Chapter 1 — Married 8 days, I bought a house in my own name

After 8 days of marriage, my husband's family asked to "legalize" 880,000 yuan of wedding money (more than 3 billion)... I immediately bought a house in my own name. After only eight days of marriage, my husband's parents wanted to "legalize" the 880,000 yuan of wedding money that my parents gave me into money to repair the house. What about my husband? The whole time, I just kept my head down and dialed the phone as if everything had nothing to do with me. I stood up on the spot. Go straight to the apartment complex next door to sign a house purchase contract and pay in full at once. On the certificate of ownership, there is only my name.

“What are you planning to do with your wedding money to buy your own house?”

“I just want to leave myself a way out.”

A battle revolving around the name on the red book... In the end, it turned into a trial of people's hearts. On the day the house purchase contract was signed, three sets of documents were laid out on the table. My father-in-law, Mr. Hua Dai Thanh, pointed to the middle stack:

“Sign this set.”

I opened it to see the first page. The home buyer section has only three words: Tran Chi Vien.

“Where is your name?”

He took a sip of tea and slowly replied:

“Let's leave the name thing alone.”

“What do you mean by leaving it like that?”

He put down his cup of tea:

"Thieu Hoa, the Hua family paid most of the down payment for this house. Putting two people up will make the procedure very complicated."

I turned to look at Tran Chi Vien sitting next to me. He is scrolling through his phone. Fingers stroked up continuously, head not bothering to raise.

“Chi Vien.”

He said "yeah", his eyes still glued to the screen.

“The house documents only have your name on it, you know?”

At this moment he raised his head and smiled at me:

“Dad has already arranged it all, don't worry.”

I turned the contract to the last page. The buyer's signature box is still blank, as if waiting for me to put my pen down.

“So what is your 880,000 yuan wedding fee?”

I asked Mr. Hua Dai Thanh. He calmly replied:

"Think of it as money to repair your house. Isn't it very suitable to use it later when renovating it?"

“Is there a house that costs 880,000 yuan to repair?”

“House repairs are very expensive now.” He raised his teacup again. “Materials, labor, which is not expensive?”

My mother-in-law, Mrs. Phuong Tu Tran, poked her head out from the kitchen:

"Thieu Hoa, let's eat first, we'll talk about this after we finish."

“No need to say anymore.”

I stood up.

“I've thought about it carefully.”

Mr. Hua Dai Thanh raised his eyes and looked at me.

“I did not sign this contract.”

The dining table was silent for two seconds. Tran Chi Vien put down the phone and looked straight at me for the first time:

“What do you mean?”

“It's just the meaning in the words.”

I pushed the contract back to the center of the table.

"If you add my name, I'll sign it. Don't add it, don't sign."

Mr. Hua Dai Thanh placed the teacup firmly on the table, the sound was dry and harsh:

“Thieu Hoa, you just stepped into this house, do you understand the rules?”

“I understand the rules.”

I picked up my bag.

“But I also understand the law.”

My name is Tong Thieu Hoa, twenty-nine years old, currently a creative director of an advertising company in Cam Thanh. Tran Chi Vien is my university classmate. We have been together for five and a half years and just registered our marriage last month. When discussing the wedding, Mr. Hua Dai Thanh concluded: The apartment in Duyet Uyen Bay area, Tan Giang district along the Cam Thanh River will be our wedding house. The Hua family spent 1.2 million yuan as a down payment, and the remaining loan was for the couple to pay themselves. My parents collected nearly half of their lives and transferred 880,000 yuan to my account. They said they would use it to make up for the extra money to buy a house, and the rest would be fine to renovate the interior. At that time, Tran Chi Vien hugged me, leaned close to my ear and said:

"From now on, I will also give you the salary card to keep. No matter who spends how much, this house will definitely have both of their names on it."

I believed him. The second day after registering the marriage, we went to see the house. The apartment is on the twenty-second floor of Duyet Uyen Bay, facing south, one hundred and ten square meters wide. From the balcony, you can see the bend of the Cam River and the small sandy beach in the distance. I stood on the balcony, looked and said:

"This side is a bookshelf, the other side is my desk."

Tran Chi Vien smiled:

“Listen to me.”

A week later, Mr. Hua Dai Thanh called us home for dinner. While eating, he casually mentioned the contract. As light as nothing, a few sentences changed from black to white: The money I spent on the house was counted as money to repair the house, and the red book only had Chi Vien's name written on it to avoid trouble. I thought I heard wrong. Under the table, Tran Chi Vien gently touched my feet. I turned to look, he moved his eyes away again, picking up a piece of fish for himself. That meal, I only moved my chopsticks exactly three times. Leaving the Hua family's house, Cam Thanh was drizzling in the spring rain. Tran Chi Vien ran with his umbrella and held it out to me. I don't accept.

“Thieu Hoa, my father originally planned that…”

“I know better than you how he is.”

I looked straight at him.

“As for your attitude, I should have understood.”

He turned away. I pushed the umbrella back and walked straight into the rain. That night I didn't go back to our rented house, but stayed temporarily in a small hotel near the company, my phone was on silent. Late at night when I turned on my phone, there were eleven unread messages. All sent by Tran Chi Vien. The first few messages are apologies. Some messages asked me where I was. The last news has only one sentence:

"The contract will be signed tomorrow, don't make a fuss anymore, it's already decided."

I stared at the three words "decided" for a long time. Outside the window, the sound of rain continued to fall non-stop. At ten o'clock the next morning, Tran Chi Vien was waiting for me in the hotel lobby. His eyes were filled with blood. As soon as he saw me step out of the elevator, he immediately walked over:

“This morning my father went to sign the contract.”

I stopped walking.

“Why didn't you stop it?”

“How can you stop it?” He lowered his voice. “The money is his own, did you hear what I said?”

“What about your 880,000 yuan?”

He ruffled his hair vigorously:

"Money is not lost, isn't it still used for our family in the end..."

"It's for the Hua family."

I looked straight at him.

“The papers say my name, not yours.”

“Thieu Hoa.”

His voice began to show fatigue.

“Do you really have to consider this?”

“I need some assurance.”