Chapter 5 — Green Tea and I Pregnant at the Same Time

11Le Ma Gia, my deskmate in high school. He was skinny, small, his face was full of spots, and when he spoke he always stuttered, so his classmates called him "Le Ma Gia". He is often bullied by people. Even though I was also the subject of bullying. Because his family situation was not good, since he was young, he lived at his uncle's house, could not eat well, and wore old clothes left by his siblings. They laugh at me behind my back, saying I'm not a man, a woman, not a woman. But later I learned how to resist. From elementary school to middle school, I was always patient, until I reached high school, it was like I woke up and couldn't bear it anymore. Whoever curses me, I will fight back, whoever hits me, I will hit back harder. The cowardly person is afraid of the bold person, the brave person is afraid of the daring person. Over time, no one dared to bully me anymore. I became better and better at fighting, but I still had no friends and spent every day alone. Until I met Le Can Xuyen. He moved into my class in 12th grade, sitting right next to me. Because of his appearance, he became the new target of bullying by his friends. But Le Can Xuyen was my deskmate, every time he was bullied, I couldn't study properly. I need to study, only the university exam can change my fate. I held back a few times, and finally couldn't stand it anymore, so I fought back strongly on his behalf. I told him: "If someone hits you, you have to fight back harder, because only when you are cruel will others not dare to bully." He looked at me and nodded absentmindedly, his face behind the dark glasses gradually turning red. From then on, he became my companion. We study together, we fight together. Later he wants to study abroad, his mother works abroad. And I want to leave here, I don't want to live a life of having to rely on others anymore. Learning becomes our only path. But right before the university entrance exam, he suddenly disappeared. After hearing what other friends said, his mother came back and took him abroad, and he didn't even have time to take the university entrance exam. He just disappeared from my life. "Le Can Xuyen, where are the dots on your face? Didn't you have curly hair before? Why is it straight now? Also, back then you were obviously shorter than me, why are you so tall now? Did you go abroad for plastic surgery? How much did it cost to change so much?" No wonder I didn't recognize him, even though the name was the same, I couldn't relate to him, he had changed too much. "Chu Thanh, don't forget what I'm doing, I think you need plastic surgery, and you should fix your mind too." Le Can Xuyen said unhappily. I still couldn't believe it. "You said you were treated with oriental medicine? What a big change." "Me too." He looked at the red mark on my face, "Before, you never stood still to be beaten." I unconsciously touched the left side of my face, which still hurt, it was the wound from being beaten by Dong Thien that afternoon. Actually, I don't want to go to the hospital, Minh's mother said, as long as I can advise Minh Hao not to let him do stupid things again, the debt I owe the Minh family will be erased. That's right, I owe the Ming family. If it weren't for that, maybe I would still be the old Chu Thanh, not knowing the heights of heaven and earth, thinking that just by fighting, I could solve all problems... "When are you coming back? Why don't you contact me?" I changed the subject. Just thinking that he was my deskmate Le Can Xuyen, the initial feeling of fear about him suddenly disappeared, and the distance between us also narrowed significantly. He began to tell me about his experiences over the years. He went abroad, but quickly returned, attended a medical university far away, studied for seven years, and recently returned to city D to start a business...

When he finished telling me, he also asked me how my life had been over the years, but I didn't know what to say. In my ten years, it seems that only Minh Hao is worth mentioning, but now, I can't talk about him anymore. "I'm still the same, studying, looking for a job. Recently changed jobs..." I only knew how to change the subject to work. When Le Can Xuyen took me to the apartment gate, he took out a few packages of oriental medicine from the trunk of the car. "I know you haven't taken the medicine yet, your body is still very weak. I specially prepared these medicines for you. Taking them will benefit you." I... Anyone meet old friends and give them medicine? He drove away. During that time, every day Le Can Xuyen sent messages on WeChat to remind me to take my medicine on time. But I don't know how to prepare the medicine. Sometimes it's too thick, sometimes it's too dry, and a few times it's burned... Hearing that, Le Can Xuyen didn't say anything more and brought his clay pot to my house. "Let me teach you." He taught me how to prepare the medicine, how to add water, how to drink to reduce the bitter taste... I looked at his face, constantly asking him how to take care of his skin, how did the spots on his face suddenly disappear? He pointed to the black medicine bowl: "Thanks to that." Then I give up. The first Monday of the week, I returned to work at the company. Because our team's performance was good, I was promoted. My superiors also specially recruited a few new employees for me, telling me to guide them well. Among those new employees is Minh Hao. (story posted on Tieu Linh Nhi's page, anyone who reuploads it is a dog)12 Haven't seen each other for several months. He seemed to have changed, but it also seemed like he hadn't changed at all. Still skinny, but he looks much calmer and quiet. When he looks at me, his eyes are still bright, but always polite. DL is the company he wants to join right after graduation. To avoid embarrassment, I assigned him to a rather mature former employee in the group. Besides reporting meetings, we normally have almost no communication. But even so, Dong Thien still came. That day, our whole team was working in the meeting room, summarizing the previous week's work. Dong Thien suddenly rushed in, she was carrying a big pregnant belly, standing at the door of the meeting room looking at us. Minh Hao, who was reporting for work, was startled and quickly stood up and walked to her side. "Why are you here? Come home and talk about something." He tried to pull her out. But she refused, opening the thermos box in her hand. "I know you work hard, so I specially cooked pork rib soup with yam for you, drink it hot to keep warm." "Go out, we're in a meeting." Minh Hao lowered his voice. Dong Thien stopped pouring soup, looked around, and finally his eyes stopped on me. "Hello, you are Minh Hao's boss, right? I am his wife, Dong Thien." She walked in front of me, smiled and held out her hand. I looked into her cloudy eyes, not sure what she was planning, so I didn't extend my hand. “It's normal for Ms. Chu to look down on a housewife like me.” She mockingly withdrew her hand, then looked at her surrounding colleagues, "Minh Hao is working here, bothering everyone. I brought some coffee for everyone, everyone, please drink it warm." The delivery person brought in the coffee, which she personally opened and gave to each person. Her colleagues all praised her, saying that Minh Hao was lucky to have such a good wife, who was pregnant but still cared about her husband's work. I just feel cold inside. Sure enough, after that day, Dong Thien used every excuse to go to the company to find Minh Hao, bring him food, and pick him up from work. After that, she even sat next to his desk, working with him. Minh Hao's work productivity clearly decreased and he often made basic mistakes. I'm looking for directions from a former employee

guided him and asked Minh Hao to take a few days off to deal with family matters before returning to work. That afternoon, Dong Thien came to my office. "On what basis do you give Minh Hao leave? I'm pregnant, all household expenses depend on him. You're not the boss, why don't you let him work?" I slammed the laptop shut. "Because you have seriously affected the work discipline of our department. Before he settles his family matters, I don't need him here." "Chu Tinh, what do you mean?" Her face immediately changed, "You think I'm here to hinder you, right? It's a pity, he's my husband now, you..." "Dong Thien, what are you doing? Come home with me." Minh Hao quickly ran over and pulled her away. The next day, Minh Hao went to work alone, only there were three more scratches on his face. His colleagues who once admired him were silent, instead they had expressions full of sympathy. I felt both relieved and a little worried. Sure enough, when I got off work, I met Dong Thien at the company gate. She held a thick stack of paper, on which were printed photos of me and Minh Hao taken together before, along with some of our WeChat messages. She gave each person a leaflet, cried and said that I was seducing her husband, crying and talking while carrying a pregnant belly. (story posted on Tieu Linh Nhi's page, anyone who reuploads it is a dog)