Three years later
At the national stadium of Z Country
Over ten thousand fans were excitedly waiting for one of the artistes for the night curtain to raise. All seats were occupied.
At 8:00 p.m., the concert began. To the ecstatic screams of fans, a young woman in a long denim dress slowly took the stage. A soft and slow melody rang. She began to sing, "You promised, you'd love me till the end of the world.
But dear, you broke your word.
In my memory, I see your eyes, on that winter night.
In them, I feel your love for me, as deep as the sea…"
Her voice was full of emotions, easily striking a chord in everyone's heart.
Wherever she went, her performances would leave a lot of fans in tears, pouring their feelings out.
Most of her original compositions were deeply emotive songs.
Only when she covered some songs from other singers, would she throw in something different and lively.
"Oh! Debbie Nian! Debbie Nian! I love you…"
"You sing so well. My heart is melting. Debbie, I love you forever!"
The crazy fans began to shout out their love for the singer.
Among these ten thousand fans, more than half of them were already her loyal fans. Debbie made her debut as a singer slightly more than one year ago. But in such a short time, she had turned into quite a sensation, winning the hearts of many fervent fans.
Sitting in front of the black piano, Debbie adjusted her mic, slid her fingers on the keyboard, and continued singing, with perfectly controlled breathing.
"Time flies. Baby, have you seen me in your dreams?
Have you smiled without me?
You never knew, without you, my world is a barren field.
The endless rain outside is my pool of tears.
In lovesickness, I'm drowning."
By the time she was done with the first song, amid the shouts and screams of admiration, tears freely rolled down the fans' faces in equal measure. Some cried for the love and admiration of their superstar. Some cried because they could relate to her music in a personal way.
To acknowledge their immense support, she raised her hands in appreciation and blew a kiss. She then resumed her seat, wiped a tear from the corner of her right eye and took the microphone. She said to the large crowd of fans in a chirpy voice, "Friends, I'm blown away by your love and support. Thank you all for the connection we share. Thanks for the passion you guys have lent to the night and atmosphere you've created too.
As a token of my appreciation, I want to dedicate the next song to you. It's a song by a good friend of mine. But I've tweaked it into a special cover, just for you. It's Irene Wen's short, sweet song—Milk and Pineapple. Let me hear some noise…" She called out cheerily, firing up the crowd to a frenzy. With crazy energy, the tempo picked up to the accompaniment of wild screams. Some were singing along at the top of their lungs.
The atmosphere was now completely changed. Debbie did a marathon of ten songs, back to back, without slowing down a tad. Backstage, Ruby, her manager, anxiously waited. When Debbie finally took a break and caught a word with her, Ruby persuaded her with concern, "You can't sing nonstop like this, Debbie. I guess you know, it isn't good for your voice at all."
Dying of thirst, Debbie grabbed the bottle of water offered to her, took a sip and assured, "It's OK, Ruby. The concert won't take long, so I don't think it's anything stressful on my voice."
Ruby sighed helplessly. She took a new set of clothes from the assistant's hands and passed it to Debbie. "Get changed."
Although for the first session of the concert, Debbie had stoically remained dry-eyed, even as she moved her fans to tears, in the second session, she too was moved along with the crowd. If a song so moved them, she too was drenched in tears.
In the past one year, she had held more than forty concerts. And each time when she sang a particular song, she couldn't help crying at each word she sang.
Now, once again, when the tune of this particular song played, she broke into tears even before she could sing the first line.
The fans knew very well; everyone had an unknown past. They understood this song must have meant something immensely personal to Debbie, so they all went through the motions with her. Debbie collected herself, cleared her voice, and belted out the lyrics she had written a long time ago.
"A hugging couple under the dim light, exchanged words of love and care.
Snowflakes fell on their hair, pure, soft, and gentle.
Two hearts became one.
Holding her hand, kissing her hair, he vowed to forever love her.
Oh…
beautiful memories, you never stay long.
He said, as time turned the page, his love wouldn't age.
He swore by the moon and the stars in the sky, he'd be there.
He swore like the shadow that was by her side.
