Chapter 4 — Don't Touch My Limits

"Gao Trung Dan, that's what my mother bought for me to nourish! It was my mother who saw that I was not in good health. How long did it take to save up to buy it? She secretly gave it to your sister, and you told me to be generous? Why don't you tell your mother to understand me a little? Why don't you tell your sister to be a little more reasonable and not always think about taking things from our family?"

"Hieu Quyen just gave birth, her body is weak, just in time to be nourished. You are the sister-in-law, isn't it the right thing to do to give her a few boxes of flowers?"

Truong Nguyet Cam stood next to add fuel to the fire.

"Besides, as a sister-in-law, isn't it natural for you to help your brother-in-law a little? Just because of that little thing, arguing with us like this, you're really petty and unfilial!"

“Unfilial?”

I looked straight at her.

"Unfilial is having to take the things my mother bought for me and give them to your daughter? Unfilial is having to endure letting you steal my things, and having to smile and welcome? Truong Nguyet Cam, I tell you, I can't do that!"

I took a deep breath, looked at her, every word clearly:

"Now I give you the last chance. Today, bring all ten boxes of flowers I delivered and return them to me intact. One box is missing, one piece is missing... I absolutely will not leave it alone."

“I won't pay, what can you do to me?”

Truong Nguyet Cam rolled her eyes, her face full of challenge.

"I gave it to Hieu Quyen, it's hers, I can't take it back! If you have the courage, sue me! I'll see what you can do!"

Looking at her defiant appearance... Looking at her husband standing next to her, weak, only standing in the middle of peacemaking... The last thread in my heart... was completely broken. Suddenly, I felt strangely calm. I know, arguing with this kind of person... is useless. Crying to a husband who doesn't know right from wrong... is also useless. I want her to admit she was wrong, I want my things back, I want her to feel pain— I can only use her weakness. Using the trump card I've been hiding for five years. This card... I originally planned to bury it deep for the rest of my life, never mentioning it. It was she who forced me. I looked at Truong Nguyet Cam's proud face, and every story from the past five years flashed through my mind— She stepped forward step by step. As for me... step by step patience. Cao Trung Dan and I met each other through matchmaking. I was twenty-seven years old that year. I met him through a family acquaintance. He is tall and thin, has a gentle personality, speaks slowly, works in a state-owned enterprise, has a stable job, and has a normal family background, which is considered a household name for me. Having known each other for half a year, I found him to be okay, honest, without any scheming. Even though her personality is a bit soft, it still seems kind to me, so I agreed to the proposal. At that time, I still had very beautiful expectations about marriage and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. As long as I truly treat my mother-in-law well and treat her like my own mother... then she will also treat me like a daughter. Thinking back now— I was really naive at that time. The first time I met Truong Nguyet Cam, she smiled very kindly, held my hand and asked me all sorts of questions, even prepared lucky money, cooked all my favorite dishes, and everywhere looked like a good mother-in-law. At that time, I was still very happy, feeling lucky to have met a pleasant mother-in-law. As soon as she got engaged, she changed her face. First, tell Cao Trung Dan that she is old and not in good health. I didn't have much money in hand, so I could only give twenty thousand yuan as a bride price. My parents are understanding people, saying that the bride price is just a formality, the important thing is that the two of us live well, so there is no comparison. But right after that... I heard his relatives say again— Truong Nguyet Cam turned around and immediately bought her daughter the latest iPhone, more than ten thousand yuan. At that time, I felt uncomfortable. But I thought I wasn't married yet and it wasn't worth making a big deal about this, so I held back and didn't say anything. At the time of the wedding, my parents prepared a dowry for me of 100,000 yuan, and also bought a set of imported household appliances: refrigerator, washing machine, TV, air conditioner... all of the best products, totaling nearly 50,000 yuan. Just one month after the wedding. I went to my mother's house to stay for two days, and when I came back... I discovered that the brand new refrigerator and washing machine in the house had been converted into old, worn-out items. I was completely stunned at that time. Hastily asked Cao Trung Dan what happened. He hesitated for a long time... Then he said it— It was his mother, Truong Nguyet Cam, who changed it. She said, Cao Hieu Quyen was about to get married, and the new house lacked a refrigerator and washing machine. My things are brand new, I just give them to her to use, but we temporarily use old things, waiting to have money later to exchange them. After hearing that, I was so angry that I was shaking. I immediately called Truong Nguyet Cam and asked her why she didn't ask my permission and arbitrarily changed my dowry household items. As a result, the woman on the other end of the phone said very blatantly:

"Hieu Quyen is Trung Dan's sister. She's getting married. Isn't it the right thing for you to help a little? Isn't it just a refrigerator and a washing machine? Why are you overdoing it? We're all one family, what's between yours and mine?"

“That's what my parents gave me as a dowry!”

I almost shouted into the phone.

"It's my personal belongings! Why did you give it to your daughter without asking me?"

"What's yours and what's mine? Since you're married to my son, your things also belong to the Cao family! The Cao family's things, how about letting Hieu Quyen use a little?"

After speaking, she immediately hung up the phone. I was so angry that I cried, I argued with Cao Trung Dan, forcing him to ask for my things back. As a result, he can still only say a few familiar sentences:

"Let's go, let's go, we're all one family, stop calculating."

"Hieu Quyen's marriage is a big deal, it's only right that we as siblings help out a little."

He also said that his mother was old and didn't want to make her angry, so he told me to be a little more generous and patient. That was the first time... I was really cold towards him. In the end, the household items were still unrecoverable. Because of that, Cao Trung Dan and I had a cold war for half a month. After that, he kept apologizing, promising that nothing like that would ever happen again, and I gradually calmed down. But I didn't expect... That was just the beginning. Since that incident, Truong Nguyet Cam seemed to have clearly understood my limits. Knowing that I was soft-hearted, knowing that Cao Trung Dan would stand in the middle of reconciliation, she became more and more excessive. She had a spare key to my house and often took advantage of it when we were at work to sneak in. The imported fruit I bought, but I didn't even have the heart to eat it, left it in the refrigerator. When I got home from work, it was gone. When asked, it turned out she gave it to Cao Hieu Quyen. The cosmetics and skin care products I buy are all products Expensive, a set of several thousand yuan. Leaving it on the dressing table, looking back, there were a few items missing. When asked, it was still she who got it for Cao Hieu Quyen. The new clothes I bought, haven't even had time to wear yet, hung in the closet, but they didn't fly away. I didn't need to ask—she was giving it to her daughter. Every time I found out and confronted her, she always had her own argument:

"Isn't it just some fruit? Hieu Quyen likes to eat, how about giving him some?"

"Aren't they just a few bottles of cosmetics? You can't use them all, so how about letting Hieu Quyen use some?"

"Isn't it just one set of clothes? You don't wear it well, Hieu Quyen fits it, what about giving it to her?"

Every time I argue with Cao Trung Dan, he just repeats these sentences:

"Let's go, let's go, we're all one family, stop comparing."

“That's my mother, what else can I do?”

“Hieu Quyen is my sister, what's wrong with being my brother and helping a little?”

Because of those things, I argued with him countless times, argued loudly countless times, and even mentioned divorce. But each time, he cried and apologized, promising that it would not happen again and would take care of his mother and sister. I looked at him like that... Softened again. Patience again. I always think that my patience, my generosity... will be in return for their restraint, in return for respect. But I was wrong.