Bab 172: Ramlee’s Personal Fights (Malaysia Day Special Release)
The aunty felt quite spent today since she was so industrious. However, it didn't end just yet. She still had two leftover tapioca tubers left, while the sweet potatoes were still untouched. Although these tubers had been removed from the soil for quite some hours, they still emit a faint glow; an indication that the spiritual energy within was still preserved. Hana stopped her pets from processing all tapioca tubers because she planned to try processing them into flour.
Tapioca flour was actually very useful in many ways; Hana used it a lot at home previously. A small amount of tapioca flour mixed with water will act as a thickener for any kind of thick gravy and soups. Hence, it was actually one of the most important ingredients in making Egg Drop soup. Mixed it with various ground meat will yield an endless variation of fish balls, chicken balls, or meatballs. In the future, she could further dry up the combined meat paste and tapioca flour, sliced them thinly, and turned them into deep-fried chips! If she mixed tapioca flour with rice flour, she could even make laksa noodles (1). Too useful!
She took out her Clawknife and sliced the skinned tapioca tubers thinly while humming under her breath. Although she felt tired, as a good housewife, she was used to push herself a little bit more to settle unfinished chores. In this case, she would like to finish the final part before taking her much needed afternoon nap. The tiredness from her trip to the Waterwave Clan's ground still didn't diminish after one night of rest. Additionally, it was very tiring to posture as a 'Big Boss' in front of a big crowd. Hana wasn't used to it. She couldn't even pick her nose as she liked.
Soon, row after row of thinly sliced tapioca tubers were laid down and arranged systematically by Elemental Fiends at the topmost floor of their renovated abode. The floor had been layered with large leaves previously following the aunty's instruction. Five fire-attributed purple Elemental Fiends became the 'caretakers' of that floor. Instantly, the average temperature of the floor increased quite a few notches. All the work only took a short moment to complete with these handy helpers.
Hana inspected her handiwork and the arrangements on the second floor. She nodded in satisfaction while feeling pleased with herself. Once dried up well, it only took a little bit of repeated grinding and sieving. She had so many workers now to help her later in the evening. That will just have to wait.
She laid down happily and hugged the already snoring Pi-chan tightly before drifting to sleep almost immediately. F1 stood vigil beside her while warming her up a little by increasing the temperature slightly within the cave.
Today was such a rewarding day.
…
While the Mistress napped sweetly within her abode, the freshwater creatures diligently practiced while utilizing mud and leaves around them. This time, their passion and assertiveness were akin to the blazing sun in the afternoon. Additionally, the arrogant avian Nobles landed and squeezed themselves shamelessly to try out practicing Micro Control.
Lord Shiro was so exasperated, he had to bark at them to stop! They were as big as houses! These pitiful minnows were like rodents in their eyes, while others were like roaches! When they squeezed in, naturally the freshwater creatures had to vacate themselves from the clearing.
After some discussion that involved shameless pleadings and exhortations from the spirit Avian's side, Shiro finally let them join the practice session temporarily to stop them from harassing him. However, he didn't make any promises and made these birds understand a few ground rules. Whatever the Mistress' said, goes. Obviously, the birds could not stay if the Mistress was opposed to the current arrangement.
Hence, the clearing was used in full capacity when the large spirit Avians landed to occupy some space for practice. Before anything else, some precious trees at the edge of the clearing had been ruined or rooted out from their casual flaps. Shiro looked over exasperatedly while feeling defeated.
He knew Mom would be furious once she woke up.
…
Arash looked over his smartphone and scroll through previous messages with Hana absentmindedly.
New ones hadn't arrived yet. He wasn't really browsing through the messages. His mind was currently elsewhere. His eyes were filled with a mixture of confusion, emptiness, and pain. It's already morning, and the sun has been shining through the gaps of the haya rather intensely. But he wasn't planning to go out just yet.
He couldn't sleep at all since last night as he was reminded by what happened…
How was he going to explain to Hana?
This remained a question that he himself couldn't answer.
