brock both grimace, but didn’t reply. Ever since Winnie came to school in Australia, she had been subjected to small but frequent acts of aggression and derision by...well, almost everyone she met. As a five-foot-three Asian woman with a young-looking face, few people took Winnie seriously or respected her skills. Winnie had expected to face some prejudice when she arrived in Australia from China, but she had hoped it would get better with time. But that had not been her experience in the two years she had been here.

Come on, Brock said. It’s nearly noon. Let’s bugger off. His tall, tanned, bleach-blond haired body leaned over and hugged Winnie. Brock had been the only local to treat Winnie like an equal after she arrived, and they had become fast friends.

I need to get to the clinic, Winnie said, referring to the cancer clinic where Winnie also worked part-time to make extra money to send home to her family every month.

We will walk with you, Lian said. Lian was from Guangzhou, in Guangdong Province, so she understood a lot of what Winnie was going through. But she had been in Australia since her first year of college, so she at least sounded more like a local, while Winnie still sometimes struggled with her accent.

So what’s going on? Brock asked Winnie as they walked. You seem even more distracted than usual.

I submitted my application for the Fordham Fellowship last night, Winnie said. I’m just hoping I did everything right.

Finally! Lian exclaimed. This is what you’ve been working for! I’m sure you’ll get accepted. This is awesome.

Winnie couldn’t help but smile a little. The Fordham Fellowship was one of the most exclusive obstetrics internships in the country. If Winnie was accepted, her future would be set. She could work anywhere she wanted, and her starting salary would be more than she ever would have dreamed up growing up in Harbin. She would be set, as would her family. Then she could finally stop living a lie.

We should celebrate! Brock said. Where do you want to go?

We don’t need to celebrate yet, Winnie said. I’ve only just applied. There’s no guarantee I’ll get in.

I’m sure you will, Lian said. Just applying is pretty rigorous. You have to be at the top of your class and provide reference letters and all that other stuff. Just completing the application process is a feat. You should be proud.

I will be, Winnie said. Once I get accepted.

When will they announce the admissions? Brock asked.

In March, Winnie said. After Chinese New Year.

You should go home for the holiday, Lian said. Relax. Have a good time. Take your mind off stuff.

Winnie didn’t reply. In truth, going home was the last thing she wanted to do.

"Are you going home for CNY?" Lian asked.

I haven’t decided, Winnie said. I really don’t want to.

But you haven’t been home for two years, Lian said. Aren’t they a little suspicious?

Wait, Brock interrupted. "Your parents still don’t know you’re in Sydney?"

Are you kidding? Winnie asked. They would kill me if they found out I wasn’t toiling away as an underpaid and overworked nurse in Shanghai.

They are going to kill you when they find out you’ve been lying to them all this time, Lian said.

Which is why I need to get that fellowship, Winnie said. If I get admitted, then I can tell them I’m moving to Sydney. They don’t have to know I’ve already been here for so long.

I forget, Brock said. Why didn’t you tell them in the first place?

Because they never would have let me come, Winnie said. If they knew I was still chasing my education instead of getting a job and chasing a husband, they would be furious.

What year is this? Brock asked. Who needs a man? As long as you are happy and can support yourself, isn’t that all that matters?

Winnie and Lian looked at Brock and cocked their eyebrows.

You don’t have a Chinese mother, Winnie said, and Lian nodded in agreement.

Just as they reached the cancer clinic. Winnie’s phone rang. She looked at it.

It’s like she knows when I’m talking about her! she whispered harshly. "Wei, Ma?" she answered in Chinese.

Wenwen? her mother replied, using her Chinese name. Where are you?

Winnie’s heart sank and her face went hot. Umm… She looked at the time on her phone, then looked at her watch to see what time it was in China. I’m just on my way to work. Why?

Have you eaten? her mother asked.

Yes, Winnie said. I had a steamed bun on the way. What about you?

Oh, I can’t eat anything, her mother complained. My stomach, always in knots worrying about you and your sister.

What has Lingling done to upset you? Winnie asked, glad to keep the conversation off herself as much as possible.

She’s pregnant, her mother said.

If Winnie had been drinking something, she would have spit. What? Again?

It’s legal to have two babies now, you know, her mother said. No fee now.

I know, Winnie said. But Xiaodi is only a year old. Why so fast?

She’s a good girl, her mother said. She does her duty by her husband and her parents.

Winnie nearly groaned out loud. Here it comes.

It is time for you to get married, Wenwen, her mother said.

Wenwen reached up and grabbed her hair in frustration. I know that’s what you want, Wenwen said. But I’m happy here--

Brock held his hands up in confusion. He couldn’t understand the fast-paced conversation in Chinese. Lian slapped him to be quiet so she could pick up at least Winnie’s half of what was being said.

Happy today, her mother cut in. But it can’t last. You need to be married. Settled. Have a baby. Then you will be happy forever.

Ma, Winnie said, trying to keep her anger under control. If I don’t want to get married, then getting married won’t make me happy.

