18
It was a cool evening, and A Hoàng wanted to go for a walk in the park.
Beneath the sunset, there were only two people and a dog.
“Thiến Thiến, were you really deaf for a while before? I didn’t see any sign that you were pretending.”
I sighed and decided to tell him about my real family circumstances.
Where I came from. Who I was.
I wasn’t an orphan adopted by the system. I was an abandoned child adopted by my father.
He told me this on my eighteenth birthday.
For as long as I could remember, my father had been unable to speak. He could only smile and make strange sounds.
When he shouted twice, I knew it was time to eat. When he pressed his hands together to form a peak, I knew it was time to go to school.
Before I grew up, the neighbors always said to me, half joking and half serious:
“You know, your dad picked you up from a garbage dump.”
“Otherwise, how come you can talk but your dad can’t? Why didn’t you inherit it from him?”
Every time I heard those words, I’d go home furious and tell my father that the neighbors were all mean people.
But that man would just smile, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes impossible to hide. He’d gently rub my hand and tell me to eat well.
I’d spent most of my life with my father. For the greater part of the past twenty-odd years, he’d always been by my side.
I understood everything he meant whenever he raised his hands to communicate. When others couldn’t understand him, I helped interpret.
There was no sound in my father’s world. I was his only voice.
When I grew up, he told me:
[You’re independent now, and you have your own future. Don’t give up what you ought to do for anyone.]
[All these years, I’ve always thought of you as my daughter. Everything I’ve done has been because I love you. I wanted to be family to you, not a burden.]
That day, I sobbed. The purest love had been by my side all along.
19
“After you graduated from college and became a sign language interpreter, your father was so happy. He even learned how to video call you.”
I sat on a park bench and slowly told Đàm Tranh everything.
But suddenly, I couldn’t hold it in. A sob broke the stillness.
“Đàm Tranh, I miss my dad.”
It had been half a year since I came to this world. I didn’t know how my father’s leg had healed after surgery.
How far the story in this world had progressed, or how much longer it would be before the end.
Whether Đàm Tranh and I would ever meet again, or if A Hoàng would forget me.
I didn’t dare think about it. I didn’t dare think about anything, and I didn’t want to.
When people are happy beyond measure, all that comes afterward is emptiness.
“Who is the main character in this story?”
“Tell them to hurry up, and I can go back.”
“But…”
Đàm Tranh believed everything I told him. He also knew that once the story ended, I would have to leave.
20
The system appeared again on the last day of the year.
[Master, you’ve done an excellent job completing your mission. Just one more week, and you’ll be able to return.]
But I couldn’t smile.
Everything was as usual, except that at night, whenever I woke up, Đàm Tranh would hold on to my hand and refuse to let go.
That day, I came home from school.
As soon as I stepped inside, a pair of large hands covered my eyes from behind.
“Thiến Thiến, I’m taking you somewhere.”
“Follow me.”
The car door opened, and Đàm Tranh helped me out. I didn’t know how many steps we took or how many minutes passed.
When I opened my eyes, I was alone. In the mirror, I saw myself wearing a dazzling white wedding dress. I’d never seen it before, yet it fit me perfectly.
There was a door in front of me.
I gently pushed it open, and thousands of flower petals fell.
It was a dreamy garden.
White roses bloomed in the middle of winter.
I stood in the middle of the red carpet, facing Đàm Tranh.
I beamed. I never expected him to pull off something like this.
It was the classic wedding scene, but I was the bride.
A Hoàng stood ready beside us, wearing a red bow tie. At a single gesture from Đàm Tranh, he’d come running.
The wedding ring in its box gleamed—so brightly.
There was no officiant, no close friends, no guests—just Đàm Tranh and me, and A Hoàng.
We recited our vows, smiling and crying.
If I had to leave tomorrow, then today we had to love each other.
“Since you married me, we’ve never had a proper wedding. Today, I’m making it up to you.”
“Miêu Thiến, even if you go back, remember that I love you.”
Đàm Tranh’s eyes were bloodshot, but he still tried to smile. The expression made him look even worse than if he’d been crying.
This was my last day in this world.
I asked the system, “How will Đàm Tranh’s life turn out after this story ends?”
Could this man, who couldn’t really be called a villain, ever be happy?
