The older man who had been constantly at the side of the man this party was for smiled at Ban Nahna when she approached the main party group.
"Congratulations Mr Han," Ben Nahna smiled, handing over the celebratory gift to the main character, "on receiving such a prestigious award. I came to contratulate you on behalf of our Ben family. Unfortunately, the rest of the family are overseas at the moment and were unable to come, but they all send their regards."
"Oh, son, this is the daughter of that aunty and uncle who gave us the advice to call that number, which in turn got you invited to the party where you met your master. Later, when you were so sick and the hospital didn't know what to do," and older lady said, "it was their family who helped arrange treatment through the Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor for you, after which you got better. Your father and I invited them to this party just so we could meet them and thank them. We have never met them before either, but they were recommended via your Aunty Wen."
"Oh, you must be Aunty and Uncle Han," Ben Nahna smiled at the older couple and gave a little bow. "My parents returned to their hometown to visit sick relatives, leaving me at home to represent our family. They send their regards and apologise that they couldn't make it."
"No need to apologise. It's nothing. We just wanted to invite you all to thank you for your timely help during our son's times of need."
Ben Nahna shifted uncomfortably, feeling awkward under the stares of so many strangers. Truthfully, she didn't know anybody at this party. She had only come as a token gesture and the hosting family knew it. Nobody owed anybody anything. The Hand family also just wanted to show the Ben family that their assistance hadn't been in vain and that their son was doing well.
Seeing the main party's relative indifference to her, Ben Nahna gave another little bow.
"Since the gift has been given, then I will take my leave. Congratulations again. It was nice meeting you all."
"Mm."
Cursory greetings and thanks were given and Ben Nahna returned them with politeness before beginning to make her way out of the party venue. On her way, she was stopped by that older gentleman who had been standing by the party boy's side earlier, staring at her without ceasing.
"Hello, I am one of Han Chao's best friends. He considers me his big brother from another mother," the older gentleman introduced himself, flushing red with nervousness and fidgeting. "My name is Lu Lian. I used to be a soldier, but now I'm a manager in a construction company and earn enough to support a family. Although I am already in my late thirties, I haven't met another woman who has ever struck my interest like you. You're like a little girl. The type I like very much. Very cute. What's your name? How old are you? I mean, I would really like to get to know you more. I hope you don't think me too old? If you are willing, would you give me your contact number?"
The other main party characters had drifted over to watch the show with amusement and glee. The party was noisy and Ben Nahna couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see those nudging elbows.
"I'm sorry," she blinked in surprise, wondering how this token visit to pass on congratulations had resulted in somebody confessing to her after seeming to have fallen in love at first sight. This was a first. Nobody had ever confessed to her in such a way before. Perhaps the older man didn't realise how insulting it was for a grown woman of age felt when she was called a little girl. "Your age and mine, are indeed incompatible. My name is Ben Nahna," and when people laughed at hearing her name, she also gave an amused smile. "My name is indeed an funny one, given by an elder my parents were unable to refuse. Alas, I am burdened by it. I am 22 years old this year."
"That's a more than 12 year age gap, bro," Han Chao, the main character of the party said to the older, taller and darker skinned man who's facial expression and whole person seemed to droop at Ben Nahna's rejection. "Of course she'd find you too old. Don't feel bad, Miss Ben. My bro will get over it. We all understand. I know you're in a hurry. Please feel free to stay and enjoy the party longer, but if you're busy, it's ok if you have to go as well."
"Your contact, please," Lu Lian took a step forward in desperation but was held back by his friends. "I won't contact you unnecessarily. I promise. Maybe you'll change your mind about me one day. I have to go back to the Highlands tomorrow. I won't have another chance to meet someone as cute and lovely like you. There are no little girls like you up there."
"Alright," Ben Nahna gave a helpless laugh, feeling both shy, grateful that any man would even look at her with interest but not really wanting to get too entangled with a man so much older than her.
She gave Lu Lian her number and then hurried out of the party venue before anything more embarrassing might happen. She brushed what had just happened out of her mind. Other men had asked for her contact number before but had never contacted her. Most of them had easily found somebody better. Girls who were prettier, with better body shapes, who knew how to flirt and make a man feel happy. Girls who had better education and could chatter like a sparrow.
But Ben Nahna was quiet, an introvert with average looks average qualifications and an average job. She didn't know how to make small talk and didn't know how to interact with the opposite gender, after all, she had gone to a private girls' college. Through university, not knowing how to make friends, she had often been left out. And now she had graduated from university, still looked like a highscooler in her mid-teens. It had been a little difficult finding a job, but she had eventually found a good job where she could blend into the masses. Remain unnoticeable.
Hearing about all the ups and downs of relationships her colleagues went through, she didn't feel very keen to get into a relationship herself. Hers was a very down to earth family too. Boy-craziness didn't run through the genes or the interests of any of the girls in the family. Even how her parents got married seemed more like a business deal between equals who respected each other, but contained none of the excessive passion she heard about from other people around her.
