Ching Ching didn't respond because she agreed with his mother. Fei Lap groaned "Mom...I don't want to go out there. Can't we stay here?"
"Its okay Heung Bak Mau, I can stay here with you." Ching Ching didn't want to pressure Fei Lap.
"Oh please, Im just a boring old lady." But seeing that they didn't want to budge, she came up with a resolution "Why don't we all go? Come on." pulling both up by their hands, she led them outside. It was more crowded and noisier than Ching Ching thought. She couldn't help but smile seeing everyone around so happy. Red and pink lanterns were hung up everywhere they could see. Making the city even more bright.
*********
Yuk Lan and Yung travelled together to Ha Chow. They left early that morning and by the time they reached the little town it was dark. Yuk Lan was surprised to see the festive night life of the usually quiet town. Yung was ready for fun when she stepped foot into the town. Even the kingdom wasn't as creative, the town had a happy atmosphere. She immediately noticed the stage that an old man was stepping on. Pulling Yuk Lan by the arm as they gathered with the crowd to hear the old man speak.
"Good evening everyone. As most of you know, this is our annual tradition for the girls of this town to be chosen as wives for whoever deems worthy. This may be a quiet town and simple almost, but the girls here are not as ordinary. Each one brought up with a little knowledge of martial arts. If you want to marry them, you will have to beat them in a little contest. How about we start off with the Lam family?" Lou Chung announced. Lam Siu Jei stepped on the stage and smiled at the crowd, daring anyone who wants to win her hand in marriage.
"Hmm...such a quiet little town but they all know martial arts? Father should know about this." Yuk Lan said to herself.
"What?" Yung asked when she heard Yuk Lan mumble to herself.
"Oh, nothing."
Soon the fighting started when a young man jumped on the stage and tested his strength with Lam Siu Jei. It was a little battle that lasted for about 5 minutes until she finally lost. Therefore the young guy won her hand in marriage. One by one each family presented their daughters, all of which had to be 18 years and older. Yung clapped her hands loudly each time the girl wins the fight instead of the guys. But in the end, a guy would somehow win the girl. Smiling to herself when she decided to jump on the stage after the last fight was done. Yung bowed at the crowd "I guess its my turn now huh?"
The group grew quiet as everyone tried to place the unknown face of the girl that stood before them. Lou Chung finally spoke up "Im sorry Miss, this is for the town of Ha Chow only. I don't recognize you."
Yung smiled slyly "Well, since everyone is having so much fun, how about we do a little contest? Who ever beats me, I will give you $10,000. in gold." Wows and oohhs covered the crowd, surprised that a young and pretty girl like her would have so much money.
"Hmph, she must be from a rich family." Ching Ching snickered as she listened.
"She's kind of cute." Fei Lap commented honestly.
"And probably bored." Ching Ching said sarcastically.
Heung Thai smiled at the young girl on her left "A little jealous I see?"
"Of course not! I don't care what she looks like, I just..." her voice trailed off when she saw Fei Lap jump on stage.
"If you keep your word, I will be glad to challenge you." putting out his hand, waiting for Yung to start.
Yung smiled at the young stranger "I promise if you win, the money is yours. But what if you lose?" tilting her head thoughtfully.
"You can do anything you please." Fei Lap promised.
"Hmm...I always needed a slave." her smile fell as she quickly attacked him. Fei Lap had no intention to harm her, he only wanted to win and get the money for his mother's medicines. Legends said that if you can buy the 100 year ginseng, it can save anyone's life. He had planned to buy that since his mother showed signs of sickness. After a few minutes of fighting, he began to use more strength when he realized she was no ordinary girl.
Their fighting was quickly interrupted by a group of masked men. Laughing at the crowd, they quiet down to look at the intruders, the leader finally spoke up "Weak people, if you don't want to die, give up your daughters now. If there are any disagreements, you will all die!!" With a hand movement they men behind him attacked the group. They all aimed for the younger girls.
Fei Lap quickly jumped to where his mother was. "Ching Ching, take my mom back, I'll take care of this."
"But its dangerous." he never heard her words since he was already heading straight towards the leader. Ching Ching shook her head in frustration. "Come on Bak Mau, I'll take you home."
"Ah Lap...no, I have to wait for him." she said stubbornly.
