Chapter 7 — The Enemy's Daughter

“Mother, are you very disappointed in me?” I hugged him tightly. “You were wronged, I'm just angry.” I asked the eldest princess to let him rest and take him home to recuperate. She lay on my bed, just like when she was a child, holding my arm. "Mother, am I always causing trouble for you?" "Yes." He immediately became gloomy. "But don't I specialize in treating trouble?" When Khuong Can was twenty years old, she became the youngest female administrator of the Thuong Nghi Bureau. That same year, he refused three marriages. The matchmaker almost stomped on our doorstep, but she refused to see anyone. I asked him: "Are you planning on not getting married for the rest of your life?" He crawled on the table eating chestnuts. "Not really." "So why are you so picky?" He peeled a chestnut and gave it to me. "I just want to find someone who won't let me suffer resentment." "Then it's really difficult..." "So I won't look for you for now." "It's up to you." "Isn't your mother pushing you?" "If I push you, will you get married?" He shook his head. "Isn't that okay then?" Why? Do these words sound so familiar? But then she still got married and married a small Academy. The family is not high, the person is not too handsome, the rare thing is knowing how to cook. The first time he came to our house, he brought me a box of banh cuc, and also brought garlic. Khuong Can blushed and muttered in a low voice: "The banh cuc he makes is very delicious." I asked the other Academician: "Do you know how much it eats?" He was stunned. "Huh?" "Every meal it can eat two bowls." Khuong Can panicked. "Mother!" The little Academician said seriously: "I can make four bowls and can feed her!" I looked at him for a long time. "Okay." On the day they got married, Khuong Can wore a wedding dress and sat in front. mirror. I combed his hair, he cried until his nose turned red, making me a little impatient. "What are you crying again?" "I can't bear to leave my mother." "It's not like I won't be able to come back again." "From now on I won't be able to eat with you every day." I used a towel to wipe his face. "Very good, I can rest in peace." Looking at him in the mirror, I suddenly remembered the little boy who used to hold the cloth tiger. Now it's about to go on sale. My heart is so empty, but I can't cry. If I cry, I'm afraid he will never be able to walk out of this door. Before going out, he left the old cloth tiger for me, saying he would keep it as a souvenir. "Mother, thank you for not wrapping me into banh goo." I was about to cry, but I was so angry that I burst out laughing. "There's still time to wrap it now." He laughed until his whole body trembled. After the palanquin left, I stood in front of the door for a long time. 16The year I fell ill, Khuong Can was thirty years old. He had a daughter, named Vien Vien, who looked exactly like him when he was young. I also like to cry, I also like to eat. As soon as I got sick, Khuong Can immediately moved in to take care of me. The young Academician has now become an old Academician. Every day after leaving the yamen, he comes to bring soup. Vien Vien lay crawling next to my bed. "Grandmother, will you die?" Khuong Can glared at him. "Vien Vien!" I laughed. "Will die." Vien Vien immediately burst into tears. "Then who will play with you in the future?" He crawled to my pillow. "Can you please not die?" I patted his head. "Stupid child, every human being will eventually die. “Stupid child, everyone will die.” At night, Khuong Can kept watch over the bed. It held my hand, just like when I was a child. It's just that at that time his hands were very small and very soft, now there are calluses on his hands. I looked at him. "Why are you crying?" He turned away, wiped his face. "I'm not crying." "Mother, I want to hear you scold me two more times." I laughed. "I'm sick." He looked at me expectantly. "Okay, your handwriting is still very bad." "Yes." "Your appetite is still the same." "Yes." "Forever a crybaby." "Yes." He cried and laughed at the same time, without a single refute. I sighed. "Man Man, although I won't have children in this life." "But your mother gave you to me, allowing me to have a daughter. I have to thank her."

"At first I really felt like you were very annoying." He squeezed my hand tighter. "But after that I didn't feel bothered anymore, you were very good, your mother was also very good." "It's just that at that time we were both too stupid, fighting for so many years over an worthless man." Khuong Can cried and shook his head, I patted his hand gently. "Man Man, don't cry anymore." "Mother has you in this life, she is satisfied. then." He buried his face in my hand, tears flowing like a stream. "Mother, don't go." He was thirty years old, but still like five years old, afraid of being left behind. "Man Man." He hastily replied: "Mother, it's me." "In the future, when making banh coc, don't add ginger or garlic. Vien Vien is also afraid of spicy." "Yes, I remember." I wanted to reach out and pat his head, but I didn't have the strength, so he immediately bowed his head and approached. "Mother, don't go. far away, will be in the sky looking at you." I'm tired, close my eyes, chaos is in front of me. There is the high wall of the Marquis Palace, there is Khuong Tri Vi's sick face, there is Khuong Can's hand holding a garlic... Many years later, Khuong Can is also old. He brought Vien Vien and Vien Vien's child to visit my grave. My grave is next to Khuong Tri Vi's grave, this was arranged by Khuong Can. Vien Vien's son asked: "Grandmother, the relationship between the two of them is very good. good?”