Chapter 14 — The Scales Are Finally Balanced

I glanced at him. Tan Duc Hau immediately awkwardly took out his phone, his hand shaking so much that it took him forever to open the screen. One minute later. My phone vibrated. The message appears:

“Qin Duc Hau invites you to join the chat group 'One of the Qin Family'.”

I looked at the group name for a long time.

“One of the Qin Family.”

No longer:

“Only people with the Qin family bloodline.”

I clicked to agree to participate. By the time I left the old villa, it was past one o'clock in the afternoon. My uncle-in-law wanted me to stay for dinner, but I refused.

"Let's leave it another day. I want to go home first today."

Tan Hao followed me all the way to the parking lot.

“Dao Dao…” He looked at me cautiously. “Can I go home?”

“Later.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

I stopped walking and turned to look at him.

“Tan Hao.” I asked softly. “Do you know what disappoints me the most?”

“It's not like my dad called me an outsider.”

“It's not about the will.”

“It's not that group chat either.”

“So what is it?”

I looked straight into his eyes.

“It's been seven years.”

“You have never proactively taken my side.”

“Every time something happens, it's always me who has to bear it alone.”

“What your dad says, you listen to.”

“I never objected.”

“Never really said a word to help you.”

Tan Hao lowered his head.

“One hundred and twenty million is fine, thirty million is fine… to me, it's all just numbers.” I looked at him. “What I really care about is whether or not my husband can stand up for me at an important moment.”

He was silent for a long time.

“I can't do it.” He finally spoke the truth, his voice very quiet. "From childhood to adulthood, I have never argued with my father. Whatever he says is what he says."

“So when he called me an outsider… you thought it was normal?”

“I…” He choked, then shook his head. "It's not normal. But I don't know how to object."

“It's not that I don't know.”

I looked straight into his eyes.

“But I don't dare.”

This time he didn't argue anymore. I got in the car, rolled down the window and said the last sentence:

"Tan Hao, marriage is not something where one person can let the other suffer forever out of fear."

“Go back and think carefully.”

“In the end, what kind of life do you want to live?”

The car drives away. He remained standing in place without moving. When I got back to my mother's house, she was sitting on the sofa watching cartoons with Noan Noan.

"He apologized. The will also said it would be fixed. The debt matter will be handled by the lawyer."

“What about group chat?”

“Added it again.”

Mother nodded slightly.

“If your grandfather knew about this… he would be very happy.”

I sat down, Noan Noan immediately climbed onto my lap.

“Mom, are you going to grandpa's house today?”

“Is grandpa still sick?”

“Grandpa is better.”

“So when are we going to visit grandpa again?”

“Probably soon.”

That evening, cousin Chu Linh called.

“I heard you came to play cards today?”

“What's the situation?”

I narrate the whole process. Chu Linh was silent for a moment then said:

“Tieu Dao... you've really grown up.”

“You should have grown up a long time ago.”

“What about the next step?”

“Next step…” I leaned back on the sofa. “First settle the debt issue with the lawyer.”

“Then take back my grandfather's old house.”

“And then what?”

“Then open my own company.”

Chu Linh burst out laughing.

“Okay, what do you need? Just tell me."

My mother sat next to me and heard it but didn't speak. She just quietly pushed a glass of hot milk in front of me. On the twenty-third day, debt negotiations officially began. Lawyer Tran brought all the documents to the Tan family's house. The eldest uncle and second uncle were also present. This time, Tan Duc Hau was no longer stubborn and coordinated from beginning to end. The final result of the negotiation was: The Qin family made a one-time payment of twenty-six million. Of which twenty million is cash. The remaining six million used the ownership of a commercial premises belonging to the Qin family to compensate. My mother's loan contract that year did not have an official signature, but my grandfather's notebook was supporting evidence. Combined with Tan Duc Hau's direct admission of the debt, the two sides finally reached an amicable agreement. The day he finished signing the papers, when Tan Duc Hau put his fingerprints on the record, his hand shook for a long time.

“Any debt must be paid.” He spoke hoarsely to his uncle.

The eldest uncle sighed softly.

“Dad… if you paid it back sooner, it wouldn't have come to this.”

After leaving the lawyer's office, my mother and I walked parallel on the street.

“Mom.” I smiled at her. “Now I have one hundred and fifty million.”

Mother did not reply.