Li-Nam is sitting in his room thinking about everything that happened so fast with his feelings for Lan-Yee. His father comes in and pats his shoulders, "You want to talk about anything?" Li-Nam looks at him and smiles. "I'm confused about this girl I like. I don't know if she likes me. Everything went to fast. Then there's this girl who likes me. And they're both very good friends or something like that. It's just so confusing to deal with."
His father sits down next to him, "Life is already confusing then when you add emotions and feelings into everything we become lost souls, love is never easy."
"Daddy, what would you do in my situation?" he asked his father. His father shook his head. "I don't know I've never been in your situation." His father replies. "But I guess I would have to choose who I really like and if she didn?t like me I would only have two other options." He chuckled.
"And what would that be?" Li-Nam asked. His father pondered for a moment. "Well I would either need to have perseverance and continue to chase after her or continue my life and hopefully find love in another girl." he chuckled. "There are more fishes in the sea." his father said with a wink.
Li-Nam nodded his head, "I'm going to be persistent on Lan-Yee. I'm sure she'll be touched by my devotion to her." he replied. His father nodded. "Sounds like a plan, son." He said encouraging his son.
A woman called from the other room, "Li-Nam! PHONG! Dinner is ready!" she shouted loudly.
'"Your mother is calling, we better get dinner or she'll go crazy on us." Phong joked. Li-Nam nodded. "Yup let's go!" Li-Nam said jokingly and they ran downstairs to eat dinner. Phong nodded. "We're coming Hong-Dao. Don't eat without us." Phong called to the woman.
When they got downstairs, Hong-Dao looked at them in a playful suspicious way. "You two seem to have such interesting things to talk about. What were you talking about anyways?" she asked. Li-Nam shook his head. "Nothing mommy. Daddy and I were just talking about what to advertise for the new products we're carrying."
An elder lady and two women came down from the stairs. "Grandma Lam!" Li-Nam greeted her as he assisted her in sitting down. "Auntie Ying and Auntie Jing did you two have a good day today?" he asked them as he sat down across from them.
They were all seated now and started eating dinner. "We had Very good day, thank you." Ying responded. Jing looked at Li-Nam with a warm smile and asked, "A Nam, so how's your studying coming along?"
"Good. I should be done this year. Then I'll be heading to finishing school." he replied. The two sisters nodded. "Will you be going to England's Oxford University?" Ying asked him.
"I don't know but Father sure thinks it's a respectable school." He replied. He's always been prod to be Li Hui Phong's son and beleived he should follow his father's foot steps. His family line and heritage was very important to him. Ancestry and filial piety meant everything to him.
Phong picked up a chicken leg and stuck it on Li-Nam's bowl, "Your son talks too much." he said jokingly to Hong-Dao. Hong dao rolled his eyes. "He's your son." she said teasingly. The family laughed at the comment and continued eating their dinner making jokes and talking about the past to freshing Phon'g mind.
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Later that night, as Phong and Hong Dao went up the stairs to their room to sleep, Phong felt dizzy and fell back a few steps. Hong Dao was walking behind him like usual and caught him before anything serious could happen. He had these dizzy spells often. "Where's your medicine? I'll get it for you." She said helping him up the remaining steps.
"It's on the third shelf of my dresser," he replied holding onto his forehead. She nodded and helped him sit on the sofa in his room as she ran to get the pills and some water.
"Here, take it slowly." She said as he gulped the pill and flushed it down with a lot of water. She shook her head at him and helped change into his pajamas. Then laid out his pajamas for him and went into the restroom that was connected to their room to prepare his toothbrush so he could wash up before he slept. She came back in the room and he had finished changing like usual.
She sat down next to him on the bed and asked, "So did you remember anything else from the past this time?" Phong shook his head. "I see that same image again over and over. I wonder who she is?" he replied.
"That image of a girl taking care of you on the battlefield when you were sick?" Hong Dao asked to clarify which vision he was seeing again. He shook his head. "No not that one this time." he said "I saw the image of a girl I was holding. I proposed to her. But she didn't call me Phong, she called me Tin-Luong."
"Oh that bizarre image." Hong Dao said remembering he had told her about this one before. "Because you know now that your name is Phong and not Tin-Luong so you're wondering if that was a real memory or not, right?"
