Soon Suet's father, Chiang Luo Kan passed away. Her mother fainted at the funeral which caused her even more distress. She sent her mother to the hospital and after the funeral she immediately went to the hospital. The doctors said her mother was also very ill. She lay on her mother's hand as Chiang Wei Bing slept. Chiang Wei Bing woke up to see her daughter lying on her hands, holding them tightly. She brushed Suet's hair and Suet woke up. "Are you okay mother?" Suet asked.
"Yes dear I am." She said still stroking Suet's hair with a comforting voice. Then she said, "Don't take too much on yourself. Don't blame everything in the world on yourself. Take one day at a time." Suet cried holding her mother's hhands. "Mother." Suet said as she cried on her mother's bedside.
Wei-Bing stroked her daughter's hair. "It's okay," she replied, "Its okay." Suet looked back into her mtoher's eyes. "There's something I have to tell you mother. I don't want you to not know like father when he pasted away. I want you to know about Lan-Yee.';
"It's okay my dear, I know. I already know. And so did your father." Wei-Bing said. Suet was astonished. "How do you know? What do you know?" she asked. Wei-Bing smiled. "Lan-Yee, she is your child isn't she?" Suet nodded. "Yes mother, how did you know? Did father know all this time? When did you know?"
Your father and I knew about 6 years ago. When Lan-Yee became really sick. She was only five years old but the feelings and emotions you showed were enough that we knew. Of all the orphans in your orphanage she is the one you kept close to your side. You looked at her different look from all the other orphans and she was the only one you brought back from war."
"Mother, I'm sorry I never told you. I'm so sorry." she cried hugging her mother's waist. Wei-Bing hushedher. "Its okay we understood. Your father and I knew you had your reasons. We wanted the best for our grandchild also so we never exposed it." she said tenderly. Suet cried more hugging her mother. "Thank you mother, Thank you."
Wei-Bing suddenly asked. "Is she Phong's child?" Suet looked astonished at her mother?s question. She nodded her head. "How did you know?"
"I never knew. It was something I always assumed. That day Phong came to look for you, when you hurried back to the train station. That day always lingered in my mind. I knew you did not come home that night. And I wasn't sure if you had slept over at Quay's house after the wedding, but I doubted it. Then when Phong came to look for you I wondered why. It couldn't have been for Quay. She was married now. Or could it? Now I know. Now I know."
"I'm sorry I never told you." she said. Wei-Bing wiped Suet's tears. "No my child, don?t be sorry. Everything is okay." she reassured her. Suet looked at her mother and hugged her. She held her tightly knowing that this hug could be the last. She didn't want to let her mother go. She just lost her father, and couldn't bear to lose another family member. First Phong then Fuo, following was Fei and just now her father. How many more needed to pass away before she could rest. She didn"t want anymore people leaving her.
"People are born and people die. We have to live with it. Each day is a new day. Each day you have a chance to learn and experience happiness. Each day is a new beginning. Don't forget that. Never give up!" Wei Bing said. Suet nodded her head and wiped away her tears. "Yes mother." She understood her mother's words. She knew that life was a cycle and she needed to cope with it. She knew that each and every day brought new hopes and promises.
A month later, Chiang Wei Bing also passed away. Suet was now alone. Now her closest relatives were Quay and Lan-Yee. Suet tried to be a sweet mother to Lan-Yee but Quay spoiled Lan-Yee so much, Suet became stricter and harsher on Lan-Yee.
She didn't want her daughter to make the same mistakes she did and she didn't want society to ridicule her daughter. She wanted her to grow up with the right morals, virtue, wisdom, and values. Plus she wanted her to have pride and grace. Most of all she want Lan-Yee to be happy. Every day she hoped to tell Lan-Yee the truth and how much she loved her, but the timing was never right.
+:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:+ +:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:+
EIGHT YEARS LATER... Suet and Quay were now 38 years old. As for the kids, Chun-On and Lan-Yee were 18 and Ho-Ying was 16. The five of them lived in the Kwok residence. Even though the Kwok's businesses were not as profitable as they were in the past, Quay and Suet did a good job in maintaining the businesses. Although the Kwoks were no longer the wealthiest family, they were still considered one of the 10 wealthiest families in Shanghai.
