Chapter 4 — Ignore the Ungrateful

My mother pouted, tilted her chin toward the store:

“There, buying soft drinks at the store.”

My father glanced and vaguely saw that in the store there was indeed a child wearing a life jacket bending over and playing with something, so he felt reassured and continued to crane his neck to listen to what was going on. Aunt Luu - who is famous for meddling in other people's affairs - still refused to stop, pretending to brag mixed with sarcasm:

"Wow, your family still lets her drink soft drinks? My eldest granddaughter has never touched that trash since she was little. I don't even let her eat anything that Mach Khang Ky (McDonald's) has! Nowadays, the food outside is full of toxic substances, full of additives, how can it compare to the food I cook myself? I see your grandchild is also fat!"

My father immediately got angry: "Who are you calling fat? My grandchild is so white and chubby, it's called lucky! And your granddaughter is so skinny like a monkey, you call it healthy? I see you're jealous because I have a grandchild! Who doesn't know that your daughter-in-law refused to give birth to a second child, your family is about to become extinct!" Aunt Ly was so angry that she almost leaned back: "Your family is completely extinct! What kind of grandson is as fat as a pig, yet he's still arrogant? Giving birth to two daughters in a row and then giving birth to that 'darling' guy, aren't you afraid that his two sisters will return from their graves to collect their debts?" My mother glared, opened her mouth and prepared to rush into battle with Aunt Luu, but as soon as she jumped up, Ms. Duong - a residential group officer who weighed nearly one kilogram seven - used a powerful butt kick to push her aside, causing her to sit on the ground.

"That's enough! Now the important thing is the pipeline and verifying whose family that child is. If there's any fight, let's go home and fight later! Haven't you seen enough chaos yet?!"

My father was still angry, his mouth was still grumbling non-stop: "What verification, haven't you heard clearly? It's obvious that that damn guy stuffed a firecracker to explode the heating pipe! You deserve to die! If you want to die, then die alone, what's the point of dragging our whole house down with it? If the pipe doesn't get fixed tonight, if my nephew gets cold, I'll go to his house and settle the bill!" Ms. Duong glared at my father: "Your mouth is really poisonous and rotten! Stop talking nonsense, save some virtue for your nephew! If you talk like this, sooner or later you will get retribution!" At this time, Mr. Truong was inside and shouted loudly to the people next to him, his voice full of excitement: "Found the child! It's too hot! Quickly find something to pull it out!" Everyone immediately rushed to grab sticks, iron hooks of all kinds to support. Finally pulled Trieu Thien Long out of the boiling water hole. But after being boiled in boiling water like that, its whole body was almost cooked, the smell of burning flesh lingered in the air. His face was so swollen that no one could even recognize him, his fingers were boiled until the bones fell off. If it weren't for the thick layer of life jacket that covered me, I'm afraid my flesh and skin would have rotted and my bones would have fallen apart. Everyone around shook their heads and lamented. Some people with weak livers turn their heads and vomit on the spot. Ms. Duong - a residential group officer - tried to suppress the feeling of nausea, while commanding everyone to step back, while still not forgetting to tell my mother:

“Auntie, quickly take the children home, don't let them see this scene, they easily get sleep paralysis at night and have nightmares!”

Hearing that, My parents slapped their thighs and spanked them, startled:

“Oh wow! That's right!”

After speaking, he immediately rushed into the nearby store, picked up the squatting child and planned to run all the way home. The child was suddenly picked up, so frightened that he cried. The child's mother ran out from inside the store, grabbed her child violently, then swung her hand and slapped my mother:

"Are you crazy? How dare you steal my child in broad daylight!"

My mother was stunned until she was slapped and immediately screamed back:

"You're the one that no one taught you! If you want to win your grandchild, do you still dare to beat your grandmother?! I see you're the one who trafficked people! Let me tear you apart!"

Just as my mother was about to rush forward, my father squinted his eyes, looked carefully at the child and then quickly pulled her back:

“Grandma, I'm wrong... that boy is not my nephew.”

My mother then lowered her head to look closely at the child's face, seeing that he was wearing a black puffer jacket very similar to Trieu Thien Long's, only obviously thinner. She scratched her head in bewilderment, somewhat confused. Then, as if startled, she began to look around nervously and asked in a low voice:

"That guy... that's not right, where is Long Long?"

My father was equally confused: "Oh right, where is Long Long? You didn't say he went to buy soft drinks, did you?" Having finished speaking, the two panicked and split up to find him. At this time, in the crowd, Aunt Ly - a neighbor - spoke up, her voice hesitant: "That fat child... could it be Mr. and Mrs. Trieu's grandchild? I also saw him running around with firecrackers this afternoon..."