Chapter 3 — Betrayed by My Own Mother, Saved by My Mother-in-Law

Dai Tru walked past the doorway carrying a hoe, then stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing that. I grew instantly alert. He scratched his head, and after a long silence, he finally muttered, "Mother is right." I looked at him. His face was flushing a deep red, and he added in a quiet voice, "I am going to work to earn a bit more money; you should just focus on your studies." The wind drifted through the kitchen door, carrying the scent of damp earth and fresh grass. Clutching the warm sweet potato in my hand, for the first time, I felt that perhaps this unfamiliar courtyard was not entirely swallowed by darkness. Yet, I did not expect the storm to descend upon me so soon. That afternoon, my mother arrived. She stood before the gates of the Trieu household, carrying half a basket of sweet potatoes, her voice booming loud enough for half the village to hear: "Trieu Thu, come out here! Mother has come to visit you!" The pencil in my hand snapped in two with a sharp crack.

My mother stepped into the courtyard, her face plastered with a fawning smile. That expression was all too familiar to me. Every time she wanted me to endure something or yield, she would wear that exact mask. Mother Chau, who had been cleaning the pigsty, stood up and dusted her apron. "The in-law has come to visit; please, come inside and take a seat." My mother threw the bag of sweet potatoes to the ground, her eyes darting quickly around the courtyard. She saw my old clothes drying on the line, then caught sight of my mathematics textbook resting on the windowsill, and her expression darkened instantly. "My, what a pampered young lady we have here." Mother Chau pretended not to notice, pouring a cup of hot water. "We do not have any fine tea, so please, make do with this." My mother ignored the cup, walked straight inside, and shoved my bedroom door open. I was sitting at the desk, books splayed open, the pencil broken in my hand. As soon as she saw it, she lunged toward me, intent on snatching them away: "You are still reading this trash!" Instinctively, I pressed my hands firmly over the book: "These belong to me."

"Yours?" She sneered. "You are married now; what could possibly still belong to you? I worked myself to the bone raising you, and this is how you repay me—by using books to argue with your own mother?"

Mother Chau walked in behind her, her tone still gentle. "In-law, if the girl likes to read, let her read." My mother spun around and glared at her. "What do you know? She has studied until she is out of her mind, always looking for ways to run away from home instead of tending to her household duties. Now that she has married into your Trieu family, if you do not keep her in check, there will come a day when you are crying tears of blood." I bit my lip hard. Back at home, whenever she berated me, I never dared to utter a single word in defense. Because the moment I opened my mouth, she would brand me an ungrateful wretch who dared to talk back to her elders while eating their food. But today, seeing her standing there so pompously, using her status as a mother to impose her will, a rage that had been stifled for years surged in my chest.

"You were the one who tricked me into coming here."

The room fell into a sudden, suffocating silence. My mother's face contorted. "I tricked you? I did what I did for your own good!"

"If it was for my own good, then why did you take the dowry money to build a house for my younger brother?"

Her eyes flickered with a hint of confusion, but they were immediately replaced by a fierce, cruel look. "Your brother is the heir to this family's bloodline! You are a girl; sooner or later you would have to marry anyway. What is wrong with me finding you a decent family?" I stared fixedly at her. "Have you ever once asked if I was willing?" She laughed as if she had heard something ridiculous. "In matters of marriage, a child follows the will of their parents. You are just a child, what could you possibly know?" I had heard this line for eighteen years. But this time, I did not bow my head.

"I know! I know that I am not a sack of rice, nor a pig, nor an object to be sold off whenever the family is short on cash!"

My mother swung her hand to slap me. But the blow never landed; Mother Chau had caught her wrist tightly. Mother Chau’s face was grim. "In-law, let us speak about this calmly." My mother struggled to break free, failing, and began to scream in fury, "Are you still taking her side? She is your daughter-in-law now; if you do not discipline her, she will be walking all over you!" Mother Chau let go, but she stepped in front of me, acting as a shield. "The Trieu family married a human being, not someone brought here to be beaten." My mother stood frozen. Outside the gate, people had begun to gather, stretching their necks to look, whispering to one another. My mother was a woman who prized her reputation above all else; her face turned from pale to a deep, blotchy red. Suddenly, she changed her tone. "Fine, if you insist on coddling her, then I have nothing left to say. We are currently preparing to find a wife for her brother, and the bride's family is pressuring us; we are still short twenty million. Trieu Thu, now that you have married into a good family, take out some money to help your brother." I almost laughed. She had already sold me off, and now she wanted to squeeze out the very last drop of my blood.

"I have no money."

"If you don't, then make the Trieu family cough it up."

Mother Chau frowned. "The dowry money we provided was more than enough." My mother immediately shrieked, "That paltry sum? My daughter is a high school student, and you have snatched her away to this godforsaken corner of the woods; you’ve already made off like bandits!" Dai Tru, who had just returned from manual labor, stood outside the gate with his hoe, listening, his face burning. He was usually a man of few words, but at that moment, he spoke up, "Mother, our family truly has no money left." My mother glared at him. "Who is your mother? Don't go trying to claim relations." Dai Tru was left embarrassed and speechless. Mother Chau pulled him behind her. "In-law, if you wish to stay for a meal, we will receive you. But as for demanding money, my family has none."