Scene twelve:Mua Kong followed Grandma inside the house. The front looked like a lobby area with a counter. Behind the counter is a big tall shelf with mini drawer boxes. Past the counter is a small hallway to the back. In the back is the kitchen, a living s.p.a.ce and stairs to the second floor. There is the backdoor that leads to the backyard where the bath and outhouse are. Mua Kong went to the living s.p.a.ce and helped himself to a chair.
Shortly afterward, Grandma came to the back and lit on the stove. She took the cups and tea kettle out from the shelf ready to brew some tea. With her back facing Mua Kong, "How long are you in town for? Do you have a place to stay already?"
Mua Kong did not want to say he was just pa.s.sing through and is on his way out of the city until he saw Hli Ja arguing with a man. Therefore, he put up a lie, "I"ll be in town for a couple of weeks."
"Mm... We have one extra room upstairs so if you haven"t found a place, you are welcomed to stay in the extra room." Grandma finished brewing tea. She turned around, walked over to Mua Kong with a teacup in her hand and handed him the teacup.
Mua Kong reached for the cup, "Thank you," Waiting for the tea to cool down a little, he added with a guilty expression, "Grandma, I"ve been looking for you two for a long time. I pretty much can guess what happened by the sight of the place." He was referring to the hut when a.s.sa.s.sins raided it.
"The result was that, we managed to escape. No need to beat yourself over it. I"m getting old and I didn"t want Hli Ja to live in isolation. We decided to find a place to settle down after we escaped." Grandma went back to the stove, brewed another cup of tea, and sat it on the table.
It is then that Hli Ja came out of the bathhouse in the back. She brought the cloak and her clothes that she had washed and hung it in the back yard. Mua Kong glanced outside through the window to look at the beautiful Hli Ja. The timid and reserved tomboy girl now has bloomed beautifully. If one did not know her personally, one would mistake her for a royalty for she radiates an aura and look of a royal princess.
After Hli Ja hung the clothes she went inside the house. When she entered into the house, Grandma asked her to drink the tea to warm herself up while it was still warm.
Hli Ja saw Mua Kong sitting on the chair and grandma standing by the stove. She walked across the room, took the teacup and gulp it down in one go, "Grandma, I still have to go to work for a few hours as it gets busy during dinner time. I"ll bring back dinner." She turned to Mua Kong, "Thank you again for helping me earlier. I have to leave. If you have something else to do, you can go take care of your stuff and come back later to pick up your cloak."
"Mm... ok," Mua Kong nodded as replied to Hli Ja.
With that, Hli Ja rushed out and headed to the restaurant.
Curious, Mua Kong turned to Grandma, "She works? She doesn"t help you run the shop?"
"Mm... she"s helping cover for short staff. She will be done soon and should be back to help me with the shop."
Scene thirteen:
At Lotus Flower Restaurant Hli Ja was distracted the whole time. She kept thinking about the man earlier today. The smile and aura felt so familiar to her but she just could not remember where she had seen him. The answer is just at the tip of her tongue.
On her way back home, she overheard a short warm conversation between an older woman and a young man. The older woman exclaimed, "Not long ago, you were just a little boy and now you"re all grown up!"
She looked at the two people that walked past her thinking of what she just heard, little boy... grown up... It was then that the answer hit her. The image of Mua Kong always smiling at her when he would accompany her to fetch water. The smile from earlier is similar to Mua Kong just in a grown man body. She gasped at the realization and ran home.
She burst into the house but no one was in the back living area though she could hear someone chopping woods in the back yard. She rushed through the back door. Mua Kong and Yee Len was sitting on the bench drinking tea while the other bodyguard was chopping woods. She looked at Mua Kong and rushed up to him puffing, "You... you still owe me a promise!"