Chapter 10 : A Lamenting Heart

It's been three days and the Akha children haven't stopped being fascinated by the prizes given by their teacher Crayon. When it's time for a break, they take the leftover pieces of paper and make big and small birds. At first, Tian folded them as a reward for the children but after being pestered by them to teach them how to fold them, there were piles of paper birds littering the floor until he had to fetch village chief Bianglae's plastic bottle to put them in.

Tian sat and ate with the pupils from the lunchbox that Uncle Bianglae asked the scouts to bring him every day, he hasn't seen Ayi at school for days, not sure if he's happy with himself? Because the boy seems to be very fond of Mr Torfan.

"Mizu, why doesn't your brother come to school? Tian walked down and sat next to the girl who is eating sticky rice with beef jerky.

"My father hurt his back, so Phii Ayi had to go and work in the vegetable fields instead of him."

It was just a child, did he have to work like an adult?

He said: "It's tiring, isn't it?"

Mizu shook her head, then said with a very proud smile: "Tiring but there will be food, if Mum told Mizu... Mizu will also go help with the tea collection.

The innocent words of an eight-year-old, stuck in Tian's throat. Memories of himself at the same age, he had snacks to throw around and plenty of food left over and also, many games from abroad. Everything was so comfortable, nothing could be found to compare with it.

But why is he not happy? Couldn't he have such a big smile?

Tian stood up, stretched himself and looked out. The sky was cloudy today, the sun was not too strong and the cool breeze on his face made him want to go for a walk to explore the village outside the house.

"All right, everyone!" He claps his hands to get everyone's attention, "We'll be going out together this afternoon to teach English outdoors, get packed."

Ten pairs of eyes stare at the teacher Crayon, full of confusion. Tian groaned, as if something had just occurred to him, so he switched to a phrase they could understand better.

"We'll go for a walk and then we'll learn English together."

The children cheered loudly, making him think that both city and out-of-town children, when they knew they didn't have to stay in the classroom to study, behaved in the same way. Tian shrugged his shoulders carelessly... Of course, even when a lecturer like him doesn't want to stay, it's no surprise that kids want to go out and play.

The content is for information only and is not to be translated twice.

When he saw the teacher coming out with dozens of students, two scouts quickly rushed over to enquire.

"Teacher, where are you going?"

"Seeing that the weather is good and the sun is not too strong, take a walk in the village." The young soldiers looked at each other for a moment, then one of them said: "It's better to walk around the village and kiss it, there are only forests in this area.

Tian had no reason to disagree, so he nodded easily. The Akha children took their teacher Crayon on a walk along the ridge path past the tea plantations, which the state had allocated to the villagers to grow for food.

And as they steadily walk, Tian points to various things around him and teaches the pupils to read the corresponding English words.

"Sun-ABA, Sky-F3, Cloud-Z..." In the warm breeze of the mountains, Tian heard the sound of radio communication mixed with the dialect of the hill tribe children's conversation. This made Tian know that the two scouts should still be following them from afar, for their own safety.

After the outdoor lesson outside, they arrived at the large, beautiful tea garden planted in a terrace along the ridge. As soon as they arrived, many of the children said their homes were not far away, so Tian sent them home and so far, there are only a few children left.

"How do you say tea in English?" Mizu asked curiously.

"Tea T-E-A, it means 'tea'. Tian spells it for her separately, because as far as he knows, the volunteer teachers who come here have taught them to read the Thai and English alphabets.

Because the children said it was a shortcut to the main road in Phabandao village, Tian went deeper into the road between the tea trees. In the meantime, he waved goodbye to the other three children, leaving Mizu alone.

"Where is your house?" He asked the girl who was happily leading the way. There a little finger points to the foothills just beyond the tea plantation.

"Later, my brother will walk to see you off."

Mizu clapped her hands happily and then turned to see a small pick-up truck and a group of people gathered by a vegetable field beside the dirt road. The Akha girl's eyes widened, as if she saw someone she knew and at the same time she took the teacher's hand with all her might.

"Ada, Arma. Mummy and Daddy are there!"

Tian was vigorously touched as he walked up to the group. He notices that the people in hill tribe costumes are actively carrying sacks of stuff, neatly placed in the back of a small pick-up truck and that there are about five or six people in urban clothing.

Ayi with his head in the dust, turned to see his sister approaching with the teacher and raised his hands in a salute, while the other adults were talking to an interpreter who speaks Thai and the Akha dialect of Hani.

