Chapter 1 — From Noodles to Glory

While on quarantine, my husband forced me to cook ten dishes for my female colleague. I turned around and ended his career. On the tenth day after giving birth to my second child, while I was on confinement, my husband took his female colleague home for dinner and also forced me to cook ten dishes. I silently walked into the kitchen, fifteen minutes later brought out a bowl of noodles. On the tenth day after the cesarean section, the wound on my abdomen was still bleeding. Every time I move, it's like someone is holding a blunt knife and dragging it back and forth across my stomach. I was half-lying on the bed breastfeeding my second daughter when the bedroom door was pushed open. With a "bang", my daughter, who had just fallen asleep, was frightened and cried. My heart sank, I raised my head to look at the door. My husband, Chu Han, stood there, his face full of excitement. The suit is not yet taken off, the tie hangs loosely around the neck. Behind him is a woman. Exquisite makeup, a white dress that hugs the waist, and eight-inch thin heels. From head to toe, I exuded the things that I lack the most right now - decency and dignity. "Wife! Good news!" Chu Han's voice was loud as if in a meeting. "This is Luong Uyen, a core member of our project team. The 'Northern Lights' project has won the bid! Party A just signed the contract this afternoon!" He leaned over to let the other woman enter. Luong Uyen smiled at me. "Hello sister-in-law, I often hear Mr. Chu mention you." Her eyes glanced over my greasy hair and baggy nursing pajamas, finally falling on the crying baby in my arms, the corners of her lips slightly raised. That expression, I understand. It was a kind of pity from above looking down. I didn't say anything, bowed my head and patted my daughter's back, coaxing her to stay quiet. "Wife, tonight the core group of the project will gather at our house for a bit. Go prepare, make ten dishes, let everyone taste your skills." When he said that, Chu Han's voice was gentle as if he was ordering food from outside. "Ten dishes?" "That's right, there are a lot of people. In addition to Luong Uyen, there are also old Truong and Tieu Luu, they will come later. You cook so well, make it." Just a few things will do.” “I'm on quarantine.” “I know.” He strode forward, intending to carry the baby in my arms. "That's why I said just do it, don't make it too complicated. Oh yeah, make spicy boiled fish, Luong Uyen likes to eat it the most." "How do you know she likes to eat spicy boiled fish?" "Every time we go out to eat together she orders that dish, it's nothing." He laughed without paying attention. “Hurry up and go, I'll comfort the baby.” His movements of picking up my daughter from my arms were rough and hasty, and the baby cried again. I looked at his flustered appearance, then glanced at Luong Uyen who was flipping through my photo album in the living room. Then I got out of bed. The tearing pain from the wound caused my forehead to immediately break out in a cold sweat. I slowly walked into the kitchen step by step. Opening the refrigerator, inside were all the chicken eggs my mother brought from the countryside and milk-enhancing ingredients brought by my mother-in-law. Ribs, sea bass, bones, evil chicken. These are all things to nourish my body. I stood in front of the refrigerator and looked for three seconds. Then raise your hand and take out a package of dry noodles. Boil water. As the water boiled, I heard Luong Uyen's clear laughter outside the living room, along with Chu Han's voice, trying to lower it but still unable to hide his pride. Add noodles. Crack an egg, cut a few onions. Fifteen minutes. I carried a bowl of clear noodles out of the kitchen. The living room had two more men, probably Mr. Truong and Tieu Luu that Chu Han said. Four people sat around the sofa. On the tea table were red apples and peaches that my mother bought for me, half of which had been peeled and eaten. Seeing me carrying the bowl out, everyone stopped talking and laughing. Chu Han's face changed. "What is this?" I didn't look at him. Walk straight in front of Luong Uyen, put that bowl of noodles on the tea table in front of her. The broth vibrates a bit, splashing a few drops on your face

