Chapter 1 — Dowry Melted

My best friend is getting married, and I want to wear the gold bracelet my grandmother left me. Opened the safe in the bedroom, it was empty inside. Two pairs of gold bracelets, one gold necklace, three gold rings. A total of six dishes, not a single one left. I squatted down on the ground and searched three times, my finger touching a piece of paper in the innermost layer. It was the gold smelting recall slip of “Xinfu Jewelry”. The date is the fifteenth day of last month. In the signature column, scribble three words. Tien Que Phuong. My mother-in-law's name.01I held that piece of paper tightly and went downstairs. Tien Que Phuong's mother-in-law was in the kitchen picking vegetables, humming music, seemingly in a very good mood. I slammed the paper on the kitchen counter. "Mom, what is this?" She glanced at it, her hand still picking up the vegetables. "Oh, that." Her tone was light as if she was saying that cabbage is two dimes cheaper today. "Tieu Vien gets married next month, she has to have a dragon and phoenix necklace to look good." "I'm looking for a skilled craftsman, using only pure gold, making it look very dignified." My fingernails dug into my palm. "That's my dowry." "It's my grandmother." I'll leave it to you." Tien Que Phuong finally raised his head, looking at me like he was looking at an incomprehensible child. "I've already married into the Phuong family, what else is left of my aunt?" "Besides, the gold isn't lost, it's just a change of style." "Wait until Tieu Vien finishes getting married, tell Dinh Dinh to give it back to you." I stared at her. "Six pieces of gold, totaling three hundred and twenty grams." "According to the current gold price, worth more than five hundred thousand." "Mom made a pair of dragon and phoenix bracelets, at most only used sixty grams." "Where are the remaining two hundred and sixty grams?" Tien Que Phuong's hand paused for a moment. Very quickly, she threw the vegetable leaves into the basin, used her apron to wipe her hands. "This girl, did you plan with your mother-in-law so clearly?" "The rest I made for Tieu Vien a gold necklace, men getting married also have to have impressive jewelry." "And the other part, I used to make up for the wedding deposit." Three hundred and twenty grams. Not a single gram was missing, all of it was used for my brother-in-law. My voice tightened: "Mom, that's my grandmother's relic." "Before she passed away, she herself put it on my wrist." "Her name was still engraved on the two bracelets." Tien Que Phuong impatiently waved his hand. "What's the use of keeping things from the dead? Bad luck." "Mom helped me melt it to relieve my ear pain." My whole body stiffened, I couldn't say a word. She laughed again. "It's okay, it's okay, stop looking so gloomy." "When you give birth to a son, I will make you a better outfit, gold and jeweled." She turned around and continued picking vegetables. In her eyes, this matter was over. I returned to the bedroom and called Phuong Due. It rang for six hours before picking up. "Wife, I'm in a meeting—" "My mother melted down all the gold in your dowry." The other end of the line was silent for two seconds. Not silent because of surprise. It's silence to consider. "This... I'll tell you when I get home." He hung up. This is the first time in three years of marriage that he proactively hung up on me. 02Phuong Due only came home at nine o'clock at night. I sat on the sofa waiting for him, on the tea table placed that gold-making ticket. He took a look and sighed. "I know you're not comfortable in your heart." "But mom has no choice, Tieu Vien needs money wherever she gets married." I asked him: "When did you know about this?" Phuong Due didn't say anything. I asked again. "When did you know?" He took off his tie and sat down opposite me. "Last month... my mother discussed it with me." Last month. He knew for a month, but didn't say a word to me. "You told her the password to the safe?" Phuong Due rubbed his forehead. "She is my mother, asking me for the password, I couldn't help but give it." A cold streak ran down my spine. "Phuong