"What are you doing?" He asked the student who has disappeared for days.

"He has come to buy tea."

Tian shouted and approached with interest. The villagers stuff the sacks with dried tea leaves, then sew up the joints, place them in an orderly manner on the scales and carry them to the back of the middleman's pick-up truck.

"Four kilos, he hears the voice of the weigher and then the tea is lifted.

Tian's brow furrowed, fearing he saw the seed pin pointing to the number five was the eye pot until he saw the second and third sacks following suit. Even though it was heavier and lighter, it was the same number, he looked at the Akha standing as witnesses and there was nothing unusual about it, so he turned to Ayi and asked: "Do the people here know how many grams are in a kilo? And what is the difference between the numbers four and five?"

Ayi looked as if she had heard an alien language, "How many kilograms is that?"

"A kilo is a unit of weight." Tian points to the weighing scales in use, "That's the unit that the machine uses to weigh.

"The flat?"

Tian felt the urge to give away all his hair, he took a breath and then asked a new question, "How do you normally trade?"

The boy scratched his head and tried to explain, "They come to buy, we sell in sacks."

What about the money?"

"He paid the number written in that receipt." Ayi turned to the city man with the weight book.

"That means you've been cheated and you don't know it!" He bites his lip just in time before he explodes. The merchants have gone too far, falsifying data, shamelessly shameless, just because there are no knowledgeable people to bully them into not knowing. Tian marches up to the weigher with his head held high, just in time for the last teabag to be placed on the scale.

"Four kilograms..."

The registrar stops abruptly, when he hears Tian's loud retort. He looked up and saw a tall, slender, handsome young man in a smart jacket, he didn't look like he should be here at all.

"Who are you? A toddler You know how to tell the difference between a number 4 and a number 5, don't you? "Tian fearlessly reached out and asked to see the weight book, " please let me see the next book."

The weighing man hurriedly closed the book, then looked at Tian with fierce anger and said to him, "You are not a seller, this is none of your business, get out of the way." He waved Tian away but would the son of a former senior officer care for this?

"If you don't let me see it, you're deliberately being fraudulent!"

"Fraudulent about what? Must think you so clever so that you can say that, little boy. I'll give you eighty per kilo, how many kilograms are multiplied by eighty." said the merchant, waving his weight book, the evidence was all there but refused to hand it over to Tian anyway.

"I saw with my own eyes that the tea bag weighed more than five kilos but you registered four kilos!" Since he was being rude, he didn't have to give him a good look.

"Are you trying to make a scene? You'll be dead in a minute. When he saw Tian's persistent refusal to surrender, he threatened Tian with the law but would someone as unruly as Tian care? Tian laughed dismissively, then stepped in, lifting the sack with the tea leaves from the ground and placing it on the scales, the eyes of everyone around the area who heard the click were focused on it.

"Does the needle point to the number five, or do you also not understand the numbers? I'm a volunteer teacher here, come along and learn sometime, I'll teach you."

As for the merchant's men in town, gasping at the stinky little kid, this was a blatant insult, the boss of the group called Sia Sakda rushed over to pay the locals.

"What's going on?"

Tian turned to look at the interloper, who, judging by his fat and wealthy appearance, must be the owner of these people." The weight of the goods was more than the price you paid for them."

The owner smiled and continued, "We paid the same as we registered." He took the book from his hands and opened it, "It said four kilos per roll and the seller admits that there is no objection, why do you, an outsider, want to make trouble?"

Which simply means don't mind your own business, as Tian clenched his fist and looked at the innocent faces of the hill people who didn't know what they were talking about, it made Tian feel even more angry. These bastards, who only had a few hundred or a few thousand baht, were trying to cheat the poor, hard working poor!

Tian turned around, walked quickly to the back of the small pick-up truck and jumped up to count the total number of sacks, including the few piled on the ground. Then he jumps down to find the Akha with the money and receipts from the middleman in his hands.

"Allow me to ask but he did not wait for their permission. Tian took the money and receipts from his rough hands and looked at them and counted them positively.

"Twenty-three bags, eighty per kilo, five kilos per bag, equals 9,200 baht, then what's this." he held up all the money for display, while shouting vehemently: "Seven thousand three hundred baht, another sixty baht is deducted for fuel, this It can't be called a normal scam, it has to be called a very brazen scam!

"You're being hasty, we paid what was written on the receipt, you accuse us of this, we'll report you for libel and have you arrested!" The pot-bellied boss continues to struggle.