…
"Tok, please calm down. I need this gentleman's help, and he's unavailable after six hours from now. Please~" Arash pleaded with a helpless look as he moved to the cranky old man's back. Arash shamelessly tapped the furious Spiritual Healer's back diligently. It has become something like a habit to appease the elder quickly.
Besides giving Tok Silihan loads of good rice, Arash could identify that the second way to flatter him was by massaging his back. Thank goodness it worked as the old man visibly stop stomping the nearly broken down haya and sat down to enjoy the amateurish back-tapping massage. He wondered, did the elder really felt anything since he's so strong?
"Humph! At least someone remembered to show their gratefulness and mind their manners towards an elder!" Tok Silihan continued to trash-talk, but he was slowly cooling down. He felt great that at least someone appreciate his efforts and tried to flatter him rather than oppose him. However, he had never let others approached his back besides this ugly boy. He couldn't help but feel only amiable towards this fellow; he suspected he had gotten soft-hearted due to old age. He accidentally flung a clansman who wanted to do the same thing to him a few days back. It made him shocked too as he fell deep into contemplation afterwards.
Arash really wanted to cry.
What if the minister lose his temper in the argument and refuse to cooperate from being offended by Tok Silihan's laser mouth? Or worse, walked away and return immediately? The heli was just a few steps away.
The minister was shocked by the show as his mouth was agape in wonderment. Still, he quickly recovered and plastered an understanding signature smile that all politicians were proficient with. However, the edge of his mouth twitched just a little bit; it seemed that his ancestor had found a new favorite. They looked more like a family than him with the elder.
Dato' Ramlee cleared his throat, "Mr. Arash is right. Let's get down to business." Without waiting for Tok Silihan to reply, he immediately called his attendant to bring in a big black canister. Inside, a few big, detailed maps of the region were unfurled and placed on the haya's floor. Each map was the size of an A2 paper. It seemed that he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. After all, he was really out of time.
"Tok Batin, let me show you the previous old map you requested." He flipped through the maps and pulled out one, and placed it on top. "It took me a while to find it. Most maps have been digitized, but since a hardcopy is better in our case, my contacts have dug deeper into the National Archive to find the originals and make a number of copies. Those originals were made way back in 1900 by the Brits (2). They are national treasures."
Tok Silihan snorted unhappily from being cut off just like that by his rude descendant, but he still bent down to see the map. He scrutinized for a while and finally coughed bashfully!
He didn't really know how to read a map!
It was just made of lines and more lines!
He felt like being slapped hard.
"Boy, take out your new map. Show to him. Both of you point to our current location and mark it. Let me see." Tok Silihan point and poked at the minister's shoulder rudely.
"I already did last time, Tok. Still didn't remove the mark. The mark where my wife disappeared is also still there." Arash pointed to a spot with dense cluster of shoplots and houses.
Dato' Ramlee walked over to Arash's side to see the new map with concern. It seemed that this young man really was looking for a missing family member. Nobody told him anything around here! He started making calculations and adjustments while discussing with his attendant. Finally, he made a new mark on the old map confidently. It was in the middle of a forest beside a river! It was vastly different from the current modern map!
Arash scrutinized the map with a bewildered look.
Although it looked like the mark was quite far apart compared to the ones on the new map, Dato' Ramlee had explained that it was due to the scale of the map. After all, the maps he provided were more detailed ones. He also added that this kind of body of water may change or dried up with time. After all, the map was really old. However, he too didn't understand why the elder would want to look at the geography of the areas before the development of the new town.
Ramlee started describing the topography of the marked area from the old map while Tok Silihan pondered seriously, his face getting darker and darker. He then told the kids outside to call for Tok Jaya to confirm something.
"There really is a cave over here previously." Elder Jaya confirmed the details with Tok Silihan, Dato' Ramlee, and Arash once he arrived. He tapped the marked location with his index finger with confusion. It was really in the area of the shoplots.
He continued, "However, it was demolished quite some time ago. I think it occurred around the time the location was developed into a town around ten years ago."
Another potential lead came to an end.
