Chapter 7 — The One Who Remembers Me Instead

"He pampered her so much that she didn't know how high and how thick the sky was, even though she didn't care about the reputation of the family and her sisters, she freely interacted with men."
“The way she ended up today, wasn't it all caused by one person?”
“A Nguyen…”
"People say my sister doesn't understand things and tell me to give her more."
“Now, I don't want to give in anymore, nor do I want to continue to clean up the chaos for her.”
The mother's tears fell in large drops, hitting the hem of her shirt, spreading into dark round dots. In the past, every time she cried, Ky Minh Chau was always by her side to comfort her. At this moment, she stood in front of me crying. I just coldly stood aside and watched. She choked up:
"A Nguyen, mother knew she was wrong... At that time she was confused. But my sister grew up like my great-grandmother, every time she looked at her, she immediately..."
I nodded:
“I know.”
A bit of hope suddenly appeared in her eyes. She stepped up:
“So you…”
I interrupted her:
"But you are biased. Why do you force me to pay the same price as you?"
The light in her eyes went out. We continue to say:
“Do you remember the last time you gave me something?”
The mother opened her mouth but could not speak.
“People don't remember.”
I said:
“Because you have never given me anything.”
For sixteen years. A plate of cakes, a bunch of fabric, a box of colors, a brooch. The things she gave to Ky Minh Chau, I can only stand by and look at with longing. You have never seen the things Ky Minh Chau took from me. Finally, we say:
"Mother, please go back. I will not interfere with your sister's matters."
When I turned around to return to the inner courtyard, behind me came the suppressed cry of my mother.
15
That night, I sat under the light. Qi Du carried a bowl of hot cow's milk and pushed the door open. He placed the bowl in my hand and sat down next to me, saying nothing. I raised the bowl. The warmth from the milk passes through the bowl to the palm of your hand, extremely warm.
“My mother arrived today.”
I said.
"YES."
“I told her to come back.”
Qi Du did not ask why, nor did he advise me. He just reached out and tucked a strand of hair that fell on my cheek behind my ear.
“A Nguyen, when I married you, my grandmother told me something.”
I raised my eyes to look at him.
"The great-grandmother said: 'This Vong Nguyen child has suffered too much. The things he didn't say, you have to remember for him.'"
My eye sockets suddenly became hot. Qi Du smiled, reaching out to cover the back of my hand holding the bowl.
“In the future, whether you say it or not, I will remember it for you.”
The heat from the bowl of milk blew onto my face, making it as wet as an extremely small rain. Finally, my tears fell. One drop, two drops. Tears fell into the bowl, creating small ripples. He didn't ask why I cried. He just placed his hand on mine, waiting for the rain to stop on its own.
16
In the end, Ky Minh Chau was not taken to the family temple. Her father was still soft-hearted, welcomed her back to the palace, and arranged for her to live in a remote courtyard behind. Her mother came to her every day, bringing food and clothes, as if she was still the pampered daughter of the past. But the retirement letter of the Lang family had been written, and the story had spread throughout the capital. Ky Minh Chau's reputation fell to the bottom. None of her previous brothers appeared. She Unable to go out the door, every day he looked at the four corners of the sky in the courtyard, gradually losing weight. All of these stories were told by Mother Qin when she came to the Qi family to visit me. Mother Qin is old and her back is even more bent. The wrinkles on her face were like a dried up riverbed. She sat opposite me drinking tea. When talking about things in the palace, she sighed:
"Second Miss doesn't know. Right now she is often in a daze."
"Once, an old slave passed by the lady's courtyard and heard the person sitting under the window talking to himself, regretting that he had never bought cinnamon flower cakes for him before."
My hand holding the cup of tea did not move. Mother Tan said:
"And that white jade hairpin. After the first lady was locked up, the lady came to ask for it, saying she wanted to return it to the second lady."
"The eldest lady refused to give it to her. The two of them argued for a while."
“When the lady came out, her eyes were red and her hands were empty.”
The tea is cold but I don't drink it. Outside the window, the begonia plant is half blooming. The flowers are pink and white, like covered with a thin layer of snow. I put down the tea cup:
"Mama, you go back and tell your great-grandmother that I'm doing well. Tell her not to worry."
Mother Tan looked at me. Something seemed to stir slightly in her old, cloudy eyes. She nodded. When she stood up to say goodbye, she suddenly turned around and said:
“Second lady, once the old lady told the old slave that the most regretful thing in her life was not being able to pick her out of the hospital soon.”
I lowered my eyes. After a long while, I said softly:
“Grandmother did not blame me.”
She gave me all the best things. Her jade bracelet, her brooch, the most powerful person next to her and Qi Yu.
17
A year later, Ky Minh Chau was able to step out of the backyard. Her mother searched everywhere for people to consider another marriage for her.