Chapter 3 — Ten Pounds of Shrimp, Breaking a Marriage Life

Just wiping away his tears, he asked me:

“Mom… did I do something wrong?”

My heart felt like it was being squeezed. A child just starting kindergarten… what could go wrong? It's me who's wrong. I was so engrossed in getting promoted and raising my salary that I forgot about my children's feelings.

“Da Da, tell me… when did grandma start treating you like that?”

I patiently asked each question. Finally, the boy spoke. Since half a year ago, since Vuong Quyen and her daughter moved in... grandma has not been the same. Good food must be left to Tinh Tinh. At the dinner table, the child must choose every dish first. Only when he has eaten enough of the things he criticized will it be Da Da's turn. The things I bought for my children - toys, picture books, children's watches... were also secretly passed on to Tinh Tinh by my grandmother. If Da Da asked for it back, he would be scolded and even punished to stand outside on the balcony for hours, regardless of wind and rain. One time I went on a business trip. In the 40-degree sun, Da Da was locked on the balcony by Tinh Tinh, nearly dehydrated, and had to be hospitalized for several days to recover. What makes me cold is... Tong Anh Due knows all of these things. But he, his mother and Vuong Quyen hid it from me. Lie and take your child hiking, camping... because there is no signal in the mountains so you can't contact them. A mother who only knew how to rush into work... was blindsided for half a year. It's no wonder that Da Da has become noticeably thinner and her personality is no longer as lively as before. Only left... silence and fear. The fact that my mother-in-law favored Vuong Quyen, treating her as her own child... I already knew. But what about Tong Anh Due? He is Da Da's biological father. How can you let a cousin... bully your child to that extent? And my father-in-law. Before, he loved Da Da like a treasure, saying this was the descendant of the Tong family, his hope for the second half of his life. But now... According to Da Da, every time there was a conflict with Tinh Tinh, he sided with her, cursed the boy for being selfish, even beat him, calling him a bastard. Why have these two changed so much? Just because a child... is almost unrelated? In my heart, I gradually had the answer. In order not to alert me, I temporarily returned... pretending to apologize. Tong Anh Due is very satisfied with my "down to water" attitude. He even pushed the boat along and offered to raise his mother's salary.

"Mom now has to look after two children, six thousand is definitely not enough. I also raised my salary, please raise it to ten thousand."

The mother-in-law takes care of the children and gets paid. After deducting living expenses, every month I pay her six thousand separately. Clothes, jewelry, illnesses... are all mine. What about Tong Anh Due? He said his mother was his, his part was free. As for my part... I pay it myself. My salary is four times his, six thousand is nothing to me. Furthermore, compared to outsiders, I trust my child's grandmother more. But now... Tinh Tinh is not my child. Why don't you find Vuong Quyen and claim it, then blame it all on me? Before I could speak, Tong Anh Due continued.

"And Quyen. Every day she cleans the room and picks up Da Da. You should also pay her a salary. It's not much, three thousand is fine."

I looked at his face full of reason... I just felt funny. Why didn't I see that he was that kind of person before?

"When did Vuong Quyen clean my room? You mean when she secretly stole things from my closet, or stole cosmetics?" mine?"

“And picking up Da Da… after a few days your mother was pushed down by her daughter and had to be hospitalized, right?

Then she told me about half a month's work, I also bought gold as a gift, I also paid for hospital fees, and paid for hiring a caregiver... did you swallow it all?" Tong Anh Due was stunned. After a while, he said:

“Why do you speak so harshly? After all, we are a family, do we need to make such clear calculations?"

I looked at his face that pretended to be stupid and shameless... I just felt extremely nauseous. Tong Anh Due and I met each other through matchmaking. At that time he was young, a handsome man. But just a few years... He turned into a greasy, sloppy man who didn't take care of himself at all. Without the will to progress, after work I only know how to play games and surf short videos. Those things... I can still endure them. But now, he sided with outsiders... to deal with me. Is a husband like that… still worth keeping? On the weekend, my husband's parents said they were going to Tong Anh Due's uncle's house, and even pretended to ask me if I was going with them. I said I would take Da Da to the amusement park. The whole family immediately left happily. Even Tong Anh Due carried Tinh Tinh on his back... Completely pretended not to see his son standing next to me. Before leaving, Tinh Tinh raised his head high and stuck out his tongue to tease us. Vuong Quyen smiled fakely:

"I'm so shy, sister-in-law, let us borrow your parents and brother for a day, return it at night."

“No need to pay, have fun.” I replied.

After they left, I asked my friend to take Da Da to the amusement park. As for me, I immediately ran to the assessment center. To confirm the guess in my heart, I secretly took Tinh Tinh's hair... along with Tong Anh Due's hair for testing. Results are not available immediately. I returned home and installed tiny cameras in many corners. In this house... there are so many things I don't know. Even if it's for Da Da's safety, I have to understand everything. That night, their whole family returned. As soon as she entered the door, Vuong Quyen raised her hand, deliberately showing off her new gold bracelet.

"I must say that my brother is really generous. The price of gold is so high that he just buys it."

Tong Anh Due was afraid that I would make a big deal of it, so he immediately spoke first:

“You scratched Quyen's face, luckily she didn't report it to the police, otherwise she would have died.

I bought this bracelet to apologize, don't have an attitude." I didn't bother looking at him. My eyes fell on Tinh Tinh.