A few weeks later Suet, Phong, and Quay attended Fei's birthday party. Since Quay had prejudged Fei as a lower class poor man, she was very surprised when they arrived at his house. It was a mansion bigger than hers!!! In reality Fei was from the wealthiest family in Shanghai, the Kwoks. Kwok Fei was the younger of the two Kwok sons. Kwok Fuo was the older son.
The day Phong and Quay met Fei, he was helping the unfortunate with a charity that required him to live with the poor for a week, so he was dressed in rags and had a bad heavy odor. Suet chose her friends wisely and if they weren't virtuous people she wouldn't befriended them. What she didn't know was that Fei did most of his charities out of his interest for Suet.
Kwok Fuo greeted the three and walked them in to Fei, who was in the ball room. Fuo was an introvert who rarely said much and spent most of his time taking care of the family business. He was also interested in Suet but never verbally expressed it for feared of rejection. His actions were obvious to those that could read between the lines. It wasn't hard to love Suet, she was an intelligent, sweet, kind-heart, beautiful, determined, and ambitious girl that many people could like.
As they walked down the hall, Quay was immediately mesmerized by all the antiques and treasure the Kwoks owned. She carefully picked up a vase and held it up to Suet. "Look at this!" she exclaimed. "This looks like a Ming Vase."
Suet shook her head, "No it's a Tang vase because most Ming vases were made with a unique blue and white design that was almost transparent." Madam Kwok walked by and heard Suet's explanation so she decided to paused and listen to their conversation.
"How do you know?" Quay asked. Suet pointed to the edge of the vase. "Ming vases are not as thick as this one. They were manufactured so thin and fine that they were almost transparent." She said.
Quay frowned. "Ming vases can be thick too if the artisan made it thick." She said with a pout and tugged on Phong's shirt sleeve for his support.
Phong shook his head at her with a grin then looked at Suet. "Is it possible?" he asked knowing fully that it wasn't, but just wanted to amuse Quay. Suet smiled knowing he was just amusing Quay. "What do you think?" she asked to amuse him.
Fuo watched as the two seem to be in their own little world. He wondered what made Suet look so happy. The shine in her eyes were different. He knew there was something about Phong that made Suet glow as she talked to him. He secretly hoped it was him but he knew he would always be a shadow besides her; in the background never daring to speak up about his love for her.
Phong smiled giving Suet a look that could melt her heart away. "I believe you know why and I'd like to hear you explain it." He said mischievously.
Suet smiled cunningly as she replied, "Another thing about Ming Vases are the unique blue color they have. Any thin vase when heated at a high temperature would change the blue color to purple or black, however Ming artisans were able to maintain the beautiful blue color even after heating, which is why they're so valuable." Suet replied.
Quay looked at them jealously thinking they were flirting. "Well can't someone in the Ming make this vase according to Tang time period?" Quay asked refusing to be wrong.
Suet nodded. "They could follow the Tang method BUT...." She said pointing at the subjects in the vase. "Women were most privileged during the Tang Dynasty and became the popular art medium, second to Buddhism, while the popular medium during the Ming was nature." Suet replied.
Madam Kwok then stepped forward and clapped her hands loudly. "Very Good, I see you have some knowledge of art and culture." She said proudly. She liked Suet when she first met her but was staring to like her even more each time she met her.
Suet smiled and greeted Madam Kwok. "Hello auntie, how are you?" Quay looked away awkwardly because she had mistaken the Tang vase as a Ming vase. She didn't want an influential woman such as Madam Kwok to look down at her so she hid behind Phong.
"Morning Mother." Fuo said greeting his mother. She nodded to acknowledge him.
Madam Kwok smiled, "I'm very Good." She replied before looking over at Quay and Phong. She had met Suet before but this was the first time she met Phong and Quay.
Suet quickly introduced them. "This is my cousin, Quay and this is my friend, Phong." she said
"Nice to meet you," Phong said with a charming smile. "Hello Auntie." Quay said awkwardly.
"It's okay I don't bite. No need to be so shy." She said noticing Quay's nervousness around her. "You must be Chiang Quay daughter of Chiang Luo Hei?" She said assuredly. Madam Kwok was a suspicious and shrewd woman who inspected everyone her sons came into contact with, especially if they were females. She was afraid a girl would come close to her sons for their wealth so she was very careful.
"Yes I am. How did you know?" Quay asked confused.
"If I ask, I'll know." Madam Kwok replied. Quay scratcehed her head and asked, Who did you ask?"
"I just asked you right now." Madam Kwok said confidently.
"But you sounded so sure, I thought you had known before you even asked." Quay said. Madam Kwok smiled and walked away without answering Quay. Quay's mouth rounded to a pouting O-shape. "She didn't answer me." Quay said pulling Phong's sleeves.
"It's okay. Don't think about it." Phong replied at her childish antics.
"Auntie Kwok is like that. She doesn't answer what she doesn't have to. It comes with her affluent background." Suet said.
