Chapter 6 — Eight Years Change One Time Letting Go

The Dali sun is very harsh, shining down making people weak. Han Mo Tuyet rented a traditional Bach house with a garden on the banks of Nhi Hai Lake, paying half a year's rent. The homeowner was a kind aunt. When he saw his girlfriend alone pulling a suitcase, he enthusiastically helped her carry things into the house.

“Little girl, did you come to Dali alone to play?”

“It's not like I'm going out, I'm coming here to live permanently.” She brought the books she brought along and placed them one by one on the wooden shelf by the window.

"It's good to live for a long time. Our land here supports people." The smiling aunt left.

She lay back on the wooden bed covered with clean sheets, looking up at the carved beams above her head. There was no roar of engines, no weather radar maps, no days of waiting. This was her most peaceful sleep in the past 8 years. And in Reykjavik, thousands of miles away. She didn't want to know what Tham Bach Chu was going through, but later Nam Chi told her over the phone. That day, Tham Bach Chu and Trinh Van Chieu went to a glass tent hotel in Finland. Out of habit, he took out his phone, intending to send Han Mo Tuyet a text message. This has been his habit for the past few years, no matter how rude he is to her outside, he still has to send a location to show that he has "reported".

“Han Mo Tuyet, I've arrived at the hotel.”

Message sent. Next to it appeared a dazzling red exclamation mark. [The message was sent, but the other party refused to receive it.] He froze on the spot. Trinh Van Chieu walked out of the bathroom wearing a sexy nightgown and hugged his waist from behind.

"Bach Chu, what are you looking at? The aurora outside is about to appear."

Tham Bach Chu frowned and turned off the phone screen.

"Nothing, maybe her phone lost signal."

He thought she was just sulking, so he blocked his number. In the past eight years, she has never blocked him. No matter how big the argument, she always left a light waiting for him. He was sure that if he came home and bought a bag and said a few words of coaxing, she would obediently let the matter go like before. He and Trinh Van Chieu watched the aurora in Finland for 5 days. Posted 3 posts on my personal page, all of them were silhouettes and landscape photos. But he didn't know that every day he was in Finland, it was like walking on cotton, always feeling like something was wrong. On the 6th day, he finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He called the building management.

"Aunt Vuong, please come and see my house. Is Han Mo Tuyet sick and bedridden again?"

The manager on the other end of the line was silent for a long time.

"Captain Tham? What are you talking about? Mrs. Tham moved away last Wednesday."

“Move what?” Tham Bach Chu's voice suddenly rose high.

"Last Wednesday afternoon, she pulled the suitcase away and said she had erased all the fingerprints on the door lock. Didn't she tell you?"

The other end of the line was as silent as a sheet. Tham Bach Chu hung up the phone, threw Trinh Van Chieu aside, and booked the nearest flight back home. When he pushed the door open and entered, the house was dark. There was no bowl of hot soup, no lamp waiting for him in the living room. He turned on the light. The tea table is sparkling clean, the coaster she used to leave there is gone. He walked to the shoe cabinet, her slippers were gone. He rushed into the bedroom and ripped open the closet door. At that moment, he felt like he was struck by lightning. The wardrobe was half empty, her two drawers had no clothes left. He frantically rummaged around the house looking for traces of her. The bathroom didn't have her toothbrush, the office didn't have her books, even the rocking chair on the balcony was gone. Finally he saw the item she left at the corner of the dining table. A set of house keys. A thin piece of paper.