Chapter 3 — Pick up the Bridegroom

That story itself is a legend. That's why Duong Giao Nguyet was able to marry Poinsettia Lang. I rested my chin and curiously asked Trieu Hang:
“Why do you treat her so well?”
Trieu Hang bowed his head and said in a deep voice:
"When I was young, I almost starved to death in the snow. It was she who gave me a bowl of goat meat soup to drink. Then her mother said, if I had a future, she would let Giao Nguyet be my wife. Her father was a poor bachelor, and the family didn't have much money. But she cried and said she wanted to go to school. She cried and said the girls in the library all dressed very beautifully. In short..."
I said "oh", thought and said:
"In short, you don't even know why, just treat her with all your heart and mind. I scold you for being a loser, it doesn't seem to be unjust."
Trieu Hang glared at me and said confusedly:
"I don't know! Every time I see her, my brain feels like it's turning into glue. Maybe this is what the original version calls... is..."
He couldn't say the word "love", his face was red and hesitating. Being pushed to the point of being impatient, he could only tell me that a little girl like me did not understand. That's really naive. I squatted until my legs were numb, then stood up and shook my legs. Trieu Hang raised his head, his dark eyes looking at me. All year round he followed the trading group out, exposed to the sun until his skin turned black. His rough, handsome face also became a bit vague because of that skin color. Only these eyes are still so clear, sincere and clean that they make people flutter. Trieu Hang seriously said:
"Vuong Phan, I'm telling the truth. Tomorrow I must follow the merchant group to the foreign mandarin's office. I'll make money for you to go to the library to read books. In the future, you can be like Duong Giao Nguyet, have a good future, and marry into a good family."
I should have laughed at Trieu Hang as an idiot who suffered a loss. Has raising a lady become an addiction? But I couldn't say those words, I just felt something bitter choking in my heart. I pulled my sleeve and wiped the sweat from his forehead, calmly making up a lie:
"If you don't listen and decide to go to court, you will die suddenly. As for me, I have no one to take care of me, I was taken by human traffickers to Giang Nam, sold as a caddie, suffered enough humiliation and died in tears."
Trieu Hang's face turned white with fear. The more I talk, the more I get into character, and he sings a few lines to show off. I bowed my head, patted his face, and gently said:
"Anyway, we're not relatives. If you want to go, just go. Just leave me alone and helpless, sick to death in a foreign land. Is that right, brother?"
04
The almond flowers at the beginning of the alley have bloomed for five springs. When we passed by. A golden almond fell into my heart. I take a bite and the sweetness spreads out. I raised my head to look at the almonds on the tree, thinking that after having dinner with Trieu Hang later, I would ask him to come pick some. Last year, before he could eat it, the stingy tofu factory owner single-handedly picked more than half of the tree and brought it home. The neighbor in Hanh Hoa alley was so angry that no one came to his factory to buy tofu anymore. The owner felt guilty, so he made almond jam and brought a little to each house. In my hands, there are only a few dry pieces of jam left, not sweet at all. Trieu Hang scolded him and sent him away, then took me to the breakfast shop on Dong Street to buy a few packets of premium sugar-soaked jam. Shopkeeper Vuong in the shop even laughed: "Oh my, Trieu Hang just had some extra money and bought you snacks. This isn't to feed your younger sister, it's clearly to feed your little sister!"
This sentence pokes right at Trieu Hang's inverted scales. His face darkened:
"Don't talk nonsense! We have worshiped Master Thanh Hoang, we are blood brothers and sisters!"
The shopkeeper didn't want to anger him. But when we walk out the door. I heard the shopkeeper mutter:
"It's been five years and I still can't forget Duong Giao Nguyet. She has long been an official in the capital."
When Trieu Hang heard that, his foot tripped and he almost fell over. He looked at me, wanting to say it again. I bowed my head to eat jam, saw someone selling fish, and said casually:
“Buy a fish to eat.”
Trieu Hang angrily said:
"What should I eat? I almost fell down, but you were only thinking about eating fish."
I looked at him inexplicably. Did he swallow the firecracker in his stomach or why was he so angry? His face darkened, he counted money to buy fish. He chose back and forth. Fish seller Ly A Dai also lost patience:
"I know your wife likes fatty fish. This one, take this one!"
Trieu Hang roared:
"It's little sister! Little sister!"
The fish seller pouted. Trieu Hang became even more frustrated, carrying the fish home without saying a word. When he got home, he still banged and threw while cooking. I thought for a moment then went into the kitchen and told him:
"I know you no longer remember Duong Giao Nguyet for a long time."
Trieu Hang immediately raised his head, the corners of his lips curled slightly, and snorted:
“It's okay if you know.”
I stuffed a piece of jam into his mouth. He nudged me with his shoulder and said inaudibly:
"Go outside and wait for your meal. There's a lot of smoke, don't choke."
I obeyed and went out, then heard him humming and singing in the kitchen. Thinking of Trieu Hang, I couldn't help but sigh. All day long, sometimes like a god, sometimes like a devil. Suddenly I was standing at the beginning of the alley for a moment. I looked at the sky, wondering why Trieu Hang hadn't returned yet.