Chapter 4 — Taste of Home

Normally I only see her take it out to wipe it occasionally, but have never opened it. In the image, she puts the report inside. The movements were so light that it seemed like he was afraid of hurting something. After that, she also put the note I wrote inside. My heart suddenly felt sour. It turned out that she didn't throw away the sticky notes she took off. She kept every sheet. Luc Canh Hoa continued to drag the camera footage of the day back. At 1:30 p.m., the food ordered from outside was still on the table. The mother-in-law only ate two mouthfuls of rice, barely touching the food. At two o'clock, she took turns packing up the food boxes. When she poured the braised pork into the trash bag, she looked for a moment. Like wasting money. It's like I'm missing something else. I said softly: "You don't eat at all." Luc Canh Hoa's face was tense. “So what do you eat for lunch, Mom?” Pictures gave us the answer. The mother-in-law took out a mantau cake from the kitchen. Pour another cup of filtered water. She sat in front of the dining table, broke Mantou into small pieces, dipped in water and ate little by little. My tears immediately fell. I remember the nights when I stood by the kitchen, afraid that she was hungry, afraid that she wouldn't eat well. I thought that every day she criticized me for being salty because I didn't take good care of her enough. But what she actually swallowed was just a dry mandrake. Luc Canh Hoa suddenly closed the computer. He stood up and walked back and forth two steps in the bedroom. I've never seen him like that. He is not angry about his mother-in-law ordering food from outside. I'm not angry at her for bringing food to others. He was heartbroken. It hurts so much that I don't know how to open my mouth. 05 I raised my head to look at him. “Don't be in a hurry.” He said: "How can you not be in a hurry?" His voice was very low, afraid that his mother-in-law in the next room would hear. "Mom's knees are not good, I carry the rice downstairs alone, come back and eat Mantou." “And every day you tell me salt, making me reduce the salt over and over again.” “In the end, what do you see yourself as?” The bridge of my nose is stinging. I also want to ask. But I know my mother-in-law wouldn't do that for no reason. She does not crave outside food. Nor do I arbitrarily give my thoughts to others. The report she hid, the tears she shed, and the empty thermos all spoke to me. There must be a reason for this. Luc Canh Hoa turned on the computer again. He said: "Look at the previous few days too." I nodded. We played each camera clip from last week in turn. Almost every day is the same. After eleven o'clock, my mother-in-law took out the rice I had prepared. First she looked at the note. Sometimes even smiling. Then she put the food in a thermos. Around twelve o'clock, outside food was delivered. Sometimes it's an employee wearing a yellow shirt. Sometimes the employee wears a blue shirt. But the person carrying the thermos is not the delivery staff. Every time she carried it downstairs herself. Returned around twelve twenty. She would sit in front of the dining table, looking at the food ordered from outside in a daze. Occasionally pick up a few chopsticks. Most of the time she eats mantou, drinks filtered water or boils a handful of dry noodles. One day, I cooked beef stew with potatoes. When she put the rice in the jar, she took all the beef inside. Just leave yourself a small piece of potato. Looking at that scene, I finally couldn't hold back my tears. Luc Canh Hoa reached out and hugged me. His voice was hoarse. “Nam Am, I'm sorry.” I was stunned. “What are you sorry for?” He said: "My mother made you suffer." I shook my head. "Don't have to bear the pain." I looked at the elderly woman bending over to tidy up her lunch box on the screen. “I just feel heartbroken.” It's heartbreaking because she is clearly being loved well, but she still secretly puts herself in last place. It hurts because there's something she didn't tell us. It'd be better for me to misunderstand, and it's better for me to eat cold mantou at noon. 06 Luc Canh Hoa was silent for a long time. Then he said: "I'll take the day off tomorrow." I asked: "Are you going to ask your mother directly?" He said: “Ask.” I grabbed his hand. “Don't ask like an interrogation.” He turned his head to look at me. I said: "Surely you don't intend to hide it from us to hurt anyone." “It's just that she's too afraid of bothering others.” Luc Canh Hoa closed his eyes. “I know.” But at the right time n

Hey, the camera image on the computer screen moves to the earliest date. At half past ten that morning, my mother-in-law received a phone call. The image has no sound. But we saw that after hanging up, she used the phone to transfer some money. The camera cannot record the phone screen. But then she took out a small cloth bag from the drawer. In her pocket was a gold bracelet that she still regretted not having the heart to wear. She placed the bracelet in her palm and looked at it for a long time. Then slowly put it into the bag. Luc Canh Hoa's face completely changed. He picked up his phone and opened his mother-in-law's bank message. With just one look, his hand stopped in mid-air. I leaned closer. On the screen displayed three days ago, the mother-in-law withdrew twenty thousand yuan in cash. That night, neither of us slept well. The mother-in-law's room is very quiet. It was so quiet that several times I wanted to get up and knock on the door.