"Yeah that strange image. Over and over I see a girl. I can't seem to see her face. I'm behind her. But when I wrap my arms around her I feel this strange feeling. This intense feeling that relaxes every bone in my body."
"You suppose this image and the one on the battlefield is the same girl?" Hong Dao asked.
"I'm sure they are, I just feel it. But..." he stopped hesitant to say something he was confused about.
"But what?" Hong Dao asked seeing how hesitant he was to continue.
"There's an image of another girl. I can't see her either but she's getting married. Her dress, I notice is very beautiful but I never see her face. My flashbacks don't go far enough!" he said upset that his memory was lost in war. So far all he could remember was his mother and two sister, which took him almost 15 years to remember.
"It's okay Phong, take your time. I'm sure you will remember these two women, like you remembered Lam Fuo Yan, Ying, and Jing." Hong Dao said. Phong calmed down a bit. "Hopefully."He said calmly. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine now. Get some rest. You've been so busy lately with all the changes in the business and furnishings for the house since we've moved to Shanghai.
Hong Dao smiled. "I'm going now, goodnight." She said as she turned off the lights and left to go to her own room. Her room's entrance was from Phong's master bedroom. Her door looked like a door to the closet but was in reality a door to another bed room.
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What happened to PHONG???
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Phong had lost his memory during the war. One of the doctors in the hospital who took care of him had a daughter (Hong Dao), who became mentally unstable when her husband was announced dead on the battlefield. She had a one month year old son, Li-Nam. She accidentally mistook Phong as her husband Li Hui-Phong because he had the same name. Since he didn't know who he was anyways, the doctor deceived him and told him he was Hong Dao's husband.
He only recently (last 2 yrs) regained some of his memory and Hong Dao has recovered from her mental state. She doesn't love Phong but she has become very good friends with him, like a sister, a mother, a business partner.
Under the care of the doctor and Hong-Dao, Phong was able to become a successful business man and was very wealthy. He decided to repay his debt to the doctor and Hong Dao by continuing to act as Li-Nam's father. Li-Nam didn't know that Phong wasn't his real father. To Li-Nam, the public and even Phong's mother and sister; Phong and Hong Dao were a happy couple with a loving son, Li-Nam.
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(April: 1956)
Li-Nam has constantly been trying to court Lan-Yee. But she tries to desperately to avoid him. She and Chun-On have enough complications in their relationship without Li-Nam's interference. One day Li-Nam was lucky enough to find Lan-Yee studying on the park bench. "Why have you been avoiding me?" he asks her when he sees her.
"I'm not avoiding you. I'm just busy studying for the final exams that are going to make the final decision I get to go to the University or not. There is a lot of pressure now." Li-Nam is relieved, but still questions her, "Why do you avoid my phone calls and the letters I send you?"
"What is it that you want from me?" she explodes. "I told you so many times. We're friends and that's it! Why must you persist on going after me? You should put more of your concentration on Ho-Ying or your studies. Whichever would benefit you more!" she says and gathers her things up to leave.
"Are you avoiding me because you are in love with another man?" he asked confident that is the case. She refuses to answer his question and continues to walk away. Her back is facing his back. "You love Kwok Chun-On don't you?" he asked in a stern voice with his back facing her.
Lan-Yee stopped for a moment in her pace. She didn't deny it and she didn't admit it either. Li-Nam realizes she has stopped and turns around to walk towards her. She turns around also and the two look at each other for a split moment. Lan-Yee shakes her head. "It doesn?t matter who I love but all you need to know is the person I love is not you!" she says and turns back around to walk away.
Li-Nam is upset but he doesn't give up. He believes that he has just as much to offer Lan-Yee and she is making the wrong choice not choosing him. Now his emotions for Lan-Yee are blurred. She walks up to him moments after Lan-Yee has left and he is still in thought. "Are you okay, standing here all lost and confused?" she asks him with a giggle on her face.
Ho-Ying still has not forgiven Lan-Yee but she doesn't blame Li-Nam. She believes that deep within him he truly loves her and not Lan-Yee. Li-Nam realizes that Ho-Ying has called him. "Oh hi, I was just thinking." he replied.
