The Son Of Qinghua

We dedicate this book to retired U.S Federal Judge Nancy J. Gertner, and to the brave federal judges, FBI Agents, and prosecutors working with integrity, fairness, and honesty to uphold the law in federal courtrooms across the U.S.

To those federal judges, FBI agents, and prosecutors abusing their positions and the rights of federal criminal defendants daily in federal courtrooms the U.S., we pray that this book will help to expose your actions which defile the judicial soul of the United States.

Table of Contents

DEDICATION

PREFACE

SYNOPSIS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE – FATHER AND QINGHUA

CHAPTER TWO – FATHER’S SACRIFICE

CHAPTER THREE – ARRIVAL IN THE U.S.

CHAPTER FOUR – FIRST AMERICAN GIG

CHAPTER FIVE – SCIENTISTS/DECEIT

CHAPTER SIX – LEAVING SCHOOL FOR ANOTHER DIFFICULT ROAD

CHAPTER SEVEN – THE TRICKS OF STONES

CHAPTER EIGHT – STREET SELLING /CHINA UNDERGROUND

CHAPTER NINE – POLICE CHIEF QUICKLY EXTORTED

CHAPTER TEN - GENTLEMAN SUIT THIEF

CHAPTER ELEVEN – CHEN BAI

CHAPTER TWELVE – FROM VENDOR TO MAH-JONG HOUSE OWNER

CHAPTER THIRTEEN – SHANGHAI BATHROOM

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – SHANGHAI ADVENTURES/THREE LESSONS

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – HOOKERS AND JOHNS

CHAPTER SIXTEEN – GUO LIANG QI/SISTER PING

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – NO EVIDENCE CONVICTION

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – EVERYONE’S MASK

CHAPTER NINETEEN – DISTILLATE OF LOGIC

CHAPTER TWENTY – LITTLE ATLANTIC CITY

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE – LI TAO

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO – A CHOICE WITHOUT A CHOICE

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE– GUI GUO LI PIN

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR – SOURCE VALUE

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE – SOUND BUSINESS PRACTICE/TROUBLE START

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX- EMPIRES

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN – PETER’S SECOND TRIP

CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT – SQUEEZING JI

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE – ESQUIRE OR SQUIRE

CHAPTER THIRTY –THE PROSECUTOR MINUS CLOTHES

CHAPTER THIRTY ONE - DO YOU HAVE TO PLEA?

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO – EVERYONE’S WAY

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE – OSCAR OR GOLDEN GLOBE

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR – FOUR BREAST CHICKENS

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE – WHY TRUMP LIKES HIS FRIEND’S WIVES

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX – YOU SHOULD READ THE CONSTITUTION AGAIN

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN - HALITOSIS BOSS

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT – POUND OF FLESH

CHAPTER THIRTY NINE – WHY YELLOW?

CHAPTER FORTY – THE SEASONS OF WOMAN

CHAPTER FORTY ONE - WHAT’S KEPT IN THE DARK MUST EVENTUALLY COME TO LIGHT

INTERVIEW OF SHI YONG WEI BY ALEXANDER OTIS MATTHEWS

POSTSCRIPT

PREFACE

We in no way intend this book to be construed as anti-police, or anti-law enforcement. We have the utmost respect for law enforcement and the rule of law, and for the brave men and women who risk their lives daily to keep order in society, punish wrongdoers, and protect the innocent. That is not the subject matter for this book, nor is it the problem. The problem is that when this nation was first founded, its Founders warned so much against the human tendency to be corrupted by unchecked power that those Founders embedded those warnings in this nation's founding documents, thereby placing it into the nation's very DNA. The Founders knew first hand of that corruption because they had suffered from it the hands of their British masters.

When we say that too few federal actors are playing fairly, you may be shocked or even skeptical of our position. We understand why when you have been told by the media and those running the system that there are only a few bad actors in the system, while we are saying there are not enough good actors. We, however, like the early colonists, have first-hand experience and personal knowledge of what really goes on in that system. We have fought and challenged that system, spent valuable years of our lives in that system, and come to know it well with the countless other men going through that system. While we respect law enforcement, we also highly respect ourselves, and we respect and demand the truth. Because of our insistence about respecting the truth, we must tell the truth, and we ask only that you be hear us out fully.

