Hli Ja would be working as a cook in the kitchen for the upcoming weeks as the restaurant would be short of staff. Like that, the first week went by smoothly. After she was done at the restaurant, she would go home and help her grandma sell herbal medicines. They had a small herbal shop in front of their home. Some herbal medicines, they bought and traded with traveling merchants. For some herbal medicines, Hli Ja made a trip to the wilderness mountains to collect them.
One sunny afternoon on the third day into the second week, a heavenly handsome young man and two other men passed through the city. They checked-in at an inn a few buildings down the road from Lotus Flower Restaurant. They checked in at their inn and ordered lunch to be brought in to their room. The men were talking about their investigation and sharing intel they gathered during their travels.
That late afternoon, the group planned to scout the town since they were there already. They walked out of their inn and strolled down the busy street. After they passed through Lotus Flower Restaurant entrance, Hli Ja burst out of the restaurant entrance. A server chased after her carrying a bag of food, "Wait! Bring this to your grandma!" The server yelled as she gave chase.
Hli Ja stopped and turned around to receive the bag. "Thank you Mai. I'll see you tomorrow." She sped off. She was in a hurry to get back and help her grandma tend to the shop so she didn't idle for long.
The handsome young man froze feeling electric shock through his heart when he heard Hli Ja's voice. He turned around as soon as he heard her, but by the time he turned around, she was off running farther away. He looked at her back for a moment and looked up at the sign of the restaurant.
His bodyguard went up to him. "My Lord, do you want to eat here?"
Prince Mua Kong resumed back to reality. He shook his head. "Not today. Let's come to have lunch here tomorrow." With that, they strolled off to tour the town.
The next day around noon, Prince Mua Kong and his two bodyguards came to Lotus Flower Restaurant to have lunch. They reserved a private room as they might have other important information to discuss during their lunch.
A while later, there was a gentle knock on the door and a female server came in with a tray full of food. There were several dishes on the tray she carried. While she arranged the dishes on the table, Mua Kong briefly glanced at the female server but she seemed older and was someone he was unfamiliar with.
The whole time they were eating, Mua Kong observed the floor below them to see if any of the workers down there could be Hli Ja, but to his disappointment, neither the food nor the workers that went in and out of the room were familiar to him. He had been searching for her whereabouts for the last six years with no result so he wouldn't deny that he might have hallucinated that the voice he heard the night before was similar to hers.
He sighed, thinking that he had gone crazy and continued to sip his tea.
"My Lord, do you need something?" One of his personal bodyguards asked.
With a spaced-out look as if his mind was distracted but he tried hard to bring himself back to reality, Mua Kong replied, "Let's leave the city after lunch."
After the three finished their food, one of the personal bodyguards took out some money and left the money on the table. The three men got up and left the restaurant to their carriage waiting outside on the street.
On their way out of the town, across from the canal, they could hear voices of a man and a woman yelling at each other.
"Stop," Mua Kong shouted from the carriage. The two bodyguards who sat outside in front of the carriage controlling the two horses stopped the carriage. They turned to their left to look at the commotion across the canal.
That voice... Mua Kong furrowed his eyes as he peeked through the window. It sounded like the voice he heard yesterday. When they looked over, they saw from the side, a beautiful lady with long luscious hair in a bright yellow dress slapped the hand of a man off her.
"Tou Lw, get lost! I don't want to see your face," she screamed as she puffed with anger.
"My father is the wealthiest man in this town, I can give you everything. All women want to throw themselves at me! You should've been honored to be chosen by me," he said conceitedly.
She looked at the man up and down in disdain and replied, "I don't like you even if you own all the wealth in the world. This is my last warning." She turned around and headed towards town.
Tou Lw was raged on getting turned down. He took a few steps past the lady and blocked her path. "What's so good about Cher Pheng? His father only owns a small restaurant. I can shut down that place anytime!" He threatened and that infuriated the woman.
She was furious when he threatened to hurt her good friend. She raised her hand to slap him but he grabbed her wrist and inched closer to her. She took two steps to her side trying to back away and avoided the proximity from Tou Lw. Her back was now facing the group across the canal.
"Let me go." She struggled to get out of his grip and tried to yank her hand out of Tou Lw's grasp. She used all her might. She stepped backward and pulled her hand from him. When her hand slipped out from Tou Lw's grasp, she couldn't stop herself from tumbling backward, lost her footing, leaned backward and fell right into the canal. That part was the deepest part as it was the entrance part of the canal entering into the city.
"Yee Len!" Mua Kong yelled. His personal bodyguard jumped off from the carriage and dived into the canal to rescue the lady.