Shanghai, China
Shi Lian steps out of the car and gazes at the mansion in front of her. God, she missed her homeland. Coming back to China brings back all the memories she left behind when she was at America. Its been five years and yet, everything here is same. The lush gardens, flower beds and even the familiar face of the gardener. She had expected on her way to the Mo Mansion that she will be greeted with a completely different place, but she was wrong. The driver helps to take out the suitcase from the trunk, and shutting it close, he brings it to Shi Lian.
"Young Miss, shall we?"
Shi Lian smiles and nods at the driver. Shi Lian feels nervous. After five long years, she will meet her mother, her father, and everyone. Will they be elated to see her? She wonders which only makes her nerves more hyped up. Taking in a deep breath, Shi Lian walks towards the front door, taking the three low stairs. "I'll take it from here. Thank you, Uncle Hao" she says politely and takes the suitcase handle from the driver. The driver leaves saying a warm goodbye.
Shi Lian stands at the entrance, clutching the suitcase bar tightly as she looks inside. The Hall area of the Mo Mansion is lavish. The entire mansion is a remarkable work itself. Shi Lian's great great great grandfather was the one to built it, and till now, the house has not lose its charm.
Shi Lian continues walking and spots two maids cleaning the painting on the left side of the hall, unaware of Shi Lian's presence. Stopping in the middle of the front hall, Shi Lian looks around and her eyes fixes on someone. Nanny Zhang was coming out from the kitchen, and was going to put her dirty apron into the laundry, when she sees Shi Lian standing in the mddle of the hall. Nanny Zhang freezes, finding it a little unbelieavable to see her. Everyone in the house knows that Shi Lian is arriving today but they did not know when.
Shi Lian smiles widely and runs towards her Nanny Zhang to give her a hug. "Nanny Zhang!"
Nanny Zhang squeezes her in a warm hug, inhaling in her cocoa scent. "Oh, young miss, you are finally back!" she expresses, getting emotional to see her.
"How are you? Are you dieting, Nanny Zhang?" she asks, keeping her tone light.
At her question, Nanny Zhang chuckles, wiping the tears from the corner of her eyes. "I am fine, Young Miss and I am not dieting" she replies in her cheery tone.
Shi Lian grins, so happy to see her after so long. "Did you missed me, Nanny Zhang?"
Nanny Zhang caresses her cheeks with her soft palm, her eyes gleaming with love and says, "We all have missed you very much, Young Miss. Everyday."
"Aw. Where is mother?"
"She is in the kitchen. She is making your favourite dishes one after another" Nanny Zhang tells her, and taking Shi Lian's hand, she leads her to the kitchen area. "She will be elated to see you, Young Miss."
"Mother!" Shi Lian yells in joy and runs to hug her mother like she used to do when she was a kid. Mo Sha Sha was surprised because she didn't knew Shi Lian will be coming at this hour. She hugs Shi Lian, and the warmth of hugging her daughter after such a long time makes her heart swell. "I missed you so much."
"I am so happy you are back, sweetheart" Sha Sha says, caressing her hair and looking at her with love. "Was the flight safe?"
Shi Lian nods and then her eyes averts to the dish that is shimmering on the stove. She removes the lid and inhales the aroma of the curry which makes her mouth water.
"You must be feeling hungry. The dishes are all prepared. Freshen up and I'll prepare the dishes for you" her mother tells in her honey sweet voice that just melts. Shi Lian missed her very much. She used to video chat with her but it isn't enough.Now, looking at her closely, she can see her skin has gotten paler and she appears to be tired. Sha Sha is beautiful and appears younger than her actual age. But with the stress about the company, she got little to no sleep at all.
"Where's father? Is he in the company?"
Sha Sha, before answering her, glances at Nanny Zhang and she gives her a helpless shrug. Sha Sha breathes a sigh and nods. "He is but he will come home the moment he will know that you are back!"
Shi Lian can sense something is wrong here, but keeps it to herself. She will ask whatever she wants to know once her father arrives. "Alright. I will go and freshen up then."
Shi Lian heads upstairs with her backpack leaving the suitcase downstairs as Nanny Zhang said she will bring it to her room shortly.
She pushes the double doors of her room, a wave of nostalgia hitting her like a sweet aroma. She has so many memories with this room, from her childhood to her adulthood. Shi Lian walks further and pauses at the centre of the room, looking around with a smile on her face.
Everything is the same. The king sized bed is placed to her left with various pillows and teddies on it. There are two victorian night stands on either side of the bed with lamps on it. Across the room, near the large windows is the dressing table where she can see the jewelry box glinting. Then, to her right is the closet room and beside it is the bathroom. There are few paintings on the wall and a big board where she has pasted pictures. Two photo frame hangs on the wall beside the board.
Shi Lian walks towards it and smiles widely looking at the pictures. One of the picture is of her when she was around three years old. She wore a floral frock with a cute hat on her head. She recalls Sha Sha telling her about this photograph. They went to the art gallery and Shi Lian was looking so cute, Sha Sha wanted to click her picture with the grand paintings at the background.
Shi Lian's gaze averts to the board where numerous polaroid pictures are pasted, most of them are with the one person she thought she would spend her whole life with. Her smile disappears now that she is staring at his picture. How happy those days were. The smiles on their faces says it all.
However, everything has changed. When opening her eyes, she can see those days she has left far behind has no chance of coming back.
Pressing her lips, Shi Lian pulls out the pictures of him with her from the board. Collecting the pictures in her hand, she contemplates for a moment. She needs to let go of her past completely. It was easy when she was in America, but living here will remind her always of what happened with her years ago. Squaring her shoulders, she crumbles the pictures in her hold, and throw it in the dustbin kept beside the bookshelf.
She thought time will heal everything. No, time did not healed anything. The pain still there, she feels it everyday. Time just puts dust on it so as to lower the feel.
A knock comes on the door making her come back to reality. Craning her neck, she sees Nanny Zhang standing by the door carrying her suitcase in one hand.
"I'm not your guest, Nanny Zhang. You don't need to knock, you know that" Shi Lian pouts, and reaches to take the suitcase from her. "Thanks you for bringing this."
Nanny Zhang chuckles. "I will keep that in mind, Young Miss. Oh, Madam has called you. Food is ready."
"I will be right there. I need to take shower first."
"Sure" Nanny Zhang says and leaves from her room, heading downstairs.