Chapter 10 — Private House in a Joint Family

“It's good to know that.” My father said coldly.
"I still know, next you will say, I am an older brother, so I have to give in to my younger siblings. It was not easy for my parents to raise me, I have to be filial. Family members have to help each other, not be so selfish."
The living room was silent. They all looked at me, each with their own look.
“Am I right?”
No one spoke up.
“If I've already said everything you want to say, then I'll say my thoughts a bit, okay?”
My father was about to speak when he stopped him.
“You say it, we listen.”
I looked at my mother.
"First, the house is yours. You save the deposit, you pay the loan yourself. It has nothing to do with anyone in this house. So, how you handle it is your freedom."
Then I looked at Ly Loi.
"Second, you are my younger brother, not my son. You have no obligation to take charge of your life. I want to bring my girlfriend home to prove my ability, okay, earn money yourself, buy it yourself. Borrow my house to trick people, I won't help."
Finally, I looked at my father.
"Third, my parents raised me, and I'm grateful. But from the first year of working, I gave the family three thousand every month, for three years, a total of ten thousand and eight thousand. That amount of money is considered as repaying me for raising me. From now on, I don't owe my parents anything anymore."
After I finished speaking, the whole living room was as quiet as death. My mother sat up on the sofa, pointing at me, her fingers shaking.
“You… you really are… an ungrateful child!”
08
“Naughty boy?”
I repeated those two words, then burst out laughing.
“Mom, in your eyes, what is considered a filial child?”
She gasped, momentarily speechless.
“Is it like before, every time you get paid you have to transfer three thousand to your mother?”
“Do you have to give me whatever Ly Loi wants?”
"Does it mean that whatever my parents tell me to do, I have to do it and not resist even a little bit?"
“That is not called filial piety.”
“That's called a puppet.”
“What nonsense are you talking about!” My father slammed his hand on the table and stood up.
"When have we ever considered our children as puppets? What's wrong with asking our children to help our younger brother a little?"
“Not wrong.” I nodded.
"But helping is gratitude, not helping is duty. Parents cannot consider their gratitude as their duty."
“Sounds great!” Second aunt spoke up again.
"Your younger brother's girlfriend is about to break up with him now. As an older brother, how can you stand by and watch?"
“What if we don't stand and watch?” I asked back.
“Second aunt, if my cousin is out of debt and wants to sell your house to pay off the debt, will you sell it?”
"How can it be the same? Tieu Loi doesn't owe money!"
“Is that so?”
I turned to look at Ly Loi. His eyes avoided, not daring to look directly at me.
“You really don't owe money?”
“I… I don't have it!” It spoke loudly, but clearly lacked confidence.
"Do not have?" I took a step forward, standing in the middle of the living room.
"Last month, did you max out your two credit cards? Last month, did you borrow twenty thousand yuan online?"
Ly Loi's face immediately turned pale. My mother was also stunned and turned to look at it.
“Is what he said true?”
Ly Loi did not answer, bowed his head. My mother immediately understood something. She turned to look at me, her eyes filled with anger.
“How do you know?”
“It doesn't matter how you know.”
“It's important it owes money, and cannot pay.”
I looked around at my relatives in the living room.
“Now do you understand why he insisted on staying at my house?”
“It's not just that he wants to take his girlfriend home to see the house.”
“He wants to tell his girlfriend, even his girlfriend's family, that he has a home.”
"That way, he can legitimately agree to borrow money from the girl's family, or let the girl's family help him repay the debt."
“It's cheating on the wedding.”
As soon as I finished speaking, everyone fell silent. The eldest aunt and second aunt looked at Ly Loi, their eyes filled with surprise and disbelief. My uncle frowned and looked at my father. My father's face turned pale. He looked at me and then at Ly Loi, unable to say a word.
“You talk nonsense!” My mother suddenly screamed.
“You slander! Tieu Loi is not that kind of person!”
“Mom, you really don't know?” I looked at her, my eyes cold.
"How much money has he spent these past few years, how much debt, do you not know in your heart?"
“The amount of money my mother secretly gave him, is it still small?”
My mother's body staggered, almost falling.
“I… I don't…”
“No?” I laughed coldly.
“When I was in college, my mother gave me eight hundred dollars a month for living expenses, and even forced me to work part-time on my own.”
"Ly Loi studies in college, every month my mother gives him two thousand but it's still not enough to spend."
"He's graduated, I'm afraid he'll have a hard time, so I secretly give him money. Do you think I don't know?"
"I put my bank card in the bookcase, there's fifty thousand inside, I keep it in case of emergency."
“At the end of last year, I checked my account and discovered that all the money was gone.”
“Mom, that money… did you also give it to him?”
My mother's lips trembled, unable to say a word. In the living room, everyone took a breath of cold air. Taking money from one child to support another. Such a thing was completely beyond their imagination.
“Ly Vu, stop talking!” My father finally spoke, his voice carrying a pleading tone.
This is a bad story in the house, he doesn't want it exposed anymore.
“Why don't you say it?” I looked at him.
“Today, don't you want to make it clear? Then let's finish it.”
I pointed at Ly Loi.
"He's caused so many troubles since he was little and grown up, I'm all responsible for them."
“It broke the neighbor's glass, so my parents forced me to go apologize.”
“He stole my friend's school supplies, my parents forced me to pay for it.”
"He failed the exam, his parents scolded him for not teaching him well."
“Based on what?”
My voice is not loud, but each word is like a hammer hitting everyone's heart.
“Just because you are my brother?”
“Just because you were born five years earlier than him, do you have to be responsible for his entire life?”
“Dad, mom, don't you think that's funny?”
My father's face turned as red as pig liver. He wanted to refute but couldn't find the words. My mother sat down on the sofa, her eyes were empty, as if her strength had been drained from her. Ly Loi bowed his head, his shoulders shaking slightly.