Playmobil Detectives: Saigon Love Story-10

After the group of friends ascended from the basement into the living room, they were extremely astonished to discover grandmother Mai sitting on the Victorian coach, with her arms crossed and a stern expression on her wrinkled face.

"Grandmother! I...I thought you've...gone to bed already!" exclaimed Thao, without concealing her fear of her grandmother. 

"I have heard of your plan and have pretended to go to bed early," responded grandmother Mai. "Do not try to deceive me as I know everything that is going on in this house."

"I...I'm really sorry," apologized Thao. "I didn't want to deceive you, I just don't wanna make you angry."

"It seems like without revealing my secret, which I have hitherto been determined to take with me to my very grave, would make the continuation of your investigations quite impossible," said the elderly lady. "Okay, please take a seat if you would like to hear me out. I will tell you a bedtime story: The story of a wealthy merchant's daughter who fell in love with a poor construction worker."

The group of friends each grabbed a chair from the adjoining dining room and gathered around the old lady to listen to what she had to say regarding the mysterious pendant necklace and the cremation pot, which they discovered in the basement.

It was 1974 in Saigon, the archaic name of Ho Chi Minh City, during the Vietnam War, one year before the fall of the Americans in 1975. On Mai's eighteenth birthday, she went out to Ben Thanh Market to do some shopping. As Mai walked out of the entrance upon finishing her shopping, a construction worker accidentally bumped into her, causing Mai to drop her basket, resulting in groceries tumbling onto the floor. 

After apologising sincerely, the worker quickly bent down and helped Mai to restore the items into her basket.

As the worker, whose name was Hung, handed Mai her basket after all the items had been restored, their eyes met and they fell in love with each other at first sight. The lovers exchanged contact details and arranged to meet again that very weekend.

~To be Continued~