The following morning, Leni woke up early. She immediately went to the bathroom to wash herself.
After finishing her bath, Leni quickly had breakfast. The clock already showed half past seven in the morning.
Once she had eaten, Leni sat at her dressing table. She began to put on her make‑up neatly.
Today, she had to start early because there were many orders at the food stall where she worked.
While getting ready and looking into the mirror, Leni smiled and muttered, "I'm practically identical to Jennifer Aniston! Oh yeah!"
For five minutes she imagined herself resembling Jennifer Aniston, though in reality it was not the case.
After snapping out of her daydream, Leni switched on her small fan.
That morning the weather felt quite hot even though it was still early.
[CLICK!]
The blue fan immediately began to spin after Leni pressed the button.
She then muttered, "Strange for it to be this hot in the morning, perhaps it's going to rain?"
She directed the fan towards her face.
Leni had just finished her make‑up, but because of the heat, it began to fade with sweat.
She looked at the wall clock. The time already showed quarter to eight.
"Five more minutes before I set off!" Leni murmured once again.
Just as she was muttering to herself, Leni's landlady came to demand the rent.
Her name was Mrs Mardiyah, a fierce and stingy landlady.
[KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!]
"Leni! Pay the rent now!" Shouted Mrs Mardiyah.
Leni was startled. She pulled out her phone and saw that it was still the end of the month.
"What on earth, Mrs Mardiyah?! It's only the end of the month! My wages are tomorrow!" Thought Leni.
Leni stood up and opened the door.
As the door opened, the middle‑aged woman, who faintly resembled an ondel‑ondel figure, appeared before her eyes.
"Oh, Mrs Mardiyah... Good morning..." Said Leni with a confident smile.
Mrs Mardiyah glared, then stretched out her hand, "Rent money! Now!"
Leni sighed, then explained, "Mrs Mar... It's the end of the month, my wages are tomorrow!"
"Don't care!" Replied Mrs Mardiyah in a loud voice. "It must be now!"
Leni shook her head, then took her purse from her bag.
She returned to face Mrs Mardiyah and opened it in front of her.
"Look, Mrs! Only a tenner left! Just enough for food!" Said Leni, showing a ten‑thousand rupiah note.
[SNATCH!]
Mrs Mardiyah swiftly grabbed the money from Leni's hand.
"That's two hundred and ninety thousand short! It must be settled tomorrow!" Said Mrs Mardiyah, turning away and leaving without a shred of guilt.
Leni was shocked and chased after her.
"Mrs... That's all the money I have left! And you took it too! Let me pay tomorrow! That's for my food later!" Cried Leni.
Mrs Mardiyah smiled wickedly, then asked, "Leni... Where do you work?!"
Leni innocently replied, "At the food stall! You already know that, Mrs Mardiyah!" She said.
Mrs Mardiyah smiled again, "How can someone working at a food stall not be able to eat! Off you go to work! Tomorrow it must be settled!" She said, then hurried away.
Leni immediately grumbled in annoyance, "That landlady is so infuriating! Rubbish! Money‑grubber!"
From a distance, the incident was in fact witnessed by Mr Topo and Mrs Yanti.
Mrs Yanti was supporting Mr Topo after the previous night's mishap, and that morning they were preparing to go to hospital.
With both spite and delight, Mr Topo mocked Leni.
"Leni's got no money, has she? Oh, how it pleases me!" Said Mr Topo with a cheerful face.
Mrs Yanti, still holding up Mr Topo, immediately flicked his lips.
She said, "Enough, my dear! Stop!"
Mr Topo was startled, then complained, "That hurt, you know, dear!" He said, touching the lips that had just been flicked.
Leni saw Mr Topo and Mrs Yanti and greeted them, "Good morning, Grandpa Topo, Grandma Yanti!" She said.
Leni smiled ever so sweetly at that moment.
She even offered an elegant compliment to them both, saying, "Oconsa! Oconsa!"