Tian laughed disdainfully, then he pulled out his dead mobile phone which he had inadvertently taken with him out of habit, pretending to be intimidated, "Then let's weigh the teabags again, I'll take pictures of them and keep them as evidence, then we'll go to the police together."

Siasakda ground his teeth. The damned boy is smart and brave, unlike the many idealistic volunteer teachers who tried to help the villagers but when provoked by him, they all must have gone back to the city. When talking to him, this man is a man who will not shed a tear until he sees a coffin (refuse even with clear evidence!

"So are you going to take this much money or not...?" the big fat boss shouted at the Akha villagers with his arms crossed, so much so that the interpreter almost didn't have time to translate in a hurry.

The man who must have been Mizu's father was embarrassed, as both children clutched their waists and stared blankly at the two parties facing each other, as they didn't know what to do. But when the son simply translated it for them, it was obvious that they were being cheated out of their money and the teacher was arguing for them.

"Give me another 1,840 baht, or you can deduct 40 baht for fuel." Tian raised his eyebrows provocatively to the point where the blood vessels in his brain almost burst in anger at the sarcasm.

"If you can't negotiate, don't negotiate! Then don't take it, you take it off and stomp on it!" Siasakda shouted, all his men threw the sack down until the seal was torn and the dried tea leaves were scattered on the ground. In addition, they jumped down and stepped on the sacks to destroy all the broken tea leaves again.

The villagers saw the destruction of their goods and swarmed to intervene. Tian himself gets hot under the collar and rushes to the nearest man and punches him in the face until blood immediately flies out. The other men, seeing the attack on their brother, rush to take revenge until it's a complete melee.

Suddenly, there were several shots and everything that had caused the disturbance seemed to stop at that moment, about 10 soldiers in patrol uniforms wearing armour and bullet-proof vests came angrily to intervene to stop the incident from festering, they quickly separated both sides of the exchange of clothes.

Captain Phupha stood, an M-16 freshly fired at the ground in his hand and stared at the quiet, gangly teacher, a look so sharp that anyone who saw it would have fallen to their knees but not Tian Sopasitsakul, a man with a bruised face who holds his head proudly high.

"Very well informed, Captain."

"How dare you say that, what would have happened if I hadn't come in time?!" Luckily, he happened to be leading a patrol around Phabandao village, just as the lurking scouts saw the situation was not right and informed them by radio, arriving early before anyone was seriously injured.

"Why are you scolding me? Go and get those cheeky liars." said Tian, pointing at the battered and bruised vendors who didn't lose.

"A scam is a scam, a fight is a fight, if they have weapons, what are you going to do! You'll be fine but the villagers will suffer a lot from this.

"I saw them defrauding villagers' money, should I play dead and wait for the authorities to deal with it? In another life then!"

Phupha saw the arguer speaking without giving in, while not realising the serious consequences he has caused himself and is still angry. Phupha grabbed Tian's slender wrist and pulled Tian closer, while speaking in a low, icy voice.

"Tian, you are very clever, you know that there are many ways to deal with these people other than by force."

Tian's lips opened slightly to retaliate but when he saw Phupha's implicitly disappointed gaze on him, he closed his mouth tightly instead.

Whatever he did was wrong!

Tian flung his arms free from Phupha's grip and turned away without a word. There was nothing Captain Phupha could do to stop him, he just kept watching his slender back with worry.

Phupha orders the two scouts to follow Tian back to his quarters, as he must stay behind to clean up the mess left by his ancestors, before it escalates into something worse.

The bright light of the gas lamp shines throughout the hut, Tian, dressed in a crumpled T-shirt and soft boxer shorts, bends over the old mattress under the white mosquito net that has not been pulled down, his long legs flying back and forth in the air, while a small handmade notebook is open in his hand, which tells the story of the life of a young woman, who continues his life.

Tian sighed, as if exhausted. During Torfan's first week here, she woke up early in the morning and went to help the villagers pick tea but he found himself in a fight and made them lose everything.

So what are we to compare it to?

Before returning to the hostel, he stopped by the village chief's uncle's house, hoping to report the day's events but found that the village chief Bianglae had not returned from his morning meeting in Chiangrai town and suspected that these cunning businessman might be taking advantage of the fact that no one was looking after the villagers' interests.

Tian closed the girlish diary in boredom and tossed it into his old backpack bag. Then he rolled over, lying on his back, so that the wound hurt like hell. Even though there was no mirror in the shower, one could guess from the burning sensation in his mouth and all over his body that it was probably pretty bad. I wonder how the soldiers will continue to deal with this situation when he returns.

