"Here, Laoyezi - let's drink a toast."

"Eh? What's this?"

"Stellenbosch Chardonnay, South Africa's finest."

"You know I can't take wine any later than lunchtime, son. What are we toasting for, anyway?"

"We South African Chinese are finally, officially, black."

"You are trying to upset my stomach. Why would I drink to such nonsense?"

"Nonsense? Nonsense was being colored when white men ruled, then being white when black men took over. Now we're finally recognized as equal."

"You sound just like that young troublemaker, that, that..."

"Patrick Chang."

"That's the one. Forgetting he's Chinese. Thinks laws and labels can change things. His father must be as ashamed as I am!"

"Perhaps I should be the one to feel shame, Laoyezi. Our family has been in South Africa since your grandfather came here, and you act as though being South African didn't matter."

"Does it matter? Blood matters! Let the whites and blacks fight over these empty ideas. We Chinese have always been smart enough to look out for ourselves, to prosper, no matter who was in government."

"Maybe if we had paid more attention to who was in government you could have gone to university here, Laoyezi. Maybe we wouldn't have grown up in a ghetto, all Chinese, no chance to integrate. Maybe we could actually get a table at the Beluga, so we could celebrate properly."

"And maybe if my sister had a beard she'd be your uncle! You went to university and learned nothing of use. Someone should have taught you we belong with our own kind. My father only had the chance to open his market because all of us Chinese lived together. I learned enough from him to open four more markets. Look at this house, three nice cars in our driveway. Do you think we would have this if your grandfather or I had been like the blacks, always complaining for equal rights instead of looking out for themselves?"

"You make my heart hurt, Laoyezi. The injustice our black South African brothers have suffered you could not imagine. This is why I regret you chose business over education."

"Yes, yes, you know so much from a few years of reading. You think all these years I've only seen money in the till? I never told you about how those damn boere used to cheat me, how they'd insult your mother. I never told you about being shown to the back door, seeing only contempt in white faces.

And I saw the blacks beaten many times, with my own eyes, blood in the street. Your grandfather hated them all, for the few who would steal from his store. He hated the whites, too, for what his father suffered in the gold mine, and more I can't tell you."

"Too bad he didn't work for change, instead of gold."

"Fool - nothing changes! We're Chinese, and South Africa is for whites and blacks to fight over and die for. They'll never give us anything, and it doesn't matter! We've always known it. The Boer learned the hard way, and the blacks don't want to learn. But I'll say it to you, and maybe you can tell that idiot grandson of mine. Family, blood, that's all we can expect kindness or mercy from. We Chinese don't make it our business what the laws say, we only put faith in our families, we only sweat and worry for them. That's how we succeed, no matter what land we end up in."

"Howzit! You talking about me, granpa? Dad, let me have some of that wine!"

"No drinking for you, baobao."

"That's cute, dad. I'll be at uni in another three months. Like I won't drink when I want over there."

"There's your integration. White friends, black friends, Zulu music until all hours! My grandson doesn't know if he's Chinese or, or a goffel, or a rooinek!"

"I know I've got a date in half an hour. Pa - car keys?"

"Disgraceful. What good Chinese girl is allowed out after dark?"

"Who said she's Chinese?"

"There you are - you have your wish! Your son only has Chinese skin. He's probably happy about this new law. He's probably proud to be called black!"

"Call me what you want grandpa. Just don't forget to call me when the dagga's going around!"

"I want you and the car back in one piece. Before midnight."

"No problem, toppie."

"That son of yours doesn't know what it means to be Chinese. Is that what you wanted? A black son?"

"I'm not sure, Laoyezi. I'm not sure."