Chapter 8 — The Lamp No Longer Shines Because of You

Hua Nhuoc Duong no longer cries and is weak. She exposed all the innuendos and favoritism that the Chu family had given her over the years. The mother-in-law was so angry that she was hospitalized. When Chu Tu arrived, there was only one caregiver in the hospital room. His mother-in-law held his hand and scolded him, saying:
"Mom told me that Gian Ninh is petty and unlucky. Nhuoc Duong also has no conscience, how can she come back to bite us?"
Chu Tu stood by the bed, not answering. He remembered the first day Hua Nhuoc Duong moved in, her mother-in-law personally brought a new set of blankets.
"It's not easy for Nhuoc Duong and her mother, you need to take care of them a little more. Gian Ninh is your wife, of course she has to give in."
They all think they are doing a good job. They all automatically assumed that I had to give way. No one held a knife to force them. The school also knows about him. Colleagues no longer called him to eat together, and the project team also changed people in charge. Every time someone mentioned him in the tea room, their voice quickly lowered. Chu Tu still went to class as usual, but was often absent-minded on the podium. A student asked:
“Teacher, you said before that boundaries in the family are very important, why do the closer people are, the more they have to follow the rules?”
He looked at the case illustration on the presentation screen and suddenly couldn't say a word. Principle. He once used the rule to block Gian Ninh's mother at the door, and also used the exception to welcome Hua's mother into the house. The school bell rang. He packed up his teaching materials and walked out of the classroom. Returning home, electricity and water have been restored and the lights are on. But there was no more food smell in the house. He changed the sofa cover, rearranged the master bedroom, and cleaned the shoe cabinet. He placed the ring in a transparent box. Next to it is a copy of the divorce agreement and half an old photo. On the back of the photo there is only half a sentence:
“We will have…”
He didn't know if after Gian Ninh took the other half of the sentence away, she would sometimes remember the past or not. But he knew clearly that it no longer had anything to do with him. Life in the South is filled with work. Mom's follow-up examination needs to be scheduled, and my new team also needs to complete the processes. The Southern branch has just received a medical support project, we often work overtime until late at night. My new colleagues knew that my mother's legs were not good, so they often took the opportunity to buy me some food and medicine. The first time the project manager, Co Nghien Thanh, came to my house to deliver documents, he stood outside the door waiting for me to confirm that he could come in before entering. My mother poured tea for him, and he took it with both hands.
“Just sit down, I can do it myself.”
Just a very simple statement. But when she returned to the kitchen, my mother secretly wiped the corner of her eyes. Then she asked me:
"Ninh Ninh, this Tieu Co is not a bad person. Does he mean something to you?"
I smiled.
“Mom, I just got divorced.”
"I'm not pushing you. I just feel like you can find anyone in the future, but you have to find someone who respects you."
I put the washed bowls in the sterilizer.
"Yes."
Before Tet, Chu Tu sent a parcel. Inside was a ring and a note. 【You don't deserve to keep it. Expect that from now on there will always be light in your house.】 I donated the ring to a charity auction. The staff asked me what note I wanted for the donated item. I thought for a moment.
“May it light a new path.”
The day we arrived at the Civil Affairs Department, it was snowing in the north and sunny in the south. Chu Tu arrived early. He sat next to the window in the hall, wearing a long dark coat, and his hair was also cut much shorter. When I entered, he stood up.
“Jian Ninh.”
I nodded and sat down in front of the check-in counter. The staff checks the documents and asks whether both parties are willing or not.
“Voluntarily.”
Chu Tu looked at the table. A few seconds later, he also said:
“Voluntarily.”
The steel seal was stamped, two divorce certificates were pushed in front of her. I picked up my book and put it in my pocket. Chu Tu suddenly spoke:
“Is your mother's health still good?”
"Very good."
“So that's good.”
He took out a small glass bottle from his pocket. Inside is mushroom sauce, not anything precious. The mouth of the bottle is covered with two layers of preservation film.
"A while ago I went to see the hotel your mother used to stay in. Downstairs there was a small stall. The owner said that night your mother bought white porridge and ate it with the sauce she brought herself."
"Only then did I realize that she couldn't bear to eat even a decent meal."
He placed the bottle next to the table but did not push it to me.
"I learned how to make a bottle. Maybe it doesn't taste the same. I don't have any other intentions, just wanted to tell you that I remembered."
I looked at that bottle. If six years ago, Chu Tu would learn to make a sauce that my mother likes to eat, maybe I would have been happy for a long time. If it had been that night last year, he would have gone downstairs to take my mother home, maybe I would have forgiven a lot of things later.