The first article Malay Woman
(Written on May 2013)
Coming out of Sarawak's Baku National Park, I want to take the bus back when I come, but I am not sure where to stop and when.
It was a hot day, and after yesterday's day of crossing the bushes, I was also tired and wanted to find a place to rest without missing the bus.
The only places to sit around were the two small restaurants across the road, and the smaller shopkeeper was a Malay woman, so I walked over, and it was around 10:30 a.m., and her small flapjack stall had no customers. I politely asked her where the bus stop to the city center was, and what time I could get in. She told me that there should be a car in about 15 minutes. I put up with it or asked, "Can I sit here and wait?" She smiled and said yes. I was suddenly relaxed, and the sun outside had nothing to do with me.
While she was doing the work at hand, as if she were splitting a long grass that could weave things, she chatted with me, my foreign language was too bad, and we exchanged words and guesses.
It was where she rented it, and her home was on the other side of the national park, and she had to take a boat back and forth every day. There are 5 children in the family. We were talking and watching the time, and 20 minutes had passed and the car hadn't come.
She had a kitten, and when I took out the leftover cookies and fed them to the cats, I saw the antipruritic water in my bag, I thought I was going to go back to China the next day, I kept it useless, so I gave it to her and told her what it was for.
At 11:30, the car still did not come, and I saw her put down her work, wash her hands with the water in the Coke bottle, and go back to the house. After a while, watch her start lighting the stove and fiddling with the dough on the board. As she made the dough into a pancake that was almost transparent, and then made it look like our mille-feuille cake, she wiped her hands with a greasy towel, and I saw that my heart was very blocked, and I didn't know who would eat her "dirty" cake.
She took care of herself and baked the cake, but no one came to eat at this time, it should not be for me, I did not order food. When she had baked the cake, she went into the back room, and when she came out again, she had a small bowl in her hand, and she put the small bowl and the cake in front of me. Oh my God, I was really ashamed, I sat here for half a day, I didn't order anything, and I wanted her to come and invite me, my face was so hot and my heart was so confused. Looking at her flat smile, I dipped the sauce and ate it, whether it was hot or not, and kept nodding to her that it was delicious, it was really delicious, and I didn't feel dirty at all, I really didn't feel dirty.
I wanted to give her some money, and I was afraid that it would be inappropriate, and the money went back and forth in my hand for several rounds, and finally I didn't take it out. Finally I left the small half bottle of mosquito repellent and the opened cookies left in my bag for her and her kitten. At that time, I wished I had a gift from China in my bag.
The bus finally came, I said goodbye to her, thanked her for her food, she suddenly looked a little shy, said thank you for what I gave her, I was ashamed again!
How many people will a person meet in his lifetime? How many people will you remember? How many people will move you? Anyway, I will remember that in front of the baku National Park in the distant South China Sea - Malaysia - East Malaysia - Sarawak - the beautiful and kind Malay woman.