Nodles Smell

"What's the plan, Boss?" one of the group members asked their leader.

"Just handle it however's easiest," their boss replied. The rest of the group exchanged knowing glances.

"When do we make our move? This looks like an easy target." They used the term "soft bread" for potential victims, especially when the target was a woman.

"Wait until nightfall."

While they were discussing their plan in code, the shop owner came out from the kitchen. She carried nine drinks on a large tray with ease and grace. Her way of carrying so many drinks was flawless, not a single drop spilled.

"Here are your drinks, Sirs!" she said, distributing the drinks on the table. Each of them took their orders one by one.

"Do you have noodles?"

"Yes, but we only prepare them with hot water."

"That's fine," one of them responded with a smile.

"Do you want some?"

"Yes, please. Add more noodles, too."

"How many packs in total?" When she asked how many packs, they counted among themselves. One person asked for two packs at once.

"I'll take two packs of fried noodles. What about the rest of you?" the leader asked his group. They all counted their portions, and after finishing the tally, they placed their orders.

"Twelve packs in total? Three bowls of noodle soup and the rest are fried noodles, each with two packs."

Noodle soup from the Sarimi brand is one of the most popular and favored varieties, especially in remote areas. Its distinctive taste and easy preparation—just by pouring hot water over it—make it a convenient meal. In remote areas, many residents are newcomers who are used to working in the forest. Even the local people often use instant noodles as a complement to their meals, sometimes mixing them with canned fish.

Kalimantan, an island rich in natural resources, offers more than just timber but also gold mines, coal, and other treasures. The availability of instant products is crucial due to the difficulty of obtaining fresh vegetables.

Food and meat are abundant in the interior. For meat, they hunt wild boar, deer, or mouse deer.

Illegal workers in Kalimantan's interior prefer jobs in illegal logging or gold mining. They often work in traditional ways while maintaining forest and nature conservation.

The working systems of the Dayak people and newcomers differ significantly. While newcomers aim to accumulate wealth, the Dayak people work only for sustenance. They do not exploit nature excessively. They work to fill their stomachs and ensure survival. The Dayak people do not like to hoard items. If they earn money, they will choose not to work until their money runs out. Then, they return to work. They eat and drink only as necessary, a lifestyle that has persisted to this day.

The shop owner returned to the kitchen. A baby’s cry could be heard from inside. A 10-year-old boy called for his mother.

Meanwhile, the nine men continued their discussion, speaking in code. Typically, before executing their plan from village to village, they would scout their target to determine the best time and moment to strike.

Ten minutes later, the shop owner came out of the kitchen with five bowls of instant noodles, still wrapped in plastic and filled with hot water, with the unopened seasoning packets inside.

After placing each bowl of instant noodles, the shop owner went back to the kitchen to get the remaining orders.

Three minutes later, they took the noodles out of their packaging, now soaked in hot water. They emptied the contents into bowls and used forks to mix the noodles and seasoning thoroughly.

The nine men ate voraciously. They had been in the village for three days but had not found a single shop selling rice. All the shops only sold instant necessities like rice and other groceries; if there was any ready-to-eat food, it was just bread and instant noodles.

While they were eating, they saw, in the distance, an old woman with shoulder-length elongated earlobes walking with a lanjung on her back. She walked in the scorching sun without an umbrella, on an unpaved road, dressed entirely in black. She seemed impervious to the heat of the treeless hill, with dust swirling behind her, blown by the wind.

As she got closer, it became clearer that the woman was carrying a sapeq and continuously plucking its strings. The nine men realized that the sapeq music they had heard earlier came from this old woman.

Walking barefoot, she passed by them without glancing to the right or left. The nine men simultaneously watched her as she walked past.

"Scary!" one of them exclaimed.

"What's scary about it?" another asked.

"The sound of her guitar gives me goosebumps."

Another laughed. "You're so dramatic!"

"But Boss, it's strange. That was the sound we heard earlier. How could she get here so quickly?"

"So what?" their leader responded.

"Think about it, Boss. The distance from the house we saw earlier is far, almost 15 kilometers, maybe more. How could she get here on foot so fast? Normally, a person walking leisurely covers about 8 kilometers per hour." One of them started to realize the oddity of the sapeq-playing woman.

"Seems like she's a true Dayak," their boss quietly remarked, without suspecting that Lahei was watching their every move.

As they were busy observing Grandma Lahei walking, one of them suddenly vomited.

"What's wrong, Wan?"

"The noodles are spoiled!"

"You're lying."

"Impossible. The noodles were just cooked," his friend didn't believe him. It seemed unlikely that freshly prepared noodles could be spoiled.

"Mine too, Boss. It's spoiled," another friend exclaimed. His noodles, which he had only taken two bites of, tasted sour, spoiled, and unpleasant.

Sensing something strange, the remaining seven also tasted their noodles at the same time. Sure enough, their noodles were spoiled too.