Chapter 2 — Forty-two Days of Confinement

Three months before giving birth, I got my first outside job. A friend introduced me to create the entire identity for a newly opened bakery. Three thousand yuan, done in a week. After that, the more work I completed, the more referrals I received. During the confinement days, my mother helped take care of the baby. After the baby fell asleep at night, I sat on the bed and edited the design. Mom thought I was scrolling through my phone, but I didn't explain. Up to now, my monthly income is approximately half of Tran Huc's salary. Not much, but enough for me and my children to live. I did not plan to tell anyone in the Tran family. I closed the computer, went to check my baby's diaper, and pulled the blanket over him. The phone lights up again. It was a text message from my mother. "Van Van, what did you eat today? Did you drink soup? Is the baby good?" I took a photo of my sleeping child and sent it to her. "Mom, everything is fine. Don't worry, go to bed early." "Okay. Call me if anything happens." I put the phone on the nightstand and turned off the light. On Thursday, my father-in-law was in the hospital. My mother-in-law doesn't call me directly anymore, but Tran Huc also mentioned the same thing every day. "I've hired someone to take care of the patient, but my mother said that person is clumsy, she doesn't feel secure." "Yes." "My mother said that at night the caregiver should take care of the patient, but during the day there must still be a family member there." "Yes." "I can't..." "I can't." I put the bowl in the sink. "Tran Huc, your answer has already been given. I'll ask a hundred more times and it's still the same." He was silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone. "Lam Van, do you have anything?" Do you know how difficult it is for me right now?" "I'm in a difficult situation because I refuse to choose." I turned on the sink faucet. "The caregiver can handle the illness, his mother is not satisfied so she tells his sister to leave. If my sister doesn't go, I'll ask for a leave of absence. If you don't go, then accept someone to take care of your illness. Four options, you choose one. Don't always turn towards me." He didn't say anything. I turned off the faucet. "I'm going to see the baby. Think clearly for yourself." I hung up the phone. On the eighth day my father-in-law was in the hospital. Things began to change. When I went to the gate of the residential area to get groceries, I met Ms. Truong, a neighbor who lives in the same building. Seeing me, she smiled a bit strangely. "Tieu Lam, lately, there have been posts about you in the neighborhood group. "Are you busy?"" "Okay." I tucked the package under my arm. "Ah, a few days ago I saw someone talking about you in the neighborhood group..." She lowered her voice and leaned closer. "She told me that my father-in-law was in the hospital and I did not care, and say that I stay at home and eat well and dress well and be a young lady." The package in my hand almost fell down. "Who posted?" "The name in the group is 'Tuyet Nhi loves life'. Look at the profile picture, is that your brother-in-law?" I didn't answer, just nodded at her and turned to go upstairs. When I got home, I opened my phone and search for messages in the resident group. It took me a long time to find it. Posted three days ago. A text with two photos. The first picture is a photo of the hospital room, the father-in-law is lying on the bed, the mother-in-law is sitting next to her, peeling apples. The second picture is a post from my friends circle two days ago, the baby is playing on the crawling mat, behind is the living room. The accompanying text reads: "My father-in-law has been in the hospital for nearly a week. Some people still live happily at home, not even once coming to visit. Being a daughter-in-law has come to this point." It is rare for people to show such concern for their in-laws. I do not know what else to say about marriage." Below are more than twenty comments. Someone said: "Young people today are so selfish." Someone said: "When you get married, why don't you criticize the other person's house?" Someone said: "Is the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law not good?" Someone also mentioned my WeChat name. I scrolled all the way to the end, no one asked "why didn't she go". No one asked me what was going on. I exited the resident group and opened Tran Tuyet's WeChat. The most recent conversation is still last year, she gave out lucky money in the family group and I replied "thank you". I typed a line and sent: "Tran Tuyet, the post in the residents group, will you delete it yourself, or should I take a screenshot and send it to your company's colleague group, asking everyone to judge?" After sending, I put down the phone. Three minutes later, she replied. "Sister-in-law, I just posted it casually, do you need to make such a big deal about this little thing?" I didn't answer. Five minutes later, she wrote, "Okay, okay, I can delete it, right? Is it really that bad?" I reopened the residents group, The post has disappeared. But the words in the comment section kept spinning in my head. I sat on the sofa looking at the ceiling for a while. The baby in the crib woke up and cried. I went to pick up the baby. She buried her head in my chest, rubbing back and forth looking for milk. I lowered my head to look at my baby's little head. "Mom, it's okay." I said. After deleting the post, everything was peaceful for two days. On the tenth day, Tran Huc came home from work. Lately he's been coming home very late every day, and by the time he entered the door, the child was already asleep. He took off his coat, hung it at the door, and came over and looked at the baby next to the crib and then sat down on the sofa. I came out of the office. Seeing me holding a glass of water, he raised his head and said: "Van Van, sit down, I have something to say." I sat across from him. "Today I went to the hospital to visit my father." "Yes." "He's lost a lot of weight." I didn't answer.