If I had known my mother would disapprove, I probably would have kept this a secret until later. Even though I lied to Chang An, saying I was fine, I couldn’t hide my dejected and desperate expression, or even my sighs.
Chang An suggested, “Why don’t you come live in my hometown for a while? Maybe after meeting me, your mother will reconsider?”
I objected, “I know my mother’s personality best. Although she loves me, it’s hard to change her mind once she’s made up her mind.”
I intended to stall for time, waiting to figure things out later. But for the past few days, my mother has been calling me constantly, forcing me to break up with Chang An despite my pleas. Every time she calls, my heart fills with anxiety.
I called Ngoc Nam again for help, asking if he had any new ideas. But it wasn’t Ngoc Nam on the other end; it was Sang who answered on his behalf: “You’ll have to handle this yourself, Phuc. Yesterday, Nam went to see Aunt Hai to talk about you, and she scolded him so badly that he ran back here crying and hasn’t stopped yet. She said it’s her family matter, and Nam shouldn’t interfere.”
I was shocked to hear that. My mother had never been so harsh before. As time went on, I only saw my mother becoming more and more intense, and my relationship with Truong An became increasingly difficult.
Sang added: “Later, Nam and I will return to Saigon. If you’re free, we can talk for a bit.”
At five o’clock in the afternoon, Sang and Nam were already at the Western Bus Station. Truong An and I had driven up to the entrance and were waiting, like welcoming honored guests.
Sang and Nam wanted to go to the airport. Since Nam was already in a bad mood, he wanted to travel with Sang for a few days to clear his head.
I sighed, “Nam, please accept my mother’s apology. She must have been very angry to say that.”
Nam said, “I don’t hold a grudge about Aunt Hai. But I’m so worried about you two. I know you wouldn’t want to leave Aunt Hai for An, after all, she raised you all by herself from childhood.”
Sang clicked his tongue, “I think there’s something fishy going on here that Aunt Hai isn’t willing to talk about. Maybe you should try to persuade her to speak up first, and then we can figure things out later.”
I never wanted to force my mother to say something she didn’t want to. But at this point, perhaps that was the best course of action I had to take.
Putting that aside, I asked, “How long will you two be gone?”
Sang replied, “We’ll be back in a month. Don’t worry, Uncle Dau will take care of things at home. He’s practically rooted to your house; it seems he really wants to bring Hanh and her mother back home.”
Nam suddenly exclaimed, “An still owes me a treat! I introduced him to such a gorgeous girlfriend, and he hasn’t reciprocated at all!”
Truong An chuckled, “Alright, alright. When I become Phuc’s son-in-law, I’ll throw a party just for you. Okay?”
The car stopped at the airport. Sang opened the trunk and pulled out a heavy suitcase. Nam said, “You two try to get along well. If you argue, don’t call me. I’m abroad, so I won’t be able to receive your messages or calls. After this month, if you call me for relationship advice again, I’ll charge you ten thousand dong a minute.”
I smiled shyly. Indeed, before we officially started dating, Truong An and I always called Nam for advice on both big and small matters.
Sang pulled his suitcase inside, turned around, waved, and shouted, “We’re waiting for good news from you two!”
On the way home, Trường An drove while holding my hand tightly, comforting me. Perhaps he understood that no matter how strong I had always been, I couldn’t remain steadfast in this situation.
Trường An dropped me off at the gate and said, “Dad told me to go up to his room to talk to him when you arrive. I’m going to see Mrs. Marry for a bit and will be back soon.”
I forced a smile, said goodbye to Trường An, and went up to his room as instructed by Mr. Nhật. This was the first time I’d been inside his room, and probably the first person after Trường An and Aunt Bảy.
Mr. Nhật’s room wasn’t much different from Trường An’s; it only had bookshelves, a wardrobe, and a desk, all simply decorated without any frills. But what attracted me most was a blank wall covered with paintings. They depicted a beautiful, elegant woman, I guessed she was somewhere in her twenties. In the pictures, she wears all kinds of clothing, from European to Asian styles. Most are black and white, with only a few color photos, which have faded over time.
