Chapter 21 — Awakening Brick

The lawyer looked at him coldly. "If you have any opinions, you can file a request for re-examination according to regulations." "But before the results are rejected, please stop continuing to slander." Duong Duc Hai raised his head and looked at me. His eyes were very complicated. Like resentment. Like hate. It's like a bit of late panic. "Duong Am, I'm your father." I looked at him. "What do you remember now?" His throat choked. I said: "When you beat my mother, you don't remember." "When you kept my mother's salary card, you don't remember." "When you gave her drugs and then forced her to report you, you also don't remember." "When you scolded me for being a bastard in the group, you still don't remember." "So now there's no need to remember." His face turned white. "You must be that cruel?" I looked at him. "The one who is heartless is you." "We only say the words. what you did.” The final verdict was not given in its entirety at the trial. But the amicable divorce part failed and the case was brought into the trial process. The personal safety order continues to be in effect. Duong Duc Hai was not allowed to come close to his mother. The criminal investigation then continued to be conducted. Forging signatures, impersonating loans, drug problems, intimidation and coercion to withdraw applications, each thing is no longer a family matter that he only needs to shout a few times to suppress. A month later, the divorce verdict was issued. The court approved the divorce. The old house was assigned to Tham Ngoc Mai to reside and use, Duong Duc Hai had to move out within the prescribed time limit. The salary card balance was controlled by Duong Duc Hai, the eighteen thousand yuan Ma Thuy took away and the transferred funds were all recovered and refunded according to the law. The eighty thousand yuan loan was borne by the actual borrower, Duong Duc Hai, and Tham Ngoc Mai did not have to repay the debt. Regarding domestic violence and other violations of the law, a separate case will continue to be handled. The day I received the verdict, my mother looked at it for a long time. She did not cry loudly. Don't laugh out loud either. She just put a few papers in the file bag, putting them together with the old papers her grandmother left behind. "Mom." "I'm home." She looked at her grandmother's photo and said the same thing. My nose immediately stung. The day Duong Duc Hai moved, the village chief and Pham Thanh were both present. He did not continue to destroy things. Because the police are also there. He just held an old luggage bag, standing in front of the yard gate looking at his mother. "Tham Ngoc Mai, you are really cruel enough." Mom stood in the door. Behind her is a repaired door frame. Next to it is an old sewing machine. She looked at him. "I'm not cruel." "I just don't need you anymore." Duong Duc Hai's face twisted. Grandma Wei wanted to rush in and scold her but was stopped by Pham Thanh. She cried and shouted: "You've lived in the Tang family for more than twenty years, have your conscience been eaten by dogs?" She didn't back down anymore. "I live in my mother's house." "I eat with my own money." "I endured your son's beatings." "I don't owe the Tang family." Grandma Wei's throat was blocked, unable to say a word. Later, Ma Thuy returned eighteen thousand yuan. She doesn't want to pay. But the bank history, cameras and records are all there, she can't hide. Duong Hao came once. He stood in front of the yard gate, bowed his head and said sorry. Mom wouldn't let him in the door. She just said: "In the future, don't continue to think that others are easy to bully." "Don't eat meals that are exchanged for the hardships of others." Duong Hao cried. But mom still closed the door. At that moment, I knew she had truly changed. Not being cold. It's that she finally learned how to put down things that should not be her responsibility. Spring comes very slowly. The old apple tree in the yard sprouted young shoots. Mom cleaned up the west room and hung a small sign: "Ngoc Tailor Shop."

Mai."The sign was written by me. The handwriting wasn't very pretty. But she looked at it for a long time. "It's beautiful." She said. The women in the factory knew about it and immediately took turns bringing their clothes to be repaired. Some people fixed the hem of the pants. Some people changed the zipper. There were also people who deliberately came to sit for a while, drink a bowl of hot water and chat with her for a few words. At first, mother was always hesitant to accept money. I immediately posted the price list on the wall. She looked at the price list, smiled and said I was like a little housekeeper. I said: "Later, Mother's skills must be measured in money." She bowed her head and stroked the sewing machine. "Yes." "You yourself should have some value." I almost shed tears. After that, Duong Duc Hai was prosecuted according to the law for many issues. The day the results of the trial were transmitted to the village, no one said it was just a family matter. Those who used to sit at the dining table watching the excitement, when they saw their mother again, did not dare to look her in the eyes. Mother did not scold them. Nor did she forgive them. She just closed the gate. yard, continuing to pedal her sewing machine. Life continued forward step by step. One afternoon, I returned home and saw her standing in the kitchen making fish. The soup in the pot was boiling, she turned around and smiled. "Tieu Am, wash your hands and eat." I looked at her.