Chapter 10 — Three Hundred Twenty Eight Yuan Card

“There's something I don't know if I should say it or not.”

“What is it?”

“It's about my big brother's bank card.”

“What do you and your mother think in the end?”

I'm folding a coat neatly.

“Think nothing.”

“No way.”

"100,000 yuan if you say you pay, you pay, it's not strange to your mother."

She leaned slightly closer.

“Nien An, please tell me the truth.”

“My older brother really has a habit of boasting.”

“But people really treat me well.”

"My mother did that and the whole family didn't know which side to take for hours."

I put down my clothes and looked straight at her.

“I said the big boy is good to you.”

“So how good is he to you?”

“I've helped my mother and me so much over the years…”

"Three years ago he said he would let me go to Beijing to attend summer camp. Who paid for that 3,500 yuan in the end?"

"Two years ago, the water heater broke down. He said he would give me 2,000 yuan. How much did he actually give? Who will compensate for the remaining 1,000 yuan?"

“That day at the bank, 3,280,000 yuan in his mouth turned into 328 yuan.”

“Who explains that?”

Their sister-in-law's mouth opened and then closed again.

“Nien An, why is this child…”

“Why what?”

"My mother never liked arguing with others, because she didn't think it was worth it."

“But not arguing… doesn't mean not remembering.”

“Sister-in-law, what the eldest brother said, the bank number is clearly printed on the paper…”

“I remember everything.”

“Believe it or not…”

“You decide for yourself.”

She carried two boxes of fruit and left. Before leaving, he stood at the door for a few seconds.

“Hua Niem An, you have changed.”

“How good you were back then.”

“It's not like I've changed.”

“It's just that before... it wasn't time for things to be exposed yet.”

After closing the door, I leaned against the door and stood still for a while. His back was covered in sweat. Mom said to leave it alone. But when people actively come to your door... You can't let them step on your face. The next day when their sister-in-law left, the matter was indeed spread out. Auntie's message in the group:

"Nien An was so obedient as a child, now she knows how to argue with adults."

Second aunt added:

"Once you pass the Thanh Hoa exam, you'll fly to heaven. You won't even look back to see where you came from."

Their sister-in-law also added salt and fish sauce:

"Nien An brought out all the stories that his eldest son had helped him with over the years, story by story."

“That attitude is really not like a junior at all.”

I looked at the phone screen until my fingers stiffened with anger. Mom stood in front of the stove stir-frying vegetables, the shovel turned the food over twice.

“See?”

“Are you angry?”

"The words your sister-in-law spreads out will sooner or later reach your eldest son's ears."

"What he wants to see most right now... is you not being able to keep calm and jumping into the group arguing."

“Just argue.”

“He won.”

"Because everyone will say: look, just having a scholarship, Hua Niem An already doesn't know how high and how thick the earth is."

I threw the phone on the sofa.

“Are you just going to let them oppress you forever?”

“You won't be oppressed forever.”

Mom brought food to the table.

“Next week your grandmother will have her seventy-sixth birthday.”

“The big boy will definitely organize it.”

“The whole family will come.”

“I just need to do one thing.”

“What?”

“Just be yourself.”

Mom said no more. Grandma's birthday falls on Saturday. Duong Kien Hoa booked a large room at the new Hunan restaurant open in the city center. More than thirty relatives were present. When my mother and I arrived, the room was almost full of people. Duong Kien Hoa sat in the chair position. Today he is wearing a black polo shirt and the gold chain is still on. But the spirit is no longer the same as last time, there are pale dark circles under the eyes. Grandma sat next to him. Seeing the mother and child enter, there was not much expression on her face. The last time she called and scolded her mother, now she just remained cold, neither hot nor cold.

“Mom, happy birthday.”

Mom brought the gift over. A cashmere scarf. It was the money she saved for two months' salary to buy it. Grandma took it and just said "yes".

“Tu Van, sit down.”

Mother and child were placed in the same place again. Two positions closest to the door. Tien Le Binh, halfway across the dining table, smiled brightly at us:

"Tu Van, Niem An! Sit down quickly."

Very enthusiastic smile. But that kind of enthusiasm is like a thin layer of sugar-coated paper. Just a little poke and it will tear right away. The food was only halfway on the table when Duong Thien Tuong's phone rang. He looked at the call screen, frowned, stood up and went to the door to answer the phone. When he came back, he didn't sit down right away. Instead, he leaned down and said something into Duong Kien Hoa's ear. Duong Kien Hoa's movement of picking up food stopped. Duong Thien Tuong lowered his voice and said two more words. Duong Kien Hoa's face immediately turned pale. At that moment, the private room door was pushed open. Standing outside the door was a middle-aged man. About forty years old, wearing a simple gray jacket, hair cut very short. In his hand he held a gift box. He didn't look at anyone else. But look directly at grandmother.

“Aunt Duong, long time no see.”

Grandma looked at him with wide eyes for a few seconds.

“You… you are…?”

“My name is Chu Minh Vien.”

“Chi Vien's college friend.”

His eyes turned from my grandmother to me.

“You are Niem An, right?”

“The last time I saw you… you were nine years old.”