Violet went to have some brunch rather. To her surprise, the homemade stir-fried noodles and radish cake were delicious. She nearly gobbled down Sebastian's portion only to remind herself that Sebastian needed his dinner too. She quickly told Ms. Tung to keep his portion till dinner and requested a ride to the farm nearby.
As she roamed around the homestay while waiting for Ms. Tung to be free to drive her, she noticed Ms. Tung planted her own crops and had her own little farm of ducks and chickens. It was no wonder she was so busy! Violet took many pictures and videos highlighting the surroundings and reminded herself to take some footage of the room and interior later in the night.
She sat enjoying the breeze, noticing how dense the surrounding jungle was. It had been a long time since she was able to be this carefree. Heading to a place where she knew no one and no one knew her past. Just her new self and her new job. It made her long to move into a slower pace of life, which she was unsure about for now.
Violet realised she had forgotten her jacket only after alighting at the farm. She shrugged, watching Ms. Tung's car drive off. She did not want to trouble Ms. Tung, and she was already excited about the various activities the farm had.
There were scheduled feeding times where visitors got to feed the calves with milk or even milk the cows. Violet also experienced feeding sheep, goats, and ducks. She learnt that even goats shed their placenta after giving birth to their young.
She grabbed a light late lunch of cow's milk hotpot after hours of roaming. She could tell how fresh all the ingredients were compared to Lagospool, where everything was imported. She began to seriously consider her plans to move over permanently to Qi Tai instead, since the business partnership between Sam and Sebastian was already in progress. However, she was worried about being too close to Sebastian, and her divorce has not finalised yet. Her deteriorating relationship with her father was also bothersome.
Noting the farm was closing at 5 pm, Violet sat by the corner of the cafe's gift shop. She texted Ms. Tung to pick her up. She felt bad treating her like a driver now, but she knew she had no choice, as it was hard to get a taxi in such a secluded area.
The wind got stronger during the evenings. As she tied her hair into a ponytail, she began sneezing continuously. She sighed, knowing she was catching a cold already. Instead, she went to grab some hot tea from the cafe and a keychain from the gift shop. Considering she had some time to kill, she decided to randomly do a quick podcast as she took a seat by the verandah of the cafe.
"Hey, hey, fans! Welcome to another session of talking rubbish with Vi's V! It's been breezy here. How's the weather at your end today? The wind really has no manners when it blows. At least have some courtesy and not mess up my hair!" Violet scolded in a comical voice as she sniffed.
"Alright, without further ado, let's invite our guest of honour today… Drum roll! It's "Beh ta Meen See! Yep, you didn't hear me wrong. Let me spell it for you… B E H, one word. T A. one word. M E E N. One word and finally S E E. One word."
Violet waited for a moment before she continued in an agitated voice. "Whatcha laughing at? Don't be rude! It's a glamorous name! Now, let's give her a round of applause!" Violet clapped before changing her voice to be cuter after sniffing her runny nose from leaking.
"Oh, thank you, thank you. Hello everyone…don't worry, I'm here today to tell you all to take good care of your health. Instill an active lifestyle and eat in moderation. Yes, moderation is the key."
"One more thing! Oh my gosh, if you don't do this, your parents and even ancestors, or maybe school teachers, will be extremely disappointed in your IQ! Do not take overdose on beh ta meen see. Always remember my friends and I are only a supplement, and we do not give you 100% immunity, please… I know, I know, I'm supposed to sing praises of myself, but no, I won't for the sake of my fans' health!" Violet pretended to bang the table loudly.
"Oh oh, please don't rage Beh Ta Meen See!" Violet quickly changed her voice to her normal self with a worried tone, but she continued banging the table.
"Oh mine, every guest comes to rage on my show… " Mumbled Violet on purpose in an act.
"Apologies, listeners, but we should wrap up the show for today before Bee Ta Meen See who is smoking explodes into a volcano! Hope you all had a good time listening! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Violet managed to add some sound effects of fire sparking before an explosion, before going offline and uploading the recording.
She heard laughter from inside the cafe as she turned and saw the cashiers laughing among themselves. She smiled, knowing they must be thinking she is crazy.
