Chinese Cinderella

What do Father and Niang do about the tram fare issue?

Chapter 8 (36-41)

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To help the children get to school, Aunt Baba and Ye Ye have been giving them enough for tram fare, but their funds have been depleted. Aunt Baba mentions she might go back to work, but Father is uncomfortable with this idea of Aunt Baba working “like a commoner” (39). If Ye Ye and Aunt Baba need an allowance, they just need to ask Niang, Adeline wonders why Ye Ye is “suddenly and mysteriously dependent on Father and Niang for pocket money” (38). When the issue of tram fare comes up, Niang is outraged that the children have gone behind her back and forbids them from troubling Aunt Baba or Ye Ye again. Soon, Adeline realizes that there is “a new family hierarchy within [the] family” (40) with Niang at the very top.

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Chinese Cinderella