Chapter 2 — Bright Moon Shining Hai Duong

Van Canh's eyes glanced at my sweaty forehead, then gave me a tissue. I don't accept. His hand stopped, his eyes fell on the sausage grill, and he frowned: "Are you making this now?" I am always especially sensitive to every little expression on Van Canh's face. Maybe it's because I've endured too much sarcasm and blame from him. Just by frowning a little, I could already guess what his next sentence would be - It was definitely a reproachful sentence like: "After all these years, I still don't have the will to move forward." So, in order to avoid hearing that harsh sentence, I quickly warned in advance: "Don't pretend to be close. If you buy it, it will cost three yuan per stick, at most, I'll sell you two for five yuan." Even if it's an ex-lover, don't try to get a discount. People with small businesses like me, earning every penny is very difficult. 09 Van Canh just stood there quietly, standing behind the counter, watching me sell sausages. Perhaps because of the smell of oil smoke, he frowned all the time, unable to relax even once. Everywhere my eyes passed by, I was filled with disgust — bored with my stall, bored with myself. He was tall and handsome, and quickly attracted a group of girls to watch. Sausages sell faster than usual, I also have the opportunity to clear the goods early. After checking the time, Van Canh and I went to the side of the road. I patted the dust on my pants, conveniently found a step and sat down. As for Van Canh, he still stood straight, looking at my slovenly appearance and slightly pursed his lips. That's right — getting that expensive coat dirty would be troublesome. One person sat and the other stood, the two of us remained silent for a long time. “I raise an ebony cat, named Doa Doa, do you want to see it?” I didn't expect that the person who took the initiative to speak was Van Canh. In the past, when I was still dreaming about a future with him, I used to count with my fingers: I had to work hard and save money to buy my first house, then raise a cute little cat. My name is Hai Duong, the little cat's name will be Doa Doa. But Van Canh said, an irresponsible person like me is not worthy of raising a cat: "You're so stupid, you can't even take care of yourself, don't bring more trouble on me." My existence with Van Canh was inherently a burden. Even the cat I want to raise is a burden in his eyes. If it weren't for my mother holding his hand and telling me to take care of me, before she passed away, I'm afraid he would have let go a long time ago. It's just me - still stubbornly refusing to turn around, just rushing straight into the wall in front... until my head bled. 10 "Forget it, Doa Doa doesn't sound like a good name. Besides, my girlfriend is allergic to cat dander, so it's better not to keep a cat." I refused gently. If I remember correctly, To Tinh used to have to be hospitalized because of feeding stray cats. Van Canh replied: "I don't have a girlfriend. Furthermore, Doo Doa is a very cute name." He took out his phone, the screen still stopped at our last text message - last year, when I texted him to break up. "If you didn't have a reasonable reason to leave at that time, I wouldn't have agreed to break up, Lam Hai Duong. You'll always be this impulsive." I quietly removed him from the block list. Then took his phone and sent back a word "Okay." Go to that parting message. “Oh my god, his rigid seriousness, sometimes it's really annoying People are tired.” Van Canh raised his head and looked at me, his eyes deep. I stood up, brushed the dust off my clothes: "The reason? Maybe… that winter, I really loved you.” “But now it's fall 2024.” In the adult world, there are not many love stories like in dreams. After being slapped by society to calm me down a few times, I understood. I'm not the type of person who loves with intelligence, nor am I someone who loves beauty. I'm just a lover of money - in this life I only love making money. The dream is over, I should wake up and skewer breaded sausages. 11 Before leaving, Van Canh seemed a bit lost, turned around and said: "Auntie Lam is grateful to me. If I promised to take care of you, I won't go back on my word. If anything happens, just come find me.” What's wrong with selling breaded sausages? At worst, they will be chased around the streets by the urban management. If you want to help me, you probably have to take the civil service exam first. Sigh... I met Van Canh once, but I ended up turning into a recruitment advertisement for state employees. 