Despite the joy she tried to cultivate in herself, she realised she could not fully ignore her feeling of loneliness. She tried to shrug them away before multiple text messages were received from Sam.
Only then did she realise she was sniffing in her podcast cause Sam had started nagging her. It was too late. There was nothing she could do but to board Ms. Tung's car first to the homestay and hope Ms. Tung had some emergency medicines for her.
Before Ms. Tung rushed to cook dinner, she managed to make Violet a cup of herbal cold tea. Instead of heating Sebastian's portion, Ms. Tung was making a fresh meal for both Violet and Sebastian. Since Violet had time to kill, she decided to do a mini interview with Ms. Tung while she cooked.
"Would you mind if I film you cooking while answering some simple questions for my travel log? I promise I will keep it simple and honest reviews to promote you…" Violet declared as Ms. Tung chuckled.
"Up to you, Missy. It's just a business for me to pass the time…" With that, Violet began filming.
"Hello, fans! We are very lucky to have Ms. Tung, the owner of the place, willing to do an interview with us! Ms. Tung, could you tell us more about the homestay?" Violet directed the camera at her.
"The locals would normally be the one coming here for summer holidays. We often received many regulars returning by then…" Ms Tung said while chopping the cabbage.
"I have noticed the little garden outside. Are these from out there?" Violet prompted.
"Oh yes! We plant our own crops. Though we are a four-season country, we don't get snow here. So, it's easier to have the crops survive the whole year round! We also had some chickens and ducks if you noticed…" Both ladies laughed together.
"Do you run everything yourself?" Violet prompted.
"Oh, sometimes my children will come during the weekend ot help out. Other days I love the busy life!" Ms. Tung said before getting the wok ready to fry the noodles, and Violet left her alone with the video.
"Thank you very much, Ms. Tung! That was a great candid!" Violet praised as Ms. Tung waved at her while getting busy. That was when she noticed Ms. Tung was frying a fresh new set of noodles.
"Oh no, you didn't have to trouble yourself frying a new set…" Violet said.
"It's a small matter! Food should be eaten fresh! Now, please wait outside while I whip them all up for you and your friend…" Ms. Tung said before pouring oil into the heating wok.
Violet excused herself to film the interior of the reception before sitting down for her dinner, while Ms. Tung had to run other errands around the place.
Violet was reminded of her father's cooking. A simple, homely meal of fried noodles with chicken slices, some shredded cabbage, and eggs was so satisfying. The meal ended with a bowl of sweet beancurd as dessert. Her dad used to make very good chicken soup. She heard it was cause it was her mother's favorite. He stopped when she married. She wondered if he would make one again when he finally came to terms with her divorce.
She blinked away the welling tears as she quickly returned to the room with Sebastian's dinner. She tried waking up Sebastian, but he was still soundly asleep. She enjoyed the breeze very much and realised her sniffing had subsided after the herbal drink. She began to love the place. Everything was natural and peaceful. It was no wonder Sebastian had not woken up.
She wondered if, a few months later, there would be fireflies, especially during summer, after noticing the bright row of street lights. It made her want to explore the mountain roads leading to the homestay in the night when Sebastian began to stir awake.
"What time is it?" He asked while sitting up. She spontaneously grabbed his hand and put on a cap for him as he rubbed his eyes groggily.
"Where are we going?" She managed to grab only his noodles with her before they found themselves strolling the front part of the house.
The strong wind sent shivers down Sebastian. He wanted to tell her to return and grab some thick clothes first but she was too busy filming her video. He was afraid of disturbing her recording and noticed the container of noodles she had left by a corner. He reached out for it and realised it was still warm. His stomach grumbled as he quickly took a bite while keeping an eye on her. Once she had enough footage, she only then noticed he had been so quiet.
"Sorry I…" She turned around to find him munching his dinner. She wanted to apologise for abruptly pulling him out, but ended up in a loud sneeze.
He sighed briefly. It was his turn to pull her and run back to their room as he noticed she was dressed so little with a blouse and a flowy midi skirt.
He quickly sat her down in the room and ran to request hot water from Ms. Tung after putting on his glasses as a disguise.
Violet was already sneezing nonstop, although she was wrapped in her sweater when he returned with not only warm water but also a box of herbal cold tea for them both.