Chapter 1 — Three Years Waiting for a Call

The moment the piece of windshield pierced my throat, I heard the mute husband I was protecting suddenly shout hoarsely: "Van Dao, be careful!" But Van Dao is the name of my best friend. The next second, he pushed me away like a torn sack, just trying to crawl out of the car compartment to save my best friend from the burning car. My best friend's voice trembled with surprise: "Tri Nghien, you, you actually know how to talk?" "But An Ninh has been with me in rehabilitation for three years, you've never opened your mouth." "Why?" "Because of the noise." Seeing that she was okay, Tri Nghien finally breathed a sigh of relief. He patiently explained to her: "All day long, just because of a little thing, you chirp non-stop, it's so annoying." "When she learns to be quiet, I'll tell her." But he didn't notice, I was stuck in the car compartment, my tears were mixing with blood, drop by drop falling onto the dusty car seat. On his lips, there was only a self-mocking smile left. After this, I became especially quiet. He knelt in front of me again, his eyes red, time after time humbly begging me to open my mouth: "An Ninh, please, please talk to me." "Even just one word will do." 1 When the ambulance arrived, Tri Nghien finally remembered me, and quickly carried me out of the car compartment. His arms were clenched very tightly, but his fingertips were shaking violently. The nurse urgently asked: "Sir, what is the injured person to you?" Tri Nghien opened her lips. But in the end, he just blushed and shook his head, not making any sound. He turned into that mute husband who couldn't speak. The nurse thought he was so impatient that he lost his voice, so she quickly comforted him: "Don't be afraid, your wife still has vital signs." In front of my eyes was all blood, I couldn't see Tri Nghien's expression clearly. I just felt him hold my hand, very strongly. In that moment, I thought wildly. Maybe Tri Nghien also loves me. It's just that love is so little, pitifully little. When I woke up again, I was in the hospital room. Outside the door, Lam Van Dao asked in a low voice: "Is An Ninh still awake?" Tri Nghien said yes. My fingertips suddenly curled up. Turns out his voice is so good. Exactly like the look I've dreamed of countless times. I used to think that the first time I heard him open his mouth, I would definitely cry and hug him. But now, I can only lie on the hospital bed, listening to him and Lam Van Dao talk. From the car accident to the hospital. Then from the hospital, he talked about the moon last night, talked about the book Lam Van Dao was reading recently, and talked about the new coffee shop downstairs. The little things couldn't get any smaller. But those same words, if spoken from my mouth, would turn into noise. I lay in the hospital bed, my throat was sore and numb. But the chest pain is even more painful. It turns out that Tri Nghien doesn't dislike talking. It's not that I don't know how to listen to these small, insipid things. He just doesn't want to talk to me. Lam Van Dao was silent for a moment, then finally opened his mouth: "Tri Nghien, you have clearly recovered very well." "Tell An Ninh soon, she will go crazy with joy." Outside the door it was quiet for a long time. It took so long that I almost thought Tri Nghien would be able to speak. But he just said in a low voice: "Wait a little longer." "I really don't want to talk to her." "Every time she opened her mouth, it was about what to eat today, what did she see on the street, have the flowers bloomed downstairs yet." "It's too noisy." I was lying on the hospital bed, and suddenly even the wound no longer felt painful. I just felt a stream of bitterness, little by little, rising from my chest. Choking in the throat, choking in the eye sockets. Also choked up all the deep feelings