"I say it comes with the stuck up personality." Quay remarked then noticed Fuo and stuck out her tongue embarrassed. "Sorry."
"It's ok. My mother is like that." He replied. Suet and Phong chuckled at Quay's remark. Fuo knew his mother's personality and laughed also. Now Quay laughed too.
"Let's go check out the garden I passed it earlier and it looks really nice." Quay said pulling Phong and Suet with her.
Suet pulled back and shook her head. "It's ok, you two go. I'm going to go find Fei. After all it's his birthday. You can't go to the birthday boy's house and not visit him, right?" Suet said smiling. In reality she didn't want to be the third wheel.
"Let's go Fuo", Suet said pulling him along. She was too concerned about being the third part with Quay and Phong that she didn't realize she was holding onto Fuo's hand. But he knew and was extremely nervous as if his hopes had come true. He was holding the hand of the woman he loved most. He looked at her hopeful there was more but knew there wasn't anything else. Suet continued walking without looking back at him.
Quay realized that they didn't wish Fei a happy birthday yet, so she yelled, "Wait for us! I don't want to be rude either. Wait!" and ran after Suet and Fuo. Suet stopped, let go of Fuo's hand, turned back around to Quay, and wait for them then they all continued to the ball room.
Fei was dressed in a brown and beige suit talking with many of his friends. When he saw them come in he quickly greeted them, introduced them to his friends and invited them to eat, drink, and dance. All five of them danced, talked, made jokes, and got to know each other throughout the night. They even danced with each other at one moment during the night.
Fei and Suet were dancing when he noticed her looking at Phong and Quay. Her expression was different. She seem unhappy and gloomy. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"Fine, why do you ask?" she said trying to cover up her facial expression.
"You don't have to hide it from me. I know you like Hui Phong."
"What are you talking about!" she exclaimed. "You better not talk this kind of nonsense around Phong and Quay! They might think you're serious." She said pulling away from him and walking towards the chairs on the side of the room.
"Ok I won't continue. When you're ready you can talk to me about it." He said and nudged her to go back on the dance floor.
She looked away from him and at that moment noticed Fuo. "Hey your brother hasn't danced at all today. I'm going to ask him to dance."
"Be my guest!" he said with a warm smile. Fei and his brother were very close so he wanted his brother to have fun also. He knew accompanying Fuo to dance was all out of Suet's good heart.
Fuo was ecstatic that Suet wanted to dance with him. He quickly got up and straightened himself up to dance with her. He was hoping she'd dance with him but he didn't have the nerve to ask seeing her talking with his brother all night.
While dancing with Phong, Quay looked over at Suet and Fuo. "I think Fei and Fuo likes Suet. What do you think?' she asked Phong.
"I don't know." he replied uneasily as he watched them dance. He never saw Suet in another man's arm before. He didn't know why but it made him uncomfortable.
Quay noticed he was staring and this made her uncomfortable. "HEY!" she called him.
"What?" he asked turning back to her as he snapped back to reality.
"I asked if you think Fei or Fuo likes Suet?" she asked again but a little annoyed that he wasn't paying attention ot her earlier.
"I think Fuo might like her, but I don't know about Fei." He replied looking over to Suet once again. Suet was smiling with Fuo but then looked up and saw Phong looking at her. Their glances caught each other for a split second. Suet quickly looked away nervously. Phong stared at the ground then back at Quay.
Quay was busy in his embrace that she didn't realize what happened. "Why you say that?" she asked.
Phong thought about it and replied. "Fuo refused to dance with anyone all night but when Suet walked over he immediately stood up." He said because he noticed that about Fuo.
Quay giggled, "That's true. Well I hope she gets with one of them.
It's not hard to love Suet." Phong said very very softly as he looked over at Suet once more then turned back to Quay and hugged her tighter. Quay was the one he loved. Why was he looking at Suet? He was confused as he pulled Quay closer to him.
"You're chocking me." Quay said playfully and pulled away.
"Sorry." Phong said loosening his grip.
Quay smiled at him. "I was just playing." She said with a smile then looked at Suet again. "Fei and Fuo seem like good people. They're wealthy too!" she exclaimed.
Phong gave her a look wondering what she meant. Quay immediately added, "That way Suet won't have to worry about the rest of her years. She can live as Madam Kwok Jr. and enjoy a better, safer, and healthier life!"
Phong smiled looking deep into his girlfriend's eyes. "You are too good to be true. Always thinking of your cousin like this." He said thinking she was the one he fell in love with. It must have been her all along. 'She was so kind hearted.' he told himself.
Quay smiled, "I only have one cousin. She's like my sister and best friend too. Who else would I think of, you? Yeah right!"
"You wouldn't think of me!" Phong said playfully as he tickled her. "How dare you dinner! he said twirling her around. Quay made him happy and he knew it, she had to be the one.
She laughed joyfully as they danced.
All five of them had a great time at Fei's Birthday party. Little did the five of them know that this would be one of the last times they would ever have fun together. If they knew what the future held for their troubled relationships, they might have just stopped time; then and there.
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