Chapter 8 — Eighteen People, One Meal, One Divorce

"Vu Ninh! Come here, follow me home!"

"About?" I repeated, suddenly feeling funny.

“Go home?”

“Let's go back to my house!” he replied immediately, as if it were obvious.

"Our house is ours. You are my wife. If it's not your house, then what is it?"

“Is there anything in that house that belongs to me?” I asked, looking straight at him.

Trieu Khai paused.

“In the refrigerator, is the food I bought?”

“In the kitchen cabinet, I added the rice, flour, and oil?”

“The things in the bathroom, the paper, the laundry detergent, did I pay for them?”

“The sofa, the bed, the kitchen, is there anything named after me?”

I spoke in one breath, the questions that had been weighing me down for two years. Every time I wanted to buy something more for that house, he said I was wasting my money. Every time I bring things from my mother's house, my mother-in-law nags me why I'm bringing things home. That place was never my home. That is Trieu Khai's territory, where his parents and sisters can come if they want, stay if they want, and say whatever they want. And I'm just a temporary resident, the one who has to cook, clean, and serve their entire family.

“Vu Ninh, what are you talking about?” his voice lowered.

"Now is not the time to calculate. Eighteen people are waiting. You are the hostess. If you don't come back, what will happen?"

“The hostess?”

I laughed, really laughed.

“Trieu Khai, your so-called hostess, does she have to cook a table for eighteen people by herself?”

“Your so-called hostess has to wash dozens of dishes after meals?”

"Your so-called female hostess only gets to sleep at midnight and has to get up early in the morning to cook for your whole family?"

“If it's the female homeowner, then I won't do it anymore. You can find whoever you want.”

Trieu Khai's face immediately darkened, his frustrated eyes flared up like fire.

"Lam Vu Ninh, don't drink when you're invited, if you don't drink, you'll have to drink as punishment."

“I'm being nice to you, but you still want to cause trouble, right?”

"Okay, then I'll be honest, if you don't follow me home today, it's over."

The last two words were almost shouted by him, echoing into the narrow hallway, echoing loudly to the point of earache. His mother pulled his hand back and lowered her voice to advise, but he pushed her away.

“Mom, don't interfere!”

He pointed straight at me, his voice filled with contempt.

“Lam Vu Ninh, I tell you, without me you are nothing!”

“A woman in her late thirties, divorced, who wants to marry her?”

“Can your parents raise you for the rest of your life?”

"Now you follow me home, finish cooking this meal, apologize to my parents, I can still pretend that nothing happened."

“If not, prepare to sign the divorce papers!”

He deliberately spoke loudly, as if he wanted the whole hallway, my parents, and anyone eavesdropping to hear clearly. He used divorce to force me, using something that for the past two years has always scared me. But today, that feeling is no longer there. I looked at his face contorted with anger, only feeling strange and funny. I spoke, my voice not loud but clear. Trieu Khai paused, blinking a few times as if he didn't understand.

“What did you say?”

“I said, okay.” I repeated, taking another step toward the door.

“Trieu Khai, let's divorce.”

This time not only him but also the people behind him stood still. The hallway suddenly fell silent, only the sound of a child yawning and being silenced by an adult.

“What…what did you say?” his voice suddenly lost.

“I said, divorce.” I Look straight into his eyes, every word clear.

“The house is in my name, the car is in my name, the money is in my mother's hand.”

“I don't need anything.”

“I just got my things back, my clothes, my books, my cosmetics.”

“And the salary card deposited at your house for the past two years, about two hundred thousand yuan in it, is money I saved myself.”

“Give it back to me and we're done.”

The whole hallway seemed to have been hit with a stop button. Trieu Khai opened his mouth, his eyes widened and he couldn't close them. His mother was the first to react, her high-pitched voice rushing out.

"Divorce? Do you think divorce is a joke?"

She tried to push the door open, but my father raised his hand to stop her.

“Don't move your hand.” His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to make her stop.

His second sister smirked, crossed her arms and looked at me from head to toe.

“You were instigated by your mother, right?”

"There's nothing wrong with my younger brother's treatment of you. He gives you a house to live in, a car to drive you around, he treats you to everything."

“At this point, you say quit, quit?”

I laughed lightly, looking straight at her.

“Whose name is the house deed in?”

She was choked up, unable to speak. Trieu Khai gritted his teeth.

“What if it's in my name, the house was bought before the wedding, do I have to put your name on it?”

“Then don't say let me stay.”

“At first it sounded nice, saying it was my house.”

“But every time your sister comes, she says 'come to our house'.”

“For two years, I didn't even dare say the word 'home'.”

My father standing next to me frowned slightly, he understood what that sentence meant. The eldest sister interrupted, her voice softer but her words full of blame.

"Vu Ninh, if there's anything you're not satisfied with, close the door and tell Trieu Khai, why bother making a fuss about divorce?"

"The whole family is standing down there waiting, can't you save some face?"

“Today is New Year's Eve.”

"It's really a divorce. Wouldn't outsiders looking in say you're heartless?"

“Face.” I repeated, feeling bitter.

“When you guys asked for face, did anyone ever think about me?”

I remember last New Year's Eve, when I carried each dish with my hands shaking because of fatigue. The second sister sat on the sofa scrolling through her phone, casually saying "you're really kind sister-in-law". At that time I still felt happy. Now that I think about it, it just seems ridiculous.

“Last year I cooked for more than a dozen people, and they said I was gentle.”

“This year, eighteen people came to my house and didn't ask me a question.”

“You said it was just a meal.”

“You need face, you need excitement.”

“What about me?”

“Am I not human?”