Chapter 1 — After Taking Mother Away, We Changed Our Lives

The compensation money was evenly given to my younger brother, I took my mother and left... The whole family just started to panic. The day the compensation money was transferred, the whole family held a family meeting. My father said extremely bluntly:

"The money is for my younger brother. Once the daughter gets married, she's part of that family too."

I looked at dad. He bowed his head and smoked, from beginning to end without saying another word. I looked at my brother again. He shyly avoided my eyes.

“Okay, I don't need the money.”

I stood up, paused for a moment, then continued:

“But mom… I will take it.”

Everyone thought I was joking. Until I actually carried my luggage and took my elderly mother on the train. Three years later, my younger brother called. As soon as he opened his mouth, he said:

“Sister, mom is hospitalized, please transfer some money.”

I turned on the speakerphone, turned to shout to my mother who was dancing in the square outside the yard:

"Mom! Your son told me you were hospitalized!"

My mother shook her waist to the music and answered loudly:

"Tell him to go to the hospital by himself! This lady is very busy!"

The news of the compensation payment being transferred was like a stone thrown into a dead lake. The old landline phone I had used for decades suddenly became the "hotline" of the entire dormitory. The person who answered the phone was my father. He said "uh huh" on the other end of the phone for a long time, and by the time he hung up, his hands were still shaking.

“1,000,000 yuan.”

He looked at me and my younger brother, his lips trembling as he uttered that number. My brother Ly Duong's eyes immediately lit up like a wild wolf seeing prey in the night. My mother, Vuong Cam, is busy in the kitchen. Hearing the movement, she brought out a plate of eggs fried with tomatoes. Her face had a numb look that had been worn away by life over the years.

“What money is 1,000,000?”

My father, Ly Cuong, cleared his throat, regaining the dignity of the head of the family.

“Compensation money for clearance of old house.”

"There's a family meeting tonight, everyone is present."

Having finished speaking, he sat down on the sofa and lit a cigarette. Cigarette smoke lingered, obscuring his entire face. My heart sank slightly. The words "family meeting" in my house have a very special meaning. It means something big is about to happen. But usually that has nothing to do with me. Or to be more precise, I was always the one being sacrificed. The dinner atmosphere was extremely strange. On the table were four dishes per soup, all of which my mother cooked the best. But no one could move their chopsticks more than once. Ly Duong kept looking at his phone, his fingers moving back and forth across the screen, his expression so excited that he couldn't hide it. My father drank sip after sip of wine, his face getting redder and redder. Only my mother kept serving me food, as if she wanted to make up for all the food she had eaten over the past twenty years.

“Nguyet Nguyet, eat more, you're too skinny.”

Looking at the pile of food piled high in the bowl, my nose suddenly stung. After eating, mother quietly cleaned up the dishes. My father placed the glass of wine firmly on the table.

“Sit down everyone.”

I took a deep breath and sat in the chair closest to the door. Ly Duong also put his phone away and sat upright like a general waiting for a reward. My father's eyes slowly glanced over the two sisters. Finally stopped on Ly Duong's face. In those eyes was an undisguised bias and expectation. He paused for a moment, seemingly arranging his words. Cigarette smoke rose from between his fingers, making the whole living room stuffy. I clearly heard the clock on the wall ticking every beat. Each sound sounded like it was tapping straight into my heart. The moment of judgment has come.

“This 1,000,000 yuan…”

Finally my father, Ly Cuong, also spoke up. His voice was hoarse from alcohol and cigarettes.

“Your mother and I have already discussed it.”

He said that, but from beginning to end he never looked at my mother once. Mom had just come out of the kitchen, still holding a towel in her hand, standing at the edge of the living room like an outsider.

“You all know what our family situation is like.”

"Ly Duong still has to get married, buy a house, and take care of the bride price. What does not require money?"

His every word was like a dull knife, slowly cutting into my nerves. I didn't say anything, just looked at him quietly. Looking at the man I called "dad" for over twenty years.

"So this money will be given to Ly Duong."

He said it clearly, as if it were an unquestionable principle.

"And Nguyet Nguyet, you are a girl, sooner or later you will get married."

"Once you get married, you become someone else's family member, there's no use keeping your family money."

“Remember to help your younger brother more in the future.”

The whole living room was in dead silence. I clearly heard Ly Duong's heavy breathing due to excitement. I looked over at it. He shyly avoided my eyes, lowered his head and pretended to look at the floor. I looked at dad again. He bowed his head and lit another cigarette. It seemed that as long as he didn't face me, the feeling of guilt would disappear. Finally, I looked at my mother. She stood there, the towel crumpled and deformed in her hand. Lips moved for a long time but couldn't say a word. In her eyes was helplessness and deep pain. Suddenly I burst out laughing. Laughter rang out in the quiet room, sounding extremely deafening. My father immediately raised his head and frowned at me:

"What are you laughing at? Did I say something wrong?"

Ly Duong also looked up, his eyes full of caution. I slowly stood up. I only said one word. The whole family was stunned. Maybe they thought I would cry, make a fuss, and beg like before, bowing my head to beg them for a few hundred yuan of school fees. A look of surprise flashed across my father's face, then relief.

"That's right, we're all one family..."

“Money, I don't take any money.”

I interrupted him, my voice not loud but extremely clear. I stopped, my eyes glanced over each person. Overcoming my father's hypocrisy. Overlooking my younger brother's greed. Finally stopping on her mother's weathered face.

“But mom… I will take it.”

The air seemed to freeze in that moment. A piece of cigarette butt fell from my father's hand and he didn't even notice.

“W…what did you say?”

He did not dare to believe and asked again. Ly Duong also panicked and jumped up:

"Sister, what are you kidding? You take mom away and then who will cook for us?"

Who cooks for them? I laughed coldly in my heart. It turns out that in her son's eyes, she is just a free maid.

“I'm not joking.”

I walked to my mother and held her cold hand.

“From today, I live with you.”

“This house, this money, everything is left to everyone.”

“I wish the whole family… to live together for a hundred years of happiness.”