Chapter 7 — It's Never Too Late to Start

Not long after, mother and director Cao really got together. But in the workshop, the two still acted as if nothing happened. Let me tell you... A fire near straw will be sharp after a long time. Sometimes they make love to the point of getting sick of it! Cao Triet Vien and I both felt redundant. In the summer of 11th grade, my father and aunt Tieu Phuong divorced. My father cried bitterly and ran to find my mother.
“She's just using you!”
"Just finished the university exam, Chau Thang passed, she immediately kicked him out the door."
"What can I say, my son has grown up and has a future, he doesn't need a useless man like you anymore."
"It turns out that she has had an IUD for many years, and no matter how hard I try, I can't have another child."
“I thought I had a problem, but I was deceived for the rest of my life!”
“Ngoc Phan, around and around, you are still the best.”
"No matter how good a person's child is, he or she is not a biological child. It is still your child that can be trusted."
"Let's remarry, our family will never be apart again."
27
Mom leaned against the door frame, watching him cry as if watching a farce. Waiting for him to cry long enough, she calmly said:
“Wait a minute, I have something to show you.”
She entered the house, took out a bright red wedding invitation and gave it to my father.
"Next month, on the 20th, I'm having a wedding. I invite you to attend."
"Originally, getting married a second time didn't need to be stalked, but Mr. Cao said I had nothing to do with my first marriage, and this time I had to make up for it."
"So wedding dresses, wedding ceremonies, cocktail parties, everything must be enough."
"Baby Boi is my bridesmaid, my husband's stepson is his best man."
“I know you don't have money, just come for a drink, no need to celebrate the wedding.”
My father stared at the red card, his mouth open as if he wanted to say something, but in the end only muddy tears fell.
“Ngoc Phan, you are wrong.”
“You are completely wrong!”
“You are not human!”
He leaned against the wall, slowly slid down, held his head and sobbed:
“I picked up the sesame seeds and lost the big watermelon!”
“Please forgive me, don't marry the Cao family, we are a real family!”
“Baby Boi, Baby Boi, tell me something for dad!”
Mother looked down at him from above, her voice cold:
"It's late. We've already registered our marriage, it's just that the wedding party was held a little late."
“From now on, I'm a married man, don't come looking for me anymore.”
Having finished speaking, she closed the door. Outside, my father's crying continued. Mom taught me a lesson. She asked:
“Do you know why your father regrets divorcing my mother?”
“Because he was kicked out of the house and had nowhere to go?”
“That's just part of it.”
“The most important thing is because my mother lives well.
"It was because his mother lived well that he felt unwilling and began to regret it."
"If my mother is still poor Kim Ngoc Phan, all year round, she only knows how to raise chickens and pigs, what will happen to him?"
"He will certainly stand high and scornfully say: 'Ngoc Phan, no one wants to marry you anyway, it would be good if I agreed to marry you'."
“Baby Boi, so women should never stop trying.”
“If mom, like other workers, only goes shopping and plays mahjong after work, will director Cao keep an eye on her?”
That's right. There are so many female workers in the factory, but why did Director Cao choose my mother?
? Because my mother always tries. Because no matter how difficult it was, she did not give up. Because those who constantly strive will shine. Will stand out from the crowd of mediocrity, letting others see their light. After my father returned to the village, my grandmother lost all her spirit. 40 year old son suddenly became a single man. She began to busily worry about finding a wife and husband for him. Initially, she wanted to find a young woman with money. Later, my grandmother wanted to find a young, healthy, childless girl who could give birth easily for my father. Unable to find one, she lowered her standards: It's okay to have children of your own, as long as you can have more. Then continue to give in, it's okay to be old, as long as you work hard to serve your beloved son. But her bad reputation spread far and wide, everyone knew that my grandmother was evil, and my father was a freeloader all his life. No one wants to get married. Finally, my grandmother begged my mother:
"Ngoc Phan, after all, husband and wife used to hug each other, you and Thanh Son also had feelings before, and you two also have Baby Boi."