Chun-On grew up to be a very moral and virtuous person. He became very successful and goal oriented like his uncle, Fuo. He resembled Fuo in his strive for business. But since he was Fei's child he also possessed Fei's passion for life and love. Fei's charm and suave character could definitely be seen in Chun-On's appearance. He was a very good looking young man.
Ho-Ying grew up spoiled by her mother, Quay. Everything was always her way. She didn?t know how to do any chores and was not very good in school. Her own savior was her kindness and compassion towards everything whether people, animals, or plants. She had a very sweet and lovable personality. Although not as beautiful as her mother, Ho-Ying was a very pretty girl.
Lan-Yee grew up to be a very intelligent young woman. Like her mother, Suet she was beautiful and radiant in appearance. Unlike her mother, she was cunning and very deceptive. She had a good heart but her mind was too clever. She was also very stubborn and free-willed which caused much grief between her and Suet.
Since Quay spoiled Lan-Yee like she did her own daughter, Lan-Yee became very distant from her own mother. She in turn followed Ho-Ying and Chun-On's greeting of their mother, calling Quay 'mother'. This hurt Suet very much. She tried to correct Lan-Yee's greeting to Auntie Quay, but was unsuccessful. Because Lan-Yee called her mother, Quay was more enthusiastic to spoiling Lan-Yee like she did her own daughter, Ho-Ying.
Suet's harsh disciplining caused many arguments between Lan-yee and Suet. She still didn?t know Suet was her real mother since she was always told that she was an orphan of war, so she always claimed how lucky she was to have Quay as a mother figure which also hurt Suet very much each time she heard it and Quay never did anything to correct it.
* ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ *
Ho-Ying came running home from school one day and ran into Lan-Yee?s room. She had met the man of her dreams and wanted to marry him. She was so excited to tell Lan-Yee the news since she had always regarded Lan-Yee as her elder sister. "Sister, Sister!" Ho-Ying exclaimed running into the room. "I've finally found him?" Lan-Yee was reading a book on her bed as Ho-Ying entered her room. "Who have you found?" she asked with a smile on her face.
"I've found him, the one I'm going to marry!" Ho-Ying replied with her hands pressed against her chest like a love sick school-girl. Lan-Yee mad ea sour face. "Wait a minute, tell me this again. Who have you found?" Lan-Yee asked puzzled. Ho-Ying gigled. "I've found my dream man. I've found the man I want to marry. He's so wonderfulin everyway. His smile just melts my heart. Oh he's just so great." Ho-Ying said.
"You must be crazy! You just met the guy today! How can you declare your love so crazily like this?" Lan-Yee asked. Ho-Ying giggled and looked sternly at Lan-Yee. "Sister, do you know what love is?" she asked. Lan-Yee nervously shrugged. "Well, I can't say I do. But I don't believe I know nothing about those emotions." Lan-Yee said anxiously thinking of the word love.
"Well then you can't say I'm crazy because that's what love is all about. It's just one crazy thing after another." Ho-Ying said dremily. Lan-Yee playfully shoved her. "I can't say you're wrong and I can't say you're right" Lan-Yee said as she sat up from her bed and closed her book. "Okay then, tell me more about this dream man of yours." She asked inquisitively.
"Well he's a new student at the Shanghai Prominent School. He just came from Hong Kong and he's extremely wonderful!" Ho-Ying said giggling. Lan-Yee arched her brow in curiousity. "So wonderful he makes you giggle just thinking about him, huh?" Lan-Yee said teasing her, "Now describe wonderful."
"Well when he first came into the school he was very polite and well mannered. One of the boys, Lu-Dong was envious of him because he was so good looking so he picked a fight with him. He could have easily beaten the guy up but he only blocked the punches and held the guy down making a peace treaty." she said.
"How did he do that?" Lan-Yee asked puzzled. Ho-Ying shrugged. "I don't know. He whispered something into Lu-Dong's ear and Lu-Dong stopped fighting. Lu-Dong even announced him as a good friend." she replied. Lan-Yee placed her hand on her chin in a pondering pose. "Hummm... sounds strange, but what else makes him wonderful?" Lan-Yee asked. "Oh yeah and what's Mr. Wonderful's name?"
Ho-Ying giggled once more, "His name is Li-Nam. Other than that throughout the day I saw him helping many people with projects and befriending many people. Later that day as school was ending I almost fell off the stairs tripping on my broken heel but he caught me; saving me from embarrassment." she said. Lan-Yee started laughing really hard. "Oh I see.It's the damsel in distress. He's the hero that saved you." She teased.
