The Leftover Woman

Jasmine remembers when Rebecca hired her. She told Rebecca that her name was Luli, meaning Dewy Jasmine, but Rebecca insisted that she use the more Americanized “Lucy” to better assimilate and make her name easier for Americans to pronounce. She and Fifi bonded almost instantly, and she recalls how many commonalities she found with her daughter. They shared physical characteristics, but also deeper personality traits, likes, and dislikes. She tried to appear dowdy around Rebecca but quickly found that Rebecca didn’t pay her much attention anyway. She was struck by the family’s affluence and by Rebecca’s lack of Chinese cultural knowledge. She often stuck her chopsticks straight into rice which was “barbaric, unlucky, and offensive” (192). She kept her work at Opium secret from Brandon and Rebecca.

Jasmine reflects that she and Brandon remained in contact after the adoption, and he promised her that he would eventually hire her as Fifi’s nanny. Because she owed the smugglers so much money, her nanny salary was not enough, and she had to augment it with her earnings from Opium. Brandon found out about her second job by accident on the night that he was out entertaining Chinese businessmen.