Chapter 2 — The Most Calculating Person Is You

Does he ever think of me? He is a university lecturer, our whole family lives in the school's dormitory. From home to school is only a few hundred meters away. Every morning he leisurely rides his bike, admires the scenery, and breathes fresh air. As for me, I had to take my daughter and rush to chase the subway. Maybe my movements were too strong, the boy on my back was startled and cried. The girl in the room heard the movement, rubbed her eyes and ran out, tears streaming down her face. "Mom and Dad, stop arguing, Dao Dao is very scared." Little Dao Dao hugged my leg tightly, crying and trembling. Ly Dong quickly bent down and picked up his child. "Dao Dao, don't be afraid, your mother is just going crazy. Please help me comfort her, okay?" Having finished speaking, he pulled his daughter's hand, smiled and walked closer to me: "Stingy mother, don't be angry anymore! Too much anger will make you worse!"2. After knowing for sure that I couldn't go home anymore, I simply packed up a few things for the children, then took them to the playground. On the way, I called my parents. As soon as I told the beginning and end of the story, I cried until I couldn't speak. During the video call, my parents' eyes were filled with disappointment that they couldn't hide, but they still tried to comfort me: "Phuong Phuong, it's okay, if you can't come back this time, let's wait for another time. Don't argue with Ly Dong anymore, that man... has a gentle personality and a good heart." That's true. In the eyes of outsiders, Ly Dong has always been a perfect and impeccable person. In front of his children, he is gentle and friendly. In front of his parents, he is polite and filial. To his neighbors and colleagues, he was always generous and kind. It's the same in everyday life. When I asked for home delivery, he refused, telling me not to increase the workload for the delivery person. I asked the food delivery driver to compensate me for spilling it. He gave me a five-star rating and even gave me an extra tip. I submitted an article to my favorite magazine, but he secretly withdrew it, saying he wanted to give the opportunity to someone new. I stayed up all night waiting in line to get a place at an important kindergarten near my house for my daughter, but he gave that place to his colleague's son. As a result, my daughter has to wake up an hour earlier every day to go to school. His biological mother was sick, I had to ask everywhere for help, it took three days to get a number to see a specialist. Yet just when he went to confirm on the phone, he gave that number to a complete stranger. As for Tiet Mai's family - the person who borrowed the car this time - actually, they are not close to my family, and cannot even be called good neighbors. The husband in that house lets the small dog urinate right in front of my house every day. Their two eight-year-old twins make noise all day long, causing little Da Da - who has just been born - to have trouble sleeping every night. One time, those two children took my daughter's lollipop and I helped her get it back, but Tiet Mai stood with her hands on her hips and stood in front of my door cursing for more than half an hour, calling my daughter a "fox", seducing their son. Such quarrels and collisions are countless. Yet, just because of one sentence from Tiet Mai, Ly Dong was still able to bring the new car I bought home to lend to them, without the slightest hesitation. 3. At four o'clock in the afternoon, I took my two tired children home. As soon as I arrived at my house, I immediately saw Ly Dong's sister - Ly Nam - and her new boyfriend loading things into the trunk of his car. Seeing me bringing the two children closer, she smiled and called out: "Sister-in-law, are you home?" I forced a smile and replied: "Yes, I'm home. Why don't you go up to the house and play for a bit?" "No need, sister-in-law, I have to go to Tieu Sieu's house later." Ly Nam laughed and said

hand: "You guys said I won't go back to my mother's house this year. These gifts are wasted, I'm going to bring them to my boyfriend's mother, to please her a little." The hand holding my daughter suddenly tightened, my eyes fell on the pile of things on the ground. Including ginseng and deer velvet I bought to nourish my grandparents. There are also jewelry and cosmetics that I carefully selected for my mother. And for cigarettes and good wine, I had to ask someone I knew to get them for my father. All the large and small gifts added up to more than a dozen gifts, costing two months of my salary. To buy them, I saved every penny, never touching my family's savings, and never spending a penny on Ly Dong's salary card. The lump in my throat from this morning seemed to suddenly overturn, making it impossible for me to swallow and breathe. "Sister-in-law, what's wrong? Is there something unwell?" – Ly Nam saw that my face was not good and immediately asked. I didn't want to show off in front of outsiders and the children, so I just coldly shook my head. "It's okay, you two just go, I'll go inside."