79: Ruan Xinming's Mental Journey

Not long after, a red scooter stopped next to Li Qinghe's jeep.

"Mom, Sister brought Brother-in-law back," Nguyen Thi Thuy quickly went to greet her.

This was the first time Li Qinghe had seen Nguyen Thi Linh's mother in person.

At first glance, she looked too young; some might even believe she was Nguyen Thi Linh's older sister, with only subtle traces of time visible in her eyes.

She was wearing a red T-shirt, blue denim shorts, black stockings, and a pair of canvas shoes that looked youthful, though a dirty apron attested to her hard work.

A large plastic basket filled with various items was tied to the back seat of her motorcycle.

Tran Thi Bao Anh

"A-He is here," Tran Thi Bao Anh said with a slight smile, looking at Li Qinghe.

"Aunt Bao Anh, I'm here. I promised to bring A Ling back, so I hope you can rest assured," Li Qinghe said calmly, stepping forward to greet her.

"Mom, this is the car Brother-in-law drove," Nguyen Thi Thuy told her mother with a hint of pride.

After all, she was still a young girl, and a little vanity was perfectly normal.

Looking down the street, who could afford such a beautiful car?

So Nguyen Thi Thuy felt a strong sense of pride; what was Brother-in-law's was Sister's, and by extension, it was their family's.

Tran Thi Bao Anh nodded, looking at Nguyen Thi Linh: "You've been out for so long and haven't gained any weight. Make sure to eat on time when you're out."

"Mom!" Nguyen Thi Linh threw herself into Tran Thi Bao Anh's arms, but since she was already taller than her mother, she had to hug her and rest her head on her mother's shoulder.

"It's good that you're back. We can talk more tonight. You two take A Shui back first, and also take the things in the basket back," Tran Thi Bao Anh said, patting her elder daughter's back comfortingly.

"Okay, I want to sit in the front."

Nguyen Thi Thuy was already jumping with joy. Seeing her sister get out of this car, she had already planned to sit in the front and experience it.

Li Qinghe first opened the trunk, preparing to take things from the basket.

"A Shui, hurry up and move the things. Do you want your Brother-in-law to do it?" Tran Thi Bao Anh frowned, scolding her younger daughter.

"I know," Nguyen Thi Thuy pouted and walked to the motorcycle to get the items, and Nguyen Thi Linh quickly went to help.

Li Qinghe was about to step forward but was stopped by Tran Thi Bao Anh: "A-He, let them move it. A Shui is just too idle."

Is spoiling men like this something your mother taught you? Li Qinghe deeply felt this kind of unprincipled indulgence.

He could only stand by and watch the Nguyen Thi Linh sisters, like diligent little ants, move the items into the trunk.

Fortunately, there weren't many things, and the two sisters finished quickly, leaving only a bag of loaches at the bottom of the plastic basket. Nguyen Thi Thuy was about to grab it when her mother stopped her.

"A Shui, I'll process this at the stall and then bring it back. You two go back first."

Nguyen Thi Thuy, who had just finished working with a pained expression, immediately revived. She and Nguyen Thi Linh scooped a ladle of water from a bucket next to the meat stall to wash their hands, then happily bounced into the passenger seat of the Wrangler.

This was because Nguyen Thi Linh had reclined the seat back when she got out earlier.

Nguyen Thi Linh first helped Nguyen Thi Thuy adjust the seat, then taught her how to fasten the seatbelt before she herself sat in the back seat.

"A Shui, you lead the way," Li Qinghe said, getting into the car and starting it.

Nguyen Thi Thuy sat in the passenger seat, her eyes shining as she looked at the road ahead. She had never seen the place she had lived for over a decade from such a perspective.

So she was confused for a moment before pointing forward: "Brother-in-law, drive straight from here, then turn left at the second small intersection."

The main road in the town was still asphalt, but at the location Nguyen Thi Thuy pointed to, it turned into a dirt road.