Even so, her eyes in the pictures are still mesmerizingly beautiful. They are a sea-blue color, yet tinged with sadness, as if filled with unspoken secrets.
I felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity looking at this person. If my mother were about twenty years ago, she would probably have looked exactly the same.
I looked at Mr. Nhat, who was sitting facing his desk with his back to the outside, and greeted him, “Father, you called me?”
Mr. Nhat stopped writing and gestured for me to sit down at the tea table beside him. He said, “I’ve heard about your mother’s situation from Truong An. I think the only way is for both sides to meet and clarify things. If your mother doesn’t want to come here, Truong An and I will go to her house.”
I sighed, “I don’t know why my mother is so harsh about this either…”
I glanced around. Looking into the distance, I inadvertently bumped into the numerous paintings on the wall. Among the pictures were paintings; if they weren’t of that girl, they depicted the moon and the sun in the same frame.
Noticing my attention, Mr. Nhat asked, “What do you think of that girl?”
I honestly replied, “I think she’s very beautiful. Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but she looks very much like my mother. It’s just that I don’t have any pictures of my mother when she was young, so I’m not entirely sure. Could it be that she is…”
Mr. Nhat nodded and replied, “Yes, that girl is the Moon in the novel your father gave you to read.”
So, the Sun boy is none other than the person sitting opposite me. If Le Thanh Minh Nhat is the Sun, then the Moon girl’s name must definitely contain the word “Moon”!
Oh no… What am I thinking? No, it can’t be like that…
I swallowed hard and asked, “Dad, I want to ask if that girl’s name is Nguyet?”
Mr. Nhat nodded, “Yes. Her name is Minh Nguyet. Do you know her? But it’s probably just a lookalike. Because she passed away more than twenty years ago.”
It turned out that the story in “The Sun Embracing the Moon” was true. My heart was pounding faster and faster. Could it be… that was the reason my mother forced me to cut ties with Truong An even though she had never met him?
I took out my phone and opened the picture of my mother with Triet on his first birthday. Truong An had just bought this phone for me; it was the latest model, so the camera was incredibly sharp.
I held up the picture of my mother in front of Mr. Nhat, trembling as I asked, “Dad, do you think my mother looks like the person in the pictures hanging on the wall?”
Mr. Nhat adjusted his glasses and slowly looked at the picture. Immediately afterwards, his breathing became unusually heavy…
He seemed unable to believe his eyes, trembling as he ordered me: “Call your mother… Call your mother… Then just talk normally…”
I dialed my mother’s number, my heart pounding with fear. As soon as my mother said “Hello!”, I said: “Mom, about me and An…”
My mother, who had probably been suppressing her feelings for days, immediately burst into tears: “No, Phuc! I’ve told you so many times, no means no!”
I immediately asked again, unable to contain my pent-up grief: “Mom, are you hiding something from me? Please tell me the truth! Just once… No matter how painful the truth is, I want to know… Otherwise, I can’t accept breaking up with Truong An without a valid reason, Mom…”
My mother sobbed, both of us in the same pain. Trying to regain her breath, she said through choked sobs: “Okay. I know if I don’t tell you the truth, you might resent me for the rest of your life. I’m sorry for hiding it from you all this time… But… But… You and Truong An… The two of us… The two of us…”
I urgently asked: “What about the two of us, Mom?”
My mother shouted: “Both of us are the biological sons of Mr. Nhat!”
I was stunned, my heart aching. Never before had I felt so desperate; I even forgot how to breathe. My mother said, tears streaming down her face, “These two children are half-siblings, how… how…”
It turned out that not only Mr. Nhat, but also both wives in that novel were real. So, my mother was the pampered young lady from a wealthy family who fled to a remote, impoverished village. She gave birth to her children alone, raised them alone, and lived a lonely life for the sake of her family’s honor.
