I wanted to utilise what I learnt back in university (Literature, History, et al), so I have been contemplating an attempt at historical fiction. Most historical fictions I have read are on romance anyway, so I started thinking about something that could combine history, culture and romance all in one. And thus became another idea for a short story. Thought about the plot for ages, but it is only recently when I started formulating a story out of the setting.
China, late 1950s. The village chief’s daughter came back after studying in Shanghai and Hong Kong. She came back with modern ideas to help the village, but being a girl, she was often looked down upon and criticized for being “loose” due to her modern ideas and ways. One day, she was walking towards the farms and almost got knocked down by a bicycle, but the men, being the typical chauvinistic country bumpkins of those eras, refused to lend her a hand.
A young lad from the neighbouring village helped her up when she fell down due to the bicycle, and they became friends. She observed the local school facilities, and decided to encourage her fellow village girls to go to school. So she helped to revamp the school and facilities, with objections from the elderly men and women of course.
The young lad helped her out, and she taught him to read and write more, even teaching him English. He was impressed by her knowledge and helpfulness, and he had no qualms about her modern ideals and outlook. In fact, he encouraged her opinions and was captivated by her worldliness. Feelings were growing between those two, but unfortunately, her father had her match-made to the son of a rich man who owned the two villages and all the land behind them combined.
She, being the modern lady she was, refused to adhere to an arranged marriage. Her father had her locked up in the house and forced her into the "sedan" that would carry her to her husband’s place. She missed her “boyfriend” very much and he missed her too, but they could not get a word to each other.
Three months into the marriage, they chanced upon each other, and he witnessed how her husband abused her by beating her in public each time she spoke her mind. She was so unhappy that in the end, she decided to just run away altogether. She took her dowry to return to her husband’s family and asked for an annulment of marriage. Then she used her savings and bought the first boat ticket out of China. Initially she asked that guy whether he wanted to go with her, but he did not have enough savings for a boat trip, so in the end she had to leave without him. She went to Singapore, found a nice place with a landlady and her son, and got a job teaching in a school.
Two years passed. She became close friends with her landlady’s son, who was developing feelings for her. Her landlady also liked her a lot and hoped they would make a match. However she took him only as an elder brother. One day, she dropped her books on her way to class, and turned around and saw the new janitor of the school. With a shock, she recognized it was the guy she left behind!
Apparently, he finally managed to save up and come to Singapore, and he had been there for half a year looking for her. They were so happy to see each other that they picked up their romance where they left off. They would go picnicking in the Botanic Gardens, strolling by the Singapore River, and she would invite him for dinner at her place, introduced him to her landlady and the son.
The son got jealous as he felt the guy was not a match to her, since she was higher educated, more knowledgeable, better job, etc. He tried his best to break them apart. She was stuck on him, but on his part, being a guy, he slowly started to feel he was inadequate. The landlady’s son further poisoned his mind that if they ever got married, would he expect his wife to be the better one and support him? It was almost unheard of in those times (1950s – early 1960s).
So the guy saw an advertisement to work in Malaysia, and he decided to go there for better prospects. He asked her to go along with him, but she was hesitant as she did not wish to give up her job in Singapore. He took it that she looked down on him so he left without her. She was upset, but believed he would write to her.
The landlady’s son took the opportunity to comfort her and told her to move on and be with someone better. The guy did write to her, twice every week, but all his letters were waylaid by the landlady’s son, so she never received a single letter and he never received a single reply. Still, he continued writing to her.
There was this guy he met in Malaysia who later died of an illness. The guy had a sister and asked him to help take care of the sister. He was in a dilemma as he knew the girl liked him but he did not want to ruin her life by marrying her and not loving her. So he wrote to his girlfriend again, telling him his dilemma, and if she would only go to Malaysia, they would patch back. The letter was of course waylaid by the landlady’s son, who wrote to him using her name, saying she was happy with the landlady’s son so he should just forget about her and start life anew. When he received the letter, he was so heartbroken and decided to marry the friend’s sister.
By a twist of fate, she realized what happened to all the letters he sent to her. She confronted the landlady’s son who finally confessed his love for her, who said he wanted her to forget about the guy, and said the guy was getting married. She took the first train to Malaysia to look for him, but was too late to prevent a wedding. Heartbroken, she went back to Singapore and cried for a week.
The landlady’s son then realized his folly and was very guilty and apologetic, but she refused to forgive him. Then a lawyer came to visit her, saying her father had died in China and left her all his money. She went back to the village and settled everything, took the money plus her savings and left to further her studies in England.
