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.
December 8 1941
It is a Monday morning and He Di is making his way to one of the hotel dining rooms to join his family for a quick breakfast. They have spent the weekend there as a much welcome treat, seeing as how the girls have so much fun whenever they are at the hotel. Things have been extremely tense in Hong Kong with many reports about the war on the Mainland and the ever advancing Japanese. He Di arrives at the table and finds Xi Ze and Jia have joined them with their month old son Wu Lei. He greets everyone, kissing his wife and daughters before he sits down.
"Did everybody sleep well?" He says, reaching for a pork bao bun.
"Sleep? I don't know what that is anymore." Jia yawns, looking exhausted.
"That is one thing I do not miss about the early days of motherhood!" Laughs Yue.
"Let's trade for a few months." Jokes Jia. "I will take care of these pretty girls while you look after Lei."
"Eh! Why are you giving away my son?" Protests Xi Ze. "I have waited a long time for him to get here."
Xi Ze stands and picks the baby up from the portable crib he is lying in, hugging him close to his ches, and sniffing his baby head.
"Hello my little boy, hello my little Lei, hello...hello precious son." He coos.
"Aww my heart melts every time I see my husband get cute over our son." Remarks Jia. "Having a a baby has made me so soft. I'm still deciding whether I like that or not." She laughs.
"I know what you mean." Giggles Yue. "These cutie pies are emotional terrorists!"
Everyone laughs at this in full agreement with that sentiment.
As they eat their breakfast Yuèqín turns to He Di and says,
"Daddy I don't want to go to school today."
"Why not?" He asks.
"I have a headache and I'm not feeling well."
He Di scrutinizes Yuèqín trying to decide if she is telling the truth or not. He puts his hand on her forehead.
"Well you do feel a bit warm."
"Let me see." Says Yue, reaching to touch Yuèqín. "Yes she has a bit of a fever. I think just this once she can skip school."
"Yes I think you might be right." Concurs He Di. "I will send someone to the pharmacy across the street to get her some medication."
"Do you want to go back up to the suite? Asks Yue. "Mrs Kwan will take you, she should be arriving soon to escort you to school. I have a full day here with the musical programming, so we will only be going home later on."
"Yes Mommy."
"I wanna go to the suite too." Says He Li, holding some noodles in her hands and dipping them in her mouth.
