Chapter 2 — After Notarizing 5 Houses, I Just Got Married

At eight o'clock in the evening, Tran Hao returned home. When he entered, his expression calmed down and he even brought a box of cakes.

"Today is the day I register, don't be unhappy because of small things."

I sat on the sofa, looking at him.

“Small matter?”

"With my mother, I will go and tell you again, don't take it to heart."

“What about the house?”

He put the cake box on the tea table and sat next to me.

"Let's do this, it's fine if we don't transfer the name. I'll let Luong Luong borrow the apartment for two years, wait until he saves up enough money to buy a house, then I'll take it back."

"What's the difference between borrowing and transferring? Once you've moved in, you still want to leave?"

“Don't think everyone is that bad—”

"Tran Hao, today I received four calls. Your mother, your father, your brother, and your sister's girlfriend. Four people took turns asking for a house. Do you think I think I'm a human?"

He was silent. After a while, he opened his mouth.

"So tell me, how many houses do you have? How many houses have you notarized?"

I stood up.

"How much I have, how much I have notarized, has nothing to do with you. If you want to know, go look it up yourself."

"Tran Hao, I'll say it for the last time. I won't give a penny of my pre-marital assets to anyone from the Tran family. If you can't accept it, the Civil Affairs Bureau hasn't closed yet."

He stood there, his face sometimes red, sometimes white. The cake box on the table, two ice cream figures leaning against each other, looked bitterly funny. The first night after getting married, we slept separately. I locked the bedroom door and called her.

“Auntie, the whole family has started asking for a house.”

“Not unexpected.”

“Did you already know they were this type of person?”

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds.

"I told you to notarize not because you knew in advance, but because you didn't feel secure. Now it seems like you were right to not feel secure."

“So what should I do now?”

"Don't be in a hurry. Keep looking at what it will do. A person's true face cannot be seen in a day or two. But for some faces, one day is enough."

Hanging up the phone, I lay on the bed, looking at the ceiling. The marriage certificate is placed on the bedside table. Bright red cover. The next day, I still went to work as usual. I'm an interior designer at a company, my monthly salary is 15,000 yuan, not high, but I like this job. She asked me many times to join her company, but I refused. I don't want to rely on you. At noon, my best friend Lam Dao sat down opposite me.

"It's only the second day after the wedding and your face is already like this? Is Tran Hao okay?"

“Don't joke.”

"What's wrong? Is something really wrong?"

I told you about yesterday. Lam Dao's chopsticks stopped in mid-air.

"Wait. Just after registering, you haven't even left the Civil Affairs Department yet and he's already asking you to transfer the house's name to his younger brother?"

“Let's go out the door and talk.”

"That's still absurd as usual. What family does your husband's family belong to?"

“I was wondering too.”

“What did you say?”

“Tell me to observe more.”

Lam Dao clicked his tongue.

"You really keep your composure. If it were my mother, I would probably wring that guy's neck on the spot."

“My aunt is not that type of person.”

"That's why I forced you to get it notarized. This move... is really beautiful."

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Tran Hao sent a WeChat message.

"Wife, my mother wants to come over to our house for dinner tonight. Please get off work early."

I looked at the message and replied with three words.

“Inconvenient.”

"Don't do that, my mother wants to make peace."

"If you want to make peace, why don't you invite me to her house to eat, but instead want to come to my house?"

Five minutes later he just replied.

“Okay, then go to her house.”

I don't answer anymore. After work, I didn't go to my husband's house, but went straight to my apartment. This elegant apartment is the only one I live in by myself among the five apartments. Before I got married, I lived here. Tran Hao sometimes stayed here to sleep. I originally said I would move in together after the wedding, but now... The doorbell rang. I opened the door. Trieu My Lan stood outside, carrying two bags of food.

"Mom over and cook me a delicious meal, we can talk properly."

I leaned over to let her in. She changed her slippers and walked around the living room, her eyes constantly searching.

“This house is really beautifully decorated, when was it built?”

“Three years ago.”

“How much money?”

“Forgot.”

She didn't notice my cold attitude and went into the kitchen. Forty minutes later, the food was placed on the table. Two dishes, one soup, looks good.

“Come here and eat.”

I sat down, picked up a chopsticks. Trieu My Lan also sat, but hardly ate.

“Nien Niem, there was also something wrong with what happened yesterday.”

I did not respond.

“But you also have to understand, Luong Luong is your husband's younger brother, blood-related—”

“Mom, I don't want to repeat what happened yesterday.”

“Let me finish the story first.”

She put down her chopsticks, her face serious.

"The name change thing is really too much, I didn't think about it carefully. But this is good, give Luong Luong a key and let it stay temporarily—"

“No way.”

“Let me hear what you have to say—”

"That said, it's no good. This house is my pre-marital property, the key is only mine."

Trieu My Lan's face changed.

"To Niem, have you finally married into the Tran family?"

"I'm marrying Tran Hao, not the entire Tran family."

"Very good, you have a mouth as sharp as a knife. You learned it from your aunt, right? What can your aunt do if she can't even take care of the bride price and the wedding reception? How can she teach you?"

I put down my chopsticks.

"My aunt doesn't need your opinion. As for the wedding ceremony, at first it was Tran Hao who said there was no need for formality, so I agreed to simplify it."

“That's my son's face—”

“So in the end, is it a matter of dignity or no money?”

Her face turned red. She "pop" and hit the table.

"To Niem! What do you mean? Our Tran family is poor, but not enough for you to despise! Don't think that having a few broken houses is terrible!"

“So do you really value me or don't you value me?”

She choked. I stood up, went to the door, and opened it.

“Mom, I'll keep the food, you go home first.”

Trieu My Lan shook her hand and pointed at me.

"Okay, great! Just wait!"

She picked up her bag, walked out, and stomped on the threshold. The door closed, I leaned back against it and closed my eyes for a moment. The phone rang.

“Did I make your mother so angry that she left?”

“She returned on her own.”

“To Niem, after all, that is my mother!”

“Anyway, she came to claim the house.”

I hung up. That night, I finally slept peacefully. Because I don't have to listen to anyone talk about home anymore. The next day was the weekend, I didn't go out. But there are still people who come by themselves. At ten o'clock in the morning, the doorbell rang. Opening the door, it was Tran Luong and his girlfriend - Ton Tieu Vu. Tran Luong scratched his head, looking embarrassed.

“Sister-in-law, my mother asked me to come over and apologize to you.”

I didn't invite them in. Ton Tieu Vu poked his head in and looked inside, his eyes as if evaluating each corner of the house.

“Sister-in-law, this area of yours is the Poly area, right Are not? I looked it up online, the average price of an old house here is over ninety thousand per square meter (about 300 million VNDm2)—”

“Why are you checking house prices in my area?”

Ton Tieu Vu's face stiffened. Tran Luong quickly reconciled.

“No, it's not, Tieu Vu was just wondering around—”

“Okay, let's talk frankly about what's going on.”

Tran Luong swallowed his saliva.

“Sister-in-law, if you don't give me this house, that's fine, we won't force it. But... my mother said, can you lend us some money so we can collect the deposit to buy a house?"

"How much?"

“One… one million yuan (about 3.4 billion VND).”

I looked at him.

“What is the combined monthly salary of you and Tran Hao?”

“What does your brother have to do with you—”

“How much is your salary?”

“Six thousand (about 20 million VND).”

“Six thousand yuan, borrowed one million yuan, how long do you plan to repay?”

“Sister-in-law, in the future I will try—”

"Tran Luong, go find your brother to borrow."

I slammed the door.