Jane had done everything she could to get into the good graces of her mother in law, but Lillian Zhang would have nothing of it.
Her clothes were not right, the house she kept for her son was not right, she didn't feed her son right, she didn't do anything the right way for her precious youngest child.
No matter what theme the elder Mrs. Zhang took for her latest round of fault finding the former Jane Dillon was sure what it all boiled down to was that she couldn't deal with the fact that her little boy had married a fahn quai or that is a foreign or white devil.
While the whole large Zhang clan had adopted western first names, Lillian being "fahn quai" itself, after all, she made it clear that Jane's Don Zhang was Zhang Guoping Yan, well not in so many words, but that was what Jane was sure Lillian's scrutinizing was about, "not taking care of him like he needs" indeed thought Jane.
Of course like any modern American couple Jane didn't "take care of her husband" any more than he took care of her, they took care of themselves doing it together in the same place while sharing the expenses, Don Zhang was a rising executive in a company that manufactured medical equipment, while Jane was a registered nurse at a teaching hospital.
So they were a modern couple, and her mother in law didn't like her one bit and made herself quite the pill about it. Why not, like so many other modern American couples didn't she ignore the older woman for most of the year other than holidays and let her stew in her own juices while they lived their lives apart?
Two simple reasons, they lived less than a mile from her husband's parents, and Don, to be honest about it, was more than a bit of a mama's boy.
Jane's was not an uncommon problem, nor one that anything could be done about other than deal with it as best she could, that at least was the attitude Jane took until word started to spread among the medical staff at the hospital of a new surgical team who had transferred their major procedures to the facility where she worked, It wasn't long before everyone was abuzz about the three doctors and their unique cliental.
Doctor's Bell, Book & Candall where plastic surgeons, hardly a rare breed in that part of the country, these three, did procedures that, as far a Jane knew, no other surgeons performed.
While there were thousands who performed the operation that make Asians look more western, these doctors did the opposite, and not only that they had also perfected some other techniques for changing the shape of chins, noses, cheeks, brows and the whole architecture of faces so that at the end the recipient, most of whom were of European descent like her, were, as far as the eye could tell, of Chinese, Japanese or East Indian descent, It was held that even natives of those lands couldn't tell one of their patients, though born of Irish, Italian or Spanish genes, from a native of their country.
Jane had a whim to check this out further, to see mind you. Getting an appointment with the originator of most of the
procedures Doctor Bell himself Jane's lark started to take on a more substance in her mind.
Seeing the professional atmosphere of the well-appointed offices, seeing other normal-seeming people in the waiting room, it all started to seem less and less like a lark and more like something that she might actually consider doing.
The tipping point for Jane came with her talk with Dr. Bell, after examining her, and taking a photo he showed what most likely would be the results of his operating based on her bone structure & musculature.
The computer showed someone who was still very much Jane, only a Jane who seemed to have one parent who was Chinese, not all that much of a difference, and yet so very different!
"Now I can't promise this is exactly how you would look," explained Dr. Bell "there are always things that we can't expect." Jane didn't care,
the idea appealed to her more and more. like that Jane's lark became her getting things started, first, of course, there was a psychological exam, which Jane passed & before even she knew it she was signing the papers and getting a time set for her surgery.
Then there was her husband, "you want to have surgery to make you look Chinese?" asked Don, "not exactly Chinese" she replied, "this is just like those Asian women who have their eyes operated on to look... wider, this will make me look so much better, it's not that big a deal."
What Jane didn't tell her husband was that what she was anticipating was the look on mother in laws face when she saw Jane's new look, the women got under her skin that much.
Her husband accustomed to the idea, and sworn to secrecy when the time came Jane took time off work and reported to be prepared for surgery.
Never having had plastic surgery herself Jane didn't know what to expect, but, It seemed much like any other medical procedure, though doctor Bell and his staff did seem to spend a lot of time emphasizing how, despite his tests, years of experience, planning and his and her best expectations, there was still no guarantee how the end results would look, Jane attributed this to common plastic surgeon caution in an
an era of high litigation.
Jane found herself in the operating room surrounded by doctor Bell, nurses, gas passers, & various attendants & interns,
counting backward under the gas mask she faded to black.
