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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1942
"Watashi no namaeha Wang Yuèqín desu. Hajimemashite!"
"Yuèqín, stop it please." Yue says distractedly as she looks through the kitchen cupboards with a frown on her face.
"Honto ni gomenasi Okaasan, but I have to learn this in school. The teacher gets very upset when we don't know how to pronounce our words properly in Japanese. I need help."
"Well I'm very sorry Yuèqín but I do not understand Japanese and I don't want to!" Snaps Yue furiously.
Yuèqín's face contorts in pain her eyes suspiciously bright, and Yue immediately feels like shit for yelling at her. It's not the child's fault that Japanese has become mandatory in school, in fact the children face corporal punishment, if they do not fulfill their Japanese language requirements. She looks back at the empty cupboards feeling despair. The Japanese have introduced a rationing system on basic necessities such as flour, sugar, oil, rice, and salt. Every family has been given what is known as a rationing license, where they can only buy a certain amount per day. Not enough however she looks at it. She is trying to figure out what she will cook for dinner when He Li walks into the kitchen and says,
"I'm hungry Mama, Please will you make me some noodles?"
Yue feels like crying when she hears this. Her baby is looking up at her with her innocent eyes, but there is no flour for her to make noodles for her child. She composes herself not wanting to break down in front of them, she needs to be strong for her daughters, she needs to provide a semblance of normalcy for them, so that occupation does not scar them for life.
"How about a nice spring onion omelette and a ginger and garlic broth instead Lili?" Yue puts on her best smile. "It's so good for you and you will sleep nicely tonight, won't you?"
"I WANT NOODLES! I WANT NOODLES MOMMY!" Screams He Li, throwing a tantrum. "I WANT NOOOOODLESSSSS!"
Yue's veneer of strength is slipping away rapidly as her youngest stomps her feet in frustration. This new scarcity in their lives is frightening and it seems that her daughters are catching onto it. Before she can say anything, He Di bursts into the kitchen with a big cardboard box in his hands.
"Did someone say they want noodles?"
"DAAADDYYY!!!" Both girls shout at the same time.
He Di saunters in placing the box on the counter and giving Yue a peck on the lips, before addressing his daughters.
"Yes Daddy is home and has some nice treats for his favourite girls!"
He opens up the box revealing a bag of flour, a crate of eggs, a litre of cooking oil, a bag of rice, a chunk of pork shoulder, 2 chickens, 4 heads of bok choy, a sizable fresh fish, 2 packets of bean sprouts, a bottle of Shaoxing rice vinegar, a packet of salt, a bottle of red wine, and 2 bottles of soy sauce.
