The Miracle Cure - Pt. 2

How time flies!  Lotus' baby, Fulin turned one month a few days ago and we were all very excited when Koh and Lotus visited us with the baby yesterday.  Koh had borrowed his father's car to drive all the way down from the hill and they arrived at the temple in the late morning. 

They brought with them a basket of red coloured eggs and "ang koo" (tortoise kueh) which are usually distributed by the parents of a new born baby to relatives and friends.  This is in accordance with Chinese tradition when the baby reaches one month old.  

Everyone cooed over the baby who being very shy, cried non-stop but amazingly, when he saw me, he stopped crying and gurgled with laughter!  I think it's because he hasn't seen a cat before - he pulled my whiskers, my ears and of course my tail until Lotus had to stop him!

After lunch, Koh brought the baby back to their hotel to sleep while Lotus stayed behind to chat with us.  It was good to see her so bright and happy now that Koh had recovered from his illness.  Koh made it a point to thank me personally on his arrival for curing him but as I told him, I am just an instrument of the Buddha and it was He who gave the prescription that healed him.

We went to the sitting room to relax and Head Nun inquired whether there was any news of Koh's brother, Hong who had eloped to China sometime ago with a woman.  Lotus became very excited and said she had an interesting story to tell us.

"Before we came here, we brought Fulin to see his Ah Kong and Ah Ma (grandpa and grandma).  Though Ah Kong was happy to see his first grandchild, I could see that deep down inside, he still missed Hong. We heard that he had asked his friends in China to trace his whereabouts but they were not successful .  China is a big country and he could be anywhere."

Lotus paused here, then continued.  "While we were talking and playing with Fulin, the maid announced that there was a woman at the gate asking to see Ah Kong.  He was surprised and said he wasn't expecting visitors but all the same told the maid to let her in.

The woman was about 35 or so and very beautiful.  She was well dressed and you could see that she came from a rich family.  She introduced herself as "Rose" - and then came the bombshell!"

"What happened?" we all cried in excitement.

"She told Ah Kong that she is Hong's girlfriend with whom he had run away to China. You could have seen the shock on Ah Kong's face!  Then he gathered himself together and said angrily, "How dare you come here!  You tricked my son into following you back to China and you have the gall to come here and show your face! Kindly leave at once!"

None of us dared to breathe a word and you could hear a pin drop in the silence that followed. Then the woman smiled and said calmly, "Hong is helping me with my charitable work in Beijing.  He likes the work and is very busy otherwise he would have followed me here."

Ah Kong snorted.  "How do I know you're telling the truth?  Why have you come here anyway?  You have made me a laughing stock in front of everyone!"

The woman then took out a visiting card.  She handed it to Ah Kong and asked him to read the name on it.  

Ah Kong took the card, then read the name out loud: "

Koo Cheng Hock

Managing Partner

Love All Charities

Beijing

The name sounds familiar, we heard Ah Kong mutter.  Then Rose said, "My father was your classmate in Hong Kong University but had lost contact with you for many years."

"Of course, now I remember...we were always doing things together, bicycling, tennis, swimming...." said Ah Kong.  "You mean .... you're his daughter?"

Rose nodded, then said, "Do you remember the day you both went swimming?  My father had swum out far into the sea, then suddenly got a cramp and nearly drowned.  You immediately jumped in and brought him safely back to the shore.  My father told me you saved his life and that's why I am here - to express my deepest gratitude.  I am also truly sorry if I have caused you pain."

Then to everyone's surprise, she knelt down before Ah Kong and bowed, her forehead touching the ground.  Ah Kong was so flabbergasted that he didn't know what to do.  It was Ah Ma who gently raised her up and led her to sit on the sofa.

Everyone turned to look at Ah Kong expecting him to say something.  Ah Kong cleared his throat, then said, "All this happened a long time ago.  How did you find out about it?"

Rose said that Hong had mentioned Ah Kong's name to her father whilst in conversation and that was when the whole story came out.  Her father was delighted to have re-discovered his old friend and so sent Rose to see him since he was too old to travel any more.

There was an awkward silence after that. Then Ah Ma timidly asked, "Are you and Hong married?"

Rose blushed, then said, "No, we are only good friends.  We work well together and we're planning to build a home for the poor and elderly in a small village near Beijing.""

Lotus ended her story here saying that Hong's parents forgave Rose and she left with the promise that she and Hong  would be back to see them soon.

Hong did come back to see his father about a month later but to the old man's disappointment, said he wanted to continue his charity work in China for some time before he would consider coming home for good.  

Well I suppose one can't always get what one wants but at least two families have come together and there's promise of greater things to come.