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(4)
“Alright, Maung Lunn, come here now.”
The voice calling out was laced with annoyance. Aunt Thuik’s guest had already arrived, so Lunn Kyao, who was sitting quietly in the yard in front of the porcelain shop, sighed and stretched his shoulders.
From where he was working, painting a porcelain vase, a young man named Dway Le, glanced up at Lunn Kyao with a smile and said:
“You’re really something, Maung Lunn. Your aunt couldn’t reach you on the phone, and you haven’t come home. She’s starting to get impatient, leaving your lovely auntie alone, wondering where you’ve been all this time.”
“I haven’t gone anywhere far, Dway Le. I’ve been staying at the guesthouse because I have my own room there. I just lost track of time working and forgot my phone.”
“Maung Lunn… Aren’t you coming yet?”
“Coming now.”
After hearing Aunt Thuik call again, Lunn Kyao sighed, smiled at Dway Le, and walked towards the porcelain shop.
The shop was connected to the workshop by a small brick path, with green grass and large porcelain jars displayed alongside it. Bamboo stacks were laid out in the corner, used for making ceramics. The air around the workshop was filled with the distinctive scent of wet clay.
Aunt Thuik, Lunn Kyao’s aunt, had modernized the family’s traditional porcelain business. She had transformed the workshop into a place where tourists could not only buy fine porcelain but also observe the entire process of making ceramics. The surrounding space, with its green lawns and decorative royal palm trees, had become a beautiful landscape that attracted many foreign visitors.
Passing through the small path, Lunn Kyao arrived at the spacious showroom, where all kinds of finely crafted porcelain products were neatly displayed. The shop had many female employees, yet Aunt Thuik always sat behind the counter herself, overseeing both the shop and the workshop.
Aunt Thuik was a strikingly beautiful woman in her forties. She wore her long black hair in a tight ponytail, with her sharp features and porcelain skin glowing like the clear complexion of an ancient deity. She had high cheekbones, strong eyebrows, and full lips that smiled gracefully but could easily intimidate with a stern look.
Lunn Kyao greeted his aunt, “Aunt Thuik, you seem to have a lot of customers today! Business must be booming.”
Aunt Thuik, without smiling, gestured for him to sit, “Come, Maung Min’s son.”
Laughing, Lunn Kyao replied, “Haha, I’m not Maung Min’s son. I’m your brother U Naing Min’s son.”
“Don’t joke with me, boy. Now tell me, where have you been? No phone calls, no visits home. You left your poor aunt all alone to handle all the work.”
“I didn’t mean to leave you alone, Aunt. I’ve just been working late at the guesthouse with the staff. It’s just easier to stay there sometimes, and I left my phone behind by accident. Besides, with so many women around here, I feel out of place being the only man.”
“Out of place, huh?” Aunt Thuik raised an eyebrow. “You? Out of place? If you were around, these girls wouldn’t gossip so much. They all adore you, you know.”
Lunn Kyao chuckled awkwardly, trying to deflect her teasing.
“By the way,” Aunt Thuik said, “from tonight on, I want you to sleep at home. We need a man around here for security.”
“You just want a man around here, don’t you?”
“What? What are you implying?”
“Why don’t you just marry someone already, Aunt?”
At this, Aunt Thuik burst out laughing. “Me? At my age? If I wanted to marry, I would have done it at twenty, not now!”
With that, Aunt Thuik grabbed a book and jokingly pretended to throw it at him. Lunn Kyao ducked out of the shop laughing, but not before his aunt gave him one last instruction:
“Come early tomorrow, we have guests. You’ll need to take them to the hot air balloon field. Be ready by 6 AM.”
“Sure thing, Auntie!”
As Lunn Kyao left, he grinned and muttered to himself, feeling amused by their playful exchange.
