10
After several days, I thought Grandma had given up on seeking justice for me.
But early one morning, Grandma put on her neatly pressed green military uniform, her chest covered in medals of military merit.
She had left the battlefield long ago, but when she put on her uniform, her fighting spirit was still as strong as ever.
“Thanh Tang, come on. Grandma’s going with you to get divorced.”
I was a little caught off guard and blurted out:
“Chu Thư Ngôn won’t agree. Besides, even if I file, I have to wait out the mediation period, and if he doesn’t agree…”
Grandma stroked my head the way she used to when I was little, and in an instant, all my anxiety melted away.
“We’re not going to ask him. We’re going to court and suing for divorce.”
“A divorce lawsuit doesn’t require a waiting period. It doesn’t matter whether he agrees or not.”
Grandma calmly explained each point of the law.
Only then did I understand why Grandma had been acting so strangely these past few days, putting on her reading glasses and using the computer!
She’d made all the preparations and was here to back me up.
When we took a taxi to the courthouse, a middle-aged woman in a suit came out to meet us.
Grandma said, “This is Attorney Trương, the best divorce lawyer in the province.”
Attorney Trương and I nodded in greeting, then went into the courthouse together.
Grandma walked ahead with her head held high.
Her military uniform, tiny frame, and all those medals of military merit.
She drew everyone’s attention.
Soon, someone respectfully ushered us into a reception room. Not long after, hurried footsteps approached.
A senior official arrived in person. The moment he saw Grandma, he straightened up and greeted her respectfully.
“Old hero, is there anything we can do to help you?”
Grandma said, “My son-in-law cheated, and I want my granddaughter to divorce him.”
Attorney Trương promptly handed over the documents she had prepared. The senior official read them, then slowly relaxed his frown.
“The evidence is quite thorough, but we usually try mediation first…”
I said, “There’s no need for mediation. I’m determined to divorce Chu Thư Ngôn.”
Grandma said calmly, “I’m at this age now. Before I die, I want to get justice for my granddaughter, who’s been bullied. This is my final wish.”
Not long after we returned from the courthouse, another group of officials came to visit Grandma.
They said they’d help her apply for veterans’ benefits and fix up her old house.
Grandma turned them all down. “I have only one wish.”
11
Chu Thư Ngôn was furious when he received the court summons.
As soon as the call connected, he launched into a tirade:
“Lâm Thanh Tang, you’re divorcing me over something this minor?”
“Didn’t I apologize? Why can’t you just let it go?”
“Do you know how humiliating it was to get a court summons at work? You’ve ruined the reputation I’ve spent years building!”
I remembered how he’d acted in front of me a few days earlier, meekly begging me to forgive him. He was nothing like this now.
So that was it. Back then, I hadn’t touched his core interests.
“You’re the one who humiliated yourself! What, you’ve been posting every day on Moments, bragging that you and Ôn Như Ngọc are some perfect couple, and saying vague things that make your coworkers think you’re married to each other.
“Now that your image as a loving husband has fallen apart, you’re blaming me for ruining your reputation?”
“Chu Thư Ngôn, you made this mess yourself!”
Chu Thư Ngôn took a deep breath and calmed down.
“You won’t win this case. With the little evidence you have, the judge won’t grant a divorce.”
“Lâm Thanh Tang, you want a divorce, right? If you won’t let me live in peace, I won’t let you have your way either!”
“Divorce? Not a chance! We’ll be stuck with each other for the rest of our lives!”
How could he… How could he be so shameless!
So after all these years of marriage, I’d never really seen the man who lay beside me at night.
After I hung up, my son called.
“Mom, why do you have to make such a big scene?”
“I honestly don’t understand what you’re so angry about. And how could you even ask for that much? Nearly half the family’s assets?”
“Dad’s earned all the money in this household over the years!”
I said coolly:
“First, your father is the one at fault. I’m already showing your grandmother consideration by not demanding that he leave the marriage with nothing.”
“Second, these are marital assets, and I have a right to my share.”
“Third, if you hadn’t cried and begged me to stay home when you were little, I wouldn’t have become a housewife.”
My son stubbornly replied:
“I honestly don’t know where you get your confidence. Do you have any money? Until the court rules, you won’t get a cent. The lawsuit could drag on for ages—can you even handle that?”
