Chapter 8 — Youth Returns to You

"Luc Tri! What are you pretending to be in love with now? At first, didn't you say she was easy to coax? Didn't you say she couldn't leave you?" Luc Tri's face turned pale. I looked at him. He opened his mouth to explain, but couldn't say a word. Hua Niem Niem seemed to have finally grasped a knife that could hurt others. "You said she was too obedient, leave it alone for a while and she would come back on her own. You also said wait until she changes her wish, from now on you all stay in the city, she can only revolve around you!" The atmosphere in front of the apartment complex's gate seemed to freeze. The panic under Luc Tri's eyes was completely out of control. "Stop talking!" His voice broke. Hua Niem Niem was scared and took a step back, tears streaming down her face. I'm very calm again. It turns out that the truth that hurts the most, when heard, won't make you bleed. Because that piece of meat died a long time ago. The phone rang. Mom called me from upstairs: "Nam Chi, check to see if the suitcase zipper is broken." I turned around and went into the apartment complex. Luc Tri followed two steps behind, his voice so hoarse it didn't sound like words. "Nam Chi, those words are because of you bastard. At that time I didn't know I would lose you." My steps didn't stop. Behind them came the sound of Hua Niem Niem crying and scolding, the sound of Luc Tri apologizing, and the sound of a security guard advising them to leave. When the elevator door closed, the glass reflected my face. Eyes are not red. I placed the admission notice from Bac Thanh University in the outermost layer of my suitcase. On the day of departure, my mother asked for half a day off to take me to the high-speed train station. The station platform was very crowded, with loudspeakers constantly urging ticket checks. Unexpectedly, Luc Tri also came. He had lost a lot of weight, his hair was cut very short, and he was holding a kraft paper bag in his hand. Seeing me, he didn't rush over, just stood outside the security check gate. Mom frowned and stood in front of me. Luc Tri said in a low voice: "Auntie, I just said a few words." Mom looked at me. I nodded. He walked closer, but stopped a step away, as if he had finally learned to keep his distance. "In here are the things you gave me before." The mouth of the paper bag opened. There's a scarf I knitted on the wrong side, there's a note filled with words of encouragement, there's an instant photo taken on the riverbank. There was also a dolphin bracelet that he had repaired. "I don't dare keep it anymore." His fingers trembled violently. "Every time I see it, I remember the day you stood at the rest stop waiting until dark." The loudspeaker prompted to start checking tickets. Mom gently pulled my suitcase. Luc Tri was impatient, his eyes immediately reddened. "On Nam Chi, you have completely broken up with Hua Niem Niem. She went to school to study for the exam and rioted, saying you ruined her reputation. The school knew that she borrowed money from everywhere and didn't pay it back, so they no longer accepted her." He spoke very quickly, as if afraid I wouldn't have the patience to listen to everything. "Her father doesn't take care of her anymore, now she works at a milk tea shop. Yesterday she was still there." I came to look for you, but I didn't see you." I asked: "Why are you telling me these things?" Luc Tri was stunned. "I thought... you would feel angry." "Her outcome has nothing to do with me." This sentence made the light in his eyes darken. He bowed his head and smiled a bit, even more unsightly than crying. "What about you?" A line of people passed by, and someone pulled their luggage and bumped into his shoulder. He stood still without moving. "I couldn't sleep during this time. As soon as I closed my eyes, I saw your figure standing at the rest stop. That day I went back to look, in the surveillance camera of the rest stop, you sat in front of the convenience store waiting forever, holding that box of drugs in your hand." His voice choked up. "I saw you calling me, calling me three times, I didn't answer." I remember those three calls. The first question is to ask where they are. The second time it was about to get dark, I was a bit scared. The third is

decided to give him one last chance. No calls were answered. Luc Tri raised his hand to cover his eyes, his shoulders shaking. "Nam Chi, I was buying porridge for her at that time. I thought you would wait for me, I thought you would wait for me forever." The ticket gate began to line up. Mom said softly: "It's time to go." I took out the instant photo from the paper bag. In the photo, we are wearing uniforms and smiling brightly. In Luc Tri's eyes, a faint expectation flared up. The next second, I tore the photo in half from the middle. Not tearing us apart, just separating us into two halves. I gave his half back. I put my half in my bag. "Youth, I accept." He took the photo, tears falling on the photo paper. "You don't need me anymore, right?" "Yes." Luc Tri's knees softened, he almost knelt down. The person next to him looked back. He tightened his grip on the other half of the photo, his voice trembling low: "Can I still see you later?" The ticket gate made a "whisking" sound and then opened. I pushed my suitcase in. Behind him, he suddenly shouted loudly: "On Nam Chi!" The crowd turned. Luc Tri stood outside the security checkpoint, his eyes bloodshot, like an abandoned child. "I always reserved the passenger seat for you!" I stopped for a moment. When he turned around, his eyes were full of pleading. I said: "I don't sit in someone else's old position." The ticket gate closed.