Chapter 1 — Breakfast Changes Destiny

"That's the mother who gave birth to you and raised you. If you want to take her in, I of course have no objections." I was patching the cuff of my uniform and looking at Chu Kien Thanh. Chu Kien Thanh placed the enameled cup on the table, the bottom of the cup hit the table and made a clicking sound: "I'm picking up my mother, do you really have no opinion?" I cut the thread, pushed past him, and stuffed the needle and thread basket back into the closet. I didn't bother arguing with him. Whoever picks me up will serve me and want me to work as a slave again for free, there's no way. In his previous life, with just one sentence, "It wasn't easy for my mother to raise me", he welcomed his paraplegic mother-in-law into the house, and forced me to quit my job in the cafeteria, serving her during the day, washing clothes for the whole family at night. The three children opened their mouths to call for their mother. I came and sat down to eat a hot meal as if I was skipping work. At night, my mother-in-law doesn't want to see me sleep. Sometimes she complains that the water is too hot, sometimes the basin is too cold, sometimes she says her feet are itchy, and sometimes she says her back hurts. I endured until I was over forty years old, but I looked like I was sixty. Later, Chu Kien Thanh was able to enter the factory office, wearing a clean shirt. His colleagues all said he was lucky. Some people also laughed right in front of me: "Sister-in-law has a hard time, but standing next to Director Chu, she doesn't look like someone from the same generation." Even my youngest son and daughter, who I raised by myself, criticized me for being rustic, criticized my hands for being full of cracks, criticized me for going to parent-teacher conferences and making them lose face. When I was so sick that I couldn't get out of bed, they took me to a humid and smelly nursing home in the suburbs, saying the nurses there were professional. Only the eldest daughter, Chu Minh Nguyet, married from outside the province, took a car to pick me up at night, wiped my body, gave me medicine, held my deformed hands and cried until her voice was hoarse. Before I closed my eyes, I heard her say: "Mom, don't make yourself suffer anymore in your next life." When I opened my eyes again, it was back to the day Chu Kien Thanh planned to welcome her mother-in-law into the door. That very evening, Chu Kien Thanh actually welcomed Vuong Guilan. Vuong Que Lan was carrying a bulging green cloth bag. As soon as she entered the door, she plopped down on the sofa, not bothering to take off her shoes: "Xuan Duong, let's cook some millet porridge tonight, chop some shredded meat, Mom's teeth are not good." I took the ladle and walked into the kitchen. Hearing this commanding tone, my molars gritted slightly. "Okay, let Mr. Thanh go buy meat, I'm busy." Vuong Que Lan immediately raised his voice: "He just came home from work, he's so tired that his back can't straighten up, can't you go on your own?" I poured the washed rice into the pot: "Mom, I just got home from work. Knowing you were coming, I cleaned the east room all afternoon, and didn't have time to go buy food." Chu Kien Thanh stood at the door, unable to save face: "Xuan Duong, mother just arrived, please stop arguing." "I won't argue." I scooped up half a ladle of water, then another half ladle: "I'm telling the truth. There's no meat, but the porridge will be enough to eat." Vuong Que Lan snorted: "Then eat meat another day, so you don't have to reluctantly run back and forth." Feeling so sorry for her son, she called her son at night. In a pot of water with a little rice, I closed the lid and let the fire simmer steadily. In her previous life, she liked to eat thick porridge. After eating, she woke up three times at night, calling me every time. Tonight I let her drink enough water. When the smell of porridge wafted out, the two children also returned home from school. Chu Vien threw my school bag straight into my arms: "Mom, wash my school bag, I have to use it tomorrow." I reached out and threw the bag back into his lap. The corner of the canvas bag just hit his chin: "Don't you have arms?" Chu Vien was stunned: "In the past, mother always washed for me." "Before