“Your husband doesn’t support you, I don’t support you, and Grandma doesn’t support you either. Are you really determined to make enemies of the whole family?”
“You’re relying on Great-Grandma? She’s so old. Who knows when she’ll close her eyes for good, so—”
Bang.
I slammed the bundle of firewood in my hands onto the ground and said in a low voice, “Chu Vũ Kiệt! If you like Ôn Như Ngọc so much, you and your father can go live with her. Stop coming here just to make your presence felt.”
“If I hear you say anything like that again, I’ll come back and beat you myself.”
My son got angry too and suddenly raised his voice:
“She’s that old—she should start getting ready! Dad was right. Compared with Auntie Ôn, you’re nowhere near as good!”
“You won’t win this case! Then you won’t have money to buy a burial plot for Great-Grandma. Don’t come begging Dad and me!”
She’s that old—she should start getting ready.
I closed my eyes and hung up.
Hearing the noise, Grandma came out unsteadily, a warm smile on her face.
“Was that Xiaojie? You haven’t been home in so long. Last time I sent you bánh ú and bánh gai—did you like them?”
Grandma hated Chu Thư Ngôn, but she wouldn’t take her anger out on my son and granddaughter.
I watched Grandma muttering to herself, wondering whether she should make more bánh ú to send them, and felt my eyes sting.
They didn’t like her food. They were afraid she’d mix up the seasonings and poison them.
Grandma, may you stay healthy and safe and live to be a hundred.
They called her old and useless, and asked why she hadn’t died yet.
12
I wrapped my arms around Grandma’s frail body and cried. She thought I was jealous of the attention she gave my son, so she gently patted my back to comfort me.
“All right, all right. I’ll make some for you first. Everyone else can wait in line behind my good little granddaughter.”
She pounded fresh mugwort leaves in a mortar to extract the juice, then poured it into glutinous rice flour and kneaded it into a dough. She wrapped the dough around cooked red bean paste and rolled it into balls, then steamed them. Once they were done, the cakes were a beautiful jade green.
One bite brought together the fresh fragrance of mugwort, the chewy glutinous rice dough, and the sweetness of red beans—a delicious aroma filling my mouth.
Grandma said this was the taste of spring.
I thought that I had my own “taste of spring,” too.
I told Grandma I wanted to write down her story.
And the stories of women like her.
Those who fell on the battlefield and never got back up.
I wanted more people to know that Chinese women had never been absent from the story before the war.
Grandma thought it over for a while, then agreed.
So during the day, Grandma and I fed the chickens, tended the vegetables, and talked about the old days. At night, I organized the material, put on my reading glasses, and sat at the computer typing out every word, soaked in blood and tears:
【Their feet were bound, but their resolve still shone brilliantly.】
13
The day of the trial arrived soon enough.
Chu Thư Ngôn seemed very confident. He said firmly:
“I hear you even refused mediation. Do you think that’ll make the case end sooner?”
“Forget it. There’s no way the court will grant a divorce at the first hearing.”
I didn’t even look at him. I walked straight over to the plaintiff’s side.
Attorney Trương was excellent. She presented her case at an even pace, clearly and coherently.
But the lawyer on the other side was no pushover either, arguing forcefully and making points at every turn.
From a distance, I could see Chu Thư Ngôn looking smug, as if victory were already his.
That is, until the judge delivered the verdict.
“The court finds that the relationship between the plaintiff, Lâm Thanh Tang, and the defendant, Chu Thư Ngôn, has broken down, and that mediation has been unsuccessful… The court hereby rules that the plaintiff, Lâm Thanh Tang, and the defendant, Chu Thư Ngôn, are divorced…”
Grandma and I sat in the gallery, unable to keep from smiling.
The smug smile on Chu Thư Ngôn’s face crumbled. His features twisted as he shouted:
“Impossible!”
After the hearing, he even ran up to me and snapped:
“Lâm Thanh Tang, don’t get too pleased with yourself. I’ll keep appealing!”
I calmly looked at him, his face twisted with fury as he tried to break through my defenses.
He didn’t know that our divorce was already a done deal.
Grandma and I returned to our hometown and continued our peaceful life.
But Chu Thư Ngôn’s side was in an uproar.