Emma never did many extra-curricular activities in secondary school and University was no exception. She didn't join many clubs or sororities or even parties.\n\nEmma was experiencing culture shock which is when someone is unaccustomed to the new surroundings. Although she was fluent in English she was not fluent in the everyday habits of life in the United States.\n\nOne example of this culture shock was when people said "What's up?" to her. She replied with a brief summary of recent events in her life. Only later did she learn to her embarrassment that the phrase "What's up?" functions as a salutation and that the correct response was a simple "Not much."\n\n[[Oh dear, I hope Emma is okay.|3-3]]
Emma the Trust Fund Baby is born with a silver spoon in her mouth figuratively. She doesn't experience any adverse events in her life because of her wealth. But she doesn't grow as a person either because of the lack of adversity. You can play this interactive novel and see how her life turns out. This interactive novel ends soon after she becomes an adult. Click below to see how her life turns out.\n\n[[Find out how Emma's life turns out.|0-1]]\n\n\n\n
1. I hope the comma after violin is ok. It's called an Oxford comma and some people really care about its presence or absence. This will be the only footnote in this interactive story because I don't want to distract from the story and it's bad to break immersion.\n\n[[Okay thanks for the explanation.|1-3]]
She doesn't date anyone in secondary school. It's because she values safety and security and dating would be a leap into the unknown. Also Clarice and Bradson don't want her to date anyone as she's too young to date.\n\n[[Will Emma get into a good university?|2-5]]
0-3: Half-dozen tycoon families in Hong Kong\n1-1: 6500 sqft house. \nClarice is socialite. Previously accountant.\nOlder brother, younger brother.\n1-2: Baby Genius playgroup at 2.\nBradson is father.\n1-4: Attends primary at American International School\nElder brother Ralph, younger brother Julian.\n1-5: Household situation
Of course Emma gets into a good university. Her self-esteem increases a lot when she is accepted to Stanford. Emma feels proud to attend a top tier school in the United States.\n\nClarice doesn't tell her that Bradson's publicly listed company donated $120 million to Stanford. Telling her that would make her feel bad for no reason. The minority shareholders in the company don't know about this donation because it is not revealed in the financial statements so everyone is happy.\n\n[[Off to Stanford!|3-1]]
Emma dates Jacky, a student who also is from Hong Kong. Jacky's family is in the garment business and runs a factory in China, so he is not really high quality material. But University is the time to really go wild and try crazy things so Emma deigns to go out with Jacky.\n\nIt lasts two months but they don't feel the chemistry and break up amicably. Emma preserved her virginity which is an important indicator of her virtue.\n\nSoon afterwards Emma dates John, a white person from New York. He is very handsome but Emma finds out that he is working part-time as a waiter to pay for his education. She quickly dumps him.\n\n[[Lucky that Emma avoided a bad situation there!|3-6]]
Although she is moderately attractive and young at this point in her life, Emma ends up not dating anyone in university. \n\nSeveral guys ask her out, but she declines because they don't seem to be good quality relationship material. One guy is Hispanic, instead of white or Chinese. Another guy is too short.\n\nEmma doesn't lower her standards because she thinks that Mr. Right will come along eventually.\n\n[[Oh well, lots of opportunities after college!|3-6]]
AUTHOR'S NOTES\n\n1. The reader is allowed more choices as Emma grows up and this reflects her increasing autonomy. The amount of choices also reflects the limits of her autonomy.\n\n2. There are no chapter headings for the different phases of her life. This parallels Emma's life which does not have chapter headings for the different phases of her life.\n\n3. Thanks. Please leave your valuable comments in an e-mail to [[
[email protected]|mailto:
[email protected]]]\n\n^^THEY SAID I COULDN'T WRITE A STORY WITH NO PLOT AND NO CHARACTERS LOOK WHO HAS THE LAST LAUGH NOW^^
Emma The Trust Fund Baby v1.0
As Emma matures her sense of responsibility also increases. She knows that she must find a good husband in order to be useful to her family.\n\nEmma takes inventory of her strengths and weaknesses. In the fashion arena she is already well prepared and will perform strongly. That is one third of the battle won already. \n\nAnother important area is having the right connections and access to powerful people. Her family is one of the prominent ones in society and so Emma will be able to draw upon this network. \n\nAll that remains is for Emma to develop her ability to make small talk. \n\n[[The hard-working Emma gets started.|4-5]]
