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吖
李
杨
productions
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and god said, ::let there be light::
[and there was light]
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[::lux sit::]
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(June 9, 1898)
"Let us make a deal, Wang Yao," Arthur says. "Give us Hong Kong for 99 years. We will protect it well."
And she agrees, scraping up the remnants of her dignity and pride and throwing it all away in desperation. "Raise him well, Ying Guo," she says, tight-lipped, white-faced. "Protect him, for I fear that I cannot."
"Mama," Jia-Long wails, looking at her with frightened brown eyes. The eyes of a child, naive and trusting. "Mama, wo pa."
"Shh..." she says in response, feeling her lips rise in a pained smile. "Jia-Long, Mama can't raise you anymore. She's going to give you to a very nice man. You have to behave for Mama, okay?"
Arthur sneers at her, lip curled. "Are you so weak that even your own child takes you for a woman?" he spits, eyeing her with contempt. "You have grown weak, China. Your government is unstable, and the powerful country you once represented is now but a shell of what it once was."
His words spark a fire inside her, reigniting ashes trampled by despair and suffering. She smiles back at him, savage and dangerous like the dragons that she is descended from. He falters a bit. "You cannot be any more right," she says, and laughs- it is a mocking laugh, one of a madman. Who it mocks, she does not know. "But you do not understand."
There is a moment of silence, before it is interrupted once again. "You are not Wang Yao," Arthur states, for however greedy he is, it cannot be said that he is not intelligent. "Wang Yao is not a woman."
"How did you know?" she says, still smiling that cruel smile. "What gave it away?"
Jia-Long starts crying, scared of this strange entity that has possessed the body of his mother. The two beings- monsters- are still staring at each other, battling vicious wars of will alone. Neither is willing to back away.
"...You did not refute my claims," Arthur finally says, staring into liquid amber eyes. "But if you are not Wang Yao, who are you?"
Her expression is once again passive. "I am Wang Mei."
And then she turns, leaving behind her province- son, brother- in the hands of her greatest enemy.
She does not look back.
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Historical Anecdotes: The Convention between the United Kingdom and China, Respecting an Extension of Hong Kong Territory (also known as the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory or the Second Convention of Peking) was a lease between Great Britain and Qing China in 1898. Taking advantage of the weakened China after the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), the British forced the treaty on the weakened Chinese government. It would give Britain complete jurisdiction of Hong Kong and the surrounding islands for 99 years.
On June 30, 1997, 99 years later, Hong Kong was returned to the People's Republic of China and became one of the two Special Administrative Regions, along with Macau.
Glossary:
Ying Guo (Chinese): Brave Country; Great Britain
Mama (Chinese): mother
wo pa (Chinese): I am scared
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