That was in 1964. She left when Singapore and Malaysia were on tense relations. Then independence came. Malaysian Chinese who were not born there were under scrutiny and life became rather hard for them. So the guy came back in 1967. There were riots where he was staying in Malaysia, and his house got burnt down. His wife died in the fire so he came back to Singapore with his young son.
He did not have many friends so he could only go looking for his former girlfriend where she was last staying. He met the landlady’s son. The landlady had since passed away and the son had taken over the house. The girl was still not back so the son, to alleviate his guilt, allowed the guy and the son to stay there, rent-free, hoping she would come back one day.
He was not highly educated or skilled, and there was nothing he could really do except farming, so in the end, he decided to set up a coffee stall and eke out a better living for himself and his son. About four years after she left (in 1968), she finally came back. She saw him again with his son, and took care of the boy as if she was the mother. She also helped him out in his stall, until people started calling her “Mrs Boss”.
Both still had feelings for each other, but refused to admit. Even the landlady’s son encouraged both of them to make up for lost time and get together again, but she did not wish to have her heart broken again by the same person, and he felt ashamed to ask her to be with him again after hurting her. Then the boy got kidnapped by one of those kidnappers who were rather abundant in the late 1960s. In order to save the boy, she found out where he was taken, and offered herself to exchange for him. She was gang raped and kept in the basement of the kidnapper’s house. He, in a bid to save her, went to take on the kidnappers on his own, and was beaten up, captured and thrown into the same basement.
The landlady’s son managed to trace their whereabouts and had the boy rescued, but the kidnappers refused to tell him where he kept the other two. So he had to keep searching for his friends. Meanwhile, in the basement of the house, the two finally admitted their feelings to each other. She said if she could get out alive, she would want to start over. And he said if he could get out alive, he did not wish to waste anymore time. They have been bouncing back and forth for ten years, he did not wish to drag on anymore, and proposed to her there and then. She accepted without any hesitation.
In the end, the police managed to find them. The kidnappers were captured, the prisoners were released, and they got married. They just went to the Registry and signed on the papers, no pomp or fanfare whatsoever. Forty years on, the coffee stall they set up later became a huge chain, and they have three grown children.
The landlady’s son then had a closing statement, “I never knew what love is until I met these two. It is true that with love, qualifications, materialism and status all do not matter. What matters is the character and the commitment, plus the determination to be together against all odds. And that is true love, the reality of the care between two people, not the fairytale romance as always read about in books.”
China, late 1950s. The village chief’s daughter came back after studying in Shanghai and Hong Kong. She came back with modern ideas to help the village, but being a girl, she was often looked down upon and criticized for being “loose” due to her modern ideas and ways. One day, she was walking towards the farms and almost got knocked down by a bicycle, but the men, being the typical chauvinistic country bumpkins of those eras, refused to lend her a hand.
A young lad from the neighbouring village helped her up when she fell down due to the bicycle, and they became friends. She observed the local school facilities, and decided to encourage her fellow village girls to go to school. So she helped to revamp the school and facilities, with objections from the elderly men and women of course.
The young lad helped her out, and she taught him to read and write more, even teaching him English. He was impressed by her knowledge and helpfulness, and he had no qualms about her modern ideals and outlook. In fact, he encouraged her opinions and was captivated by her worldliness. Feelings were growing between those two, but unfortunately, her father had her match-made to the son of a rich man who owned the two villages and all the land behind them combined.
She, being the modern lady she was, refused to adhere to an arranged marriage. Her father had her locked up in the house and forced her into the "sedan" that would carry her to her husband’s place. She missed her “boyfriend” very much and he missed her too, but they could not get a word to each other.
Three months into the marriage, they chanced upon each other, and he witnessed how her husband abused her by beating her in public each time she spoke her mind. She was so unhappy that in the end, she decided to just run away altogether. She took her dowry to return to her husband’s family and asked for an annulment of marriage. Then she used her savings and bought the first boat ticket out of China. Initially she asked that guy whether he wanted to go with her, but he did not have enough savings for a boat trip, so in the end she had to leave without him. She went to Singapore, found a nice place with a landlady and her son, and got a job teaching in a school.
Two years passed. She became close friends with her landlady’s son, who was developing feelings for her. Her landlady also liked her a lot and hoped they would make a match. However she took him only as an elder brother. One day, she dropped her books on her way to class, and turned around and saw the new janitor of the school. With a shock, she recognized it was the guy she left behind!
