Rich People Problems-Kwan 2017 (WWT)

and Victoria hadn’t uttered “thank you” even once.
Just then, a maid knocked softly on the open door and peered in.
“What is it?” Victoria asked.
“I have a message for Ah Ling,” the maid said in a very soft voice.
“Well, come in here and tell it to her. Don’t just stand there skulking by the door!”
Victoria scolded.
“Sorry, ma’am,” the maid said, glancing at Ah Ling nervously. “Um, the guardhouse
called. Mrs. Alexandra Cheng and family are arriving.”
“What do you mean arriving?” Ah Ling asked.
“They are pulling up to the house now.”
“Now? But they aren’t supposed to be here until Thursday like everyone else!” Ah Ling
groaned.
“Oh for heaven’s sake—did they give us the wrong dates?” Victoria fumed.
Ah Ling looked out the window and saw that it wasn’t just Alix and her husband,
Malcolm, getting out of the car. There were six cars, and the whole damn family was
pouring out of them—Alistair Cheng; Cecilia Cheng Moncur and her husband, Tony, with
their son, Jake; and who was that stepping out of the car in a white linen suit? Oh dear
God. It couldn’t be. She looked at Victoria in a panic and blurted out, “Eddie is here!”
Victoria groaned. “Alix didn’t say he was coming! Where are we going to put him?”
“It’s not just him…Fiona and the children are here too.”
“Good God! He’s going to kick up a fuss and demand the Pearl Suite again. And that’s
reserved for Catherine and Taksin when they arrive on Thursday.”
Ah Ling shook her head. “Actually, Catherine’s lady’s maid in Bangkok called me to say
that Adam and his wife should have the Pearl Suite.”
“But Adam is their youngest son. Why on earth should he get the Pearl Suite?”
“Apparently Adam’s wife is the daughter of some prince who ranks higher than Taksin.
So they must have the Pearl Suite.”
“Oh yes, I forgot about all that protocol nonsense. Well, Ah Ling, it will be your job to
deliver the news to Eddie.” Victoria smiled wryly.
*1 Hindi for “watchman,” the term is used for any sort of security guard. The jagas at Tyersall Park were, of course,
highly trained Gurkhas that could disembowel another man with just two strokes from their daggers.
*2 Ah Tock is a great-great-grandson of Shang Zhao Hui, the grandfather of Shang Su Yi, but because he was descended
from the second wife of the patriarch’s five official wives, none of the children from her branch inherited any
substantial fortune from the Shang empire and were considered lesser, “distant cousins” when they were in fact not so
distant at all.
*3 The literal meaning in Hokkien is “red hair,” but it’s a derogatory colloquial term used to describe anything of Western
origin, since to many of Singapore’s older-generation Chinese, all Western people are considered ang mor kow sai
—“redhaired dog shit.”
*4 Singlish slang that’s equivalent to “cool” or “fantastic” or “amazing” in Malay.