Chapter 9 — Breakfast Changes Destiny

Chu Kien Thanh also knew that this play had collapsed, his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. Ly Thu Lien still wanted to save her life: "Auntie's pain may have subsided..." I interrupted her: "You really feel sorry for others. People are in pain, but you speak for them all." Her eyes were red again. This time no one coaxed her. That same evening, Chu Kien Thanh was called back to the factory and heard that someone accused his family of taking illegal work outside the company. Before leaving, he glared at me: "Did you cause trouble?" I wiped the table: "The one who caused trouble is the one who denounced it. You didn't go ask Ly Thu Lien, why did you ask me?" His expression changed a few times, he slammed the door and left. I tightened the door latch and was about to go to sleep when there was a light knock on the door. It's that man in the gray shirt again. He stood outside the fence and handed over a small wooden box: "Miss Lam, the treasurer can't wait any longer. The customer from the province will leave tomorrow morning. He pointed to you by name and wants to eat the lotus cake you made. It's okay if you don't show your face. Just pass on the secret and we'll pay the right price." I didn't accept it: "I told you, don't come to the house anymore." He hurriedly lowered his voice: "It's not about money. That old lady in that province once saved the life of the treasurer. Before she left, she just wanted to taste the old flavors again. The skills left by your mother, no one else can do it." I was silent. In the wooden box is an old bronze mold, engraved with a lotus pattern. When my mother was still alive, she often said that this bronze mold should only be given to people with predestined relationships, not to gluttons. I stared at that lotus flower, my throat felt like coal ash was choked. In my previous life, for the sake of the Chu family, I locked myself around the kitchen. When I learned about Ngoc Xuan Lau in the province paying a high price to find my mother's heir, my hands were so sick that I couldn't even hold a rolling pin. Later, that bronze mold fell into the hands of Ly Thu Lien. She relied on Chu Kien Thanh's connections, turned my mother's skills into her family's heirloom, opened a bakery, and dressed in gold and silver to visit me at the nursing home. She placed a box of lotus cakes at my bedside, smiled and said: "Sister-in-law, you see, people must know how to seize opportunities. What if you have skills? If you don't know how to speak, it's useless." At that moment, I hated myself more than my illness. The man in the gray shirt still held up the box: "Miss Lam, please give me a word." I reached out to receive the bronze mold: "What time will I pick it up tomorrow morning?" His eyes glowed: "Before dawn, take it to the back door of Ngoc Xuan Lau. The treasurer's family is Do, you just tell her that Mr. Tan sent it." "There's no need to say the price now." I put the bronze mold in my chest: "Love comes from love, books come from books. I'll meet the treasurer tomorrow morning and figure it out." Old Tan nodded repeatedly: "That's right, that's right." I closed the door and entered the house. Minh Nguyet had woken up, put on her coat and stood at the door: "Mom, is someone looking for you to make cakes?" I nodded: "If you can't sleep, come and boil water for mom." Her eyes lit up: “Can I study?” “Yes.” I placed the bronze mold on the table: "But first you must remember, crafting is not to please others, but to support yourself." Minh Nguyet nodded solemnly. Vuong Que Lan in the east room turned around and mumbled: "Not sleeping in the middle of the night, acting like a monster." I didn't pay any attention to her. Knead the dough, proof it, multiply it, and press the mold. Lotus flower cakes are more difficult to make than date cakes. With just a slight difference in heat, the flower petals will collapse immediately. Minh Nguyet sat by the stove, watching without blinking. "Mom, why does this pattern look like a real flower?" "Because don't be in a hurry." I took out the first tray of cakes:

“The more impatient you are to get it done right away, the easier it will be to ruin it.” Suddenly the sound of a key was heard outside the door. When Chu Kien Thanh returned, his face looked very bad. As soon as he entered the door, he smelled a fragrance: "What are you doing again?" I closed the bamboo sieve: "Get a part-time job." He threw his jacket on the chair: "The factory just called me up to talk, saying that family members secretly receiving money from outside has a bad influence. Do you still dare to accept the job?" "The factory is looking for you because someone is blaming my work on you." I looked at him: "If I make money with my skills, who will it affect?" "Touch you." He lowered his voice: "Now you're making a mess, making the whole factory know that I can't control my wife. Thu Lien was also whispered about and cried all day." Minh Nguyet couldn't help but speak up: "Aunt Ly cried, dad felt sorry for her. Mom was unfairly wronged, why didn't dad feel sorry for her?" Chu Kien Thanh glared at her: "Adults are talking, why are children interrupting!" I pulled Minh Nguyet behind me: "Why are you yelling at her? You take your anger out on yourself when you come home and take it out on your children?" Chu Kien Thanh saw the bronze mold on the table and immediately reached out to take it: "What is this?" I pressed my hand to hold back: "Don't touch." His eyes immediately changed: "Lam Xuan Duong, how many other things are you hiding from me?"