Chapter 15 — Between Two Worlds: A Bride Exchanged for a Dumpling

The next night, when Thua An quietly got out of bed and quickly put on his coat to go to the warehouse, Tieu Mien no longer pretended to be sleeping soundly like before. She lay still for a while, listening to her husband's footsteps fading away, then quietly sat up, put on a coat, and quietly followed him in the dark. Her heart pounded, not from fear of the night, but from a greater fear — fear that what she was about to discover would change everything she had believed for so long.

She crouched behind a tree near the warehouse, saw Thua An enter, and closed the door. A few minutes later, through a gap in the worn wooden wall, she saw it — a strange pale blue light, flickering unstablely, shining from the inner corner of the same room, along with the sound of Thua An whispering something that sounded like a desperate plea. Tieu Mien stood dumbfounded, unable to believe what her eyes were witnessing. This was not the light of any lamp or fire she had ever known in her life.

Unable to hold back anymore, she pushed the door open and entered. Thua An turned around in surprise, his face in that moment showing panic mixed with a strange relief - as if a part of him had been waiting for this moment of discovery for a long time, but just didn't have the courage to create it himself.

"This... what is this?" Tieu Mien asked, her voice trembling, her eyes still not leaving the halo of light that was gradually fading on the cabinet door. "How long have you been hiding this from me? The so-called treasure vault, the hermit in the mountain... are they all lies?"

Thua An stood still for a long time, then finally let go of the secret wall he had been trying to build for many months. He recounted everything—the first night he almost starved to death in this warehouse, the first strange light he saw, the vague sense of understanding that a marriage was necessary to maintain the gate, the fateful meeting with her in the middle of the hungry market, and all the secret dealings with Pham Dinh Nam all along. He doesn't hide anything anymore, including his fear that she won't believe him, will think he's been taken advantage of.

Tieu Mien sat down on the cold ground, holding her head with both hands, trying to digest the huge amount of information that had just been poured down. "So...so our marriage," she said, her voice choking, "was just part of your calculation to maintain this gate in the first place? That dumpling, your kindness, it was all just..."

"No!" Thua An knelt down in front of her, holding his wife's trembling hands, his voice more urgent than ever. "It's true that at first I needed a marriage to save the gate, to save my own life. But you have to believe me, all the kindness I've shown you from the first day, all the feelings that have grown between us all this time, are real, absolutely no lies. If I only saw you as a tool, I wouldn't have needed to love you, wouldn't have needed to cherish you so much. I hid this from you not because I didn't trust you, but because I was afraid - afraid of you. will think that I am just part of a conspiracy, afraid that this strange truth will make her stay away from me, and most afraid of all, afraid that I myself will not have enough courage to face what I cannot fully explain."

Tieu Mien was silent for a long time, tears rolling down her cheeks, a series of mixed emotions - shock, hurt, but also a part of understanding - swirled in her heart. She remembered every moment over the past months: Thua An's undemanding kindness in the early days, the way he protected her honor against detractors, the way he always put her first in every important decision, the sincere feelings he had for her under the moonlight of a stormy night. All of that cannot be false.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She finally spoke, her voice was less harsh, replaced by a deep sadness. "I thought we were true partners, husband and wife sharing everything with each other. Yet you chose to shoulder such a big secret alone, leaving me forever in the dark, suspicious, and hurt because I don't understand what's going on."

"I was wrong," Thua An admitted, without further justification. "I thought silence was the best way to protect you, but I forgot that it is the sharing and absolute trust between us that makes this gate exist. My concealment does not protect anyone, it is only slowly destroying the very thing I want to protect the most."

Tieu Mien looked up at him. Although her eyes were still filled with tears, they shone with a new determination. "Okay," she said, her voice firm. "I won't pretend that I'm not hurt or shocked by what I just heard. But I also understand that, no matter how strange this truth is, you - the person who has loved and protected me for so many months - is always the same. I choose to trust you, Thua An. But from now on, you must promise me, no matter what happens, no matter how dangerous, you will not hide it from me again."

"I promise," Thua An replied, his voice choked with emotion, squeezing her hand tightly. Right at that moment, a miracle happened: the halo of light on the wooden cabinet door, which had been flickering weakly for the past few days, suddenly flared up brighter than ever, so stable that both of them could feel the warm energy spreading throughout the small room.

They both looked at the gate in shock, then looked at each other, no further explanation needed. It was the understanding and absolute trust that had just been restored between them that had become the most vivid proof of the strange law that governs this gate. Thua An hugged his wife tightly, feeling more clearly than ever that the true power that sustains all the miracles in his life was not luck or magic, but the sincere love between two people who had gone through so many hardships together.

Sitting side by side on the warehouse floor, pale blue light still quietly radiating from the wooden cabinet door behind them, Thua An continued to tell Tieu Mien about the letter he had just received from Pham Dinh Nam, about the vague "small changes" mentioned in it. Tieu Mien listened attentively, no longer avoiding or panicking before unfamiliar things, but on the contrary, she began to ask sharp questions about the man named Pham Dinh Nam on the other side, about what the true nature of those "upheavals" could be.

"I think we should be more careful next time," she commented, her voice regaining its familiar calm, sharp edge. "If there are signs of instability on the other side, it will most likely affect the way the gate operates from both sides. You should write to Brother Pham to ask clearly what is going on, don't let things be so vague anymore."

Thua An nodded, feeling relieved to have his wife accompany him to shoulder this concern instead of having to suffer silently alone like before. The next morning, when Tieu Ha learned the whole truth through her sister's story, she could not hide her extreme surprise, but after the initial moment of shock, she quickly regained her spirit and even appeared excited at this magical prospect.

"So for a long time, all the antiques you've been buying around the villages have ended up in a completely different world?" Tieu Ha exclaimed, both surprised and excited. "It's unbelievable. But no matter what, I still trust my brother-in-law and sister absolutely. We are a family, we have overcome many difficulties together, no matter how big the secret is, it cannot separate us."

That sincere affirmation made Thua An feel warmer than ever. He realized that finally letting go of the secret burden he had been carrying alone for so many months would not only help the gate stabilize, but also make the bond between the three people in this small family stronger than ever, ready to face any challenges that lie ahead.

That night, when Thua An went to the warehouse to write a response letter to Pham Dinh Nam, Tieu Mien took the initiative to go with him for the first time, standing beside him looking at the steadily glowing gate, there was no longer any fear in her eyes, only curiosity and a firm belief in the husband she had chosen to spend her life with.