Chapter 17 — Cracks Under Light

"Chu Nghien Tu, what's the use of regretting now? The twenty-three dirtiest years of Lam Van's life were given to you by you." Chu Nghien Tu's whole body staggered, having to hold on to the back of the chair to stand steady. Chu's mother covered her face and cried. Father Chu silently stood up and took her away. The hall was quiet again. The host carefully asked: "Miss Lam, are we still going?" I lowered my head to look at the small cup. The cracks are still there, but have been cleaned. I said: “Continue.” Applause rang out from a corner. First it was my father, then my mother, uncle Phuong, Co Minh Nghi, and finally even strangers in the audience applauded. I completed the final fixation step amid applause. The light shines down, the small cup stands firmly on the stand. At the end, a reporter asked: "Miss Lam, after what happened today, what do you want to say the most?" I looked at the camera. "Restoration is not about making the cracks disappear, but about helping the item stand firm again. People are the same." Below the stage, Chu Nghien Tu bowed his head. After Tham Nhuoc Ninh was officially held responsible, the Chu family could not completely retreat. Incidents at the exhibition, fake notices to recall stores, rumors on the internet, each one was dug up. Several of Chu's partners canceled their contracts one after another, and Chu's father was busy and didn't come home for several days. Chu Nghien Tu came to find me three times. The first time was in front of the watch store, he brought along some soup. My father saw it and immediately closed the door. He stood outside for half an hour, and finally took the soup away. The second time was at the museum, he brought a handwritten apology letter. Uncle Phuong took it, read two lines and then returned it: "The writing is too bad, the heart is too chaotic. Don't write it again." The third time was on a day of heavy rain. I walked out of Co Minh Nghi's office and saw him standing on the steps. His suit was soaked, he was holding an umbrella in his hand. I stopped. He immediately stepped up: "Van Van." I said: "You don't need to do that." "I don't know how I can meet you." "Maybe not." He smiled bitterly, even more unsightly than crying: "I tried, but I couldn't do it." Rainwater fell from the edge of the umbrella, hitting the stone steps. He said: "I returned to the apartment, saw the stomach ache medicine in the second shelf of the refrigerator, that's when I realized how detailed the list you wrote was. I had never looked at those places before." I said: "So what?" "So I knew you hadn't been good at taking care of me over the years. You put a lot of effort into it." "I knew it was too late." He nodded: "Yes." I was about to go around. He suddenly said: "I've sold the apartment." I stopped for a moment. "Every corner of it has traces of you, I can't continue to live there." He lowered his voice: "My mother also moved back to the old house. She once came to look for your parents, but was rejected by her uncle and aunt." I asked: "You want me to pity you?" "No." He held the umbrella handle towards me: "It's heavy rain, you take it." I didn't accept: "I have an umbrella." He looked Seeing the umbrella handle exposed in my pocket, my hand stopped in mid-air. Before, it was always me who brought him the umbrella. He also thought about that, his hand slowly lowered. "Van Van, before I thought you would forever stand in the same place waiting for me." I opened my umbrella: "That's just what you think." He stood in the rain, his voice so small that it was almost covered by the sound of the rain: "What else can I do?" "Repay all the respect you owe my parents, wipe the eyes you owe yourself. Don't continue to use regret to bother me." Chu Nghien Tu looked at me for a long time, then finally took a step back. "Okay." That was the first time he didn't chase me. One month later, the results of Tham Nhuoc Ninh's trial were announced. Stealing jade buttons, slandering, tossing

false information, blackmail and intimidation, many crimes overlap. The day she was taken away, she was still crying in front of the camera, saying she just wanted to be seen by others. Ms. Luong showed me the video, I just glanced at it. "Turn it off." Ms. Luong asked: "Don't you feel angry?" I said: "I'm angry, but it's not worth watching much." Hua Kien Thanh was eliminated from the professional world. The photo hanging on the clubhouse wall was also taken down. Uncle Phuong intentionally took a photo and sent it to me. The space on the wall in the photo is extremely striking. He sent a voice message: "Little girl, have you seen? Reputation is based on theft, not even nail holes can be saved." I laughed for a long time. At the Chu family, Chu's father personally came and clearly returned all the favors and money they owed my parents in the past. Chu's mother did not enter the door anymore, just asked someone to deliver a letter. After reading it, my mother did not cry or scold her, she just put the letter under the old debt book. "Keep it." She said: "To remind myself, don't consider your daughter's kindness as something you can take advantage of for free." The day the watch shop reopened, Mrs. Trieu used a wheelchair to cut the ribbon. The aunt selling wontons brought a large pot of hot soup. Neighbors stood in front of the door, no one mentioned the appearance of the Chu family.