Episode 2 The Request
The purple Mini Cooper, its front end now a mangled mess, crawled slowly through the massive wrought-iron gates of the Zhang Mansion. Lin stepped out of the car, her temper still simmering from the accident. She marched in her high heels past the manicured gardens toward the sprawling house, as long-time servants and familiar henchmen bowed in a row to greet the family's youngest daughter.
"Pa, Ma, hello," Lin gave her parents a perfunctory wai as she swept through the hall. Her sole focus was her grandfather's master bedroom, where she'd heard his condition was dire.
The moment she pushed the door open, the signature scent of herbal inhalants and muscle oil hit her nose. Lin hurried to the carved teak bed dominating the room and sank onto the edge of the mattress.
"Ah-Gong... how are you? Lin is here," she said, her voice noticeably softening at the sight of her grandfather's frail frame, a damp cloth resting on his forehead.
The old man slowly opened his clouded eyes to look at his granddaughter, letting out a long, theatrical sigh.
"Ah-Lin... Gong doesn't know how much longer he has in this world. The only thing I still worry about... is our business and the future of our family."
"Oh, Gong, don't talk like that! You're as strong as an ox. And don't worry about the company Hea (Big Brother) and the Jes (Big Sisters) are already helping Pa and Ma run things," Lin soothed him, massaging his withered hand.
"I'm not worried about the company... I'm worried about you." Ah-Gong turned his hand over to grip hers tightly. His eyes, usually glinting with mischief, now looked strangely imploring.
"Can you get married? Let me see you wed before I die. Only then can I close my eyes in peace."
Lin stiffened. Her sense of duty was a lump in her throat, but her love for freedom was a collar around her neck. Her sharp tongue acted before she could think.
"Gong, you can just close your eyes and die now. You don't need to wait for me to get married."
SLAP!!!
"Ah-Lin! How could you say such a thing!" Her mother's hand connected with her back in a resounding thwack. Lin jumped; she hadn't realized her mother had followed her in.
"Ma! That hurt!" she protested, glaring at her mother who was currently baring her teeth at her.
"Good! It should hurt so you'll remember never to speak such cursed words to your grandfather again!" Ma hissed, raising her hand as if to strike again.
"You're asking for it."
Sensing the mood shifting, Ah-Gong let out a series of hacking coughs, looking as if he might expire on the spot.
"Please, Ah-Lin... I'm not asking for much. I've already spoken with the Li family. Our businesses will become one. Just get married, please... consider it my final request."
"Gong... but I don't want to. I'm fine on my own," Lin started to yield, seeing her grandfather's pale face (which was actually the result of a thin layer of Chinese opera powder).
"I am begging you... would you let an old man like me die of a broken heart because his only granddaughter refused his last wish?" Ah-Gong squeezed out a tear and pulled a doctor's note from under his pillow. It listed a mysterious condition that required urgent emotional healing.
Lin looked at the note, then at her grandfather's pitiful face. Her heart melted. She let out a massive sigh of surrender.
"Fine... I'll go home and think about it."
"I'll be waiting... don't make me wait too long, Ah-Lin," Ah-Gong replied instantly, his voice suddenly sounding a notch more vibrant nearly blowing his cover.
Lin walked out of the bedroom feeling like she was carrying a mountain on her shoulders. She leaned against the hallway wall and exhaled. Guilt gnawed at her when she thought of the old man's weary face, yet the independence she had spent her life cultivating fought back hard.
"How was it, you little rebel? What did Ah-Gong say?" the deep, familiar voice of Zhang Wei, her eldest brother, asked. He was followed closely by Zhang Mei, the second sister. Both had just returned from a business trip and headed straight to see their grandfather.
"The usual, Hea... Gong used the waterworks to try and force a marriage answer out of me. It's a headache," she groaned, rubbing her temples.
"Well, it's about time you settled down anyway," Zhang Mei said with a smile, grabbing her sister's arm and leading her toward the dining room.
"Ma is having the cook prepare a huge spread. Stay for dinner; we haven't seen you in forever. Don't go running back to your condo just yet."
"But I have work to catch up on, Je... and besides, I just got into a car accident. I'm not in a good mood."
"The car is one thing, but Ah Gong wanted everyone here for dinner. The family must be complete," Pa said, joining them. Ma nodded in vigorous agreement.
"Don't be stubborn, Ah-Lin. Just eat with us for a bit."
Surrounded by the pleading eyes of her family, Lin surrendered. She didn't want to sour the atmosphere further, so she followed them into the luxuriously prepared dining room.
The long table was laden with a Chinese feast. The aroma of Peking duck and fish maw soup was mouth-watering, but to Lin, the meal tasted like bitterness.
"We have an important guest joining us tonight," Pa remarked casually as he ladled soup for Ah Gong, who had just been helped into the room.
"He's the grandson of the Li family Ah-Gong told you about."
Lin's chopsticks froze mid-air as she was about to grab some tofu. Her right eye gave a violent, unexplained twitch.
"Important guest? Li family? The one Gong wants me to marry into?"
"Yes," Ah Gong replied shortly, stealing a smirk at Pa. "A bright young man, very talented in management. He's a perfect match for our Ah-Lin."
A sense of impending doom raced through her head. Her brain began connecting the dots: Li family and talented manager. She tried to tell herself the world wasn't that small, but deep down, she was breaking into a cold sweat. Disaster was walking toward her.
The atmosphere at the table grew heavy. Even the scent of the duck couldn't mask the tension. Pa, noticing his youngest daughter's silence, decided to push.
"Ah Muay... have you really not changed your mind about helping at our construction company? Our accounting department needs someone to oversee the big systems. Interested?"
Lin set her chopsticks down. The clack echoed in the silent room.
"No."
"You won't even consider it?" Pa's eyebrows shot up, his tone souring. "Our company is your company. It's not some stranger's business."
"No, Pa. It's not convenient," she replied shortly, not looking up.
"What do you mean 'not convenient,' Little Muay?" Ma chimed in, her gaze piercing.
"A job at your own family's firm is much more stable than that shophouse office you rent. I don't understand why you're so stubborn."
"Stable for you, Ma, but uncomfortable for me. It's just not convenient," Lin repeated, her voice hardening.
Zhang Wei and Zhang Mei exchanged awkward glances. The tension was so thick the servants stopped moving.
"You really deserve a scolding! Stubborn and headstrong, just like always!" Ma slapped the table lightly in frustration.
"How did Ah Gong raise you to be like this?!"
Lin leaned back and gave her mother a thin smile.
"Thank you for the compliment."
"I was insulting you! Not complimenting!" Ma looked ready to jump across the table and shake her.
"Okay," Lin replied, taking a calm sip of water. Her cold, unyielding demeanor was giving her mother a literal migraine.
Ah-Gong, sitting at the head of the table, wore a secretive grin. He wasn't angry at her refusal. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying her display of fire. It meant that whoever was coming to tame this little rebel would have to be someone truly extraordinary.
"Alright, alright, everyone calm down," Ah-Gong intervened, his voice soft but commanding.
"Ah-Muay doesn't want to work here yet because she still wants to prove herself. Besides... once my important guest arrives, everything will become much clearer."
Lin knit her brows. That bad omen in her chest flared up again. She felt like she was being backed into a corner, and she didn't even know why.
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