The system displayed:
[Sorry, a program error has occurred. Unable to retrieve information.]
Did the story’s ending matter?
To those controlled by the story, it mattered.
Before I left, I made a wish that seemed impossible to fulfill.
If possible, I wanted to see Đàm Tranh and A Hoàng again in the real world.
If not, please let them forget me.
21
It turned out that one year in the book was only one day in the real world.
On a video call with my father, his aged face still looked hale and hearty. He told me not to worry; he’d recovered very well from surgery.
But he’d only just had surgery. How could he have recovered so quickly?
After hanging up, I went downstairs for my usual walk.
The sunset was just the same.
The system never appeared again.
It had come without warning and left just as suddenly.
Life seemed as peaceful as before. Only I knew that a tide was gradually spreading through my heart.
As time passed, I suddenly found myself wanting to adopt a dog just like A Hoàng.
About two months later, I opened the door and walked into a pet store. Inside was a dog that looked just like A Hoàng, except its left leg wasn’t lame.
I asked how much the dog cost, but the owner said it was his and wasn’t for sale.
When I saw the owner, I stood there stunned for a long time, until the bag in my hand tore and potatoes rolled everywhere.
Seeing that, he hurried over to help me pick them up.
But instead, I threw my arms around his neck and sobbed.
“Why did you take so long to come?”
But this man, despite looking so much like Đàm Tranh, stared at me in confusion.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. You’ve got the wrong person.”
“Aren’t you Đàm Tranh?”
He looked exactly the same.
“I am Đàm Tranh, but… I don’t know you.”
My eyes grew red, and I felt my heart shatter.
Only then did I notice that the scars were gone from his hands.
They had come to this world, but they had forgotten me.
Perhaps Đàm Tranh’s past had changed too. He hadn’t been kidnapped or beaten and starved. Maybe, in this world, his life was peaceful and carefree.
All I wished for was their happiness, so why couldn’t I be content?
I left the pet store in turmoil, and without warning, rain suddenly began to pour.
People are always greedy. I used to think that if I could see him again, I wouldn’t mind if we were strangers. Now that I really had, I couldn’t accept that he was just a stranger.
If only I weren’t so greedy.
“Miss Miêu, wait!”
The familiar voice behind me made me turn around on instinct.
Đàm Tranh hurried over, holding an umbrella.
“You still remember my name?”
Hope stirred in me once more.
“No, Miss Miêu. Your employee ID fell out of your bag just now.”
“And you dropped another potato, too. Here, it’s yours.”
My hope vanished.
“It’s pouring. Take this umbrella.” Đàm Tranh held it out to me.
“You can return it to me tomorrow.”
I looked at A Hoàng, who was excitedly wagging his tail beside him.
Then I smiled and accepted the umbrella.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After that, whenever I had some free time, I went to the pet store to see him.
Once, I was busy with work at school and got home late, so I couldn’t make it to the store.
But when I left the house, I saw him walking a dog that looked just like A Hoàng, chatting with the security guard at the gate.
I pretended not to see him and walked past with my head down.
Đàm Tranh called out to me.
“Miêu Thiến.”
“Hmm? Oh, what are you doing here?”
“Oh, I just came this way to walk the dog.”
The man rubbed the bridge of his nose, sounding a little awkward.
“Okay, well, now that you’ve finished walking him, you should head home. It’s getting late.”
I was still busy taking care of odds and ends at school, and my phone kept buzzing with messages.
“Have you been really busy lately?”
What else would it be?
I shook my head. “No, I’ve just been busy going on dates lately. One guy said his family has a cat that can do somersaults. It sounded interesting, so I wanted to go see it.”
I had an ulterior motive for saying that.
He actually believed me. After thinking for a moment, he said:
“I have a dog that can do sit-ups, too. Don’t go to that guy’s house.”
“Really? A Hoàng, since when did you get so talented?”
…
After that, I took him to meet my dad.
Actually, Đàm Tranh and I fell in love twice.
Once, we married first and fell in love later. The second time, we fell in love and then got married.
One day after we got married, he came home from work and suddenly hugged me, crying.
He remembered everything.
Maybe his reflexes were too slow. A Hoàng had recognized me long ago, but Đàm Tranh was still waiting.
But it was okay. Even if he’d forgotten, I knew his heart still loved me.
The End –