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...
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The clock slowly ticks on the wall of the nursery, counting the days go by. This life seems so long, she sighs, as the tick tock competes against the dull metronome of her painful heartbeat. She hears her heart everyday now, her body always in flight mode, the adrenalin of trauma coursing through her veins. Sometimes she thinks it will explode right there and then, and she will mercifully fade away into nothing...just like her beloved.
But then Yuèqín will ask a question or give her a hug, or the new baby will cry and her dress will stain from the milk seeping out, ready to nurse... and then she will remember that she is alive... she will remember that she needs to live...if not for herself, then for them.
She spends all days in the nursery now, barely remembering to eat. No one would guess that she only gave birth last month, all the baby weight vanished in the blink of an eye. She just sits by the window and stares into nothing, doing her best not to think of him. But her mind will not set her free, she is a prisoner in his love, her body bound tightly in their memories, with his spirit shining out of their children's eyes. Another hour chimes and this life seems so long, she sighs, as the tick tock competes against the dull metronome of her painful heartbeat.
Chao Xing spends her days in the garden, sitting on a little grassy knoll. The indoors are claustrophobic to her now, she never feels like she can breathe when she is inside. At least outside she can watch life happen around her, whether it's the crawling lady bird on the palm of her hand, or the flower buds shooting out of the earth. Everything continues to grow in nature, the circle of life never ending and it's a source of comfort to her. The kids will run around and play, their minds not comprehending the gravity of the situation. Yihuan the little girl, will ask her everyday where he is and this is the hardest part of Chao Xing's day, because in that brief instant she will be robbed of her voice. The child's hopeful eyes will wait for a different answer, and she will shrug sadly, signaling their daily moment of grief. But they do not stay down for long, the activities of youth too exciting not to partake in, so they will play and will play until their exhausted feet carry them to sleep.
She is all they have now, Yu Zheng's mother having passed on a few years back. Instinctively they have woven themseleves around her, like a silk worm in a cocoon, and they will not play where they can't see her. This is how she came to sitting outside every day. If one needs to go to the bathroom, all three of them will go to the bathroom. She cannot leave their sight line, otherwise they begin to unravel, but if not for this one point, everything else is normal for the children. She is craving a cigarette but the box is all the way inside and the kids look so happy right now. If she moves they will move with her and she wishes not to disrupt their joy. She sighs and lies backwards onto the ground, closing her eyes.
"Kids, I'm just taking a nap."
"Okay Ma!" They yell back.
He Di and Yu Zheng get off the train in Hong Kong, both of them desperate to get home. For the past couple of days they have been calling their homes, but there has been no one answering the telephone. It is Two days after Christmas, so the calling the office is pointless as it will only open up in the New Year. Emmet has always been very strict about the company observing the holidays... his favourite time of the year. They hail a cab and jump in, remembering that the sisters were staying together when the men left on the trip to Shanghai.
