Chapter 3 — A Social Insurance Sheet

Just because I ask him to be serious about his studies, just because I teach him to save money and not waste it, he thinks that his grandparents and dad are the ones who love him, and I don't. After ten years of raising my child, I didn't expect that his words would be like a knife stabbing straight into my heart. I snatched the divorce form from my mother-in-law's hand, and with trembling hands, I tore straight into the words for child custody. As soon as I walked out the door, it suddenly started to rain. Behind, cheerful laughter rang out. I—the outsiders finally left, they must have been gloating. Arriving in front of my mother's house, I suddenly changed my mind and didn't want to go in anymore. My parents are old and their health is not good, I don't want to let them worry about these things. I texted my husband, making an appointment to go to the civil affairs department tomorrow morning to complete the divorce procedure, then find a motel in town to stay the night. Since getting married, I have never left that house. This is the first time I have slept outside. I thought it would be difficult to sleep in a strange place, but unexpectedly, as soon as I touched the pillow, I fell asleep. No need to worry about whether your husband comes home or not. No need to worry about whether your son will kick the blanket or not. I slept straight until morning. When I arrived at the civil affairs department, Ly Xuyen was already standing there waiting. He looked at me coldly: "Do you really dare to come?" I smiled faintly: "If not, so what? Do you think I'm just scaring you? Didn't your mother always say that your company has a lot of young girls who like you and dream of being your wife? I also think it's clear, I can't keep being a stumbling block on your path to happiness." I flipped my hair and sighed sarcastically: "Now I'm an ugly old woman, not worthy of a man with a stable income like you."

“Don't be too self-conscious, don't be picky and you can get married!”

I teased him, but he didn't notice. A man who is both narcissistic and ungrateful like this, how blind was I to choose him? My husband crossed his arms and smiled confidently: "Wife, I bet that by the end of the one-month divorce waiting period, you definitely won't be able to break up with me." I laughed, crossed my arms and looked at him: "Is that so? Then just wait and see!" His phone suddenly rang. From the other end of the phone, the mother-in-law's high-pitched voice came: "Are you done yet? The daughter that Mr. Truong introduced is about to arrive!" I smirked. The mother-in-law acted quickly. We hadn't even finished the procedure yet, the lady over there was already eagerly arranging a match for her son. Does she think her son is still a hot commodity? How funny! I raised my eyebrows and smiled sarcastically: "Hurry up, don't miss your important work!" My husband rubbed his hands awkwardly, unable to say a word. After completing the divorce procedure, I told him not to notify my parents for the time being. He agreed. Then immediately, he jumped into the car and drove away as if he was rushing to the date of his life. I stood there, watching the disappearing shadow, my heart as cold as ice. More than ten years of youth... really feeding the dog! The bright sunlight shining down made my body warm and comfortable. I found a bench in a nearby park and sat down. Not long after, a young mother brought her two-year-old daughter to sit next to me. The little girl raised her chubby hand and gently wiped her mother's sweat.

“Mom, later Hey mom, don't hold me anymore. Mom will be so tired, you will be heartbroken!”

The voice is so young and sweet that it melts the heart. People always say that a daughter is her mother's warm little cotton shirt, it's certainly not wrong. I suddenly remembered the year I gave birth to my son—from a normal birth to a cesarean section, the surgical wound never healed, and the pain was so painful that I fainted countless times. At that time, my husband was busy at work, my mother-in-law didn't bother to pay attention to me, and she was alone for a whole month, leaving me almost alone to take care of the child. There were outsiders, and the mother-in-law immediately hugged her child and talked endlessly about how hard she had worked to take care of her child. There was no one there, she criticized my room for being smelly and didn't even bother to step in all day. I gave birth to a son, fulfilling her wish to continue her lineage, thinking that from now on life would get better. But not long after, she started urging me to have another child, saying that my son was too lonely and needed another sibling to keep him company. I was not properly cared for during confinement, my body did not recover well, I often had back pain, had constant insomnia, and was unable to get pregnant again. Because of that, my mother-in-law kept hinting all day, implying that I was deliberately avoiding pregnancy and refusing to give birth to another child for the Ly family. I never took those words into my ears, because I got married to live with him, not to marry my mother-in-law. As long as my husband and son are good to me, I can ignore everything else. But in the end, even they considered me an outsider.

“Sister, you're wearing this too thin, can you put on my shirt for a while?”

The gentle voice of the young mother pulled me back to reality. The little girl in her mother's arms raised her head and smiled at me: "Auntie, put it on quickly!" Don't let it get cold, you'll be very uncomfortable when you're sick!” My heart suddenly felt sour, the corners of my eyes were stinging. During more than ten years of marriage, my husband and son have never said a single word of concern to me. Just a simple sentence from a strange girl, but I want to remember it for the rest of my life. Unable to refuse their kindness, I accepted the coat. After talking for a while, I learned that this woman was a single mother who had just divorced half a year ago. She said that her ex-husband refused to pay child support, so she had no choice but to take care of the children and earn money at the same time. When talking about her past marriage, her face is always calm, as if she were telling a stranger's story. I asked: "Don't you hate your ex-husband?" She smiled faintly: "At first I hated it, but gradually I thought it through!" A whole life, say it's long, it's not long, it's short it's not short, if you're stuck in the painful past, how can you move on? She looked at me, her eyes shining: "Life is yours, as long as there is hope in your heart, everything will get better." Looking at her calm smile, I woke up. That's right, life is mine! For many years now, I have always revolved around my husband and children, to the point that I forgot about myself. From now on, I have to live for myself, I have to live the life I want. I frantically applied for jobs, but half a month passed and still no news. Besides teaching, I don't know what else to do, and job opportunities related to this industry are too few. When I was almost desperate, even thinking about temporarily working as a cleaner to make a living, my phone suddenly rang. Yes Quach Lam, the woman I met at the park.

“Sister, have you found a job yet?”

I sighed: "Not yet..."

"Now I'm livestreaming selling clothes, can you come help me? The salary is a fixed salary plus commission!"

I was so happy that I almost jumped up. So great! I finally have a job!