Extraordinary Heir

“Ding Dong” I pressed the doorbell in front of Mei Ling’s house. Exterior of Mei Ling’s house is red and white in colour, there are oriental lanterns hanging at the front door, Bonsai nicely decorated along the pathway. “Hey Ling” I greeted as Mei Ling opened the door and I gave her a big hug before entering her house. Mei Ling’s house was designed in oriental theme. It has a painting of crane hanging at the living hall. An exquisite white ceramic vase with sophisticated craving on top of the wooden desk, wooden chairs with crafting seated at the foyer. Mei Ling was my best friend since high school. She has sleek black hair tug nicely behind her shoulders and crescent brown eyes with fair complexion. She immigrated from Taiwan when she was 10 years old. She was humble and kind. “Good evening Mr. & Mrs Lee.” I greeted as I saw Mei Ling’s folks around the corner of the kitchen busy preparing a sumptuous feast. “Come on in Erica. It is great to have you here.”. Mei Ling’s parents returned the greeting. Mei Ling’s parents owned a famous Chinese fine dining Restaurant downtown. Business was good, and it is always packed with diners. Mei Ling brought me to her garden, there is a small swimming pool at her courtyard with wooden chairs and table. Zed, Christine and Audrey were already there nibbling on Moon Cake and tasting a cup of Chinese Pu Er Tea. “Hi ya’ all!! You all seem like having lots of fun” I greeted all with a hug. Moon cake is a type of Chinese dessert which is consumed only during Mid-Autumn Festival. It is brown in colour, made with lotus paste and salted eggs. It tastes deliciously sweet and the texture was tangy. Friends were playing paper lanterns with Mei Ling’s younger sister, it was called ‘Teng Long’ in Chinese. Yi Ling was only 10 years old; she has the same crescent eyes as Mei Ling, her hair was tied- up in 2 ponytails. The garden was nicely lighted up with candles; paper lanterns hanging on the trees, it was a beautiful sight to see. Mei Ling told us that Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhong Qiu Jie) is celebrated by the Chinese during the 8th month of Chinese lunar calendar. The festival is to celebrate a Chinese legendary tale. A maiden ‘Chang Ee’ who selfishly taken the immortal pills that found by her husband. Because of her act of selfishness, she lived alone on the Moon together with her jade rabbit. “Ling! The dinner is ready” as Mrs Lee prompt us to come in for dinner. The table was full of Chinese delicacies. It has steamed fish, roasted chicken, vegetarian soup, braised tofu, fried rice and boiled vegetable with bean sauce. Mei Ling taught us the correct way to use a chopsticks and bowl. We couldn’t wait to have our dinner, so we use fork and spoon to gobble down the dinner. Mei Ling reminded me, “remember our ‘date’ tomorrow.”. “Of course, meet you at campus tomorrow.” I replied with a smile. Mei Ling and I have decided to visit Prestige University tomorrow to check on their degree courses. I am Erica Spencer. I am just an ordinary 18-year-old graduated from my high school. My parents got my name when my mum got pregnant with me during a honeymoon at Japan. Erica is a type of flower in Japan, it is Heather in English. My mother single-handedly brought me up since my father passed away during a car accident when I was 12 years old. My mum has been trying her best to be a mother and father at the same time. When my dad passed away, he has left a sum of money and insurance claims to my mother. My mother’s name is Maggie Spencer. She was the strongest women I have known. She was a nurse at Caring Hospital. It was a bright and sunny day. Sun light are glaring into my eyes. The smell of fresh laundry scents has a pleasant mood lifting effect on me. “Oh my gosh! I am late again.”. I jumped out of my bed and hopped into the bathroom. I gazed myself in the bathroom mirror. I have pale fair skin, bright blue eyes with long lashes that looks like birds’ wings, brunette long wavy hair. I am a glutton despite my tall and slender figure. I am an ordinary girl and I do not like the way I looked. I dressed up in jeans and white tank top and went down for breakfast.  “Good morning honey. Breakfast is ready.” Maggie prompt me to have breakfast. I frowned, thinking that it would be a heavy burden for my mum to support me through my university days. “Thanks mum. Are you sure you want me to enrol to Prestige University?” I asked Maggie. “Sure, honey and don’t fret about the school fees.” Maggie replied with a smile. “Ok mum, I love you, bye.” as I grabbed the sandwich and rush out of house to catch a public bus to Prestige University. Prestige University is one of the top universities in Michigan and educated many successful businessmen and professionals. Prestige University has always been a dream for my mum. She was unable to study at Prestige University during her university days due to financial constraints. She was making sure that I could get the best education. I walked into the campus. I could see many students were very fashionable and mostly dressed in designer clothes and bags. I went to the university entrance and saw a familiar figure. Mei Ling was waiting patiently at the entrance for me. I waved at Mei Ling. “Hello babe! You are late again. Don’t waste any more time. Let’s go to the information office.” she complained with her pouted lips. “I’m sorry Ling, I overslept again.” I apologized, Mei Ling grabbed my arm and we walked into the campus. The office has several front desk and chairs in a row, at the side of the entrance there is brochures for all the courses available in the university. A lady in her mid-thirties with bright brown eyes and long blonde hair approached us. “How can I assist you?” she asked politely, while her eyes were scanning at me from top to toes.  “We want to inquire about degree courses, but we are not sure…” before Mei Ling could finish her sentence I abruptly asked, “what is the course with the highest passing rate?”. I gave her a big grinned, she looked dumbfounded and replied, “Business Degree… has the highest passing rate…”. “Ok then, I will take this course and enrol for next semester” I told the lady. We filled up forms and submitted together with our exam results. Mei Ling has signed up Business majoring in E-commerce and I have signed up Business majoring in Marketing. After signing up the courses, we head out of the campus to meet a housing agent. We took a walk for about 10 minutes to a nearby apartment. A tall brunette with spec was waiting at the apartment lobby. “Hello Ms Spencer and Ms. Lee. I am Scott Harris. I’m supposed to bring you to view the apartment you interested in.”. Scott introduced himself politely. Scott has a few options for us but what caught our eyes is this apartment. The apartment is about 10 minutes’ walk to the campus. Scott led us to the elevator, and we took the elevator to third floor. Scott opened the apartment door with keys. We were so delighted by the design and settings of the home. Living room has a small sofa and a TV console which is just good enough for the both of us.  One bedroom has a queen size bed and a dressing table, it looks contemporary and cosy. The second bedroom is designed in Balinese style with wooden furnishing. “Mei Ling. Do you like this house?” I asked Mei Ling. Mei Ling nodded her head in delight and said “Shall we confirm this? I want the bedroom on the left.”  We looked at each other with approval and decided to rent the home.