Twenty-five is an embarrassing age for a single Chinese girl, and that is exactly how old I am. Thanks to my sweet mom and the great pressure she put on me to find her a son-in-law, my life is not too boring.
25歲，對於中國的單身女孩來說，是一個尷尬的年紀，而我正好25歲。多虧了我的好媽媽和她讓我快點結婚的壓力，我的生活才不會那麼無聊。
My mom and I are very close friends. We started to talk over the phone on a daily basis after I came to Beijing for work three years ago. I tell her about my daily life and ask for her opinion when I have questions about life and work. However, I stopped doing so when she began to answer all of my questions with "that is because you don’t have a boyfriend."
媽媽和我是非常親密的朋友。三年前我來北京工作後，我們每天都通電話。我告訴她關於我的日常生活，當我的生活和工作出現問題時，我徵求她的意見。然而，當她開始用“那是因為你沒有男朋友”來回答我所有的問題時，我再也不想每天和她通話了。”
This practice reached a fever pitch when I went home during the recent National Day holidays. She became really excited and took me to a secret place which, according to her, could perhaps change my future. Later, I found that the place belongs to a so-called fortune teller, who predicted that I would probably meet the one I was meant to be with this winter. If not, I’d have to wait another two years. My mom got a bit anxious and asked if there is any way to secure my boyfriend this winter, and the fortune teller suggested that I put a bunch of flowers or a piece of amethyst on the west wall of my room.
當我在最近國慶假期回家時，這種做法達到了狂熱的程度。她變得非常興奮，帶我去一個秘密的地方，據她說，那可能會改變我未來的人生。之後我發現，她說的這個地方居然是去看所謂的算命先生，他預言我可能在今年冬天遇到我的另一半。如果沒有的話，我還得再等兩年。我媽媽有點著急，問我有沒有辦法保證這個冬天找到男朋友，算命先生則建議我在房間西面牆上放一束花或一顆紫水晶。
On our way home my mom kept saying that I definitely cannot wait, or it would be too late to find a nice man, as once I hit a certain age, my best years are behind me. Over the next few days, she pestered me to buy flowers and amethyst immediately after I return to Beijing.
在我們回家的路上，媽媽不停的嘮叨說，我絕對不能再等了，不然就太晚了，找不到優秀的男人了，好像我已經達到了某個年紀，最美好的年華都逝去了。在接下來的幾天裡，她就一直在囉嗦著讓我回北京後買花，買紫水晶。
Also, just like I thought, after I got back to work, everything she said to me over the phone began with, "Did you buy it and put in the right place?"
並且，正如我所預料的那樣，在我回到北京後，她打電話給我，第一句話總是：“你買了那些東西沒有，放在那個位置沒有?”
I love my mom, and I fully understand her worry, but I can’t agree with her.
我愛我的媽媽，我也完全理解她的擔憂，但是我卻不同意她的做法。
The social custom has stamped so many labels on us, "older woman," "leftover," "single dog" and so on, which makes it even harder to be true to ourselves. But if you can’t be who you really are, then you’re just pretending to live your life, which is the real tragedy.
社會習俗給我們貼瞭如此多的標籤，“大齡女孩”“剩女”“單身狗”等等，這使得我們更難忠實於自我。但如果不能做真實的自己，只是假裝過著你的人生，那才是真正的悲劇。
Twenty-five is just an age, 30 is also good. As long as you feel happy and comfortable, each year could be the best age.
25歲只是一個年齡而已，30歲同樣也很好。只要你感到快樂、幸福，每個年齡都是最好的年齡。
Whatever change may happen in this world, something like my own happiness should never be compromised. At least, for me, being alone but not lonely is the best state of my life.
不管這個世界會怎樣改變，有一些東西比如自我的快樂，永遠不應當被妥協。至少，對我來說，孤單卻不寂寞，是我人生最好的狀態。
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