Chapter 5 — Lam Du Van

If you eat two meals a day, it's enough to last twenty-two days. After twenty-two days, you must find a job. I went downstairs to the cafeteria to have my first meal in this city. A portion of rice topped with shredded potatoes, five and a half yuan. There is a lot of rice and not a lot of food. More than the amount of rice at home. Halfway through eating, the phone rang again. Dad sent: “Arrived?” “Arrived.” “Study well.” End. I placed my phone face down on the table, scraping away the last grain of rice on the plate. The next day, two roommates arrived. A person named To Giac, from Zhejiang, his mother accompanied him, spread out the bed, folded blankets and cleaned the table, and was busy all afternoon. The other person's name is Dinh Nhien, a native, his father drove the car, and the back trunk was stuffed with three large boxes of things. To Giac's mother saw my bed, on the thin blanket there was not even a blanket cover. "This child, where is the blanket?" "I haven't bought it yet." "So it's not cold at night?" "It's okay, it's quite hot here." She didn't ask any more, but before leaving, she pulled out a blanket from the luggage she brought with her. "Just cover it temporarily first, buy it later." When I received it, my fingertips touched the fabric, very soft. "Thank you." "Polite." What?” She patted my shoulder, the force was very light. Just this one thing makes my nose suddenly sting. At night, three people lay on the bed chatting. Dinh Nhien asked: "How many people are there in your family?" To Giac said: "It's just me and my mother, my father runs boats at sea all year round." "What about you? Du Van?" "Five people. Parents, an older sister, a younger brother." "That's quite bustling." "Yes." Bustling. It's quite bustling. It's just that the excitement has never included me. "Didn't your family bring you there? That's three thousand kilometers." Dinh Nhien turned around, his voice very casual. "They have something to do." "What business?" "Tourism." These two words were said, in the darkness there was silence for two seconds. Dinh Nhien did not ask further. To Giac softly said "ah" but did not say more. I know they heard it. But they did not use a pitying tone to respond. This is better than anything. On the third day, I went to the school's work-study center to fill out an application. The senior sister in charge of reception looked at my application. "Do you want to apply for a scholarship or study and work at the same time?" "Study and work at the same time." "What about your family situation? You can apply for benefits at the same time." "No need, studying and working is fine." It's not that I'm not qualified. I don't want any application to be associated with that house anymore. The senior sister arranged a position for me at the library, three shifts a week, six hundred a month. Six hundred yuan. Cleaner than that one thousand six hundred yuan. No one will borrow it afterwards, nor will anyone forget to return it. First shift is Thursday afternoon. Third floor of the library, in charge of sorting returned books. Push the small cart back and forth between the bookshelves, placing each book in the right place. Quiet. No one asked me to wash the dishes. No one told me to get basketball shoes. No one, while laughing and talking in groups in the living room, called me to clean the floor. I squatted on the lowest level of the bookshelf, pulled out a misplaced book and put it back. On the spine of the book is printed in small letters: "Forgotten child". I stared at those words for a long time. Then push it back onto the bookshelf. Returning to the dormitory at night, To Giac was making noodles, Dinh Nhien was folding clothes. The fourth roommate arrived today, named Hua Gia Ninh, from Fujian, talking very fast, laughing loudly. "Have you eaten yet? I brought rice cake made by my mother, sharing it with you!" She pulled out a large bag from the box, threw two packages on the bed for each person. I opened a package and took a bite. Very crunchy, a little sweet. "Is it delicious?" "Delicious." "Then eat a little more, my mother stuffed a whole box, I won't be able to finish it until I graduate." She smiled, pushing the whole bag to the middle of the table. "From now on it's all yours." Four people gathered around a table, eating rice cake, talking about each person's hometown. I suddenly felt

See, this table is warmer than the dining table at home. There were five people at that table, I was the extra person. This table seats four people, I am one of them. The phone vibrated once. Family group. Mom sent a photo. On the shore of Qingdao, a sister and her brother stood on a cliff raising their hands in a V sign. The description: “The first day, the weather was great!” Below dad answered a sun symbol. No one mentioned my name. No one said, "How is Du Van with you?" I turned the phone face down, screen facing down. Hua Gia Ninh brought the second piece of rice cake. "Want to eat another piece?" "Okay." The second week of enrolling, I received a phone call from my mother. Rarely does she take the initiative to call. "Du Van, there's something going on at home." "What's going on?" "My sister wants to buy a tablet, to use for online learning." It's online learning again. "How much money is left on your card?" My hand holding the phone tightened. "Isn't it the 1,600 that I borrowed from you before?" "That's about it later, I'll ask how much money is left on your card first." "Not much anymore." "Not much is how much." How much?” “Mom, I'm outside, I still have to eat myself.” The other end of the line was silent for a moment. “This tablet of my brother is an essential need, don't we have to study and work at the same time, give priority to my brother first.”