Seven years later …..
Seven years passed so slowly . The days slipped by my fingers every day as I tore the calendar . I never spoke a word to Mum , Dad or even to dear Elaine . Shards of ice formed when we were together . But no one attempted to shatter it .
I spoke to a man who once lived in the city and was spending his late years in the village . I now knew the route to the city and the route to success , money and fame .
I escaped with the crescent moon shining on me on my eighteenth birthday that nobody celebrated .
I did ask myself countless times if it was the right thing to do . My family needed me to do the fishing . Dad was getting old . Elaine could do the housework . Mum could continue bossing us around . That was the future Mum outlined and expected to happen . Instead , I dashed her dreams .
But she nearly dashed mine .
I arrived at the city . The sight that welcomed me was etched into my head forever . Throngs of people walked briskly here to there in the city . People in the village strolled luxuriously as if time was of no essence . I fished out my money bag , consisting of a few pennies and booked a temporary shelter with living environment nearly as bad as my home .
I was hoping to see a poster for a businessman for hire . Scanning the job advertisements , I started to feel down . Unwillingly , I applied as a builder in a land development company . It was the early 1880s .
My dream was not diminished . By a curious irony of fate , I started to become friends with the son of the head controller of the company , Aaron , who taught me language , manners and how to write and calculate . He told his dad about me .
Then his dad arranged a meeting with me . I was eager to make an impression .
I showed him my plan to make his company big . I was starting to win his friendship and a business opportunity .
Aaron ’ s dad died from cancer . His will stated that he will leave his company to his son
Aaron , who was weak in mind and body , passed away . He suffered from pneumonia . From that day , the company was ruled by my iron fist .
Day by day , I could see Shanghai beginning to develop . Whether music , art , trading or finance , Shanghai had it .
Bit by bit , I was starting to achieve my own dream . To make myself content .
But the truth is , I was never happy . I sent a brief letter to my family but it was never replied . In my spare time , I found myself thinking about Elaine , mother and father .
All had fallen .
The Japanese bombed Shanghai , along with my mansion . I was hungry , homeless and poor . Yet now , I found myself wishing that I never left my family , along with the peaceful life full of love .
Sorry , Mum . Sorry , Dad . Sorry , Elaine . Sorry , Shanghai . I never completed our dreams .