Old Keepsakes Tell of Youth

Shanghai, 1927. Shen Qingyuan, young lady of the Shen family, found a brass pocket watch in the attic. The words “For A Yuan, to be opened by you” engraved inside the lid abruptly brought back feelings she had kept hidden for three years.

That year, she had accompanied her father to a banquet when she accidentally stumbled upon Lu Chengze, the warlord’s son, meeting secretly with underground Communist Party members. In his haste, he picked up the pearl earring she had dropped. After that came chance encounters in the Qingshi Lane, discreet help at the bookshop, and a paper umbrella offered to her on a rainy night. Their feelings quietly took root, but turmoil engulfing their country stood between them.

As Japanese troops drew near, Lu Chengze suddenly vanished, leaving only the stopped pocket watch behind. Just when Shen Qingyuan thought her youth had become a distant dream, she saw the familiar watch, engraved with her name, on a wounded soldier’s stretcher at a hospital in the foreign concession…