"He'll be okay, he just wants you safe. Come on." Covering the elder lady as she pushed through the crowd. The men in black didn't seemed to notice Ching Ching with her cloth around her face.
Yuk Lan looked around trying to find Yung. Eventhough they didn't meet on good terms, she felt the need for her to be safe. She finally found Yung fighting with a mask man and decided to help her. The girls together fend of their attacker. But soon there were not only one, but three. All of them attacked the girls at once. Within minutes they were hurt by them. Before they could continue to fight, the men threw out a smoke bomb with Mai Heung inside it causing everyone to fall to the ground with weakness. The leader and his men seemed to be numb to the medicine as they laughed while they watched each person fall slowly as the gas serged through their lungs. "Take the girls." Slowly all the men pulled a girl over their shoulders.
Fei Lap watched helplessly as he tried to get up but the medicine was too strong. He heard cries for help from the girls as the men disappeared into the night. The Leader stayed back to guard until all his men had finally left. When he heard a girl's voice behind him, he stopped "Fei Lap, Yeh Yeh!! Where are you?" Ching Ching waved her hands in front of her face to block the smoke away.
"Ching Ching!! Go now, they're going to take you. Run!!" it was Fei Lap's voice. She tried to connect the sound with the direction. He was somewhere to her left as she jumped over the unconcious people trying to find him.
"Fei Lap?" she finally found him as she bent down to him to see his condition. Before she had the chance to help him, a firm hand grabbed her right wrist. "AHH! Let go!!" she cried.
It made the man laugh as he tightened his grip and threw her over his shoulders. Flying off into the night while she cried for help. "Ching Ching!!" Fei Lap tried to get up but he was too weak. Although he wasn't about to let those men kidnap the girls in the city, who knows what they would do to them. He could only think of the worse as he used his limited strength to crawl towards their direction.
After a while, he felt the medicine wearing off and he was on his two feet running again. He only reached a nearby temple that appeared to be empty. Following a flower scent, he walked to the back of the temple. The fragant seemed to dig into his nose and it was calling out to him. Suddenly he fell to his knees, his eyes began to blur as he thought he saw a person in white standing in front of him. Slowly he fainted onto the ground.
********
In Luk San (Green Mountain) where the men left the girls in dungeons. Yuk Lan and Yung were carried into a cell, the men dropped the girls onto the hay. They looked around in horror to find about 100 girls that were locked up and they looked to be around 20. "Yuk Lan, what do you think they want with us?"
"I don't know. But its probably not good." Yuk Lan seeemed calm as she tried to think of a plan to get them out.
The girls sat there helplessly while they watched each cell was emptied by the masked men. After another hour passed and the same group of girls were returned to the cells. Four hours passed, it was Yuk Lan and Yung's cell that came up next. There were about 9 other girls that were trapped with them. Soon they were dragged into an empty room. There was a man that sat at the front of the room. His legs crossed comfortably as he sipped his wine. "Welcome girls. I am the leader of Luk San, Hung Ba. Now, I've taken you here for a reason. I won't hurt any one of you, but if you don't cooperate Im going to have my men teach you a lesson." his voice threatening as he leered his eyes at each girl. Getting up and taking out a folded paper, he opened it and held it up slowly to each of the girl's face. He stopped at Yuk Lan as he carefully examined her face "You... could it be you?"
Yuk Lan glanced at Yung in confusion wondering who this man was looking for. "Whha..What?" she stumbled on the word.
"Do you have the gold medallion?" the man asked.
"What are you talking about?" Yuk Lan shook her head, still puzzled.
"You, aren't you the Princess?"
"No!" shaking her head vehemently. Suddenly she touched her belt.
"What are you hiding?" the man demanded.
"Nothing." this time she covered both hands over her belt.
Touching her freeze point as he pushed her hands aside and pulled out what she was trying to cover. It was the gold medallion with the word "Wong" for King on it. The man immediately knelt down. "My Princess."
"Princess?!" Yung looked at Yuk Lan in shock. Shaking her surprise away as she looked down at the man "How dare you touch the Princess!! Now unfreeze her this minute!"
"Yes!" the man obediently got up and unfroze Yuk Lan. "Your majesty has been looking for you. He sent out messages to look for you and a money prize for bringing you back."
