Chapter 4 — Don't Run Anymore, Hua Tri Hoa

The alley was filled with empty beer kegs, mildew mixed with the smell of grease, and green moss clinging to the edge of the leaky wall. I lowered my voice: "Luong Nghien Chu, don't come to my house again." He leaned his back against the wall, in his hand holding a tube of ointment he had just bought at the pharmacy next door.

“Give me your hand.”

“No need.”

He opened the medicine box and looked up at me.

“Hua Tri Hoa, I have been very polite today.”

I wanted to refuse, but the words came to my mouth and I swallowed them. He grabbed my hand, applied the ointment, and the cool feeling pressed against my red skin gradually spread. I stared at his fingers, my heart suddenly skipped a beat, I immediately withdrew my hand.

“What do you want in the end?”

Luong Nghien Chu screwed the cap on the medicine tube and stuffed it into my apron pocket.

“Want to know which of your statements is true.”

I raised my head. He looked at me, his voice deeper than the breeze in the alley.

“You said you like to eat chestnut cake, it's true.”

I pursed my lips.

“You said you only slept four hours a day before the university entrance exam, it's true.”

My fingertips tighten.

“You said there are times when you just want to escape to a place where no one knows you, and it's true.”

My eye sockets were stinging with heat.

“Luong Nghien Chu, stop digging up old stories.”

He took a step forward. My back was pressed against the wall, I was about to move to the side when suddenly a tram drove into the alley, the bell rang loudly, I had to step back to my original position. His hand rested on the wall next to my shoulder, not touching me, but blocking the path.

“So tell me which sentence is fake.”

I bit my lower lip.

“On Le is fake.”

“I didn't ask her.”

I raised my eyes. He stared at me, a suppressed fire in his eyes.

“Hua Tri Hoa, do you have anything you can't bear?”

Outside the alley, someone called my mother to pay, her voice echoed through a layer of curtain, the sound of the patch hitting the iron pan jingled. I took a breath of humid air.

“No.”

Luong Nghien Chu's eyes turned cold. He nodded, taking a step back.

“Okay.”

I thought he was about to leave, but just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he suddenly took out his phone and made a call.

"Uncle Chu, this afternoon's meeting will be changed to an online format. I will stay in Thanh Ngo for a few days."

I looked up: "Are you crazy?" He looked at me, his tone calm.

"I'll stay and see how long your 'not having' can last."

* 【Chapter 3】 Luong Nghien Chu really stayed in Thanh Ngo. Not in some shabby motel, but in the only spacious homestay in town, exactly eight minutes walk from my noodle shop. Tran Mat knew about it and rushed into the kitchen to find me. He pulled me out of the pile of dishes, forcing his voice to curse: "Hua Tri Hoa, this creditor of yours didn't come to collect debt, he came to stake here already." I turned on the faucet, the water poured over the back of my hand, the burn no longer hurt.

“He can stay wherever he likes, it has nothing to do with me.”

Tran Mat sneered: "It's unrelated? Who placed two boxes of study materials in front of your house this morning? Who made an appointment with a specialist doctor at the city hospital for you? Who came to your fleet chat group to ask how to buy long-distance insurance?" My hand slipped, the bowl hit the edge of the sink, breaking a piece.

“What expert? muscle?"

Tran Mat stared at me: "You don't know?" I threw the bowl down and ran outside. My mother was sitting behind the counter, holding an appointment form, rubbing her red eyes.

“Tri Hoa, your senior is really good, you can even book an examination schedule with a hospital specialist in the city.”

I grabbed the slip. On it was clearly written my mother's name, examination time, room, and deposit in advance. I turned around and ran out.