Chapter 8 — Bowl of Rice Sees into People's Hearts

Occasionally she looked at me, as if she was waiting for me to step forward and bow. I'm not passing. I brought the newly bought rice into the bedroom, and the small pot was also brought in. I can't use the kitchen for now, so I won't use it for now. The next morning, I woke up very early. There was no sound of bowls or chopsticks outside. After washing my face and coming out, the dining table was empty. Tran Hao sat on the sofa, there were dark circles under his eyes. Seeing me carrying my bag, he stood up. "Are you really going today?" I asked: "Are you going?" He was silent for a few seconds. "I have a meeting in the morning." I nodded. "Then I'll go on my own." He quickly walked forward, blocking the door. "Manh Tinh, don't use divorce to scare people." I looked at him. "Do you think I'm scaring you?" His throat moved. "Just because of a few meals?" I burst out laughing. "Up to now, brother." I still thought it was just a few meals." He frowned. "So what could it be?" I raised my hand to hold the door handle. "It was two people who asked me to spend money and considered me an outsider." "It was me coming home hungry, you told me to cook for myself." "It was my mother who only needed to cry once, the whole family came to judge me." "It was my hand being burned, the first thing I care about is whether my mother feels sorry for herself or not." Tran Hao's face gradually changed. gradually tensed up. "It's not that you didn't see it last night." I said: "Yes, I did." "That's why it's even more scary." He seemed to be stabbed by that sentence, the hand blocking the door lowered. I opened the door and went out. The consultation counter next to the lobby of the Civil Affairs Department is not large. Outside the glass door, there are several couples sitting. Some people were silent, some argued in low voices, some held their children, their eyes were red. I sat on the waiting chair, holding a piece of paper with my order number in my hand. When it was my turn, the staff asked: "Are you two coming together or are you coming alone for consultation?" I said: "Alone." She gave me an application. "First find out the situation, if you want to do the procedure later, you need both parties to be present." I received the application. When the tip of the pen landed on the name box, I stopped for a moment. Not because I can't bear it. It's about feeling like a marriage is finally reduced to a few lines, and it turns out to be so fragile. After completing the consultation, I did not immediately return to the company. I sat on the bench outside the lobby, writing down everything the staff just said in the notes section of my phone. Common property. Loan rate. Transaction history of joint account. Personal income proof. When necessary, keep family expense documents. Every thing is cold and rigid. But those cold things can sometimes protect people better than hot rice and hot soup. In the afternoon, Tran Hao called me seven times. I didn't listen to any calls. Until he texted. "I'll talk about it tonight." I replied. "Bring an account statement." He didn't answer further. In the following days, the house became extremely quiet. Liu Que Phan no longer stopped at the door crying, nor did he send voice messages to the group of relatives. But when she cooks, she still only cooks for two people. Every day I leave work on time, and when it's time to eat, I immediately go out. Sometimes I eat at a noodle shop, sometimes I eat from a clay pot, and sometimes I eat dinner in the company canteen. I don't explain, nor argue. I took a photo of each invoice and saved it in an album. Saturday night, Tran Hao stood downstairs waiting for me. I just walked out of the small restaurant, he stood under the streetlight, his face very unsightly. "Do you have to let the neighbors know that our family is in discord?" I carried a bag of yogurt to bring home in my hand. "Do you have to get permission from the neighbors to eat outside?" He tried to suppress his anger. "Mother's blood pressure has been rising these past few days." I said: "Then take her to see a doctor." "Don't turn not cooking into a disease." He looked at me very seriously.

long time. "I wasn't like this before." I nodded. "Before, I thought you would stand by my side." His eyes wavered. I walked around him and walked towards the door of the building. He suddenly said behind my back. "I've already made up all the money." I stopped. "Sending you the transaction history." He said: "Go home and see." I turned around. "Send it to you." He took out his phone and scrolled with his fingers for a long time. A few seconds later, I received a screenshot. The joint account has been partially compensated. There are still some amounts that have not been compensated. I raised my head to look at him. "Two thousand five hundred yuan is missing." His expression darkened. "That's money for my sick mother to buy medicine." I asked: "Which hospital?" He didn't say. I continued to ask: "Where is the pharmacy receipt?" His face became even more unsightly. Someone came down the stairs, he immediately lowered his voice. "Can you not talk about this outside?" I said: "Okay." "Then go home and get the bill." That night, he couldn't get the bill out. On the eighth day, before leaving work, I received a text message from an unknown number. The content was very short. "Your mother-in-law came to your company this morning." I frowned and asked Tieu Duong if she sent it or not. Tieu Duong quickly answered. "It's not me, but I did see her."