Time flies by so quickly and one day, we received an invitation from Ah Moi Kor to Lotus' engagement ceremony to be held at the hill temple. It would be a simple ceremony with prayers to the Goddess Kuan Yin to seek her blessings for a happy and fruitful marriage. Head Nun, Ah Ying and myself had been invited and although Head Nun would have preferred not to go due to the cool climate in the hills, Ah Moi Kor insisted on her presence for the happy occasion.
So one morning, a few days before the engagement was due to take place, the three of us made our way to the hill temple, with Ah Ying as our driver as usual.
Chief Nun, Ah Moi Kor and Lotus were waiting at the gate of the temple when we arrived. It was good to see them again and I was happy to see that Ah Moi Kor now looked so cheerful. Head Nun and Ah Ying were shown to their room, while I put up in the storeroom upstairs as before. Lotus now shared a room with her mother, so I had the place all to myself.
All this while, I had noticed that Lotus had been rather quiet; getting married is such a big affair for the humans and I hoped the whole thing had not put a strain on her.
We all went to bed after that as it had been a long day. I curled up near the window so that I could see the surrounding hills. Oh it was so nice and peaceful and I immediately fell asleep.
Hong came the next day as arranged and was accompanied by his older brother, Koh. He apologized for his parents who were unable to come as they had to meet an important customer. They run a shop selling traditional Chinese medicines and herbs and on one of his deliveries to the temple, Hong had seen Lotus and fallen in love with her.
I was quite impressed by Hong. He was tall, good looking and had wavy black hair and a fair complexion, not forgetting impeccable manners. Chief Nun invited him and his brother to lunch and after that, they sat down to discuss with Ah Moi Kor the arrangements for the wedding which was also going to be held at the temple. Since I was not involved, I went up to my room to do some meditation.
Then I heard a knock on the door. It was Lotus. "Vege Cat, may I talk to you?" she asked.
"Of course, Lotus, come right in."
She sat down and suddenly started crying.
"Lotus! What's the matter?" I asked, startled.
"Vege Cat," she wailed. "I don't want to get married!"
"What?" I gasped. "But everything's arranged ... I thought you like Hong ...."
"Hong may be a nice man but I don't love him. Besides, I'm quite happy as I am, living in the temple. I get up early, feed the birds, water the plants, prepare breakfast for the nuns and so on. I love the peace and solitude of the temple, I wouldn't want to exchange it for a boring life of a wife and householder with two or three noisy kids climbing all over me everyday!"
"Lotus, have you told your Mama how you feel?"
She shook her head. "It would upset her if I did and I wouldn't be a filial daughter if I didn't obey her wishes. Oh I don't know what to do...."
Unfortunately I'm not some kind of counsellor for humans, I only understand cats and cats are totally different from humans. All I could advise her now was to think over the matter carefully before calling the whole thing off.
Lotus sighed and said she would think about it. Well, she had to make a decision soon, the day of the engagement ceremony was fast approaching....
The next few days were full of anxiety not only for Lotus but for me. She still hadn't told her mother and I wondered whether I should be a busybody and tell Chief Nun or Head Nun or maybe both so that they could inform Ah Moi Kor. But my sixth sense told me not to interfere, Lotus is a good girl and divine providence will take good care of her.
On the eve of the engagement ceremony, everyone was agog with excitement except for Lotus. All the paraphernalia for the prayers to be held the next morning had been prepared and Ah Moi Kor was beaming with joy, so much so she didn't notice the crestfallen face of her daughter.
A special dinner of vegetarian dishes ordered from a restaurant had been prepared for that evening and Hong, Koh and their parents were to arrive at 6 p.m. sharp. There were three tables altogether for dinner, all covered with red tablecloth as befitting the happy occasion. Head Nun, Ah Ying and myself were to sit at the main table with Chief Nun, Ah Moi Kor, Lotus and Hong and family.
While waiting for our guests, we chattered idly about this and that. It was already 6.30 and there was still no sign of them. Ah Moi Kor, looking very worried, said that they had probably been delayed for some reason or other. None of us had a mobile phone, so we could not contact Hong. The nuns had in the past always relied on someone going over to his house to pass on messages.
Finally, at around 7 p.m. a rather pale looking Koh arrived at the temple. Everybody crowded around him and asked what happened. He looked at Lotus, then at Ah Moi Kor, then said in a quivering voice, "I'm ... I'm sorry, the engagement's off!
We heard Ah Moi Kor gasp, then she demanded, "What do you mean, young man? How dare you speak such nonsense!"
Koh replied with downcast eyes, "Hong's former girlfriend recently returned from overseas, they renewed their friendship and eloped to Singapore this morning."
There was a stunned silence. Ah Moi Kor swayed on her feet, unable to believe her ears. To think that her only daughter should suffer almost the same fate as she did was too much for her to bear. She fell in a dead faint onto the floor. Koh helped to carry her to her room and Lotus sat with her until she came to. For the next few days, she stayed in her room feeling feverish and unwell. Nothing could console her even though Lotus told her she was not in the least bit bothered by what Hong had done. In fact she told me secretly that it was the best thing that could have happened!
In the circumstances, Head Nun felt it would not be right if we didn't stay on until Ah Moi Kor felt better and sent Ah Ying back first to inform the nuns that our return home had been delayed by a few days. Fortunately Ah Moi Kor recovered in another few days but was still angry and upset, which we gathered was due mainly to "loss of face".
Hong's parents of course felt bad and tried to make amends by sending Koh with packets of Chinese herbs for Ah Moi Kor to take and build up her strength. Koh personally taught Lotus how to brew the herbs and he turned out to be a nice, caring young man, very concerned for her mother. Soon they developed a friendship which eventually blossomed into love 💕.
Thankfully the story has a happy ending. Koh proposed to Lotus who happily accepted. Ah Moi Kor who had sworn she would never have anything more to do with Koh's family, relented on seeing how happy her daughter was. So she still gained a son-in-law and new auspicious dates were chosen for the couple's engagement and wedding.
"So Head Nun, we did it again!" I said when we were back home. "Another happy ending!"
"Don't get too carried away, Vege Cat!" warned Head Nun. "We are but mere instruments in the Lord Buddha's hands and we should be grateful to Him when everything turns out well."
I couldn't find anything to add on to that except nod my agreement.
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