As Emma matures her sense of responsibility also increases. She knows that she must increase her social value in order to be useful to her family.\n\nEmma takes inventory of her strengths and weaknesses. In the fashion arena she is already well prepared and will perform strongly. That is one third of the battle won already. \n\nAnother important area is having the right connections and access to powerful people. Her family is one of the prominent ones in society and so Emma will be able to draw upon this network. \n\nAll that remains is for Emma to develop her ability to make small talk. \n\n[[The hard-working Emma gets started.|4-5]]\n
Emma is wearing braces now because her family can easily afford them and she is wearing ceramic braces which are more expensive. This is the most pain she has experienced ever. \n\nIf god is just how can such suffering exist? That is not something Emma asked because American International School is a non-denominational school which means that it does not have any religious affiliation. Emma has no religious beliefs because those are unimportant. Most other good schools in Hong Kong are Christian so the children have their religion chosen for them.\n\n[[But that's not all the changes Emma is experiencing.|2-3]]
Emma discharged menstrual blood, from her vagina. "I am dying," she thought, because her family was conservative and her mom didn't tell her anything about menstruation and she didn't have any older sisters.\n\nAt the dinner table that night Clarice noticed Emma's pale face which was pale because the blood had drained from her face due to her fear. Emma said she needed to go to the doctor and then Clarice asked her what was wrong, which was when she found out about Emma's menstruation. Clarice mentally reprimanded herself for failing to talk with Emma about it.\n\nAfter she had a good talk with Clarice, Emma wore some tampons and she understood more facts about the menstrual cycle. In this way she increased her knowledge.\n\n[[Anyway let's see how she does with the opposite gender, will she date anyone in secondary school?|2-4]]
The first three years of secondary school are very structured and Emma does not have much choice of subjects to learn. She is doing well in school and her friendly nature is still an asset in social situations.\n\nAround this age many of Emma friends hit puberty. This causes jockeying for social position, higher aggressiveness, and acne.\n\n"Oh, my god!" said Emma, as pimples appeared on her face. This was the toughest adversity she had encountered thus far in her life. She used some pimple cream and it got better.\n\nBecause of her sheltered upbringing Emma was not aggressive and her social status was slightly below average. However, this did not lead to misfortune because the school bullies focused on the children who did not have a wealthy background instead.\n\n[[That's the situation at school.|2-2]]
First she is born and becomes a baby.\n\n[[Emma is born.|0-2]]
Emma the trust fund baby is born. There are no complications with her birth. The infant mortality rate in the world is 49 out of 1,000 which means that around one in every twenty babies dies soon after birth. Emma is fine because she is born in an expensive private hospital with a team of highly trained doctors on hand and she was never in any danger to begin with. So far so good. Life is smooth.\n\n[[Backstory.|0-3]]
In the year 1982 Emma is born into the one of the half-dozen tycoon families that control all of the wealth and levers of power in Hong Kong, a city in Asia. This means she will have a very comfortable life and never lack for anything.\n\n[[Next up is what happens when she's no longer a baby.|1-1]]
Emma takes her first, tentative steps. These steps take place on the lush carpet on the floor of the 6,500 square foot house she lives in which has four stories and a basement level carpark and also an internal lift (elevator in American English) for convenient locomotion. This is notable because most of the population lives in small apartment blocks of 400 to 600 square feet so it's an example of her luxurious habitation.\n\nShe takes another step under the watchful gaze of her full-time nanny and her socialite mother, Clarice, who does not work any more but used to be an accountant. She will join her older brother and also soon a younger brother who is at the moment gestating within Clarice's womb.\n\nCan Emma speak yet? The answer is yes because she has just reached one year old and babies can say "mama" and "dada" at the median age of 10 months. Since she received personalized nutrition from the family doctor her brain development is above average.\n\nWe are excited to see what will happen to Emma next. \n\n[[Find out what happens to Emma next.|1-2]]
At a new years eve ball Emma is introduced to Keith. Keith is the third son of Dr Ho, one of the most powerful families in hony kong. Although his background is impeccable, Emma dislikes that Keith is idle and not doing anything with his life. A good man should be busy running his company.
