Chapter 18 — The day they married into the National Palace, I personally tore apart their dignity

Thanh Hoa brought hot tea and then went out. Not long after, Tham Nghien Chi walked in. He had just returned from the palace, and there were still a few unmelted snowdrops on his shoulders. I told him to sit down and poured himself a cup of hot tea. He took it, didn't drink it right away, but looked at me.

“Have you looked at the general ledger this year?”

“Not bad.”

“Just not bad?”

“How much do you want me to praise?”

He laughed. Over the past year, the smile on his face has grown more than before. It's no longer so pale that it looks like it just accidentally curled the corners of the lips. No longer wearing a guarded look. He took a sip of tea and looked out the window. A moment later, he suddenly asked:

“What if she hadn't married me that year?”

I paused a bit. This question is not difficult to answer. I just never thought he would ask. I put my hands on the table, looking at the moonlight falling on the snow outside in the yard.

“I will still live very well.”

He turned to look at me. I smiled.

“It's just that you won't meet someone who knows how to say thank you.”

Tham Nghien Chi was stunned for a moment then burst out laughing. The laughter was very soft. But in the quiet of the night, I heard it very clearly.

“Just because I know how to say thank you?”

“At least it's better than those who get help but still take it for granted.”

He nodded.

“That's right.”

The room was quiet again. Only the steam of hot tea slowly rose between the two of them. A moment later, he looked at me for a long time. That look was different from the first time he looked at me in the wedding room. At that time, there was coldness, suspicion, and distance. And now, in his eyes there is only calmness and an emotion deeper than words.

“Fortunately, she married me.”

I don't answer. Don't ask him why. Just picked up the teapot and poured more into his cup. The tea flowed down, the rising heat obscured the two people's eyes for a moment. Outside in the yard, the moonlight was as bright as water, covering the tiled roof, hallway and green stone slabs with a pale silver color. The night wind passes under the eaves. The bronze bells gently shook. Each sound followed each sound. Just like the first night I sat by the window, listening to them echoing in a completely unfamiliar palace. It's just that at that time, we didn't know where the road ahead would go. And now, we have the answer. I don't need anyone to save me. I don't need anyone to give me a good life. We just need to not step back. Step by step through fear, through calculation, through eyes waiting to see the joke. Go until today. Have a family business in hand. Someone respects me. There are people who used to be objects, but finally live as humans. And there is a person sitting opposite, understanding that I never belonged to him, but still willing to go the rest of the way with me. That's enough. In the end, this life is not lived in vain. (END OF FULL TEXT)