Ah Yi

Ah Yi in chinese means Aunt.
Ah Yi can also be a cleaner.

In our apartments here in China we all share 1 Ah Yi. She does not clean our individual apartments, but she cleans the corridors and we call on her if there is something that needs to be fixed in our rooms, or for most of the time, if we lock our keys inside the apartment. She has all the keys.

Shiao Shuang is our Ah Yi. She speaks very very very little english. She knocks in our doors screaming "Hello" .
She says 'Thank You".
And I heard her mention the word "Banana" once.

One of China's advantage over the world is it's cheap labor.
I was able to talk to Shiao Shuang one time, I was complaining about work and compensation. She told me that I should not complain because chinese people like her are not paid very well. She told me that in a month she is getting 800RMB($115usd). And thinking of all the responsibilities that she has to do, certainly 800rmb a month is a meager amount.

Last Wednesday, when I open my fridge to get some water, I was surprised to see something different ( I don't keep any food in my fridge, its just water..... Yeah I'm too lazy to cook since I got to China). I saw a can of Ice Cafe Latte, I can't remember buying this.... When I looked further I saw 2 ice cream cups on my mini freezer and 2 chocolate ice cream Popsicles.

I thought of a colleague, whom I always crash and beg for food asked Shiao Shuang to put the goodies in my fridge, because I am always out of site.
I sent her a message confirming if the Ice cream and coffee are from her. She said No, it's not from her.

I was wondering, who could be giving free ice cream and ice coffee now that it's starting to get cold.

I decided to call Shiao Shuang. I tried my best to speak chinese to solve the mystery.
Here goes ( English Version... very simple chinese words were used.. My chinese is not good)

Me: Ni Hao... Are you busy? I have a question
SS: Ni Hao.. I'm ok. I have time. What's the problem?
Me: Who gave me the ice cream and ice coffee?
SS: It's me. Do you like to eat Ice cream?
Me: Oh Thank you very much? Why are you giving me Ice cream? ( surprised)
SS: Because you are my good friend. I don't see you often anymore. Do you like Ice cream?
Me: Oh Thank you... Thank you... yeah I like Ice cream so much. Thank you very much

Mystery solved. It was Shiao Shuang who gave me the Ice cream. It's such a heartwarming experience, coming from a person I least expected.

Despite her not so much earnings Shiao Shuang appreciates my friendship and went an extra mile to surprise me...

Thank You so much Ah Yi... She is not just a cleaner... she can be an Ah Yi.... an Aunt

I will surely miss her when I go back to my country.