Do I owe you this?” I picked up a plate of fried luffa: "If you want to wash it, go wash it yourself. If you don't wash it, then wear a dirty bag." Chu Vien sat down on the chair: "Mom won't wash it for me, I won't go to school tomorrow." "If you like it, go, if you don't like it, then don't." I put the food on the table: "Books are not for me to study." Chu Tieu Tue poked his head in from outside the door, saw his brother's throat blocked, pouting his lips and saying nothing. Only Minh Nguyet carefully put away her schoolbag and went to the kitchen to help me get the bowl: "Mom, let me stir it for you." I gave her a chopstick of food: "Be careful, it's hot." At the dining table, I just scooped a bowl of porridge for Minh Nguyet, then sat down to eat it myself. Vuong Que Lan stared at the empty bowl, Chu Kien Thanh also stared at me, Chu Vien and Chu Tieu Tue looked even more like they were waiting for someone to serve them. Chu Tieu Tue got angry first: "Mom, why do you only shovel for your eldest sister?" "Do you grow radishes on your hands?" I glanced at him: "The ladle is in the pot." Chu Tieu Tue threw the chopsticks on the table: "Mom, if you don't spoon for me, I won't eat anymore." "Then starve yourself." I picked up food for Minh Nguyet again: "Minh Nguyet ate a lot. After school, she also helped her mother dry clothes." Chu Kien Thanh frowned, reaching out to hold the ladle to scoop porridge for Vuong Que Lan. Vuong Que Lan took a sip, his face immediately stretched: "Why is this porridge like water to wash the pot?" "I accidentally added too much water, I'll pay attention next time." I took a bite of the loofah, not too fast or too slow to answer. "What kind of attitude do you have?" Vuong Que Lan slammed the bowl down on the table: "I come from far away, are you taking this out to show me favor?" I put down my chopsticks: "Mom, you said my cooking wasn't good, next time let Mr. Thanh cook." He is a biological son, so cooking water is also filial." Chu Kien Thanh's face darkened: "Lin Xuan Duong, don't talk nonsense." "Am I wrong?" I looked at him: "You brought your mother here, you are showing filial piety. Why is it that as soon as you walk in the door, buying meat is me, cooking porridge is me, stirring rice is also me? Your filial piety is so great, why are your hands so free?" No one spoke at the dining table. Minh Nguyet lowered her head to sip porridge, her shoulders tensed, as if afraid that they would surround me and beat me again. Chu Vien was not satisfied: "Dad goes to work to make money, of course mom has to work." I lowered my chopsticks: "I work at a textile factory. Is the salary I get home a waste of paper?" Chu Tieu Tue whispered softly: "What is that little money of yours enough for?" I looked over: "Enough to buy a pair of red hairpins on your head, and enough to buy a pair of sneakers for your brother's feet. If you criticize a little later, don't waste it." Chu Tieu Tue quickly raised her hand to cover the hairpin. Vuong Que Lan slapped the table: “It's against heaven. Kien Thanh, your wife now dares to treat me like that. When I get old, won't she throw me out on the street?" I laughed: “Mom, don't worry. Whoever picks up my mother will take care of her, and absolutely cannot throw her away." Chu Kien Thanh's throat was choked, and after a while he said: "Did you take the wrong medicine today?" "No." I picked up the bowl: "I've had enough of this drink, I don't want to drink any more." That night, Vuong Que Lan drank two large bowls of thin porridge. In the middle of the night, when her first call came out, I heard every word clearly. "Xuan Duong, Xuan Duong, pour me some water." I turned over, pulled the blanket over my ears. The second voice was even more shrill: "Xuan Duong, I want to go to the tournament." Chu Kien Thanh was awakened and shook me: "Mom is calling you." I closed my eyes tightly: "Call your mother, not mine." He lowered his voice: "If you go on a trip, will you die?" "No, you won't die." I sat up, stuffed a pillow into his lap: "You won't die if you go." Vuong Que Lan in the east room called again: "Kien Thanh, is your wife dead in her sleep?" Chu Kien Thanh's face was unsightly, he put on his coat and got out of bed. I heard him go out to pour water, I heard him

