The Crazy Rich Asians Trilogy - Page 32
“Not at all. They came in an SUV. Actually, there were two SUVs. One took the luggage straight to the hotel. No wonder,” Rachel recalled.
“Rachel, Colin Khoo’s family owns the Kingsford Hotel! That’s why you’re staying there,” Peik Lin said, jabbing her arm excitedly.
Rachel didn’t quite know what to say. She found herself amused and a little embarrassed by all the excitement.
“Your boyfriend is Colin Khoo’s best man? What’s his name?” Peik Lin’s father demanded.
“Nicholas Young,” Rachel replied.
“Nicholas Young … how old is he?”
“Thirty-two.”
“That’s one year above Peik Wing,” Neena said. She looked up at the ceiling, as if racking through her mental Rolodex to see if she could recall a Nicholas Young.
“Peik Wing—ever heard of Nicholas Young?” Wye Mun asked his eldest son.
“Nope. Do you know which school he went to?” Peik Wing asked Rachel.
“Balliol College, Oxford,” she replied, hesitantly. She wasn’t sure why they were suddenly so interested in every minute detail.
“No, no—I mean which primary school,” Peik Wing said.
“Elementary school,” Peik Lin clarified.
“Oh, I have no idea.”
“Nicholas Young … sounds like an ACS† boy,” P.T. chimed in. “All those ACS boys have Christian names.”
“Colin Khoo went to ACS. Daddy, I already tried to check Nick out when Rachel first started dating him, but no one I know has ever heard of him,” Peik Lin added.
“Nick and Colin went to elementary school together. They have been best friends since childhood,” Rachel said.
“What is his father’s name?” Wye Mun asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, if you find out the parents’ names, we can tell you whether he comes from a good family or not,” Wye Mun said.
“Alamaaaaak, of course he’s from good family, if he’s best friends with Colin Khoo,” Neena said. “Young … Young … Sheryl, isn’t there a gyney named Richard Young? The one who practices with Dr. Toh?”
“No, no, Nick’s father is an engineer. I think he works in Australia part of the year,” Rachel offered.
“Well, see if you can find out more about his background, and we can help you,” Wye Mun finally said.
“Oh, you really don’t have to do that. It’s not important to me what sort of family he comes from,” Rachel said.
“Nonsense, lah! Of course it’s important!” Wye Mun was adamant. “If he’s Singaporean, I have a responsibility to make sure he’s good enough for you!”
* * *
* Hokkien for “eat.”
† Among Singapore’s upper crust, only two boys’ schools matter: Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) and Raffles Institution (RI). Both are consistently ranked among the top schools in the world and have enjoyed a long, heated rivalry. RI, established in 1823, is known to attract the brainy crowd, while ACS, established in 1886, is popular with the more fashionable set and somewhat perceived to be a breeding ground for snobs. Much of this has to do with the 1980 article in the Sunday Nation entitled “The Little Horrors of ACS,” which exposed the rampant snobbery among its pampered students. This led to a shamed principal announcing to stunned students (including this author) the very next morning during assembly that, henceforth, students were no longer allowed to be dropped off at the front entrance by their chauffeurs. (They had to walk up the short driveway all by themselves, unless it was raining.) Expensive watches, eyeglasses, fountain pens, briefcases, satchels, pencil boxes, stationery, combs, electronic gadgets, comic books, and any other luxury items would also be banned from school property. (But within a few months, Lincoln Lee started wearing his Fila socks again and no one seemed to notice.)
17
Nicholas and Colin
Source: readsnovelonline.net