table. "Don't you want to eat?" "Eat." Luong Uyen looked at the bowl of noodles in front of her, her smile stiffening at the corner of her lips. A few white noodles soaked in clear broth, two pieces of egg, a few onion seeds. So simple that it feels like an insult. In fact, that's exactly what it is. "To Niem!" Chu Han jumped up from the sofa, his voice was very low, but each word carried anger. "What are you doing?" "Cooking rice. Didn't you tell me to cook rice?" "I told you to cook ten dishes! I brought you a bowl of noodles? Where do you put my face?" I stood there, looking at his red face. "Your face?" "You brought your female colleague home, caught one." The wife who gave birth by cesarean section just ten days ago went to the kitchen to cook ten dishes for her. Are you talking to me now?" The living room was silent. Old Truong and Tieu Luu's eyes glanced back and forth between me and Chu Han, unable to sit still. "Sister-in-law, you're not good." Luong Uyen stood up, her voice soft as if she were being coy. "You shouldn't have come. Mr. Chu is so enthusiastic, you can't refuse..." "Can't refuse?" I turned to her. "A man with a wife and children told you to come to his house, you can't refuse?" "Is it because you don't know how to refuse, or do you just not want to refuse?" Luong Uyen's face turned pale. "Sister-in-law misunderstood, you and Mr. Chu are really just colleagues..." "Colleague relationship, do you know what his wife likes to cook? Quan Co-workers, you're flipping through his photo album so happily? Co-workers, you ate half the package of red apples my mother bought for me?" I pointed to the opened bag of red apples on the tea table. Luong Uyen looked at my finger, her face became even more unsightly. "I don't know what it is..." "I don't know? There is a label on it, clearly written with the four words 'rest food', can't you see?" "Enough!" Chu Han grabbed my arm, using such force that my wound twitched in severe pain. I groaned softly. "Are you crazy? In front of your colleagues, you look like a bitter woman!" He growled low. "Do you know how important this project is to me? If I get this project, I can become a director! Can't you support me just once?" "Support?" I raised my head to look into his eyes. "Chu Han, after being married for five years, you quit your job to give me two children. You gave up your career, your income, everything. Isn't that called support?" "That's because you volunteered!" This sentence was like a basin of cold water poured from the beginning. down to the feet. That's right. I volunteered. At that time, he said, wait until my career stabilizes and let me go back to work. At that time, he said, having me in the house was enough, he didn't need me to make money. I believed every word he said at that time. "Sister-in-law..." Luong Uyen stepped forward, reaching out to support me. I took a step back. "Don't touch me." "Go away. My temple is small, can't accommodate a statue as big as you." "To Niem!" Zhou Han roared. "What do you consider Luong Uyen? She is my comrade!" "So what do you consider me?" "My nanny? My chef? Or a reproductive machine that always has to wait for orders?" Chu Han was speechless when I asked him. He let go of my arm, took two steps back, pointed at me, his hands shaking. "You... you can't reason." "Luong Uyen, let's go." He turned around and picked up his coat. “Let's go out to eat tonight.” Luong Uyen bowed her head and quickly followed. As she passed me, she quietly said something: "Sister-in-law, you're too sensitive." I didn't turn my head. The moment the door closed, I was alone in the living room. The bowl of noodles on the tea table was still steaming hot. The girl's cry echoed from the bedroom. I took a deep breath and walked back to the bedroom step by step. When I picked up my daughter, I discovered that there was a dark red blood stain on my nightgown. The wound has opened up. That night Chu Han did not return. At 2 a.m., I alone changed my daughter's diaper three times and breastfed her twice.

The wound was still bleeding, I took two pieces of sanitary napkin and placed it on my stomach, using plastic wrap to wrap it in place. Crude, but effective. At six o'clock in the morning, Dai Bao woke up. My three and a half year old son stood next to my bed, rubbing his eyes. "Mom, where's dad?" "Dad's working overtime." "Oh. Mom, I'm hungry." I propped myself up, holding my daughter with one hand to soothe her to sleep, with the other hand leading my son to the kitchen. Warm milk for your baby, fry eggs, cut an apple in half. While my son was eating, I leaned against the kitchen door frame and my phone vibrated. Chu Han sent a text message. "You were too much last night. Luong Uyen was so angry that you cried, this morning she told me she wanted to withdraw from the project team. Do you know what this means? Can you stop being so selfish?" I put down the phone. Selfish. The person who gave birth by cesarean section in ten days and was forced to cook ten dishes was me. The selfish person is also me. The second message was immediately sent. "My mother came over today, your attitude is a little better." This is calling for help. Sure enough, at ten o'clock in the morning, my mother-in-law, Luu Phuong, pushed open the door and walked in. She didn't knock. In this house, she has never felt the need to knock on the door. "Niem, I heard about it yesterday." She changed her slippers, sat down on the living room sofa, put the box of soup she brought on the table, and got straight to the point. "Mom." "I'm also an adult, why don't I understand something like that? People Luong Uyen is Chu Han's colleague, helped him a lot. How about inviting people to the house for a meal? I'm tired of cooking some dishes. Are you going to kill me?" "Mom, I'm in confinement." "It's not like I can't move when I'm in confinement. That year, my mother gave birth to Chu Han and already got out of bed to work. Isn't she still healthy now? This young person is really weak." I didn't object. Because I know it's useless to refute. "Look at you making people angry. Chu Han said Luong Uyen cried all night last night, her eyes were all swollen. She's a single, decent girl coming to be a guest, who do you show her face to?" "Mom, she ate the confinement food you bought for me." "How much are those red apples worth? Do I have to be so petty?" I laughed. Not because it's funny. But it seems absurd. "Furthermore..." Luu Phuong lowered his voice, his voice carrying a bit of warning. "Don't be suspicious all day long. Chu Han is not that kind of person, he has treated you well enough. If you continue to cause trouble like that and force him to go away, the real person is you." "With two children, do you think you can find someone better than Chu Han?" These words were like a nail, accurately hammered into the softest place inside me. I looked at Luu Phuong. She was opening a box of soup, which was crucian carp and tofu soup used to increase milk production. "Come on, drink it while it's hot. Don't argue with me anymore, living in peace is more important than anything." I took the bowl of soup. The ceramic bowl was warm in my palm, and I suddenly remembered something. Three years ago, the day I resigned. Chu Han said: "Don't worry, you don't need to work anymore, I'll take care of you." His voice sounded more like a promise, more like a favor. Yet at that time, I was still moved. Really funny. "Mom is right." I took a sip of soup. "You will live well." Luu Phuong smiled with satisfaction. She didn't know, the phrase "live well" that I said did not mean the same thing as what she understood. The next day Chu Han returned. There was a long strand of hair on the suit, which was not my hair color. He didn't explain, I didn't ask. He opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of beer, sat on the sofa and looked at his phone, as if nothing had happened. "About Luong Uyen, have you thought about how to apologize?"