'Till Death Do Us Apart 長相守(bxb)

Chapter 1

Prelude
So that in thirty years our ten digits may intertwine even more tightly
So that in seven decades our fantasies may bloom with even more intensity
- Lin Xi, Yam Bak

I

The chill still lingered in early March but daylight stretched on longer. At six o'clock, twilight had only just begun to set in after the showing. The tickets to the T'ienkung Cinemas were cheap and the seats were seven-, if not eight-, tenths full on regular days. Furthermore, it was the one year anniversary of the death of a Shanghainese actress named Juan , so despite Tientsin being far up north, the major cinemas all dug out copies of the belle's films in time for reruns and sold-out showings.
T'ienkung was showing Wild Flowers which was first screened when Shen Liangsheng was still studying in England. He had seen a few photographs of the cast in a local Chinese-run newspaper. Now, the flower girl on the screen whose voice was more beautiful than that of a nightingale had long become mere ash, and the story of star-crossed lovers getting a happy ending had become a joke.

After the screening, the place was swarming with people each clambering towards the exit. However, since Sun Ch'uanfang had been assassinated at the Laity Lodge, all the warlords situated in Tientsin, despite their different backgrounds, had become cautious. Even Shen Liangsheng was forced by Shen Sr. to bring bodyguards along whenever he left the house and therefore it did not matter to him how crowded it was. With a bodyguard on each side clearing the path for him, Shen Liangsheng was not unlike Moses crossing the Red Sea.
He was nearing the entrance when a commotion from behind caught his attention.
Someone barked in the local tongue, "If yer in such a rush, why don'tcha just go to hell while yer at it!"
Shen Liangsheng looked over his shoulders to see that someone had lost something and was bent at the waist searching while being swept back and forth by the others. If he were to trip and fall, a stampede or something of its kind would surely ensue.
Finding the man quite pitiful, Shen Liangsheng found it in his heart after a moment's hesitation to help, taking several steps back with his bodyguards to fence off a space of peace and quiet for him.
"If you could move out of the way... Um, sir, your foot..." The man kept his back and head bent while mumbling on in what was actually proper, unaccented standard speech. Sure enough, when he found what he was looking for and straightened himself, he had the well-mannered and educated look. A young man judging from the face, he was tall and thin, clad in a blue traditional lined robe and carried a natural smile about his lips.
"Thank you very much," the man spoke first, expressing his gratitude and cracking a joke while he was at it, "I figure we could
cook up some sardine stew with people squished in like this."
"You're welcome." Shen Liangsheng nodded coolly and noticed the thing in his hand: a pair of black-framed glasses. A lens was shattered and a temple was missing. Although he recovered it, it could no longer be of use.

"Ch'in- hsiung , where did you disappear off to? I only lost sight of you for a second there."
The crowd began to disperse by now and a round-faced young man pushed his way over as he called out, but his steps faltered when he spotted the men across from his friend.
"I'm fine, Hsiao -Liu," the man first answered his friend before bidding Shen Liangsheng farewell. "Mister..." He probably did not know how to address him but he did not inquire either, only nodding with a smile. "Hope to see you again."
"Enjoy your evening."
Shen Liangsheng replied and the two went their separate ways. Curiously, Shen Liangsheng stopped in his tracks and looked back after taking ten or so steps from the theatre entrance.
The street lights had just come to life for the night. Shops lined the congested Twenty-First Avenue, yet he was able to spot with one look the back of that person from earlier. His slender figure fitted in a thin lined robe was taller than the more sturdy-shaped companion beside him by at least two heads, and was bent slightly to listen to his friend's words while walking. The figure that looked grey in the twilight merged in with the crowd to gradually disappear from sight.