"Must have been something serious because I've been standing here for two minutes and you've been looking in that direction for a while now. I think even before I got here." she replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, I was just wondering about something." He said and then changed the subject. "So why are you looking for me?"
"Nothing I was just bored and wanted to see if you had any plans. Maybe we can do something together." she suggested. He let out a deep sigh and smiled reluctantly, "Sure, what do you want to do?" Even though he didn't love her he thought of her as a good friend. He didn't want to put his anger on her because it was uncalled for.
Ho-Ying smiled happy that Li-Nam was not treating her harshly or coldly. This mislead her more into thinking he really did love her. "Let's go to the movies and then have dinner. After that we can go look at stars again!" she replied enthusiastically. He nodded and the two went off to spend the day together again.
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Lan-Yee and Chun-on are having problems because of Li-Nam. Chun-On gets the calls, messages and letters Li-Nam sends. He rips them all up feeling a little jealousy especially when the scene of Li-Nam hugging Lan-Yee keeps reappearing in his head. Lan-Yee had gone to the library to finish studying. She finished and closed her book. Looking up she saw a new student lost at what to do. He seemed like he couldn't find a book and didn't know how to look for it. Being friendly and helpful she got up and walked over to him. "You need help?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yes that would be greatly appreciated." He said. "I need to find, 'The Lords of Ancient China' but there are so many on these shelves." he siad pointing to the different copies. Lan-Yee looked at the books and noticed different author, publish years, and bindings. "Well which author are you looking for?"
"Humm... I don?t know exactly. His last name is Luo"
"That practically names all authors in China!" Lan-Yee teased. "But you're lucky I know who you're talking about." She smirked and grabbed one of the books off the shelf. "Here you go, Luo Yan Khuon, wrote the book you're looking for."
He looked at it and said, "Yeah, this is the one. Thanks so much!" she smiled and said, "No problem." She was happy to have been able to help him. They walked out of the library together and were talking about the subjects in the book when Chun-On walked up to them. "Hi Chun-On!" Lan-Yee said excited to see him.
Chun-On's expression seemed to be filled with anger. But he managed to say Hi anyways. The new guys thanked Lan-Yee once more and ran off to do his studying. "Who is he?" Chun-On asked coldly. She could feel the anger in his voice and didn't want to deal with him. "Nobody really, just someone I met in the library a few minutes ago." She replied looking at him to see if she could tell why he was mad.
"You just met an already so close to him." He said sarcastically. "Are you like that with all the men?" She was insulted. "What do you mean by that comment?" she asked walking away. He followed. "Nothing!" he said not wanting to say anymore.
She shook her head. "I can't believe this! You're going on silly rampages now. What am I banned from seeing any man just because one like me?" she asked. He shook his head. "I am not banding you from seeing anyone!" he replied angrily.
"Well you sure act like it! Getting so upset at me for little reasons. I just met the guy!" she retorted. He smirked. "That's my point exactly you just met the guy. You become so close to him. Help him, laugh with him, flirt with him!" he yelled.
"You're being ridiculous." She said angrily and continued walked away from him. He followed pursuit. "I'm being ridiculous! You're the one running around holding, caressing and doing all that other stuff with other men. His last comment insulted her so much she became outraged and immediately slapped him. "How dare you say such nonsense!" she said.
She ran off hurt and confused at why he would accuse her of such things. Chun-On adjusted his jaw and rubbed his cheeks. He regret saying such things to her, but he couldn't help it. He thought that something more happened between them even though all he saw was the hug and only heard about the pavillion. Who knows what happened?
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Lan-Yee runs into the house and up the stairs to her room. Suet notices her and follows her up. Lan-Yee is so upset she didn?t even bother closing her door. Suet knocks on it. "May I come in?" she asked gently. Lan-Yee nods her head wiping away her tears, "This is probably more your house than mine, you should be able to go where you like." She said referring to the fact that she still thinks she's an orphan Quay took in whereas Suet was Quay's cousin.
"Did you get into an argument with Ho-Ying again?" Suet asks in a mildly soft tone of voice. Lan-Yee shakes her head. Suet smiles and replies, "Then it must be Chun-On. Are you two arguing over Li-Nam's interest in you?"