Yuk Lan turned away "Who says Im going back?"
"If you don't, I can't claim my money." The man said greedily.
"I don't care. Im not going back. And another thing, let these girls go. You only kidnapped them to find me, now that you have, what use do you have for them?"
The man smiled cruely "I have plenty of uses. Now Princess, you're not going to make me use force are you?" the man's breath stank like alcohol as he got closer to Yuk Lan.
"You dare touch her, I'll kill you myself!" A young guy came flying through the doors and onto the seat where the man was sitting on earlier. Picking up the bottle of wine he left by his table and gulping the remaining down. After he finished he threw it on the ground causing it crash into thousands of peices.
"Who are you?!!" demanded the leader.
"Cheung Hung Sing."
"Ah...the killer. What do you want with the Princess? I suppose for the money like all of us?"
Hung Sing laughed out loud "Not everyone likes money." shaking his head slowly as he got up to face the leader. "Let them go."
The leader took no time to respond, instead he attacked Hung Sing. The men fought for a few minutes while the girls tried to run out the doors, instead they were blocked by the men. Suddenly two of the men that guarded the door dropped to their feet. At the door appeared another guy, Yuk Lan recognized it was Cheng Yiu Fai. He easily fought off the remaining men as he grabbed Yuk Lan's wrist "Come with me."
Before she could decline, he had taken her away. "Hey!! Take her back." Yung called out. Hung Sing saw Yuk Lan being taken away as he flew off after them.
The leader looked angry as he called for his men to follow them. Yung and the rest of the girls were taken back to the dungeon.
Chapter 5
Fei Lap slowly opened his eyes and noticed he was still in the temple. He saw a girl in front of him, she was wearing all white, including a white veil that covered half of her face. "Who are you?"
"Thats not important. Why are you here?" the girl asked calmly.
"I was chasing after the kidnappers. They have about twenty girls with them. Did you see them pass by?"
The girl shook her head. Bending down to help him stand up "But I know where to find them. You have a girlfriend that was kidnapped?"
Fei Lap blushed at her question "No, I have a friend and this girl....that were kidnapped"
The girl smiled "I see. Come on, I'll give you a hand."
Looking at her eyes, he couldn't help but stare at them. They were so familiar yet the voice wasn't. He couldn't think of who it belong to. "What's your name?" his question blurted out as he was thinking it.
The girl looked away "Its none of your business. Come on, you want to save your friends don't you?" Leading the way, she took the fastest route to Luk San. As they reached closer to the big wooden house, she turned to Fei Lap "You go and free the girls, I'll take care of the leader."
"No, I can't let you do that alone!" he whispered loudly.
"Don't worry, he can't hurt me. Go on." she urged. He reluctantly left.
Distracting the guards at the dungeon entrance with a few rocks. They quickly fell for his trick and he easily entered the dungeon. Each cell was full of girls as he searched around for the keys. He noticed the key guard was asleep as he slowly pulled out the key ring that was tied to his belt. The guard opened his eyes as Fei Lap was in the middle of stealing the keys. He immediately hit the guy over the back of his neck causing him to faint. Stumbling with the keys as he opened the doors to the cells letting everyone out. He recoginized Yung. "You, where's your friend?" he remembered another girl with her.
"She was kidnapped by someone. I want to go find her."
"I'll help you, but first, we have to go somewhere." he was about to go when he remembered "Did you see Ching Ching?"
"Who?"
"She's wearing a veil, her face was badly burned. She has scars all over her face. Did you see anyone to that description?"
"No." Yung looked restless as she left before he finished asking. He quickly followed her.
When he reached the room, the girl was fighting with the leader. She seemed to be alot better than the leader yet she was still holding back. The leader took his chance to use more strength as his every move tried to reveal her face. He finally succeeded after 5 attempts. The veil flying slowly to the ground and in front of them appeared the most beautiful girl. Her face was perfect and porcelain smooth. She looked like an angel.
The leader was as mesmerized as Fei Lap was. "So young, yet so skilled. May I ask where you are from?" his sudden politeness made her laugh.
"Im just afraid if I tell you, I will have to kill you." she said daringly.
"I think its a chance Im willing to take."
She smiled as she walked to Fei Lap's side "Liu Ping Yee (Vivian) of The White Demons." Taking a hold of his arm and the other on Yung, she flew out the door with them.