Mr. Nhat stared at me intently, and I looked back at him, not knowing what expression to show. Suddenly, he clutched his chest, his breathing becoming extremely difficult, and he collapsed to the ground. I panicked and shouted, “Auntie Bay! Thien! The boss has fainted! Is anyone there? Call an ambulance! Please call an ambulance quickly!”
The ambulance quickly pulled up at the door, and Thien and Auntie Bay followed Mr. Nhat to the hospital that night. I sat in Trường An’s room with tears streaming down my face, my mind blank, truly not knowing how to face this.
Soon, when Mr. Nhật wakes up, the truth about An and I being siblings will be revealed. Just thinking about what Trường An and I did together, I no longer have the courage to stay in this house.
Finally, I found my biological father, fulfilling my long-held wish. It’s just that I never imagined my life would be filled with so much pain.
The pain of losing my father at birth.
The pain of discovering that I and my father are not related by blood.
And after all these years of searching, finding my biological father unfortunately brought yet another pain.
I called Hà Châu to come to my house, then packed my belongings and hastily wrote a letter.
“To Truong An,
For so long I’ve been searching for the truth. But now that I’ve found it, I only feel sorrow, not the happiness I had hoped for.
I now understand why my mother, even though she’s never met you, tried so hard to prevent our relationship. And perhaps, you know already, don’t you?
Our fate…” “It’s so cruel, isn’t it? I don’t know how I’ll face you when we meet again.
I’m so sad, so hurt, and I know you are too. Things that shouldn’t have started, let them end now.
I hope you live well and find someone you love!
Goodbye.”
My tears blurred the page, my heart still aching as if it were the first time I’d heard the shocking news. I looked around the room one last time, knowing for sure this was the last.
Ha Chau drove me to the bus station, advising me as she drove: “Come on, tell me what happened slowly. Leaving like this will make An very worried.”
I sobbed behind her, saying: “If Truong An asks, I’ll say I don’t know anything. Later, I’ll ask you to take care of An. If we ever return to Saigon, I’ll tell you the whole story.” “But right now… I’m in so much pain… I don’t want to talk about it again, Chau.”
I drove home that night, then asked Mr. Dau to pick me up in the middle of the night.
Tonight, it was raining heavily in my hometown again, and my mother, wearing a conical hat, was welcoming another child home in such a desperate situation.
My mother and I hugged each other and cried. My mother stroked my hair and back, saying through her tears, “I’m sorry!” “Mom, I’m sorry!”
My mother apologized to me for letting me live such a hard life, and for keeping it a secret all this time, which led to today’s events. But I know she had her own suffering. If I had accepted Mr. Nhat back from the beginning, with the love he had for my mother all this time, he would surely have brought her back. Then her image appeared on the front page of newspapers, telling the story of the illegitimate child of one of Saigon’s most prestigious families.
She didn’t even know that Mrs. Nhat had passed away just a few years after marrying into her husband’s family. Perhaps my mother was worried that her little child would be ridiculed, oppressed, harmed, or even eliminated from this world. I don’t blame my mother, because she was caught in the middle. She had to worry about me and the honor of her family.
Well, after all these years, I finally know what I wanted to know. My mother had a hard life, and I’m sure I’ll have a hard life too.
The next morning, the sun… Before the sun even shone, I woke up with a start. The early mornings in the countryside were bitterly cold, always like that in the months leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year).
Anh Dau parked his motorbike noisily in front of the yard. Every morning he would stop by to cuddle Triet to ease his longing before heading to the bus station near the market.
Meeting him, I smiled and asked, “So? When are you planning to marry my older sister?”
Anh Dau clicked his tongue, “Well, we’ll have to save up enough money first!”
I said, “Get married soon, I can lend you some.”
I wasn’t teasing him; I’d saved quite a bit working with Truong An all year. But he shook his head, “I’ll only get married when I’ve saved enough.” “That’s the sincerity, you know.”
Actually, the money he saved up to marry Huong is still there. It’s just that my sister has Triet, and he wanted to prepare a little more thoroughly so that they wouldn’t struggle with food and money after the wedding.