12 I was so bored that I kicked the pebbles under my feet, thinking why Sword Dawn hadn't come yet. Then a voice rang out behind him, with some hesitation: "Tay Thi sausage?" I turned around — my eyes immediately widened. Blinded by the streetlights, I regained my composure: "Sword Dawn?" Oh my god, who is that handsome man in front of him? The name Sword Dawn sounds so average, shouldn't he be a fat and ugly dwarf? Why is it exactly like the photo, from purchased goods to display goods, no difference at all? Oh my god!! Give me back that handsome brother that my mother also loves!! 13 Kiem Binh Minh's real name is Le Minh Nguyet. This guy kept clinging to me and didn't let go: "I told you, after we met, we officially fell in love! Tay Thi, don't run anymore, if you disappoint someone who is sincere, you will have to swallow ten thousand silver needles!” Being chased by him, I couldn't stand it anymore, put down the stroller, gritted my teeth: "Don't call me Tay Thi anymore, my name is Lam Hai Duong!" "Diabetes." Le Minh Nguyet immediately changed the way she addressed herself, raised her head to look at me, her face suddenly turned red, and mumbled: "You are so beautiful... even more beautiful than Tay Thi." Dear God, please save me. I regret why I gave the network such a stupid name. When I get home, I will change the name, I must order one that is even better than Sword of Dawn. The new name will be — Pig Slaughter in the Dark. Then Le Minh Nguyet could bewildered and say: "Tieu Duong, you are the sharpest pig slaughter knife I have ever seen." 14 From then on, every morning, as soon as Le Minh Nguyet opened her eyes, she ran to find me. I grilled sausages, he stood next to me and shouted to collect money. Later, I started selling fried chicken and sandwiches. The two of them were so busy that they often forgot to eat. One day, I finally couldn't help it: "Don't you have anything to do?" If I remember correctly, Le Minh Nguyet has already graduated, so why doesn't she go to work? “I… I also started a business!” “What start-up? Try telling me.” Being stared at by me, with unfriendly eyes, Le Minh Nguyet trembled slightly. He looked at the cart, blinked, then suddenly said: “Food delivery! Haven't I told you yet?” I suddenly remembered that when we talked before, he said that there were several big companies that were inviting him to come home do. At that time, I thought he was bragging like usual - I didn't expect it to be true. I patted his shoulder encouragingly: "The company is great! Try to do well!" It turns out that the "dawn" of Sword Dawn is from the darkness of night, through the darkness, until tomorrow morning. I sell sausages, you deliver. We are all living for a beautiful future. 15 The next time Van Canh appeared, it was when I and Le Minh Nguyet were counting money: "Just wait another half month, and I'll have paid off my student loan." Le Minh Nguyet was delivering goods all day, her cheeks were red from the sun, but her eyes still sparkled brightly. He didn't understand what "student support loans" were, but was still sincerely happy for me: "Wow, Tieu Duong, you're really good!" “Well, when that time comes, I'll treat you to a big meal — as many lamb skewers as you want!” At that moment, Van Canh suddenly appeared and strode forward. He was like a giant wall, suddenly blocking me and Le Minh Nguyet. He brushed away Minh Nguyet's hand that was about to wipe my sweat. The paper in his hand was blown away by the wind, rolled up and fell right at Van Canh's feet. “The paper he gave you… is there any difference from the paper I gave you?” Before I could react to that strange question, Van Canh suddenly realized he had said something wrong and turned his head away awkwardly. He immediately restored his indifferent appearance: "Don't do these things anymore, come with me. I've already found a job for you. It's not that hard, and there's no need to expose your face on the street." 16 Van Canh always knows how to say the right thing to my pain. In high school, I worked part-time at a restaurant to save money for tuition, and he received a full scholarship. He said coldly: "If you were a little smarter, there would be no need to do these things." I used to wear snow and bring birthday gifts to him. He didn't bother to look, just threw it straight into the trash can. He didn't like the cookies I made, nor did he bother to touch the wool scarf I knit. In his eyes, all of those things are just "useless efforts of useless people". Perhaps in the world of high IQ people, there is no place for normal people. Just like now, he turned to look at Le Minh Nguyet in his delivery uniform: "Lam Hai Duong, do you really find a food delivery guy pleasing to the eye? Every day the wind blows and the rain falls - what can he give you? You're so bad, you can't even choose a boyfriend."