Isla was a little confused when she took an orange to peel, as she asked Ellie. "Hui Li*? What's that?" Ellie, who was half munching on the pastry, chuckled.

  "It meant the return of betrothal gifts from the bride's side..." Ellie explained.

  "Yes! Just assume we had the Guo Da Li* earlier combined with Hui Li* on a rushed tea ceremony, and not forgetting the Si Dian Jin* too." Su Huang explained while sipping her tea.

  Isla fell into further confusion as she gave Ellie a look to explain. Ellie rolled her eyes. "Means four pieces of gold, and it's from the groom's mother usually. In this case, it was the mother-of-pearl jewellery box she chose." Ellie pointed with her thumb at Jazzlyn, who was glowing with laughter as she shared an intimate conversation with Ethan.

  "Yep! And some pieces of jewellery too. Don't worry about the Guo Da Li*. It's just customary, but rest assured, I am sure Su Hong had thought of something for the real bride's parents." Su Huang explained, which made Isla and Ellie share a worried gaze.

  News reached the Su's family of a traditional tea ceremony, and they were closed for business today. The news came with the exact Guo Da Li* gifts any bride's family would receive. A small card was written:

  Please accept these gifts by tradition. Today, Su Wei Wei has become a family member of the Wang family.

  Wang Su Hong

  Dato Su was enraged as he began to summon his guards.

  Datin Su read the note and sighed in disappointment that she could not even attend her precious daughter's wedding or tea ceremony. She sat reminiscing the good old days when her little girl was always by her side, actively questioning everything curiously. She stepped away to return to her room, trying to ignore her husband's anger and plans, which she knew would only do more harm to their already strained relationship with Jazzlyn.

  She knew no matter what, her daughter would never return again to the Su's family. She could never comprehend the benefits of being so closely knitted to the Kang's family that even she felt, at times, they were very money-minded. She had always preferred the Wang's family. A part of her was happy that it was the young boy of the Wang family who was her son-in-law now. She was always very fond of him when Mdm. Wang was pregnant with him. Her sombre mood was further dampened as she recalled the sacrifices and death of her dear, good friend.

  She knew her baby girl would never be at peace with her stubborn husband if he did not change his ways. It seemed Jazzlyn's marriage would break all ties for good. If that were so, she would not mind seeing one last time when her father summoned her. While the Su's family was caught in chaos, the Wang's family was in a joyous, harmonious mood, and they rested for another two days.

  With that, the trio of good friends went on a tour around Malacca. Ethan gave his car keys to Jazzlyn as he had lots to discuss with Hilbert on business to not be able to accompany them.

  The ladies ended up in the famous Jonker Street and immediately queued to try the chicken rice ball for brunch.

  While queuing, Isla could not get rid of the worries about the Su family and their counter plans.

  "Have you heard anything from home?" Isla asked solemnly as the girls stopped scrolling their phones and paid attention to her.

  "Home? You just came from there, didn't you?" Jazzlyn replied sarcastically, clearly refusing to admit Su's family as her home anymore.

  "Sorry, I meant the Su's." Isla corrected. Ellie knew the reason Isla questioned her as she began to worry, too.

  "What's the matter? You heard anything?" Jazzlyn raised an eyebrow. "Jazz, did you know Ethan sent them the Guo Da Li* gifts?" Ellie questioned, which took Jazzlyn by surprise, but she had expected that much of her fiancé.

  She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Nope. I have not." Jazzlyn said, trying to be indifferent.

  "So, what's your plan now that you're soon to be married?" Isla asked Jazzlyn.

  "Run the family business of course!" Jazzlyn said while raising her hands in the air happily as they stepped closer to the front of the store.

  "You sure blend in well with their family members so quickly... What about life in KL?" Ellie asked.

  "I have to head back to the hospital a little. I'm still serving the notice and I have to clear out stuff..." Jazzlyn explained.

  "Wouldn't that trigger the Su's to do something?" Ellie pointed up.

  "I'm sure they are already up to something..." Isla, who was always cautious, predicted, which took Jazzlyn back to a topic she wished to avoid, but to no avail.

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  "You know what? I'm trying not to worry about them. No, in fact, I don't really care. We will cross the bridge by then! For now, let's try all the local delicacies. You must try the Hakka abacus seeds later! Make some space, and also Sak Keh Ma*! OMG, I can recall the crunchiness coated by the malt sugar... Aww, heaven..." Jazzlyn lowered her shoulder down as though she was melting which made the girls all giggled.

  After a good 30 minutes in line with the crowd, it was their turn to be served while they happily chatted about Jazzlyn's encounters with the family.

  "Lao Ban*, 3 plates of chicken rice balls and half a chicken." Jazzlyn placed the order while they were seated.

  "Whole chicken!" Ellie demanded.

  "Ok, ok, whole chicken. 3 tea eggs and 3 cups of herbal tea!" Jazzlyn said in Hokkien dialect to the waiter, who quickly went to prepare their order.

  Isla did not protest as she decided to let the girls order whatever they wanted and also partly cause she did not quite understand the dialect very much. Every city and even country has their slight differences when it comes to dialect.