She awoke in a hospital room, her head swathed in bandages, before too long various people came in to take blood, ask her how she was doing, take more blood, even doctor Bell made a brief appearance to assure her the operation went even better than had been expected, to wish her well, and check the little space on her charts that said he had entered the room and so was entitled to more money.
Her last two visitors that day were an intern who detailed the care and feeding of her wrappings & her husband who took her home.
Then came the pain, and the itching and swelling, and the weeks of waiting. As the time came to take off the bandages, Jane aware from her work as a nurse what that would be like decided to spare her husband the view, along with her viewing him viewing the bruised early stages.
Returning to the doctor's offices alone for the unveiling which showed her to be even more swollen and bruised than she had imagined, Bell, said things were on their way to settling in very nicely for her new look.
Be that as it may, Jane still didn't want anyone she knew to see her until she had healed. So after leaving the doctor, she headed to a hotel room to rest, and let nature take its course.
The hotel was a nice place for some off time, with great room service and it's own 4-star spa/salon.
Within a week the swelling and bruises were almost gone, at the end of a week, you couldn't tell she had had any plastic work on her face at all.
But before that Jane became aware of what the result would be, doctor Bell had said there was no guarantee what the results would be, but she had not expected anything like what she saw in her room's mirror.
The face was nothing at all like computer's guess, she barely recognized herself at all, she had the same dark auburn hair, and the same green eyes, but the hair surrounded, and the eyes looked out of the face of a woman who was not only Chinese but a Chinese woman distinctly of the Han ethnic group.
"Holy mackerel, I'm Chinese!" said Jane to herself rubbing her face as if to prove the image in the mirror was for real. "Nothing to do but go home and drop the bomb," she told her new self as if talking to someone she had meet, "but first, in for a penny, in for a pound."
Jame made another visit to the salon and had her hair dyed black, along with a new style, parted down the middle, an application of White Camellia Oil, gave it a shine she approved of
Her husband was at a loss for words. "Honey.... you look..... fantastic..." he said, even he hearing the flatness of his tone.
"fantastic..... fantastic! Really really Fan! Tas! Tic!" a long pause came from him, then a curious look "you know you look a little like my cousin Kuan, she's a flight attendant for Taiwan Air.... you're taller.
He was shocked, after all marrying a Caucasian American woman had been a big step for him and had colored quite a lot of his life, to now find he was not only married to a woman who likes a hometown girl would take some adjusting, "Jane looks more Chinese than most of the hometown girls!" Don thought to himself. "We'll have to get you a Chinese name to go with your new look he told her."
But that would have to wait, because, as Jane had timed it, whether she knew it or not, she would be able to reveal her new look at the annual Zhang family Thanksgiving get together, a function she had in her first 3 years of going to stand out at.
Arriving, Jane dressed in a traditional Qi Pao dress, made quite the impression, after that is it was established that Don was not stepping out on her with another woman.
The reactions ranged from agast to suppressed surprise, to two who asked for the phone number of the doctor.
Then came the big moment, finding out her mother in law was alone in her bedroom fixing her hair Jane went to see her all by herself. Knocking and entering Jane found her still fiddling with a comb that did not look like it needed any fiddling with.
Mrs. Zhang... Lillian... It's me, Jane, I've got a bit of a surprise for the family this year, you need to turn around" The older woman did, her habitual disapproving look already in place.
Looking at Jane it slipped for a moment as her eyes widened on seeing her. There was a long pause, then she said. "You're wearing a Qi Pao again, huuua, that's for old fashion ladies, get with the times' girl, my boy is a big-time businessman, he needs a modern woman, you got to dress
Stepping closer to look with amazement at Lillian Zhang's refection Jane came to two conclusions. one, her mother in law didn't really care whether she was western or Chinese, she was just one of those women who didn't think there was any woman good enough for her son, and two by damn the old woman had had plastic surgery herself as Jane notice for the first time the woman's eyes had creases in them making them look Western, now the oh so unworthy American wife looked more Chinese then her mother in law!
"Damn!" thought Jane turning around and stomping out the room "I should have asked for the Japanese look, that would have shown her!"
