Chapter 2 — My Fiance Sneaks Down to the Countryside to Have an Affair

2
How can I reach out and receive the still warm bills from his pocket? I just gently waved my hand and firmly refused:
"You misunderstood, it's not that I don't eat enough. I'm skinny because I always control my weight and stay in shape."
They live all year round in remote mountainous areas, of course they cannot understand that in big cities, weight loss has become a trend. They still think like decades ago—if they eat well, they will have the strength to work. Luc Truong Thanh didn't believe it, he was sure it was me
being strong-mouthed, stubbornly refusing to admit difficult circumstances. He sighed, his eyes carrying a bit of blame, determined to put money in my hand.
"Vu Ha, stop trying to maintain your dignity and suffer. Just take it... After all, we are not strangers... Consider it a little help."
I took a step back, avoiding the approaching hand, my tone calm:
"There's no need. I still have business to attend to here."
In my previous life, I was always soft and gentle and never dared to refuse him anything. Luc Truong Thanh has long been used to controlling me, but now that he sees me continuously refusing, his face gradually turns cold.
"Tham Vu Ha, do you think you can hide from others but get past me? If I didn't have to worry about you being exhausted and starving to death in this village, do you think I would care for you?"
Truong Thu Phuong sneered, her voice full of contempt:
"Truong Thanh, look at her appearance, it's like her life has been drained from her... I see, she's so skinny that she's skin and bones, her face is so pale, she's definitely got some kind of disease!"
Having said that, she also grabbed Luc Truong Thanh's hand and pretended to step back a bit, as if afraid that I was the source of the disease.
"It's best to stay away from her, don't get sick! I told you, how can a factory worker pass the university entrance exam? It's definitely because he lived an improper life and used tricks to get into school!"
Her tone was full of contempt, as if she had forgotten what depraved things she had done before getting married. That year, when Luc Truong Thanh went to the countryside, he and I had a pre-engagement agreement. Truong Thu Phuong herself, even though she knew Luc Truong Thanh had a fiancee, still brazenly took the initiative to drag him into the sorghum fields. As for me, without knowing that the two of them had been secretive for a long time, I was still foolishly happy waiting for the day Luc Truong Thanh returned to the city to marry me. The first days after
He turned around, always absent-minded, his mind hanging upside down on a tree branch. When I asked, he just held my hand and gently reassured me:
"It's nothing, don't think about nonsense."
In fact, I also suspected that at the intellectual youth camp, he had a relationship with someone. To dispel my doubts, he had not yet settled down and quickly came to my house to ask. That day, on the riverbank, he hugged me tightly, his voice full of earnestness:
"Vu Ha, I already have you, how can I hang around with someone else? Furthermore, those country girls are both rude and homely, how could I abandon a fragrant, soft girl like you and like them?"
I thought his dismay was just due to worry about the future, so I begged my parents over and over again to let us get married. After getting married, Luc Truong Thanh smoothly took over my father's job, working as a technician in a state-owned factory. It was 1977, right on time
University exam scores are restored. My friends and close sisters all started diligently studying and preparing for the exam. But I—the person with the best results—had just gotten married and could not bear to leave Luc Truong Thanh to live in two places, giving up the opportunity to enter the university gate. After that, news came from the intellectual youth camp: Truong Thu Phuong had complications of amniotic embolism during childbirth. Medical conditions in the village were so poor, she did not survive, and both mother and child died. From that day on, Luc
Truong Thanh changed completely. He began to avoid me like a poisonous snake, and no longer had any will to live. In middle age, when he was fired from the factory, he collapsed completely. I became the breadwinner of the family, taking care of the housework alone, and even filial piety on his behalf, taking care of my husband's parents until they passed away. It wasn't until I closed my eyes and gave up that I realized that he not only tormented and blamed himself, but also hated me. He hates me for taking Truong Thu's position
Phuong, making them forever separated from yin and yang. So, before I breathed my last breath, I left him with one last sentence:
“If there is an afterlife, let's not repeat this tragedy again.”
After being resurrected, Luc Truong Thanh chose to stay in the countryside for Truong Thu Phuong, making up for the regrets of his previous life. As for me, I also entered a completely different life. I used to think that we were both satisfied with our choice, from now on we would go our separate ways, never to see each other again. 1 n g this is c,o coal
But unexpectedly, they finally met each other in this place. I have important things to do, I don't want to get involved with them. But when I was about to leave, Truong Thu Phuong stood right in front of me, not letting me go.
"Tham Vu Ha, if you come here to ask Truong Thanh to compensate you for your youth, then give up soon! He doesn't owe you anything. He told me everything about the things between the two of you when you were young, it was all voluntary."
"Let's go, if you're really so poor that you don't have money for medical treatment, then just stay in this village and go to the house of some tough guys to help cook rice and herd pigs. Luckily, they'll even give you an alms meal."
The tone was full of contempt, as if looking at a poor and miserable person. Malicious laughter echoed around.
"Look at you, walking and swaying like that, in this village, no decent family would want to pick you up! If it weren't for Thu Phuong's generosity in letting go of the past, I'm afraid I wouldn't even have the blessing of serving the old man and the new woman."
People still say "high mountains and dangerous waters breed bad people", this time my eyes were really opened.
“I have my job.”
“Currently I work in a state agency, mainly in charge of surveys and support for poverty reduction.”
Hearing that, Luc Truong Thanh suddenly curled his lips and smiled contemptuously.
"Vu Ha, you've been burying your head in books for so many years, and in the end you just ended up in such a leisurely place with no real power? Don't pretend. State agencies are just handling paperwork and miscellaneous meetings, but don't have any real power to investigate."
An indescribable sadness suddenly arose in my heart. Before, I loved Luc Truong Thanh because he was well-educated and talented, but I didn't expect that after a few years of living in the countryside, he would become surprisingly backward and shallow.
3
In his perception, only having to earn a lot of money can be called true bravery. Next to him, an old man took a puff of pipe tobacco and slowly said:
"I heard that working in a state agency pays very little, what we earn a month is not as much as what we earn by selling a crop."
As soon as the words ended, the surrounding people immediately burst into laughter. I don't even bother to explain. Even though my salary is not high, I can decide the development direction of this whole town. A woman in the village spoke in a sour voice:
"Everyone look at the white shirt on her body, it's been washed until it's discolored, the edges of the shirt are still curled, she looks extremely poor! She's not even dressed like we work in the fields."
I lowered my head to look at the shirt I was wearing—a new model from a famous international brand, with an old-fashioned design for style. This is an item I bought while studying abroad not long ago. But thinking back, this whole village combined didn't even have a TV, of course they couldn't recognize this brand. It can't be helped, this place is full of dust, even wearing a white shirt becomes gray. I don't want to explain, anyway, sooner or later they will know my identity.
Hearing that, Truong Thu Phuong immediately adjusted her floral shirt, intending to open her mouth and say a few more sarcastic words to me. At that moment, the village chief appeared, frowning and waving away the crowd gathered to chat.
"What are you all doing in such a large crowd? Quickly disperse, don't cause trouble! The inspection team from the poor district has arrived, rest a bit and they will go down to the village to survey. This is related to future policy, don't ruin big things for the whole village!"
Hearing that, Luc Truong Thanh's eyes lit up and quickly asked:
"It's a preferential land bidding policy, right? We've been waiting for a long time, finally it's our village's turn!"