Chapter 2 — No Longer Waiting For Someone To Remember Me

When she said this, her voice was not small. Next to them, two neighbors were walking in, their steps slowing down a bit. I nodded. “Mom, what's wrong?” Liu Guifen sighed. "What's wrong with you these past two days? You eat out every day, aren't you afraid that others will laugh at you?" I said: "If you eat rice, why do others laugh at you?" She frowned. "If you don't have food at home, you have to go out and spend money. Doesn't that make others say that a mother-in-law like you doesn't take good care of your children?" I looked at her empty hands. “Do you have any food in the house today?” The self-pity on her face immediately stopped. The elevator door opens. The neighbor went in first but did not close the door. Liu Que Phan quickly reacted, his voice even softer: "Don't you know if I'll be home early or late? Just give me an hour's notice." I entered the elevator. "Every day I get off work at six o'clock, and the commute takes forty minutes. It's been like that for the past two years of marriage." The neighbor lowered his head to look at the phone but the corners of his mouth moved slightly. Liu Guifen's face changed. "You can't get angry over a meal." I clicked floor. “I'm not angry.” Before the elevator door closed, she added: "This child, her heart is so heavy." I don't answer. Returning home, Tran Hao was sitting on the sofa watching TV. On the tea table there is a plate of washed grapes. The fruit I bought was eaten to the point that only a few green fruits remained. He raised his head to look at me. “Mom stood downstairs waiting for me for half a day.” I change shoes. “You can call me.” “She was afraid you wouldn't listen.” "She hasn't called yet, how do you know I didn't listen?" Tran Hao threw the remote on the tea table. “Manh Tinh, does everything you say now have to have thorns in it?” I hung the bag at the door. “I only speak the truth.” He stood up, blocking my path to the bedroom. “What do you want in the end?” I looked at him. “I want to eat rice.” He stared at me, as if he had just heard an extremely unreasonable request. “So I have to warn you in advance.” "I come back to this house every day. Do I have to ask permission every day to eat?" His lips moved. At that moment, Liu Que Phan also walked in. She held the door frame and took a deep breath, as if she had suffered a great deal of self-pity. “Hao Hao, stop it.” Tran Hao's face became even darker. “Mom, don't always be patient.” I suddenly burst out laughing. Liu Guifen looked at me. “What are you laughing at?” I said: "One person says I'm being measured, the other says I'm being patient. It sounds like I locked the kitchen door and didn't let mom cook for the three of us." Luu Que Phan's face turned pale. “I didn't mean that.” I nodded. “Then don't say that again in the future.” The living room immediately fell silent. From the TV comes the sound of advertising. A child laughed and called for his mother, sounding extremely shrill. Tran Hao lowered his voice. “Do you have to make the house so unsightly?” I went around him. "The unsightly thing is not what you eat, but the person who knows you haven't eaten yet still says you don't understand." I walked into the bedroom and closed the door. Outside, the sound of Liu Que Phan sobbing was quickly heard. Tran Hao knocked on the door. “Manh Tinh, go out and apologize to your mother.” I hung up my coat and sat next to the bed. “Why do you have to apologize?” He stood outside the door and said: "You are old." I looked at the streak of light under the door. “No matter how old you are
know how to scoop yourself a full bowl of rice.” There was no more noise outside. A few seconds later, Tran Hao suddenly kicked the door leg hard. A dull sound echoed in the room, my fingers slowly tightened. At that moment, the phone vibrated. It's a notification from the bank. The family's joint account just spent 3,800. Note: Family living allowance. I looked at those four words for a long time. Then open the transfer history. The recipient was Liu Que Phan. 05 This is not the first time that money has been transferred. It's just that I've never looked closely before. After we got married, we opened a joint account. Every month Tran Hao and I transfer 5,000 there. Money for home loan payments, electricity and water, management fees and money to buy food every day are all taken from that account. Tran Hao said doing so would make it clearer. At that time I clearly felt it was a good thing. But at this moment, the words "clear" suddenly became ironic. I sat by my bed, looking at every transaction in the last three months. Supermarket 260. Store 180. Electricity and water 320. There are also a few money transfer transactions with very round amounts. 2,000. 3,000. 1,500. The recipients were all Liu Que Phan. Notes are different. Buy food. Living expenses. Communication costs. I opened a trade among them. That day I was on a business trip, and there was absolutely no one at home to eat. I continued to flip forward. Before Liu Guifen moved in, there were also money transfer transactions. Just less money. Perhaps Tran Hao has long been accustomed to using money in the joint account to give more to his mother. But I always think it's our family's living expenses. The crying outside has stopped. When Tran Hao pushed the door open and walked in, I didn't raise my head. He stood at the door, his voice stiff: