Everyone makes mistakes in life, but the important thing is knowing how to get up when you fall.
Lien is seven years older than me. When she was born, my aunt and uncle told me: “A deep field and a buffalo are not as good as a first-born daughter.” My parents must have thought the same, so they loved her very much.
When I was little, I used to argue with my sister. She always gave in. The older I got, the more beautiful Lien became. She was the princess in my family. But don't think that my sister and I could get whatever we wanted. It wasn't because my family was poor, but because my parents were very strict in raising their children. My sister and I grew up in the loving arms of our parents until Lien turned 18. People often say that 18 is the most brilliant age for a girl. It is an important milestone to start realizing your cherished dreams. The door of university opened wide to welcome Lien. My parents were very happy. Every meal, my mother told her all kinds of things.
Suddenly, Lien declared bluntly: "I will not go to university but will get married". My father was stunned as if someone had hit him on the head with a big stick. My mother tried her best to dissuade him. According to my father, at the age of 18, one should not have eaten enough and not worry enough but rush into getting married and regret it later. Lien did not change her mind. She also said: "Others go to university, so you should also go to school of life, no less". Perhaps she learned her father's strong will so she did not change. My father roared: "Without a career, without knowledge, do you intend to go through life empty-handed?" Her heart refused to listen to anyone. Helplessly, my parents suppressed their pain and nodded when the groom's family brought betel and areca nuts to ask for her hand in marriage. On the day my father took her to her husband's house, he both loved and was angry with his endlessly sorrowful gaze. He whispered to his daughter: "In the future, you will enjoy happiness and suffer hardships, don't come back here and cry!" My mother held her hand and told her all sorts of things.
Lien's lover is 9 years older than her, a handsome construction engineer, soft-spoken, easy to persuade and knows how to make money. When they fell in love, Lien was still a naive, impulsive 12th grade student, her life was full of roses. Her husband's parents and her husband promised my parents that after the wedding they would let her continue her studies at university. Everyone praised my sister's good fortune.
But before the door of the dream university could open, my sister Lien was already two months pregnant. Her husband's parents and her husband's family were overjoyed. They started thinking about naming their first grandson. My brother-in-law spoiled his wife to no end. Any girl would only hope for that when she got married. Perhaps only my father was worried about my sister Lien's immature feelings. Pain and anger filled his heart at every moment.
Before she was 19, my sister Lien gave birth to a child, a chubby and healthy boy. My sister gave birth to a child at an age when many of her friends were still in school. Although my brother-in-law loves his wife and children, life is not all that. He has thousands of things to worry about. Since having a child, my brother-in-law has been like a different person. He rarely visits his wife and children. When my sister Lien asked, he said: "Work is up to his neck, he doesn't even have time to drink water." Other times, he said he was on a long business trip. The reason for being absorbed in earning money to support his wife and children is very convincing. But the needle in the bag will eventually come out. During long business trips and when he was busy, my husband was immersed in gambling all night long. All the advice, sometimes gentle, sometimes loud, from my sister and her parents-in-law were like water off a duck's back. Every time he promised... The house was so quiet that she could hear her own breathing. Many nights, lying in her arms holding her child, she missed her friends, missed the schoolyard, her pillow was soaked with tears. She was angry with her husband, blamed him. Lying next to her husband, she felt distant. Once, her mother-in-law scolded her: "As a wife, you have to know how to take care of your husband. If you don't know how to take care of your small family, what can you do?" But she had no idea how to take care of it. At only 19 years old, how could she know every corner of life? Besides, a family home built by only one person was not enough. Every day that passed, she felt like she was lost in a place that was not hers. My sister did not have much ambition. She only needed a small home, a stable economy, a loving husband, and a few good children.
Arguments happened frequently. Utensils and dishes were broken overnight. Lien sobbed while holding her child. If it weren't for the little boy, my sister would have broken up. Her beautiful youth had passed away in the pain of loss from a hasty marriage. A fierce slap from her husband's hand on her cheek left her speechless. The slap was like the last straw. The little boy was scared and cried. She was broken inside. Her two hands were clenched and trembling. "We have to leave!" A voice rose up inside her. She didn't want her son to live in this environment forever. If not today, then tomorrow, the day after, she would still have to leave. In the windy and rainy night, so much resentment was like a knife cutting deep into her heart. She quietly took her child back to her parents. She returned to her parents' arms, to the sweet and warm happiness of her childhood.
But what greeted her was my father's sharp gaze and cold words: "Get out of my sight. Take the child back to his grandparents. My house does not have a child like you." My sister was stunned and was about to turn around. I shouted: "Hey dad! Sister Lien..." My call had not yet escaped my lips when it was immediately blocked by my father's angry gaze. My mother knelt on the cold floor and begged her husband: "If you don't love me, then you should love the baby. Where can the baby go in this rain and wind?" The baby's crying seemed to wake my father up, making his heart sink. He turned around and walked into the house, leaving me and the baby alone. My mother held the baby in one hand, and led my sister into the room that used to be ours.
A few days later, as if waiting for everyone's shock to subside, my father angrily said to my sister: "I want you to go back to university. Your mother will follow you to take care of the little boy. I'll give you another year of studying." My father said more... As I understood it, my parents could not follow my sisters and me for the rest of our lives. My sisters and I had to have jobs to support ourselves and our children. My sister was silent. Tears of regret fell from the corners of her eyes. My father asked again with the same volume: "Can you do it?" My sister looked at him furtively and answered softly: "I can do it." I looked at my father. Oh my, it had only been a few days and my father was like a different person. His face was gaunt, his skin was dark, his eyes were sunken, his hair was almost all white. My parents were approaching sixty this year but still had to shoulder the worries of their children. I remember the night when Lien brought her child home in the rain and wind, my parents immediately drove more than 40 kilometers to the in-laws' house to find out the details. I was busy with Lien and her child but my eyes still followed the car lights gradually disappearing in the rain.
Listening to my father, after a year of revision, Lien passed the university entrance exam for economics and finance. My mother and my sister took the little boy to Hanoi. Every month I went to Hanoi to visit my mother and my sister and her child, and at the same time brought money from my father to support them. Seeing my nephew grow up day by day, I was very happy. My father was happy but he did not show any attitude. My sister was also more mature than before. There were a few men who said they loved her and loved the little boy. This time my sister's heart was like ice, ignoring the sweet talk and focusing on studying. She was like a bird that had been shot and was afraid of the curved tree.
Four years of hard work at university finally passed. She returned to the place where she was born, the place where she grew up, saw her happiness and suffering. A joint venture company immediately hired her. Perhaps the happiest person was my father. He felt like a child again. He called my sister and said: "Your parents have discussed building a house for you on this land. You must have your own family, you can't stay with your parents forever." It turned out that even though he was angry with his daughter, my father's love for her was endless...
But then one day her husband suddenly appeared at my door. My parents silently waited for their daughter's reaction. My brother-in-law asked her softly for the sake of conversation: "Are you and the baby okay? Oh my god, is my son this big? Is he going to school this year?" He hugged the little boy. The little boy silently looked at his father with strange eyes. She turned her face away. Whether it was okay or not, she and her child had endured it for the past few years and he knew it. Her heart suddenly fluttered. Even though she was angry with her husband, deep down she still loved him very much. He had never been out of her sight. On the contrary, he was the same. He was a good engineer, every company wanted him.
From then on, he came to visit every few days. Once, he brought his parents along. They sat and talked with my parents for a long time. My sister neither welcomed him nor chased him away. It was not that she stopped loving her husband, but that she was afraid of the past and worried about the days ahead. His biological mother cried and told my sister: "He has learned to fear the days of gambling that ruined the family. Now it is up to you to decide." She also wanted her son to live in the love of both his father and mother. She owed her son a happy home. She owed her son a peaceful childhood like any other child.
One evening after dinner, my father said to my sister: “The grandparents from the other side came here this afternoon to apologize. And your husband too. And they want to take you and your mother home. What do you think?” The cup of water in my father’s hand was swirling. At that moment, I understood that my father was thinking very vaguely. After a while, my father continued: “Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their lives, but they know how to repent and reform. I feel sorry for your husband who has been away from his children for so many years.” My sister held back a soft sigh.
Today, my brother-in-law came again. The little boy looked at his father, then at his mother. His sister gently pushed his shoulder and said, “Go say hello to your father.”
Short story by NGUYEN SY DOAN