However, for the Wrangler, dirt roads were its home turf and had no impact whatsoever.

In about seven or eight minutes, a tin house appeared by the roadside in front of the car.

"Brother-in-law, it's right here."

Nguyen Thi Thuy eagerly pointed to the tin house ahead. Along the way, she had explored the car's buttons, learning many functions and even how to play music.

Looking up and seeing they had arrived home, she quickly told Li Qinghe to stop.

Li Qinghe slowly parked the car in the open space next to the tin house.

Before the three of them could get out, a handsome young man in a school uniform emerged from the house upon hearing the car. This was Nguyen Thi Linh's younger brother, Nguyen Tan Minh.

Li Qinghe looked at the three siblings' beauty, which was starkly at odds with the tin house, and felt that this was truly like golden phoenixes being raised in a humble nest.

Nguyen Tan Minh

"Brother!"

Nguyen Thi Thuy excitedly rolled down the window and waved to her brother.

Nguyen Tan Minh, trying to act cool, stood with his hands in his pockets at the doorway, watching the fiery red jeep slowly come to a stop.

He knew that his sister would be returning from Hanoi today and would be bringing home her wealthy Dragon Country Brother-in-law.

Nguyen Tan Minh hadn't expected that his sister, who couldn't afford university, would work in Hanoi for a few months and then say she wasn't working in the factory anymore.

Later, he heard his mother say she was filming short videos with a Dragon Country boss. Although he didn't have a phone, he often heard his classmates at school talk about the current online world, and he had seen short video platforms like TT on his classmates' phones.

He knew his sister was filming these kinds of videos.

Not long after, he heard that his sister had become the Dragon Country boss's woman, and he had thought the boss was a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties.

Nguyen Tan Minh was quite depressed about this for a while, but he was powerless to do anything. He had deeply felt the impact of poverty on their family.

As one of the most handsome boys in school, he dared not accept the affections of many girls because his family was too poor.

His sister couldn't afford tuition back then; she got into university but was forced to work in a factory.

He knew he would be the next one to enter a factory because his mother had done her best to raise them.

It was already incredibly difficult to raise them, and he had decided that after graduating high school, he would follow his sister to work in Hanoi.

Now that his sister had become a middle-aged boss's woman, he believed his sister was unwilling.

But soon he saw many more smiles on his mother's face. It turned out his sister had sent ten million vietnamese dong as soon as she started working, and she had remitted the eight million vietnamese dong she had saved from the first two months to her mother's card.

Later, after his sister became the boss's woman, she remitted another fifty million vietnamese dong home not long after.

His mother happily told him and his sister that with his sister earning money outside, he and his sister could both afford university if they got in.

Then, one evening, his sister video-called their mother, and Nguyen Tan Minh and his sister Nguyen Thi Thuy learned that the Dragon Country boss his sister was with was also a young man, taller and more handsome than him.

That night, Nguyen Tan Minh learned that the Dragon Country Brother-in-law had even found a way for his sister to continue her university studies. Looking at his sister's smiling face in the video, Nguyen Tan Minh knew she was very happy.

That day, Nguyen Tan Minh and Nguyen Thi Thuy both sincerely called him "Brother-in-law" because he had brought earth-shattering changes to their family.

He gave all three siblings hope of continuing their studies and allowed Nguyen Tan Minh to confidently look all his classmates in the eye at school, helping him regain his self-respect.

His sister said that Brother-in-law would bring her home during the Mid-Autumn Festival, which made Nguyen Tan Minh a little nervous. What kind of person would the kind and approachable Brother-in-law from the video be in real life?

Now this beautiful car had arrived at their doorstep, his younger sister was excitedly waving to him from the car window, and his older sister was smiling at him from the back seat.

Once the car stopped, the three got out. Nguyen Tan Minh walked up to Li Qinghe and loudly called out, "Brother-in-law."