When Wang He Di leaves the small village he grew up in, to find work in the streets of glamourous and dangerous Shanghai, the first thing that catches his eye is the beautiful Shen Yue, a young woman also trying to make her fortunes in the "Paris of...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Did you pack warm clothes? It's becoming winter in Shanghai."
"Yes Baobei."
"Honestly why didn't you let me pack your suitcase? You know I like to pack your stuff!" Yue says, unreasonably agitated.
He Di who is bent over the bed shutting his suitcase, stops what he is doing and stands up straight, turning to face Yue. She is sitting at the dressing table, furiously brushing her hair, looking like she is about to pop out the child any minute now. He walks over to her, stands behind her and dips to kiss the top of her head, while wrapping his arms around her rounded belly. Yue is still sulking and looking away from the mirror, now tapping the brush restlessly on the table. He Di puts his hand on hers, stopping the tapping and says,
"Baobei, look at me."
"No!" She pouts.
"Baobei, please?" He pleads softly. " Won't you please look at me, even through the mirror?"
Yue stubbornly persists in not looking back at him, petulance written all over her face. He Di sighs and then pulls her chair back, quickly inserting himself between the dressing table and her knees, crouching down in front her and gripping her thighs.
"Look at me!" He says in a deep and commanding voice.
Yue struggles internally for a bit trying to stand her ground, but fails unable to resist the strong pull of his tone. She slowly focuses her eyes onto him and his face immediately softens. He clasps her hands into his and brings them up to his mouth, kissing them ardently for a few seconds, before resting both their hands on her laps.
"Baobei,I know you are scared."
Yue starts to blink her eyes, trying to prevent tears and nods her head meekly.
"Yes, I'm really scared. Shanghai is not safe right now and..."
"I promise I will stay far away from any danger."
"What if the baby comes early?"
He Di is silent, his heart splintering when she says this. He has been struggling with this reality for the last two months, ever since he found out about this business trip. Its killing him that he might not be there if she goes into labour early, and remembering the difficulty of Yuèqín's birth is raising his stress levels. On the bright side, this pregnancy of Yue's has been much easier, with her not being as sick and tired as often as she was the last time. But it still doesn't make him feel any better about leaving.
"I wanted to quit my job because of this Baobei, but now more than ever I need to make money for us. We have another baby on the way and I want the best for all three of you, because that is the meaning of my life. Yes we have done well and we are financially healthy, but I want to get to the point where we are set for the rest of our lives. I can't let Mr Emmet down, I could have never gotten this type of opportunity without his generosity. This trip is really important to the company that we owe our livelihood to."
