Chapter 2 — My Own Spring

My chest choked a bit, I turned around and went back to my room, continuing to pack up the remaining items. Pho Nghien Tu's future, I don't want to participate anymore. The doorbell rang. I opened the door, Aunt Truong from next door was holding a plate of steamed apple pie and standing outside the door. "Tieu Luc, I saw that Nghien Tu had returned to the unit so she steamed some apple pie, you two tasted it..." She looked inside, saw two people standing shoulder to shoulder in the office, her face immediately changed. She stuffed a plate of apple pie into my hand, her voice wasn't loud but every word was sharp: "Major General Pho, Tieu Luc was alone at home waiting for you. At four o'clock in the morning, I came to the barracks gate to wait, no matter how much rain, wind or snow fell, I never missed it." "You're back and you're still with someone else, so let her stand aside?" The voice in the office stopped. Tham Chi Dao stepped out, her eyes slightly red: "Auntie, you misunderstood." "What misunderstanding? I'm not old enough to have blurred vision yet." Aunt Truong was full of disgust: "Oh my, girls these days like to peek at other people's men." Before she could finish speaking, Tham Chi Dao covered her face and ran out. Pho Nghien Tu grabbed her coat, quickly chased after her, and when passing by, she only coldly threw back a sentence: "When I wasn't home, did you defame Chi Dao like that?" "If anything happened to Chi Dao, I will never forgive you in this life." I stood in front of the empty door, the apple pie was still steaming hot, the heat blew on my face. Aunt Truong felt a little uneasy: "I'm sorry, Tieu Luc, did I affect our feelings?" My throat choked: "The person who affected our feelings was not you." I suddenly remembered that winter, the wind outside the barracks gate was like a knife, I wrapped myself in a cotton shirt and waited for four hours. As soon as he got off the bus, Tham Chi Dao called to say that he had forgotten his keys at the dormitory and couldn't get in. He immediately left behind a sentence, "You take the bus home yourself", then left me alone in the middle of the parking lot. The North wind blew into my collar, chilling me to my heart. Halfway there, something warm ran down his thigh, soaking half of his cotton pants. I called Pho Nghien Tu. The next day, he briefly replied with a few words: "There was an unexpected drill, I went out to train again." I was afraid that he would be distracted, so I didn't tell him that I had had a miscarriage and then miscarried. Now that I think back, that day he just wanted to comfort Tham Chi Dao so he suddenly took her for training. When Pho Nghien Tu returned in the evening, his face was more gloomy than the gun smoke on the practice field. He stood in the mysterious gate, his coat had not yet been taken off, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he said: "Are you satisfied? Chi Dao came back and cried for half a day." "Go explain to Aunt Truong that you and Chi Dao are completely innocent, because you are always suspicious. If you cannot accept her existence..." He paused for a moment: "Then this marriage of ours does not need to continue anymore." "Are you finished?" I stopped the movement in my hand. Pho Nghien Tu frowned. "I don't accept it." He was stunned: "What did you say?" "You said..." I touched my belly, where there used to be a small life. "Go find Tham Chi Dao, we are divorced." Pho Nghien Tu immediately stood up, his face extremely ugly: "Luc Sanh, remember what I said, don't cry and beg me in the future." He thought I would cry. But now I just calmly turned around, walked to the bedside table, and pulled out the bottom drawer. I took a file bag and placed it on the nightstand. Half an hour ago, On Dich sent a text message: "The lawyer has finished drafting the agreement, please look at the terms, if there are no problems, sign." Early the next morning, I arranged for On Dich to meet at the coffee shop. She arrived earlier than me, ordered two cups of coffee, gave me one, cup

The rest drank more than half herself. "Didn't sleep well last night?" I asked. "I'm sorry for you." She crushed the empty cup and threw it in the trash. On Dich suddenly grabbed my hand: "Are you afraid?" "Not afraid. I'm even more afraid that I will forever be stuck in these five years." "The road from the military family area to the barracks gate, I don't want to go again." After saying goodbye to On Dich, I returned home. Pho Nghien Tu was waiting for me in the living room, holding a report in his hand, his eyes were red: "We had a child, why didn't you tell me?" I glanced at the miscarriage notice, with no expression on my face. "I wanted to say, but before I could open my mouth, Tham Chi Dao called me away." Looking at his suddenly painful expression, I said word by word: "It was especially cold that day. I haven't even opened my mouth yet." By the time I got to the house, the baby was gone..." "Sorry, Sanh Sanh." Pho Nghien Tu couldn't listen anymore and immediately interrupted me. He buried his face in my waist, his voice choked up: "I'm sorry. I won't be like that again. I won't care about Chi Dao's story from now on." My movement of changing shoes paused for a moment. "Can I take you to this training? I've been waiting for so long." He raised his head, his eyes pleading: "Just the two of us." I agreed.