Translation of Modern Chinese Literature

“Coordinator Zhang!” After calling him, Lin found himself reckless and could not say any prepared words. In shock, Zhang looked at Lin: “Why..Why are you here?”

“I..” Lin could not say a word because Zhang’s daughter was sick and had to go to the hosiptal. What emergency would be more urgent than that!

“The company wants you to see me?” Nodding, Lin wished he could say “there is nothing urgent, hurry and take your daughter to the hospital, which is the most important!”

Zhang sent his wife to prepare the hot water kettle and the clothes Xiaozhu needed to change. After his wife went inside, Zhang asked Lin what happened. Without answering, Lin moved close to Zhang, bowing his head.

“What happened? What kind of emergency?”

Lin had to say – he had to say the intention of him deliberately coming here, with his head even lower, in an extremely guilt tone. While saying, suddenly Lin saw and hear what “Qisiren” looked and sounded. “Qisiren” took the erected-penis-like cigarettes out of his mouth: “How could Zhang be so muddle headed? How could he leave Mr. Ma’s business? How could he leave it?” After a deep breath, a dirty smoke arose from Qisiren’s nose and mouth: “What？ He asked for a leave? Why he asked for a leave?” “His daughter is sick. It seems like she need hospitalized.” Ms. Wang said.

“His daughter was sick,” Qisiren’s face raised a little, and his glasses reflected cold light, “I thought it was him who was deeply sick. Does not his wife take care of his daughter? The business of Mr. Ma, is not like the others, how could he just leave it?” How could he just leave it? Mr. Ma’s business, how could he just leave it?

Lin, hurry up and find Zhang! Hurry up and find Zhang! After the words, Lin raised his head, only to see that Zhang talking to himself in a daze: “Mr. Ma’s son said they would leave next month, isn’t it? Why would they changed it into the day after tomorrow? Could not Mrs. Ma wait for one day or two? Today is Saturday, tomorrow is Sunday, people are resting not working! It is impossible to get an exit permit? It is impossible! It is exactly like giving me tight shoes to wear!”

At the time, Zhang’s wife hold a bag and hot water kettle in her left hand and holding Xiaozhu with her right hand, followed by a five-year-old and a seven-year-old. They walked to the door slowly.

Xiaozhu was about ten years old, not very tall. Maybe it was because of her fever, her cheek was so red as if it was burnt. She weakly relied on her mother, with head on her mother’s chest. Her eyes closed firmly, because part of her body was enduring the extreme pain. The beautiful hand holding her mom’s waist looked like in deep need for care.

Suddenly, Lin arose great complaints towards Qisiren and Ms. Wang. There were so many people in the company – could not they find someone else to do Mr. Ma’s business? It had to be Coordinator Zhang? It had to be?

【 Note: The Fordist model constructed a relatively "mute" relationship between production and consumption. There are mass production of standardized commodities in the Fordist era, thus they don’t need to "listen" closely to the market. A feedback or communication from the market was restricted and slow. Toyotism is based on an inversion of the Fordist structure of communication between production and consumption. Ideally, according to this model, the production planning will communicate with markets constantly and immediately. Factories will maintain zero stock and commodities will be produced just in time, according to the present demand of the existing markets. In this mode, communication and information play a newly central role in production.

Most services indeed are based on the continual exchange of information and knowledges. Since the production of services results in no material and durable good, we might define the labor involved in this production as immaterial labor-that is, labor that produces an immaterial good, such as a service, knowledge, or communication. According to Michale Hardt’s article, besides the transformation from the Fordist model to the Toyotist model where manufacturing is regarded as a service, there are two other faces of immaterial labor. One face of immaterial labor can be recognized in analogy to the functioning of a computer. We increasingly think like computers. Robert Reich calls this type of immaterial labor "symbolic-analytical services" tasks that involve problem-solving, problem-identifying, and strategic brokering activities.

The other face of immaterial labor is the affective labor of human contact and interaction. The affective labor plays an important role in the service industries, from fast-food servers to providers of financial services. It produces intangible emotions, such as a feeling of ease, well-being, satisfaction, excitement, passion-even a sense of connectedness or community. Such affective production, exchange, and communication is generally associated with human contact, with the actual presence of another.

I think the main affective labor in this story is to hide one’s true feeling and put a mask on. The affective labor Xiaolin offered can best be seen in the paragraph when Xiaolin was asked to urge Laozhang to get the exit permit for Mr.Ma. Laozhang’s daughter was sick and need to be hospitalized. So, at the time, Xiaozhang felt sorry, guilty, sympathetic and angry. However, to finish his job, he had to swallow all the affects and urge Laozhang to do Mr. Ma’s business.

In these circumstances, Laozhang also felt unfair and angry. However, he had to inhibit his feelings and left his sick daughter and wife to finish his work. I think in this sense, Laozhang was also doing affective labor.

Also, The other people are not actually enjoying the office environment but offering affective labor as well. For instance, when Ms. Wang picked up the phone call, she had to smile and pretended to be happy to show her passion. After she hung up the phone, she at once cursed the person as a lecher. But we can also see Ms. Wang as a more mature model of Xiaolin – because in the fake emotions, Ms. Wang does not show as much as the ugly feelings as Xiaolin did.】

Aunt Yifen taught me her skills probably because of many reasons which people can know clearly from her daily words. Indeed, a skill like this is the kind of skill that makes people not afraid of losing the job in one’s lifetime. And it earns a lot. A woman like me, who does not read a lot or have much knowledge, what abilities do I have to compete with others in this world where the weak are the prey of the strong? Aunt Yifen taught me her life skill totally because I was her dear niece. When she was at work, she did not let anyone to watch her. She did not allow me to follow her and learn from her little by little until she officially took me as her discipline. She was not afraid even when she was alone facing the naked and cold dead bodies. I even already learned how to sew and mend the separated parts and cracked heads, as if I was making a costume. I lost my parents when I was still little, and I was brought up by aunt Yifen. Weirdly, I gradually was more and more like her, even her silence, her pale hands and face, her slow walking. Sometimes I could not help questioning whether on earth I was myself or not. Maybe I was another aunt Yifen, she and I were the same person. I am the continuation of aunt Yifen.

Truly, he was happy. So he sat down to drink coffee. We had so many happy days. But what is happiness? Happiness always flies quickly. My heart was deeply in sorrow. Walking from here, in a distance less than three hundred feet, we could arrive where I work. And then, like what happened many years ago, a scared man dashed all his way from the gate. All the curious eyes followed him until he totally disappeared. My aunt Yifen said: “Maybe there are still people who have real courage and are not afraid in this world.” But I know this is only a hypothesis. When Xia came across the road coming to me, holding a huge bunch of flowers. I know this again. Because this is an exactly ominous omen. Ahah, a women like me, in fact is not suitable for anyone to be in love with. Or, I should say it to my slumbering friends: “In fact we are all the same, isn’t it?” Tens of years is nothing more than a glimpse in a rush. Whatever the reason is, no one must be scared by someone else. The huge bunch of flowers Xia brought into the coffee house, was very beautiful. He was happy, but I was sad. What he did not know was that, in my field, flowers meant saying goodbye.