Lan-Yee was stunned that Suet knew she was dating Chun-On and even more amazed that Suet seemed to know exactly what was going on between the four of them. She didn't reply, but Suet didn't need her to reply. Suet knew what was going on. This was all too familiar to her.
"Sometimes life throws many obstacles at us to test our strength, at the moment the strength of your love with Chun-On is being tested. You just need to stay strong and focused." Suet said and started leaving the room. She never stayed in the same room with Lan-Yee very long because she didn't want to upset Lan-Yee which would resulting in more anger towards her.
Lan-Yee noticed Suet leaving and reached out for her. "Auntie Suet." She called softly. Suet paused in her footsteps. These words almost melted Suet's heart. Lan-Yee usually called her Aunt, witch, or some other offensive name but today she called her auntie; a sweeter closer word than her normal greeting to Suet.
Suet turned around and looked at Lan-Yee. "Yes?" She asked sincerely.
"How did you know about Chun-On and I?" Lan-Yee asked puzzled.
"It's quite obvious how you two interact with each other." she said with a confident smile. Lan-Yee seemed puzzled. So Suet walked over to her. "The way you touch him when you're fighting, the way your eyes bulge out when you see him coming, the way your heart beats when you hear his name. It's all evident. It can be sensed by the people around you." she explained.
"Does 'Mother' Quay know also?" Lan-Yee asked.
Suet was immediately struck by the phrase 'Mother Quay' but decided to concentrate on Lan-Yee's question since she was always used to hearing it. "She doesn't know." she replied.
"How do you know she doesn't know? What if she knows like you do and she's just not saying anything, like you did?"
Suet managed to chuckle, "If Quay knows she wouldn't keep it quiet. I know Quay and as long as I've kown her it's always been in her to make everything known."
Lan-Yee nodded her head. A moment of silence fell upon them. Then finally Lan-Yee spoke. For some odd reason she found so much comfort talking to Suet that she wanted to tell Suet more. "Chun-On is upset at me because of Li-Nam. But I don't even like Li-Nam. I thought Li-Nam and I are good friends, I never knew that he would like me."
"Sometimes when you want to be good friends with someone you treat them in a very nice way and they start to develop more feelings for you than you did for them. It's normal." Suet said thinking of Fei.
"I have never been really nice to Li-Nam. I have always been rather harsh on him. So it really surprises me that he actually likes me." she responded leaning against her mother's sholders.
"Your harshness doesn't mean you're a bad person. He saw through that and saw a wonderful person. So he fell in love with you." Suet explained. "You are a very good hearted person."
"I can't understand why he likes me." Lan-Yee said looking up at the ceiling.
"Is it possible that he likes you because you don't like him? Is it a challenge for him to win you over? Or is it because you did something tremendously wonderful that has made a mark so deep within him, so now he can't forget you?"
"If you call insults something that can cause deep marks, then yes. If not I don't know." she replied jokingly. Suet and Lan-Yee laughed light-heartedly. Then Lan-Yee continued in a more serious tone now. "I don't know anything, I don't even know why Chun-On is so upset with me."
"Did he see you do something that would make him jealous?"
"No I never did anything." Lan-yee replied.
"Think about it." Suet said thinking of the moment she saw Li-Nam hugging Lan-Yee. "Think hard and you will realize people don't become jealous for no reason."
"Oh this is so confusing." Lan-Yee said placing her hands on the side of her head.
"Love is never easy. It's a lot to think about." Suet said thinking of her own love life.
"Did you ever have to cope with love & relationships." She asked her mother. She assumed because Suet never married that she never had a relationship of any kind. Suet smiled upon the mention of a relationship and quickly reminisced to her years in love with Phong and the relationship she had with Fuo and even the complicated love triangle with Fei, which finally wiped the smile off her face.
Lan-Yee noticed her change in expression and became curious. "Were you ever in love?" she asked impatiently shaking her mother's arm playfully.
From sweet memories to bitter ones she replied with a hesitant, "Yes. Everyone has been in love before and I am no exception. However till this day I?m not sure if I ever knew what love is meant to be."
"Why didn't you ever marry" Lan-Yee asked. Suet shook her head. She couldn't tell her the truth or maybe it was the best time to tell Lan-Yee the truth.
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