Due, that's what my grandmother left me." "Do you think my mother asked me for the password?" He stood up, his voice rising a little. "Can you stop hanging on to this?" "The gold won't disappear, when the time comes, tell your mother to make it up to you." Make it up to me. What can I get in return? Before my grandmother passed away, her thin hands trembled as she put the bracelet on my wrist. She said: "Hoa Hoa, this is something that was passed down. through four generations of my family.” The lotus and vine pattern on the two bracelets is an old industry from the Republic of Korea period. Once melted, there's nothing left. Phuong Due saw that I didn't say anything, his voice softened. "Wife, I know those things mean something to you." "Here, when Tieu Vien is married, I will ask my mother to buy a new gold item to pay you back, okay?" "At most, I'll spend more money and buy a heavier one." I think five hundred thousand can solve this problem. I don't understand, some things are not about money. But I didn't say any more. "Okay." Phuong Due seemed to be relieved of a burden and came closer to hug my shoulder. "I immediately knew you were the one who understood the most." I didn't push him away. Didn't respond either. That night I couldn't sleep. At two o'clock in the morning, I picked up my phone and opened Phuong Due's WeChat as if driven by a ghost. I didn't set a password, I've never set one before. I scrolled to the chat between him and Tien Que Phuong. Scroll each line up. Skip to the thirteenth day of last month. Tien Que Phuong sent a voice message, I didn't dare open it, I only saw Phuong Due's reply. "Okay, password 684520, mom just go get it." "No need to tell her, wait until it's done then talk." No need to tell her. I gently placed the phone back on the bedside table. Phuong Due turned over and slept very soundly. His breathing was steady and steady. I lay in the dark, counting the streaks of light from the street lamps onto the ceiling. A streak. Two streaks. Three streaks. It's been three years. I married into the Phuong family for three years and gave my salary card to my mother-in-law for "unified management" for three years. I suddenly wanted to see where my money had gone in these three years.03The next day I took half a day off. Not to the company, but to the bank. I am a certified auditor, checking books is my job. The counter prints three-year statements, one thick stack. I sat in the bank lobby for two hours, comparing each account. On Phuong Due's and my salary cards, each month's combined income is transferred to a "family account". The electronic banking of this account is located on Tien Que Phuong's phone. Three years. My monthly salary and Phuong Due's combined are thirty-eight thousand. Except for daily expenses, you can save at least twenty thousand each month. Three years, there should have been more than seven hundred thousand in savings. But the family account balance is only forty-three thousand. Where did the money go? I sorted by amount, from big to small, checking each item. March 2022 — transfer 150000, note “home”. July 2022 — transfer 100000, note “house 2”. January 2023 — transfer 80000, “repair” note. June 2023 — transfer 50000, note “car”. These funds all go into the same account. Account owner: Phuong Vien. My husband's brother. Three hundred fifty thousand deposit to buy a house. Eighty thousand for repairs. Fifty thousand car purchase support. Plus sundry transfers. In three years, Phuong Vien took from this "family account" more than six hundred thousand. Six hundred thousand. Every day I leave the house at seven in the morning and return at eight at night. Weekend overtime is normal, annual leave is never used up. I thought that money was being saved for me and Phuong Due's future. But it went into the brother-in-law's house, the brother-in-law's car, and the brother-in-law's wedding. And husband

I never mentioned a single sentence. I folded up the statement and put it in my pocket. Exiting the bank, passing by a real estate brokerage company. I stopped and glanced at the rental information in the glass case. South of the city, one bedroom and one living room, rent two thousand three per month. I stood for a few seconds, then left. It's not the time yet. Back at the company, colleague Tieu Trieu stopped by. "Miss Hoa, is your brother-in-law getting married on the eighteenth next month?" "Your mother-in-law posted an invitation in the resident group, saying it will be held at Jinhua Hotel, thirty-eight tables." Thirty-eight tables. One table is at least three thousand. The wedding banquet money probably came from that "family account". I smiled lightly: "Yes, next month." "Your mother-in-law also said in the group that the dragon and phoenix bracelet is a treasure-level heirloom." "Said it was a skilled craftsman who worked for half a month, and the lotus vine pattern is completely handmade." Lotus vine pattern. That is the pattern on my grandmother's bracelet. She didn't even change her style. My smile didn't change. "It's so beautiful." After Tieu Trieu left, I closed the office door. Open the computer, create a new Excel file. File name: Family expense book. From the first account, date, amount, transfer location, notes. Enter each account one by one. I want to calculate clearly how much the Phuong family owes me in these three years. 04 Wedding preparations are entering the countdown phase. Tien Que Phuong is as busy as being injected with chicken blood. Every dinner, her theme is only one. Tieu Vien's wedding. "The wedding candy must be Haolilai brand, can't use loose packaging, it will cause embarrassment." "The wedding convoy must have eight cars, the leading car must be Mercedes." "The invited MC is a TV station host, six thousand yuan." Phuong Kien Quoc - my father-in-law, bowed his head to eat, not saying a word. This man has been like this for three years now. Do not participate, do not object, do not express opinions. Halfway through the meal, Tien Que Phuong suddenly turned to me. "Hoa Hoa, on your wedding day, please help your sister-in-law give out wedding candy."