Mr Topo and Mrs Yanti looked at one another.
Curious, Mr Topo finally asked, "What is Oconsa?!"
Leni smiled, then replied, "It's nothing, Grandpa Topo! It's just a modern slang term! It's a good phrase!" She said.
Mr Topo, with his instincts as a legendary and experienced tailor, sensed something odd about the word.
He asked again, "So what does it mean then?!"
Leni stepped closer to Mr Topo, then shouted loudly right in his face, "It means, Old Codger With No Self‑Awareness!"
Leni immediately dashed back into her room, laughing uproariously, and quickly locked the door tight.
"What the...!!!"
Mrs Yanti was left stunned, amazed, shocked, astonished, startled, and shaken to see Leni shamelessly shouting at her beloved husband.
Meanwhile, Mr Topo needed about thirty seconds to process what Leni had just said.
Once he realised, Mr Topo shouted with full emotion, "You insolent woman!"
Mr Topo intended to run and break down Leni's door, but Mrs Yanti quickly reminded her husband of the previous night's incident, which had left him traumatised whenever he saw a door.
"Do you remember last night's incident, my dear?! That's enough! Now let's go to the hospital!" Said Mrs Yanti firmly.
Mr Topo suppressed his anger, then vowed, "When my foot heals, for the sake of hundreds of pencak silat schools in this country, and for the thousands of souls of lonely warriors, I swear I shall avenge this!" He declared solemnly.
Mrs Yanti immediately smacked Mr Topo on the head, "That's enough, dear! Stop fantasising about being some imaginary warrior! Remember, you're old now! Stick to reality!" She said.
Mr Topo looked at Mrs Yanti and raised his eyebrows, "Strange! You're not pretending to be weird this time!" He remarked.
"Come on, hurry! We're off to hospital!" Urged Mrs Yanti.
The two of them finally continued with their plan, which had been delayed, and set off for hospital.
Inside her boarding room, Leni still remembered the irritating behaviour of Mrs Mardiyah earlier.
She growled like a hungry tiger, "Damn it! My only tenner!"
Her anger and disappointment mixed together.
Suddenly a sound was heard.
[CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!]
Leni quickly turned and saw her one and only dark blue fan rattling loudly.
She grumbled in resignation, "What rotten luck! My only tenner taken, and now my fan's breaking too!" She said.
[BANG!]
Leni struck the fan in frustration, and at once it stopped spinning.
She grew even more miserable, "Now it's completely dead!" She lamented, her face gloomy.
Ignoring it, Leni stood up, tidied a few of her things, and set off for the food stall where she worked.
Unbeknown to Leni, who had already left for work, the dark blue fan slowly began to tremble.
Its vibrations turned into rhythmic thuds, like a giant machine waking from a long sleep.
[CREAK! CREAK! CREAK!]
The air in Leni's room suddenly swirled, and the curtains flapped wildly even though the window was tightly shut.
The fan had absorbed the remnants of Leni's anger and frustration.
Its rusty parts began to vanish.
[ZZZZZT!]
In the centre of the fan blades, a dazzling bright blue light suddenly appeared.
The light pulsed throb throb throb like the head of someone with a pounding headache, then shot strange bolts into the corner of the room.
[WHOOOOSH!]
A sound like a space shuttle engine combined with the drone of a mosque loudspeaker rang out.
The fan seemed to transform into a personal mini‑portal, projecting holographic digital numbers spinning in the air.
Its shadow Jaipongan dance on the wall, forming bizarre symbols resembling secret codes.
The boarding room floor shook. A plastic cup on the dressing table bounced to a dangdut koplo rhythm.
[BLIP! BLIP! BLIP!]
The blue light grew brighter, then an electronic voice emerged, sounding like a blend of robot and customer service.
"EMOTIONAL ENERGY DETECTED! ACTIVATION PROCESS COMMENCING! PREPARE YOURSELF FOR DESIRE BASED ON ANGER!"