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#526
21-03-2017, 01:23 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
Kate : hey…
Jake ; Hey… Kate : Excited ?? …. Jake : Why ? … I’m not the one in the election… Kate : Haha… but it’s your first time seeing something like this happening no ? … I nodded my head and Kate took it upon herself to orientate me around. Kate : follow me… She explained as we went about the compound. The round tables in the middle of the tent were meant for the men and staff of the elders. Since they were not allowed to enter the voting area, that would be where they wait. The rectangle tables surrounding the sides, those were meant for food and refreshments. Jake : Errr….. ok…. I can tell…. I mean the food is all there… Kate : Keep quiet…. And listen… It’s been known that things would get rowdy during elections. Fights do break out at times and with so many people around, there were instances food caterers were injured as a result. Kate : So…. If anything happens… stay on the rectangle tables… it’s a unspoken rule…. Jake : Orh… so those around round tables can wack… rectangle ones leave alone… Kate : Something like that…. We entered the house and I could see 3 tables set up in the middle of the living area. A table of 8 right up front and 2 tables of 10 flanking each side. On the table of 8 for the elders, there were 2 tokens in the shape of a octagon coin. One in silver, the other in bronze. Kate told me that Silver is for Ah Keong while Andy is bronze. Kate : There’s nothing significance to the materials, it was drawn via a toss of a coin. A red box stood on a dragon pillar about 1.2m tall. Kate : That’s the voting box. … you cast your votes in there…. Inside the box, there will be 2 compartments for you to drop your vote. You go up, drop the token of the candidate you want and you keep the other. Jake : Who reads the vote ? Kate : A neutral observer from overseas…. Usually one of the VIP… Kate then pointed to this imaginary boundary that started from a 1.5m tall white vase with blue crane paintings to the other side of the living room where a similar vase stood. Kate : This is the line…. No one crosses this line the moment the elders are all seated…. Jake : Where will you be ? Kate pointed to a spot at the corner just behind the line. Kate : There… you can still see the action from there…. Jake : Can I stay with you ?? Kate : Of course… you’re my boyfriend right.. hahaa.. I laughed and we heard some commotion at the entrance. Someone has arrived. Umbrellas were out and about, at least 6 black umbrellas went up, sheltering the guest from the sun as he or she was led into the house. I could hear people speaking in dialect and Chinese and as they got closer, Kate told me that was her granduncle. Fungye. Kate : Always the first…. Always the earliest. Fungye had to be in his mid to late seventies by now. He walked with the help of a walking stick and he had several aides by his side. His skin is tanned and wrinkled. His eyebrow were almost white, with random strands of black. Fungye had a permanent grin on his face. A sinister grin if you read more into it. He took his seat at the VIP spot together with 2 of his men and the rest went outside. Gabriel arrived and ran into the hall, immediately heading forward to greet his granduncle, he gestured to Kate to join him and she did. They spoke for less than a minute and all I saw Fungye do was nod his head and smile. His smile creeps me out. 11.45am King arrived with 6 of his staff. He entered and greeted Fungye warmly. 12pm Terry came together with Suwen. He’s the only one that had little to nil manpower under his charge. With a struggling sunset business, a blood sucking wife, it’s a wonder he managed to remain a elder for so long. 12.10pm There was more commotion at the gate. I went out to take a look and I saw 3 cars pulling up one after another. The occupants stepped out together with their aides and more black umbrellas went up into the air. When the 1st guest stepped into the house, I literally had the air knock out of my lungs. She is so fucking beautiful. She had to be at least 1.7m tall and when she smiled, I could see all the men in the room turn. There was this sweetness to her that reminded me of some pretty female lead in Taiwan dramas. Those with the sweet squeaky voice but when she spoke, you can tell she meant business. Gabriel walked briskly towards this lady and shook hands with her. I heard Gabriel call her Tracy. Tracy : 几时来台湾玩 ? ( When are you coming to Taiwan to have fun ? ) Gabriel shook Tracy’s hands and from his body language alone, you could tell he accorded Tracy a lot of respect despite being at least a decade older than her. He told her once he frees up some time, he will head over and buy her a meal. Tracy wore a power pant suit and every gesture she made, every move, every turn, she oozes confidence and charisma. It’s like she could move the entire stock market if she wished. Tracy was surrounded by no less than 6 men, mean looking young chaps with no expressions on their faces. Right behind Tracy’s entrance, 2 more guys entered. They spoke with each other softly and they looked to be about my age as well. In fact, they looked like one of the young executives you see in town. The only difference is the number of people that they have by their side catering to their every whim and fancy. Gabriel went forward too to shake their hands. Gabriel : Ollie….. hi…. Leonard…. Long time no see… They shook hands with a smile and Gabriel ushered them to their seats. Tracy, Leonard and Ollie sat at the table on the right, while Fungye sat on the table to the left. Gabriel gestured to Kate and she went over. I could hear Gabriel introducing Kate as his sister from where I stood. Gabriel : My sister Kate… . she hasn’t had a chance to meet you guys yet…. My jaws almost dropped when I heard him do the introductions to Kate. Gabriel : Tracy from 竹聯 ( United Bamboo ) ,Ollie from 四海 ( 4 seas ) , and Leonard from 天道 ( Heaven way alliance ) …. You got to be seriously shitting me. Kate shook hands with them and made some small talks. More commotions at the gate and when I turned, I could see Ah Keong coming with his men. True enough, he turned up with close to 30 men as they crowded the entrance, staring down Johari and his men. You could feel the hostility in the air. Neighbours from across and opposite sides of the roads gathered, curious as to what was happening in the usually quiet house. Uncle Ben came into the hall and Andy arrived shortly as well. 12.45 pm. Lucy arrived with her entourage of girls, inviting wolf whistles and stares from the gathering of men. Huimin and Jane were there too and they eyed me with a cheeky stare before giving me a wink. Kate was standing right beside me and she immediately asked. Kate : You explain that Jake ok…. You explain that….. if the say comes you really becomes my boyfriend…. I swallowed a gulp of saliva and I pretended not to hear her. Lucy entered with Bill behind her, looking every graceful and pretty. Roland brought up the rear with 3 of his guys and the gate was closed. For a good 20 minutes, all the elders and the guest mingled in the hallway, much like the reception before a wedding banquet. Introductions were made, small talks a plenty. I tried to listen in to as much of the conversation as I could. The invisible boundary was not being observed at the moment. It was the perfect time for me to snoop around. 