  "It's been a long, long time since I came here!" Jazzlyn announced.

  "Who would have known you're here as a married lady now..." Ellie teased. The girls chuckled as their herbal tea of Lo Han Guo* was served. Everyone took a refreshing sip when Jazzlyn and Ellie noticed Isla's grimace.

  "Oh boy, too thick for you?" Jazzlyn questioned as Isla nodded.

  Though Isla grew up in an Asian country and had drunk Chinese herbal medicine when she was young, it was a taste she could not grow accustomed to, except if it was more bland.

  "Lao Ban*! Tiam Peng Jui!*" Jazzlyn ordered a cup of ice water for Isla in Hokkien to filter the thickness of the tea while the waiter replied in acknowledgement.

  "Funny how the small town drinks and food are always tastier. You can't find such quality in KL. Everything is so expensive yet soulless." Jazzlyn pouted while the girls nodded to agree before their chicken rice balls order came.

  "Oh ho ho! Let's dig in!" Ellie announced as Isla laughed.

  "Are you that hungry?" Isla asked.

  "It's my favourite! The rice balls are like eating onigiri, except they're slightly chewy but still soft!" Ellie cheered like a little girl before Isla's ice water came.

  "Kam siah!" Jazzlyn thanked the waiter in Hokkien as she passed the ice water to Isla.

  "It's just chicken rice, you know, Ellie. Once flattened, it's nothing but plain chicken rice." Isla said as she quickly gulped half of the ice water to wash away the persistent lingering herbal taste while flattening more of her chicken rice balls.

  "That's why you don't flatten them! You pick it up and bite it while eating a slice or two of chicken with the cucumbers!" Ellie demonstrated as Jazzlyn copied.

  "At the end of the last few bites... Oh, here comes my favourite! Put them layered out. Rice, chicken, and cucumber. Drizzle some chilli sauce and bite!" Ellie bit into hers while Jazzlyn followed thereafter.

  The both clapped like little girls which amused Isla. "Fine, fine... Enjoy yourself!" Isla said flatly, unable to comprehend their excitement.

  "The egg!" Jazzlyn urged as they each took half and satisfyingly hummed to Isla.

  "That's why the rice is denser for rice balls, Isla. Try it like this." Ellie urged her, refusing for her to miss out.

  Jazzlyn helped herself to the second round while Isla took a bite of the one Elie prepared and ended up with a sceptical expression.

  "Leave her alone. Let her eat it the way she wants." Jazzlyn finally concluded with Ellie.

  Isla then flattened all of her rice balls and started eating before she noticed a quarter of the chicken was already on Ellie's plate.

  "Ellie, control. You're on a diet. You don't need to gain more weight!" Isla reminded.

  "It's alright, I will exercise more when we return..." Ellie smiled as Isla dropped her shoulder, giving up on reprimanding Ellie.

  Given the Asian culture, meals are often heavily supplied with carbohydrates, and they are cheap too. It was no surprise for Ellie, given her not well-to-do household, to fall on the obese side of the BMI Matrix from a young age.

  "Oh yes, we need to fly back to Lahad Datu in two weeks for the fundraising dinner for our high school." Ellie abruptly reminded the girls.

  "Ah, that! I recalled I heard you girls saying something about it over the phone... Sorry, I wasn't in the mood back then." Jazzlyn apologised while sucking on her thumb.

  Isla chuckled at the fact that, being adults, chicken rice was a finger-licking good meal instead of the fast food chains. "It's a Luna thing you see..." Isla said with some hint of agitation.

  "What do you mean?" Jazzlyn threw the question at Ellie knowing Isla would be reluctant to answer.

  "She called to sell the tickets..." Before Ellie could finish, Jazzlyn interrupted.

  "Ah, as usual, you poor girl supported her..." Jazzlyn sighed.

  "Let me compensate you alright. After all, I'm getting married and it's a joyful occasion..." Jazzlyn said before slurping down a drumstick.

  "She paid. You two settle and let me know how much I need to pay and to whom." Ellie said before taking a sip of her herbal tea.

  "Don't pay. Just get that I treat you all alright?" Isla concluded and the girls wanted to protest.

  "Don't get me started on lecturing you all for giving in to Luna... Pay my meals in Malacca. We settle the score." Isla warned them, as Ellie and Jazzlyn had to obediently settle for that instead.

  Glossaries:

  * Hui Li: return of gifts in Chinese and is done by the bride's family to reciprocate the Groom's side's generosity and signifies the acceptance of the couple's marriage

  *Guo Da Li: meant the betrothal gifts in Chinese. It's a traditional Chinese betrothal ceremony symbolising a formal union of both families. It is more common for the groom's side to visit the bride's family as a form of respect.

  *Si Dian Jin: meant "four touches of gold" which refers to a traditional set of jewellery pieces of four gifted by the groom's family to the bride

  * Sak Keh Mah: a traditional Chinese pastry which is made from fried dough and bound by malt or sugar syrup

  * Lo Han Guo: a herbal drink made from monk fruit

  *Lao Ban: a common term to address the person in charge or the shopkeeper

  * Tiam Peng Jui: Means a glass of cold water in the Hokkien Dialect