The three-year-old Emma successfully enters kindergarten! Although her cognitive development is only just starting and she will forget everything before the age of four, Clarice and Bradson certainly will not forget. Kindergarten is a time for Emma to expand her horizons, and she learns English, painting, Chinese, calligraphy, piano, arithmetic, ping pong, swimming, violin,^^[[1|1-3-1]]^^ and ballet.\n\nEmma takes to these new challenges with relish, enjoying the opportunity to explore her surroundings. Her home life provides her with the sense of safety that she needs. She emerges as one of the most promising pupils in her kindergarten group. Clarice often says to her two sons, "If only you two were as good as Emma!"\n\n[[Way to go, Emma.|1-4]]
As she celebrates her second birthday, Emma waddles confidently into Baby Genius playgroup. Althought she doesn't know that joining a prestigious playgroup is mandatory because it will provide her with the requisite credentials to enter a good kindergarten, her parents know. Clarice and Bradson applied for the playgroup as soon as they found out about Clarice's pregnancy, which was very wise of them.\n\nShe sees the unfamiliar faces of the offspring of Hong Kong's rich and famous. This will be useful to her as she will have a network of influential people when she grows up to take her place in high society. She is not excessively shy and stumbles around, playing with toy blocks and interacting with the other children.\n\nClarice and Bradson breathe a sigh of relief. Emma's friendliness means that they will easily be able to produce a "portfolio" of her qualifications and achievements for easier entry into a famous kindergarten.\n\n[[What a successful baby!|1-3]]
How joyous is school! Emma likes school a lot. She doesn't get too much homework and she can learn about a lot of different things, and there is even nap time. Emma now speaks quite well since she's already seven years old. Teachers like her because she is outgoing and enthusiastic in class. Emma especially enjoys art lesson where she can draw and paint with crayons, pencils, even charcoal.\n\nAt home Clarice and Bradson have settled into a routine as their passionate love has faded into a resigned acceptance. This does not affect Emma too much because it seems normal to her. Clarice is now rarely interested in sex with Bradson as she is more interested in afternoon tea with her socialite friends and going on shopping vacations in New York.\n\nBradson has a mistress who is a division manager within his company but he is discreet about it and this keeps the peace within the household. Anyway, he is the head of a powerful business empire and so he is sufficiently providing for the material needs of his family which means he is a successful father.\n\n[[Emma goes into fifth grade also known as Primary 5.|1-6]]
As she approaches her fifth birthday Emma will enter primary school soon but let's talk about her previous birthdays. She celebrated her first birthday with a large party at the exclusive Aberdeen Marina Club which is known for being family-friendly. There were more than 230 guests and this gave Clarice and Bradson a lot of face which is perhaps the most important currency of all in Hong Kong.\n\nHer other birthdays were celebrated in less grand fashion although definitely still very prestigious such as having a buffet lunch at the Repulse Bay which is a beachside hotel popular with white people. Because of her good performance in playgroup and kindergarten she managed to get into American International School which is full of the progeny of the people who really matter.\n\nSo far her life is objectively a big success and her relationship with her parents and siblings can also be said to be good. Emma likes to play with her elder brother Ralph and also with her younger brother Julian. Ralph also attends American International School which makes it easier for their chauffeur to pick them up after lunch.\n\n[[How will Emma handle school.|1-5]]
Emma will be graduating from primary school, meaning grades 1-6, and will go to secondary school, which is grades 7-12, soon. Her grades in class are in the top half and although she is not the star pupil she is well liked by teachers and other students.\n\nAt home Clarice and Bradson are friendly, if distant. Emma learns that this is the normal way that spouses behave towards each other.\n\nBecause her school has a "through train" system where students may go directly from the primary school to the affiliated secondary school, Emma does not need to apply for a place. This is fortunate for her because applying for a secondary school place is a very stressful time for most middle class Hong Kong parents.\n\n[[How will Emma navigate secondary school?|2-1]]
Ralph was crying again because Bradson was whipping his buttocks with a thin cane. He must have misbehaved and that was very bad since he would be the head of the family company one day.\n\nEmma didn't know what Ralph had done but he probably deserved the beating. She was lucky because her family was quite lenient when it came to parenting. She didn't get beatings because she was a girl.\n\n[[Spare the rod and spoil the child?|1-7]]
Emma read in Hong Kong Tatler - a high society magazine - about a mover and shaker in town who found meaning and satisfaction from volunteer work. She decided to join a volunteer organization that delivers hot meals to elderly people living alone.\n\nIt was tedious and uninteresting work, and she decided to find something more useful to with her life instead.\n\n[[London, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, New York!|4-2-1]]
Shopping in the fashion capitals of the world is a real test of Emma's skills and allows her to shine. Her decision to go for Louboutin heels before they become a sensation is praised by her friends. They mostly seriously refer to her as the fashion oracle.\n\nHer choice of outfits is praised by Clarice for its flawless blending of refinement and audacity.\n\nEmma secretly roots for Tokyo to gain ground in the fashion wars because of her Japanese affinity since she learned some Japanese before. So she mostly rides the crest of Japanese culture and fails to foresee the advent of the Korean wave. That's fine though because no one else saw it either.\n\n[[Will Emma shop forever?|4-3]]
