Chapter 8 — Marriage Book

Eighteenth floor, Thien Thinh real estate company, open working area of the sales department. The constant sound of typing on the keyboard, the printer occasionally spitting out paper, and the smell of coffee and papers in the air. Chu Khai Hang sat in front of his desk, staring at the table on the screen, but his eyes were completely out of focus. Last night I almost didn't sleep. It wasn't until dawn that I fell asleep for a while. My mind was full of images of To Ninh turning off the phone, blocking communications, and the divorce petition placed on the bedside table.

"Mr. Chu, please look at this reimbursement slip for me. Is this the amount of money written here?"

Tieu Vuong took a stack of papers and walked over. Seeing him stunned, he lightly tapped on the table.

"Huh." Chu Khai Hang was startled and quickly recovered, quickly hiding his surprise, "Leave it there, I'll see later."

Tieu Vuong looked at his dark eye circles, hesitated a bit and then asked.

“Didn't you sleep last night? Your face looks so bad, why don't you drink coffee?”

"No need." Chu Khai Hang forced a smile, "There's been a lot of work lately."

Tieu Vuong saw that he did not want to talk, so he did not ask further and returned to his seat. Less than two minutes later, department head Tran Khoa walked out of the next room, holding the phone, eyes directed straight at him.

“Chu Khai Hang, come into my room for a moment.”

The voice is not heavy, but has a rare bit of seriousness. His heart suddenly sank, he tried to stay calm and followed into the room. Tran Khoa closed the door, motioned for him to sit, then went around the back of the table, was silent for two seconds, and passed the phone over.

“The receptionist just passed this to me, saying he was looking for you.”

The screen shows the call history, the note is "Mom". Chu Khai Hang was a bit confused.

“Brother Tran, maybe my mother…”

“Your mother stood under the reception desk making noise for nearly twenty minutes.” Tran Khoa interrupted, his voice lowered, "If there wasn't a security guard to handle it in time, I would probably be writing a review with the administrative department right now."

“She said your wife suddenly left, cleaned out the house, took your money, and said our company is no good and can't manage the employees.”

“Even threatened to go to the company to 'demand justice'.”

Chu Khai Hang's face immediately turned red, both embarrassed and frustrated.

"I'm sorry Mr. Tran, I... I'll tell my mom again, absolutely won't let it happen again."

“Don't tell me.” Tran Khoa sighed, his voice softened a bit, "Tieu Chu, you've been in the company for three years, your work is stable, your ability is good, I don't want family matters to affect the whole team."

“I've heard a little about your situation.” He paused for a moment, "I just remind you of two things."

"One, family matters should be resolved within the family. Don't let your parents or wife come to the company to cause trouble. If something happens to the receptionist, administration and human resources will not be gentle."

"Two, love affairs are your choice, but right now you are in charge of several important projects, customers are used to working with you, if because of this you are in a state of chaos and ruin the project, then the reputation you have built over the years will be lost."

“Emotions can be handled slowly, but you have to keep your work stable.”

Tran Khoa put down the phone, his voice was stern but not scolding.

“If you need to take a break, let me know in advance, but don't let yourself lose control.”

Chu Khai Hang's throat choked, it took him a long time to speak.

“I understand, Mr. Tran.”

“Go to work.”

Stepping out of the room, he felt like he was being doused with cold water From above, the chaos and anger from before were mercilessly forced down by reality. He looked down at his phone, more than a dozen missed calls, all of them "Mom". He gritted his teeth, opened his contacts, muted his mother's number, then pushed open the balcony door and stood outside to call back. As soon as the phone connected, the other side immediately exploded.

"Khai Hang, now you know how to call back, what are you doing? Your wife has already moved all the things and you're not impatient at all. This morning I went down and asked the security guard. They said there was a moving truck yesterday, several trips in a row."

"Mom." Chu Khai Hang tried to suppress his frustration, lowered his voice, "I'm at work, mom just called the reception, the manager called me in to talk."

“So you're worried about me, aren't you?” His mother still hasn't calmed down, "He dares to play disappear, I dare to go to his company and make a fuss, see if he can still keep his face."

“Mom, if you really do that, I could lose my job.” Chu Khai Hang's voice was cold, "Mom, you want a thirty-year-old man like me. Because you came to the company and caused trouble, customers considered it a joke. Do you think that's good for me?"

The other side was silent for a few seconds, his mother's voice finally lowered a bit.

“So what are you going to do, just let it run away like that? You'll just lose people and money.”

“I… will think of a way.” Chu Khai Hang rubbed his forehead, "Mom, don't go to the company, don't go to her workplace."

“Then shall I go?” His mother immediately continued, "Where is his company? Please help me look it up..."

“I said don't go.” Chu Khai Hang interrupted, his voice carrying a rare tiredness, "Mom, this is my matter, let me handle it myself."

The other party made a "tsk" sound, both blaming and unwilling.

"Don't be soft-hearted, since he wants a divorce, the bride price must not be less than a penny, the gold must also be taken back, and he must write a promise not to speak ill of our family everywhere."

“I know.” Chu Khai Hang said as if he had no strength left, "I will call her lawyer later and ask clearly about the other party's attitude."

“Hurry up.” His mother muttered and hung up.

Chu Khai Hang leaned on the balcony railing, looking at the tall gray row of houses outside, his chest heavy. He took out his phone, opened it to an unfamiliar number but knew it by heart.