QQ with my brother!

My brother online!

My brother is 18 years old and he is working in Shenyang... or rather he is learning to become a motor mechanic in Shenyang. He works for a motor shop that pays him only RMB600 per month. Every now and then, I call him to check if all is OK.

Recently, he decided to bring our old and big laptop computer from home to work in Shenyang as my parents do not know how to use it. One day, he called and said he would like to talk to me over QQ messenger, which is the equivalent of the MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger many other people use here. QQ is the most popular in China and many Chinese use it to keep in touch with friends all over the world. I decided to borrow a computer from my Teacher friend try to get in touch with my brother.

My brother is currently working very hard. He works from 10am to 10pm every day, seven days a week, and hopes to be able to learn enough to start his own motor repair or service shop one day. A few years back, when he just finished school and we had a talk, he said he wanted to be a motor mechanic because he feels that China will have many cars one day and it will be really good business. I think he has the right vision, it's now up to him to make it work.

His employer pays him only RMB600 per month (or SGD120) as it is suppose to be an on-the-job learning experience. However, I am a bit worried as he as been it at for more than a year and I wonder if the employer is taking advantage of him. Afterall, he is not going to get a certificate as this is not a school.

So we set a time to meet on QQ at 11am last Sunday even though I usually sleep at about 10pm as I have to wake up early the next day at 5am to work. Sure enough, at 11pm, he came online and we were able to get connected. While the line was a little noisy and there was some delay, I was really happy to see him and tears filled my eyes. It's been a long time and I could not control my feelings. We chatted till 11.30pm when my sister came home and all three of us chatted till past midnight.

On monday, I woke up very tired and with swollen eyes, with only about 4 hours of sleep... I think I need a good, good rest!