Chapter 2 — Dowry Melted

"Ah yes, I bought the bridesmaid dress myself, it's pink, don't buy it too expensive." "Also, the remaining money for the wedding party is still twenty-eight thousand, please advance it." Phuong Due's hand picking up the food paused for a moment. But he said nothing. Just gently touch my knee. I understand that gesture — “hold on.” I put down my chopsticks. "Mom, isn't the remaining money for the wedding party taken from the family account?" Tien Que Phuong's expression changed slightly. "The money in that account has been arranged differently." "My salary and Tieu Due just received it, it's okay to advance a little, it's not like I can't pay." I looked at Phuong Due. Phuong Due bowed his head. Silence again. “Okay.” I said. Tien Que Phuong nodded with satisfaction. "That's like family." "Oh yes, next weekend I'll go to the gold shop to get a dragon and phoenix bracelet. I'll go with my mother." She wanted me to go with her to get the dragon and phoenix bracelet made from my dowry. I picked up the bowl and took a sip of soup. "Okay." On the weekend, I went with Tien Que Phuong to the Xinfu jewelry store. The owner, who knew her, smiled and took out a red velvet box from the counter. Open up. A pair of dragon and phoenix bracelets, the workmanship is truly exquisite. On the inside of the phoenix ring, I see a very faint scratch. That's my grandmother's mark. When she was young, she engraved a small word "Hoa" on the inside of the bracelet. When the goldsmith cooked the gold, it was not completely polished, but a little trace remained. Tien Que Phuong held the bracelet, held it up to the light and looked at it again and again. "Isn't it beautiful? Much more beautiful than your old things." I stared at that scratch. My grandmother's handwriting had been melted, beaten, and made into someone else's dowry. But that word "Hoa", there was still a stroke that had not completely disappeared. It is located on the inside of the phoenix bracelet, like a scar. "Beautiful." I said. On the way home, Tien Que Phuong was in a good mood, rarely talking to me more than a few words. "Hoa Hoa, don't resent me." "When you give birth to a son, I'll give you children better than this." I turned my head to look at the roadside trees receding quickly behind the glass window. Until now, she still thinks that everything can be erased with "make up for it later". She didn't know that I had recorded seventy-three accounts in an Excel file. She didn't even know that, after work yesterday, I turned onto the road south of that city. One bedroom and one living room, facing south, good lighting. I've deposited three months' rent.05The wedding is two weeks away. That day I got off work early and went home to get the documents. When I pushed open the bedroom door, my whole body stood still. The wardrobe had been ransacked. My mother's jewelry box is gone. In that box there was only one thing. A gold ring. My mother's wedding ring. When she passed away, I was only eleven years old. Dad gave me my mother's wedding ring and said: "This is the only thing your mother left for you. Please keep it carefully for me." I searched all over the room. Do not have. I rushed downstairs. Tien Que Phuong was not home, Phuong Kien Quoc was watching TV in the living room. "Dad, have you seen my mother's old jewelry box?" Phuong Kien Quoc shook his head. "I don't know, ask your mother." I called Tien Que Phuong. "Mom, where is my mother's jewelry box?" "Oh that, isn't there just a small gold ring inside?" "It weighs too little, it can't do anything." "I told the gold shop worker to melt it and put it in the pair." Dinh Dinh's gold earrings, they look heavy enough." My hand holding the phone began to shake. "What did you say?" Tien Que Phuong's voice was full of matter-of-factness. "Your mother's ring has tarnished, it looks embarrassing to wear outside." "If you melt it, it might still have some effect." "Don't always be so stingy—"