Chapter 10 — Want the house to be named after your father? So You Pay The Money

I leaned against the door frame

"What do you drink? Tea or coffee?"

“Whatever.”

She pulled out two boxes of yogurt

“Drink temporarily to avoid shock.”

We each held a box and sat down on the sofa. The curtains were half-drawn, a streak of outdoor light leaked in, falling onto the table.

“Does your mother… know about it?”

She took a sip of yogurt and asked.

“I know.”

I nodded

“When you called me this morning, the reaction... was different than I expected.”

“Let me repeat it verbatim.”

I imitate my mother's voice

"'You are not wrong. If you take that house, you will only be tired. You are my daughter, I only love you, it is not the turn of others to say this or that.'"

“Listen first.”

To Tinh burst out laughing

“Your mother is more sane than you think.”

I felt my heart soften

“At first I was worried she would advise me to be patient.”

“Your mother is not that type of person.”

She said sure

"When we were young, wasn't it because we didn't want to live temporarily that we raised you alone?"

I nodded slightly

“Perhaps she understands best… the price of the word 'temporary'.”

"YES." I nodded

“Perhaps she understands better than anyone else… the price of living a temporary life.”

“So you can't disappoint that support.”

To Tinh looked at me

“If you turn around just because of empty pride, you will truly be sorry to your mother.”

"No."

"If you've come this far, turning back will only cause more trouble."

“Then the next step, you have to shift your focus.”

She tilted her head to look at me

“If you keep focusing on love, it's easy to get caught up in it.”

“I've already started moving.”

“This morning when I signed the contract, I reminded myself—from now on that house will be the new focus.”

"The new focus must be taken care of properly."

She said as she stood up

“Go, take out your house repair notebook.”

“When did you see I had that notebook?”

I'm helpless.

“In your phone notes, you have an ‘Ideal home’ folder.”

She lifted her chin

“I borrowed your phone the other day and accidentally found it.”

“You dare to peek at my phone?”

I glared.

“You turn the screen on yourself and throw it on the table.”

She was calm

“I didn't read the message, I just glanced at the title.”

My throat was blocked, so I stood up and pulled a black-covered notebook from the bookshelf.

“Hey, do you still have a paper copy?”

Her eyes lit up

“Let me see what you wrote.”

I gave her the notebook. She flipped through a page, inside were hand-drawn layout drawings, interior photos cut from magazines, and also dense notes about materials and color combinations. She flipped a few more pages and then looked up

“This is not a note, but a blueprint.”

“It's just an occupational disease.”

I shrugged

“Doing architectural design, my hands always itch to draw.”

“You can completely make this house into a miniature version of your ‘dream house’.”

She clicked her tongue

“When you're done, remember to let me stay here for a few days.”

“You can stay as long as you want.”

“Anyway, there's an empty room.”

She suddenly stopped, her finger stopped on a drawing

“Hey, you originally drew a double bed here.”

I followed. That's the master bedroom layout. On both sides of the bed are symmetrical cabinets, opposite the TV, and next to it is a small desk.

“At the time of drawing… we still hadn't broken up.”

I spoke softly.

“Are you going to fix it now?” she asked.

“The bed is still double, lie comfortably.”

I shrugged

“But the whole room… was just me.”

“The big bed makes you feel safe.”

“So can you give me some color suggestions?”

I pulled the notebook back and drew a few stroke

“Initially, I planned for the bedroom to be light gray with wood, and the living room to be a little warmer.”

“You tend to have a cold style.”

She propped her chin

“But your current state is changing, I think I should add some warm colors.”

“For example, a wall painted coffee with milk, add some mustard yellow furniture.”

She spoke while sketching her hand

“Not too bright, but warm enough.”

I bowed my head to write it down. She looked at my writing hand and suddenly burst into laughter

"You see, just talking about fixing the house makes me come back to life."

“I'm always alert when it comes to professional matters.”

I raised my eyebrows

“Those emotional things aren't enough to knock me down.”

“So that's good.”

She stretched

“I thought you would hide under the blanket and cry for days.”

“That's the eighteen year old version.”

I laughed

"Thirty-two years old... know how to save tears."

She was just about to say something— The doorbell rang twice. We looked at each other. To Tinh lowered her voice

“Isn't it someone from the Trieu family who came?”

"No."

I stood up

“They don't even know my home address.”

I went to the door, looking through the cat's eyes. Outside is a somewhat familiar face. To Tinh leaned out from the sofa.

“You know too.”

I turned my head and said

“Duong Tinh.”

To Tinh paused

“Lawyer To is next to you?”

I turned my hand to unlock the door. As soon as the door opened, Duong Tinh was standing outside carrying a bag of fruit, his hair tied into a low ponytail, his dark blue shirt ironed to the point of not having a single wrinkle.

“Chu An Ninh.”

She held up her bag, smiling slightly

“I came over to visit a little.”

I leaned over to give way

“Why are you free today?”

“Do you think I'm too busy?”

She changed her slippers, her voice still light

“Just finished two cases this week, I took two days off.”

“Do you even know how to take vacations?”

To Tinh jumped up from the sofa

“Oh my god, the sun is rising in the west.”

“Sometimes be a normal person for a little bit.”

Duong Tinh glanced at her

“Consider me coming over to eat.”

“If you want to eat, welcome.”

I received the bag of fruit

“But don't mention the sentence anymore, I heard it was a conditioned reflex.”

“This time I didn't come to talk about the case.”

She went into the living room

“But to be more precise… your matter, said to be a ‘case’, is actually not a case yet.”

“You mean about the house?”

She nodded, pulled out a chair and sat down

“That day in the house sales office, I heard that you directly pushed the contract back.”

“The news spread really fast.”

I raised my eyebrows

“Manager Vuong called you?”

“She called another colleague in the office.”

Duong Tinh said

“Tell her to quote a series of laws, making her sweat.”

“I'm just stating the truth.”

“Not threatening anyone.”

“But it's true that you taught them a lesson.”

Duong Tinh looked at me

“From a legal perspective, the way you handled that day... was very nice.”

“Professional assessment?”

To Tinh came closer

“You lawyers really like to use the word 'beautiful', don't you?”

"Handle in accordance with regulations, be rational, maintain maximum benefits for yourself, and still leave a way out for the opponent."

Duong Tinh explained