Chapter 3 — Hold Your Hand to the End of the Road

He is tall and majestic, making people tremble. The bloody hand that broke the glass looked like someone who was not easy to deal with. The other group did not dare to act rashly, so he carried me out. They were still standing behind and threatening me. I tried to turn back, but he pushed my head down. “Don't listen, dirty ears.” The deep, husky voice, full of magnetism, made my heart float. It turns out, when being bullied, you don't always have to be scolded for being stupid, but you can be hugged in a warm embrace. I rubbed my head against his chest. Truly a "muscular male god" who is both big and warm, ten thousand times better than Luc Thoi Khuc. I thought, maybe I don't like Luc Thoi Khuc anymore. 5 I asked Tham Duc Ky to take me to work part-time to make money. He introduced me to the manager of a Western restaurant. Because of my good appearance, I was hired as a waiter immediately. Today is my first day at work, and it's on "evil Friday", it's packed with customers, I'm so busy I'm in such a hurry that I bump into someone. Before he could raise his head to apologize, Luc Thoi Khuc's voice rang out above his head. “Why are you wearing this?” He frowned. I looked down at my service uniform, clean and neat, no problems. “Is something wrong?” "Of course. Don't you feel embarrassed? You're my ex-girlfriend, and now you're a pimp. How will other people see me if they know?" "Don't do it anymore, how much is missing? I'll give it to you." Luc Thoi Khuc is a very honorable person - that was clear to me from the first day I met him. He used to use money from the company to buy a supercar because he wanted to race. When his father discovered him, he immediately cut him off and locked him in a remote villa for two months. In the end, I had to beg Luc's father to release him. It is also because of this aggressiveness that we quarrel constantly. He never bowed his head, I was the only one who had to yield. Luckily they broke up now. I pushed his hand away. "Don't take yourself too seriously. No one is forcing us together." “And I also don't see it as a loss of face to make money yourself.” At that moment, Nguyen Khanh panted and ran up to the second floor, standing next to him: "Why is your face so unsightly? Your uncle and aunt are waiting to eat, let's go quickly." Luc Thoi Khuc passed me and deliberately said loudly: "I think it's best to invite all my classmates next week, which coincides with National Day." Insipid. That sentence was clearly aimed at me. He is angry because I refused to bow and apologize. With his personality, he definitely won't miss it. Sure enough, in the private room, he intentionally assigned me to serve him. When you run out of dishes, pour water again. One meal, he called my name dozens of times, did not discuss the engagement, only focused on me. His mother couldn't bear to look at him, so she told me to go out, and then I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. The rest was done by Tham Duc Ky. I sat curled up in the corner, my stomach aching. After eating, Luc Thoi Khuc saw me sitting on the ground, looking at me lazily: "Your face is so unsightly, can't do it anymore?" "I've lived happily for twenty years, and I've never even washed the dishes. Do you really think you can be as agile as Nguyen Khanh?" “Or let this young master save you from suffering and become my personal nanny, 100,000 a month, enough for tuition and living expenses.” "Fuck off." I gritted my teeth. I really need ten thousand, but the look on his face right now makes me even more nauseous. How did I not realize he was this type of person before? I stood up to leave, Then Nguyen Khanh walked out of the private room. She cleverly blocked my way: "How is 100,000 enough? Young master Luc must give you 300,000 to be worthy." “Ah, remember to clearly state that it is a voluntary donation.” Luc Thoi Khuc was provoked and immediately transferred thirty thousand to my account. I wanted to return it, but Nguyen Khanh held my hand tightly and whispered in my ear: "You have never experienced true poverty. Now you don't know how important money is. Consider him compensating you for your mental losses, just take it." I don't understand why she helped me. Apparently I was the one who stole twenty years of her life. But her voice has a kind of power that makes people believe. I suppressed the urge to pay and decided to listen. Perhaps, I misunderstood her before. 6 Nguyen Khanh and I don't like each other. Right from the moment I entered first year, I felt that she was not a good person. Because good people won't steal things. She, like me, works as an assistant in the counselor's office. I never touched anything in the room, and she secretly took pen and paper many times. The advisor assigned her to inventory the gifts in the warehouse, but she deliberately chose defective goods and tactfully asked to go home. Then repackage the items in gift boxes and sell them at high prices to parents who take their children to visit the school. She took those small profits countless times. I argued, she smiled and promised to fix it but never changed. I think we are not on the same path, living in the same office cannot work calmly. So I resigned.{Read full version at Van Ha Tuong page} Now that I remember, she never harmed anyone, she was just short of money. Must rely on that way to live. The one who was really aggressive was me. “What happened before, sorry.” Nguyen Khanh patted the back of my hand. “There's no need to feel guilty about your integrity, this world needs people like you.” Five meters away, Luc Thoi Khuc couldn't hear what we were saying. He threw the car keys at me: "My parents told me and Nguyen Khanh to live together to nurture our relationship. You already have thirty thousand, can you take us home?" I swallowed my humiliation and drove them to an upscale area. In the middle of the road, Nguyen Khanh got off the bus because he had something to do, leaving me and Luc Thoi Khuc behind. He sat in the passenger seat, looking at me with dull eyes: "That's so ugly." I gripped the steering wheel tightly, blue veins appearing on my hands. "Have you lost your eyesight? I was once elected school beauty, it has nothing to do with being ugly." “Yes.” I clenched my fist, about to punch him, but he held me tightly in my palm. “Even worse.” Unable to bear it, I decided to kick this drunk guy out onto the street. Stopping the car on the sidelines, as soon as he opened the passenger door, he hugged me tightly around my waist. "My clothes don't fit, they smell of grease, my hands are burned and leave scars, everything is bad." “Linh Linh, come back to me, I will give you a glamorous life.” I pushed his head away. His love is always conditional. When we were all children of rich families, we only knew how to play and enjoy ourselves every day, without thinking deeply. But when I fell into poverty, he showed his disgust. He hates my dark skin, hates the smell of smoke on my body, hates cheap clothes. He needs a girlfriend to go out and make people admire. As for me now, it's not. We are two parallel lines, which can only grow more and more distant. “Luc Thoi Khuc, I don't want it.” Your bad mouth, your selfishness - I don't want to come closer anymore. Whenever I'm near you, the devil in my heart is magnified, turning me into a stranger. This is the best. He continued his marriage. I started a new life. Although I am poor, my heart is calm. As long as I don't give up, I can rely on my hands to live better. Like Nguyen Khanh, constantly trying to escape from the village, leaving a family that only knows how to exploit. Luc Thoi Khuc's eyes flashed with stubbornness as he suddenly pushed me away. He closed the door and jumped into the driver's seat. "Do you want to taste poverty? Okay, use your feet to go home." He stepped on the accelerator and drove away. I ran for a few dozen meters, but in the end I couldn't catch up, so I had to stop on the side of the road. This place had no village before, no shop after, and no taxis or public bicycles. I bowed my head in despair and left my phone in the car. The only way left is to walk.