Chapter 5 — After Rebirth, I Won't Marry You Anymore

Ta Nghien Thanh, standing next to him, coughed softly at the wrong time. I turned to glare at him, he immediately raised his hand: "I'm not laughing, I'm just choked by realism." Chu Chieu Da didn't pay attention to him. He said softly: “I knew my problem before.”

“It's not difficult to know.” I said. “It will be difficult next time.”

“I will change.”

I have heard this sentence before. In my previous life, I listened to it so much that my ears were almost numb, enough to knit a scarf for Mrs. Ly. But today, it was true that he did not chase Lam Tri Dao. He handed her over to the right person, and did not put me in the position of someone who had to "understand". I can't pretend I don't see this. I nodded: "Then continue." A light flashed in his eyes: “Then we…”

“We're not going back.” I interrupted. "It's your job to change, I live my life. Don't see your progress as an obligation for me to return."

The light that had just appeared in Chu Chieu Da's eyes slowly faded away, but he did not object. Ta Nghien Thanh carried the last box of rice onto the car and deliberately said loudly: "Madam Hua, the order is about to be late. Love can be slow, but dinner for office workers is not." I immediately regained my composure: "Go quickly, don't let customers think that our restaurant delivers food based on their mood." The car drove away, I went back into the shop to continue being busy. Chu Chieu Da stood outside the door, not entering. Through the glass, I saw him bow his head, text a message, then put his phone in his pocket. He didn't ask more, didn't force me, and didn't spend a night waiting in exchange for my turning back. For him, it was probably a huge challenge. But in this life, I don't want to take anyone else's exam anymore. Nam Phong restaurant's test orders have been maintained for half a month, so stable that it makes me feel... scared. I'm not afraid because things are getting worse. But because of my previous life, I have never felt supported like this by my own life. Every morning when I wake up, my mind is no longer thinking about what time Chu Chieu Da gets off work, whether I have to bring food to his mother, or whether Lam Tri Dao will call again. Instead, today's beef stew was enough, should we upgrade the lunch box, and the guest's comment "the rice is a bit hard" was secretly criticizing my father or not. My father was very displeased with this:

"Is the rice hard? If his teeth are weak, why are you blaming me?"

My mother, Khuong Hoa, calmly replied:

“Last time I gave you some water.”

My father was silent for three seconds and then said: Every time the family quarrels like that, I sit in front of the door to answer the order, feeling extremely peaceful in my heart. It was so peaceful that Chu Chieu Da, who came to eat every day, couldn't pull me out of that feeling. He started learning not to bother me. Sometimes when he passed by on patrol, he ordered a meal to take away. Sometimes when he gets off work late, there's only half a bowl of braised food left in the restaurant. He's not picky. At one point, seeing that I was busy, he scanned the payment code himself and then carried the tray to the clean-up area, looking like a grown man who finally understood the rules of the self-service restaurant. Tong Chi commented: "The future ex-husband has evolved, from a large dog to a large dog that knows how to stand in line." I said: "Not my ex-husband, we haven't registered our marriage yet." She gnawed on a cucumber and replied: "Then it's called a semi-finished ex-husband." I I almost hit her in the face with the notebook. One evening, the security guard from the Civil Affairs Department came to the restaurant to eat noodles. Uncle recognized me, carried a bowl of noodles and sat in the corner of the restaurant. After eating half a bowl, he suddenly said:

“Girl, last time that young man really stood in front of the gate all night.”

The ladle in my hand stopped. He thought I didn't believe him so he added:

"At first he stood, then sat on the steps in the middle of the night. Mosquitoes were still swarming around the meeting but he still didn't go. I advised him to go home, he said he wouldn't be able to sleep if he couldn't wait for someone to come back."

The customers in the restaurant all perked up their ears to listen. I put a plate of pickles on his table:

“Please eat some more side dishes.”

He understood, smiled, then shut his mouth, turned to exchange with Mrs. Ly a look like "young people nowadays really have a lot of stories to tell". That evening, Chu Chieu Da arrived. When he walked in, I was refilling the security guard's broth. As soon as he saw him, his eyes lit up:

“Hey, young man, you're coming too!”

I just want to stuff the ladle into your mouth. Chu Chieu Da clearly also recognized him, his expression a bit awkward:

“Hello, uncle.”

Uncle held a bowl of noodles and enthusiastically asked:

“Have you two made up yet?”

The air immediately heats up, so hot that you can drop vegetables into the hot pot. I close the window:

"Uncle, today your beef stew is ten percent off, and the question is ninety percent off."

Uncle laughed and bowed his head to eat noodles. Chu Chieu Da walked up to the counter and said softly:

“Sorry, I didn't expect him to mention that.”

"No problem." I gave him the food box. “The story of you standing in front of the Civil Affairs Department all night is probably known to many people.”

“I don't want to pressure you.”

"I know."

He looked at me:

“So... what do you think?”