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#527
21-03-2017, 01:25 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
I saw my parents desperately waving at me from the entrance, gesturing for me to get out of the hall but I ignored them.
I picked up short snippets from Roland talking to Ollie about business. I heard Lucy and Tracy talked about beauty products. I heard Andy talking to Leonard about stocks and oil prices. Suwen was trying desperately to avoid eye contact with King and me. 1.20pm There was a jingle of a bell, much like the dinner bell and people started heading back to their seats. The moment the elders started taking their seat, Johari and Herman gestured and pushed the crowd back behind the invisible boundary. An old man who looked like he just crawled out of his grave came from the back of the house and I assumed he’s the one chairing the election. Terry : UNCLE PO !!!... helloe !!!.. ahaha… The old man waved weakly as he wobbled to the front of the pillar where the box was. I tried to recall the current tally as my fingers fought hard not to tremble . Gabriel, Andy, Ben, and if Lucy kept her promise, we have secured 4 votes for Andy on this end. Terry, King and Ah Keong is definitely on the same side. Which leaves us Roland. He’s a wild card. Base on our past conversation, he would likely vote for Ah Keong, which meant the election would turn up to be a tie. If that happens, Fungye would have the last laugh. I did something very stupid that day. Very very stupid. Uncle Po : Alright…. You all know the drill…. Let’s not waste time… Terry : SWEE LA….. don’t waste time… let’s do it… ! Uncle Po held onto the red cloth covering the box and pulled it off signalling the start of the election. Gabriel was the first to stand up. He cast his vote under the watchful eyes of the guest and fellow elders, dropping the token into a small slit at the top of the box. Terry walked towards the box with a swagger and dropped his in too. King got up the same time as Ben but Ben gestured and allowed King to go on ahead. Ah Keong went next followed by Andy. Roland and Lucy eyed each other for a brief moment before Roland gestured with his hand, allowing Lucy to cast her vote first. Lucy got up and made her vote as she gave me a look from across the hall. Kate caught that too. Kate : Add that to the list of explanations… and don’t pretend you never hear me… I swallow another mouthful of saliva. My heart started to race and my palms were starting to sweat. Uncle Po got up, sealed the box with his red cloth. Uncle Po : And now…. For the results… I was trying really hard not to shake. It’s not because I was nervous or anything, I’m not the one running in the election. I fingered the 9th vote in my pocket as Uncle Po invited Tracy up to tally the votes. My heart was slamming against my ribcage as I prayed that Roland or perhaps King or anyone, anyone would change their mind and vote for Andy. Tracy walked up gracefully towards Uncle Po and he gestured her towards the box. It’s 8 votes. 8 tokens. 8 pieces of token in a box the size of your regular cake box. You don’t need a long time to count. In fact, you don’t even need to count. Tracy went up, she was smiling initially but as she removed the cover of the box and the moment her eyes saw the votes at the bottom of the box, her smile was gone. This cannot be good. I reached into my pocket and fingered the 9th vote, praying and praying for a miracle. Tracy’s eyes looked up from the box and all eyes were on her. The hall fell so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Terry broke the silence first. Terry : Hurry up la !!.. just declare Ah Keong the winner… ahaha Ben : Diam la… haven even count the vote you think you sure win ah… Tracy’s men, sensing something was wrong began to stand up from their seat but she gestured for them to sit back down. Ah Keong’s fist were clenched. Gabriel looked nervous. Then Tracy’s eyes met Fungye’s line of sight and he started laughing. He laughed and he laughed and he laughed. Fungye : hahah..hahahahaha…whahahahahahah….. ahahahahahahahaha …. Ah Keong stood up from the table and demanded to know who won. Ah Keong : Tell us … NOW!!! … who won !!!!! Terry : YAH.. WHO !! …?? WHO won ?? Tracy replied in a voice as cold as the freezing touch of death itself as she reached in and retrieved all the tokens at once. Tracy : Everybody lose… The hall fell silent and the only sound that came was from Fungye. A low growling laugh, like the wheezing of a hyena. He laughed. And he laughed. And he laughed… .. ......................................
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#528
21-03-2017, 01:54 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
Arghhhhhhh, another cliffhanger....!!!!! My heart can't take it la.. Hahaha..
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#529
21-03-2017, 02:04 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 suspense bro
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#531
21-03-2017, 07:40 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
Wah liao. Only bro ilock can keep us in suspense like this... may the one with the 9th vote win 😀😀
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#534
21-03-2017, 08:48 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
Awesome story!! camping for more
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#535
21-03-2017, 09:28 AM
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Quote:
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#536
21-03-2017, 09:43 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
holy dumpling hahaha bro Ilock the suspend is killing i can hear the laughter echo in my head
__________________
sent me an angel with a pair of lovely legs in hosiery
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#539
21-03-2017, 10:29 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
Damn good story man.
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#540
21-03-2017, 10:42 AM
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Re: My adventure as a hawker
Very nice story
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