Chapter 1 — The House Without Me

On my birthday, Chu Tu Bach bought the old house where I grew up, and right in front of everyone from the Tang and Chu families, he gave it to Duong Chi.

“From now on, this place will be called Chi Vien.”

He led Duong Chi's hand to the middle of the main hall, his gentle voice as if announcing a happy story for everyone.

“This will be her first private gallery after returning home.”

The whole stadium was filled with applause. I stood outside the door, still carrying offerings in hand to prepare for my grandmother, but my feet seemed rooted to the spot. Today is not just my birthday. It's also the fourth year anniversary of my grandmother's death. Half an hour ago, Chu Tu Bach personally drove me here. On the way, he fastened my seat belt and turned up the air conditioning temperature because he was afraid I would get cold. I thought he finally remembered what I said. I want on my birthday to come here and sit with my grandmother for a while. Even though she is no more. But now, the house my grandmother left behind is draped with red silk and filled with Duong Chi's paintings. Even the old sign with the words "Tham Family Carpentry Workshop" in front of the door has been replaced with the gilded word "Chi Vien".

“Sister, are you back?”

Duong Chi seemed to have just discovered me, a flash of panic flashed in his eyes. She carried her dress and walked towards me, her face full of guilt.

"I just found out that Tu Bach prepared this gift."

“This is the house that grandmother Tham left me, how can you receive it?”

Her mouth said she couldn't accept it, but behind her back, the paintings were already displayed. Even the brochure for the opening ceremony had several hundred copies printed. On the cover is a photo of her standing in front of her old house. Below is small text:

—— Young painter Duong Chi has finally returned to her homeland.

I stared at that line, suddenly feeling ridiculous. Duong Chi has never been here a day, yet he learned the words "homecoming" earlier than me. Duong's mother held her hand, her voice sad:

“This is Tu Bach's heart, please accept it.”

“In the past years, I have suffered a lot abroad alone, and now that I have returned, I must have my own career.”

She turned to look at me, her gentleness from before had faded somewhat.

“Am Am, now you marry into the Chu family, you won't lack anything.”

"As for Duong Chi, because of the identity incident that year, even domestic relationships were broken. You are sisters, you should support each other."

The two words "sisters" are normally very rarely mentioned. It's been four years since I was accepted back into the Duong family. Only when they need me to give in to something do they remember. Duong Chi didn't like my room, so I immediately moved to the guest room. Duong Chi would be sad when he saw me taking pictures with my parents, so I was never in the Duong family's family photos. Duong Chi couldn't accept her fiance marrying someone else, so even though Chu Tu Bach and I had been married for three years, I couldn't appear too happy in front of her. Now, she wants my old house. They immediately said, I have had enough. I looked at Chu Tu Bach. Today he's wearing the long gray coat I chose, with the silver cufflink I gave him on the sleeve. Seeing me hesitate to say anything, he walked over to take it offerings in my hand.

“Why are you standing at the head of the wind like this?”

"My hands are so cold, I don't know how to wear more clothes."

He held my hand, frowned slightly, as if he was really sad. In the past, as long as he used this tone to talk to me, no matter how much self-pity I felt, I would swallow it back. But today, I only smell a strong smell of sawdust in the yard. In that smell of sawdust, I suddenly realized something was missing in the yard. I passed him, looking east. There was originally an old apricot tree there. It's the apricot tree my grandmother planted herself the second year after picking me up. There is also a faint knife mark on the tree trunk, which is my name that I playfully carved when I was seven years old. Now, only half of the newly sawed tree stump remains. The sawed wood core is still wet and white. Like a wound that hasn't yet had time to scab over.

“Where is the apricot tree?”

My voice is a bit hoarse. Chu Tu Bach followed my gaze, his expression slightly frozen.

“It's tight.”

He spoke very naturally.

"That tree is too old, the canopy covers the light of the main hall. Later this place will be used as a gallery, light is very important."

Duong Chi added softly: "Plus, I'm a bit allergic to apricot pollen." After she finished speaking, she immediately looked at me with an uneasy look.

“Sister, I'm sorry, I didn't know that tree was so important to you.”

“If I knew in advance, I would definitely stop it.”

Duong's mother frowned.

“Isn't it just a tree?”

“Duong Chi's health is not good, is it because keeping a tree makes her suffer from allergies every day?”

I did not answer. When I was a child, my family was poor, and in the winter, my grandmother had to use old cotton cloth to stuff it into the crack of the door. She said, when the apricot tree grows, its branches and leaves will block the wind for me. Later, the apricot tree grew really big. But grandma couldn't wait for me to come home. Four years ago, when the Duong family found me, everyone said I would end up miserable. My grandmother stood at the yard door packing my luggage for me, telling me over and over that when I go there, I must live in harmony with my family. She was afraid that I would miss her and refused to stay at the Duong family. So, the second month after I left, she was seriously ill and had to be hospitalized, and she didn't let the neighbors notify me. By the time I got the news and ran back, the apricot blossoms in the yard had all fallen. She couldn't even open her eyes to look at me again. This old house is the last thing she left me. When she passed away, the house was still under the name "Tham Carpentry Workshop Cooperative", which had long since ceased operations. In her will, it was only written to leave it to me. Chu Tu Bach said he would help me with the procedures, so I immediately handed over all the documents to him. Looking back, he had indeed completed the procedure, the only thing was that he used the name of the Chu Family Cultural Tourism Company to purchase the old property, leaving the ownership in the company's name. But Chu Tu Bach never asked me. Without even telling me in advance. He just bought it back, cut down the apricot tree, changed the sign, and then gave it to Duong Chi. It's like dealing with an old, unimportant item.

“Yin Yin.”

Chu Tu Bach realized that my face was not good, so he squeezed my hand.

“I know you miss this place.”

"But the house has been in disrepair for many years, and even if left in my hands, it will only become more and more abandoned. Now, renovating it into a gallery, at least let people see it again."

“Moreover, Haven't you always wanted to participate in a project to restore ancient architecture?"

He smiled, as if he had planned everything for me.

“In the future, the restoration of the gallery can be left to you.”

“I'm in charge of the design, Duong Chi is in charge of the exhibition, cleverly promoting each person's strengths.”

“Isn't that good?”

Turns out, he didn't just give my house to Duong Chi. But she also forced me to repair it myself. Duong Chi's eyes were a little red and he carefully pulled my sleeve.

“Sister, I really don't intend to compete with you.”