The U.S. is only 4.4% of the world's population, but holds 25% of the world's prisoners. Doesn't that strike you as very, very unusual? What do you really know about federal law, and have you ever spoken with anyone who personally experienced that system? What do you know about the human tendency to be corrupted by power, even more so unchecked power? Have you ever been a defendant in a U.S. federal legal proceeding? Shi’s story will open your eyes to a whole new reality that you likely never dreamed could occur in the U.S., and will shatter your complacency about this issue.

We are not alone in the decrying the current attack on truth in the U.S. body politic and legal system. In his recently released memoir entitled A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, And Leadership, former FBI Director James Comey begins his book addressing the subject. He says that We are experiencing a dangerous time in our country, with a political environment where basic facts are disputed, fundamental truth is questioned, lying is normalized, and unethical behavior is ignored, excused, or rewarded. He further states that Without a fundamental commitment to the truth - especially in our public institutions and those who lead them - we are lost. As a legal principle, if people don’t tell the truth, our justice system cannot function and a society based on the rule of law begins to dissolve. It is under these conditions we write Shi’s story.

Synopsis

Mr. Shi wields Chinese philosophy, mathematical logic, and a formidable intellect to demonstrate how the highest arts of deception are employed against the unwary in all areas of life, from the courtroom, to the games of chance, to the diamond industry. An instant classic on the Chinese-American experience, this highly inspirational book will serve as a source of motivation and wisdom to Chinese and non-Chinese people alike for generations to come. The book is both a detailed examination of Mr. Shi's life in China and in the U.S., and a critical dissection of the U.S. federal legal system, by two men with first-hand knowledge of that system's abuses and legal deprivations. Drawing on these two main topics, the book challenges many common misconceptions about U.S. law, culture, philosophy, and history with candor and sagacity. Applying Mr. Shi's background in science, math, and business, and Mr. Matthews's background in psychology, history, and federal law, the book will challenge and expand your understanding of many Western concepts. The authors demonstrate how the Founding Fathers of the U.S. designed a system precisely to prevent U.S. judges and prosecutors from assuming the virtually unchecked powers they presently possess, and the practical effects of that unchecked power on defendants and society in general. Mr. Shi's varied experiences covered include his successful business career in Manhattan, NYC, his involvement in NYC Mah-jong and gambling houses, and his contact with NYC's Chinese and Fujianese gangs. Also covered is a never before revealed account of the NYC Chinese tour-guide business, a personal chronicling of the legendary rise and fall of the beloved Chinese heroine Sister Ping, and a heartwrenching account of his fifteen-plus years in federal prison, making this book must reading from this new and powerful voice in Chinese literature. The authors examine Chinese-black relations in the U.S., racism towards Chinese and people of color in general, and the present climate of suspicion and vilification against many Chinese scientists and researchers. The book delves into the root causes and history of the topics addressed, as opposed to simply providing a surface examination, and also provides advice and insights for readers to prepare for and overcome the challenges presented. Mr. Shi speaks courageously and powerfully of his historic struggle against injustice, using his example to speak directly to Chinese people, especially its scientists and intellectuals. He warns Chinese people, especially its scientists and intellectuals, of the need to equip themselves with both book smarts and street smarts to survive in the current climate of suspicion and distrust of Chinese currently in the U.S., and in any of life's challenging situations.

If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete...

The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity - even under the most difficult circumstances - to add a deeper meaning to his life. It may remain brave, dignified, and unselfish. Or in the bitter fight for self-preservation he may forget his human dignity and become no more than an animal. Here lies the chance for a man to make use of or to foregoe the opportunities of obtaining the moral values that a difficult situation may afford him. And this decides whether he is worthy of his sufferings or not...

Do not think that these considerations are unworldly and too far removed from real life. It is true that only a few people are capable of reaching such high moral standards. Of the prisoners only a few kept their full inner liberty and obtained these values which their suffering afforded, but even one such example is sufficient proof that man's inner strength may raise him above his outward fate. Such men are not only in concentration camps. Everywhere man is confronted with fate, with the chance of achieving something though his own suffering.

