Chapter 23 — Thirty Million And One Man's Worth

I closed my eyes, the moonlight outside the window fell into the small room, as light as a dream just touched. Six months ago, I stood in front of the lottery center, thinking of a way to hide thirty million. Six months later, I lay in a bed of twelve hundred yuan, thinking again... maybe I should change the bed. A year later, we moved house. The new house is the one I bought from the school district, three bedrooms, one hundred and twenty square meters, all paid in cash. Chu Minh Vien insisted on paying for the interior renovation, 120,000, saying it was the money he earned from the noodle shop, and did not want to rely on it.

“You won't stop me?”

“It's your money, you decide.”

He smiled, his smile carrying a bit of confidence that he had never had before.

“Finally, I don't carry everything alone anymore.”

On the day of moving house, my mother-in-law came. She stood in the middle of the living room, looking around for a long time, her eyes as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

“Really wide.”

“Mom, your room is over here.” Chu Minh Vien opened the door to a bedroom facing south.

“Mom's room?”

“Yes, it's not safe for mom to be alone, so move in with us.”

She stood at the door of the room, the sunlight shining on the floor, shining on her hands that had begun to tremble with age. She bent down to touch the brand new blanket on the bed, the soft cotton I had chosen just for her.

“Mom, no need to say anymore, it's okay to move in.”

She sat down on the edge of the bed, was silent for a long time, then called softly.

“Understanding.”

“All these years… I have been sorry for you.”

"When you lost your job, I didn't comfort you but blamed you for not trying, when my sister asked for money, you didn't stand by me, when Quoc Cuong forced Minh Vien to mortgage the house..."

She choked and couldn't continue speaking. I sat down next to her, speaking softly.

“Mom, it's over.”

“It's over.” She nodded, "but remember, from now on in this house, what you say means what you say."

"It's not me who decides, it's me and Minh Vien who decide together."

“Okay, you two decide.”

A sincere smile, no more calculations, no more defensiveness. At that moment, I suddenly realized that the best use of those thirty million was not to buy a house, open a shop or invest, but to exchange this smile. Two years later, one afternoon. I sat in the general office of "Small Space", watching the sunlight falling through the glass window, as soft as slow music. To Dinh pushed the door and walked in.

“Boss, the year-end report is done.”

“Don't call me boss.”

“So what do you call it?”

“Called partners.”

“Okay, partner, report here.”

She placed the file on the table, and I knew very well—this life, from that day on, was no longer a gamble. I opened the report, each number appeared clearly like a map of the whole journey, cold but made people feel secure because everything had traces, logic, and results. Brand "Small Space" —— affiliated stores: 7 joint venture counters: 22 central kitchens: 1 annual revenue: 68,000,000 yuan annual net profit: 14,000,000 yuan employees: 86 people Among them, the number one employee is To Dinh, head baker and co-founder, who together with me laid the foundation for each first cake, each batch of sweet-smelling ovens until today. Employee number two —— Chu Minh Le. That's right, it's Chu Minh Le. She started at the front desk, three months later became a store manager, and six months later was assigned to headquarters, in charge of all system operations. Every step was very steady and solid. She did well, not in the "so-so" way, but really really well, so good that it made me look at her in a different light. She has an ability that neither To Dinh nor I have — the ability to handle people, the ability to stand between people and still keep pace. Previously, that ability was used by her to demand money from her younger brother, to coerce, to take advantage, but now she uses it to manage the store, train employees, and handle customer complaints. Extremely high performance, coherent, neat, without excess emotions. Her current salary is 12,000 yuan per month, exactly the same as Chu Minh Vien's old salary when she worked at a logistics company. But this time, every penny was earned by her, without borrowing, without relying on, without having to look up to anyone. Thai Quoc Cuong's debt was finally paid off. He worked at a car care shop for a year and a half, saved some capital and opened a small car wash. Not big, just three working positions, net profit per month is about 8,000 yuan, not much, but clean, enough to live, enough to hold your head up. The relationship between him and Chu Minh Le is no longer that of one person clinging to the other, nor is it completely harmonious, just in a moderate state. Each person earns their own money, takes care of their own lives, sometimes quarrels, sometimes makes up, just like any normal couple out there.