Steven Chan and His China Mistress

Steven Chan, 48 years old, is my colleague who lives in Hong Kong. He joined my company sometime in January this year. During our first trip to Beijing, I introduced my 亲爱的 to him during one of the evening dinners. In fact, almost all my colleagues who have travelled with me to Beijing have met 亲爱的. It's not a secret that I have a China girlfriend.

One evening, I　called him while he was in Beijing. I overheard a baby crying, and jokingly asked him if he is playing "Happy Family" in Beijing. He immediately gave an excuse that it was a friend's child that was crying. Subsequently, I would use this joke on him, that he is a lucky man and have a 2nd family there.

In July this year, we travelled to Beijing together again. We made an appointment to have dinner in a Sichuan restaurant. Then Steven said that he's going to bring a friend along, and ask if we mind. Since we are sociable, we asked Steven to invite his friend along.

When Steven showed up, he was carrying a 6 months old baby girl. He introduced her as his daugther, with a big smile on his face. Well, Steven doesn't have any children in Hong Kong, so it must be a China production. His girlfriend is from Hunan, living in Beijing. It was an accidental pregancy. When they first discovered that she was pregnant, they hesitated whether to keep the baby. Since his girlfriend is already in her late 20s, they decided to keep it. Steven wasn't too positive about having a baby at that time, and thought that it would be a nightmare. I can't blame him. He didn't know the joy of being a father. Since his daughter was born, it was only happiness and excitement for them. Steven said that because of the baby, his relationship with his girlfriend is closer than before. I asked a realistic question: how much allowance is she getting every month? For being a fulltime mother, she receives a monthly allowance of RMB10,000. Since Steven has an apartment in Beijing, she is staying there and there is no rental expenses. How did he answer to her parents? Since her family lives in the countryside, her parents are simple people. He gave them money to refurbish the house, and that has settled the old folks.

Of course Steven's wife doesn't know about it. I don't know how long he is able to keep this secret, but eventually she will find out. Hong Kong women are not stupid, but since it is not uncommon for Hong Kong men to have China mistresses, maybe she will just have to accept the fact.

亲爱的,　after knowing Steven's little secret, was also tempted to have a baby with me. Well, she knows that this thought is immpossible for 2 reasons. First, her parents are not farmers and they would not approve her to do such things, even if I were to give them money. Second, I already have children, so I won't be excited about our baby.