Vicktor E. Frankl

Man's Search For Meaning

INTRODUCTION

On October 16th, 2017, I arrived at Allenwood Low Security Correctional Institution (Allenwood). It had been a long and grueling transfer from a Federal Prison Camp in Berlin, New Hampshire that had taken two months, with numerous holdovers and delays.

A few days after arriving to Allenwood, I was in the prison library doing some legal research when I overheard two inmates talking about another inmate who was Chinese. One inmate was telling the other one about how this Chinese inmate had come to the feds (federal legal system) unable to speak English, and how he had been taught English by another black inmate. This Chinese inmate was referred to by them as Wei, but in this book I will follow the Chinese custom which recognizes the family name as the first name. Thus I refer to him as Shi, his family name. These two inmates described how Shi had become fluent in English in prison, and had then taught another black inmate Mandarin Chinese for three years, that inmate leaving prison fluent in written and spoken Mandarin. I was drawn by their conversation, but eventually I went back to completing my legal research.

Three days later, I happened to be back in the library. I noticed in the rear of the room a tall Asian man deeply engrossed in whatever he was writing, with three enormous and very worn dictionaries around him. I went to the typewriter room to type my legal motion, and shortly thereafter I was joined by this Asian man. Breaking with the standard prison protocol of minding one's own business, I asked the man if he was Chinese, trying to sound as respectful as possible. Without hesitation he answered me, telling me he was Chinese, and I told him about a business trip I had taken to Beijing in 2009.

Before I could gauge the amount of time that had passed, Shi and I had been in conversation for almost two hours. At 9:30 am on Wednesday the prison move is called, so it was time for Shi and I to return to our housing units. I assured Shi that I would return later in the afternoon so we could resume our conversation.

Shi had come across to me as highly intelligent, intense, and focused during that two-hour initial conversation. He had given me a detailed explanation of his personal and family background, as well as his education and social background in China. He had related how he had come to the U.S. initially to further his studies, and after numerous experiences and careers had ended up a successful businessman in Manhattan, NYC. What Shi had spoken most forcefully about was about how he had been falsely convicted by the feds in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Shi not only spoke about his case, he showed me documented evidence supporting his claim of innocence.

I had become very proficient in federal law during the seven years I had fought my own conviction in a white-collar case out of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. I had helped many inmates with their appeals and collateral attacks upon their sentences and convictions, some successfully. Shi presented his case to me in an orderly and scientific manner I was unaccustomed to. At several points while speaking, Shi unashamedly anguished describing how he had been framed and given almost 20 years in federal prison. He spoke at length in describing how this 20 years sentence had destroyed his young family and how it had haunted him for years, especially concerning his two daughters. He spoke tearfully and wistfully about how his two daughters had been sent back to China one month after his arrest, how about eight years ago he had lost total contact with them and with his wife, and about how much he longed to be reunited with them.

When I returned to the library that evening, I learned more about Shi. The more I learned the more I realized I was in the presence of a very unique person. Shi had not given into despair in the face of his predicament. He had not only become fluent in English in prison, he had used that fluency to study the root meaning of the prefixes, suffixes, and infixes of words in the English language. He had been compiling this research for 12 years and had set upon the Herculean task of writing an English-Chinese dictionary based upon these root meanings. He worked on this project every day from morning to night, only stopping to eat or to go to the gym to maintain his very fit 59-year-old physique. Shi was in such excellent physical health that many of the younger inmates struggled to keep up with him on the running track and the pull-up bar.

Shi told me that he had come up with the concept of this dictionary to improve the technique by which Chinese people learn English. When he showed me the actual manuscript that he had compiled over the past 12 years, I was very impressed. It was huge, and meticulously researched and documented. He was fully dedicated to his task and went about it each day with a joy and precision that was obvious to all. His system of teaching Chinese people English through mastering the root consonants was unique and original, and he was confident of its success.

As day after day passed with Shi, we struck up a close friendship. I discovered more about Shi each day, and realized there were many subtle dimensions to this man who had remained both dignified and defiant about his innocence after almost 16 years in prison. Shi approached our friendship with an openness, generosity, and kindness that constantly touched me. He always gave freely without being asked or expecting anything in return, was punctual to a fault, and always kept his word no matter what.

