English Corner – Book Corner
The book entitled Bad Blood, written by Sue Leather and published by Page Turners, is very beautiful. It tells about the Kwan family, who owned a very famous restaurant, The Golden Duck in Chinatown, San Fransisco.
The restaurant was handed over from generation to generation.
Jay Kwan’s father, Louie Kwan, wanted Jay to be a manager of The Golden Duck. However, Jay didn’t want to work in the restaurant. He chose his walk of life. He became a private investigator, working together with Amy Trent in Kwan’s Investigation Agency.
Louie was not happy with his son’s decision. He insisted on Jay to take over the restaurant. The very reason why Louie badly wanted Jay to take over the restaurant was intriguingly revealed, bit by bit, at the end of the story.
One day somebody reported that there was a fire in the restaurant of his father’s.
Jay got there to see what happened. It’s indeed fire, in the kitchen, but it had already been extinguished.
However, there was something weird. There was a note on the table which said, “This is just the beginning”!
For Jay, this note was a threat to his father. So he began the investigation.
To make the story short, Jay Kwan suspected Harry Wu, who had just been out of jail after being there for fifteen years. Harry Wu was a notorious criminal. It’s Louie who reported to the police about Harry Wu’s crime.
The end of the story is full of surprises. Tony Lee, Louie’s chef, wanted to kill Louie, which Jay didn’t understand.
Later on, Louie’s secret was revealed. He fell in love with Tony’s mother. So Tony was actually Jay’s half-brother.
This secret was revealed on purpose by Harry Wu. Harry Wu even convinced Tony that it was Louie who killed his parents. Harry wanted to take revenge on Louie.
Jay tried to help Tony realize the trap created by Harry, but unfortunately, Tony accidentally shot himself dead.
Louie admitted all his wrongdoings in the past to Jay, including the fact that Tony was his secret son – Jay’s half-brother, but he insisted on convincing Jay that he was not the murderer. He didn’t want Tony to take over the restaurant for fear that people would know Tony was his blood.
In the end, Harry was sent back to jail because he plotted to kill Louie.
There is an interesting quote at the beginning of the story. “Secrets are made to be found out with time”.
Among the biggest stupidity of human beings is the stubbornness to lock the secrets of life which only makes life burdensome.
The more you reveal your deepest secret, the more you will live according to who you are. The more you are humble to accept the reality of who you are, no matter what, the more satisfying your life will be.
The more you live in line with who you are, in line with your very being, you’ll experience a sense of freedom!
Imagine if Jay hadn’t become what he wanted to be – an investigator – he wouldn’t have been able to help his father.
Imagine if Jay hadn’t admitted his wrongdoings in the past, he would have carried his inner burden for the rest of his life. He wouldn’t have experienced a sense of freedom.
Well, we are now implementing Merdeka Belajar. A book of fiction may have the power that inspires us to taste the very essence of Merdeka Belajar – learning how to clearly know your very core being, your rock of the being, learning how to be honest to your true color, and learning how to live according to your deepest self.
Kyle Zimmer, the president of First Book, in her Foreword for the Biography of Jacqueline Wilson, a famous writer from England, says “Humanity is powered by stories”.
She beautifully adds, “Great stories are magic. They can introduce us to new cultures, or remind us of the nobility and failures of our own, inspire us to greatness or scare us to death; but above all, stories provide human insight on a level that is unavailable through any other source. In fact, stories connect each of us to the rest of humanity not just in our own time, but also throughout history”.
Why don’t we invite everybody to enjoy stories? (Nani Songkares).