Chapter 16 — The Day You Abandoned My Mother and My Child in the Middle of the Airport

The elevator goes down to the first floor. A cold wind rushed in. He walked out. Go through the large hall. Push the glass door. It's raining. He didn't bring an umbrella. Just standing silently in the rain. Looking at the city that has been with me for twenty years. The phone vibrates. He bowed his head and looked. It's a message from Tham Niem. Not WeChat. It's an SMS message. She blocked all of his contact accounts. Just forgot to block messages. The message is only one sentence.

“General Manager Ly.”

“The furniture in the office, please move out soon.”

"Besides."

“Nien Niem has received the stuffed rabbit.”

“She said thank you, dad.”

“I don't need it anymore.”

No need anymore. It made him fall more than any scolding. He stood in the middle of the rain. It took so long that my whole body was soaked. It took so long that the phone ran out of battery. Auto power off. He turned around. Back to the company. Not to find Tham Niem. Pack up your things. The furniture in the office is not much. Just a cardboard box. He looked around the room. Where I worked for ten years. Then looked one last time at the gray sky outside the window. Grab the cardboard box. Quietly walked out. At the end of the hallway. The door to the large conference room opened slightly. Tham Niem's voice came out. She is talking about her plan. My project. My future. In every word. There's no more you. Ly Minh Trach stepped into the elevator. The door slowly closed. Everything... It's really over. ________________________________________ That evening, Ly Minh Trach moved out of the office of the Chairman of the Board of Directors. He sat alone on the sofa in a rented apartment. Silence. The apartment is located in an old apartment complex in Man Hanh district. Two bedrooms. A living room. The rent is six thousand yuan per month. For the past forty-two years. This was the first time he lived in a place… There was no control gate. There is no housekeeper. There is no underground garage. Trash can downstairs. It hasn't been cleaned for three days. A light bulb in the hallway is broken. The light is bright and dark. Continuously flickering. The phone lay silently on the tea table. There is not a single unread message. He opened his contacts. More than five hundred contact numbers. From figures in politics and business. To subordinates in the company. From drinking friends. To distant relatives. He randomly called someone. The other person picks up the phone. The voice was polite but distant.

“General Manager Ly?”

"Long time no see."

“What's going on?”

"Nothing."

“Just wanted to invite you for a few drinks.”

“So busy these days.”

“Another day.”

He called another person. The other side was even more straightforward.

“General Manager Ly.”

“I heard you transferred the company?”

“So the project we discussed before…”

The other person did not finish his sentence. But the meaning was clear. Ly Minh Trach... is no longer CEO. Cooperation. Of course it's no longer there. He called the third person. No one answered the phone. Ly Minh Trach put down the phone. Open the refrigerator. There were only two cans of beer left inside. And half a carton of milk has expired. He drank all the beer. Still not enough. Go down to the convenience store downstairs again. Buy a bottle of Nhi Oa Dau wine. Return to the rented apartment. He sat alone on the balcony. Just had a drink. Just looked at the building opposite. One window was still lit. A family of three can be seen having dinner. The child laughed and said something. Parents also laughed. Ly Minh Trach remembered. It's been a long time. I don't dinner with Tham Niem and Niem Niem. Not very long. I'm always busy. Always have to receive guests. Always think of home as just a hotel to sleep in. The meals Tham Niem cooks. He doesn't eat much a year. Niem Niem's paintings. I've never seen it. Every time Tham Niem tells me what happened today. He was always looking at his phone. Just replied through the loudspeaker.

“I know.”

I thought. Mother and daughter will always be there. They are no longer there. The phone suddenly vibrated. He immediately took it. Is a recommended newsletter.

“Dinh Thinh Real Estate Group and Minh Trach Group officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement, Nam Thanh project started.”

Illustration photo. This is a photo from the signing ceremony.