Chapter 2 — Mother-in-law stayed for three years, biological mother for half a month

02. Losing Control Liu Man is gone. The whole house seemed to have lost its soul. First day. Tu Tinh and I can still manage. In the morning, go downstairs to buy dumplings with soy milk. Coming home from work in the evening. Tu Tinh cooks rice. I wash the dishes. As for my mother, Vuong Cam, it was as if nothing had happened. After eating, I went back to my room. Close the door. No one knows what she is doing inside. Day two. Tu Tinh worked overtime and didn't return until late at night. I made myself a plate of fried tomatoes with eggs. The result is a burnt stir-fry. Vuong Cam tasted a piece, his eyebrows immediately furrowed.

“It's so hard to eat, it's exactly like your father.”

She put down her chopsticks and took out her phone to call.

"Hello, Tieu Ly spicy hot pot restaurant, right? Give me the largest, spiciest portion."

Half an hour later. Food is delivered. The greasy and pungent smell quickly spread throughout the living room. Vuong Cam ate until his mouth was full of oil, bones, and tissue paper, which he conveniently threw on the tea table. I quietly went to clean up. Day three. I have to go on a business trip to a neighboring city for three days. Before leaving, I warned my mother over and over again.

"Mom, Tu Tinh is very busy at work. Stay home and help a little, don't order food from outside all the time."

Vuong Cam waved his hand impatiently.

“I know, I know.”

“You are a man but you talk too much.”

I still didn't feel secure, so I texted Tu Tinh again.

“Wife, if my mother does something wrong, you can just forgive her, or tell me directly.”

Tu Tinh only answered with one word. At work far from home. My heart is always nervous. Every day I call Tu Tinh. She always said everything was fine, nothing. But I still heard the fatigue in her voice. Three days later. I returned home. Just opened the door. An unpleasant smell mixed between greasy food from outside and the cold air conditioning immediately hit my face. The tea table in the living room was filled with disposable food boxes. My mother's clothes were thrown haphazardly on the sofa. My hand that was changing my shoes stopped. Is this still the clean and tidy house before? Vuong Cam walked out of the room wearing pajamas. She yawned loudly.

“Is your son back?”

“Mom, why did the house turn out like this?”

I can't bear it anymore. Vuong Cam did not care at all.

“What about clutter?”

“There are no guests coming.”

“My wife and children are lazy and don't know how to clean.”

“What else can an old woman like me do?”

I took a deep breath, trying to suppress my anger. Tu Tinh returned from work. Seeing the chaotic scene in the living room. She didn't say a word. Just quietly bent down and started cleaning up. I stepped forward to help. She gently pushed me away.

“I just got back from work, rest.”

Her voice was very calm. So calm that it makes me uneasy. The days that followed. Life falls into a bizarre loop. Every day my mother sleeps until she wakes up on her own. Waking up, lying on the sofa scrolling on the phone, ordering food from outside. The air conditioner is always adjusted to 16 degrees. The person was covered with a thick cotton blanket. As for me and Tu Tinh every time I get home from work. What greeted us was always a messy house and a cold atmosphere. Arguments began to appear more and more. Because of an unwashed set of clothes. Because a bag of trash hasn't been emptied. And also because of my mother.

“Mom is getting older, give her a little time.”

Tu Tinh smiled coldly.

“Your mother is old?”

“So my mother is not big What age?”

“In the three years my mother has been here, have we ever had to do anything?”

I didn't quite know how to respond. Half a month passed. As long as a century. The atmosphere in the house was stuffy to the extreme. I'm caught between the two. Blamed from both sides. Fatigue to exhaustion. I even started to remember. Remember the time when Liu Man was still here. Full of laughter. And now. The house had turned into a battlefield filled with the smell of gunpowder. That volcano is about to erupt. I just didn't expect it. It came so quickly again. And so intense. 03. Explosion That day, I had just returned home from work. Tu Tinh has not returned yet. My mother, Vuong Cam, was sitting on the sofa, munching on fried chicken thighs and watching TV. The TV volume was turned up so loud it was deafening. On the tea table, there were a few brand new boxes of outside food. I walked over, picked up the remote and turned off the TV.

“Mom, let's talk for a bit.”

Vuong Cam glanced at me uncomfortably.

“What are we talking about?”

“Mom can't even eat a piece of fried chicken in peace?”

I looked at the boxes on the table.

“Mom has been here for half a month, how much food have you ordered in total?”

“How can I remember?”

"After all, it's your money, are you sorry?"

She replied matter-of-factly. Right at that moment. The door opened. Tu Tinh returned home from work. Her expression was extremely unsightly. In his hand he held a thick stack of papers. She walked straight in front of us. Didn't look at Vuong Cam once. His eyes just stared at me. Right after that. She threw the stack of papers down on the tea table. Food delivery receipts were scattered all over the floor. Like white feathers. Just dazzling. Just full of irony.

“Chu Nghi!”

“Look at what your mother did!”

Tu Tinh's voice trembled. It was anger that had been pent up for half a month.

“Order food out every day!”

“I order food from outside every meal!”

"The bowls and chopsticks in the house haven't been used for cooking in half a month, and they're about to get dusty!"

“In the middle of summer, the air conditioner is turned on at 16 degrees to sleep!”

“This month's electricity bill is more than eight hundred yuan!”

She pointed to the pile of bills on the ground. Fingertips tremble.

“When I went to pay, the restaurant owner who delivered the food even recognized me!”

“People even ask if my family has to open a mine!”

I bowed my head and looked at those bills. The heavy expenses stabbed straight into my eyes. Each account. All clearly written. Xiao Li spicy hot pot, 88 yuan. Wang Ky barbecue, 128 yuan. KFC family fried chicken, 99 yuan. I slowly squatted down. Pick up each sheet. Constantly adding up numbers in my head. I saw the summary sheet at the bottom. A number that sends chills down people's spines. In just half a month. The cost of eating out alone was 9,000 yuan. I clenched the paper in my hand. Both hands trembled. Vuong Cam finally couldn't sit still anymore. She jumped up. Snatched the bill from my hand.

“It's just a few thousand yuan!”

“Is there a need to overdo it?”

Her face was full of contempt.

“My son's house.”

“How about I stay a little more comfortable?”

“Your mother has been here for three years, why haven't you said a word?”

“Now I've only been here for half a month and you're already starting to show your face to me?”

This sentence just ended. Like a fuse being lit. Tu Tinh suddenly burst out laughing. But that smile didn't carry any heat. There is only restraint The mockery was cold to the bone.

“My mother is here, giving this family 5,000 yuan every month.”

“My mother is here, has this house ever had a dirty dish?”

“Ever had a bag of trash piled up?”

“My mother gives money while working.”

“What about mom?”