Chapter 4 — Leaving You, I Shine

Snake tongue can be dried in the sun. When I got home, I put down my bag and the phone rang. Strange number. I picked up the phone.

"Hello, may I ask if you are Ms. Lam Chieu?"

“It's me.”

“I am Director Truong of the Personal Customer Department of Cam Thanh Bank, regarding the term savings deposit in your name that has reached its maturity date—”

“What is the term of savings?”

"It's a 3-year recurring deposit of 3 million yuan that you opened in 2019. Last month it expired. The system automatically changed to a new term. I want to confirm if you will continue..."

I was stunned.

“You called wrongly, I don't have any 3 million yuan in my name.”

The other end of the line flipped the document: "Lam Chieu, ID card number 320... is that right?" It's mine.

“This money was sent in March 2019, the sender was Mr. Co Hanh who entrusted the procedure.”

March 2019. It was our second year of marriage.

“I don't know about this.”

"Huh? So maybe Mr. Co did it for you... Do you need to go to the counter to confirm?"

“Okay. I'll come over tomorrow.”

I hung up the phone, I sat in the empty living room, staring at the newly painted white wall for a long time. 3 million yuan. Co Hanh hid it from me and used my name to send 3 million yuan. What does this mean? The monthly salary he paid me was always 25,000 yuan. In the past six years, my savings combined were just over 400,000. But he hid it from me and sent another 3 million yuan under my name? If it was for me, why never said it? If not for me, why use my name? I don't think so. But there's one thing I'm very sure of - whatever this amount of money means, the divorce agreement clearly states "Property in each person's name belongs to each person". Co Hanh signed it. This money is in my name, so it's mine. The next day I went to the bank to confirm. 3 million, is indeed on my card, plus more than 300 thousand in interest, for a total of 3.34 million yuan. Standing in front of the bank, the sun burned my neck, my head was pounding. In the past six years, what has he considered me? The phone rang, it was Phuong Du: "Let's eat hot pot tonight? I've booked a table."

“Yes.”

“Why does your voice sound so strange, is something wrong?”

“I'll tell you.”

That night at the hot pot restaurant, I told the story of the bank to Phuong Du. The piece of book crawling on his chopsticks fell into the pot and he forgot to pick it up.

"3 million? Co Hanh sent it? You don't know?"

“Don't know.”

"What does this mean? Is your conscience rising and wanting to give you a way out?"

“Unknown.”

“So what do you plan to do?”

"It doesn't matter. The money is in my name, the divorce agreement is on black and white paper, everyone's name is kept. He signed it himself."

Phuong Du picked up the piece of book and stuffed it into his mouth: "Okay. So let's just say it was the only decent thing he did when his mind was clear." I didn't say anything, picked up a slice of lotus root and dipped it in sesame sauce. 3 million yuan won't change anything. The person who needed to leave has already left.

—

The first week of work in a new place, the pace was completely different from Co Thi. There are no phone calls in the middle of the night, no flights that have to be changed urgently, no meeting minutes that must be submitted within 20 minutes. Boss Chau's management is very open, go to work at 10 am, leave at 6 pm, don't swipe your card in the middle, just get the job done. It took me 3 days to get acquainted with the team, 5 people, average age 27, in charge of different areas. The company is not big but the quality of customers is very good, they are all loving Local mid- and high-end brands, stable profits. On Wednesday, I submitted the first quarter operating plan. After watching, Boss Chau sent a text message: "Very good, report to the meeting next Monday." This is the first time in six years that the plan I'm working on bears my own name. When I was at Co Thi, every document I wrote was sent in Co Hanh's name. Annual reports, speeches, plans for customers - whose name is forever "Co Hanh", my name has never appeared.