Ping Yee stopped at the temple at the foot of the mountain where Fei Lap first found her. "Your friend has been saved, you can go now."
"No, Ching Ching is not saved yet." Fei Lap almost forgot about her. He wouldn't know how to explain it to her grandfather if he lost her.
"Im sure she got away through the mist of the commotion up there. Now go, I want my peace." her sudden mood changed so quickly that it even surprised Yung.
"How could you save so many people but leave one behind?!" Yung asked.
"Thats none of your business. Now go before I kill you both. My identity has been given out." her eyes cold as she glared at Yung.
"Ha! We didn't ask to know, as I recalled you were the one that willingly told that man." she replied curtly.
Ping Yee's eyes grew darker as she stepped closer to Yung who began to take steps backward. Fei Lap suddenly stepped between the girls "Liu Gu Leung, I apologize for my friend here."
"Im not your friend!!" Yung cried out stubbornly.
"Im sure she didn't mean it." Fei Lap continued hoping that she would not hurt Yung.
Ping Yee smiled slowly "Oh? This girl claims to not know you."
"Either way, I don't want anyone hurt." he said honestly.
"Fine, I don't like to kill strangers anyways. Now go." with that she flew off through the back door.
Strange girl, Fei Lap thought. But her beauty was engraved in his mind. He walked back to the town with Yung yet his thoughts still travelled back to Ping Yee, then to Ching Ching. Shaking his thoughts away when he rememeber the girl beside him. "Hey, I don't even know your name."
"Wong Fah Yong." she smiled as she said it.
He chuckled "Your mood changed even faster than Liu Gu Leung." she was just claiming not to be his friend and now she was glad to tell him her name. "Im Heung Fei Lap."
She nodded as they continued on their way, the forest looked even scarier at night as the moonlight led them back home. Suddenly Yong let out a shriek. Her face was horrified as she pointed to someone lying nearby. Fei Lap followed her gaze and realized it was Ching Ching. Running over to her as he pulled the hair away from her face. "Ching Ching." he called out to her as he shook her roughly. "Wake up."
"Thats the girl you were talking about?" Yung asked as she bent down to look at the girl "Oh my gosh, her face."
Fei Lap looked around but couldn't find Ching Ching's cloth so he ripped a peice of his shirt off and tied it around her face. Slowly Ching Ching raised her hand to her head as she rubbed the bump that was rising. "Owww." she groaned in pain.
"Ching Ching! You're okay." Fei Lap said with relief.
"Of course I am!" she looked up and notice Yung next to him. "What is she doing here?" Yung wrinkled her nose at her question.
Fei Lap smiled as he explained "Someone saved the girls that were kidnapped. What happened to you? Why are you here?"
"The leader had taken me here and then he pulled the veil off my face. I guess he got scared of my face, the next thing I knew he hit me unconcious and left me here."
"I think I would do the same if I was him." Yung commented. The two looked at her in horror at her answer "What I mean is that you're lucky to get out of this alive, who knows what would have happened if he took you up there too."
Fei Lap shook his head as he pulled Ching Ching to her feet "Come on. Lets go home." The three found their way back home. When they reached Fei Lap's home, he found his mother on the ground "Mother!!" he saw a pool of blood on the ground, fresh blood still seeping through her clothes at her stomach where the sword wound was.
"Bak Mau!" Ching Ching fell to the ground beside Fei Lap who was already holding up his mother.
The elder lady began to open her eyes. When she saw her son, she slowly smiled "Ah Lap, I thought I would never get to see you again." her shaking hand reached for his face.
"Let me take you to the doctor." his tears falling down his cheeks as he tried to pick her up but she stopped him.
"No, its too late. Just let me look at you one last time." Ching Ching eyes too were filled with tears as she held onto the woman's hand "Ching Ching, thank you for taking care of me for the past few weeks. Im glad I had a chance to know you before I left this world." smiling kindly as she asked "Can you do me a favor?"
Ching Ching wiped her tears away "Yes, of course. Anything you want."
"Take care of Fei Lap for me. He will be very lonely now that Im leaving. People will take advantage of his kind heart if you're not there to help him. Please..."
