Chapter 3 — The Father Awakens Too Late

"House for you, money for you. Ly Uyen Nguyet's matter, I will handle it cleanly."
Mom smiled.
"Bui Nghien Tu, what I need is not for you to clean it up. I need you from the beginning to not make it dirty."
Dad's face turned pale. He looked at me and handed over the cake box.
"Tri Tri, strawberry cake. I remember your favorite."
The box has a picture of a baby bear printed on it. I know that store, Chu Chu likes it the most. In his previous life, every time his father went to pick up Chu Chu, he would buy it for the boy. I don't accept. Dad's hand stopped.
"What's wrong? Didn't you like eating strawberries the most before?"
I looked at the picture of the baby bear.
“This is Chu Chu's favorite store.”
The smile on Dad's face immediately stiffened. I said in a low voice:
“I like the rabbit cake mom bought.”
He lowered his head to look at the cake box, his fingers gradually tightening. This time, he finally wanted to make it up to me. But even that compensation carries the shadow of someone else. Mom pulled me behind her.
“Bui Nghien Tu, please go home.”
Dad's throat choked.
“Tri Tri, can I hug you?”
Before, if he just lowered his voice like that, I would definitely rush over. He would hold me up high and kiss my face.
“Tri Tri is my life.”
I took a step back from my mother.
"Cannot."
Dad's hand stiffened.
“Do you still blame Dad?”
I shook my head.
“Not to blame.”
A little hope flashed in his eyes, I hugged my mother's leg.
"I don't dare need my dad anymore."
That bit of light shattered. After the door closed, Dad was still standing downstairs. Then it rained and he still didn't go. Grandma pulled the curtain and took a look and smiled coldly.
“Performing for whom?”
Mom sat next to the bed, her fingers tightening on the medical record. I know she has softened. Dad is the person who understands her best. He knew his mother was afraid of other people getting wet in the rain. Knowing that my mother is soft and not hard, knowing that if I bow my head, she will be heartbroken. I climbed into my mother's arms.
"Mom."
She bowed her head. I buried my face in her breasts.
“In the dream, your mother opened the door on this exact day.”
The mother's whole body stiffened. I cried softly.
“Then my mother got sick again, very sick.”
“No matter what you call, mom won't wake up.”
Mom hugged me tightly, her hands kept shaking. Outside the window, the sound of rain was very loud. After a while, she stood up and pulled the curtains.
"Tri Tri, let's go to sleep. Mom won't open the door."
Downstairs, dad stood until midnight. This time, the rain couldn't change my softness. It only extinguished the last bit of unwillingness in the mother's heart.
6
Ly Uyen Nguyet is even more impatient than her father. On the third day, she hugged Chu Chu and waited in front of the apartment complex gate. Still wearing that white dress. Seeing her mother come out, she immediately cried.
"Ms. Tung Nghi, please don't sue me. Nghien Tu is just being kind, my mother and I really don't want to destroy your family."
People quickly gathered around. Chu Chu also cried.
“Aunt On, don't scold Dad Bui.”
Mother's face was still weak, and a bandage was placed on her wrist at the infusion site. Ly Uyen Nguyet knelt and crawled two steps forward.
"I know you care about him helping us, but Chu Chu doesn't have a father, he's really pitiful."
She raised her head to look at her mother, tears forming on her eyelashes.
"Actually, I also admire you very much. You don't need to say anything, Nghien Tu always remembers you. Unlike me, I can only beg."
I stepped up to block my mother's face.
“Miss Ly, didn't you say that Chu Chu could be my father's child?” Her expression changed.
“Tri Tri, children are not allowed to talk nonsense.”
I clicked on the recording rabbit. The recording in the equipment room at school rang out.
“In the future, if I really become your mother, you better listen a little.”
"Your mother can't keep a man, so you can't blame her."
The crowd immediately stirred. Ly Uyen Nguyet rushed to grab the rabbit. Mom hugged me, was hit by her, and fell down the steps. I shouted.
"Mom!"
The next second, dad rushed forward and pushed Ly Uyen Nguyet away. He supported his mother, his face dark and scary.
“Ly Uyen Nguyet, do you dare touch her?”
Ly Uyen Nguyet fell to the ground, her whole body stunned. Dad took off his coat and put it on Mom's shoulders.
“Where are you injured?”
Mom pushed his hand away.
“Don't touch me.”
Dad's hand stopped in midair. Ly Uyen Nguyet cried and crawled over.
"Nghien Tu, I'm just too scared. I can't be without you."
Dad looked at her.
“I help you not to let you hurt my daughter or my wife.”
Mom suddenly burst out laughing.
“Wife?”
Dad stiffened. Mother raised her eyes to look at him.
“When you acknowledged me as your wife, was she wearing a white dress standing next to you?”
“Or when I vomited blood, you ran to the company to protect her?”
Dad couldn't answer. Mom held my hand and went into the building. Dad followed half a step.
“Chanting Nghi.”
Mom did not turn around.
“Bui Nghien Tu, if you really want to prove it, then clean up the mess you caused.”
After that day, Ly Uyen Nguyet was suspended from the kindergarten. Mom handed over the audio recording, video and injury certificate to the lawyer. Dad also started investigating Ly Uyen Nguyet. The things he investigated were even more unsightly than he thought. Chu Chu's biological father never lost contact. The story about blocking the door and causing trouble was something she made up. Charitable activities are something she finds someone to arrange.