Elder Jaya had explained to Arash that within the last two weeks, all the Elders including Tok Batin had organized a search team multiple times. They went deeper and deeper into the forest reserve and especially checked all available caves they knew. No humans were found at all, and nothing was out of the ordinary. Although skeptical with the information provided by Arash, the ace trackers still went deep due to the Elders' insistence. Mr. Arash was, after all, the golden 'child' favored by their Spiritual Healer.
Hearing the bad news had made Arash felt despair at a deeper level.
He thought that the clue was so close. He didn't understand why Tok Silihan put his hopes up like this.
Seeing how the fellow's eyes dimmed visibly in front of him, Dato' Ramlee's gaze softened. He placed his hand over Arash' shoulder with concern, "Have you make a police report? I will try my best to use my contacts and ask around for you, if you don't mind."
This sad fellow truly missed his missing wife. He needed all the moral support to keep on having hope and faith. It was the least that he could do. Additionally, he seemed to be deeply favored by his own elder. It was so obvious since Tok Batin Silihan had never bothered to contact him at all as if treating him like he was dead. However, for the sake of this unknown man, he was forced to leave his neverending work and come here at Tok Batin Silihan's beck and call.
Oblivious to the minister's internal turmoil, Arash nodded gratefully, "Thank you so much, Dato' (3). My brother-in-law works in the Police Department. He tried for so long but still fail in the end. We really didn't know where she is at the moment. We really need all the help that we can."
After discussing for a while, they exchange their personal contacts. Arash promised to send over the details about his missing wife, while the minister promised to look into it once he receives the information.
Tok Silihan watched the exchanges between the two in silence. When Elder Jaya looked his way, the Spiritual Healer gave him a scowl. Evidently, he was in a bad mood again. Sensing the darkened mood of the old man, the other three quickly wrapped up their discussion and socializing session.
…
Dato' Dr. Ramlee turned around one last time to observe the village where he grew up while feeling nostalgic.
He couldn't believe that it had been more than forty years since the last time he set foot on this land. He waved back at the man who looked so forlorn. His own great grandfather didn't even lift up a brow. He looked back with disinterest, arms folded under his armpits, a telltale of being moody. But, surprisingly, the old man didn't lash out like he usually does.
In contrast, all the six elders were looking at him with pride and glowing eyes. He knew he was their hope for the Bateq's future.
He had been working really hard for his people.
The nearest town was his attempt to hasten the Bateqs towards modernization and easier access for supplies. The constructions, education, medical allocations, and basic amenities were also what he fought hard for. He never said anything. The Elders also never mention it. But, everyone knew and were grateful to him. A small number of successful younger generations had migrated out and started living in the new town already. The proposal for making a tarred road connecting the new town to the village has been rejected many times over, but he won't give up!
One day, he will definitely succeed.
It was his own personal fights.
He would never rest in peace before that.
…
Authors' Note:
Authors' Note:
1) Laksa noodles = fat sluglike noodles made from mixture of rice flour & tapioca flour. Got two versions; the ones with more tapioca flour are very slippery and chewy. While the one with more rice flour tastes dense. Both are delicious and targeted to different ways of cooking. (https://www.lazada.com.my/products/mee-laksa-1kg-segar-raya-i2214435702-s9348885297.html?spm=a2o4k.searchlist.list.19.6129406eu8MEKV&search=1)
2) Those originals were made way back in the 1900 by the Brits = Malaya (old name of Malaysia) is a colony of the British around the 1900.
3) "Thank you so much, Dato'.." = Dato' is not Dato' Dr. Ramlee's name. Ramlee is the name, Dato is something equivalent to 'Sir' from 'Sir Henry'.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
mrandmrsmooncat
mrandmrsmooncat Yay! An extra chapter for you guys! It's actually to celebrate multiple occasions happening in our family since last month until today, so we pooled everything and give a special chapter this one time (although we're very low on written chapters haha) Hope you guys enjoyed the switch to Arash's POV. Can you smell it? The answer is near (laughing)
Sorry, Mrs Mooncat didn't have the time to link up the footnote. A bit rushed now..please make do (kowtows)
Enjoy!
Happy Malaysia Day (16 Sept 2021)
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