Chapter 7 — Escape from the Trieu Family

Eye sockets dry to the point of pain. Forty-three years of tears, the past life has already flowed. In this life, I don't want to waste even a single drop. I took a deep breath. Raise your head. Turn around and go into the house. Stuff the admission notice into your school bag. Zip it back up. Put it on your shoulder. Go out of the yard gate. Don't turn around. The sun is standing in shadow. The shadow is so short that it is almost invisible. As I walked down the dirt road, I met Ms. Truong who had just come out of the grocery store. "Eldest daughter, did you go to town early in the morning?" "Yes." I smiled at her, "Go find the teacher at school to do the procedures." "Oh okay, study well!" "I will." Going out of the corner at the beginning of the village, behind me came the sound of urgent footsteps. It's my mother. She ran over, breathing heavily, her hair a mess. "Nguyet! I'm waiting——"I stopped. Didn't turn around. "Where are you going?" "Go to Ms. Luu to do the procedures." "What procedure?" Only then did I turn around to look at her. Her eyes were panicked, fluctuating, constantly glancing at the briefcase on my back. She knows. Perhaps he saw the postal motorbike stop outside the window. Maybe I heard the postal worker calling my name. “The notice has arrived?” There was a strange kind of impatience in her voice, "Does your father know yet?" "No need for him to know." "Nguyet!" She reached out to pull my hand, "You go home first, wait for your father to come home and then we'll discuss it together——" "There's nothing to discuss." I took a step back, avoiding her hand. "Mom, you know what he wants to do. Keep the ID card, keep the admission notice, force you to take care of Kien Quan. I know it all." Her face turned pale. "I... did you hear that?" "Every single word." Her lips trembled for half a day. "Nguyet, dad I'm also for this house——” “For this house, so it's okay to sacrifice me alone, right?” I didn't raise my voice. I'm just presenting the facts. But my mother felt like someone had slapped her and took a half step back. "Eighteen years ago, I listened to you two. Cooked, did laundry, worked in the fields, worked summer jobs. Every penny I saved was given to the family. What can I get in return? My younger brother got a new computer, I didn't even have a desk. My younger brother had air conditioning, my room was air-vented." "That's... Kien Quan is a boy, he has to get married in the future..." "Then you don't need to live anymore." Why?” She couldn't say a word. I looked at her. This face appeared before my eyes countless times in my past life. Each time it had the same expression——awkward, helpless, and a soft “I'll sympathize” kind of skin. In my previous life, I sympathized all my life. Sympathizing until she was lying on the bed unable to move, she did not come to visit me. "Mom, I'm going." I turned around. "Mom, you're at home and have a good life. Don't chase after me. Even if you chase me, I won't come back." "Nguyet——" "Tell your father, I've signed the admission notice. The ID card is also in my hand."I walked away. The cry behind me became farther and farther away. "Nguyet! Come back! Come back——how can you go that far alone——"Three kilometers of dirt road. I'm gone for twenty minutes. When we arrived in town, the back of my shirt was soaked. Not because of the heat. It's that the tight rope of the whole body finally loosens a little. The moment it loosened, sweat immediately flowed out. I went straight to school. Ms. Liu is waiting for me in the office. I took out the admission notice from my bag and placed it on her desk. She opened it and took a look, then raised her head to look at me. "Congratulations." Two words. Very light. But my nose suddenly stings. I was quickly pressed down. "Miss, maybe I can't go home anymore." "I know." She stood up, "I've already helped you make contact. These past few days you've been at my place first, waiting for the registration time, I'll take you to the train station." "Miss..." "Don't think too much. Your most important thing right now is—safely and smoothly entering the school to register. Once you get through that gate, your father wouldn't be able to take you even with ten people."I

nod. Sitting on the old sofa in Ms. Liu's office, I finally had a moment of complete relaxation. The spine leans against the sofa, the nape of the neck leans against the wall. Look at the old-fashioned electric fan on the ceiling spinning and creaking. It's safe. It's safe for now. 【Chapter 6】 But Trieu Duc Phat will not let it go. At three o'clock that afternoon, Ms. Liu's office phone rang. She answered the phone, her expression immediately changed. "Mr. Trieu... Trieu Minh Nguyet is with me, that's right... no, she came voluntarily... Mr. Trieu, please calm down a bit——" She held the receiver a little further away, I heard a roar coming from the receiver. "You told her to come back to me——she is my daughter——I have control——" Ms. Liu put the receiver back to her ear. "Mr. Trieu, Trieu Minh Nguyet is eighteen years old. She is already eighteen years old. was admitted to the University of National Defense Technology. The admission letter is in her hand, the ID card is also in her hand according to the law——” The other end of the line hung up. Ms. Liu put down the phone and looked at me. "He might come." "I know." "Are you scared?" I thought for a second. "Not scared." In my previous life, I was scared my whole life. Afraid of him scolding, afraid of him hitting, afraid of him breaking things, afraid of his forever gloomy face.