Ms. Pink could sense the atmosphere around her, realizing that perhaps she had truly misunderstood.
She gradually accepted with difficulty that this was a twelve-ounce cup in Earth terms.
"When I came to Earth three or four years ago, I could order a larger cup than this for just three hundred," she said.
But Ms. Pink wouldn't give up. She wouldn't let these Earth humans take advantage of her.
"Three or four years ago, you say... well, I think I can understand that," the young employee tried to explain patiently. "I probably can't say much since I wasn't working at this shop back then, but I think cocoa could still be grown at that time."
"What? I don't understand."
Ms. Pink's demeanor made the Thai customers in the shop think to themselves that this lady was so Karen.
"The thing is, now the whole world can't grow cocoa anymore. I'm not sure if you knew this, but our shop now has to control the amount we brew per cup," he paused thoughtfully.
"The cup you're drinking is from one of our shop's last batches of powder."
"So... you mean I can't order more cocoa powder anymore?"
The Thai employee didn't say anything, just nodded in response.
For the first time in many years, Ms. Pink felt heartbroken. She had carefully planned to buy cocoa powder to sell back at her shop.
The shop employee walked back to continue working while Ms. Pink searched for more information about the cocoa shortage problem, only to discover that the root cause was the changing climate turning the world into a boiling planet.
Now she felt equally boiling with anger.
I had heard about global warming issues before when I came to Earth last time. Haven't humans done anything about it? Cocoa is something almost the entire world loves, so why did they let it go extinct like this? First emperor penguins, now this.
Complaints mixed with frustration poured out of her thoughts.
She tried to savor and sip the precious hot cocoa more slowly, so that the happiness and comfort in this cup wouldn't disappear.
But then the last drop of cocoa emptied the cup. Ms. Pink sat dejected for a moment before walking out of this café toward the green shop across the street with a gloomy mood.
When she reached the shop front, she asked the Thai teenagers standing in a long line what shop this was and what they were queuing for. They answered that this was a tea shop, and they were lining up to buy popular tea.
Hearing this, she felt revitalized as if a light had been ignited in her heart. Ms. Pink had a new flame of hope to replace the cocoa. She joined the kite-tail-long queue, accepting the sweat that made her body sticky. She got number sixty-something in line.
But after being there for less than fifteen minutes, the tea-brewing employee shouted an announcement:
"Matcha will run out today! We apologize to everyone! Please come back next week!"
Brief boos rang out showing dissatisfaction, but it seemed these customers were already accustomed to this situation.
Everyone in the queue disappeared, leaving only Ms. Pink blinking in confusion.
So Thai people queue to buy tea called matcha, she thought.
Ms. Pink moved straight to the order point when suddenly an employee's voice came from the sliding window:
"Matcha is sold out!"
"Oh... is matcha Thai tea?" Ms. Pink asked ignorantly.
"Oh no, customer. Matcha is premium tea from Japan, but it's very popular with Thai people."
Another foreign fever. But I can understand it, because even on that green customer's planet, customers are still caught up in Thai fever, Ms. Pink thought.
"I'd like to order one ton of matcha leaves to sell on Sampheng Star. Do you have enough?"
"Oh! We have enough, customer, but it will take about a month to wait."
"No problem at all, I can wait."
Ms. Pink smiled broadly, barely containing her excitement. Getting things should be this easy.
"Sure thing! Please pay the first half deposit. Here's the price."
The female employee said while pressing the calculator to show her. Ms. Pink's face drained from light pink to pale, almost white.
"Wow... is it really that expensive? Is this just the first half deposit or the full price?" she asked again in disbelief.
"Just the first half, customer. That's the price." The female employee continued to send her a printed smile.
Ms. Pink felt a little grateful that this Thai woman smiled to help her not feel more embarrassed than she already was. She guessed her face must be visibly dejected now.
But at that price, she could upgrade her spaceship to a castle, plus upgrade the purple basket to swallow things a hundred times faster.
"Short supply due to global warming?"
This time Ms. Pink learned from past mistakes. She asked to verify her understanding of what seemed most likely.
"Yes, customer. But at least it can still be grown, unlike cocoa."
"I see... could you recommend some other Thai teas?"
Ms. Pink gave up on matcha completely. She didn't have enough money to pay half the deposit for Japanese tea anyway.
