Chapter 7 — Three Keys, One Broken Marriage

At his place... His parents and younger sister always come first. From beginning to end, only people can sacrifice and give in. Coming to the company, I put all my spirit into work. I have an extremely important space design project in hand. The customer is a leading large corporation in the industry. If this project is successfully signed, not only will there be a huge commission... But I will also be able to truly stand firm in the company. So I pay special attention. The sketch was revised over and over again. The overall plan was also adjusted countless times. I was busy until noon when I remembered to check my phone. More than ten missed calls were piled up on the screen. Yes from Trieu Vu. Yes from Dao Dao. There is also Liu Quelan's mother-in-law. WeChat notifications appear in a long exploding string.

"Thanh Thanh, Dao Dao said she wanted to come pick up her remote control car. I told her to come tonight, is that okay?"

"Sister-in-law, I'll pick up the toy car last night. I'll bring the key back to you by the way."

Luu Que Lan:

"Thanh Thanh, come home for dinner tonight. I'll stew you in chicken soup to nourish you."

I neither open nor respond to any messages. Just send your assistant a message.

“Book a hotel near the company for me, one week in advance.”

The assistant responded very quickly:

"Yes, Thanh. What's wrong? Is the house being repaired?"

“Yes, there's something to do.”

I won't explain further. In the afternoon, I continued to bury my head in making plans. It was almost time to get off work when Trieu Vu called again. I pressed listen.

“Thanh Thanh, will you come home for dinner tonight?”

His voice was extremely careful.

"My mother stewed soup for you to nourish."

"If you don't come back, I'll work overtime."

“Overtime again?”

“The project is urgent.”

“So… Dao Dao said she has to go on a business trip tomorrow and wants to come over tonight to pick up her toy car, can you let her come?”

I was silent for a long time.

“Trieu Vu.”

My voice was calm and cold.

“That's my house.”

“You decide for yourself.”

“Thanh Thanh, don't talk like that…”

“I'm busy, I'll hang up.”

Without waiting for him to say more, I directly hung up. Then turn off the phone and continue working. At eight o'clock in the evening, I left the company. I'm not going home. But go straight to the hotel. The assistant hotel is located right near the office building, the conditions are quite good, and also very quiet. I took a hot shower and then lay down on the bed. After turning the phone back on, a series of unread messages immediately popped out.

"Thanh Thanh, where are you? Why aren't you home yet?"

"Dao Dao came to pick up the toy car, but the key... she said she forgot to bring it, she'll give it to me tomorrow."

"Where are you? Can you answer me one question?"

“Sister-in-law, I got the toy car, I'll bring you the key tomorrow.”

Luu Que Lan:

"Thanh Thanh, I still have the soup for you, when will you come home and drink it?"

I don't answer to anyone. Delete all messages. Power off the phone. Then conveniently throw it aside. Then close your eyes and force yourself to sleep. From that day on, almost every day I buried myself in the company until late at night. Go out at seven in the morning. It was after twelve o'clock at night when I returned. There were times when I decided to sleep at the hotel. Trieu Vu called me countless times. WeChat also sends continuously without stopping. But I rarely answer the phone. It's even rarer to respond. Occasionally respond to a sentence... Just a few cold words.

“It's increasing ca.”

“Not coming back.”

Trieu Vu once came to the company to stop me, but I told the receptionist to use the excuse "in a meeting" to refuse to meet. He even went to the hotel to find me. But before that, I told the receptionist to keep saying he couldn't look up this guest's information. A week passed, and Trieu Vu finally couldn't stand it anymore. That night, it was nearly half past twelve when I returned to the apartment. Use the key to open the door, the living room light is still on. Trieu Vu sat on the sofa, his face dark and scary.

“Shen Qing, we need to talk.”

After I changed my slippers, I didn't even glance at him from the corner of my eye.

“I'm tired, let's talk tomorrow.”

“Must say it now!”

Trieu Vu stood up and stood in front of me.

“Tham Thanh, what do you want to do?”

“For the past week, I've been working overtime every day as an excuse, and every day I wander home in the middle of the night.”

“Not at home, not answering the phone, not answering WeChat.”

“Are you really planning to divorce me?”

I raised my head to look at him. Trieu Vu's eyes were full of red blood, and under his chin was a green beard. The whole person looked much more emaciated. But there is no more wavering in my heart.