Page:A Pocket Guide to China (1943).pdf/28

 avoided. The 10-percent squeeze also explains why ser­vants can afford to work for such low wages for you.

Speaking of servants, you will find that you are very frequently dependent on them in China. Most foreigners and nearly all Chinese, except the poor, have servants, and they are really more than servants. They are business managers and general smoothers of your way. A good "boy" not only will see that you are fed and comfortable, your clothes clean and in order, your shoes shined and your rooms neat, but he will get many things done for you which you cannot do for yourself. More than that, he has his own way of getting information you may want. It is wisest not to ask him how he knows something—the Chinese have ways of getting information which have nothing to do with newspapers or organized sources of information. Simply take what he tells you and act upon it. He will also disseminate any information about you which you would like other persons to know without your telling them. Probably, in order to gain importance for himself, he will also spread abroad the impression that your eldest uncle is the president of the United States and your father a millionaire, and that you are only here in China to kill Japs for your own pleasure, since you are a crack shot. All this will make life easier for you on the streets and your credit better at the shops. 23