Chapter 5 — The Price of Contempt

Phuong Vien Chau suddenly changed her tone, urgently: "Isn't your mother from the countryside? Where did she come from?"

“Vien Chau.” I said. “It seems like you've never asked where my mother lives.”

He paused, he hadn't really asked in the past two years. In his mind, my mother was just someone from the countryside, not worth getting to know.

“You can look up Tieu Nien's household address yourself and you'll know.”

After I finished speaking, I hung up. Half an hour later, his WeChat exploded, messages were pouring in with three consecutive question marks, clearly he had just finished looking it up and couldn't believe it.

“East of the old resettlement area?”

“That's not the place, is it?”

“Is this address… the same as the experimental school?”

I can imagine the look on his face, his mouth opened but he couldn't close it, because the school he spent 30,000 yuan on for half a year couldn't get into, just my mother's house was enough. Ten minutes later he called back, his voice was completely different, no longer commanding but becoming more cautious and probing.

“An Ninh… your mother is… the clearing house in the east.”

There was a sound of heavy breathing on the other end of the line, and after a long while he spoke.

“Then why didn't you ever tell me?”

I didn't answer, because the answer was too simple and too cruel. It's not that I didn't say it, it's that my mother didn't let me say it. That night, Phuong Vien Chau didn't call again, but the family group "Our family" that they formed separately without me exploded. Phuong Vien San was the first to panic, texting repeatedly asking for confirmation, his voice full of excitement.

“Are you telling the truth, your mother and sister-in-law are the rescuers?”

“On the east side, that experimental school district?”

“My friend who works in real estate said the average price over there is more than 40,000 yuan per square meter.”

The mother-in-law sent a voice, converted into words, still in a voice of disbelief, both doubtful and wavering.

"Are you sure about Vien Chau? How can she be a rescuer like that? The outfit she's wearing is less than 50 yuan."

Phuong Vien Chau replied that she had checked, it was true that that area was cleared five years ago, my mother was an original resident, her household registration was there, Tieu Nien had also moved over. Phuong Vien San immediately asked questions, wanting to know how many houses there were. He replied that he did not know clearly, but at least there was one house opposite the experimental school. The mother-in-law sent her voice again, this time it was halfway through a sentence and then fell silent, followed by a very long silence. No one spoke further, because everyone was remembering how they had treated that "old country woman" in the past two years. Forced to sleep in the storage room, forced to use cold water to wash dishes, forced to sit in the corner of the kitchen to eat pickles, not allowed to go out, not allowed to speak, not allowed to go to the table, when they go out, they say they are helping, but behind their backs they call them "that type of person". Meanwhile, the person they stepped under has many times more assets than their entire family combined. The next morning, Phuong Vien Chau arrived. Not alone, but taking my mother and sister with me. Three people stood downstairs, dressed more neatly than usual, carrying gifts in their hands. He was wearing a crisp shirt and carrying two bags of fruit. My mother-in-law wore the sweater I bought again and put on more makeup. Phuong Vien San went too far, wearing a floral dress and holding a bouquet of flowers in her hand. A bouquet of flowers... for my mother. Two days ago she even called my mother "that type of person". Today I brought flowers again. I let them go upstairs. As soon as they entered, the three people's reactions were as if they had been rehearsed. My mother-in-law was the first to speak, holding my mother's hand and smiling brightly.

“Oh my dear, I haven't been here for a long time. The house is so beautiful.”

She had never been there, even I don't know where my mother lives. Phuong Vien San gave flowers, her voice was so sweet it was sickening.

“Mom, flowers for you, you look so fresh today.”

She finally called her mother. Last time, she was also called "housemaid". My mother bewilderedly received the flowers and looked at me, not knowing how to react. Phuong Vien Chau walked closer to me and lowered her voice very low.

“An Ninh, what happened yesterday... was my fault.”