Chapter 2 — Hoa Ky in the middle of Hoe Hoa Alley

“Yes your head!” I wrapped the silver up and stuffed it into my chest. Dang Bo was so angry that he picked up the broom. I stand still and do not avoid it. He held it up for a long time, then finally knocked it down next to the door. "Hoa Tou, people's lives are both near and far. Tue Ninh is closest to you." I bowed my head and looked at the child. She just grew some soft hair, and when she sleeps, she still holds my shirt tightly. “That's why I have to go.” “What strange argument is that?” "When he grew up, he asked where his mother and sisters were. I couldn't say that I used their lives in exchange for rice flour for him." Uncle Dang didn't scold him anymore. After a while, he took out a string of two hundred dong. “Lend, interest three times.” “Are you a loan shark?” “If you don't borrow, get lost.” I accept it. Before dawn, we use all the remaining dough to wrap wontons and bring them to each house at the wharf. Regular customers heard that we weren't selling anything today. Some people bought another bowl, and some people pretended not to hear. Old Tuong, who had eaten three bowls of wontons, this time gave me fifty dong. "No need to pay. Next time add a little more meat." When the human market opened, I had collected eight taels of four coins. Uncle Dang brought my bondage certificate with me and stood as a guarantee on the official records. If I run away, die or the paper is fake, everyone in the market can find him. When he pressed his hand, he scolded: "Three parts of your profit, I took too little." Only one money is missing. One coin can buy more than twenty pounds of brown rice. Can also keep a person outside the path of life. 6 The back yard of the human market reeks of musty grass. Co Y Nuong knelt in the last row, wearing only a shirt so dirty that the color could not be seen. She was scary thin but her back was still straight. Duong Am leaned on her shoulder, half of his face swollen, his eyes empty. The human trafficker advertised: "Know how to read, know how to do accounts, know how to sew. Two female models sold together, eight taels and five taels." A man with a red nose from alcohol squeezed Duong Am's chin. “This sick girl, what can I do if I buy it?” Co Y Nuong rushed forward and was kicked by him. There was a buzzing sound in my head. "Eight taels and four coins, I'll buy it." The trafficker glanced at me. “One money is missing.” “We'll make up for it tomorrow.” “The market doesn't sell on credit.” The red-nosed guy smiled and said: "I pay nine taels. The younger one belongs to me, the older one you keep and sell." Duong Am raised his head to see me, his lips moved slightly. She didn't call me. She was afraid that if she realized I would kill her. I dumped all my money on the ground. Scrap silver and copper coins rolled everywhere. “Eight taels and four coins, plus this car.” The trafficker kicked the wheel. “It's broken.” "The pot is also mine. Cast iron pot, worth the money." “Still far away.” The only thing that can be sold is the silver lock. Doctor Chu's words rang in his ears: Locks can be lost, paper cannot be lost. I took out the paper. The lock is now just a normal lock. But that was the only thing Tue Ninh brought from the Luc family. I slammed the silver lock on the table. “Is that enough?” The trafficker tried to bite with her teeth. "Enough." The red-nosed guy raised his hand to rob. “I pay ten taels!” The trafficker immediately turned around. "Pay money first, receive goods later. Who is to blame for slow hands?" She collected the silver, copper coins and the lock, and threw two copies of the contract to sell her body to me. I picked it up and discovered that the back of Co Y Nuong's contract had a fresh ink mark. On it was written: Three days later, move to Palace in the east of the city, do not sell outside. Someone has ordered her before. 7 The human trafficker also saw those words and her face immediately changed. “Give it here, I sold it by mistake.” I stuffed the contract into my chest. “The payment has been completed.” “This person has already been booked!” “That's your business.” She called her men and women to block the door. I picked up the bench in the yard, my legs were actually shaking. “If I die here today, a group of customers at the wharf outside will all know that I came to buy the Luc family's female sinners.” That's a lie. The only people who knew were Uncle Dang, Doctor Zhou and Old Tuong, combined, not even thirty people. The trafficker hesitated. I said again: "If the government investigates, do you think they will ask me first, or ask why you secretly kept the sinner's female relatives for three days?" She said an unlucky sound and asked someone to open the door. I helped Co Y Nuong stand

g up. She couldn't stand still, her whole body pressed on my shoulder, it was so light it was scary. Duong Am didn't say anything the whole way. Passing through two alleys, she suddenly stopped. “Hoa Tou, where is Tue Ninh?” "Alive." Tears immediately welled up in her eyes but she didn't cry out loud. She squatted on the side of the road, her shoulders shaking violently. Co Y Nuong closed her eyes and kept repeating the same word: "Good. Good." I wanted to say a few words of comfort, but in the end I just said: "The pot is gone." Duong Am raised his tear-filled face. "What?" "The car is also gone. I still haven't figured out what to eat tonight." She was crying but burst into laughter. We went to Lieu Diep alley, Uncle Dang hugged Tue Ninh and stood in front of the door. Co Y Nuong's legs softened and she knelt on the ground. Tue Ninh did not recognize his biological mother and even sprayed a bubble of saliva at her. Duong Am buried his face in the child's small blanket, finally bursting into tears. I turned around and went to chop firewood. I chopped three times and hit the same spot.