"Thai ones... oh yes! Let me recommend this one. Production increased a lot late last year, but Thai people haven't really opened their hearts to it yet. But our shop would like you to try this one."
The female employee spoke while pouring beautiful colored tea with sweet fragrance for Ms. Pink to taste.
Delicious! Really delicious and refreshing. Both sweet and fragrant. Is this Thai tea? Ms. Pink's heart fluttered.
"How is it, customer? It might not be authentic Thai tea variety, but this is morning dew tea from a village in northern Thailand."
"I really like it. But isn't this tea affected by the global boiling crisis?" Ms. Pink asked while slowly sipping the hot tea in the scorching air.
But surprisingly, this small cup of hot tea that fit in her palm could make her feel mentally calm and cool, and immediately refreshed.
"Actually, it is affected. Normally these tea leaves must be harvested in winter, but late last year when winter came, it was as cold as being in a foreign country. Plus the cold season lasted almost three months. This village was able to harvest a lot of this tea."
Ms. Pink could only nod and listen. She wasn't sure whether she should view this as bad or good news.
Ms. Pink ordered another cup of morning dew tea before paying to buy another ton of this tea variety wholesale, then shared her spaceship's location for the shop to deliver.
This deliciously sweet and smooth taste, but at this price. Even though it's not yet popular in Thailand, I think Thai people will definitely start trying it more next season, Ms. Pink thought to justify herself, so she wouldn't feel guilty about ordering something off-target.
That afternoon, Ms. Pink was very hungry.
She decided to find a Tom Yum Kung hot pot to eat, even though she had initially forbidden herself from doing so.
The reason she had restrained herself initially was because she thought this menu was far too expensive, even though in advertisements promoting Thai food and culture, this menu was always featured and urged not to be missed.
With the image of a silver aluminum pot with a chimney in the middle, warming the thick orange tom yum soup mixed with coconut milk, with fragrant steam floating above the curry that showed plump shrimp inside, presented alongside the bright, appetizing colors of chili, shallots, galanga, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaves.
Ms. Pink still remembered the first time she tried this menu well. The delicious taste still lingered in her memory, but the price made her want to find dining companions for that meal too.
This menu isn't suitable for eating alone, and for Thai people, this isn't something they can easily buy and eat either. That's what she had learned.
But today was different because her heart truly craved this dish, no matter how much she'd have to pay.
She sat eating the rich tom yum kung with rice until she was completely full. Just as she was about to get up from her seat after paying, the restaurant employee called her back.
"Wait a moment, customer. Your bill totals exactly two thousand. You can participate in the 'Shell Out and Go Home' activity. Are you interested?"
Shell Out and Go Home[1]? That's a strange name.
But since she got the right to participate for free, why wouldn't she try?
She followed the employee to the beach behind the restaurant. There was a rope barrier creating a wide area. She noticed the sea water had receded so low she thought the sea had dried up.
"Like every year. Whenever the water recedes and oysters wash ashore, our restaurant cordons off this area for customers to enjoy shell-hunting activities."
One of the restaurant employees seamlessly became the activity host.
"The rules are very simple. Customers just search for shells. However many you find, you can take those shells home!"
"And importantly, our restaurant has bonus prizes too! If customers can collect at least ten oysters with complete, tightly closed shells within fifteen minutes, you immediately get a coupon for up to seventy percent off buying fresh shells from us."
The activity sounded fun, and the prize was very tempting for this strawberry-skinned lady.
Ms. Pink rolled up her sleeves and pant legs without delay, took the shell-collecting basket, and rushed to hunt for shells as soon as the timer sounded.
She was very confident she would win, plus the visible profit of getting the fresh shell discount coupon. She might even order several more kilograms before returning to her spaceship.
The Shell Out and Go Home activity continued. Seeing traces of oysters protruding above the sand in many places, she used the restaurant's basket to dig them up with full force.
What's this? There are oysters attached, but why are all these shells rotten and broken?
But Ms. Pink didn't give up. She dug and rummaged more, searching again and again.
However, she only found oyster ghosts. Most were small with shells that looked like they'd been gnawed and corroded completely.
Time kept moving forward.
From ten minutes to five minutes remaining.
From five minutes to two minutes remaining.