Ben Nahna shook all those thoughts off and decided that since her family were away, she would treat herself to a good meal and enjoy the quiet solitude. It was so peaceful to be alone without anyone else's demands and expectations weighing her down. Even if she had taken an interest in Lu Lian, if she had introduced him to her parents or even told them about him, she would have just gotten a scolding or a beating for considering someone so much older than her. Nevermind. It wasn't important and they wouldn't really care to know either. Although they were pushing for her to find a boyfriend, they weren't that desperate either.
Ben Nahna skipped off to her car and sat in the driver's seat, wondering what cuisine she should eat and where she should go to eat. Meanwhile, Lu Lian watched her from the upper window of the party venue, looking morose.
"Don't worry, bro. I'm sure you'll find someone better in the future," Han Chao clapped a hand on his shoulder looking down at the young girl getting into the car in the carpark. "She obviously has no interest in you. I'll help you to look. Ok?"
"When will I ever find the perfect match? I saw her and felt for sure she was the one," Lu Lian lamented, downing the beer in his glass. "But she's too cute and precious. I won't force myself on her. I'll just look at her social circle through her number and admire her from afar. As long as she is happy, I'll be happy too. Let's have a look."
Lu Lian looked at her social circle posts and lamented that the last post was already three years old and was the only one there. It looked like she seldom used her social circle app.
"Man, you've got it bad. Come and eat some cake. See if that will help you feel any better."
Without her family to control her and monitor what time she would get home, Ben Nahna stayed out for dinner as well and went shopping until the shopping centre closed. She was quite happy. She had finally found a casual dress that was within her budget and that looked great on her. Finding dresses that suited her body shape wasn't easy. And a pair of comfortable shoes. Finding a good, comfortable pair of shoes to go with the dress hadn't been easy either. She had literally gone through every shoe shop in all the local shopping centres.
Now that she had finished shopping, she just needed an after dinner snack. Something tasty and light. Maybe a cup of bubble tea as well. And then she would go home.
Tomorrow was a public holiday and so she planned to sleep in. Why couldn't she stay out late? There were still so many people out today and this shopping area had always been popular, had good security with some shops and restaurants that opened until the early hours of the morning.
Ben Nahna put her shopping bags into the boot of the car, locked it and then began walking back to the more brightly lit shopping street. The car park was big and while busy, packed full of cars, it was still relatively dim compared the brightly lit shopping street in front.
Ben Nahna was just passing by a small, unlit, dank and smelly cul-de-sac when she suddenly felt something was wrong. She instinctively ducked and felt something whoosh over the top of her head. Ben Nahna didn't dare to look behind to see what that thing was, she ran into the bright street lights and only when she was surrounded by pedestrians and the familiar bustle if the street at night did she look back to see someone slinking back to hide inside that dank and dark alley.
The lingering panic and fear juxtaposed with this more cheerful scene made what just happened feel surreal. As if it hadn't just happened and she had just dreamed it.
"Hey, you alright?" a concerned looking couple patted her on the shoulder, making her jump so high she almost lost her balance and fell.
"What? Oh. Yeah. There's a person with a weapon back there," Ben Nahna pointed. "They almost got me."
"Oh my," the woman screamed, clinging more tightly to her partner.
"We should call the police," the man looked up and down the street. "Or find the patrol officers who we saw earlier."
"Where did you last see them?" Ben Nahna asked and the couple pointed in a certain direction.
"Did you see the guy who tried to attack you earlier?" the man asked Ben Nahna.
"No. Not really. It was too dark and I didn't dare to turn my head in case it slowed me down," Ben Nahna said. "But I did see a figure go back inside that little alley where the dumpsters are when I got here."
"Stay here," the man told his partner. "Keep your eye on that alley," he told Ben Nahna, "and make sure he doesn't come out of it or hurt anyone else. I'll go find the patrol officers and if not, I'll call the police."
Ben Nahna saw some people coming up the pathway out of the carpark.
"Hey," she jumped and waved. "Hey! Cross the street to come up here," she shouted, keeping an eye on that dim cul-de-sac. "Don't use this pathway. It's not safe."
The people gave her a strange look and one of them, a guy, tried to come closer only for the man hiding in the alley to jump out to attack him. The rest of his group screamed.
The girls darted across the road without even checking for cars, while the men hesitated, before going to help their friend. A car horn honked and the car screeched to a halt just in time. Once the road was clear, the driver drove off, cursing at the people loudly.
There was shouting and screaming from the girls across the road and other onlookers who had stopped to see what the noise was. From the dark alley was robust swearing and a demented cackling.
Eventually the curious man and his friends who had rescued him broke free and ran across the road, while the man holding a weapon and cackling in an eerie manner slid back into the dark of the cul-de-sac.
The attacked group of men came over and invaded Ben Nahna's personal space, looming over her, blaming her for not explaining clearly.
