I&T: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

There were few clouds that lace the dark-blue star-filled summer’s night sky. The breeze that blew cooled the surroundings rapidly but it left a comfortable temperature to beat the day’s heat. Tsan sat on her bed propped up by her soft white pillow, positioned next to a large window without grills. It was so unlike the ones in the orphanage dormitory. The dormitory’s windows had vertical grills that made the place looked less homely and more like a prison. There was not much freedom in the orphanage but there was a strict routine timetable to follow. Tsan left the orphanage when the head mistress felt that it was time for her to go – at the age of sixteen. Tsan was not even sure she was sixteen when the head mistress broke the news to her. It was three years ago and Tsan was not even financially stable to support herself. However the head mistress was kind enough to find her a new family.

This family consisted of a loving couple whose own children had grown up and moved away. They felt lonely as their own children rarely visited them. They quickly agreed to let Tsan move in without much persuasion from the head mistress. Tsan recalled the day she stood in front of the old couple’s house behind the head mistress, looking down at the flowers while her head mistress talked to the couple.

Head mistress: I am sure she will be suitable to live with you. Tsan is an intelligent girl. She has been doing part-time work already, so I believe she is mature enough. Besides she is already 16.

Old Jiang: Money is not the problem. We just want a child who is independent and someone we don’t need to trouble over. We are already in our 60s.

Tsan mumbled to herself, “I am only 15. I am not yet 16.”
She was surprised the thought even occurred to her. She don’t exactly know her actual age nor her birthday. But occasionally, she would remember a thing or two.

Old Jiang’s wife took a look at Tsan and said, “ Well, she looks 15 to me. Are you sure she is 16?”

Head mistress: Well, we can’t be sure of her age can we? Besides, she has always been a very matured and independent girl. We didn’t want to let her go to someone else so soon, but she appears to be the best and most matured person to leave us amongst the lot.

Mrs Jiang hobbled her way to Tsan and picked up her hands in her wrinkled ones, then she peered into those glassy bright eyes.
Mrs Jiang’s: You’re such a dear. Would you like to live in this house with us, the two old ones?

Tsan liked Mrs Jiang immediately. If she doesn’t agree to stay with the Jiangs, she would have to start thinking of how to live on her own. Tsan nodded in response to Mrs Jiang’s question.

The head mistress was glad to have found a home for Tsan, she wouldn’t have like to see Tsan roam the streets like some of the orphans that left the orphanage when they had to.

Tsan was really happy to move in with the Jiangs. There were many procedures to take and they had to decide on many details for Tsan before she could make her identity card. Tsan agreed to follow the Jiang’s last name and they agreed to keep her first name.. They asked Tsan if she really like her first name and she showed them the ring on her necklace. It was her only real possession. So, she was called Jiang Tsan. The family has also agreed on her age and birthday. Tsan had said that she especially liked fireworks as it always reminded her of something in the past but she couldn’t recall. So they came to decide that her birthday would be on national day whereby there are vast fireworks displays and the whole nation will be in celebration. They also concluded that they wanted Tsan to be 15 years of age on the year that they adopted her.

Tsan drifted from her reverie of the day she was adopted by the Jiangs into a slumber and she started to dream… a dream of something so familiar, so long ago, so distant.

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A/N: Hey! This is Emz! I haven't been updating for very long I believe and my readers are getting impatient! I doubt I have many readers anyway. Sorry to keep you people waiting. This whole chapter is all about Tsan. I believed I have neglected her for a few chapters already. I believe the next chapter will be on her dreams. Curious? Keep checking back for updates! And do add comments too! I enjoy reading those reviews. Love love ^^
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