I often traveled betweenSingapore and Shenzhen for about two or three years. I lived in Singapore for afew weeks and in Shenzhen for a few weeks. I felt that this was not going towork. I had to make a choice after all, so I handed in my resignation letter tomy boss. After asking for the reason, I found out that I was not being poached,but just wanted to return to my country. I breathed a sigh of relief and cameup with a compromise idea: I would return to my country, my job would be thesame, and everything else would remain the same, except that my work locationwould be changed from Singapore to Shenzhen. That was all. After much tossingand tossing, I still had not broken away from the Singapore network. No matterwhat, I withdrew the house I rented in Singapore, went to UOB to apply for theoverseas online transfer function, brought a simple suitcase, and returned toShenzhen.

Just after settling in Shenzhen, I received a messagefrom Tony using Whatsapp. He said that he had arrived in Phuket, Thailand. Iasked him when he would come to Shenzhen and I arranged a time to pick him upat the airport. Tony's answer surprised me. He said that he decided to live inPhuket for a long time and did not plan to go to China for the time being, sothat I could have time to visit Phuket. I asked him what happened, and he saidI would find out when I came.

Why did Tony suddenly arrive in Phuket? I waswondering what happened to Tony. Every time I went to the UK, Tony always actedlike a landlord. This time when he came to Asia, I shouldn't just sit back andignore him. I was thinking about this for several days, and finally I decidedto go to Phuket.

Tony was sure that I would come over.   He came over and hugged me when he saw me.There was also a petite Thai girl picking me up at airport with Tony. Tonyintroduced: "She is my wife, Tina." I was shocked again. I covered myheart and said, "Don't be like this, my heart is very fragile." Tinawas listening to us talking, smiling, and saying nothing. Tina's skin was alittle dark, but her facial features were exquisite. It was the type where shegot better and better the more you saw her.

Tony carried my suitcase into the car. It was a ToyotaCorolla, 70% to 80% new, and Tony said it was rented for 2,000 baht a day. Isat in the passenger seat and Tina sat in the back seat. Tony leaned over andwhispered in my ear that my wife also rented. I was stunned.

The apartment Tony rented was located on Bangla Streetin Patong District. The apartment faced the street and had two bedrooms and oneliving room. It was fully equipped. Tony let me stay in the guest room. BanglaStreet wass a famous red light district and backpacker gathering area. Whennight falls, the whole street was filled with women or ladyboys, pleasureseekers or backpackers. The neon lights on the street were flashing and themusic was blaring. I asked Tony if it was too noisy. Tony said he liked it.When Tina was no longer around, I took the opportunity to ask Tony about thedetails of renting a wife. Tony said that he accidentally entered a Britishpleasure seeker forum. There were some posts in the forum that introduced thestory of renting a wife in Phuket, which made him yearn for it. He no longerhad the energy to start a formal marriage again. He didn’t want to waste anytime, so he contracted the backpacker hotel to someone else and came to Phuketalone. It turned out to be the case, and I was relieved. Since the divorce,Tony's spirit had been generally negative, and it would be good to change theenvironment.

Tony asked me if I had ever been to Phuket. I said Ihad only been to Bangkok and Pattaya. The major red-light districts in Thailandwere similar. Tony said I was wrong, women in Phuket are different, they werenot prostitutes, they have feelings. His piety made me a little worried that hewould be deceived. Tony said, “don't worry, Tina is a good girl. In Thailand,she is my wife and will not lie to me.”

Tina came back, and she brought a girl with her. Thegirl was slightly fairer and thinner than Tina. She was still a little girl, nomore than twenty years old. Tina introduced her name as Ram, who had just cometo Phuket from the countryside and was learning English from her. I said helloto Ram, my name is Roger. Ram also said hello to me, “My name is Ram, myEnglish is not good, please don’t mind.” Ram spoke English stammeringly andstruggled to complete the sentence word by word. Her face turned red withembarrassment. I say,” don’t be shy, speak boldly when learning a language.”Tina also said beside her that she would study hard with Roger in the future,not only to learn English, but also to learn Chinese. After Tina finishedspeaking, Ram's cheeks turned redder. Tony was smiling half-heartedly, and Isuddenly realized that I had accidentally fallen into Tony's trap.

