My first memory of my childhood was crying helplessly until I couldn't breathe, sucking air in my tiny lungs because the only son of the family who owns my mother and I had been cruel. Master Li He shoved me down the dirt out of his own meanness.

It was not a game then, it was intentional. He meant to make me cry and he succeeded upon it. I cried and cried screaming without understanding how can anyone be so cruel. I remember my mother as she ran to my side and swallowed me in her protective embrace.

The sound of cries and the sight of my tears upset her gravely, mother looked at her young master like he was the devil himself. He caused pain to her only daughter and there's nothing to do about it.

Le Hi held a firm stare over my mother, leaving her no choice but to apologise for her daughter's behaviour.

''Forgive my daughter, master Li He.'' Her voice croaked.

Li He pressed his mouth into a thin line without muttering anything as he turned around like a privileged child, leaving a billow of dirt behind his trail as he walked away.

When I was twelve and Li He was fourteen, I caught him with one of the neighbourhood girls under the shade of a bamboo tree on a midsummer afternoon. It scared me back then because I thought for sure that was how adults make babies. I later found it was far from it, but I leaned far enough from my perch when I slid and fell from tree I was on, ruining their make-out session.

Li He jerked away from the girl nervously, thinking he was found out. He was relieved when saw me sprawled on the ground, wincing in pain.

''Spying on me, Hui?!''

I shook my head immediate denial. ''No, master. I was here before you two came to make babies.''

''Make babies?''

I tucked my head to my chest red and golden as an apple.

He gurgled a laughter and I don't know why he was laughing at me like that when I'm obviously in pain and he's obviously about to be a young father.

Amused, master Li He watched me struggle to get up from the ground. He cocked his head to the side, his eyes on me, and I felt fright being watch by him like that. He was two years older than me, and he was my master.

''Did you see anything?'' He implored.

I knew telling the truth could get me in trouble so I outright lied to him. ''No, I didn't.''

He gleamed with a smile, bending over to help me on my feet. Master Li He fished a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to me. It was a bribe, and I was sold immediately. He sometimes bribed me with food when I caught him doing what he's not supposed to do.

TO BE CONTINUED..........

A simple sugary treat was enough to keep my loyalty to him back then.

''Good, don't say anything.'' He murmured and sent me home. ''Go home before you get in trouble.''

Without a second thought, I ran home. I had not thought of that afternoon ever since, although I would occasionally find Master Li He in all corners of the neighbourhood with different girls, that by time he's sixteen, he must've tasted all the sweet tang of every teenager's lips in the village.

I often caught him and he bribed me with candie, but by the time I was fourteen, I required more than a piece of candy for my constant loyalty. He gave me a small change here and there, and sometimes, I acquired enough to get me a nice bowl of ramen from the market stall.

We grew up together even though he was cruel to me when I was young, that cruelness faded as we aged. Perhaps, the reason to this was master Li He never had sibling, he's the only son of the Liu family and he'll take over the family's wealth once his parents pass away.

I was like a younger sister to him, he scrammed and batted me away whenever I got in his way. He was womanizer in the making and the signs are all over the place. He broke every unsuspecting girl's heart in a heartbeat, that he's gotten a reputation for being a heartbreaker which gained him more attention from girls much to my suprise.

I never understood women's gluttonous appetite for a sadist like him, but, I guess, girls do like a guy who treats them like shit.

I told him he's a pig one time, but he just kicked his feet and laughed.

We were a team until two years later when his parents chose a proper bride for him. A girl two years his senior from an equally wealthy family.

I was happy for him, the idea of marriage to me was a fairytale, something I always wanted and dreamed of. Something that could erase my troubles away. A happily ever after I can only dream of.

I must've been the most excited, although I noticed his disinterest and I had no idea why. I thought something like that would make master Li He happy, but it didn't.

I wouldn't have a chance to find out why because, soon, my mother passed away and I was sold to another family as a slave. That was the last time I would see him for a while.

***

● REUNION ● 1

It was another three years I saw him again. I was nineteen and master Li He was twenty one by then. My new master had been kind to me and had no complaints, I wouldn't have mind serving him for rest of my life until he passes away. He's an older man wealthy as he can be.

TO BE CONTINUED ..........

His wife died years ago and never remarried. He said there's no point, he's an old man and his heart belonged to her.

I dreamed of a man to love me like he did his wife one day.

I was called from the kitchen where I was helping the cook prepare by cutting vegetables when I heard my master's gentle voice called for me.

''Hui, dear why don't you leave what you're doing for a minute and prepare me and my guests a nice kettle of warm tea.''

I dropped what I was doing instantly and got to boiling some water. He needn't have to tell me twice. I plucked the tea leaves I knew is my master's favourite and brew it with the heating water.

It's taken me a good fifteen minutes, but based on the silent trickle of the murmuring conversation, I'm certain they don't mind the time passing because they seemed preoccupied with their animated discussion.

I gathered a few cups, teaspoons, honey, and pastries to bring along with me, walking to the living room. Careful not to spill anything when my gaze landed on the familiar face, he was looking right at me. His simper that seemed frozen on his face dropped with shocked and suddenly, room was silent.

I felt my heart skipped and the world came into a halt. My reaction was the same as his. We stared at each other as though we were the only people in the world at that moment. I never thought I would see him again, and master Li He looked the same... except older.

''Hui, dear. Something wrong?'' It was the voice of my kind master who pulled me back to him. I turned to chase his voice with a smile.

I peeled myself from away from the sudden distraction and begin arranging the teacups for them. I tried to rush, a bit more clumsy than I normally do things, but I couldn't help it, I was happy to see my old master and I could tell he knew I was excited.

The first thing I wanted to do was to slap him senseless until he loses it, while I ran away screaming in terror because he's quickly gained up on me. But that was the sort of things we used to do when we were younger.

The reunion was unexpected and failed dramatically. I would have expected two people hugging each other, but that is only wishful thinking.

I tried not to look at him and his wife sitting beside him, as I kept my eyes glued to the table. My eyes betray me, glancing over them.

My eyes lingered a little too long at his wife. I've never seen her until now, and she's very elegant and beautiful as I imagined. A perfect match for him.

My eyes dropped again and turned to walk away - without saying another to master Li He. A slave is not allowed to

interrupt her master's guests and discussion, so I disappeared quietly just as I'd expected.

TO BE CONTINUED..........