Chapter 15 — Awakening Brick

Outside the house, there was a circle of people surrounding the gate. Duc Hai Duong stood in the yard, the smell of alcohol could be smelled a few steps away. Grandma Wei sat on the doorstep, patting her thighs and crying. "No more heaven!" "Daughter-in-law wants to kick her husband out of the house!" "Our Duong family was bullied to death by outsiders!" Next to it was a small welding machine. A welder from a neighboring village stood nearby, embarrassed and not daring to take action. Pham Thanh blocked the door. "Duong Duc Hai, please calm down." "The house documents are being verified by the village." "You are not allowed to arbitrarily seal the door." Duong Duc Hai swung an iron stick and hit the door frame. A "bang" sounded, causing mother's shoulders to shrink. Seeing us, his eyes immediately turned red. "Tham Ngoc Mai, you still dare to come back?" Mother stood outside the door, her voice trembling but not hiding. "This is my yard." Duong Duc Hai smiled fiercely. "Yours?" "You married me for more than twenty years, ate from me, lived in my house, even the child born is not necessarily mine." "Now you say this is your house?" The people around talked in low voices. Mom's face turned a little white. Just as I was about to open my mouth, she raised her hand to stop me. She looked at Duc Duc Hai. "Duong Duc Hai." "Every sentence you said today, I remember." "Twenty years ago, I was beaten by you and had to return to my mother's house." "After I got pregnant, the Duong family forced me to go back and kneel in front of the street." "My mother used the hospital certificate to prove the number of months, but you still continued to scold me." "It's not that you don't know the truth." "You just want me to be afraid of you all my life." The smile on Duong Duc Hai's face gradually stiffened. The surrounding gossip also stopped. Mother continued: "Before, I was afraid." "I was afraid that Tieu Am would be pointed at behind my back." "I was afraid that after my mother died, no one would speak for me." "But now I'm not afraid anymore." She held up the phone. "I took pictures of the words you spread in the group." "Tomorrow I will go for a test, and will also go to court to ask for a protection order and file for divorce." "If you continue to cause trouble, I will continue to report to the police." Duong Duc Hai looked like he was being haunted by those words. He got angry and suddenly pushed Pham Thanh away and rushed forward with an iron rod. "You dare!" I immediately pulled my mother behind me. The village chief and Pham Thanh rushed forward. The iron stick grazed Pham Thanh's arm, hit the ground, and sparked sparks. The crowd immediately became chaotic. Someone shouted to the police. Someone pulled the children back. Duc Duc Hai was still struggling. "Who dares to stop me?" I raised the phone towards him. "Try to move one more time." "This video alone is enough to make you commit another crime." He looked at me with red eyes. At that moment, I really thought he was going to hit me too. But the police car quickly arrived. This time, the police did not let him stand and scream. They directly grabbed the iron rod and controlled him. Grandma Wei rushed over and cried. "What are you forcing my son to do?" "That woman forced him!" The policeman's voice was cold: "Using a weapon to threaten and disrupt order is no longer a matter that can be reconciled." When being taken to the car, Duong Duc Hai still turned his head and scolded: "Tham Ngoc Mai!" "You just wait!" "Do you think the court will be on your side?" "Do you think I will be afraid after doing the test?" He laughed. a voice, a deep voice. "Don't forget, the household registration book is still in my hand." Mother's face changed. I also immediately understood. Divorce, protective orders, payroll cards and house paperwork. Many things require paperwork. Identification has been retrieved. But the household registration book is always kept by Duong Duc Hai. If he hides it, all future steps will be prolonged. The policeman closed the car door. After the car left, there was only chaos left in front of the yard gate. The welder quickly packed up his things and ran away. The village chief looked at his mother, his voice serious. "Ngoc Mai, don't stay here tonight." "Tomorrow

I will go with you to add the household registration book." Mom nodded. "Okay." As soon as she finished speaking, the phone suddenly rang. It was a multimedia message from an unknown number. I opened it. On the screen was a photo. In the photo, the household registration book was placed on the stove. Next to it was a pile of burning paper ash. Immediately after, another message appeared. "If you want to get the household registration book, tell Tham Ngoc Mai to go home alone." 16I stared at the message, my fingers gradually appearing. Mom also saw it. The blood on her face was gone. Aunt Ngo was so angry that she slapped the table. "Who sent this?" "Duong Duc Hai was just taken away?" The village chief immediately took the phone to look at the number. "It's not the number from the village." "It could be a junk phone number." I didn't respond to the message. I first took a photo and the phone number, then sent the original photo to the police who had just arrived to handle it. Mom suddenly stood up up. "Tieu Am, you have to go back." I held her shoulder. "You can't go alone." Her eyes turned red. "If the household registration book is burned, things will be even more troublesome in the future." I looked at her. "Mom, he knows you're afraid of trouble." "That's why he used things over and over again to force you to come back." Her lips trembled. "But that's the household registration book." "It's not life."I put the phone on the table. "Documents can do it." again.”