[ilikeoldchangke]

Hong : and for Meng…….Meng’s tongue…… was…… removed….

Jackson : what the fuck…. how does he cook ? doesn’t he need to taste ?

Hong : Don’t interrupt me….


Hong revealed that the boss found out Meng was skimming money off food orders for the kitchen. She confronted him, he denied.

Hong : she presented the proof…. And….. he still tried to insist he did nothing wrong….


Jackson : and… ?

Hong : Oh……. Somehow…. Meng….slipped in the shower that night…. Bit off his tongue…. Cleanly…

Kamal : POP!


Seven threw another nut onto the table as I looked at Hong in disbelief.

Jackson : what about Deuce….

Hong shook his head before taking the seat again.


Hong : Deuce….. got drunk……even when told not to do so when he’s working…. He had a glass too many…. Boss told him to sober the shit up or get out….. Deuce smiled and put his hands around boss’s shoulders….

Hong lowered his voice another notch.


Hong : She warned him…..she gave him a chance….he didn’t listen…..

Kamal : POP POP!

Hong : as a punishment for not listening to her warning…. His eardrums got popped. …



My mouth was slightly apart by then as I listened to the incredible tale Hong was telling me. I don’t know how much to believe.

Jackson : this is staff abuse isn’t it…. ?? but….from what I gather… the boss …. Ermmm.. must be very pretty…


All eyes turned to me at that moment.

Kamal : Oh…. Boss is pretty…. Real hot… but…. Don’t say we didn’t warn you….

Hong gestured to the skies with his palms trying to illustrate a benchmark for me to visualise.

Hong : boss is here…. Queen….
Lowering his hand down, he added ;


Hong : We are here…… farmers….

Kamal : don’t get funny ideas if you want to survive here Jackson….don’t get funny ideas….

All they are doing is making me more curious about the queen. If she’s really that hot and pretty, I would want to see it with my own eyes.

Jackson : why only the cooks….? How about the rest…. ?


Hong : oh…. There are others of course…. They usually meet with…. Unfortunate accident….. they are easily replaced….the cooks however…. She is willing to turn a blind eye and give them another chance…. It’s not easy to find good cooks these days….


Well, at least not those who would want to work here, that’s what I was thinking about in my head but I did not share my thoughts.


Declan : alright enough….

Hong : Not yet….you need to know about her personal guards…. The elites….

Kamal nodded and he continued for Hong. He drew an imaginary circle around the table. The way things work around here, they go by layers, with the queen in the centre while her support staff forms layers radiating outwards.


Kamal : The queen has a circle of 4 female guards….. they are deadly…. Don’t say I never warn you….. have you watched John wick ??

Jackson : yes…… have they killed someone with a pencil …. ?

Kamal : oh you think it’s funny do you…. Hahaha….they will kill you with their lipstick…..

Jackson : bullshit….


Kamal : rumours said the boss killed someone with her high heels before….

Before I could say anything, Hong added;

Hong : I’ve seen 2 of those girls take on 8 men before…..no joke…. Don’t fuck with them….

Kamal : and I’m seen one put Hong on the ground with one hand…. Hahah


Hong got irritated with that and gave Kamal an elbow shove. Apparently it’s not something he wants to share. Determined to get the spotlight away from him, he directed it towards Seven.

Hong : Seven can take them on…..he’s fast….

Seven shook his head vigorously and waved his hands, making a motion of his fist hitting his own head several times.

Declan : Seven can only take 2 of them at most…..


Kamal : those are the 1st layer around the queen…. Then… there’s Declan….he is the only one on the 2nd layer…. He manages…. Us….

I nodded as I digested the information.

Hong : and we… manage the 4th & 5th layer… which are the rest of the men you see…. The girls don’t deal with the day to day operations…. They just protect the queen…..

Jackson : am I in any layer …. ?


Kamal : I’m afraid we don’t have one dedicated for landscaping….

Declan : ok ok… enough with the stories…. Back to business…. Jackson….the garden is coming along real fine…. I like it a lot and the boss likes it too…

My ears perked up the moment I heard Declan mentioned his boss.

Jackson : You mean the Queen loves my work ??


Declan : of course… she gets a birds eye view of the garden from where she is… you can’t miss the transformation of a barren piece of land….

Jackson : that’s good to know….

Declan told me to add more shrub on a particular side of the garden and to reserve a special spot for a small tree.

