Chapter 1 — Cracks Under Light

"It's all your fault! All day long, I have no name or status following me, sometimes bringing soup, sometimes bringing food, meddling in everything, causing everyone to misunderstand. From now on, stay away from me! You can't be bothered!" The whole private room immediately fell silent. The crab claw in my hand fell onto the plate. "Did you hear that? Don't cling to me anymore." Chu Nghien Tu said with a cold face: "From childhood to adulthood, you did all those things voluntarily. I never asked you." My mother's hand shook, the ladle hit the edge of the bowl. My father's face changed
angry. He continued to say: "You just make me lose face." I looked at him. Twenty-three years. From the relationship that I once trusted, only two words remained in his mouth: "losing face". "Van Van, don't take it to heart." Chu's mother wanted to make peace. I did not respond. I bent down, picked up the crab claw that had fallen from the edge of the table, and placed it in a plate of bones. The moment I stood up straight, for the first time I didn't look at his face. "It won't be like that anymore." I said. He was stunned: "What do you mean?" I raised my head and raised my voice
calmly: "Aren't you upset? I'll cooperate with you." Chu Nghien Tu seemed to be choked by my words, his chopsticks stopped in mid-air. In the private room were the elders of the two families, along with Tham Nhuoc Ninh, whom he had just brought home. She was wearing a light-colored dress, next to a bowl of fish maw soup that I had stewed for three hours since morning. That bowl of soup was originally cooked to nourish Chu Nghien Tu's stomach. Just now Chu's mother complimented her: "Still thoughtful Van Van." Tham Nhuoc Ninh immediately blushed and said.
I just returned home, I didn't know Chu Nghien Tu had a bad stomach, making her look like an outsider. Chu Nghien Tu immediately pushed the bowl of soup in front of her and told me to scoop it for her. I didn't move. So he got angry. "Lam Van." He put down his chopsticks: "Don't show that resentful expression to others." My mother couldn't help but speak up: "Nghien Tu, Van Van has taken care of me since I was little, how can I say that to her?" "Auntie, I didn't tell her to take care of her." Chu Nghien Tu looked at my mother, tone
He was more polite when speaking to me, but his words hurt others even more: "She likes to do things on her own, she can't use that to tie you down for the rest of your life." My father put the wine glass firmly on the table: "The words the Chu family said in the past, have you forgotten?" Chu's father's face was unsightly: "Mr. Lam, the children were just angry at the moment so they were talking, don't take it as truth." Tham Nhuoc Ninh gently pulled Chu Nghien's sleeve. Tu: "Nghien Tu, stop it, it's all your fault." Her mouth said stop it, but her eyes looked at her.
towards me. Chu Nghien Tu immediately lowered his voice to comfort her: "It has nothing to do with you. It's someone who doesn't know how to keep boundaries." I picked up the jacket on the back of the chair. Chu's mother quickly asked: "Van Van, where are you going? You haven't eaten yet." "Going home." Chu Nghien Tu frowned: "What are you causing trouble again?" I looked at him: "I'm not causing trouble. I'm staying away from you." The impatience on his face became clearer: "Just said a few words and left in a huff. You weren't like that before." "Before, I was afraid that you would have a stomachache, afraid that you would
I drank too much during social events, I was afraid you wouldn't be able to make it on time for the exam, I was afraid no one would bring you an umbrella when it rained." I hung my coat on my arm. "Now I'm not afraid anymore." Chu Nghien Tu stared at me, as if this was the first time he heard me talk like that. Tham Nhuoc Ninh said in a low voice: "Miss Lam, don't misunderstand. Nghien Tu and I are just old classmates." I looked at the bowl of soup in front of her. "Then drink it." She froze. I said: "Old classmates should also nourish their stomachs. Anyway later on him
Stomach pain is no longer under my control." Chu Nghien Tu's face darkened: "Lam Van, apologize." I asked: "Sorry to whom?" "Nhuoc Ninh." I laughed, the smile was very short. "She drank my soup, sat in my position, listening to you scold me made you lose face. Now I still have to apologize to her?" Tham Nhuoc Ninh's face turned a little pale. Chu Nghien Tu stood up: "That's enough." My father also stood up, his voice trying to suppress his anger: "Van Van, let's go." Chu's mother quickly stopped: "Don't go. It's very difficult for both families
have a chance to gather." My mother looked at Chu's mother with red eyes: "Over the past twenty years, I have considered Nghien Tu as half a son. Today I learned that in the eyes of your family, my daughter has been just a shameless person clinging to others for so many years. "Chu's father opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word. I took a key out of my pocket and put it on the table. It was the key to Chu Nghien Tu's apartment. The year he moved out to start a business, Chu's mother was afraid that he wouldn't know how to take care of himself, so she put the key in for me. For the past three years, I
once packed up his suits after he got drunk, replaced all the expired food in the refrigerator, and even stopped suppliers from coming to collect debts on his behalf. Chu Nghien Tu looked at the key, his expression finally changed. "Lam Van, don't use this to threaten me." I put the bag on my shoulder. "It's not a threat, it's just something to return to the owner." When I walked to the door, Tham Nhuoc Ninh suddenly spoke: "Miss Lam, actually Nghien Tu only sees you as a sister. You forcing him like that only makes everything worse."
awkward person." I stopped walking. "My sister won't be called to the hospital at three in the morning to sign care papers. His sister is not the one to smile and please customers for him, nor is his mother automatically considered her future daughter-in-law." Chu Nghien Tu's hand rested on the edge of the table, her knuckles were white. I said: "Since you're back, please take over." Having said that, I pulled the door open. The light in the hallway was very bright, so bright it was blinding. I heard behind me, Chu Nghien Tu said coldly: "If she leaves today, then later."
