This document was created with Prince, a great way of ...

After a while I said, "When did my mama die?"

"Your mama came down with a high fever three days after you were born. She died when you were two weeks old. ..."

Though I was only four years old, I understood I should not ask Aunt Baba too many questions about my dead mama. Big Sister once told me, "Aunt Baba and Mama used to be best friends. A long time ago, they worked together in a bank in Shanghai owned by our grandaunt, the youngest sister of Grandfather Ye Ye. But then Mama died giving birth to you. If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck."

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I have always cherished this dream of creating something unique and imperishable, so that the past should not fade away forever. I know one day I shall die and vanish into the void, but hope to preserve my memories through my writing. Perhaps others who were also unwanted children may see them a hundred years from now, and be encouraged. I imagine them opening the pages of my book and meeting me (as a ten-year-old) in Shanghai, without actually having left

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their own homes in Sydney, Tokyo, London, Hong Kong or Los Angeles. And I shall welcome each and every one of them with a smile and say, "How splendid of you to visit me! Come in and let me share with you my story ... because I understand only too well the rankling in your heart and what you are going through."

Author's Note Preface

1. Top of the Class 2. A Tianjin Family 3. Nai Nai's Bound Feet 4. Life in Tianjin 5. Arrival in Shanghai 6. First Day at School 7. Family Reunion 8. Tram Fare 9. Chinese New Year 10. Shanghai School Days

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11. PLT 12. Big Sister's Wedding 13. A Birthday Party 14. Class President 15. Boarding School in Tianjin 16. Hong Kong 17. Boarding School in Hong Kong

18. Miserable Sunday 19. End of Term 20. Pneumonia 21. Playwriting Competition 22. Letter from Aunt Baba

The Story of Ye Xian : The Original Chinese Cinderella Historical Note Author's Postscript

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