Crazy Rich Asians Read Free

end of any phrase for emphasis, but there’s no
     good explanation for why people use it,
lah
.)
    † Cantonese for “How rotten!”
    ‡ A charming Hokkien colloquialism that translates to “red-haired” (
ang mor
) “dog shit” (
gau sai
). Used in reference to all Westerners, it’s usually shortened to a simple
“ang mor.”
    § Hokkien for “stingy,” “miserly.” (The vast majority of Singaporeans speak English,
     but it is a common practice to mash up words in Malay, Indian, and various Chinese
     dialects to form a local patois known as “Singlish.”)
    ‖ Cantonese for “gutter.”



1
Nicholas Young and Rachel Chu
    NEW YORK, 2010
    “You sure about this?” Rachel asked again, blowing softly on the surface of her steaming
     cup of tea. They were sitting at their usual window table at Tea & Sympathy, and Nick
     had just invited her to spend the summer with him in Asia.
    “Rachel, I’d love it if you came,” Nick reassured her. “You weren’t planning on teaching
     this summer, so what’s your worry? Think you won’t be able to handle the heat and
     humidity?”
    “No, that’s not it. I know you’re going to be so busy with all your best-man duties,
     and I wouldn’t want to distract you,” Rachel said.
    “What distraction? Colin’s wedding is only going to take up the first week in Singapore,
     and then we can spend the rest of the summer just bumming around Asia. Come on, let
     me show you where I grew up. I want to take you to all my favorite haunts.”
    “Will you show me the sacred cave where you lost your virginity?” Rachel teased, arching
     an eyebrow playfully.
    “Definitely! We can even stage a reenactment!” Nick laughed, slathering jam and clotted
     cream onto a scone still warm from the oven. “And doesn’t a good friend of yours live
     in Singapore?”
    “Yes, Peik Lin, my best friend from college,” Rachel said. “She’s been trying to get
     me to come visit for years.”
    “All the more reason. Rachel, you’re going to love it, and I justknow you’re going to flip out over the food! You do realize Singapore is the most
     food-obsessed country on the planet?”
    “Well, just watching the way you fawn over everything you eat, I figured it’s pretty
     much the national sport.”
    “Remember Calvin Trillin’s
New Yorker
piece on Singapore street foods? I’ll take you to all the local dives even
he
doesn’t know about.” Nick took another bite of his fluffy scone and continued with
     his mouth full. “I know how much you love these scones. Just wait till you taste my
     Ah Ma’s—”
    “Your Ah Ma bakes scones?” Rachel tried to imagine a traditional Chinese grandmother
     preparing this quintessentially English confection.
    “Well, she doesn’t exactly bake them herself, but she has the best scones in the world—you’ll
     see,” Nick said, turning around reflexively to make sure no one in the cozy little
     spot had overheard him. He didn’t want to become persona non grata at his favorite
     café for carelessly pledging allegiance to another scone, even if it was his grandmother’s.
    At a neighboring table, the girl huddled behind a three-tiered stand piled high with
     finger sandwiches was getting increasingly excited by the conversation she was overhearing.
     She suspected it might be him, but now she had absolute confirmation. It
was
Nicholas Young. Even though she was only fifteen at the time, Celine Lim never forgot
     the day Nicholas strolled past their table at Pulau Club * and flashed that devastating grin of his at her sister Charlotte.
    “Is that one of the Leong brothers?” their mother had asked.
    “No, that’s Nicholas Young, a cousin of the Leongs,” Charlotte replied.
    “Philip Young’s boy? Aiyah, when did he shoot up like that? He’s so handsome now!”
     Mrs. Lim exclaimed.
    “He’s just back from Oxford. Double-majored in history and law,” Charlotte added,
     anticipating her mother’s next question.
    “Why didn’t