Was he angry?

When he thought of the captain's handsome, dark bronze, angular face in a fury, guilt was imprinted on his mind. But he was too stubborn, he didn't want to accept it.

Tian looked at the clock, it read 10:30 pm. Although he should have been able to sleep, he couldn't, so he went out onto the narrow balcony in front of the house, in order to sit in the cold wind and watch the stars and the moon.

Not far away on the rough road, the main traffic route of the village, a motorbike is coming through the black sound until it finally reaches the teacher's dormitory, the tall young man stops the bike under the original tree, turned off the engine and took out the plastic bag and sports travel bag that are in the front basket of the bike.

He walked straight into the now lighted hut but was a little surprised when he saw the bent knee shadow by the door on the bamboo porch.

"Why are you sitting in the dark feeding mosquitoes?" And then he said something that made Tian look at him with a knife-like glare, or was he waiting for me?"

"Are you drunk? Talking so ridiculously," said Tian, pretending to be impatient, although he was half right.

Phupha, dressed in camouflage and ready to go to bed but still trying to ride his motorbike into the cold to get here forbids the second pass and the second translation.

He climbs the low stairs and hands the plastic bag to the sitter.

"Ointment for wounds and bruises, I asked the deadbeat doctor for it." In fact, he himself had pouted to come along and look after the man himself but he came first.

"Thank Dr Phii for me." Tian reached for the bag but Phupha won't let go.

"What about me?"

Looking into his eyes, Tian knew it wasn't just about asking for a word of gratitude for the medicine, it was also about dealing with his problem this afternoon. Tian lowered his head and said in an uncomfortable way.

"Thank you."

"You're so strong when you're in trouble, you're whispering like a mosquito now."

"You are being sarcastic again!" From sadness to anger, Tian hastily swaps the bag but Phupha grabs it back until the plastic bag is almost torn.

"Have you seen it? Come inside, I'll apply the medicine myself later." With that and without waiting for Tian's reply, Phupha went straight behind the door until the injured man gasped for breath and got up and followed him, shouting.

"No need, I can do it myself, you go back!"

Phupha turned to look at the fair, beautiful face, "Did I say I was going back?"

"Don't tell me, you're staying the night."

"Yes, you've just done something, I wonder if the merchants will come back tonight for trouble?" Phupha didn't tell the truth, the Sia Sakda gang agreed to go back but scared him into holding a grudge.

"If they come in a group, what can you do alone?" Tian laughed contemptuously, then quickly shut up, when Phupha lifted his shirt to reveal the pistol tucked in his belt.

1. I ordered my men to keep an extra eye on law and order around the village, especially today, the ruffian teacher was breathing hard, feeling anxious and making many people suffer because of his impulsiveness.

He goes to his rucksack bag and takes out the money he has hidden away and gives it to Phupha.

"This is the merchants' money, I put it in my trousers pocket during the fight. As for this my own money may be a bit small but I've got it all out, help me tell the villagers I'm very sorry for the damage I've caused."

Phupha brought it over but only Sia Sakda's part "You keep this. In fact, they even asked me to thank you for helping them with the crooks." He grabbed the slender hand that held the personal money and said solemnly.

"But will you promise me? You won't do anything stupid again, if anything happens to you, do you know how many people will worry about you?"

"People who are worried, including you?" Tian shook his face off to suppress the shyness that threatened to rise in his hot cheeks.

"You should know, do you want to take some pills? Hurry up, I'm sleepy." he said to get past the warmth of this inner turmoil. But who would have thought that the next scene would be a suicide proposition?

"Then you will undress and sit down..."

Tian heard the command in that low voice, then he even stood dumbfounded, "What! You're going to do it?"

"Rubbing the medicine, I don't know what you're thinking." Phupha scolded with a frown and rushed over as if to help Tian undress.

"I'll do it myself!" Tian shouted and turned around and after pulling his T-shirt out of his head, he slowly and angrily began to sit cross-legged.

Phupha sat down after him, while seeing Tian's smooth white back now covered in purple and green marks, as if someone had given him a beating, he shakes his head at the impatience of today's teenagers, while picking up the tube and squeezing it.

The pungent smelling gel was smeared on the thick fingers, sliding along the not-so-light bruises until Tian shouted.

"Be a bit gentle, human skin is not a shrunken head to be pushed around."