Ching Ching nodded slowly as she looked at Fei Lap. His eyes were glued to his mother's face, he had only one question for her "Who did this to you?"
Heung Thai shook her head "Its not important."
"Yes it is!! Who did this to you?!!" his anger slowly rising.
"Son, I ..I...don't.. want you to get hurt too." her voice was a mere whisper now.
"Its him isn't it?! I know!! I'll kill him myself!!" angry tears streaming down his face.
"Lap Gor? Who are you talking about?" Ching Ching asked.
He ignored her as his eyes continued to peirce through his mother's for the answers. Her eyes began to flutter as her grip on his hand began to weaken. "Don't kill him..." he felt her tiny body go limp in his arms.
"MOTHER!!" he cried out as he hugged her dead body tightly.
"Bak Mau?" Ching Ching whispered. Bowing her head respectfully. Yung even kneeled down behind them as she witnessed a death.
The funeral took place the next day as the entire town came out to pay their respects. Everyone claimed to not have seen anyone come see Heung Thai. The gravesite was a mile east from the town where a beautiful hills of green grass covered the grounds. Slowly everyone said their goodbyes and left Fei Lap to be in peace. Ching Ching and Yung were the only two left with him. After another hour, Ching Ching finally approached him. "Lap Gor, lets go. You haven't slept for a whole day. Its not healthy."
"Just leave me alone." he said sadly.
"Look, its no use to mope and cry all day. If you know who killed your mother, be a man and take revenge." Yung said nochalantly.
Fei Lap slowly turned to the girls "You're right. I have to revenge for my mother. She can't die innocently. He'll pay for what he did to her."
"Lap Gor, do you know who did this?" Ching Ching was confused, she's never seen him so mad, he was usually more happier than anyone she knew.
"I know exactly who it is. But I don't know where he lives." disappointed that even his mother didn't know where he lived.
"You know his name?" Ching Ching questioned. Fei Lap nodded wondering why it would matter. She slowly smiled "I can help you then."
"How?" he couldn't imagine what she could do, she was just an ordinary girl that was locked up in her house for so long. What would she know about how to find people?
"The White Demons." she said simply.
Fei Lap searched his memory, why did the name sound so familiar? Suddenly his eyes lit up "I know, it was that girl that helped us" turning to Yung, who too remembered. Looking back at Ching Ching, he was curious to know how she knew about them. "How..."
"I heard it from the leader. When he kidnapped me, he met up with his men at forest. One guy asked why he didn't go to The White Demons to find the Princess or something like that. And then the leader said he couldn't trust them because they make you do something in return if they find the person you are looking for." she shook her head slowly "It wasn't clear what he was saying but I know that if you want to find the people of the White Demons, you have to go to temples."
"Thats where I first saw her." Fei Lap said to himself. He turned to the girls. "I think my little mission is going to be too dangerous for you two. How about you return to your homes?"
"NO!" the girls said simultaneously. They looked at each other and Ching Ching spoke up "I want to help. Afterall I do know Bak Mau."
Fei Lap smiled thoughtfully as he finally nod his head in agreement to let her come along "How about you? Why do you want to come?" he asked Yung.
She smiled "Because you need someone like me to entertain you." he laughed as he nodded his head.
"Okay." he went back home to pack and so did Ching Ching. Her grandfather had no comments about it, he just told her to be careful. Before they left, he went to his mother's grave a last time to say goodbye. "Mother, watch over me." He turned to the girls and gave a nod, hinting them to be on their way.
Chapter 6
At the foot of Luk San was a tiny temple where Yiu Fai took Yuk Lan to. When he felt safe, he unfroze her point. She immediately asked "Who are you really and what do you want from me?"
He smiled as he took a seat on the ground, resting his feet "Ah...gosh my feet are killing me." when she continued to stand there, he looked up at her. "You might as well rest because Im not letting you free."
Yuk Lan bent down to where he sat "Why not, don't you know who I am?"
"The Princess? I heard the whole thing. So what do you want me to do about it? Bow at your presence?" he pretended to get on his knees as he exaggerated a bow. "I told you at the beginning not to trust anyone, not even me. Did you forget that little advice already?"
Yuk Lan wrinkled her nose in disagreement "But what do you want with me?"
"Why the prize money of course. What do you think?" he laughed when her brown eyes looked like they were going to pop out of their sockets.
