Chapter 1 — Locking my card to leave, I left my husband's family stranded in a seven-star hotel

My husband took the whole family on vacation to a seven-star hotel, but locked me out the door. I laughed.

“It's only 200,000 yuan, how about spending a little on your mother?”

Tran Phong threw the hotel bill in my face.

“Hurry up and pay, your mother has to go shopping at the duty-free store this afternoon.”

I looked at my mother-in-law who was sitting cross-legged on the sofa eating cherries, then watched my sister-in-law apply my skin care cosmetics haphazardly all over her face, and finally silently bent down to pick up the bill.

“Okay, I'll go pay.”

Behind, Tran Phong loudly told me to book the yacht for tomorrow. Little did he know that this time when I left, not only could I not swipe any money... but I also left their whole family stranded in Sanya, not even having money to eat. The presidential office door is not completely closed. I pulled my suitcase and stood in the hallway, clearly hearing my mother-in-law's laughter echoing from inside.

“This cherry is really sweet, the one that costs more than 100 yuan a kilo is really different.”

“Mom, eat a lot, anyway, it's not our family's money.”

I pushed the door and walked in. In the 120 square meter presidential suite, Trinh Tu Lan's mother-in-law was half lying, half sitting on a royal chair, with fruits and snacks in front of her. Tran Hao's brother-in-law lies shirtless on the sofa playing games. His wife, Ly Binh, was standing in front of the full-body mirror, opening my lipstick and testing it one by one. The three children were rolling around on the carpet, screaming loudly.

“Oh, sister-in-law is here.”

Ly Binh didn't even turn his head and conveniently opened another lipstick.

“This color is so beautiful, please take it.”

It's a new lipstick line in my store that hasn't even hit the shelves yet, the cost price is more than 400 yuan per stick. Next to her, five or six bars had been stripped.

“Is To Niem here?”

Finally, my mother-in-law gave me a glance.

"Is your room downstairs ready? I told the receptionist to arrange a standard room for you. There's only one room in the presidential suite, we can't fit all of them."

Married three years. This is the first time the whole family travels together. As a result, I stayed in the standard room, and their whole family stayed in the presidential room.

"As Mr. Phong said, our family is full of people, so it's convenient for you to stay downstairs alone."

Tran Hao was still glued to the phone, not even bothering to raise his head.

“Okay then.”

The mother-in-law lay down on the concubine's chair again.

"You can follow me tomorrow. Anyway, the money still has to be paid by you. This is something Tran Phong has already agreed with me."

Tran Phong agreed. I turned around and left the presidential room, the cold air from the hallway blowing straight into my face. The phone vibrates. It's Tran Phong's WeChat voice message.

"Already here? Are your mother and everyone settled yet?"

“When did you agree with your mother that I would pay for this trip?”

"What's wrong?" His voice was full of matter-of-factness. "It's only 200,000 yuan. I sell so much online, how about spending some money on my mother-in-law?"

"My mother has had a hard time all her life. Do you also regret her birthday?"

“200,000 yuan is not a small number, Tran Phong.”

“Every year you earn more than 400,000 yuan, is it too much to take half of it to celebrate my mother's birthday?”

His voice started to rise.

"There are people who want to be filial but don't even have the conditions. Okay, stop making calculations with me. The day after tomorrow I'll fly over to meet everyone."

Having finished speaking, he hung up the phone. I stood in the middle of the hallway, watching my phone screen gradually darken black. Three years of marriage. The first year, my mother-in-law wanted to repair the house in the countryside, so I gave her 80,000 yuan. The second year, the husband's brother got married, and the bride price plus the wedding party cost 120,000 yuan. In the third year, my brother-in-law bought a car with a down payment of 60,000 yuan. Tran Phong voluntarily agreed to each payment first, then turned around and told me to pay. I stepped into the elevator and pressed the third floor. Standard room on the third floor. The presidential suite is on the twenty-eighth floor. The room is very small, with only a 1m5 bed. Outside the window, only a corner of the sea can be seen in the distance. I sat down on the edge of the bed, opened the notes section on my phone, and started listing every amount of money I had spent over the past three years. House repair: 80,000 yuan. Bride price: 120,000 yuan. Buying a car: 60,000 yuan. Monthly "filial piety" money: 5,000 yuan/month, 180,000 yuan for three years. New Year lucky money: about 40,000 yuan. Total: 480,000 yuan. I looked at that number for a long time. The next morning, I was woken up by the phone.

“To Niem, why haven't you come up yet?”

The mother-in-law's high-pitched voice rang out through the speakers.

"It's eight o'clock, the cruise ship departs at nine. Hurry up and focus!"

I changed clothes and went to the twenty-eighth floor. The door to the presidential office opened wide. Ly Binh is sitting and doing makeup, using the entire set of skin care cosmetics I left here yesterday. The three children had finished changing into their swimsuits and were running around the room.

“Already here?”

My mother-in-law glanced at me from top to bottom.

“You wear this to go on a cruise?”

I wear a white t-shirt with jean shorts.

“Mom, I think it's okay.”

She turned to look at Ly Binh, her tone immediately changed to gentleness.

“Binh Binh, your dress is so beautiful, where did you buy it?”

“I just bought it online mom, it's a little more than 3,000 yuan.”

Ly Binh twirled around in front of the mirror, her skirt flying slightly with the movement.

"Sister-in-law, does your shop have this style? Get me a few, anyway, your price is cheap."

I didn't reply. The marina is located right next to the hotel's private beach. A full cruise costs 18,000 yuan, four hours at sea, including lunch and wine. As soon as she got on the boat, her mother-in-law immediately ordered a bottle of champagne, saying she wanted to take a photo to post among her friends.

“To Niem, take a picture for mom.”

She held a glass of champagne and stood at the bow of the boat, posing like an elegant lady.

“Remember to take a picture of the sign, take a few for mom to choose from.”

I took more than twenty pictures. None of them satisfied her.

"What kind of photo are you taking? Mom's face is so big! Change the angle!"

Ly Binh immediately rushed over.

"Mom, let me take a picture. My sister-in-law doesn't know how to take pictures."

She took my phone and took a few pictures for her mother-in-law. This time she was satisfied and began to lower her head to edit photos and compose captions.

“What should I write… ‘For my 60th birthday, my filial son and daughter-in-law took me to a seven-star hotel in Sanya and then rented a yacht to go to sea’…”

She muttered as she turned to me.

"To Niem, please also post a post, saying you're celebrating your mother-in-law's birthday."

“Mom, my circle of friends is full of customers, posting private stories is not very convenient.”

“What's so inconvenient?”

My dissatisfied mother-in-law glared at me.

"Let people know that you are filial. It's also good for your business. You just don't want others to know that you spent money. Stingy."

At the stern of the boat, Tran Hao is fishing. Not even one fish could be caught, but on the contrary, it even broke a high-end fishing rod on the boat.