As a child, every time she walk pass lantern shops she would stop in her tracks. Her eyes would sparkle with longing as she pointed them out to her father to get those for their house. Her father would sigh and say, "those are for rich people. We can't afford such fancy things. Let's get these instead." They would leave the shop with the simplest and cheapest lanterns. Though it dimmed her excitement, but it did not extinguish.

Even as the years passed and her father's earning grew, the habit remained unchanged. He would still get them the plainest lanterns, muttering, "these are good enough for us." The vibrant, metal framed stained-glass lanterns that captivated her were deemed out of reach. "It's not for us," he would say, a bitter reminder of how people of higher status often dismiss them as unworthy of life's finer things.

After more than a decade of relentless hard work, she stands proudly in her own shop, surrounded by beauty and elegance. Her shelves are lined with the very kinds of lanterns she once dreamt of. But her shop isn't just a place to sell fancy items, it's a place where anyone, regardless of their background, can afford to bring a little light and joy into their lives without being judged by their social status.