RJ5 E組 林家綾

Since Adeline was sent to Tianjin, nobody had visited her at all. She tried to write letters to her family but received no word because her father forbad her hearing from

Anyone. Even her big sister, who married and lived in Tianjin, never asked about her during the time she was at school there. When she escaped to Taiwan with her husband(because the Communists had taken Tianjin), they left Adeline behind without contacting. One day, her stepmother's sister Aunt Reine appeared in the entrance to her school and took her out of school without asking anyone. At Aunt Reine's home(the Schilling family), she got the same treatment to other children. Afterwards, the Schilling family took Adeline left Tianjin and joined the Yen family in Hong Kong.

After the Schilling family left for Geneva, where Aunt's husband had a new job, Adeline was ordered to pack her things and taken to away by her stepmother. She sent her to a school which took boarders and orphans. As a boarder in the school, Adeline didn't received any attention from home. Even she became ill seriously and was sent to hospital, there was no one visited her at all. Her classmates knew that she fell on dead ears. But her exceptional level on learning helped her classmates solve some problems. Since then, no one cared about she is a unloved girl.

Adeline's grandfather was lonely in Hong Kong. He had no friends and was not taken good care of by his son and daughter-in-law. His own daughter worked in Tianjin so that she couldn't keep company with him, and his grandson was rude to him. he looked old and sad in the sunset of his day.

After Grandfather's funeral, Adeline was asked to find herself a job. Her dream of attending university in England, like her brothers, was not accepted by her stepmother. But her father found that she entered a play-writing competition and won the first prize. He allowed Adeline to go to university but ordered her to study medicine rather than literature, which Adeline really wanted to major in. Adeline quickly agreed. She was willing to do anything her father advised if she could go to England.

Lydia (Adeline's big sister) and her husband could not find suitable employment in Taiwan so they returned to Tianjin. A few months after their return, Lydia's husband was taken away to prison because his father had been a well-known political figure in the Kuomintong. When he was freed after six months, they decided to move unto one of Father's house in Tianjin. But their stepmother refused because her aunt lived in the house. When she told their father to male them out and ha tried to do this, Lydia attacked back. She warned her father that they had found out that he was guilty of certain illegal money exchanges. If he made them move out, they would tell what they knew. They demanded and got some money. they stayed in Father's house but he never forgave them.

After Adeline and her brothers left for England, their half brother, Franklin, became more important child in the house. One day, Franklin was sent to hospital because he caught a very dangerous disease which affected the brain. He had probably caught it from eating unwashed fruit. When he was in hospital, his father visited him everyday. His mother almost lived in his hospital room. Slowly, Franklin appeared to improve. His mother thought her son appeared a little better and her social life shouldn't stop because Franklin illness. When she went to a dance, the doctor called her and told her that Franklin had suddenly become worse and was dead. She was never the same after her son's death. She didn't turn to her husband, or to her daughter, for emotional support. She had shown little love before, but even that died with her son.

Edgar, one of Adeline's brothers, was the least physically attractive child in the Yen family. When he was a child, he showed his unhappiness by bullying his youngest sister (Adeline). Edgar didn't like it when their father was proud of Adeline's success. They entered the same college and had to take some class together since Edgar failed his exam. Eventually, Edgar began to hated Adeline and told the other students that he didn't know her.

Adeline made some friends with small group of Chinese students. But there was much racial prejudice in England. The English students hated to be close to Chinese people, especially female students. Some were insulting and rude. Her life in England was difficult.

Adeline fell in a secret love with Karl, one of her university professors. She loved Karl very much but the relationship had failed finally. Soon afterwards, Adeline left England for Hong Kong, eleven years after she sailed to England.

To be continued...