Since returning to my hometown, I bought a new phone number to use instead of the old one. I’m afraid that Truong An will call me. Seeing him call, I’m afraid I’ll pick up, but hearing his voice, I’m afraid I’ll cry again. People say “Out of sight, out of mind,” maybe in a while I’ll have enough courage to face him.
Sister Hanh carried the basin of laundry she had just finished washing up from the dock. When Dau saw her, he scratched his head and asked, “Are you free this afternoon?” “He wants to invite you out for ice cream and drinks.”
Sister Hanh looked at me, shy and hesitant to reply. I seized the opportunity: “Sister, you go ahead, leave Triet at home with Mom and me.”
She happily nodded to Mr. Dau, and seeing him so cheerful made me happy too. I thought that after that shock, my sister wouldn’t dare open her heart to any man again. But Mr. Dau did it, and I knew he was an incredibly kind man.
In the afternoon, Sister Hanh packed her things and fed Triet until he was full. After a few lullabies, he fell into a deep sleep. Mom and I were relieved, just rocking the hammock gently to keep him from waking up.
I didn’t know what to do at home, planning to rest for a few months, wait until after Tet, and then go to Saigon to find another place to work as a model. While I was lost in thought, I heard the sound of a motorbike rattling outside the door. I wondered why they had just left and were coming back so early. Before I could even finish wondering, I saw Lùi and Nhí running in.
The two kids politely greeted my mother as usual, then called out, “Hey, wanna go for coffee, Dad? We knew you were back, so we stopped by to invite you!”
I wondered, “How did you know I was back?”
Nhí pouted, “Now everyone in this village knows you! As soon as you arrived at the edge of the village, everyone was buzzing about you. People are saying a model has come to the village, as handsome as those movie stars, or rather, actors!”
I wanted to go too, but shook my head, “No, you two go! I’ll stay home and watch the little one.”
My mother suddenly spoke up, “Oh my God, I raised you two to this age, and now you’re leaving this little one for me to stay home and you’re afraid?” “Let’s go play, Big Sister will be back soon.”
Seeing my mother’s permission, the two boys dragged me slowly to the car. I yelled, “Let me go change my clothes first, guys!”
They glared at me, “Oh come on, grandpa! You look better than us in your normal clothes. Now you change your clothes.” “I bet Nhi and I look like your servants!”
Before that was over, another problem arose. The two of them crammed me into the middle of the motorbike to give us three rides. I yelled, “The police will fine you guys to hell! I don’t have any money to pay!”
Nhi clicked his tongue, “You’re too scared. Go on, if we see the police, I’ll jump off!”
Finally, the three of us still ended up riding three to the district market. It was the same old café called “Meeting Point,” still as crowded as ever.
I walked into the café, and a waitress immediately ran out with a cheerful smile: “How many people are you with? Are you sitting together or separately?”
I said, “I’m with three people, but only two. Oh, is Ms. Tuyen still working here?”
The girl nodded, “Yes! But Ms. Tuyen is the manager, she doesn’t serve customers, sir. Could you please find someone else? I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”
I pretended to be annoyed, “Tell Ms. Tuyen to come and serve us.” “Tell her, if she doesn’t come up with anything, I’ll call the police to shut down the whole place.”
Then the three of us followed the girl into a small hut that the old woman had arranged. Nhi said to me, “Hey, your taste is so… unusual? Ms. Tuyen is also good-looking, but she’s the oldest here. Go for the younger ones, because what’s left of her anyway?”
I laughed, “Just leave me alone.”
A little later, Ms. Tuyen came in with a menu and asked, “Which customer wants to see Tuyen? This is Tuyen.”
I replied, “It’s me, ma’am!”
Ms. Tuyen observed me for a while, then jumped up excitedly, “Phuc, right? Oh my god, you little devil! You’re teasing me! I thought someone was threatening to call the police, I was about to shove my shoe down their throat!”
I laughed and replied, “Are you still hiring, ma’am? I’m unemployed and looking for work back in my hometown.”