Emma takes a "gap year" after graduation in order to find out what she really wants to do with her life.\n\n[[Travel, vacation, shopping! London, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, New York!|4-2-1]]\n\n[[Compassion and volunteer work. Helping the poor in society and striving for a fair and just world.|4-2-2][$Nice = $Nice + 1]]
Emma now finds fashion shopping less rewarding because no one helps her carry her purchases. This makes shopping a chore.\n\nEmma is bored so she moves on to the next thing.\n<<if $DateExperience >= 1>>\n[[Emma looks for a husband.|4-4-1]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Emma increases her social value.|4-4-2]]
Emma sighs as her etiquette tutor reminds her of the socially acceptable discussion topics of the day. She wasn't interested in politics or religion anyway so she would never bring those subjects up accidentally. And fashion is always good to discuss. Fashion is never "out of fashion."\n\nWhat was the model again? Listen, talk, respond. Or was it Talk, listen, respond? It's all too much.\n\nHer tutor requested that Emma develop some hobbies other than shopping so that she could really connect with people on a deeper level. Emma was ill equipped to make such a decision by herself so she consulted Clarice. Clarice said since she likes fashion so much why not open a fashion boutique.\n\n[[So Emma opens //Emma's//, the boutique that takes the fashion world by storm.|4-6]]
EMMA'S FASHION WONDERLAND\n\nThat was the name of her boutique. It sold very high end clothing, shoes, and handbags, because she liked buying those the most. It barely made any sales and lost a lot of money because Emma did not learn about business at any time in her life. Bradson paid for another company to rent the space so it would have to close.\n\nHowever it was a great experience for Emma and she really learned a lot. For example she learned that she did not like running a shop because she had to sit by the cashier all day.\n\nBut now she had to sit down with family and have a good talk about what she should do with her life. Ralph was already in the family firm and prepared to take over when Bradson [[retired|4-6-1]]. Julian was having great fun in bars every night and his riotous living was being reported in gossip magazines which was actually good because it gave the family recognition and face. What about Emma though?\n\n[[What about poor Emma!|4-7]]
Emma's parents are conservative because they are rich and high status and so they want to preserve the status quo. They don't want Emma to rock the boat.\n\nFor the rest of her life Emma stays at home and watches television. She is not allowed to go outside because Bradson thinks she could cause embarrassment to the family. Emma has no marketable skills so she couldn't make a living for herself. She is lonely but when visitors come she has to stay in her room. That's sad.\n\nEmma never dates anyone again because she has no chance to meet new people.\n\n[[Is this the end?|4-8]]
So much for Emma the Trust Fund Baby who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth figuratively.\n\n[[Thanks for playing.|5-1]]\n
Emma graduates from Stanford with a 3.3 GPA which is quite good really. To someone from the future such as in the year 2015 it would be unimpressive but remember that there wasn't as much grade inflation in Emma's time.\n\nShe doesn't get a job in the United States because her family's influence is limited there and she majored in Japanese which is not that useful.\n\nEmma travels back to Hong Kong into the protective womb of her family. Her family is still as stable as before and Bradson has been keeping things very low-key with his mistress. Clarice can preserve her reputation because of Bradson's thoughtfulness.\n\n[[Great things lie ahead.|4-1]]\n
Emma is open to dating and relationships now. It's lucky for her that she is straight because otherwise she would experience a lot of hardship in Hong Kong's conservative society.\n\n[[Emma doesn't date anyone.|3-5-1][$DateExperience = 0]]\n\n[[Emma dates someone.|3-5-2][$DateExperience = 1]]
Emma didn't have a roommate and she had a piano in her apartment because she liked playing the piano. Bradson didn't want her to have a roommate because she could be exposed to some American drug user, or a hussy, who would corrupt Emma's thinking. Emma agreed with Bradson because those were bad things.\n\nHer classes were easy because despite Stanford's reputation as a premier university, the courseload was trivial. Stanford wants its graduates to achieve high grade point averages so they can find good jobs. Also it's more important for the blue-blooded students to spend more time socializing with each other, because they can establish connections that will help them out when they enter the business world.\n\nEmma was not extremely social because of the culture shock but she did make some friends. Mostly she made friends with other people from Hong Kong because they were culturally comforting.\n\n[[University, the crucible of life.|3-4]]\n
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Emma majors in Japanese at Stanford because Japan is her favorite vacation place that she doesn't know the language to. Paris and Milan are okay because they speak English there. \n\nHer family wealth means that she doesn't need to think about job prospects upon graduation and so she can freely choose whatever subject she wants to study. Also she is female and this is a blessing here because she will not be groomed to take over the family business. Ralph on the other hand will have to get an MBA and work hard at an investment bank or strategy consulting firm for a few years before joining the family business whether he wants to or not.\n\n[[Lucky Emma!|3-2]]
Ralph was either very naive, too trusting, or incapable of pattern recognition. In every other family firm the patriarch only retires upon his death, but somehow he thought he would take over by age 40. What a guy.\n\nMaybe Ralph was all three which explains why the family company's fortunes experience a rapid decline when he finally takes over at age 68. That's in the future though.\n\n[[So sad!|4-6]]
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