Glimpses

The Mother

Mama Dong was a force to be reckoned with. She was the one who kept the family together. Her husband was a nice man, but unfortunately, he did not have an ambitious bone in his body and hence had not much success career-wise. She ran a fairly successful catering company and now a grilled squid enterprise on the outskirts of Shanghai. She had pulled all the strings she could have possibly pulled to get her only daughter into the most prestigious university in Shanghai, in hopes of her not only getting a top degree, but also snagging one of those rich elite boys to be her future son-in-law.

Lo and behold, Shancai really did manage to steal the heart of not just any rich elite boy, but THE Daoming Si, heir to the Daoming empire. Calling them rich was an understatement. And today Shancai had told her that she had spent the night before in Daoming Si's house. A year ago, she would have been elated at this revelation. But today, there was an uneasy weight on her which she just could not shrug off.

Shancai had left the house and Mama Dong sat on the sofa reflecting, her face scrunched up in a frown, not realising that her headband had gone slightly awry. She gave an audible sigh. Her daughter had been through a lot since getting together with Daoming Si. And she shuddered when she remembered that altercation with his mother. She couldn't imagine her daughter having such a mother-in-law. Daoming Si was a fine young man, he was always polite and respectful to her and her husband, and anyone could see how devoted he was to Shancai. But that mother of his was something else altogether.

Actually she couldn't even herself believe that Daoming Si had wanted to pursue her daughter. Her looks were mediocre, her grades were mediocre, her abilities were mediocre. A demigod like him could have any girl he wanted, why would he choose a girl like Shancai? Over time, however, she came to realise that Daoming Si really and sincerely loved Shancai with all his heart and he was in love with her inner beauty rather than her physical traits or abilities.

She still couldn't shake that uneasy feeling from her, though. She decided to cook her famous pork ribs to calm her nerves. She remembered that she had brought some spices with her which she had put in her bag which was in Shancai's room. She went to Shancai's room to get her spices but her eye fell on a book which was left open on Shancai's desk. It was her diary. There was something written on the open page of the book and it was dated today.

Last night, I gave it to Daoming Si. It felt so good!
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Mama Dong sat with an expressionless look on her face as Shancai stepped through the front door. Shancai's eyes glanced at the book in her mother's hands. "Ma! Why are you holding my diary?" "Dong Shancai!!" her mother screeched at her. "What is the meaning of this?? You gave it to Daoming Si??" Now it was time for Shancai's turn to screech. "Ma, why are you reading my private stuff?? It's not what you think!!"
"Then what am I supposed to think?"
"IT is not what you think it is!! I gave Daoming Si a piece of my mind and it felt really good!!"

Her mother breathed a sigh of relief and moved to hug her daughter. Shancai relaxed in her mother's arms and slowly looked at her. "Ma, but you do realise that I love him right? I cannot live without him and he without me." Mama Dong looked at her daughter. "Yes, Shancai, I do know. I just don't want you to get hurt." "Don't worry, Ma" Shancai reassured her. "Daoming Si loves me so much and we have already decided to face any obstacles together. We disagreed slightly last night on how we were to handle his mother, which is why I gave him a piece of my mind."

"Anyway," she pulled away and looked mischievously at her mother, "I don't think you will have any real objection if I really give IT to Daoming Si, right? Have you forgotten that you and Pa literally shoved us in the same room that night he came back from London?"

"Okay Ma, I'm leaving now! See you later, love you!" she laughed as she left the house once again, leaving her mother speechless on the sofa.