Chapter 19 — Mother's Boundaries

That night, she sent a photo of me and Luc Minh Vien going to the notary office to the family group. The accompanying text had only one sentence. "My brother was pressured to the point that even his biological parents had to be on guard. Let's see what tricks this sister-in-law has." This time, I didn't have time to answer. Luc Minh Vien sent a long voice message first.20After Luc Minh Vien's voice message was sent, the family group was quiet for a long time. I don't argue. Also don't scold. He just told everything from beginning to end in one go. Since my day
gave birth, Ma Phuong Lan's reaction after hearing that it was a girl. She lived in the same city but only came to the hospital on Monday. When she sat for ten minutes, she said her waist was not okay, and that afternoon she returned to her hometown. As for my mother, who came from more than a thousand kilometers away, she never slept a full night during the month of quarantine. Then at the full month party, the clan group cut off their heads and tails, came to my unit, held up signs, stole papers, came to the door demanding to take their children away, looking for people pretending to be from the community. He said everything clearly. Finally, you
said: "Before, I always told Thanh Hoa to sympathize." "I thought if she just took a step back, the family would be harmonious." "But now I understand." "If she takes a step back, everyone will feel that she should take ten steps back." "An An is my daughter, not the face of the Luc family, nor anyone's pawn." "In the future, anyone who wants to visit their child can talk kindly." "Whoever continues to cause trouble, I will not hide it for that person." anymore.” The voice message ended, the group was as quiet as death. I sit on
sofa, looking at the phone screen. There was no feeling of refreshment in my heart as imagined. The opposite is a very deep fatigue. If these words were said a month early, I would probably cry. But now, I just feel that belated awakening has a price to pay. The first person to answer was the Luc family uncle. She sent a sentence: "This time Minh Vien is right." Right after that, someone said: "Phuong Lan, the baby is just a month old, you guys really shouldn't torture him like that." Some people also said: “Visit
Visiting is visiting, stealing documents is too much.” Luc Kien Quoc said nothing. Neither did Ma Phuong Lan. Luc Giai Giai still wanted to answer. But as soon as she sent a message "everyone has been fooled by her", her mother-in-law blocked her. Luc Giai Giai's mother-in-law sent a very long text to the group. "Giai Giai, you said your husband's family is not trustworthy, I have been holding back for a long time." "Before and after Doo Doa was born, our family sent living expenses every month." "We paid for the nanny to take care of the children." "Your mother came here."
We thank you for your help, but she's not the only one who took the effort." "You can't raise your mother up and say everyone else is a bad person." This part was sent out, and the group immediately exploded. Luc Giai Giai seemed to have been stepped on. She immediately replied: "What do you mean by jumping out and saying these things now?" The other person answered very calmly. "I mean, don't take other people's silence as a support for you to lie." I looked at this sentence and suddenly froze. This sentence seems to be speaking for me. As well as speaking for all of these
people who were forced to stay silent. Finally, Ma Phuong Lan also appeared. She sent a voice message. The voice was very hoarse. "You all bully me." "What's wrong with me taking care of my daughter?" "What's wrong with me wanting to see my niece?" "I'm just not in good health, I don't take care of her, that's all?" This time, no one immediately followed suit. Luc Minh Vien looked at the phone and pressed the record button. "Mom, it's not your fault if you don't take care of yourself." "It's wrong that you didn't help, but you criticized the person who was helping for not doing a good job." "It's wrong that you went to Thanh's unit."
"Wrong, mom let Giai Giai get the papers." "Wrong, everyone wanted to take An An away." "If mom only wanted to visit her child, things wouldn't have come to this step." After sending this part, Ma Phuong Lan stopped responding. Luc Giai Giai sent a private message to Luc Minh Vien, sending a lot of messages. I didn't see it. Luc Minh Vien also didn't reply. He put the phone on the tea table, stood up and went to wash An An's small clothes. Obviously the washing machine can wash. But my mother used to wash An An's clothes by hand. Before, Luc Minh used to wash them by hand
Vien has never touched these things. Now he stood at the sink, clumsily rubbing up a tiny jumpsuit. I looked for a few seconds, then withdrew my gaze. Not because of softness. But because I know, a man truly changes not in some nice words. It starts with whether or not he is willing to bend down and do the trivial things that he previously assumed belonged to women. The next few days, the Luc family suddenly became quiet. Ma Phuong Lan no longer posts her friend circle. Neither did Luc Kien Quoc
send email again. Luc Giai Giai sent a few sarcastic and insinuating sentences, but her mother-in-law quickly responded. I changed places to store all of An An's papers and locked them in the bank safe. The house door lock also changed the password. The video doorbell and living room camera remained on. I didn't let down my guard because Luc Minh Vien stood up.