When Love speaks, the voice of all the Gods, Makes Heaven drowsy with the Harmony.
Shakespeare, Love's Labours Lost
Mae Koy's husband gifted her the greenhouse during their 20th anniversary when he found his wife's interest in flowers grew from a simple liking to cactus into wanting to grow her own roses. It became Koy's passion project but her back is hindering her to cultivate the flowers well until they met Lingling Kwong. The half Cantonese and half Thai university student that helped their son when the latter got lost.
The first time they saw the girl, she was so lean that her shoulder blades were protruding. They of course wanted to know who rescued their son and the girl curtly said to them that she's just a student who happened to stroll around, looking for a job and found their son. Ling never wanted to make the situation a big deal, stating that she was only doing what others would do in the given situation but Koy believes that no busy Law student would readily skip an important afternoon class just to accompany a lost child in the prison. She was special. Koy sees the undeniable desire and determination from her. What made them like the girl even more was when she refused to accept their money as compensation and was on the edge of her seat, ready to run away from them. But their family values good will and never wanting any debt unpaid so they offer the girl a job to tend her greenhouse thrice a week. The girl declined first but hesitantly agreed when her husband jokingly threatened that he was a friend of the College of Law Dean and would inform them about Ling's good deeds in order for the girl to receive some merits.
That day, Mae Koy happened to wake up early. It's Sunday morning and the whole household is still surely sleeping. She's stretching from her sleep on the veranda when she saw Lingling. The girl was plucking out dried leaves and applying what she knew is the compost on the surrounding flower boxes on the path leading to the greenhouse. Ling committed her Sunday, Tuesday and Friday morning to work on the garden and she's doing it diligently, almost without a fault. The girl confesses to them not knowing anything about plants but Koy has come to know that the girl made an effort to study how to take care of flowering plants and the greenhouse even improved with how Lingling is implementing mulches and cultivating the flowers using natural methods without relying heavily on synthetic fertilizers. She decided to went down and invite the girl for coffee like they usually do.
Silence normally reigns the house in the morning and the only noise you can hear are coming from their maids who're doing their morning errands. She was never strict with them and was always appreciative with the service but she raised her brows when she saw almost all of them, huddling in the kitchen door and looking inside with their horrified expression. She's confused so she walks towards them and they nervously part ways for her.
