In the Stars

Chapter 1

Yue is looking through her closet, trying to decide what she is going to wear. She is meeting up with her old childhood friends later, for a ladies night. She has just come back to China from abroad, having spent the last three years at the London School of Economics. She finally settles on a black bodycon dress, which accentuates her curves in all the right places. After applying her makeup and spraying some perfume, she grabs her car keys and heads downstairs.

She finds her parents sitting in their opulent living room, in fact, the entire mansion is a rather luxurious affair. Her father, an extremely wealthy and successful business man, is reading the newspaper, while her mother is flipping through a prominent fashion magazine. Yue clears her throat, and they both look up.

'Yue my dear, you won't be joining us for dinner?' asks her father.

'I'm meeting up with Jia and Zi Wei for drinks, to catch up.'

'And you are wearing that?' Her mother eyeing her up and down.

Yue feels a familiar sting, and says, in a rather subdued voice,

'I'm already running a little late, so there's no time to change.'

'You look beautiful my dear. Say hi to your friends and invite them over for dinner soon.'

'I will do Dad. I'm heading out now...see you later.'

'Drive safe my dear.'

'Thank you dad.'

'Don't do anything to disgrace your family.' Her mother says, casually.

Yue sighs heavily and says,

'I won't. Bye mom.'

Dylan is standing outside in the alley, taking a smoke break. He has an hour before his shift finishes, and he cannot wait. He can't stand this place when the Friday night rich crowd, starts filtering in. The men treat him like he is nothing, intimidated by his good looks, and the women, attracted to him, treat him like he is a piece of meat they can just touch, without asking for permission. He will be starting a new job on Monday, with better pay, and regular hours. The night shifts at this place have been taking their toll on him. He first moved to Shanghai from the Sichuan province, 2 years ago, in search of a better life.

The moment he finished school, he joined his father at the factory, but hated every minute he spent there, seeing his future waste away. He has always felt that he was destined for more, and so after a year there, he made his way to Chengdu, where he worked as a waiter. One day, a friend of his, started to talk about Shanghai, and about how many more opportunities there were, over there.

After doing some research, Dylan decided to try his luck in Shanghai. So far, the experience has been rather a lonely one for him. He misses Leshan, and being surrounded by family and friends. But he knows that if he is to make something of himself, he has to do his best to be successful, before returning home.