Declan : Boss has a pot of lime she always wanted to transplant….. but couldn’t find a suitable spot. …. And make sure it’s away from the smoking point you did…. It’s proving to be too popular….


Jackson : No problem… I’ll identify a good spot for her….

Declan : I’m also please to inform you that with immediate effect, your pay… insurance and stuff will be park under a new company…. So just text me your account details…. Don’t worry about dealing with cash… hahaha… I know it’s hard to break big bills without raising eyebrows….

Jackson : oh… that’s good to know…


Hong : ok… now that we’ve got the work part out of the way…. Jackson … what kind of girls you like…..

Kamal : fuck you la….sighzz….

Hong seemed very determined to see me take up the employee benefit.

Hong : You like women… but you don’t want… is it because you virgin ? …. I know a few that takes very good care of virgins…. Serious… serious….

Jackson : No…. i.. I’m not a virgin…. And I don’t… I don’t want any….


Hong : Only a virgin would say he is not a virgin…

Hong clapped his hands together before shaking his right index finger at me as if he had it all figured out.

Hong : virgin… confirm virgin…

Declan : ignore him… and thank you for the steamboat….


Seven gave me a weird frown before showing me the thumbs up sign and raising one leg up in the air for no apparent reason at all.

Kamal burped loudly before thanking me in Hokkien;

Kamal : Kam sia… ( Thank you ) …. Ho Jiak… ( delicious ) please restock your fridge…. Speaking of which… I think we should do this more often…. I’m sick of the food at the cookhouse…..


Hong : I agree…!

Jackson : what !!??

Declan : well… I don’t mind…. That is if Jackson is willing to host us that is….

I looked at the eyes on my waiting for my reply and I quickly smiled and gave a thumbs up, indicating that I’m ok to host.

Hong : SWEE ! ( nice ) see… all virgins are very steady one….


As the group talked about when is the next day to gather, there was a knock on the door.

There shouldn’t be anyone else coming.

I opened it and the moment the group saw the man standing outside, they quiet down immediately.

He’s about my built, bespectacled, well dressed like Declan and he carried a large umbrella. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, he remained relatively dry compared to the rest when they first got here.


Jackson :Hi…. You are…

Aaron : I’m Aaron … you must be the new gardener…..

Jackson : yes hi… I’m Jackson ….


Aaron gave me a polite smile before telling Declan that the arrangements are ready.

Aaron :We are ready to move…

Declan : ok… I’ll be right there….


In the next few seconds that followed, I quietly observed the men go about their stuff.

There is no doubt that Aaron reports to Declan as well. However, he is not as close to Declan as Seven, Kamal and Hong.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Hong making looks at Seven and Kamal while they did the same.

You don’t need to be an expert in behaviour science to know he is not welcomed.

Aaron has the neatest outlook out of the group, aside from Declan of course. He’s well groomed, hair neatly gel and I could see he spends time on his eyebrows as well.

His clothes fit him well, most likely tailor made.
Compared to the other 3 who looked like your typical gangster, Aaron looks educated. He strikes me more like a banker rather than someone who would work for the queen.


Honestly, if I were to line Aaron, Seven, Kamal & Hong up in a row, from their looks alone, everyone would definitely point to Aaron and say he is the good guy while the rest are crooks.

However, something feels off about Aaron. I can’t put my finger to it but he strikes me as someone who would fit the role of a villain. A good looking villain doing good on the surface while stabbing you in the back.


I’m not saying Hong and the rest are goody two shoe but we have instincts for a reason. Hong and the rest didn’t exactly leave a good 1st impression as well but for some reason I cannot explain, I would rather have them over for steamboat rather than Aaron even though I barely know him.

Aaron : did I miss something here…. ?

Declan : we’re just here to evaluate the work of our new gardener….

Aaron : I see…. He’s a lot better than the previous few…. I love what you did with the garden Jackson….

Jackson : thank you….

Aaron : keep up the good work….

Jackson : I will….

Kamal rolled his eyes and rubbed his nose with his middle finger as Seven looked away.

There’s no hiding the level of disdain they have for him.

Aaron :Now if you would excuse us…. We need to get down to business… boss is waiting….

Turning to the rest, Aaron added that boss is changing and will meet the rest in the garage in 15 minutes.


Everyone got up and made their way to the door.

The once jovial mood Hong and the rest had was gone.