Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

the woodwork and crept around his house during the night visit, putting stickers with
their names behind paintings and under antique vases so they could claim that he had
given it to them!” Peik Lin said with a chuckle.
Soon they found themselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic as the line of cars snaking up
Tyersall Road to the estate’s gates were stopped at a security checkpoint. Glancing at the
policemen peering into the cars ahead of them, Rachel felt her stomach begin to knot up.
“There’s so much security—I think the president or prime minister must be here,” Peik
Lin noted. After passing through all the checkpoints, the car sped up the long driveway,
and as they rounded the last curve, Tyersall Park finally came into view.
“Bloody hell,” Carlton said, impressed by the scene before him. The great house was
ablaze in lights, the front driveway resembled a parking lot lined with fancy cars, many
with diplomatic plates. Uniformed Gurkhas and policemen were stationed everywhere,
trying to manage the traffic flow.
As the three of them got out of the car, a large black military helicopter swooped into
sight over the house and descended gracefully onto the manicured lawn. The doors slid
open, and a portly Chinese man in his early eighties dressed in a black suit with a deep
purple tie was the first to get out. A woman in a black cocktail dress with art deco
patterned jet beading followed behind him.
Rachel turned to Peik Lin. “Is that the president and First Lady?”
“No. I have no idea who they are.”
Then a middle-aged man in a black suit emerged, and Carlton exclaimed, “Well that’s
the president of China!”
Peik Lin looked awestruck. “Oh my God, Rachel, the president of China has come to
pay his respects!”
Much to their surprise, the next person to emerge was a tall, lanky college-age kid with
long, messy shoulder-length brown hair, dressed in tight black jeans, steel-tipped black
boots, and a black tuxedo jacket. A Chinese man in a pinstripe suit and a blond middleaged
lady in a black dress with a pale green shawl draped around her shoulders emerged
next, followed by a cute fair-haired girl of about twelve.
“Stranger and stranger,” Peik Lin said.
A small crowd had clustered outside the house to observe the arriving dignitaries, and
as Rachel walked up, she saw Nick’s cousin Alistair waving at her.
Alistair greeted Rachel with a big bear hug before excitedly hugging Carlton and Peik
Lin as well. “Peik Lin, I haven’t seen you since Rachel’s wedding! I love your new red
hair! I’m so glad you guys are finally here—it’s been soooo lame inside…all anyone wants
to talk about is ‘Who’s getting the house?’ And now things are about to get even stuffier,”
he said, gesturing to the arriving VIPs.
“Who are those people with the president of China?” Rachel asked.
Alistair looked momentarily surprised. “Oh, you haven’t met them yet? Those people
are the Imperial Shangs. The old farts are my uncle Alfred and auntie Mabel. The younger
farts are my cousin Leonard and his very posh wife, India, who’s apparently descended