Ms. Tuyen pouted, “No, no, I can’t afford someone like you.” “If I come in here and customers start scrambling for my things, I’ll have to beg and plead for their understanding, and I probably won’t be able to do any business from morning till night.”
After ordering drinks, she left, and I turned to the two guys and asked, “What are you guys doing at this age?”
Nhi said, “I’m going back to work on my dad’s rice paddies. I want to work as a hired hand, but they won’t let me.”
I asked, “What’s so strange about that? People are overjoyed to have a child, who wants to work as a hired hand? Are you planning to work as a hired hand for the rest of your life?”
Nhi retorted, “A hired hand goes from 7 am to 5 pm. But I go to the fields from 4 or 5 pm, and by 7 or 8 pm, the work isn’t even finished yet.”
I scoffed and turned to Lui, “And what are you doing?”
Lui chuckled and pointed to Nhi, “I work as a hired hand for him!” “There’s too much land, he can’t do it all by himself, that’s why he hired me, and then I have work to do.”
I shook my head; they really are a “perfect pair,” always together wherever they go and whatever they do.
I was about to ask more questions when my phone in my pocket suddenly rang. I answered, “Hello!” and on the other end, Hanh was crying uncontrollably: “Ut, Mom fell on a piece of broken glass and is bleeding profusely! Please come to the hospital with me, Ut!”
I jumped up and rushed outside, hailed a nearby motorbike taxi, and went to the hospital.
My mother was in the operating room, and Hanh was anxiously pacing outside. Uncle Bay was beside her. I asked, “Did you bring Mom to the hospital, Uncle?”
Uncle Bay nodded: “I was clearing water hyacinths from the riverbank over there. Your mother ran over with the little one and told me he had a fever and asked me to take him to the hospital.” “Then, when your mother turned around, she stepped on a water hyacinth root that Uncle Bay had just pulled up, and it slipped and flew straight into the water. The little boy wasn’t hurt, but she stepped on a broken piece of pottery, and there was blood everywhere, oh my…”
Sister Hanh sobbed, “If only I hadn’t gone out this afternoon, nothing would have happened. It’s all my fault…”
I reassured her, “Calm down, sister. Mom’s fine. No one wants bad luck to happen, and even if you blame yourself, Mom’s leg won’t heal on its own. Go check on Triet, I’ll wait here for the doctor and then we’ll figure things out.”
I took a deep breath and said, “Thank you, Uncle Bay. Without you, my mother would have…”
Uncle Bay replied, “It was just bad luck, you know. I don’t usually pull up water hyacinths at this time.” “It just so happened that your mother had to go down there today.”
It’s true that when something is bound to happen, you can’t prevent it no matter how much you try.
The doctor came out of the operating room, and I rushed over to ask, “How is my mother, doctor?”
The doctor replied, “The patient had a deep cut in her leg from glass. I’ve removed the large fragments and given her a tetanus shot. But with the equipment here, I’m afraid some glass shards might be left behind. The family should consider transferring the patient to the city; they have more advanced equipment there and can handle this type of wound.”
I nodded repeatedly, “Doctor, please transfer my mother to a higher-level hospital, quickly!”
The doctor nodded, “Okay, I’ll write you a referral letter so the receiving hospital knows the situation. Prepare the money and medicine. This wound will definitely require a long hospital stay; it needs to be treated properly, otherwise, it’s very easy to develop complications.” “If it becomes gangrene, no amount of money spent on treatment will be enough.”
That very night, I hired an ambulance to transfer me to the city. I asked the doctor to transfer my cheek to the hospital where I had previously been treated for a slipped disc. But it was a private hospital, and the costs were extremely high. But my only concern was… My only wish was to keep my mother’s foot intact. Even if it meant sacrificing all the money I’d saved, I wouldn’t regret it.
Then, after paying for the hospital admission and surgery, I estimated that the remaining amount would only be enough for my mother to stay in the hospital for another week. My hands trembled as I picked up the phone, looked at Truong An’s number, and then hesitated to dial.
Why do bad things keep happening one after another? I’m about to break down.