"I told you it was dangerous," Ben Nahna replied, helplessly. "I didn't want to spook him and let him run away before the police arrive."
"Grapes, it really was your fault," one of the girls told the curious guy who was poking Ben Nahna in the shoulder.
"He's running! He's running away," someone shouted.
"Where are the police?"
"Tell those people to get out of the way!"
The police exited a shop and the demented man holding some sort of a big tree branch skidded to a halt. He turned around and started back the other way, the police in pursuit while people shouted at each other.
For a moment, the street devolved into chaos with people pushing and shoving each other, hurrying into shops to barricade the door or running across the road, making cars swerve and screech and crash.
The idiotic curious man who had already grappled with the crazy man and just been poking her shoulder pushed Ben Nahna into the man's way and fled a short distance away.
Ben Nahna crashed into a stinking mess of a man who had probably not washed for a long time.
"You. It's you. All your fault," the crazy man who had fallen on the ground because of Ben Nahna groaned and then rolled on top of her, throwing his stick at the nearest people and then wrapped his grimy hands around Ben Nahna's neck. He swore at her as he tried to kill her.
Ben Nahna reacted a split second too late. Those hands had already pressed down on her windpipe, choking her. And then her vision and perception narrowed to only focus on how to escape from the crazy man and somehow survive. She felt her eyes bulging and pressure building up in her face and chest as she struggled to breathe.
Somebody tackled the man off her and someone else pulled her away, while the police patrol officers and a tall man with a broad back helped to wrestle the crazy man down onto the ground and get him into handcuffs. Once he was under control, and the man had stopped struggling, just laying there on the ground, curling up and mumbling, the police stood up. They told people to clear off and move along, while they kept an eye on the man. They requested backup and four ambulances through their radios. There had been two car accidents, a pedestrian who had been hit and another who had fallen and been trampled.
Ben Nahna rolled onto her side and then all fours, sitting herself up, holding her sore throat, coughing, hacking and gagging. She gasped to pull air in through her bruised throat.
"He pushed her into the mad man," somebody shouted at the police, pointing at the idiotic and curious guy and his friends who were watching from the other side of the road.
The tall man who had helped the police earlier knelt by Ben Nahna's side.
"Hey, Miss, are you alright?"
Ben Nahna looked up into the man's face and both were taken aback to recognise each other.
"Ben Nahna?"
"That guy's bro," Ben Nahna rasped and winced.
"Lu Lian," the older man reminded her.
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry," Ben Nahna said and then coughed, wiping the tears from her face.
"Don't talk too much for now. Wait until you've been checked out. Did you come with any friends or relatives?"
Ben Nahna shook her head.
"Do you want to call anyone?"
Ben Nahna shook her head again, thinking how her parents would react once they heard the news. Maybe she wouldn't tell them. But then, given their connections, it was likely they would hear about it sooner or later. Then... she would call to tell them tomorrow when this was all over.
Tonight's events would only reinforce their belief that girls shouldn't go out on their own, especially after the sun has gone down. It would give them an excuse to control her more tightly. These thoughts made her sigh, but her breath go caught on the inflamed throat so that she coughed and choked a little more.
"Then I'll accompany you to the hospital," Lu Lian said. "At least that way, you won't be alone."
When all the emergency vehicles arrived, there were police and ambulances everywhere and the watching crowd was forced further away. Police and paramedics kept an eye on the crazy man while the rest of the mess was sorted out and police asked people to tell them what they had seen. Ben Nahna and Lu Lian included.
Ben Nahna was looked over by some paramedics, taken to a hospital for tests and scans. Her car keys were given to Lu Lian who arranged for her car to be driven back to her place, and then after an hour, were returned to her via Lu Lian. The doctors cleared her for discharge when her tests and scans returned clear. She was told to take things easy the next few days, make sure she chewed her food properly and to talk less. Her throat was just bruised and should heal within two weeks or so.
Once discharged from the Emergency Department, Lu Lian took her home, promising that one of his friends would check in on her tomorrow, seeing as he was leaving for her Highlands early in the morning.
"Message me tomorrow to tell me how you're feeling tomorrow, ok?" Lu Lian told her seriously. "Feel free to message me whenever you like. I might not be able to answer straightaway because of the signal, but I will eventually be able to reply. It just might take a few months."
"Oh," Ben Nahna rasped. "Ok. Thanks for your help today."
After he left, Ben Nahna considered how a long distance relationship with a man who would be out of contact for a few months and who was so much older than her would work. She could imagine her mother shaking her head at her and telling her the man would die while she was still young and then she'd be left all alone. Ben Nahna didn't think that would be such a big deal if she didn't have much feelings for the guy, but she was still young. She wasn't desperate to be matched up with someone so much older than her.
And after sending a message to tell him she was fine the next day, her injuries healed, life went back to normal and her family returned from overseas. She completely forgot about him until...