"I thought you were better than that. You didn't seem like the type of person that would sell out another person for money? I mean look at your clothes." she pulled at his off white shirt. "Its made of whole cotton and the style is nice, you probably paid a pretty amount for this didn't you?"
Yiu Fai smiled at her quick perception "You are correct. But Iam still a little suspicious about your identity. Why would a Princess be roaming around the country if she can live in a huge palace with servants being at her feet?"
Yuk Lan face fell as she finally sat down next to him. "Its not that I don't want to live there. I just have no freedom, there's always someone there telling me what to do and how to do things. My father wanted me to marry a general's son. I just didn't want to, so I ran away." she shrugged her shoulders in a careless manner.
He studied her face for a few minutes, when she notice his stare, her face turned pink "No need to worry. I won't harm you. I still need to claim my prize."
"If you want money, I...." his hand shot up covering her mouth.
"Someone's coming." Pulling her behind the statue in the front of the temple, he continued to cover her mouth. His face inches from hers as he tried not to breathe too loud.
The person came in the temple to look for the two people, he was sure he saw them come in the temple "You can't go too far." It was Hung Sing. He quickly rushed out of the temple.
Yiu Fai dropped his hand from her mouth. "He's gone, can we leave yet?" Yuk Lan asked, she felt her face burning up from the closeness of his body.
He smiled at her flirtatiously "What? Getting uncomfortable?" When she turned away, he jumped out from behind the statue. "He's not gone yet."
"How do you know?" holding up her skirt as she jumped down after him.
Reaching out for her hand, he pulled her towards the door "I'll show you." they peeked through the crack and saw Hung Sing sitting near a big oak tree waiting for them.
"I wonder what he wants from me?" Yuk Lan whispered.
"Same thing I want." he smiled when she blushed again "Money." her eyes shot up like she remembered something.
"Wait, my...my friend. I have to go find her." thinking of Yung, she couldn't help but worry for her. What had happened to her? Turning towards the back door, she began to run off.
"Hey! She's alright, don't worry. Someone saved her."
Yuk Lan stopped "How did you know?" she was curious about this stranger, who appeared more clever.
"Nevermind that, come on, lets go before he comes back in here." Yiu Fai led the way as he took her through little shorcuts leading away from the mountain.
**********
The three have been travelling for a whole day non-stop. Fei Lap walked for a minute when he noticed both girls were no longer at his side. Turning back, he found them resting under the shade of a huge tree. Shaking his head as he walked back to them. "Girls, come on, we have to keep on moving. There's not a temple for at least another 10 miles."
"Lap Gor ah, Im so tired, look at my hands." Ching Ching pulled out her shaky hands. "See? Im so hungry that Im shaking."
"Yeah, what are you trying to do starve us?" Yung said sarcastically.
"Hah, since when did you guys start thinking alike? You were arguing since we left Ha Chow!!" the girls giggled to themselves. They were just keeping each other company on the way, the arguments weren't real. "Okay, there's a little town up ahead, we'll rest there. Come on." He got up and began to walk, but stopped in his tracks when the girls didn't budge. He spun around and saw each girl with her hand held out, hinting for a helping hand. Laughing as he jogged back to them and pulled both girls to their feet. "Come on now!" he said.
When they reached the town, they found a little restaurant/hotel to stay for the night. The girls shared a room while Fei Lap got the room next to them. They had a quiet dinner together downstairs where the restaurant was, all were starving from the walk. The group were getting weird looks from people because of Ching Ching. Her scared face seemed to be attracting more attention, yet the three didn't seem to care.
Yung looked around her at the people, trying to see if anyone had followed her. Ching Ching noticed that she was acting kind of strange "Yung ah, who are you looking for?"
"No ...no one." Suddenly her face went pale at a male customer that walked into the restaurant. Quickly hiding her face from the door.
"What's wrong Yung? Did you see someone you know?" Ching Ching questioned.
"SHHHH!!! Don't talk so loud." she whispered loudly.
"Must be an ex-boyfriend huh? Oh come now, he's not that bad looking." Fei Lap teased. When he overheard the waiter talking to the guest and saying that their restaurant was full. Fei Lap decided to speak up "You can join us if you want." he looked directly at the guest and turning back to Yung as he smiled micheviously.