Finally, the time-up alarm sounded, coinciding with Ms. Pink sighing in defeat.
"The customer collected complete oysters numbering..." he dragged out his voice and paused to count, creating suspenseful atmosphere.
"Four! Although you didn't get the bonus prize, congratulations! You tried very hard!"
Applause from other employees in the activity area rang out loudly, but Ms. Pink didn't feel happy about the result at all.
No wonder the restaurant is willing to hold this kind of activity. I saw fresh oyster menus in the restaurant were so expensive. There's no way they'd be generous enough to give away meat. Or maybe this is a way to get rid of these shell remains without having to pay people to clean up. Very clever indeed.
Ms. Pink complained at length in her mind.
She guessed the boiling world probably made the sea unstable, doing something to make these shells no longer intact as before, like the other ingredient problems she'd encountered earlier.
But this time she didn't want to ask questions to learn any more truths.
Enough of this, Earth. What did I get from this trip?
Ms. Pink decided to return to her spaceship immediately.
When she arrived at the spaceship parking area, she found that the morning dew tea she'd just ordered had already arrived. The vacuum packages were transported onto the spaceship and arranged neatly.
She was relieved that at least she wouldn't have to struggle with anything else.
She put the shells from the activity that were still edible into the seafood storage tank, then turned on various systems inside the spaceship, preparing to return to Basket Island Star.
But suddenly, something made her freeze.
What's that stinky smell?
Ms. Pink followed the scent with her nose before her knees buckled at what she saw.
The fresh Hokkaido milk she'd bought over five hundred tanks of - nearly a hundred tanks were now emanating rotten, foul smells.
Tears flowed as she moved to throw away the milk tanks one by one, wondering how this could happen. She had kept the spaceship's temperature control system as cold as a freezer. How could this milk still spoil?
Or is this one of those product quality problems where cattle standards have dropped? she grumbled.
After Ms. Pink dealt with all the spoiled milk tanks, she commanded the smart basket to immediately swallow up the remaining milk tanks.
Even though it groaned and refused to eat properly at first, saying its belly was already full of fresh meat, she forced it out of necessity, because no ingredients could deteriorate when inside the purple basket's belly.
"You came back later than usual this time. That means you must have gotten a lot of stuff," the green-ranked customer greeted excitedly, like a child waiting to unwrap presents.
"Ha ha, see for yourself," the small pink-bodied woman laughed dryly and answered shortly.
He looked puzzled, seeing Ms. Pink with disheveled hair, dull complexion, lackluster face, lying slumped on the counter table with the purple basket lying with its battery dead beside the chair.
He examined the goods report from Thailand:
Wagyu Beef - 1 tonNote: Ponyang Kham fattened beef, quite interesting
Fresh Hokkaido Milk - ~~500~~ 400 tanks
Note: 100 tanks spoiled
Morning Dew Tea Leaves - 1 tonNote: Instead of matcha
Fresh Oysters - 1 kilogramNote: 4 complete shells
The green customer saw the report full of notes. At the end was a summary: 'Three out of four items are ingredients from Japan. P.S. The cocoa I love is extinct.'
"Could you give me some explanation to understand this better, Ms. Pink?" he asked after examining the goods for a long time.
"Thai people are just like customers from your planet. That's probably the easiest explanation."
After that sentence, the shop became quiet again. Neither spoke for quite a while, but finally the curiosity in the customer's mind broke the silence.
"I thought you'd get more stuff than this."
"Heh, try going yourself and you won't talk like that. This is already the maximum from a planet in that condition."
The shop owner immediately retorted when she heard the customer's disagreeable words.
But this customer still couldn't read the situation - how irritated Ms. Pink was. He continued chatting normally.
"Really? I was thinking of saving money to travel and see the world myself sometime too."
The green customer said while lost in warm, dreamy fantasies.
I really love Thai culture. Even though many things seem strange, I'd like to experience real Thailand once, he thought before adding:
"The only thing is it might take a while. About three more years before I have enough money."
"By that time, there probably won't be anything left on that planet for you to see. Believe me."
"Huh?"
He didn't understand, but Ms. Pink just sighed and went back to sleeping slumped over, leaving the green customer to carry his goods with his confused, tangled emotions alone.
[1] Original Thai writing: โกยหอยกลับบ้าน