Tony drove us to Patong Beach to eat seafood. Thebeach was half-moon shaped, with wide and fine sand. It was said to be thelargest and most beautiful beach in Phuket. There was a restaurant and bar inthe middle of the beach, directly facing the sea. We asked for an outermosttable to listen to the waves, play in the sand, drink and chat, everyone wasvery happy. Tony took a sip of wine and said with emotion that this was whatlife should be. He just wanted to live like this for the rest of his life. Tinasaid, "Then I will stay with you forever." She leaned in Tony's arms,as docile as a cat. Ram couldn't talk to him, but kept a smile on his face,like a graceful lady.

I have been to Bangkok and Pattaya several times. Myimpression of Thai girls was a group of girls standing outside the bar waitingfor customers. Thai ladyboys were a human tragedy, and Thai girls were symbolsof prostitution. The appearance of Ram made me realize that there were girls inThailand who was so pure.

Tony and Tina went off to play, leaving only Ram andme. I slowed down and tried to chat with Ram. I asked how old Ram was, and Ramreplied eighteen. I asked again if she was looking for a job in Phuket. Lamsaid she was not looking for a job and she wanted to learn English. I thenasked her what she would do after learning English. Ram thought for a while andthen said she wanted to be like Sister Tina and find a husband like Tony. Ramspoke slowly and his grammar was confusing, but I understood her. My heartsank, and a feeling of sadness came over me. I seemed to be seeing a pure whitewild lotus being submerged in the mud.

Seeing my silence, Ram thought I had misunderstood.She hurriedly explained: "Not necessarily, Westerners and Chinese peopledoesn’t matter." I nodded and told Ram that I understood. Tony and Tinakept playing on the beach and had no intention of returning to their seats. Ifelt that they did it on purpose. It felt like something was stuck in my heart.I didn't want to speak, and I didn't know what to say to Ram. Should I persuadeher to establish the value of self-reliance? In an environment like Thailand,the values they had accumulated since childhood have been very clear and noone could change them.

Tony and Tina came back from playing"tired". They were going to take me to a nightclub, the biggest HeroBar on Bangla Street. I didn’t have any objection. It was unreasonable to cometo Phuket and did not visit a bar. The Hero Bar was located on the secondfloor. Drinking coupons are sold at the entrance on the first floor. One personmust buy at least 500 baht in drinking coupons to enter. Because the bar was sopopular, there was a long queue at the entrance to buy tickets. I asked them tofollow me, walked straight to the VIP counter where there was no queue, tookout my credit card, and directly ordered a bottle of Black Label whiskey andtwo bottles of champagne. Tony invited me to dinner, then I had to treat themto drinks. I paid more money for the different and great treatment. We wereplaced in a big booth upstairs facing the stage. Seeing the crowds in theaudience, many European and American customers holding a beer in hand, lookingfor a seat to share the stage with others, I felt a sense of superiority.

The fashionable DJs at the Hero Bar were indeedmasters. They could stir up waves of climax just by using the control keyboardsunder their hands. Tony and Tina repeated their old tricks, leaving us in thebooth and running to dance again. I watched them jump from one stage toanother, their figures fit together, twisting rapidly forward and back to themusic. I was surprised that Tony had become so crazy, full of energy andpassion. Tony became younger, as if he was only in his twenties. I knew that thiswas all thanks to Tina. Only a woman can change a man like this.

While they were dancing, I leaned on the sofa in thebooth and thought wildly. Ram held my arm and leaned on my shoulder as meeklyas a cat.

The next day, I told Tony that I was going backto Shenzhen. Tony was very surprised and kept asking me why, saying that Ramand I got along very well, why did you leave? I said there was something goingon at home, so I didn't tell Tony the truth because I was afraid of hurtingTony's self-esteem. In fact, it was just because I couldn't enjoy the feelingsthat came from this kind of transaction. I was afraid that one day I would bestuck in it without knowing it and wouldn't be able to get out just like Tonyis now.

Note: the article is from Loves In Singapore that co-launched with M/ARTS electric toothbrush.