Aunty Lee's Chilled Revenge Read Free

Lee was back, with a grim-faced Selina at her heels.
    â€œHello, Aunty Lee, do you remember me? It’s Brian, Brian Wong.”
    â€œOf course I remember you,” Aunty Lee said with genuine pleasure as she waved him to a seat. Some cooks hated Brian Wong, the former animal activist who had been instrumental in getting shark fin and bear gall bladder banned in Singapore, but Aunty Lee (who was open-minded enough to have vegetarian friends) liked the young man.
    â€œSelina, go and get water for them—wait, wait—take photo for us first then go and get the water.”
    Brian circled the table to put an arm around Aunty Lee for the photos and then gave her a quick hug before sitting down.
    â€œHow nice to see you again, Brian. It’s been so long. You’re looking good. Have you got a girlfriend yet?”
    â€œNot too good I hope!” Brian neatly deflected her question. “Can you believe I just saw a man in the gents putting on lipstick?”
    â€œIn my toilet here?”
    â€œNo, in a hotel—anyway, how are you all?”
    Brian Wong had been a journalist with the Straits Times when volunteering with the Animal ReHomers. Since then, Brian had been more in the news than behind it after developing the iGrow Organic app, which delivered personalized exercise, meal, and snack plans with hydration records and iPhone reminders and connected the user with any Organic Eats chill-vending machines in the vicinity. Time magazine had credited him with revolutionizing worldwide workplace health, and Singapore had given him an Innovation Excellence Award, but he still had the boyish, open smile Aunty Lee remembered.
    â€œSo are you all having my nasi lemak buffet? Brian?” Aunty Lee gestured toward the buffet spread. Even though other hands had prepared today’s dishes, she had guided the process as both composer and conductor and she was very proud of it.
    â€œIt looks fantastic,” Brian said with automatic, almost convincing politeness as his eyes scanned the people in the crowded room but missed the food. “Allison’s not here yet? I was afraid I might be late.”
    â€œYou are late. Very late,” Josephine snapped, though she had arrived barely ten minutes earlier. She fumbled with her bag and pressed two Panadol capsules out of their foil casing, swallowing them with the last of her ice water. “God, I’ve got such a headache. Can I have more water?”
    â€œJosephine only just arrived. Cherril was sitting here by herself for at least an hour!” Selina reached rudely across Josephine with a jug and filled Brian’s glass first. “Are you here for the buffet too?”
    â€œOnly half an hour. Maybe forty-five minutes!” Cherril murmured.
    Forgetting her ankle for a moment, Aunty Lee jumped up on seeing all the ice in Selina’s water jug had melted, but sat down immediately, wincing.
    Brian was the only one who noticed. “What’s wrong? Aunty Lee, are you all right?”
    â€œShe has a sprained ankle,” Selina said. “She fell. She’s lucky she didn’t break it—or something else! Old people are always falling down and breaking bones. Maybe now you’ll take things easy!”
    Aunty Lee refused to be distracted from the nugget of information that she had caught. “This Allison you are all waiting for is the bloody woman you wish you had killed like a dog?” she inquired with the air of a helpful child.
    Cherril gasped and giggled. Josephine invoked fecal matter. Brian looked taken aback then laughed. “I’m with you there”—he pulled out his phone—“but I’m sure we’ll be able to work things out without killing anybody. I’m just going to take this outside—better signal.”
    â€œBrian Wong is such a nice boy,” Aunty Lee said as soon as the door closed behind Brian. She looked meaningfully at Josephine. “Why is he here today? Are