Chapter 3 — Tong Van Chieu

5That evening, I appeared with her at the party. Tong Kieu confidently patted my shoulder: "I'll take care of the sponsorship." I can't drink alcohol, so I often feel restricted at parties like this. Tong Kieu talked very comfortably with the bosses, while I only dared to follow behind, holding a glass of fruit juice that was similar in color to red wine. That was the fruit juice that Tong Kieu secretly brought me so that I could pretend if someone offered me alcohol. When she was about to convince a boss, he suddenly pulled up a girl standing behind him. The girl wore a pure white dress, a veil on her head, her mouth pouting, looking intently at the phone, looking like she was having an unhappy time. The girl saw me, then looked at me intently for a long time, then snorted coldly and turned to leave, but was stopped by her father. I was confused, I couldn't remember when I had angered her. Her father held his daughter's hand tightly, smiled and said: "Kieu Kieu, you're so young and yet you're so successful, it really makes me admire you. You rarely come home so you probably haven't met my daughter yet. Let me introduce, this is my daughter, her name is Phuong Nhien." Boss Phuong pushed Phuong Nhien closer to us: "You should learn from Kieu Kieu, if in the future you can be like Kieu Kieu, I will be very satisfied." Having finished speaking, boss Phuong looked at me: "Girl Is this your friend? Doing business with you?" Tong Kieu saw that he could no longer hide from me, so he smiled and nodded: "Yes. This is the main person in charge of the studio - Co That That." I immediately smiled and reached out to shake my hand, but Phuong Nhien pushed my hand away. She squinted her eyes and evaluated me for a moment, then snorted contemptuously: "Dad, are you also going to let me learn from her? Learn how to be Mr. Van Chieu's apprentice?" Hearing the name Tong Van Chieu, the woman standing behind boss Phuong immediately turned her head. When she saw me, she frowned. I kept wondering why this figure seemed familiar. It turned out to be Tong Van Chieu's mother. She slowly walked in front of me, looked me up and down and asked: "Tong Van Chieu's lover? Ah Nhien, what is this about?" During the time Tong Van Chieu and I were together, he often took me to parties of the upper class. No matter what, he always declares me as his girlfriend. The word “mistress” is actually an insult. Tong Van Chieu's mother rarely participated in business activities, so during the time I was with him, I never met her. She only knew that he had a girlfriend named Co That That, and she did not agree with us being together. One time, Tong Van Chieu took me home, but when I got to the door, I was not allowed in, because she stood right at the door and said: "I don't care how many lovers you have, as long as you don't get pregnant and don't claim status." After hearing that sentence, Tong Van Chieu pulled me straight away, from then on he never mentioned taking me home again. I looked straight at the woman in front of me, took a light breath and said: "Tong Van Chieu and I used to have a relationship, but that was a thing of the past. We used to be a decent couple." Phuong Nhien glanced at me, her face full of contempt. "Didn't you rely on this face to seduce Mr. Van Chieu? If not, why would he be with you? Before, he even quarreled with his whole family because of a girl named Tran Van. I watched." I have a photo of her, you look a lot like her." It turned out that Tong Van Chieu had argued with his family because of me. So did he know that it was because of his mother that I went abroad? Tong Van Chieu's mother smiled faintly, her face full of disdain: "At first, I was very curious why Van Chieu would rather cut off relations with the Tong family, just to refuse the marriage that I wanted.

arrange for it. Turns out it's because of you." Phuong Nhien hugged Tong's mother's arm, pretending to be close: "That's right, Aunt Tong, if it weren't for her, Mr. Van Chieu and I would have been married a long time ago, maybe we would still have children by now." She stared at me: "Why was Mr. Van Chieu willing to be with her when you appeared? While obviously you and he have known each other for a long time. If it were Tran Van, he wouldn't say it, because he truly loved her. But what about her, why? Besides this face, there's nothing else you can do to win his love." Tong's mother crossed her arms and looked at Phuong Nhien with contemptuous eyes: "Guess why she looks like Tran Van? Why does Tong Van Chieu love her? Do you think that Tong Van Chieu is someone who can easily change his mind?" Phuong Nhien listened and was bewildered, confused and asked: "Aunt Tong, I didn't guess." Tong Van Chieu's mother sighed: "Then be quiet, don't say any more, help Tong Van Chieu instead of hindering him." Having finished speaking, she turned to look at me: "It's been seven years, has there been any progress?" 6The scene seven years ago when she came to me was still clear before her. I still remember that she had the same attitude, meeting me at a luxury tea shop. Right from the start, she had a threatening attitude, saying that I was not worthy of her son. She said that Tong Van Chieu's future wife must be a wealthy person, and I - an ordinary person, was not even worthy of being Tong Van Chieu's lover. At that time, I almost threw a cup of tea on my face But she pulled out a check and put it in front of me. For that money, I sold myself, sold out the pure feelings that Tong Van Chieu had for me. Without that money, I wouldn't have been able to do anything, just be a normal student, graduate, and then find a job that my family considered stable, and live a boring life. But with that money, I can go out into the world and explore many other possibilities At that time, I probably had some feelings for Tong Van Chieu. If he persisted in pursuing me for a while longer, I would have agreed. But then we would have gone further apart because of the difference in wealth and vision. In the end, I would have lost both love and money. So, I chose that check and gave up on Tong Van Chieu. Seven years later, Tong Van Chieu's mother and I appeared at the same party that I made the right bet, my life really took a different turn.