Chapter 3 — Five Years of Pursuing Love

6Consider money more important than life? I admit. Because money has no limits? I don't admit it. That year when I looked for my father, I was seventeen years old and had just graduated from high school. I have saved that money for many years to use for college. At that time, my mother and I had a very difficult life, her illness became more and more severe, and just the medical expenses each month required a large amount of money. At that time I still had unrealistic hopes about my father. Thinking that there is still some poor father-son love between us. He came to visit me, bought me clothes, paid for my tuition. When he knew that I always took advantage of my time to work part-time to earn money, he also advised me to put studying first, so that in the future there will be no shortage of opportunities to earn money. He and my mother divorced when I was very young. To this father, I am both strange and naive. Later he came to find us and also cared a lot about my mother. Until one day, he came to my house to borrow money, saying that his business was having some problems. My mother also advised me, after all, he is my biological father. So I lent him all the money I had saved over the years. He said he would pay in a month. Then it disappeared month after month. In the end, I only relied on scholarships and part-time jobs to survive. My mother also owes a lot of money for her medicine. From his initial empty promise, he gradually became annoyed. He said: "You're almost an adult, don't you go work and support yourself and your mother? I gave birth to a daughter for nothing?" I didn't hesitate to answer back. He raised his hand to slap me. I dodged, he pulled me out of the house. His wife and children quietly looked at us like we were in a good play. In the end, I had no choice but to buy a big speaker and report to the police every day to make noise in front of his house. Sitting under his apartment, without any dignity, crying and begging for sympathy. I was chased away by security many times. I also called the police many times. Over and over, over and over again. I finally got most of my money back. And Luc Hac Minh met me at that time. He also lives in that apartment complex. In the early 2000s, that apartment complex cost millions of dong per square meter. My father lives in such an apartment complex, but is greedy for the money that saved me and my mother's lives of more than seventy million. I didn't know Luc Hac Minh was also there. Only when my friends first introduced me to his company. He used words of praise for my courage, describing the scene at that time. He said he decided to hire me because he found me very suitable for his company. He praised me for being very energetic, praised me for being very brave... As he imagined, I was an ambitious woman, always calculating, never skipping any order. I can wait a month for a customer to appear to get a deal done. I can teach my partner's children more to sign a contract. At that moment, he hugged me and said he wouldn't let me endure this anymore. I say it's not about suffering, but about making our lives better. Luc Hac Minh's family was well-off, unlike mine who had to struggle to survive. He just wants to be recognized by his parents. The first day his father praised him, he took me to the rooftop restaurant to celebrate. He said: "Tieu Duc, do you know how happy I am today? It's great that you're always by my side." And now what he once considered advantages, have become intolerable, despised shortcomings. The old compliments were true. The

The hate is also real now. 7Finally, our assets were divided clearly. I didn't just sell my shares and options. Also receive compensation for termination of contract. Before leaving, I left Luc Hac Minh a card. He looked at me in surprise. "What's wrong? Don't need money now? We have no way back anymore." "No." "That year you invited me to the company, helped me pay fifty million in advance for my mother's medicine, you refused to accept, now that's called fair, the balance is considered interest."He threw the card into the trash. The last voice following my door closing was: "Hua Duc, don't regret it." 8 When leaving the company, in addition to feeling sad because of the loss of life, I also felt relieved. These past years have been really tiring. In fact, this relationship was not equal from the beginning. I always want to be worthy of him. He is a picky eater and has stomach problems. I signed up for cooking lessons just to make him happy. Actually, I really hate the smell of grease. He likes me to have long, wavy hair. So I've been taking care of that troublesome hair for many years. When I was a student, I often kept my hair in a ponytail or short hair, light and convenient. I'm always worried he won't like me. I'm always worried about preserving this relationship. I'm very jealous, even jealous of his confidence. He almost never humbles himself to please anyone. And I always try to please everyone around me. We have big differences from background, life perspective to small details. That's right, when he drove a car worth several million, I had to return to school in the rain for ten dollars. While he and his friends were having fun in bars and spending tens of thousands of dong, I was still saving up tuition for a semester, medicine money for my mother... How could we have a future? He also never promised me a future. He simply gave me a straw when I was young and confused, making me mistakenly think it was a short way out. But I didn't know that the swamp with beautiful dreams makes people sink deeper. I gradually lost myself, lost my self-esteem, and gradually became dependent on him. His joys and sorrows affect me. He can lift me up, and he can also send me down to hell with just a wave of his hand.