Chapter 13 — The First Foundation Stone

During the interview, the reporter asked me: What do you feel is the key to your success? I thought for a few seconds. "When I was seventeen years old, my parents divorced and asked me who to follow. I said I just needed the house. That was the first time I made a decision on my own, and also the first time I knew: no one will take responsibility for you until the end, so you have to stand on your own." "Have you ever regretted it?" "Never." The day the magazine was released, Co Ngon bought ten copies. "What's the point of buying so many?" "Give one to each of your parents, give it to both of your parents. Tran Doa took one copy, left one at the company, kept the rest." "Are you calling 'our parents' now?" He took out a small box from his pocket. Open up. A ring. Not a large carat, but a very special design: a minimalist circle, the inside engraved with a small text. I leaned closer to look. "September 17, 01." That was the first day of school when I was seventeen years old. The day we first talked to each other. “To Van.” He looked at me. "Yes." "Marry me." I looked at the other ring. Looked for a long time. Then he held out his hand. "Put it on for me." The wedding was very small, only inviting twenty people. My mother came, bringing her husband. My father also came, alone, wearing a new shirt. Tran Doa was the bridesmaid, crying even harder than the bride. There are no cheesy vows at the wedding. Co Ngon only said one sentence: "From today onwards, your business is my business. But your company matters." Everyone laughed. I said: “Same.” After the wedding ended, I stood on the hotel balcony. The whole city was glowing with lights. When I was seventeen years old, I sat alone in an empty living room, turning the TV volume up three notches to fill the silence. At that time I thought: It's okay, I can live on my own. I'm thirty years old now. Have a lover, have a career, have friends, have two houses, have a company with an income of fifty million. People who once made me sad... My father opened a small shop in the countryside, living a quiet life. Truong Vy heard that she got divorced again, no one knows where she went. Tien Tu Tu lives abroad and occasionally likes my posts on social networks. Luu Giai soon disappeared among the sea of people. I don't hate them. Don't thank them either. They are just shadows that have passed through my life. What truly makes me is every choice I make. When I was seventeen years old, I chose the house, not the adults. It was the first foundation stone in my life. Later, everything was built from that foundation stone, brick by brick, tile by tile. One day Tran Doa asked me: "If you had chosen to follow your mother or your father at that time, what would it be like now?" I thought for a moment. "I don't know. But it probably won't be like now." "Do you think it's good now?" I looked at the horizon outside the window. "Pretty good."