What My Mother Taught Me

A few days ago, my father found a short story that I had written for a school project when I was in the 2nd grade — my mother’s own path to computer science! I asked if I could please share her story, and she encouraged me to write about it.

My mother is a remarkably intelligent woman with a strong sense of integrity and a great sense of humor. No surprise, as she was raised by my incredible grandparents. My grandmother was an ophthalmologist. She performed cataract surgery on many farming families she encountered while biking across China in her retirement, alongside my grandfather who partnered with her to found an organ donor organization. He was also a veteran of war having played a key role in liberating the Chinese people against Japanese invasion during the Second Sino-Japanese War. They both loved languages, and lived an extremely humble life, often hosting friends and strangers alike without ever asking for anything in return.

Mom has always inspired me to be the best version of myself, and believe in value of my own self-worth. This story was one that I had written around 3 years after moving to the United States as a child. Basking in the glory of all of its spelling and grammatical errors (my mother’s name is incorrectly spelled for almost the entire book), this story is my 9-year old version’s retell of the consequences of war, the Chinese cultural revolution, and the value of hard work.

Enjoy this incredible story.

“Ruopei the Computer Expert, Written and Illustrated by Yin Mei”

She’s a wonder woman.

“dedicated to my wonderful mother”

“Yes, let me tell you about the Korean war.” — says nine-year-old self in the prologue of her first book.
So dark. So fast. #cannoteven

Roupei Cao was born in China on <redacted>. At that time, the Korean war had just ended. China was helping North Korea. America was with South Korea. They fought and many people died. The people in the towns were starving.

This is the entire chapter.

Roupei Cao had a sister named Ronna, a brother named Rohan. Her mom’s name is Huiyin and her dad’s name is Quan Cao. She liked her sister very much.

I just love how much agency I gave my mother in her story. According to me, my grandmother only played the role of an advisor and that in fact my 6-year-old mother decided (on her own) to attend boarding school because 1st grade was her mission.

Roupei wanted to be in first grade. To be in first grade in China she has to be 7 yrs old, but she was only 6 yrs old. Her mother sugested to go to a board school so she went there to get first grade education. She stayed there Monday to Friday and came home only on Saturday. She stayed there for a year. Then she went to regular school from 2nd to 4th grade.

Yes, people burned books. That bookshop owner was probably forced to burn his books. “It was bad” was an understatement.

Then came the Culture Revolution. It was bad, all the schools were closed so nobody could learn anything at all. Roupei was sad. One day a cashier of a bookshop was about to burn the text books. He said “Go ahead child, take some before I do it.” So Roupei took some math books and said, “Thank you!”

Preach, grandma, preach.

“Ruopei had a dream. She wanted to be a computer expert or scientist. She had this dream ever since she was in high school. Some people said, “It’s too hard.” Others said, “It’s impossible,” but her mom said, “You can be anything you want if you work hard.”

This test (when China first restored college entrance exams in 1977)

The Culture Revolution just ended. Lots of people had to take a test to go to school because there aren’t many schools. Lots of schools were recked. Roupei worked hard on the test. She passed it! She could go to school! She was accepted by one of the best universities in China. She would study Computer Science!

“You are done studying!” was every 9 year old’s dream. I doubt that was the case for my mother however, she’s always still studying something.

Ruopei took a test for computer science. She finished the test and was waiting for the grades. A few days later, she recieved a letter. She read it and it said “Congratulations! You have passed the test. You may become a computer expert. You are done studying!” She was very happy

Quick epilogue, a bit of a blur.

Two years later she married a man named Kevin. She had a child named Yin Mei. She worked in Seimens and I-tech. Right now she is working in Seimens.

I love how I was aware that I would no longer be nine later.

My name is Yin Mei. I was born in China. I was nine when I wrote this book. My favorite subjects are drawing and piano. My favorite song is “Für Elise.”

And there you are.
Happy Mother’s Day.