Chapter 5 — Betrayed by My Own Mother, Saved by My Mother-in-Law

Master Ton cast a sideways glance at him. "If you want to get this done, it is not entirely impossible. First, you must have her birth village provide the documents, and only then will our village committee sign off on the transfer of her residency." I replied firmly, "My birth family will never sign anything for me." Master Ton acted as if he had anticipated this outcome, saying, "Then we have a real problem." Mother Chau pressed him, "Is there truly no other way, Uncle?" He put on a show of deep contemplation, his eyes falling heavily onto the pigsty in the courtyard. A black breeding sow was nudging its trough, its body plump and well-fed; it was the entire nest egg the Trieu family had painstakingly scraped together, waiting for the day it could be sold to pay off their debts. Master Ton cleared his throat with a deliberate, grating sound. "This matter is quite complicated. One must travel to the township, and all the way to the district education bureau. The roads are long, and it requires a great deal of effort and resources. No one works for free, and charity only goes so far."

The whole family fell silent. I understood clearly what he meant, and Mother Chau understood as well. Her expression darkened, yet she maintained a humble demeanor. "Uncle Ton, tell us, what kind of costs are we looking at?" Master Ton held up three fingers. "Three million." Dai Tru blurted out, "Three million?!" In this impoverished hamlet, even if a laborer worked until their bones ached for an entire month, they would barely earn a fraction of that. To the Trieu family, three million was a fortune. Master Ton's face tightened. "You find it expensive? Then go handle it yourselves. Do you even know which way the gates of the district committee face? Do you think you can even get a meeting with anyone from the admissions department?" I stepped forward, cutting him off, "Forget it." Mother Chau turned to me, "Trieu Thu?" I looked Master Ton straight in the eye and said, "I will not take the exam anymore." Saying those words felt like taking a knife to my own tongue. But I could not allow Mother Chau to be bled dry and skinned for my sake. I already owed the Trieu family far too much.

Master Ton let out a short, mocking laugh. "That is the sensible thing to do. Why would a girl spend all her time dreaming about university? Settling down and knowing one’s place is what truly matters." Dai Tru clenched his hands into tight fists. Mother Chau suddenly spoke up, "You should head home first, Uncle." Master Ton hesitated, "But what about that matter..."

"We need to discuss it further in the house."

He stole one last look at the pigsty, a sly, predatory grin touching his lips. "Think it over carefully." The deadline for registration will not wait for anyone. Once Master Ton had vanished from sight, I went back into the room and closed my math textbook. Mother Chau followed me in. "What you just said was not what you truly feel." I bowed my head and whispered, "Whether it is what I feel or not matters little now. What matters is that without money and without the proper papers, there is no road ahead for me."

"There is a road," she said, her voice filled with an unshakable conviction.

I suddenly flared with irritation. "Mother, stop doing this! I am not your flesh and blood; I am merely a daughter-in-law who was kidnapped and sold to this place. My desire to study is my own selfish business, and I cannot drag your entire family into misery with me!" Mother Chau looked at me for a long moment, then said gently, "You call me mother, which means you have accepted this home. So let me ask you one question. If today Dai Tru broke his leg and the family had no money for treatment, and I had to sell that pig to save him, would you say he owed me a debt?" I was choked for words. "That is different."

"How is it different?"

"He is your biological son."

Mother Chau sighed softly. "From the moment you stepped across the threshold of this house, whether you liked it or not, you have lived under my protection. If you are bullied, I cannot turn a blind eye. You have talent; I cannot let it wither away in a dark kitchen." My eyes burned with unshed tears. "But that is the only breeding sow we have." She gave a faint, sad smile. "Pigs can be sold and replaced. But a person whose spirit has been broken—there is no way to raise that back to life." I had no words left to give. That evening, Mother Chau stood by the pigsty for a long time. She had raised that black sow from the moment it was born, painstakingly feeding it for months with rice wash, sweet potato vines, and wild greens until it reached its current weight. Dai Tru squatted nearby, looking wretched. "Mother, maybe I should go try to borrow the money."

"From whom?"

"I will ask Second Uncle or Third Uncle and see what happens."

Mother Chau shook her head. "Every household is struggling with hunger; who has enough to spare? Besides, begging for money means having to endure their cold glares. I would rather sell what is ours than suffer that indignity." Dai Tru looked up at her. "But if we sell the pig, what will we do about the debt at the end of the year?" Mother Chau patted the wooden fence. "We will eat a little less meat this year. Trading that for a path forward for your wife is worth it." I stood at the kitchen door, tears streaming down my face. Please, Mother, don’t sell it. Mother Chau turned to look at me. "Daughter, listen to me." I shook my head. "I am not taking the exam." She strode over and gripped my shoulders tightly. Her grip was surprisingly strong, and her eyes burned with a fierce light.

"Lam Trieu Thu, listen to me carefully." This was the first time she had called me by my full name. "You are not taking this exam for me, nor are you doing it for the Trieu family. You are doing it for yourself. Your biological mother dragged you into the mud, but I am determined to see exactly how high you can fly."

I wept as I spoke, "I am afraid I will not pass."

"If you do not pass, we will find another way."

"I am afraid the villagers will laugh at me."

"Let them laugh. Laughter cannot be ground into flour to fill our bellies."

"I am afraid of being in debt to you."

Her voice suddenly softened, turning tender. "Then you must live well and study hard. If you succeed in the future, never forget that in this world, there are women who dared to reach out their hands to pull another woman up to her feet." That night, I could not sleep a wink. At the break of dawn, as the rooster crowed, Mother Chau led the sow out of the courtyard. The pig resisted, grunting and pulling back. Dai Tru followed behind, pushing with all his might, his eyes rimmed with red. I ran out to the edge of the village, but Mother Chau turned back and shooed me away. "Go home and study." I stood rooted to the spot, refusing to budge.