81: Finally I can hold my head high and feel proud

Tran Thi Bao Anh was quite the center of attention on the street today.

It all stemmed from Nguyen Thi Linh appearing on the street with Li Qinghe, driving a car.

Looking at the people who usually ignored her, today they specifically passed by her meat stall and chatted with her for a few words.

They subtly inquired if the young man driving the car was her eldest son-in-law.

Then a crowd of people asked how much the car cost and envied Tran Thi Bao Anh, saying she was about to live a good life.

This made Tran Thi Bao Anh suddenly feel a sense of triumph; she had never been so elated in her life.

Raising children is hard, and it's even harder for a single woman raising three children.

Tran Thi Bao Anh didn't even know how she gritted her teeth to raise these three children.

Every time she encountered various gazes on the street—some with good intentions, some malicious, and some with other meanings—

she would always lower her head and walk past quickly.

Over the years, she had also encountered many temptations.

Many local men with small assets wanted to have something with her.

But Tran Thi Bao Anh knew these men just wanted to play with her; they weren't even willing to give her a formal title.

They only wanted her to be Rice Noodles they could eat whenever they wanted, simply because Tran Thi Bao Anh had three children.

No one wanted to raise Nguyen Thi's children.

And after her husband passed away, none of his siblings were willing to offer even 1000 vietnamese dong in help.

So Tran Thi Bao Anh gritted her teeth and decided to no longer bother with Nguyen's relatives, nor any local man.

From then on, she started selling pork, grinding tofu to sell, and working as hard as all the other businesswomen on the street, solely focused on raising Nguyen Thi Linh and her siblings.

After Nguyen Thi Linh graduated from high school, Tran Thi Bao Anh simply didn't have the money to send her to university. So, after a serious discussion with her daughter, she asked a kind-hearted older sister nearby to take her to work in a Hanoi factory.

However, what happened next was beyond Tran Thi Bao Anh's expectations: Nguyen Thi Linh actually said she wanted to follow someone else to film short videos and earn a lot of money.

Tran Thi Bao Anh was very worried that she would be scammed, because now that fewer Dragon Country People could be scammed in Myanmar, the focus had shifted to scamming Vietnamese, and many Vietnamese who went there never returned.

But after learning that the boss was with Nguyen Thi Linh, she demanded to speak directly with him.

During the conversation, the other party promised to give Nguyen Thi Linh ten million vietnamese dong every month, guarantee she could video call home daily, cover the phone bill, and that she would not leave Hanoi.

This income was double Nguyen Thi Linh's factory salary, and Nguyen Thi Linh also said her impression of him was very good.

After some hesitation, Tran Thi Bao Anh decided to let Nguyen Thi Linh try it, because that way she could send more money back to help her younger siblings.

After Nguyen Thi Linh officially resigned from the factory, she also asked a neighbor, an older sister, to take photos of Nguyen Thi Linh and the other person together.

When she saw the photos, she was momentarily dazed. The tall, sunny young man smiling in the picture stood beside Nguyen Thi Linh; both were wearing similar style T-shirts and ripped jeans, and they looked perfectly matched.

She knew Nguyen Thi Linh didn't have such clothes before, so this young man must have bought them for her.

In the first few days after Nguyen Thi Linh started making short videos, Tran Thi Bao Anh couldn't even sleep well, sending messages to Nguyen Thi Linh as soon as she opened her eyes.

But after Nguyen Thi Linh showed her the beautiful house she was living in now, and the daily living expenses of one million vietnamese dong, she was completely relieved.

Although she knew her daughter had been 'eaten,' seeing her current standard of living was many times better than at home.

Especially since this Dragon Country People man named Li Qinghe even helped Nguyen Thi Linh re-register for school, allowing her to continue her university education.

And then, more and more money was given, which gradually lessened Tran Thi Bao Anh's financial pressure and made her increasingly approve of Li Qinghe.

However, there was one thing that bothered Tran Thi Bao Anh, and she didn't know how to deal with it.

After Nguyen Thi Linh followed Li Qinghe, Tran Thi Bao Anh knew that for a woman to gain a man's favor, harmony and happiness in a certain aspect were very important.

Especially when this man also possessed Da Mi Fan, Two Rice Grains, and even Rice Noodles.

If it were just because the man had Two Rice Grains and Rice Noodles, Tran Thi Bao Anh could understand.

As long as the man was capable, the custom in Xiangyang Prefecture was that men would openly or secretly marry several women, and it was not uncommon for several people to live together in one family.

But Nguyen Thi Linh told Tran Thi Bao Anh that she could never beat Li Qinghe in a fight; she was always beaten and cried out, completely unable to fight back.

Tran Thi Bao Anh had previously received some 'daughter-only' secrets of pleasure from her maternal family, methods to make a man dote on her more.

Heartbroken for her daughter, she taught her everything, and Nguyen Thi Linh began to practice.

But after practicing for a month, when asked about the results, even with allied forces, she was still utterly defeated, which was very surprising.

Tran Thi Bao Anh simply couldn't believe there was such a powerful man in the world.

Thus, Li Qinghe left Tran Thi Bao Anh with an almost inhuman impression.

This time, Nguyen Thi Linh's return was communicated to Tran Thi Bao Anh in advance.

When she learned they drove back themselves, and the car belonged to Li Qinghe, Tran Thi Bao Anh held a glimmer of hope.

Because she raised her children alone, the family's financial situation was very poor.

Especially now that Nguyen Tan Minh was still young, not only did they have no relatives visiting, but on the street, people mostly looked at her with unpleasant eyes.

The reason was that there was no man in the family to support them.

Now that Li Qinghe had driven back, he was considered the pillar of the family, especially since his identity was very special—he was a Dragon Country People.

Vietnamese people all knew that Dragon Country People were rich now, and there were still some Dragon Country People legends, ancient buildings with Dragon Country People characters, and stone carvings preserved in the mountains.

However, the Vietnamese government would subtly and overtly include some disparagement of China.

So, the overall impression of Dragon Country People in Hoi An was still quite good, a somewhat contradictory one.

Li Qinghe's arrival brought a tremendous shock to this small town.

His shiny car represented his astonishing wealth.

So this afternoon, Tran Thi Bao Anh could be said to have held her head high in front of everyone, which made her feel both sad and proud.

Therefore, she must maintain a good relationship with a son-in-law like Li Qinghe.

The focus was on Nguyen Thi Linh. She wasn't idle this afternoon; besides setting up her stall, she also went to the pharmacy to buy several local herbs.

Because of Li Qinghe today, many people came to chat and, incidentally, bought some pork to take home.

The meat on the stall sold out earlier than usual. Tran Thi Bao Anh cleaned the eels, tidied up the meat stall, and then went home with a pile of things.

From afar, she saw Li Qinghe wandering around outside, looking bored, so she spoke to him, telling him to go inside and sit down.

"Aunt Bao Anh, let me help you carry your things in."

Seeing many items on the back of the motorcycle, Li Qinghe prepared to carry her baskets inside.

"Qinghe, no need to trouble yourself. I'll ride the bike into the house."

Li Qinghe thought of a spot near the entrance of the tin house that seemed to be worn down from long-term use; it should be where Tran Thi Bao Anh parked her motorcycle.

So he followed Tran Thi Bao Anh towards the house, still needing to lend a hand. What was light for him was very heavy for Tran Thi Bao Anh.

Therefore, once they arrived home, he directly unhooked the elastic rope binding the plastic basket and simply carried the entire basket down.

Tran Thi Bao Anh had originally intended to help him carry it, seeing his insistence on helping, but when she saw him effortlessly carry the entire basket down, she immediately shut up.