I began to realize that I had a duty to write Shi's story, or rather to assist him in writing that story. I felt the world would benefit from a story illustrating just how noble the human spirit can be under the worst adversity and misfortune. I eventually asked his permission, and he gave his approval and consent. With my own projects to complete, I was not sure how I would manage to get such an ambitious undertaking done. When Shi and I actually began working to write the book, a transformation took place. His trepidation, and mine, was replaced by an insatiable desire to complete our task. We began working at all hours of the day and night, putting other matters aside. Something singularly possessed us, and incredibly, we completed the rough draft in three months. To this day we still marvel at how we made it happen, and at how Shi unleashed all the things that had remained inside him for so many years.

Before beginning Shi's story, I would like to offer a few framing premises from my own background. When speaking about the subject of truth and falsehood, I think it’s important to remember that the human brain was designed as a problem-solving machine. It is not only designed to solve problems, but to winnow falsehood from truth. As a citizen of the U.S. I am subject to a legal system built upon the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution is itself an extraordinary testament to human truth, freedom, and individual value, although it was born during a period in the U.S. when my people were subject to abject slavery. As no system is perfect and the U.S. is still a work in progress, being a very young nation in comparison to most others, I can appreciate and be cognizant of that bright contradiction while still fully acknowledging the majesty of the U.S. Constitution for the universal truths it represents. As a black American my people have for centuries learned how to navigate such attempts to deny our humanity while simultaneously being asked for our undivided loyalty to the same nation that practiced that most basic and profound of contradictions.

With that in mind, the law itself is society's most powerful means of getting to the truth, of separating truth from falsehood. When that law and the legal system that is practiced in becomes a protector or even a source of lies, it has profoundly serious consequences for criminal defendants and for the society as a whole. For example, while lying is certainty not new to politics, when a politician like U.S. President Donald Trump can tell obvious and puerile lies from office without fail and not be challenged by otherwise intelligent men of his own political party, something is really wrong. Donald Trump's lies are a direct assault upon the brains of the people of the U.S., but a large segment of the society are willing to either tolerate or support his lies for their own purposes. Such lies keep a society from using their brains to solve that society's issues, causing people to think in circular rather than the linear fashion the brain is designed for to optimally function. When lies come from the top, a society spends an inordinate amount of time and energy trying to sort out the simple truth from all the efforts made to hide that truth. I respectfully argue that we must vigorously reject this assault upon our minds and upon those behind it.

The relevance to the subject matter of this book is clear - the laws are at their core designed to vindicate truth. The current acceptance of lying in the U.S. body politic represents a fundamental unseriousness and degradation to the principles the nation’s founding was premised upon. This blatant allowance of lying has reached its apogee politically under President Trump, however, Shi and I encountered that same phenomena during our encounter with the U.S. federal legal system, especially on behalf of U.S. prosecutors and judges. Expecting to find justice and a commitment to the truth, we found the exact opposite, where many federal prosecutors and judges feel empowered to lie at will and to do whatever they can in their power to avoid a search for the truth.

While the U.S. has a legal philosophy that is generally admirable, with such notable exceptions as its concept of conspiracy, or its plea bargain procedure emphasizing cooperation, it’s not so much the laws themselves as the people applying those laws who have grown corrupted. The present day U.S. federal legal system has far too often ceased being a truth seeking mechanism and is more concerned only with efficiently convicting people and incarcerating them. This machine with little to no regard for the truth has caused inestimable damage and psychic pain to those persons caught within this system and their families.

I present this background as a preface to Shi's story. Shi is a man who never once stopped resisting against and challenging the lies which convicted him. He applies linear thinking to the problems and challenges he has faced these 15 years, and against those who would bury his truth. This book is for those who seek the truth, no matter who may be offended in the process. Shi and I believe that the earth itself demands that truth told. This is the story of Shi Young Wei.

CHAPTER ONE – FATHER AND QINGHUA

I was born on May 1, 1959 in Beijing, China. I grew up on the campus of Qinghua University, which is one of the two top universities in China, and one of the top universities in the world.

When I was six years old, I attended the talented class kindergarten of Qinghua. When I reached seven years old, I began the second grade in Qinghua's elementary school. That same year, 1966, was also the same year China's Cultural Revolution began. With my own eyes I witnessed the disruption and chaos this event wrought upon China.

