Chapter 2 — Mother's Last Painting

Lam Uyen stood at the door, seemingly unable to understand what he was saying. Tham Minh Trach spoke first. "Dad, are you drunk?" The second uncle said: "Dad is not drunk." The second aunt frantically pulled him. "Don't stand outside the door and talk." Lam Uyen immediately asked: "If it's not yours, then whose?" Second uncle looked at me. I waited for him to speak. He opened his mouth, but the words that reached his lips were swallowed back. The second aunt quickly said: "It's your eldest uncle, it's just that it's always been managed by your parents." Lam Uyen breathed a sigh of relief, then burst out laughing. "So doesn't it still belong to the Tham family? The eldest uncle has passed away, his father and uncle are siblings, and Minh Trach is the only son of the Tham family. Sooner or later this house must belong to Minh Trach." I looked at her. "My name is Hua." Lam Uyen glanced at me. "A married daughter is like water poured out. Your mother's name is Tham, so of course the property must return to the Tham family. You are just someone with a different surname. Having lived here for so many years, do you really consider yourself the owner?" The second uncle's face darkened. "Lam Uyen!" Lam Uyen hugged her stomach. "Dad, don't yell at me. Who is responsible for scaring the baby?" That sentence is like an exemption card. The second aunt immediately softened her heart. "No more shouting, no more shouting. Come inside, don't stand in the wind." Lam Uyen lifted her chin defiantly. "It's okay to come into the house, but tonight Hua Thanh Thanh has to move to the small room in the backyard. I have to keep the main bedroom in the front yard to take care of the pregnancy." Second aunt looked at me awkwardly. "Thanh Thanh, Why don't you stay in the backyard for a few days? Wait for Uyen Uyen to calm down and then move on." I tightened the key in my hand. "The backyard warehouse, no one else can live in it except me." Lam Uyen immediately asked: "Why? Are you hiding something that you can't let others know about?" The second aunt's face turned white. The second uncle also turned to look at me. I said: "My mother's things." Lam Uyen burst out laughing. "It's absurd to let the dead's belongings take up space meant for the living." As soon as her words ended, the second uncle raised his hand and slapped Tham Minh Trach. He did not beat Lam Uyen. The person who was beaten was Tham Minh Trach, who stood next to him from beginning to end without saying a word. "Your wife says such things and you just stand there listening?" Tham Minh Trach covered his face, his anger also flared up. "Is what she said wrong? Can a dead person's belongings be as important as your son's?" The whole yard immediately fell silent. The towel in the second aunt's hand fell to the ground. I looked at Tham Minh Trach and suddenly remembered how when I was little, he used to follow my father, constantly calling for uncle, receiving the lucky money and saying that he would be filial to my parents in the future. As people mature, their faces will change. Your heart will also change. I said: "There's nothing more to say. We'll settle this tomorrow." The second uncle was stunned. I went back to my room and took out the file bag from the drawer. Second aunt stopped me. "Thanh Thanh, don't get excited." "I'm not excited." I hugged the file bag to my chest. "Whoever this house belongs to, tomorrow I will let my sister-in-law see clearly." Lam Uyen snorted. "Let's see. I'm still afraid that you'll use a fake piece of paper to trick people?" Tham Minh Trach also said: "Thanh Thanh, don't make so much noise that in the end you have no way out. If your relationship is really torn apart, there will be no one left to protect you." Before closing the door, I took a look at him. "Then stop defending." The next day at noon, my cousin and his wife arrived with Lam's mother. Lam Uyen also brought her mother. As soon as Lam's mother entered the door, she walked around the front yard, ran her hand over the hallway pillar, then looked at the main room window. "The location of this house is really good. Minh Trach, your parents hid their money really well. When they got married, they only said they had a house, but they didn't say it was a house with a large yard like this." Lam Uyen held her stomach, her voice full of pride. "Mom, my child will grow up here in the future." Lam's mother nodded. "Of course. I have the blood of the Tham family, who dares to compete with me?" I stood at the main room door. "Aunt Lam, drink tea first." Lam's mother didn't bother to look at me. "Are you that thick-faced niece staying with relatives?" The second aunt quickly said: "You are in-laws, Thanh Thanh is also a descendant of the family." Lam's mother sat down and put her bag on the table. "Every family has its own children and grandchildren. The child in Uyen Uyen's belly is a direct descendant of the Tham family. Today we have to clarify the matter of room assignment." The second uncle took out a stack of papers. "Don't be in a hurry, ma'am. Today I called everyone here to talk about the house." Lam Uyen urged him. "Dad, then tell me. Did you finally ask Hua Thanh Thanh to move out?" The second uncle looked at Tham Minh Trach. "Minh Trach, the name on the certificate of ownership of this house is Thanh Thanh." Tham Minh Trach was stunned. The smile on Lam Uyen's face stiffened for a moment, but quickly recovered. "Dad, don't joke." The second uncle pushed the certificate over. "It's not a joke." Lam's mother grabbed the certificate, opened it, looked at it twice, and her face immediately darkened. "Hua Thanh Thanh? Why her?" Lam Uyen took a look, her fingers scratched the name, as if she could scratch those three words away. "No way. Did your parents trick you?" The second aunt said in a low voice: "Before you got married, your parents didn't make it clear." Lam Uyen immediately went crazy.