The Truths Behind the Life of Maeve Sun Lively

7

I THINK IT'S AS GOOD of a place to start as any to where I'm really from.

There's a start to every story, I've been in enough films to know that. And not exactly every starting makes sense. So get this, the start of my life story might leave you at some shock. If not shock, then definitely confusion.

I don't know who Joseph Lively is. I don't know 孙管彤 (Sun Guan Tong ) or otherwise known as Adele Sun Lively after wedding Joseph Lively. I don't know these two people. Well, later on I would but we'll get there afterward. I'm not their child. And nor did they ever have a child, well not together, but maybe with someone else, not that I know of though. I don't exactly care. So, they're not my parents. Not my real parents at least, but I don't think they have ever thought of me as a kid of theirs other than a ATM machine and pride bringer.

Therefore my name, it wasn't always Maeve Sun Lively or 孙雪莉 (Sun Xue Li). But one thing real? I was born in Beijing, some months around 2002, my mother never told me the exact date because she didn't want me to know, she said I didn't deserve to. Except Beijing itself is bigger than you might think. I was born in the countryside. Not the city side people know me for.

I would later come to know that the village I was born from was called 和静村 (He Jing Cun). The name itself actually means something along peace. But back then, I didn't know that. I just knew that this is my home, this is where I live.

My real mother, and I mean not Adele Sun, her name was 陈家玲 (Chen Jia Ling). And my real name, the name my actual mother gave me was 陈星星 (Chen Xing Xing), I hated that name. It was an unoriginal and most effortless name a mother can give to her child. I had asked her when I was young, why she named me that. She said to me, "I couldn't think of a name, so I saw the stars and decided that'll be your name."

I never knew who my father was. My mother said he was some foreigner who came by and she had a one time thing with him, the next day he was gone. And then a few weeks later, she found out she was pregnant.

Her own parents kicked her out because of me. And then she later found her way to our village. The women were kind enough to help her give birth to me, take us in, and help her start a home.

Our village was poor though. I still remember how the plain rice we ate everyday felt like a pleasure, and then the few vegetables and eggs on the dinner table was like a treasure you're too scared to touch. It was like we had so much labor and yet the more work we did, the less money we were paid. Till this day, I still don't even know who paid us and where exactly the money was coming from. I just knew life was hard and I didn't like that. Except I should've known that life doesn't get easier just because the things around me get prettier.

My mother was the village's most beautiful woman. She was skinny with a tiny waist, but she had these curves that men often stopped to look at. She didn't need any special kind of clothes like the other women in the village to look beautiful. She just was, and you'd stop whatever you're doing to check if you're really seeing her. But she was just beautiful, not much else.

I inherited the kind of eye-gawking look from her. I was born and gifted with a sort of beauty even more glamorous than her. I basically won a gene lottery, let's say that.

Now, I don't take credit nor pride in this, I did not make my own face or give myself this body. But I knew from a young age the kind of power this has given me. I knew the effects I had on others, and I wasn't going to just pretend I don't know how I look and be ignorant about it. When you're gifted something, you use it. Don't try to ignore that kind of power if it'll benefit you.

People often liked to give me things. Like food or accessories. They say to me; "Awe, look at you now dear. How big you've grown! Here, give this to you and your mother, say it's a friendly gift."