A Married Forty-Year-Old Woman's Endless Fantasies

My name is Yang Xiaomin. I’m forty-two years old, and I live in Silicon Valley, just south of San Francisco, California.

After graduating from university in Hong Kong, I married my husband. The following year, I went with him to the United States for his studies. We eventually settled there and had two children. Our daughter is now attending college in New York, while our son is in high school in California and still lives at home.

My husband’s surname is Zhang, and he’s three years older than I am. His family was already running factories and doing business during Hong Kong’s early economic boom. With the government’s support and assistance, they contributed to the development of Hong Kong’s early industries and laid the foundation for their company’s growth. Their business kept expanding, and they made more and more money. After completing his studies in the United States, my husband returned to Taiwan to learn how to lead the ever-growing family business. His family had diversified and expanded internationally early on, speculating in Hong Kong real estate and developing property. They also established companies overseas to handle import and export trade, gradually building a highly successful, lucrative business empire.

I know absolutely nothing about business, and I have no interest in it. All I know is that for nearly twenty years, ever since my husband finished his studies and returned to Hong Kong, we’ve spent very little time together. Most of the time, I’ve been alone, raising our children and watching them slowly grow up. This life has been almost no different from being single. But as a wife, I had to raise the children on my own and fulfill my duties as a mother, without getting to enjoy any of the pleasures of single life.

Deep down, I’ve always resented my fate. My husband has been so focused on his career that he’s neglected me and my emotional and spiritual needs for far too long!