Chongqing’s First Refrigerator || Non-fiction Joyce Huang

Chongqing’s First Refrigerator

Joyce Huang

Shufen peered out the window of the company car her father was driving. A dreary landscape of muddy grays and beiges met her gaze. The four-hour drive seemed to have lasted forever, but still her mother insisted there were many kilometers to go. At least the city would be a refreshing change from her small hometown: a sprawling industrial complex of factories where her parents worked.

She looked to her left, hoping to strike up a meaningless conversation with her brother, but to her dismay, he had nodded off. Sensing that no one else in the car would entertain her, Shufen closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Shufen woke up to the commotion of a neighborhood gathering on her shushu and ayi’s doorstep. She had asked her father which relatives these were, exactly, but the family tree had become too convoluted in his answer for her to listen. The car thudded to a stop, and Shufen tentatively pushed the door open.

What followed was a flurry of nihaos and politely restrained small talk as Shufen was hurried into the living room, where the entire party reveled at the one-and-a-half-meter tall appliance sitting in front of them. A refrigerator was a luxury few in 1980s China could afford. Beyond the two-hundred-dollar price tag, families had to receive government-provided tickets permitting the purchase. After waiting for months, utilizing his connections as a local manager, and coming across a stroke of luck, Shufen’s father managed to get his hands on a coveted ticket.

And there it stood, in front of the entire neighborhood. It was white, tall, and beautiful. Shufen’s mother bragged to no one in particular that it had been produced in Japan, and was the best money could buy.

Shufen wrenched the refrigerator door open and felt the blast of cold air on her shirt. She yelled with delight as the children of the neighborhood rushed forward and jostled to feel the chill.

The rest of the afternoon flashed by: her mother procured sugar water and poured it into an ice tray. As the adults dispersed and made conversation about how Shufen’s father could’ve gotten his hands on such an indulgence, Shufen and her brother sat impatiently in front of the fridge, listening to the soft whirring sound it made as it froze the sugar water.