He swore…"
After performing, Debbie stayed on the stage for a while longer to take photos with the fans and sign autographs. After 11:00 p.m., she went back to the backstage.
While she lingered on stage, her phone had rung for many times. When everything was finally over, Ruby passed her the phone and said anxiously, "Your daughter has a fever again. I wanted to tell you earlier, but there were too many fans surrounding you. Go back home now!"
At once, Debbie grabbed her phone and made a call to Hertha Luo—the lady she had hired to babysit.
"Hello."
"Debbie, Piggy has been running a high fever, 39 degrees as we speak. We are at the hospital now, and the kid is crying to see you. When will you come?"
It worried Debbie. With the high heels on her feet, she quickly trotted to the dressing room to get changed. "I'm going to the hospital now."
"Okay. We are waiting for you," Hertha Luo said on the other end.
Soon after changing, Debbie went straight to her car without stopping for a breath, in spite of her fatigue. She headed for the hospital.
At the in-patient wing of the hospital
Worry written all over her face, Debbie carefully held the little girl in pink nightdress in her arms and felt her body temperature. "Why is she still so hot? Isn't the fever gone yet?"
"Mommy…" The plump little girl slightly opened her eyes. When she saw Debbie, she snuggled quietly on her mommy's chest.
Hertha Luo explained, "We've just been here for about half an hour. She's just been put on a drip now.
Take it easy." Debbie slightly nodded her head. After kissing her daughter's forehead, she gently placed the little girl on the bed again.
A while later, she turned to Hertha Luo. "Thank you for holding the fort, dear. Please go back home and have some rest. I'll stay here to attend to her."
"Okay. Please call me if you need me."
"Okay."
The mother and daughter left alone in the ward, Debbie wished she could take a nap, but she couldn't dare. With the little girl's condition at the moment, she had no choice but to stay wide awake.
'Piggy, my dear… I'm praying for a quick recover. You are my only pillar. Without you, my whole life would suck, darling, ' she prayed silently.
Her phone rang, jerking her back to the present. On seeing the caller ID, she answered at once. "Hey, Decker, where are you now? Piggy has a fever."
"It's none of my business. I'm running out of money now. Transfer me some," Decker Lu said on the other end, sounding totally unconcerned.
To restrain her anger, Debbie sat up straight and took a deep breath before continuing. "I have already given you a large amount of money. Most of my money is now saved on a fixed deposit account. I can't withdraw it now. Didn't you promise that you'd find a job?"
"Who says you can't withdraw the money from a fixed deposit? Just forfeit some interest. Or you can ask your man for money! Go for him now!"
Debbie closed her eyes in anger. She kept her voice down and patiently explained, "I've told you many times. Ivan is not my man. We're just friends…"
"No more nonsense. Give me the money now. I am not asking for much. Just thirty thousand dollars!"
Three years ago, when Debbie learned that her biological brother, Decker Lu, was living in Z Country, she chose to move here. Mistakenly, she had thought that he was someone she could rely on.
But… It turned out that Decker Lu was only an idler who never had a proper job to do.
At the beginning, Decker Lu didn't believe that Debbie was his sister. But then he had no choice but to accept it when Debbie showed him a DNA test report.
Debbie had believed that Decker Lu would change his attitude to her after she proved herself to be his biological sister. But nothing changed. He was ever rude and even began to demand money from her. He never treated her as his sister.
"Okay, I will give you thirty thousand dollars. One last time! If you don't find a job after this, I won't give you one more penny!" Debbie scolded.
Decker Lu snapped, "You're a pop star. Money is rolling in every day. You are just too mean on me!"
"Yeah. I've earned some this year. But I have to raise Piggy, and my house loan hasn't been paid off yet." After recovering from the childbirth, Debbie had released her debuted album. In a short time, the songs had received wide acclaim and propelled her to fame, in addition to fetching bucks.
But then, ghosts from her past resurfaced to haunt her. Rumors about her scandals—her divorce to Carlos and how she had run away with another man started spreading like a bush fire. It hadn't been easy for her to find a job or regular gig for her music.