"When you run off to fight someone, I don't see you so afraid of pain." Phupha continues to hold the gel intently to allow the skin to absorb the bruises.

The teased Tian argues defiantly but the protest sounds like a ripple, it doesn't make a ripple and once the back has been squeezed, Phupha orders Tian to turn his head, slightly of course and Tian quickly refuses.

"Hey! No need, I can see the front, I'll take care of it myself later."

"Don't be a wishy-washy, my hands are dirty, just paint them." Phupha doesn't give up, holds his long, muscular upper arms and spins Tian around, Tian is still holding his shirt tightly to his chest, as if he's afraid he'll be raped.

"You, rub it somewhere else." Tian closes his eyes and looks up to show Phupha his own equally battered mouth and cheeks.

Just like that... Shy, before he said the word, he had a certain image of the waterfall in his mind, Tian probably didn't want anyone to see the long scar on his chest. Phupha shook his head, he had scars all over his body, above and below and he had the nerve to show them, it's hard to understand rich people.

"Then get dressed, you'll catch a cold."

The thin-skinned Tian felt relieved and turned around to get dressed, then turned around again and asked Phupha helplessly: "Are there many cuts?" He points his finger at his face, as there is no mirror to look in.

Phupha laughed, while his hand squeezed the medicine tube. "What... Afraid you'll lose your handsome face?"

"I'm afraid! When I brush my teeth, I spit out blood."

"Still handsome but if it's worse than that, there's no hope of getting your face back." Phupha said with a grin and a slight, slight chuckle in his throat.

Rough fingers hovered over the soft skin of his cheek and massaged it, feeling sorry for this bruise on this handsome face. Suddenly the bright, slender eyes slowly open, for a second they both see each other in each other's eyes and the whole world seems to stop.

Phupha lifts his other hand to touch Tian's chin, the thin pink lips are slightly open, as if inviting him to come closer. He dipped his head close until the tips of his noses touched each other but then both were startled and jumped away from each other.

Tian coughed, scratched his head to relieve his embarrassment until his hair is messed up, what just happened?

He rushed to avoid going over and lowering the raised mosquito netting over the mattress, then got inside and sat quietly for a few minutes to calm his rattled mind.

Outside, Phupha was stroking his face, his eyes bewildered. Until he heard a soft call from the man behind the netting.

"Aren't you going to stay the night? Come to bed, I'm sleepy." Tian said in an awkwardly indistinct voice but didn't put on airs like a budding teenager, because he was a man all the same, even if he wasn't sure about the sexuality of this deadbeat.

But does anyone know how much energy he had to use to finish that sentence? The light from the gas lamp gradually dimmed until it went out, in response to his speech. Tian laid down and turned his back, immediately seeing the tall man lift the mosquito net and enter, despite the narrow mattress, the two men managed to create a gap between them.

Laying on his side with his arm pressed against his arm instead of the pillow, the silence of the grumpy man lying next to him made him wonder.

"Tian, what did you have for dinner?" He almost wanted to slap himself in the mouth for starting to act stupid.

"Uncle ...Bianglae gave me fried kale and rice, I boiled water to heat it up and it was ready and had it with fried eggs."

Immediately the loud bass sounded from his back, probably proud of it and Phupha deliberately teased: "Didn't you burn it and you sneaked it out and threw it away?"

"You are looking down on me again! The edges are a bit burnt, one needs time to develop the skills." Argues the novice chef, so much so that he forgets how close he and Phupha are just now.

"Tomorrow morning, let's have you prove it."

"No, I'm going to teach, just waking up in the morning to boil water and take a bath is enough to eat."

After a grumble, Phupha even rolled over and said in a calm voice, even though he can barely hold back his laughter, "Tian, tomorrow Saturday, there are no children classes."

"What!" The diligent volunteer teacher's eyes snapped open in search of the watch he had taken off and placed on the side of his square pillow, staring roundly at the small letters written on the dial... FRI Friday, so tomorrow really is Saturday, it's a break, lol!

Tian grinned happily, almost to his ears, changed position and turned his head towards the unwelcome visitor in a good mood.

"Then I don't have to go to sleep."

"What do you want to do then?"

Leather's light brown eyes rolled back and forth, as if in contemplation, before he gazed at the man beside him.

"... Talking to you."

"Didn't you say you were sleepy before?"

"Now I'm awake."

Phupha was quiet for a moment, then pointed to his mouth "You wanna talk but I'm sleepy." he pronounced with clear emphasis, while turning away in the same direction without a second thought, leaving a stunned Tian.