Apparently, he finally managed to save up and come to Singapore, and he had been there for half a year looking for her. They were so happy to see each other that they picked up their romance where they left off. They would go picnicking in the Botanic Gardens, strolling by the Singapore River, and she would invite him for dinner at her place, introduced him to her landlady and the son.
The son got jealous as he felt the guy was not a match to her, since she was higher educated, more knowledgeable, better job, etc. He tried his best to break them apart. She was stuck on him, but on his part, being a guy, he slowly started to feel he was inadequate. The landlady’s son further poisoned his mind that if they ever got married, would he expect his wife to be the better one and support him? It was almost unheard of in those times (1950s – early 1960s).
So the guy saw an advertisement to work in Malaysia, and he decided to go there for better prospects. He asked her to go along with him, but she was hesitant as she did not wish to give up her job in Singapore. He took it that she looked down on him so he left without her. She was upset, but believed he would write to her.
The landlady’s son took the opportunity to comfort her and told her to move on and be with someone better. The guy did write to her, twice every week, but all his letters were waylaid by the landlady’s son, so she never received a single letter and he never received a single reply. Still, he continued writing to her.
There was this guy he met in Malaysia who later died of an illness. The guy had a sister and asked him to help take care of the sister. He was in a dilemma as he knew the girl liked him but he did not want to ruin her life by marrying her and not loving her. So he wrote to his girlfriend again, telling him his dilemma, and if she would only go to Malaysia, they would patch back. The letter was of course waylaid by the landlady’s son, who wrote to him using her name, saying she was happy with the landlady’s son so he should just forget about her and start life anew. When he received the letter, he was so heartbroken and decided to marry the friend’s sister.
By a twist of fate, she realized what happened to all the letters he sent to her. She confronted the landlady’s son who finally confessed his love for her, who said he wanted her to forget about the guy, and said the guy was getting married. She took the first train to Malaysia to look for him, but was too late to prevent a wedding. Heartbroken, she went back to Singapore and cried for a week.
The landlady’s son then realized his folly and was very guilty and apologetic, but she refused to forgive him. Then a lawyer came to visit her, saying her father had died in China and left her all his money. She went back to the village and settled everything, took the money plus her savings and left to further her studies in England.
That was in 1964. She left when Singapore and Malaysia were on tense relations. Then independence came. Malaysian Chinese who were not born there were under scrutiny and life became rather hard for them. So the guy came back in 1967. There were riots where he was staying in Malaysia, and his house got burnt down. His wife died in the fire so he came back to Singapore with his young son.
He did not have many friends so he could only go looking for his former girlfriend where she was last staying. He met the landlady’s son. The landlady had since passed away and the son had taken over the house. The girl was still not back so the son, to alleviate his guilt, allowed the guy and the son to stay there, rent-free, hoping she would come back one day.
He was not highly educated or skilled, and there was nothing he could really do except farming, so in the end, he decided to set up a coffee stall and eke out a better living for himself and his son. About four years after she left (in 1968), she finally came back. She saw him again with his son, and took care of the boy as if she was the mother. She also helped him out in his stall, until people started calling her “Mrs Boss”.
Both still had feelings for each other, but refused to admit. Even the landlady’s son encouraged both of them to make up for lost time and get together again, but she did not wish to have her heart broken again by the same person, and he felt ashamed to ask her to be with him again after hurting her. Then the boy got kidnapped by one of those kidnappers who were rather abundant in the late 1960s. In order to save the boy, she found out where he was taken, and offered herself to exchange for him. She was gang raped and kept in the basement of the kidnapper’s house. He, in a bid to save her, went to take on the kidnappers on his own, and was beaten up, captured and thrown into the same basement.
The landlady’s son managed to trace their whereabouts and had the boy rescued, but the kidnappers refused to tell him where he kept the other two. So he had to keep searching for his friends. Meanwhile, in the basement of the house, the two finally admitted their feelings to each other. She said if she could get out alive, she would want to start over. And he said if he could get out alive, he did not wish to waste anymore time. They have been bouncing back and forth for ten years, he did not wish to drag on anymore, and proposed to her there and then. She accepted without any hesitation.
In the end, the police managed to find them. The kidnappers were captured, the prisoners were released, and they got married. They just went to the Registry and signed on the papers, no pomp or fanfare whatsoever. Forty years on, the coffee stall they set up later became a huge chain, and they have three grown children.
The landlady’s son then had a closing statement, “I never knew what love is until I met these two. It is true that with love, qualifications, materialism and status all do not matter. What matters is the character and the commitment, plus the determination to be together against all odds. And that is true love, the reality of the care between two people, not the fairytale romance as always read about in books.”
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