Ho-Ying pouted. "Oh I don't care about your teases. I love him and I'm going to marry him." she insisted. Lan-Yee stopped laughing. "But you just met him." she said. Ho-Ying shrugged. "That doesn't matter. What matters is we love each other." she replied. Lan-Yee was confused again. "He loves you also?" Lan-Yee asked astonished. Ho-Ying giggled. "Well, he doesn't know it yet but he does love me."
"Oh no now you really sound crazy." Lan-Yee said laughing crazily. Ho-Yinggiggled as she got of the bed poutng and walked to the dresser. Lan-Yee saw that she was upset so she walked over to her. "Really now, will mother let you marry him. He needs to be of high social class in order for mother to approve." Ho-Ying nodded rapidly. "I'm sure he is, after all if he goes to Shanghai Prominent School he must be wealthy or from a well off family." she insisted.
"Well you be careful with these kinds of men. You know men are just so horribly sneaky." Lan-Yee said playfully. Ho-Ying smiled. "Don't worry I'm not a fool." She said playing along. The two girls continued to joke around and talk about Li-Nam
* ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ *
[November 1956 2 months later .... ] Ho-Ying had become very close to Li-Nam and they had a very good friendship. As time went by, Ho-Ying?s developed stronger feelings for Li-Nam. Li-Nam in turn only thought of Ho-Ying as a very good friend. Then one fateful day occurred. The day Li-Nam accidentally bumped into Lan-Yee. That day it rained very hard, a thunderstorm was coming.
Li-Nam was the first to be in the pavilion. His clothes were somewhat soaked from the rain. A few minutes later Lan-Yee came running into the same pavilion. Since she didn't have an umbrella, her clothing was soaked, hair out of place, and her face was pale. Regardless of all that, Li-Nam was immediately captivated by Lan-Yee's beauty. . "What are you looking at?" she questioned sternly as she looked at Li-Nam's awed expression.
" I was just shocked that a young lady was running through the rain without an umbrella." he replied. Law-Lan chuckled. "I' never said I was a lady." She uttered back. He looked at her still speechless as she was pulling back her hair. "What! You never saw a girl run through the rain?" she asked harshly.
"I have but I've never seen one with remarks as spiteful as yours." he responded. She chuckled. "Well get used to it cause we're going to be here for a while. Looks like there is going to be a thunderstorm." Li-Nam chuckled, "You?re not worried?" he asked. She shrugged. "Why should I be?" Li-Nam chuckled. "Most Ladys would be."
"I'm no lady. I don't have a proper title to be called a lady." she reminded him. He was confused. "Why is that?" Li-Nam asked/ She was very blunt. "I'm an orphan." She replied. He seemed apologetic. Being an orphan was considered a bad thing. It meant your family was killed in war. "Oh I see, I'm sorry." He replied with remorse.
"It's okay. I've been one since birth so it's nothing now." She said nonchalantly. Her personality struck him as unique and extraordinary. "You're pretty independent than." He assumed. She shook her head. "No I like to depend on people." She said sarcastically. Li-Nam chuckled again. "Very interesting," he said.
Lan-Yee smiled at him. "So why are you stuck in this pavilion?" He pointed at the rainy sky. "I didn't have an umbrella also, so I got stuck in here too." He said looking out towards the sky. "I guess we'll be stuck here for a while." Lan-Yee nodded. "It'll be great if we had wine. We could drink to the great storm and toast it as it falls onto earth." Lan-Yee said enthusiastically.
"Oh yes! Like the great scholars and Philosophers of China in the Book of Songs." Li-Nam responded. Lan-Yee nodded enthusiastically. "Yes like Confucius, Menicus, Mo-Tzu and many more; Reciting poem in the rain with a glass of wine." she said laughing. Li-Nam was amazed and awed by her knowledge. "Wow you actually know about the great philosophers and scholars?" he asked. She shrugged. "Of course who doesn't?" she replied.
"Well most ladies..." he looked at Lan-Yee's expression, "or girls don't really know much about these philosophers and scholars." he said. She shook her head., "Who's to say a girl cannot know. I know." The two laughed and talked for the remaining of the storm. They were very friendly people and were able to have an enjoyable conversation with each other for the next two hours. When they finally departed, they forgot to ask for each other's names.
* ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ * ^ *
