Chapter 2 — 4,200,000 Yuan in Exchange for a Divorce

I didn't reply. Just quietly fold each of your clothes and put them in your suitcase. Spring and summer clothes. Autumn and winter clothes. My cosmetics. My computer. My degrees and certificates.

"Tran Nhien, what's wrong with you?"

He walked over and grabbed my hand.

"You've been very strange since you came back from the restaurant. Did someone make you angry?"

I raised my head to look at him.

"Chu Minh, that amount of money... haven't we already discussed it?"

"Pay the deposit."

His eyes slightly avoided.

"You can still buy a house later. That's more than 4,000,000 yuan. Wouldn't it be better to use it for something meaningful?"

"What is meaningful work?"

I looked straight at him.

"The future of the two of us..."

"Our child's future..."

"Doesn't it make sense?"

"How could you think like that?"

As if he had hit a painful spot, his voice immediately rose.

"Why are you so selfish?"

"Why are you so pragmatic?"

"That's money!"

"It's money that can change our lives!"

"Not 400 yuan!"

Finally I couldn't bear it anymore. The voice also increased.

"But it's my parents' money!"

He shouted back.

"They can spend whatever they want!"

"We are children, what right do we have to interfere?"

"We don't have the right to intervene?"

I laughed. Laughing until tears were about to come out.

"Chu Minh, when we got married, my parents said there was no money in the family."

"I don't have even a single dong of bride price."

"The deposit to buy a house was saved by both of us."

"I still have to borrow thirty years from the bank."

"The old apartment we're in now..."

"Still in my parents' name."

"You said it yourself."

"Waiting for the land compensation money to arrive, we will change to a bigger house."

"Write our names."

"I trusted you."

"Now the money is back."

"You're telling me it's your parents' money, we don't have the right to manage it?"

He got choked up when I asked him. Face flushed. A few seconds later, he still stubbornly raised his neck.

"I support my parents anyway!"

"They are heroes!"

"I don't understand because my level of thinking is too low!"

Thought range. Or give a thought-provoking sentence. I looked at the man in front of me. The person I've loved for five years. He has been my husband for three years. Suddenly... I found him strange. I zipped up the suitcase.

"Where are you going?"

He panicked. I don't answer. Just take out your phone and open the ticket booking app. No hesitation. I bought a one-way ticket to Shanghai. Depart at six o'clock tomorrow morning. I held the phone screen towards him.

"Chu Minh."

"You and your great parents, just embrace your dignity and glory and live well."

I pulled my suitcase and walked towards the door. He didn't stop me. Just stay in place. Using the eyes of a stranger to look at me. As if saying: Why are you so unreasonable? I opened the door. Don't look back. The moment the door slammed shut, I heard him screaming from inside the house.

"Tran Nhien!"

"Today I step out of this door..."

"Then don't try to come back in the future!"

I paused for a second. Then never looked back. Stepping straight into the dark hallway in the middle of the night. And from there... I never went back. The pace of life in Shanghai is so fast that it makes people suffocate. I rented a tiny cubicle. Fit one bed and a table with almost no room to turn around. My first job was as an office worker at a small company. Salary is very low. Just enough to pay rent and living expenses. I started looking for a part-time job. Going to work during the day. In the evening, go to the restaurant to serve. Tutoring is available on weekends. Sleep less than five hours a day. So tired that I don't have time to think about Chu Minh. There's no time to think about those 4,200,000 yuan. There was no time left to think about that broken family. Sometimes lying in bed in the middle of the night, I ask myself: Do I regret it? Absolutely not. Leaving that house, I felt even the air became sweet. I don't need to hear my mother-in-law boast all the time about who gave birth to a son. No need to watch your father-in-law drink a few glasses of wine to start discussing important national matters. There's no need to deal with a husband who considers his parents more important than heaven and earth. Chu Minh called me several times. First week. He was still angry.

"Tran Nhien, have you made enough trouble?"

"Come home quickly for me!"

"Look what else I can do!"

I immediately hung up. On to the second week. His tone softened a bit.

"Where are you?"

"It's very dangerous for a woman to live outside."

"Listen, come back quickly."

"I'll let this go."

I still hung up. He sent me a very long text message. The idea is that he knows I feel sorry for myself. But his parents are old and just want a little face. Please understand. He also said. Lost money can be earned again. But once the family is gone, there is nothing left. I looked at that message. Then answer the correct two words. After that, he didn't contact me anymore. I'm also happy to be quiet.