I've written stories and novels in Chinese, and I plan to self-translate them into English. I'm looking for a native English speaker to look over and possibly edit my translations. To give you a sense of the type of stories I write, here is an exerpt. The title of this story is "The Recommendation Letter".
Tingting Li sat on the sofa in her corner office. Sunlight streamed through the Venetian blinds, casting striped patterns on her hair, her arms, and the laptop in front of her. She was so absorbed in reading that she didn't notice the secretary standing at the door.
Tingting had been Chair of the Department for two months and was busy every day. Early this morning she attended a meeting about the plight of women in academia — how to combat the leaky pipe effect, to get your talents recognized, and to balance career and family, etc. Tingting shared her own experience as a student, then a researcher, and finally a leader in STEM. Afterwards was a routine meeting with the Dean and several department Chairs. The Dean asked about how recruitment was progressing in each department; he also complained about some new campus rules concerning the recruitment process and how sexual harassment cases should be handled. After that she chaired the Department's faculty meeting, whose agenda included personnel changes, course modifications, various programs and projects, and special circumstances and emergencies. She then ate a banana for lunch, taught a graduate class, and returned to her office to meet with a doctoral student. The student, an innocent-looking girl on the verge of tears, harbored serious doubts about her research project. Tingting patiently comforted her by saying that she herself had had similar doubts years ago. She then encouraged the student to push on with research along the direction they’d already decided on. Professor Li had a passion for scientific research; she was also happy to mentor students. Serving as Chair was not a welcome distraction and she was reluctant at first to take it on before being persuaded by several senior colleagues, who argued that a young and accomplished woman serving as Department Chair would not only provide a role model for female students and staff in the Department, but also create a nice impression of the Department and even the whole discipline on outsiders, announcing to them that, this field, which had been dominated by men for a hundred years, was entering a new era. Tingting agreed and became Chair; as Chair, she worked as diligently as she did for research and teaching.