Don't come back and beg me." I didn't turn around. The moment the door closed, I left those words in my room. "Don't worry." When I got home, my mother didn't say a word the whole way. After entering the house, she placed the bag of vegetables bought at the market on the table. The mouth of the plastic bag was not tightly tied, a few stalks of vegetables slid out, sticking to the water on the floor. I bent down to pick up. She suddenly held my hand: "Van Van, Does it hurt?" I didn't answer right away. She looked at the wound on my palm from a cut on a crab shell,
Turned around to get the box of disinfectant, rummaged for a long time before finding an almost empty bottle of antiseptic medicine. My father sat on the sofa, holding an unlit cigarette in his hand. "We are no longer married to the Chu family." Mom's hand that was applying the cigarette to me stopped. I said: "It hasn't been officially decided yet." "Not decided yet?" My father was so angry that he burst out laughing: "Your aunt Chu said in front of so many people that she would wait for Nghien Tu to stabilize her career and ask her to marry him. It's a good year for you."
After graduating from college, their family needed to borrow money to turn around, who took out the gold bracelet my grandmother left for me?" My mother said in a low voice: "Stop talking." My father threw his cigarette into the ashtray: "Why can't you talk? Today that boy dares to say that Van Van made him lose face in front of everyone, tomorrow he will dare to trample our whole family under his feet." I closed the lid of the bottle of medicine: "Dad, don't get angry because of me and harm your health." "Are you still talking for him?" "Not speaking for him." I closed the bottle of medicine. "It's just that
unnecessary." The phone rang. On the screen was Chu's mother's name. I took a look but didn't hear it. The second time the phone rang, the caller was Chu Nghien Tu. My father saw his name and immediately said: "Listen, let me see what other damn things he can say." I pressed the listen button. Chu Nghien Tu's voice came, carrying a familiar command: "Lam Van, come get the key back." I said: "I gave it back to you." Okay." "My mother got a headache from your anger, are you satisfied?" My mother stood next to me and squeezed
cut the edge of the apron. I asked: "She has a headache, why did she come looking for me?" "Before, weren't you the one who went to get medicine?" "Before, before." The other end was silent for a few seconds. Chu Nghien Tu's voice became even harder: "Don't be angry anymore. Tomorrow Nhuoc Ninh will come to my place to stay temporarily. She just returned, not familiar with the road, she held the key inappropriately." I almost laughed out loud. "So you're not calling to ask me to get the key back, but to want me to come make room for her?" "Can you please stop talking about difficult things?"
Do you hear that?" "I just understand what you mean." Tham Nhuoc Ninh's voice came from the other end: "Nghien Tu, stop it. You can stay at the hotel, don't argue with Ms. Lam because of me." Chu Nghien Tu lowered his voice to coax: "My health is not good, the hotel is not clean." My mother couldn't listen anymore: "Chu Nghien Tu, Van Van is not your housekeeper." Chu Nghien Tu paused: "Auntie, I respect you, but today it was Lam Van who made Nhuoc Ninh uncomfortable first." My father stood up and was about to scold me, but I
hold him back. “Chu Nghien Tu.” I said: "In the second compartment of the apartment refrigerator there is medicine for stomach pain. The medicine was expired and I just replaced it last week. The medicine box is in the lower right compartment of the TV cabinet. The spare key is in the black box, placed on the third floor of the shoe cabinet outside the door. If she wants to stay, she can stay." He was silent. He never knew those small details. I continued: "Don't look for me in the future." I hung up. The living room became quiet. My mother wiped the corner of her eyes: "Van Van, you really let go
Can I let go?" I put the phone on the table: "If you can't let it go, you have to let it go." The next second, the phone rang again. This time it was an unfamiliar number. I answered the phone, and on the other end came an old man's voice: "The girl's name is Lam, the blue enamel vase at the Nam Thanh exhibition center is cracked. The organizers are frantically looking for you. If you don't come, no one will be able to sleep tonight." I looked at my parents. My father frowned: "Who is that?" I said into the phone: "Uncle Phuong, I'll come right away." My mother was surprised: "You're here so late."
I picked up my coat: "There's a problem with a friend's porcelain, I'm here to take a look." My father was not reassured: "Which friend?" I paused. "A friend once owed me a favor." When I arrived at the Nam Thanh exhibition center, several cars were parked outside. As soon as I got out of the car, an old man wearing a gray coat ran over, holding a magnifying glass in his hand. "My ancestor, you're finally here." I lowered my voice: "Uncle Phuong, don't call me that outside." Uncle Phuong immediately closed his mouth and turned to shout at the others
staff behind: "This is the restoration expert I invited. Don't ask nonsense." A middle-aged woman looked at me up and down: "Is she? So young? Master Phuong, tomorrow this blue enamel porcelain vase must be put on display. If something goes wrong, who is responsible?" Uncle Phuong's hot temper flared up: "I will." The woman refused to yield: "It's not like you said it's okay to take responsibility. Chu Thi is also discussing sponsorship here tonight. General Manager Governor Chu said Ms. Nhuoc Ninh was familiar
a restoration expert, that person is on his way." Hearing the words Chu Thi, my steps stopped. The side door of the exhibition center was pushed open. Chu Nghien Tu and Tham Nhuoc Ninh walked in side by side.