My father, Shi Shi Sheng, was born in 1919. He came to the U.S. in 1948 and studied at the University of Michigan for three and half years before earning his PH.D. in civil engineering. After obtaining his Ph.D. he worked for five years in the U.S., returning to China in 1956 to begin his teaching career at Qinghua University. Both of my parents were active academically, and at around this same time my mother arrived at Qinghua with my older brother, arriving there from another famous university where she had been a professor in electrical engineering. My mother, Sun Jia Xin, had authored several electric circuit teaching manuals that had been used to teach the subject in numerous Chinese universities.

The Cultural Revolution caused great turmoil in Qinghua, with intellectuals bearing the brunt of the attack. Many could not withstand the pressure and committed suicide, among them being a few of my classmates' parents. I personally saw some of those dead bodies.

Because my father had studied and worked in the capitalist U.S., he was sent to a 5.7 Ganxiao (farm) for re-education in July of 1969. A few months after my father went to the farm my mother took me with her so that we could join him. The farm was roughly one thousand kilometers from Beijing. I was only ten years old at the time but I was very tall, which made it awkward for me to live with my mother in a female dorm. My father would come by to pick me up and take me to his dorm, which was a two hour walk from my mother's dorm.

My mother's job was was to feed about sixty pigs. My father's job involved working in a large field where he usually planted rice. In the beginning my father worked two weeks straight with one day off, and later it changed to working ten days with one day off. On his day off my mother would walk the two hours to visit us, and in the afternoon she would walk the two hours back to her dorm.

Father was a very kind person, respecting everyone without regard to their educational level or social status. He was fifty years old when I began living with him in his dorm, where about forty other men also lived. The beds in the dorm were all made of rough wood and were attached to each other. Soon after I went to live in Father's dorm, he was placed on the kitchen detail as a cook, which was much easier work than the work he had done working in the field.

The farm was polluted with residual blood bilharzia (schistosoma) left from Japanese germ warfare from World War II, part of their campaign against the Chinese populace. The substance was found in the farm's rice paddies, and was too minute to be seen by the naked human eye. It was so small that a dewdrop could contain one thousand schistosoma. Before Father and I worked in the rice fields we had to smear some type of liquid resembling milk on our bodies to protect us against the germ agent. I still remember vividly that after we applied the liquid Father instructed me to make certain that the liquid had dried fully before going into the field. After the liquid had dried on my skin it seemed to prevent my body from emitting sweat for close to two hours.

Father was not only a kind man, he was gifted with an astute and practical mind. I never once heard him utter a single curse word. He never took off time to celebrate holidays, preferring instead to work and be productive. Due to Father's influence I also have never celebrated holidays or birthdays for my personal interest, only doing so for others when necessary. As a child when my birth came father would simply inform me that I was one year older, with no gift or celebration. To this day I am still unaware of the exact date of my Father's birth.

Father always taught me not to be concerned with my external image, that the purpose of clothing is to be warm, comfortable, and clean. Likewise, he taught me that the purpose of eating food is not to necessary experience good taste, but rather to gain proper nutrients for good health. He also taught me not to eat excessively, and that if I wanted to be competitive with someone I should be competitive about educational achievements, and not other superficial considerations. I was taught by him to understand I had to be number one in my classes and among my peers in school, not number two.

Father always held out his brother, Shi Shi Yuan, as a person for me to emulate. His brother was a professor at Nanking University, a very respected institution in China. His brother had earned his PH.D. from world famous chemist and physicist Marie Curie, later Chinese students having been taught by Marie Curie's daughter. Father's brother himself had students that were famous, among them Wu Jian Xiong, who went on to become a renowned female Chinese researcher in the field of physics.

In 1971, my parents and I left the farm and returned to the Qinghua campus he had left two years earlier. In 1972 I finished elementary school and entered Qinghua's school for middle and high school students. I studied very diligently in middle school, but by the time I reached high school Qinghua's campus was in chaos as a result of the Cultural Revolution. Because of this chaos I was not able to fully concentrate, therefore, my high school education was not as meaningful as I had desired it to be.

