I was in an official visit to China in order to attend a tea conference with my boss in November 2015. Besides the amazing roads and building I saw around, I was impressed with the hospitality the organizers had bestowed upon us there at Chibi, one of the fast growing urban center of Hubei province.
As we were towards the end of the conference, we were invited to a late-night party where all the delegates of the participating countries were hosted as a revered guest. While everyone was busy extending their business links with tycoons of the global tea industry, I was captured by the volunteers who were making our life easier in China. Since English is hardly spoken there, without their help, we wouldn’t have “survived” for a whole week. I wanted to acknowledge them, as they seemed to be ignored in the whole event.
I approached their table in the hindmost region and made a sort of speech, “You guys are amazing and have done an excellent job. There might be ‘big people’ in the front-line. But you’re the real hero of the program, working behind the curtain day and night, to make this event a huge success. On behalf of all the international guests, I would like to thank you all.”
It seems I spoke their heart out. After that ‘speech’ they seem to be liking me. At the end of the party they wanted to take photo with me. I don’t consider myself photogenic, but I posed them.
After the group photo, a young lady who would like to call herself “The Cloud” – that’s probably the English translation of her Chinese name – wanted to have a photo with me. Yes, only she and me. But unlike the other volunteers, it seems she wanted more. She was probably talking to herself when I heard her, “Can I kiss you?”
—Interval—
The conference was over and it was the last day at Chibi. We were being moved to Wuhan in order to participate in another event. That implies the duties of the volunteers was over.
During lunch time, I approached almost all the volunteers just to say goodbye. I thanked them for the hospitality they showed during our stay at Chibi. I also told them that I would love to come to receive them at the airport if someday they’ve plan to visit Nepal. They really appreciated the good gesture of a ‘random guy’ from one of their neighboring countries.
And then there was Cloud. She told me, “I’ve always got what I’ve wanted. So, it’s the last time I’m asking you. Can I kiss you?”
“You should have never asked that me …,” I replied and continued, “… you should have directly moved into action.”
Now the bold lady felt a sort of awkward ‘moving into action’ in public. After all, we are all shy Asians, guided by our dogmas and values. But she didn’t want to miss the opportunity for the second and the last time. Hence, she acted like she wanted to whisper something into my ear. And then she gently touched my right cheek with her lips – unnoticed. A farewell kiss!
—The End—
