Having heard no news it seemed only natural to Miss Pork Bun’s parent that they should seek the advice of a fortune teller, who upon peering into her tea cup told them: “A dumpling is what your daughter’s heart holds dear”.
Mother Pork Bun was raging and knew she should have put her foot down earlier. She opposed of that relationship from the start and should have listened to her instints. This left Father Pork Bun with nowhere to stand as he knew his laid back approach was inadvertently to blame.
Meanwhile Grandfather Pork Bun decided it would be wise to renew relations with the Dumpling Clan, and paid a visit to his old rival’s home. He bought some soybean curd as a gift and in exchange Grandfather Dumpling served up some of his family’s soybean custard while they both thought about the events of the past.
You see the two families have a wealth of history:
The Dumpling Clan have always been made and sold soybean custard, while the Pork Bun Clan did the same with soybean curd. Soy and it’s products are valued commodities in Dim Sum Village and their reliance proved fatal in the drought of 1938 when not a single soybean was harvested. Fights broke out as to how best to use the stock they had in storage so as to pull the village through the winter months. With such uncertainty facing them, suspicion and distrust grew and eventually manifested itself with one Clan accusing the other of stealing soy. The villagers got caught up by taking sides and eventually paid the heaviest price when many starved to death.
Those were dark days that happened many generations ago and most villagers give no thought to the arguments of the past. But Grandfather Pork Bun knows his daughter for one reason or another feels strongly otherwise, even with their ancestors’ wish to free the future generations of past grudges…
The young couple in the forest were only too well aware of the strong feelings Mother Pork Bun had. And that night they plotted the final part of their route out of Dim Sum Island – out into the bigger world where the great land gave way to endless opportunities. Is running away the answer? Or will history repeat itself and cause a rift between the two clans?
