Chapter 6 — Winter 1980

Poor people definitely have something to hate. "So... what do you plan to do next?" I asked. "Follow your father back to Taiwan?" She nodded. "I want to go see what kind of place he lives in." "I also want to go to my biological mother's grave and kowtow to her." Her biological mother was her father's first wife. Thirty years ago, due to a difficult birth and a stillborn child, she sadly passed away. We two sisters are both pitiful people without mothers. It's just that my mother gave me life. And her mother lost her life because of her birth. Thinking like that, she's even more pitiful than me. "What about you?" She asked me. “Are you going to Taiwan with us too?”Go to Taiwan. That place is full of charm. I nodded without hesitation. "I want to go." I want to leave this place. Going to a place where no one knows me, starting over. She smiled, she reached out and patted my head. "Okay, let's go together. From now on, we two sisters will never be separated again." Her hand was very warm. Just like my father's hand. That night, I slept especially peacefully. No nightmares, no startled awakenings. Early the next morning, father took us to the train station. The train station in the eighties was as crowded as the sea, noisy and chaotic. Everywhere there were people carrying big bags and small bags, hurrying on their way. Father protected us from behind, and with great difficulty we were able to squeeze onto the platform. The green-hulled train blew its whistle long and slowly entered the station. I looked at that long steel dragon, filled with desire for the future. Just when we were about to board the train. A familiar, demonic voice rang out from behind. "Lin Kien Quan! You can't leave!" I turned my head to look, my heart immediately sank to the bottom of the abyss. It's my mother, Tran Tu Nga. There is also my father, Tran Quang Tai. They chased him all the way to the train station. Mom's hair was even more tangled, her eyes were full of blood, like she hadn't slept all night. She frantically rushed forward, grabbed her father's arm. "You can't take them away! They belong to me!" People on the station platform all looked at us, pointing and talking. Father's face turned red. "Tran Tu Nga! What do you want to do? We have done our best!" Mother screamed mournfully. "You take a gold bar to buy off my kindness of nurturing you for more than ten years? What do you see me as? A beggar!" "I tell you! Without twenty gold bars, no one can leave!" She finally revealed her truest purpose. Not because of love, not because of my daughter. It's because of money. Because the sparkling gold bars can make her not worry about food and clothing for the next half of her life, she can even show off in the village. Dad followed behind her, looking embarrassed and ashamed. He wanted to pull his mother, but didn't dare. Can only keep telling us: "Sorry... sorry... she's crazy..." "I'm not crazy!" Mom pushed dad's hand away. "Tran Quang Tai, you are worthless! You can't even keep your own wife and children! What kind of man are you?" She turned to me and my sister again. "And you two! You ungrateful people!" "I worked hard to raise you from childhood to adulthood! Now you have stiffened your wings, want to fly away, right?" "I tell you! There is no door!" "If you dare to get on this train today, I will stab you right in front of your head." train! Even if I were a ghost, I wouldn't forgive you!" She pointed at the slowly moving train, her eyes determined, not like she was joking. The surrounding chatter became louder. Some people started criticizing us for being unfilial girls. Someone advised my mother to think outside the box. Disperse into a group. Father was entangled with her and couldn't escape. He was so impatient that his head was covered in sweat. The train has started moving. If you don't get on the train, you really won't be able to go anymore. She was so impatient that she was about to cry. "Dad! What should I do now?" At this moment, I made a decision. I let go of my father's hand and walked towards my mother. "I'm not going anymore." Me

speak.09My voice is not loud. But on the noisy train platform, it clearly reached everyone's ears. Everyone was stunned. Mom's screams stopped, she looked at me incredulously. Father and sister also turned their heads in shock. "Nim Niem! What did you say?" I didn't pay attention to them. I just calmly looked at my mother, the woman who gave birth to me, raised me, but also tormented me for more than ten years. "I said, I won't go anymore." I repeated once. "You let them go. I stay." In my mother's eyes, first a flash of crazy joy flashed. Immediately after that, there was strong suspicion. "Are... are you telling the truth?" "Really." "You're not going with them to Taiwan to enjoy happiness anymore?" "Not going anymore." She stared at me, wanting to see a trace of a lie from my face. But I don't have it. My expression was very calm, one could even say cold. Because I really think so. Just now, when mother was throwing tantrums, using her death to threaten us. I suddenly thought clearly of something. Even if I follow my father today to Taiwan, so what? This woman Tran Tu Nga will be like a dog skin plaster, clinging tightly to our bodies. She will not stop writing letters, will not stop making trouble. She will shake up our lives to the point of landslides, and there will be no peace. Dad can probably cope. But what about you? She softened her heart and missed her old love.