Hi, my name is Wendy Shang, and I’ll be reading from my book The Great Wall of Lucy Wu. Regina’s upper lip curved into a sneer. “You are Chinese. You are supposed to like Chinese food,” she hissed. When attractive people make faces like that they look even uglier than normal people would. “I do like Chinese food,” I told her, even though discussing food was making me feel slightly queasy. “There are plenty of dishes from Panda Café that are just fine with me, like their egg drop soup and chicken fried rice.”
Regina rolled her eyes. “That’s not real Chinese food. Panda Café cannot even begin to compare with The Golden Lotus.” “That’s your opinion,” I told her. She sniffed. “It’s an opinion backed by one of the world’s greatest Chinese chefs. When Chef Yi came to my school for the Chinese Culture and Language Society he mentioned The Golden Lotus. I don’t believe he discussed Panda Café.” Regina practically spat out the words Panda Café as if they tasted bad in her mouth.
“Just get over yourself,” I muttered to her. “Girls,” Dad said sharply from the driver’s seat, “Enough.” “You’re a banana, a Twinkie,” Regina whispered. “What are you talking about now?” For a second I thought Regina was telling me to eat something. “You’re yellow on the outside, white on the inside. That’s what you are.” Who did Regina think she was telling me how or how not to be Chinese? I am sure there are people, maybe lots of people in China, who do not love eating pig’s ears and other weird stuff, and no one ever calls them out and tells them they are not Chinese enough.