The young guy gave him a friendly smile as he took a seat next to Yung. He looked around at the table and his face went pale when he saw her, he was about to say something when she blurted out angrily "Gor!! What are you doing here?"
He looked a little confuse as he looked around the table. The color in his face slowly came back "Mui, Father's been looking everywhere for you. What are you doing here?"
"I...I met some friends." Yung tried to change the subject as she smiled "This is Heung Fei Lap, Heung Dai Gor and this is Ching Ching. Don't stare at her too long or she'll rip your eyes out." she whispered to her brother.
Ching Ching laughed "Thats right, I hate to get special attention." playfully hitting Yung on the arm.
"Its nice to meet you. Im..." he paused as if thinking about something "Wong Ga Lok (Nick Cheung, special appearance)".
"Wong Hing." Fei Lap nodded politely "You two don't look anything alike. Are you sure she's your sister?" he was teasing but the two looked offended as they replied.
"OF COURSE!!" they said simultaneously.
Fei Lap held up his hands in defense "Hey, hey, I was just teasing. Hmm..now that I think of it, Ching Ching, you think they have the same nose or eyes?" nodding his head playfully at the two obviously embarrassed people.
Ching Ching smiled slyly as she leaned in closer to Fei Lap to answer him "I think its the lips, both a little thick and it curls up when they get mad." the two burst out laughing.
"Its not funny!!" Yung cried out as she raced up to her room.
Ching Ching and Fei Lap looked at each other suprisingly "Wow, I didn't expect that." he commented.
Ching Ching nodded "I joked worse with her and she didn't even get mad. I'll go see how she's doing. You guys talk." putting her veil back on as she followed Yung.
Fei Lap watched her go upstairs safely, he turned back to Ga Lok who had a questioning face. "What happened to her face, if I may ask?"
"It was burned when she was five. She's lived with it most of her life." he shrugged his shoulder and continued "I can't imagine how any other girl would react to that. But Ching Ching is so strong, she really doesn't care what people think. Her personality will grow on you."
Ga Lok smiled "You know alot about her don't you? I can tell you are quite fond of her too."
Fei Lap stopped smiling "Of course not, she's just like a sister to me. We grew up in the same village."
"Well, if thats what you say. How did you meet my sister?" he noticed that was a touchy subject for Fei Lap. He didn't want to make the guy uncomfortable, afterall he had more questions that needed to be answered.
"Its a long story." he picked up his cup of tea and gulped it down.
"I have all the time in the world. Actually, you'll see more of me now. I'm not letting her get away from me." his words were kind of harsh, but Fei Lap didn't seem to notice as he told the new friend about their encounter with Yung.
**********
Upstairs, Ching Ching knocked on the door to her shared room before she entered. Opening the door carefully as she looked around for Yung, who she found was sprawled out on the bed. Her face still red with anger. "Yung, what's wrong? Why are you so mad?" she asked with concern.
"I don't like it when people make fun of my face!" as soon as she said it, she remembered Ching Ching's scarred face. She abruptly sat up and saw Ching Ching's head facing towards the floor "Im sorry. I didn't mean to remind you.."
Ching Ching smiled as she shook her head "No, its okay. Im use to it." she took a seat next to Yung "You know, sometimes I ask God why he gave me this ugly face? It hurts when people make fun of me. But now that I think about it, its actually a blessing."
Yung smiled at her friend, she was so much stronger than any girl she ever knew "Why?" she was always interested in what Ching Ching had to say. Eventhough her first impression of her wasn't that good, she eventually grew on her.
"Well, I see it as a test almost. He's testing my strength and induration. I have come to realize that my face will probably never heal but I really don't care. Its almost a good thing because people won't pay too much attention to you since they are more embarrassed to see such an ugly face." she looked away as she continued "Beauty isn't the best thing in the world." her words were soft.
Yung looked at her with pure admiration "You are very different, you know that?"
Ching Ching returned the smile "Come on, lets join them downstairs. Im sure he has alot to ask you."
Yung quickly layed down on her bed "Nooooo, Im too tired. Can we just sleep and talk tomorrow?" her eyes pleading.
"Okay." Ching Ching too blew out the candle as she fell asleep on her own bed.
SIUBINGLIBRARY