Chapter 20 — I'm Busy All My Life, And You're Lonely

Tong Tuyet's whole body stiffened on the chair. The hospital lobby had people crying, people laughing, and children screaming loudly. Those sounds all sounded very far away.

“But… as for Luc Kien Quan…” She opened her mouth with difficulty, “Does he know?”

“He knows shit.” Tong Man smiled sarcastically, "He doesn't even know what number I went to the operating room for."

“I mean…” Tong Tuyet's voice trembled, “Does he know that I have a benign tumor?”

“When I had surgery, did you forget where he was?” Tong Man retorted, "I called him and told him I was going to have surgery the next day. He said 'I can't come home, I haven't finished training yet'. I asked him, if my wife is going to have surgery, is it okay to be a little worried? He said 'It's good, the technology is so advanced now, the doctor will handle it just fine'."

Tong Tuyet covered her mouth with her hand. She never heard that phone call. While the anesthetic was starting to take effect, she heard Tong Man standing in the hallway, talking in a low voice to someone. She thought Luc Kien Quan was comforting her.

“When I finished surgery, I was still drowsy.” Tong Man said, "I took the medical results and sent them to him. He texted back two words, 'Knew'. Then there was no more news."

Tong Tuyet put her hand down.

“That means… during that entire process, from beginning to end, he never asked for details?”

“Why did you trick me?” Tong Man sneered, "I originally thought that when you two calm down, one day you're willing to bring this up again, he will regret it and make it up to you. Now it seems, it's because I'm too naive."

Tong Tuyet was silent for a long time.

“But, why are you telling me this now?”

“At that time, I had just finished surgery, humans are very fragile.” Tong Man explained, "I'm afraid you're going crazy. Besides, being kind is already a good thing, I don't want to cause more illness in you."

She stopped for a moment.

“Until one day, I called and told her, 'Luckily I found out before the cancer spread, so it's good to keep my life'. As I learned, I always thought I had breast cancer.”

Tong Tuyet's throat tightened.

“Is it because you didn't say it clearly, or because the doctor didn't make it clear?” She asked softly.

“Those few days I was scared to death, my whole body was in a daze.” Tong Man said, "The doctor said 'high suspicion of malignancy, surgery recommended', I automatically turned that word 'high suspicion' into an official diagnosis. Waiting for the pathology results to come out, the doctor said it was benign, in my mind I only remembered the sentence 'Luckily it was detected early'. I just understood it in the sense of, 'Early stage of cancer, removed promptly'."

“Then why don't you correct me?” Tong Tuyet stared at her sister.

“I told you, I was in a very bad mood at that time.” Tong Man sighed, "I told you myself, I felt like I had just walked around Ghost Gate. I said, I was afraid I wouldn't live much longer, afraid that Tu Ngang wouldn't have a mother in the future. Looking at you like that, I had to follow along and say a few words, 'That's right, it's like you've regained your life'. After that, I gradually recovered, I repeated it, but you didn't want to listen. I thought, in any case, the disease is benign, it's good for you to be happy."

Tong Tuyet closed her eyes. At this moment, her world felt like someone was tearing it apart from the middle. Inside that crack was not light, but messy fragments.

"Older sister." She tried to calm herself down, "I'm telling you these things now, because I want to Do you forgive Luc Kien Quan, or do you want me to hate him more?"

“I don't pray for him.” Tong Man said, "I came here today because I heard from my mother that he had a heart attack and had to be hospitalized. Do you know what my first reaction was?”

Tong Tuyet shook her head.