SOLDER

For Mr. Chan, declaring personal expenses or company expenses was always a question for him, he was a stickler for following the letter of the law when it came to income tax, filling out his year-end forms he would always fail safe on the side of the government.

Today was a bit different, he had to give pause to what he should do with this nine hundred dollar expense. He was concerned about being fair to the government for he was a relatively new immigrant and extremely appreciative for the joys this new country brought him.  

He traced the history of this expense in his mind’s eye.

In mainland China he was a well respected and successful herbalist, however with the political and environmental issues his homeland was working through he opted for another country to call home for his young family and himself.

He found his way to a northern community in the wilds of British Columbia, population two hundred and fifty. His sell-off in China allowed him to purchase a fully stocked general store with living quarters above, the only general store in town with the next one two hundred miles away.

The title “General Store” in these northern communities really meant what the name said on the door  sold everything you could imagine from booze to bed pans.

As a foreigner coming into this small village for the most part he was quite well treated, there was however one issue though that caused concern, that issue was big bearded Jake Mulford.

 Jake’s family had lived in the area for over two hundred years and he thought you were a newcomer if you had only two generations of kin “born in these here parts.”

Jake was a big lad, six foot two, two hundred and fifty pounds with most of it of solid muscle, about three pounds of that muscle was placed between his ears.

Two days after  the Chans had settled in Jake paid them a visit. “Well my little Asian friend” grunted Jake through his huge back beard, “this is how it’s going down, if you want the trade of my folks and my logging company you do one of two things, supply me at no cost three bottles of whiskey and one crate of tinned stew every week, the other thing you can do is go back to whatever rice field ya came from”.

With that he turned and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

Mr Chan had been expecting problems, what with the size of the community and his family being from a different land, so to him the cost of some liquor and rotgut stew was a fair entry fee. The next day Mr Chan drove the supplies up to Jake’s log home and placed them on the doorstep with a note.

I will agree with your request, however with this agreement I would hope that no other issues arise and that we can live in harmony from here on in.

A year went by and things went well for Mr Chan, the store was doing well, very well, mostly due to the new products that he brought in and his marketing skills, after it was all said and done if he had ignored Jake and his bullying he would have succeeded in the long run anyway.

However Mr Chan was a man of his word and every week unknown to anyone he dropped off  Jake’s weekly needs.

With the store becoming busier he needed some additional help. Most of the folks were employed in the logging, not too many local prospects, there was one fellow though who lived on the outskirts of town in a little shack, spending his time making clay pots.

Mr Chan felt sorry for the man and could identify with him being an outcast,he would let him set up a bit of a display of his wares inside his store, but nobody would buy the artful items. Chan’s clientèle suggested that they be used for target practice.   

Every week Mr Chan would take a few pots home and place them in his shed, handing Murray some cash saying that some tourist came by and really liked them.

With business picking up and Mr Chan needing help, why not kill two birds with one pot so to speak. “Murray, in addition to selling your clay works, why don’t you give me a hand in the store”? Murray was a grateful employee and Mr Chan could not be more pleased with his work ethic.

Due to the fire season the loggers had to be out of the bush before the midday sun created a tinder box.

With Jake having time on his hands he would wander down to the store to buy a cold beer and bother whoever came within ear shot.

Murray was a kind and gentle lad, a real target for Jake with time on his hands and a belly full of beer. He would continually taunt poor Murray, calling him words that Mr. Chan had not heard before but certainly knew the meaning of.

One afternoon Mr. Chan saw Murray trembling in the back room with Jake bent double with laughter out front, the Jake-Chan contract had just been broken.

In China Mr. Chan had to treat a good number of ailments as a herbalist, one ailment was hormonal dysfunction, It did not take him long to have his medical friends in China send on to him what he wanted.

At night in the back room he would mix his herbs and make a solution that he stored in the back of his fridge. Every week before he took Jake’s crate of canned stew to him he would open the box, turn each can upside down, drill a small hole, and pour in some of the hormonal remedy, he would then solder the holes and place them back into the crate, he was not a vindictive man so he used silver solder instead of lead.

A month later Jake came round for more beer, the poor bugger was trying unsuccessfully to comb over some of the bald spots in his beard with the remaining long bits. It got to the point that the folks at the cafe would not want him to sit at the counter at meal times with all his facial fuzz flying about.

He finally had to shave off what was left of the motley thing.

Another month later his breasts began to take on an appealing shape, his co-workers began to notice a bit of a prance when Jake was headed off to his logging truck.

Concerned them a bit, for they ate the same brand of tinned stew.  

The good thing was he stopped bugging Murray and actually bought a couple of his pots.

Mr Chan thought hard again about that nine hundred dollar expense and finally came to a conclusion.

Personal expense, wedding gift, Jake and Murray.