In 1976 I graduated from Qinghua's high school. For a while I remained home waiting to be assigned a government job. Father told me to remain patient, that the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution would soon be over and that a position would be given to me. I wasn't receptive to Father's advice about being patient, because to me it just seemed like nothing would ever really change. Shortly thereafter the government did officially proclaim the Cultural Revolution over, with no lasting change or improvement to show for all the effort made and damage caused in the process.

In 1977 Deng Xiao Ping assumed power in China. That autumn, the government issued a pronouncement: every person wishing to enroll in any university in China would have to take the same standard examination. During the ten year span of the Cultural Revolution, any student entering university could only be selected by Communist Party leaders. Therefore, the new proclamation would serve to democratize the process, a revolutionary change in Chinese society.

Before I realized it I had only two and half months to prepare to take the exam. Because I had not had a productive high school due to the Cultural Revolution, I did not feel very confident about my success on the exam with the very short time I had to prepare.

CHAPTER TWO – FATHER’S SACRIFICE

Here I must mention a very respected and honorable friend of mine. On the mathematics portion of this examination, he not only scored one hundred percent, he also scored almost one hundred percent in the additional calculus portion of the test that was not required. His father was our neighbor on the campus of Qinghua University. His father father was the vice dean of the Civil Engineering Department at Qinghua and had earned his PH.D. at Harvard University, the most elite college in the U.S.

After acing the examination, my friend proceeded to earn both a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from Qinghua. Before entering Qinghua he had worked as agricultural laborer in a poor and remote mountain village outside Beijing. He told me that during those days he often could only afford to eat yams for all three meals. He is a very humble person, and when anyone questions him or attempts to argue with him he is very careful to know the answer before speaking. Before he speaks, he is certain to preface his answer with I believe, or I think, never saying he is one hundred percent certain. Around 1987 he came to the U.S. and earned his PH.D. from Princeton University. Today he teaches at Nebraska University as a tenured professor and every summer and winter returns to China to teach in different universities.

He is a person to whom loyalty is paramount. After my arrest by the FBI on 9/22/2003, I had many conversations with him about the severity of my predicament. I told him how the FBI had arrested my wife in an attempt to force to take a plea deal, and that how in light of my declining fortunes it would be wise for him not to contact me further. I told him that based on what I had seen thus far he could be arrested without any pretext as my friend. I further explained that his status as a scientist and naturalized U.S. citizen working on sensitive Department of Defense projects made his situation all the more precarious. He refused all of my warnings, and to this day is the only one of my numerous Chinese friends who has remained next to me during my ordeal, helping me in any way that I have needed. All of my other friends were too afraid of the FBI to maintain our friendship. Their conduct in the face of FBI brings to mind Thomas Jefferson's adage which says When government fears the people there is liberty. When people fear the government, there is tyranny. With my deepest appreciation I pay my respect to him, although I will respect his privacy by omitting his name.

Returning to my own examination, as it turned out I ended up having five and half months to prepare rather than two months, which helped me make up for some of what I had missed in high school. In 1978, I passed the threshold to enter university in China. My mathematics, physics, and chemistry scores were very good, this passing threshold so revered in Chinese culture that it is known as the live-dead line. Even though only four out of every one-hundred Chinese students scored high enough to enter university, my score in the Chinese and politics had been too low, so I would not gain acceptance into Qinghua University. I was accepted to a lesser school, the South China School of Technology, which was located in Guangzhou, the capital of Guang Dong Province.

I majored in architecture, beginning that October, 1978. After four years of rigorous training, I earned my B.S. in architecture in 1982, and soon thereafter landed an architectural design position in Beijing.

In 1980 China was still not a completely open society; it was a very different society than the China of today. Father was sixty-one and could have at that point retired very comfortably to a scenic life on Qinghua's campus. Instead, Father never being one to take the easy road, chose to secure a teaching position in the U.S. He made this decision not for himself, but with my future in mind. This is because he felt that at that point not much was changing in China., and that the prospects for my future were better with the opportunities available in the U.S.

