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On Family and Ambition - Jeffrey Wei

jwei302.github.io · 1,840 words · saved by 1 readers

My father and I sat across from each other, just the two of us, in a nearby strip mall restaurant. I see him around once a year. We don’t share much. He lectures about Chinese philosophers, scientific history, and his company. I share new reflections, goals, and questions. “One day, I’ll go to your grandfather and great-grandfather’s grave, and tell them: I made it, you can rest easy now.” Perhaps he thought I was finally old enough to understand. My sister Nicole and I finished eating zhajiangmian1 at a local shop and booked a ride back to our hotel. Our taxi driver, attentive to our formal accent in contrast to the laid-back Beijing accent2, inquired about our hometown. “We’re from Shanxi 山西, but we live in America,” I responded naively. Mistake. Our driver sighed and exclaimed, “some people are born in the Roman Empire, while some people are born as horses.” It’s now a Chinese internet colloquialism that I’ll never forget. My great-grandfather was born into a peasant family in Nanpi

On Family and Ambition Jeffrey Wei · February 21, 2026 Personal essay written for ENGL 1020 at Yale. Wei Xinyuan. Sauerkraut fish. Suzhou. 2026. My father and I sat across from each other, just the two of us, in a nearby strip mall restaurant. I see him around once a year. We don't share much. He lectures about Chinese philosophers, scientific history, and his company. I share new reflections, goals, and questions. "One day, I'll go to your grandfather and great-grandfather's grave, and tell them: I made it, you can rest easy now." Perhaps he thought I was finally old enough to understand. Wei

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