"Young husband and wife are fate, old husband and wife are friends."
"I was a bad mother before. I shouldn't have confronted you."
"I don't blame you for remarrying, as long as you and Thanh Son get back together and give Baby Boi a perfect home."
“Mom, can you kneel down and beg me?”
28
Grandma wants to use morality to bind mother. But my mother never fell for the trap.
"It's useless for you to kneel and worship my ancestors for eighteen generations."
“Security, get out!”
At that time, the factory had two guards who were demobilized soldiers, and the grandmother was immediately lifted into the sky. Not long after she returned, she began to suffer from senile dementia. When she lost her mind, she cursed loudly:
"What time is it? Mother Ngoc Phan, why aren't you home yet? Is dinner still cooked?"
When she was awake, she cried again:
“Sin, it's all the bad karma I caused…”
After that, she fell and distorted her face and mouth, leaving her bedridden. From then on, someone had to carry the potty and help them go to the toilet. My father is not a filial son. Mrs. Trieu said, her grandmother's house was so stinky that even standing across the yard could still smell it. She lay on the bed, with sores all over her body, moaning in pain. After fighting for more than a year, on New Year's Eve of my second year in college, she passed away. As the granddaughter, I also have to return to look after the coffin. My father knelt in front of the coffin, cried until his intestines were broken, held my shoulders tightly, and shouted:
“It's your grandmother, why aren't you crying?”
I curled my lips and looked at him coldly:
“She treated me like that since I was little, I couldn't cry.”
“In the future, when my father dies, I will definitely not cry.”
“Are you happy now that you got rid of this burden?”
“What are you still pretending to be, pretending to be a filial son?”
If she was truly filial, she would have treated her well while she was alive. After death, no matter how loud you cry, it's just an act for the world to see. At that moment, my father felt like he was hit in the head with a brick. He took a few steps back and sat down on the ground. He covered his face with both hands, his shoulders trembled, his whole body trembled. This time, he really cried. Thinking about what he had done, thinking about the prospect of being like his grandmother when he was old, perhaps he regretted it. But… What a pity. Whether it's me or my mother, we will never turn back. Oh, forgot to mention. When Cao Triet Vien and I took the university entrance exam, I passed a school ranked 985th
hamlet, and he passed a pretty good 211 school. Their universities are not far from each other. On the weekend, I went to look for him. He put his arm around my shoulder and excitedly introduced himself to his roommate:
"This is my biological sister, we are Long Phung twins. What do you think, do we look alike?"
Roommates nodded repeatedly, everyone said they looked really alike. Cao Triet Vien and I looked at each other and smiled, not in a hurry to explain. Similar or not doesn't matter. I consider him as a brother, he considers me as a sister. We will forever be brothers. Cao's father's bamboo factory went through many ups and downs. After several years of explosive development, in 2008, the global economic crisis caused foreign markets to slow down. The factory struggled to support itself for three years. After that, the city launched an eco-industrial park, Cao's father and my mother won the investment, thereby overcoming the crisis. During those years, my mother took supplementary classes at night, earned a self-taught bachelor's degree, and passed the accounting certification exam. She also signed up for an English course and learned Word and Excel. I even saw her using software to chat with foreigners. Every time I come home, she has a new skill. Cao's father often teases his mother:
“I know a little bit of everything, but I'm not really good at anything.”
In the new factory grounds, Cao's father planted a lot of dahlias. This flower blooms late, but lasts a long time. It is drought-resistant, cold-resistant, easy to care for, the flowers are large, brightly colored, blooming in clusters. Cao's father pointed at the flower bed, smiled and said: "This flower is just like you. The older you get, the more beautiful it is, and the more beautiful it is!"
“What cowardice? Failure is not fatal!”
“As long as you're alive, you still have a chance.”
Later, I read a book called "The Strange Story of Benjamin Button". There is a sentence that fits my mother very well:
“As long as you want to start something, any time is not too late.”
So, whether you are 15 years old or 50 years old, Just start, it's never too late. – END –