Father believed that the U.S. was not only a nation of laws, but that everyone carefully obeyed and upheld the laws as they were written. Father had a superficial understanding of the U.S. legal system, just as most U.S. citizens do have who have never had personal experience with that system. He was not aware of how Latin is used in the argot of U.S. laws, how people are convicted, or how U.S. prosecutors wield virtually unlimited power and discretion with scant oversight. He was not aware of how in the U.S. defense attorneys often sold their clients out to the prosecutor, refusing to vigorously represent that client's interests. He wasn't aware of U.S. conspiracy laws which don't require direct evidence, only one person's accusation to convict another person. Father also didn't know the real meaning of the word category, a word of Greek origins containing the prefix cate and the suffix gory, which will be more fully addressed later.

Father had no knowledge of these issues, all he knew was that the U.S. had tremendous opportunities for a twenty-four year old Chinese kid like myself. Therefore, with only my best prospects in mind, in 1980 he moved back to the U.S. after landing a teaching position at the State University of New York at Buffalo (UB), returning to the U.S. after having been in China for twenty-four years. Father departed for the U.S. without me to prepare for my arrival and for what he firmly believed would also be my success.

CHAPTER THREE – ARRIVAL IN THE U.S.

Father began his teaching job the day after his arrival back in the U.S. He had not been given a tenured position, therefore his salary was based on the number of classes he taught. His salary was not a lot, but he managed it in a very efficient manner as was his discipline and practice.

In August of 1983 I joined him in Buffalo. It has been almost four years since seeing him, but he seemed to have aged greatly in those four years. His hair was now completely white, there were more wrinkles in his forehead, and his back now had a slight hump. Seeing Father age so much in that short time reminded me of how much he was sacrificing for me, and made my joy at re-uniting with him bittersweet.

Because English had not been a required subject for me during my period of study in China, my English was very, very poor. Father made plans for me to go to graduate school to earn an M.S. in civil engineering. To prepare for this he enrolled me in an English As a Second Language(ESL) class at UB, paying about eleven-hundred dollars for me to take the three month class.

From his small salary Father had frugally saved money for my future graduate school expenses. He left for work each day to prepare for his classes just as I had seen him do twenty-four years prior at Qinghua. He always arrived at work early to get an advance on preparation for his lectures, and he worked even on weekends and holidays, having no concept of off days. Father's one attempt at leisure was made after dinner was eaten, when I would turn on the TV to watch American football. While still preparing himself for his next-day lecture and class, he would sometimes laugh distractedly at something said, or comment to himself about something he had heard on the TV.

The first Sunday after I arrived in Buffalo, Father took me to a garage sale in his friend's car, because he didn't own a car. He purchased for himself some very old and outdated clothing, looking like they were from the 1950s or 1960s. He also purchased an old pair of jeans for himself for two dollars, and for three dollars he bought me an old bicycle to use when I went grocery shopping.

This is how I began my life in the U.S. at the age of twenty-four. I went to school unashamed to wear old-fashioned clothes, designed for old men, because Father was also wearing the same clothing. I told him I wanted to go to work to help him financially, but he explained to me that it was illegal for me to work with only a student visa. He told me not to worry myself with money. Lowering his voice and coming very close to me, he explained in a whisper that he was planning to apply for a green card and to eventually become a naturalized U.S. citizen.

Father went on to explain to me how he had enjoyed a very good life in the U.S. in the 1956, however, he continued, due to his love for China he had returned there to try and make his own personal contribution to the land of his fathers. Finally, for the sake of my career he would apply for U.S. citizenship, though he felt shame in doing so.

Hearing Father made me realize again how much he had sacrificed in initially returning to China, and then in coming back to the U.S., all for me. Yet, he had never once complained about this to me or to anyone else. In returning to China during the Cultural Revolution he had been forced to criticize and humiliate himself in front of many people for the sin of having earned a PH.D. from a capitalist country. Father had never complained about this, expressed regret, or blamed anyone for his fate. Instead, he had always insisted to me that it doesn't matter how bad your situation is, just keep focused on solving the problem, and understand that complaining is useless. He taught me that if you have to blame someone, blame yourself, and that if you give a pretext for something, give one for the other person first rather than for yourself.

Buffalo was very cold in winter, and it was always snowing so much that the ground was never visible. Weekdays Father and I would walk many blocks to the bus station, he having rented the home that we lived