You only think you don’t want to get married because you are in the big city with all those independent girls, her mother said, and Winnie could practically hear her mother shaking her head. But one day, they will all end up old and lonely. You are twenty-seven. It’s almost too late to get married.

Oh, Ma, Winnie groaned. "That’s not true. A woman can get married at any age. If she wants to get married at all. I have a good job! I send you money every month. What would a man add to my life except for more stress?"

You need a husband to take care of you and to help take care of us, her mother said, reciting the same old tired lines Winnie had been hearing her whole life. Then you can have a son to take care of everyone.

What if I have a daughter? Winnie poked.

I have two daughters, her mother said. Believe me, it is better if you have a son.

Winnie tried not to take the barb personally. That boys were preferred to girls was an established fact in Chinese families, which made it even more difficult for a girl to try to be independent. It wasn’t enough for a girl to be successful on her own to please her parents. A girl was always seen as incomplete until she married and brought a son of her own into the family.

Winnie shook her head as her anger melted away to sadness. She knew that she would never be considered good enough on her own. Even if she was accepted into that fellowship program, she could never tell her parents the truth.

Winnie didn’t really want to be rich. She didn’t become a doctor to make lots of money. Her dream was to work as a volunteer at orphanages and hospitals, providing medical care for the poorest of China’s people. But her parents would never approve. A child’s duty--for sons and daughters--was to provide for their parents. A volunteer position would not earn Winnie enough money to take care of herself, much less her parents. She had hoped that by getting the right education and into the right programs, she could eventually get a position that would allow her to earn enough while working only part-time so that she could volunteer the rest of the time. But she knew that few husbands--and certainly her parents--would frown on her giving away her time and expertise for free when she could be earning more money for her own family. At least if she stayed single, she wouldn’t have to worry about a disapproving and unsupportive husband. As for her parents, she hoped she could just carry on the way she had. Living far away, hiding who she really was and what she was really doing, and dodging their insistence that she get married until they finally accepted that she was too old to do so. But it appeared her mother had other ideas.

You will come home for New Year, her mother said.

You know the hospital is so busy during the holiday, Winnie said. If I stay, I can earn extra bonuses--

Not this year, her mother interrupted. You haven’t been home for two years. This year, you will come back to Harbin.

Yes, Ma, Winnie said with a sigh. She would just have to grit her teeth and get through it. It would only be for a week. She could survive a week with her family, right?

And Zhou Chang will be here, her mother said.

Who? Winnie asked.

Zhou Chang, her mother repeated. You remember him from school? His family owns a car dealership.

Winnie racked her brain trying to remember who Chang was. But when it finally dawned on her, she couldn’t figure out why he would be at her mother’s house for New Year.

Isn’t he the guy who sat behind me in class and would set my hair on fire? Winnie asked.

Yes! her mother said. Oh, you do remember him. This is a good sign.

What? Winnie asked. What sign?

He is looking for a wife, her mother said excitedly. I talked to a friend of mine who is also friends with Chang’s parents and they said they were looking for a wife for their son. I am looking for a husband for you, so I agreed that you two would meet over Chinese New Year.

Ma! Winnie nearly yelled. How could you?

How could I what? her mother asked. This is the way things are done. You know this.

No, no, no, no, no, Winnie said, pacing back and forth looking for...she wasn’t sure. A way out of this mess! If her mother already made arrangements with Chang’s family for a marriage, even though Winnie had not agreed, it could be very difficult to get out of. If Winnie broke her mother’s promise, it would reflect badly on her parents. If I wanted to get married, I could find my own husband!

If that were true, her mother said, you would have done it already.

Winnie looked at Lian for help, but Lian just shook her head. They looked at Brock, but her just held his hands out dramatically. He was dying to know what was going on, but Winnie couldn’t take a moment to explain what was going on to him.

I...I have a boyfriend, Winnie said.

Her mother went quiet for a minute. Why didn’t you tell me before? she finally asked.

I didn’t want to get your hopes up, Winnie said. In case things didn’t work out.

Oh, well, it must not be very serious, her mother said. Just break up with him.

Ma! Winnie said. I can’t do that.

You will, her mother said. And you will come home and meet with Chang and his parents and put this foolishness behind you. Do you understand?

Winnie’s heart sunk into her stomach. From her mother’s tone, she knew there was no point in arguing any further over the phone. Besides, she didn’t really have a boyfriend. If she dug this hole any deeper, she might not be able to get out of it again.

Yes, Ma, she said. The last thing she wanted to do was go home and get married, but she knew her mother wouldn’t take no for an answer unless they were face to face. And maybe not even then. But she had to try. She would have to go home and face her mother.

Wonderful! her mother exclaimed. We can’t wait to see you. Don’t forget to bring some gifts for Xiaodi and your cousins. And something nice for Chang’s parents.

Yes, Ma, Winnie said. I’ll let you know when I’m coming.

Winnie hung up the phone and looked at