Yey used to be the first one up in the house, boiling water for rice porridge and sweeping the front porch with a bamboo broom. But lately, things had changed.

These days, Yey was glued to her iPad.

She watched Khmer dramas, scrolled through Facebook, and left long voice comments under her friends' cooking videos. She laughed out loud during comedy skits, sang along with old karaoke hits from Sinn Sisamouth, and watched livestreams of people selling jewelry or fish sauce.

'Yey, come eat lunch!' her granddaughter Mara would call.

'Wait, I'm almost done with this episode!' Yey replied, eyes still locked on the glowing screen.

When her children visited, they found her curled up on the couch, AirPods in, iPad on her lap, and a bowl of mango slices forgotten on the side table.

'Ma, maybe take a break?' her son suggested.

'Why?' Yey asked. 'This iPad is amazing! I have the whole world in here.'

And she wasn't wrong. Yey had joined three Facebook groups: Cambodian Grandmas Who Cook, Srok Khmer Gardening Tips, and Khmer Gossip (Respectfully). She shared her steamed banana cake recipe and even got 243 likes on a photo of her backyard lemongrass.

But soon, small things began to change. Yey didn't go outside as much. She stopped calling her old friends. She skipped her walks to the market.

One day, her iPad battery died during a 3-hour livestream of a woman selling golden necklaces.

'Yey, what are you doing?' asked Mara, peeking into the room.

Yey sighed. 'Waiting for it to charge.'

'Wanna help me make some nom plae ai?'

Yey hesitated. Then she smiled. 'Only if we can record it for Facebook later.'

Together, they went to the kitchen. Yey rolled the dough with her palms like she used to. She laughed. She told stories. Mara recorded a clip and added music. Later that night, Yey uploaded the video and wrote in the caption: 'សូមជួយធ្វើម្ហូបជាមួយចៅស្រីខ្ញុំ ❤️👵🍡 #NomPloeAi #YeyTime'

It got 312 likes.

From then on, Yey still loved her iPad, but now she used it to share the moments she made — not just to watch others. She became a local star. And every time she cooked, planted something, or even danced a little, she'd say:

'Record this one too. My fans are waiting.'