An Unexpected Call

By Nai Zhu

A call came in on my cell from an “unknown caller.” After a bit of deliberation, I reluctantly picked up the phone:

Voice: Hello, is this Yuan Lei?

Me: Yes.

Voice: I play Mahjong with your dad. I’m sorry to say that he got into a terrible accident, and I just drove him to the emergency room at the West China Hospital of Sichuan University.

Me: Oh?

Voice: The hospital is just awful! They won’t perform the operation without paying first.I don’t have enough to cover the costs. I need you to quickly transfer funds into bank account number, 5203 5469 8853 8859.Please hurry for God’s sake!

Me: What about my mother?

Voice: I didn’t have the heart to tell your mom. I was afraid the shock might be more than her poor heart could bear. And anyway, there’s really no point in telling her, she won’t be able to make it without telling you. The first item of business is to save your father’s life!

Me: How do I know this isn’t a scam?

Voice: Your name is Yuan Lei,right? And your father’s name is Yuan XX, right?

Me: Yes.

Voice: Well, there ya go! Now,please hurry. If you keep delaying like this, your dad isn’t going to make it!

Me: Are you sure you’re really my dad’s Mahjong buddy?

Voice: Yes, of course.

Me: But, this is all just so unexpected…

Voice: What, that your dad would be gambling without the nerve to tell you?

Me: No what I mean is, I just burned a set of paper Mahjong tiles days ago, on Tomb Sweeping Day, to bring him good luck in the great beyond. I just never expected that he’d find a Mahjong partner so soon.

手機來電，顯示“不明電話”。

對方：袁蕾嗎？

我：是。

對方：我是跟你爸一起打牌的。你爸出車禍了，剛剛送到華西醫(yī)大急救。

我：嗯？

對方：醫(yī)生太壞了，不給錢就不上手術臺。我身上錢不夠，你趕快把錢打到賬號5203 5469 8853 8859。

我：我媽呢？

對方：不敢通知你媽，怕嚇到她。再說通知了也沒用，她哪兒去找錢嘛。救人第一啊。

我：我怎么知道你是不是騙子？

對方：你叫袁蕾，你爸叫袁××，對不對？

我：對。

對方：這不就對了。搞快點，再耽誤，你爸就不行了。

我：你確定是我爸爸的牌友？

對方：那當然。

我：主要是我沒想到——

對方：可能他打牌不敢跟你說。

我：我是說，沒想到清明才給他燒了一副麻將，他這么快就找到牌友了。