Vuong Que Lan criticized the cold water and heard the sound of the toilet being kicked over. Chu Kien Thanh said in a low voice: "Mom, take it slow." Vuong Que Lan scolded: "What do men understand? It's still more convenient for a daughter-in-law to serve." I opened my eyes wide in the darkness, a smile rose up to my throat, but I swallowed it back down. More convenient? In this life, whoever is convenient will go. As soon as it was dawn, Chu Kien Thanh walked into the room with a gray face: "Lin Xuan Duong, did you pretend to sleep last night?" I sat on the edge of the bed and put on my shoes: "I'm sound asleep." "Didn't you hear mom call?" "I heard you." I tightened my shoe laces: "What do you think? Haven't you left?" He choked out: "I'm a man." "When my mother gave birth to me, she didn't choose because I was a man to make the pain any less painful." I picked up the apron: "When it comes to filial piety, men and women are the same." Chu Kien Thanh scratched his head: "You weren't like that before." "I was stupid before." Outside the door came the sound of Vuong Que Lan coughing, she held the door frame, her face gloomy: "Kien Thanh, tell him not to go to work today, take mom to the hospital to have her foot examined. Last night mom tripped on the potty, it hurts a lot." Chu Kien Thanh immediately looked at me: "Please leave." "I can't ask." I closed the lid of the lunch box: "The restaurant will check the books today, it can't be without people." "Mom's feet hurt!" He raised his voice. "If your leg hurts, I'll take it away." I put the lunch box in a cloth bag: "You take a leave of absence, the factory can still operate without you." Vuong Que Lan raised his voice: "You are a woman, the sick old people in the house still run out, what else can you do?" I stopped at the door: "Mom, yesterday you said Kien Thanh was tired. Today he has to take you to the hospital. Isn't it just right to rest for a day?" Chu Kien Thanh's face turned pale: "I have a meeting today." "My job is not to go out." I pushed the door and walked out: "Everyone's mother has to ask for a day off, that's the obvious logic." Aunt Truong was washing vegetables in the yard when she heard the noise and raised her head to look at me: "Xuan Duong, leaving so early?" I smiled and nodded: "Let's go make money, auntie. Otherwise, the young and old at home will all be waiting for me to prepare rice for them to eat. I'm afraid they'll starve to death." The vegetable leaves in Aunt Truong's hand fell into the basin. For a long time, she still couldn't help but laugh. Chu Kien Thanh roared inside the house: "Lin Xuan Duong!" I didn't bother to look back. When I got to the restaurant, there was chaos in the kitchen. Chef Luu held up the book and scolded the person: "Who wrote down the order wrongly last night? The meat is missing three kilos, the money doesn't match, the manager will come down and check today!" The kitchen assistants did not speak. Trieu Le Hong stood next to the kitchen, glanced at me: "Xuan Duong, yesterday the last person to lock the cabinet was you, right?" I looked at her: "The locker I locked is the rice locker, the key to the meat locker is still hanging on your waist." She immediately covered the key chain: "Don't blame me. Who doesn't know that there's an old woman in your house, rushing to bring meat to show respect?" The eyes of everyone around me changed completely. This also happened in a previous life. Trieu Le Hong stole meat to make a feast for his younger brother, blaming me. In order to keep my job, I had to pay money and was also punished by having to wash barrels of rice water for a month. Chef Luu threw the book down on the table: "Lam Xuan Duong, please explain clearly." I took off my apron, walked towards the coal ash bin in the corner of the wall, and dug out a piece of oil-absorbing paper from inside. On the oil absorbent paper, there were still meat scraps and red oil stains. Trieu Le Hong's face changed: "What are you doing digging through trash?" "Looking for evidence." I spread out the oil-absorbent paper: "This is the paper used to wrap meat at the South Street meat shop. Last night the restaurant didn't make meat with red oil sauce, who took the raw meat away?"

Change to cooked food, go to the meat store and ask once and you'll know."