How dare he refuse him, the capricious child is irritated. Tian reached out to shake Phupha, who was lying motionless like a log and shook him for a long time until he suddenly fell asleep without knowing when the slender hands still tugged at the camouflage jacket and wouldn't let go. Captain Phupha smiled, even though he didn't usually sleep deeply with his eyes closed.

But tonight, he felt sure that he would have good "dreams".

It was 9.30 am when the new volunteer teacher actually woke up and he realised it was because of the heat of the sun burning on the roof.

Tian gets up and stretches, saw that the man who was lying next to him last night is gone, the man has probably returned to the base of operations, he thinks absently but as he picked up his towel and toothbrush, he glances over and saw the sports bag that Phupha brought with him last night.

His long eyebrows raised in surprise, then he hurriedly climbed down the stairs to the basement of the house and saw some simple dishes, like salted eggs, vegetables, tinned pickles and a pot of cold rice on a bamboo stand but somehow no sign of Phupha.

Where did he?

Tian turned and headed straight for the earthen tank at the back of the house, thankful that someone brought water to fill it every time, he strips down to his boxer shorts, hangs them on the toilet door a short distance away and washes his face, brushes his teeth and cleans himself up.

It's late, it's warm, so he didn't have to sit down and boil water for the bath. The slender hand picked up the plastic water dispenser and ladled the cold water over itself, it looked more skilled than on the first day, so much so that it felt like it should be easy to get used to it soon.

The black bamboo charcoal soap creates a lot of lather and a jasmine scent, creating the usual fresh feeling. He rubs the soap into the edges of his boxer shorts and then splashes water afterwards until they are spotlessly clean. Although no other villagers live in the area, he has enough shame, not to be overly naked for the forest god, the mountain god to curse.

Tian took the towel that was hanging and wiped the water off his body, then wrapped the towel around his waist, then pulled out his damp boxer shorts and slowly put on his original T-shirt. When he was done, he whistled and walked inside, rummaged through his travel pack and cursed loudly.

"Fuck! There's no clothes left." Tian almost wants to pull his hair out, the last clothes he had on arrival are all gone in a week, now what? And there was no washing powder to wash the clothes.

"What's wrong? Can't shit or is the toilet clogged?" Phupha asked when he saw Tian sitting and clutching his head as if something serious was going on.

Content is forbidden only. The handsome young man who looked as if he wanted to cry said in a hoarse voice: "I don't have a clean shirt to wear." The revelation made Phupha, who was listening intently, almost fall down laughing.

"Go and wash your clothes! It's not hard."

"It's too hard! I don't know how to do it."

Phupha slapped his forehead hard, how can he forget that this city kid can't do anything? Except playing with expensive mobile phones. He shook his head in boredom, while going to his sports bag and took out his spare clothes for Tian.

"You wear mine first, I'll take you to the waterfall later."

Tian looked at the rumpled light khaki shirt with the sewing machine embroidered Phirapun badge, which looks like the name of the base of operations and the elasticated jodhpurs.

"Let me wear these." If it's in his house, you'd have to think twice about using it as a rag.

"You can be naked if you want." Phupha pretends to put the clothes away but is snatched away, in time to grab them Tian opens them and looks them over and asks questions.

"It's a soldier's dress, I'm not one, is it a crime to wear it?"

"No, military wives wear it all the time." Ending the simple, straightforward and frightening words, the person holding the dress does not move, a faint blush of pink on his flawless white face.

Tian shouted: "I am not your wife!" Trying to kick the tall neck at once but not getting it.

Phupha shrugged, while turning towards the door. "Hurry up and get dressed, I'll meet you in the basement for dinner."

A calm, low tone, successfully stimulating Tian's angry glands. If he had been a child, he would have stomped on the floor in displeasure. Tian pulled out his own clothes and replaced them with Phupha's. The old shirt was faded but the scent of washing powder, mixed with the soft scent of sunshine was inexplicably soothing and warm.

Tian pats his face, chasing away his thoughts and rushed down to find the man sitting on the bamboo stand.

The pot of rice is reheated on the stove until the white smoke rises and it smells delicious. Tian, faint with hunger, rushed to put the rice into a bowl and ate it with a salted egg. Phupha smiled at the uninvited gobbler.

Sitting cross-legged with his faded shirt, rumpled trousers and dishevelled hair, if he had a mirror to show himself, he would probably fall to the ground and die.

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