I have arrived home with a bucket of popcorn for Jenny as she has been helping me out a bit lately and I hadn’t seen her for a few days. It’s 8 o’clock and as I enter the house it’s in darkness; I am home alone again. I turn on the light and give a cursory glance around for moving creatures on the floor and then dump my stuff and put the kettle on – nice cup of tea now.
I ring Jenny “Where are you – have you moved out? I haven’t seen you for days, I’ve got popcorn for you”. Then she informs me that she has been told by her father to clear off for three days as her cousin is coming to stay.
Half an hour later the quietness of the house is shattered as I hear “The Boss” returning noisily with another man. The smell of cigarette comes wafting under the door to my room. I give them a few minutes before I leave my room to greet them. I look around for the cousin but I can’t see him anywhere.
He was definitely here a few moments ago. The Boss opens the door to Jenny’s room where, on the floor lies a half naked man with his head in a plastic (washing up) bowl of sick. Ignoring him, I walk through the room to hang my washing out on the balcony.
And this is what passes for a Nanjing greeting – get your guest so drunk he nearly drowns in his own vomit.