for my right hon for the past three years. I remember the first time I took Tri Nghien to a class reunion. Someone was drunk and pointed at him and laughed: "An Ninh, why are you looking for a mute guy like that? Isn't it because you want his disability allowance?" The whole table laughed, the sarcastic laughter was like needles piercing my ears. Tri Nghien sat next to me, her face a little pale. I immediately picked up the glass of wine and poured it over. That person scolded me for being sick. I blushed and argued with him until my voice was hoarse. "He just has an injured throat so he can't speak for the time being." "On what basis do you insult him?" That day after returning home, Tri Nghien pulled my hand back. Red eyes, each stroke was using the sign language. "Sorry." "I'll try." "I'll definitely learn how to talk soon." I hugged him, cried and shook my head. "It's okay, I'll wait for you." "Wait as long as you want." Later I really waited three years. Do rehabilitation with him, practice pronunciation with him. Time after time, I taught him to call my name. "An Ninh." "Tri Nghien, please read along with me." "An——Ninh——"He always looked at me silently. I thought he hadn't recovered well. So I never pushed him or blamed him. I eat alone, say good night alone. Alone, facing eternal silence with no response. It's not without self-pity. It's just that every time I feel sorry for myself, I tell myself. Tri Nghien has suffered enough. He lived in a world where he couldn't make a sound, and he was definitely more sad than me. So I try to fill this house with excitement. Today the afternoon is very beautiful, tomorrow strawberries in the supermarket will be on sale. He cannot speak. So I will say both of your parts alone. But it turns out, he just reserved all his silence for me. Outside the door, Lam Van Dao asked again: "What about An Ninh?" Tri Nghien was silent for a few seconds. "She has an injury to her throat, she won't be able to speak in a short time." "That's good, at least I can be quiet for a while." Lam Van Dao said a little happily. "Great, so this is just a secret that the two of us know!" Having said that, she seemed a little embarrassed and stuck out her tongue. "But to make it up to Tieu Ninh, I will treat her better in the future." Tri Nghien smiled. Laughter penetrated through the door, hitting me, causing tears to silently slide down. At this moment, I made up my mind and quietly withdrew from Tri Nghien's silence. 2 On the day I was discharged from the hospital, Tri Nghien came to pick me up, and it was raining lightly outside. Tri Nghien placed the umbrella on top of my head, the umbrella unconsciously tilted halfway towards me. I was just about to get in the car when someone suddenly called me from behind. "An Ninh?" It was Chu Man's university friend. Her eyes roamed around me and Tri Nghien, smiling. "It's really you." "Three years have passed, is it still that dumb husband next to you?" My fingertips trembled slightly. Chu Man seemed to have finally found something interesting, her smile became even clearer. "That year because of him, you had such a fierce argument with someone at the class reunion." "I thought this love of yours could really move heaven and earth, making mute people learn how to talk." Her eyes were full of contempt, not hiding it at all. If it were before, I would definitely block Tri Nghien's face. It will be like that class reunion, red eyes instead of him arguing. But this time, I didn't move. I just slowly raised my head and looked at Tri Nghien. He only needs one sentence, one sentence is enough. He said “no”. Say “don't talk to her like that”. Say "I am her husband". Even if you just call my name once. That's OK. I even think cowardly. He just needs to open his mouth. Just at this moment, he could stop the awkwardness and humiliation that was about to happen on my behalf

sink me. I can find a reason to continue loving him. But Tri Nghien just remained silent. He stood in the rain, like a truly mute person, letting Chu Man's contempt penetrate my skin little by little. "An Ninh, look." Chu Man smiled even more contemptuously: "You are a joke." I didn't pay attention, just stubbornly looked at Tri Nghien. Until the last ray of anticipation slowly subsided. Until the taste of blood rose again in my throat. Until I suddenly felt that my chest no longer seemed to hurt so much. After returning home, Tri Nghien placed the hair on the table. I took out the board and wrote: "Don't listen to her nonsense." I didn't respond, just went into the office. That's where all of our rehab stuff has been located for the past three years. Pronunciation cards, sign books, practice notebooks. There were also pieces of cheering paper written by me. "Tri Nghien is also very good today." "Let's take it slow." "One day, I will call your name." I picked up each piece of paper, then threw them all in the trash bag. Tri Nghien finally panicked, he grabbed my wrist. His eyes were full of impatience, his handwriting was very fast. "What are you doing?" "You don't need these things anymore?" "Do you want to give up on me?" When this sentence fell, I suddenly felt extremely foolish. Obviously the one who abandoned me first was him. I bowed my head and threw the last practice notebook into the trash bag. Then turned back to the bedroom. That night, I slept very lightly. Woke up in the middle of the night, the bed next to me was empty, the tablet at the bedside was still on. Tri Nghien's Wechat is still logged in there. On the screen, the name Lam Van Dao stabbed my eyes painfully. In the chat box are dozens of voice messages. All sent by Tri Nghien. The latest news was ten minutes ago. Tri Nghien's voice came from the tablet, low and very gentle. "Van Dao, have you slept yet?" "Did you have insomnia again today?" "Don't be afraid, I'll sing you a song." After that, there was a very quiet song. I continued to scroll up. It turned out that he had sent Lam Van Dao many, many voice messages like that. Sometimes it's good morning, sometimes it's good night. Sometimes it's to remind her of the weather, sometimes it's to share what you like. Inconsequential and small. I listened to those voice messages over and over again, and finally I couldn't help but laugh. Laughing and laughing, tears falling onto the tablet screen. Finally, I silently turned off the tablet and took out the divorce agreement that I had prepared yesterday. Line by line, I signed my name on it. 3After one o'clock in the morning, there was suddenly a soft noise outside the door. My whole body stiffened. Because there were a lot of footsteps, those people were trying the password. Looking through the cat's eyes, sure enough, there were three strange men standing outside. A layer of cold sweat immediately broke out on my back, and my hands were shaking so much that I could barely hold the phone. Instinctively sent a text message to Tri Nghien. "There is a stranger outside the door opening the door." "Can you send me a recording?" "Please." After the message was sent, I almost held my breath and waited. Tri Nghien answered very quickly. "Tieu Ninh, you know." "I can't say." Immediately after that, he forwarded several short videos. The title is: "Girls living alone must have, fake boyfriend's voice." "When a stranger knocks on the door, play this part, the feeling of security is overwhelming." I stared at the screen, my fingers cold and stiff. Apparently he can talk. Obviously just send one sentence. “Who's out there?” “I've called the police!” Even just a random sentence is fine. But he would rather send some fake voice clips he found online. Also refused to save me.