Speaking of it, Presley’s life was quite tough. Her family wasn’t bad; they were in the seafood business and could be considered a well-off family. However, like many families in the country, Presley’s parents favored boys over girls. Her existence was almost solely to serve her younger brother. When Presley wanted to learn singing, her parents disagreed, thinking it was too expensive. In their eyes, spending money on a girl was simply not worth it.
In a fit of anger, Presley ran away from home, worked to earn money to learn music, later got into a music academy, and eventually made her way to the top of the music industry. However, her parents suddenly came out demanding money from her, threatening to sue her if she didn’t comply. At that time, the lawsuit her parents filed against her caused quite a stir.
“Because I was born into such a family, I experienced the unfairness of this world towards girls very early on. I was unwilling to accept my fate; men can do things that women can too, so why does the world have such a bias against women? I want to speak up for myself and for more girls like me, but I found my power to be so weak. I must be famous enough to have a voice, so I worked desperately to become famous. As long as I can be famous, I can use anyone.”
For a moment, Thelma didn’t know what to say. Presley was her idol from her youth, her benchmark. She had always wanted to live like her, with great love, just like the songs she sang. Her songs never limited themselves to small loves like romance; they encompassed everyone. The lyrics featured many characters: travelers, drifters, dancers, monks. She expressed the charm of these people and their passion for life through her singing. She often spoke out for women, always the first to stand up against any unfairness towards them, which had earned her many enemies.
So she had always wanted to become a singer like her, a singer with great love, who could sing the voices of many people and contribute to the world with her strength.
The village chief’s wife was a plump woman. She poured them tea, which wasn’t anything special, but it was probably the best they could offer.
Thelma sipped her tea when suddenly a ball flew in from somewhere and landed at her feet. She picked it up, only to see a disheveled woman, dirty all over her body and face, running towards her, demanding the ball.
Thelma returned the ball to her. The woman smiled at her, revealing two missing front teeth, and said, “Thank you!” as she reached out to take it. Thelma noticed that the woman’s right ring finger and pinky were both amputated at the base.
Thelma instinctively frowned, but she wouldn’t pry into someone else’s physical defects. She politely averted her gaze. However, she was quite surprised that in such a backward mountain village, this seemingly rough village woman could speak English with such a standard accent.
The plump woman stepped forward, pulling the village woman back and urging her to return to the house, then apologized to them in somewhat halting Mandarin, saying, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. She’s my daughter-in-law; her mind isn’t quite right. I hope she didn’t scare you?”
Everyone quickly replied that it was fine.
Thelma didn’t think much of it. After finishing her tea, she and Mira headed to the filming location. Mira’s task was to help a family plant wheat. She followed the plump woman, hoeing the ground and scattering wheat seeds in the tilled soil. Occasionally, she would chat with the woman, while two cameras filmed the entire process.
Thelma waited for a while but didn’t see Connor come over, so she decided to look for him to ask if the director needed to arrange any scenes next.
The filming location where Mira was working wasn’t in the village, and they had to walk a bit to return. At the village entrance, there was an abandoned small temple. When Thelma reached the temple, she saw someone in a white coat walking towards her. She recognized the person at a glance; it was Eric.
Now, seeing Eric didn’t evoke much feeling in Thelma. She was already married and had a child; the past was the past. Although it was a bit awkward, she still smiled and nodded at him as a greeting.
“Thelma,” Eric called out to her.
Thelma stopped, frowning slightly as she looked at him. However, he had called her that before in a very affectionate way, hearing him say it now made her feel uncomfortable.
“What’s wrong?”
Her expression was cold, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to respond. After a moment of silence, he finally asked, “Are you doing well?”
So much time had passed; she didn’t understand why he was still asking such questions.
“I’m fine, thank you for your concern.”
“I heard you lost your memory?”
