Chapter 1 — After the Marriage Aborted, I Became Something You Couldn't Reach

Three months into our engagement, my fiance secretly registered his marriage with someone else behind my back. I pretended not to know anything, took half a month off and then flew to Hangzhou. On the twelfth day, the future mother-in-law called, crying and saying:

"Nhuoc Van, Minh Vien's father has been hospitalized, and now he can't manage the house anymore. Can you advance 150,000 yuan?"

I laughed softly:

"Auntie, didn't Minh Vien just get married last month? Go ask his new wife."

The other end of the line was silent for ten seconds. When the phone screen lit up, I was sitting in front of the dressing table, struggling to install a pearl necklace. That bracelet was brought by Phuong's mother last week. In the box, there was also a handwritten card with soft, round handwriting:

"Nhuoc Van, this is my aunt's dowry when she was young. Now I pass it on to you. We are all family."

Old style clasp, spring is a bit stiff. I bowed my head and used my fingernails to pick it up twice but still couldn't install it. Lam Tri Du's message popped up at the top of the screen.

"Nhuoc Van, last week Phuong Minh Vien and Chu Vy Vy registered their marriage. Someone took a photo of it at the door of the civil affairs department, please see."

My hand is still holding the clasp. The spring slipped again, still unable to install. I turned off the phone screen, placed it face down on the table, and continued to lower my head to handle the tiny lock. The tiny piece of metal, which my fingernails had just cut short, had no place to gain strength. The third time, I finally heard a "click" sound. The lock is installed. To the right of the dressing table is an unfinished wedding planning album. The cover is red, embossed with the word "Happy" in golden yellow. Inside were filled with hotel confirmation slips, wedding invitation templates, and flower decoration plans. Each item was chosen by Phuong's mother, I just had to sign it. She once said:

"Nhuoc Van, your taste is really good, but you should still listen to me about these things. You don't understand the dignity of the Phuong family and us."

On the windowsill are a pair of wedding shoes I've only tried on once. White silk, pointed heels as thin as chopsticks. It was also Phuong's mother's choice. She said wearing it would make her legs longer. I said I was afraid of twisting my leg. She just smiled and waved her hand:

"Young people don't look beautiful in anything. I won't force you to run a marathon."

That day, Phuong Minh Vien sat on the sofa scrolling through his phone, without even bothering to raise his head, just casually saying:

“You just listen to my mother.”

Twenty minutes later, Lam Tri Du rushed straight to my house, his eyes red as if someone had just punched him.

"Didn't you read the message? Why didn't you reply to me?"

She thrust the phone in front of my face. The photo was taken secretly so the angle is a bit shaky. In front of the red wall of the civil affairs department, Phuong Minh Vien is holding the shoulder of a girl with shoulder-length hair. The two of them each held a red book, the girl tilted her head and smiled sweetly. Phuong Minh Vien tilted his face to one side, his expression could not be seen clearly. But his whole body completely relaxed. Shoulders also slump down. It's like he's finally done something he's been waiting for for so long. The bottom right corner of the photo has the date it was taken. It was eight days ago. Eight days ago, Phuong Minh Vien also told me that the company suddenly forced him to go to the province with a shipment, it would take two or three days to return, the signal might not be stable.

“It's been eight days, Tham Nhuoc Van!”

Lam Tri Du's voice was both shaky and sharp.

“He registered his marriage eight times day! This side is still discussing the wedding date with your parents, booking the party, choosing wedding candy, and on the other side, the marriage certificate has already been taken!"

“Are the Phuong family still people? Did they get together and trick you?”

I pushed her phone back. Then go to the window. The small road under the apartment complex is so clean it's cold. There was a child in uniform riding a bicycle around, the wheels grinding through the dry leaves creating a soft rustling sound. I suddenly remembered that last week, Phuong's mother dragged me to choose curtains for the newlywed apartment. She hugged my arm, her tone was more intimate than ever before:

“Nhuoc Van, from now on we will be family. Minh Vien's father's health is not good, he is a careless child. In the future, there will be many things at home that will have to be handled by you."

“You are a careful person, I can rest assured that I will leave everything to you.”

Her hand patted the back of my hand one by one. It's like stroking a docile little animal that absolutely doesn't bite people. Now that I think about it... Each of those pats clearly spelled out three words:

“Easy to control.”

Phuong Minh Vien and I met each other through matchmaking. I'm twenty-seven, he's thirty. The introducer only said one sentence:

“You two get along very well.”

I work as an image designer for a brand consulting company. The salary is neither high nor low, and you can pay for a small one-bedroom apartment yourself. Phuong Minh Vien hung up the position of operations director in his company, but in reality the decision-making power was in the hands of his parents. The introducer especially emphasized the "industry" of the Phuong family. The five consecutive hot pot chains are also considered famous locally, with not small annual revenue. My parents are both ordinary civil servants and don't care much about their store. I just think that the economic conditions in the south are a little better than mine, so girls marrying there will not suffer a loss. That person, Phuong Minh Vien... When we first met, I really couldn't find anything too bad. Tall enough, knows how to order, knows how to pull out chairs for others. Talk neither hot nor cold, always maintain a moderate level of enthusiasm:

“I do care about you, but not too much.”

Ten months into our relationship, he proposed to me in a Western restaurant. Both families were present. He knelt down on one knee and spoke very briefly:

“Nhuoc Van, live well with me in the future.”

My parents laughed and clapped. His parents also laughed. I also smiled, then nodded in agreement. It's like just signing a contract where all the terms are temporarily acceptable. After getting engaged, Phuong's mother's sense of existence began to increase exponentially. Wedding house decoration.

“Nhuoc Van, you young people like cool colors, but houses cannot be like that. It's so cold, there's no human breath. Listen to me, the living room must use warm tones."

Choose a wedding hotel.

“When we work in the Phuong family, face is indispensable. Just choose the Duyet Lai hotel, I know the boss there."

Honeymoon.

“Don't go to those random countries anymore, isn't Sanya very good? Clean and close.”

From beginning to end, Phuong Minh Vien only had one sentence:

"My mother's decision is definitely not wrong, just listen to her."

It's not like I never felt like something was wrong. It's just that every time that feeling emerges, it will immediately be pushed back by everyone around. My mother said, a strong mother-in-law is a good thing, later This one also supports the two of you. Colleagues said that it is normal for the male side of the family to have property and the mother-in-law to hold power. Even Lam Tri Du once said:

“If you marry the type of man who doesn't have opinions, then at least his mother knows how to make decisions, which is an advantage.”

So I put all those discomforts away. Like folding clothes. One by one, fold neatly and stuff into a drawer that you don't want to see. Until one day I opened that drawer.