How gloomy the sky is today, the dark clouds are gathering, it's about to rain.
Why is the atmosphere different from other TV dramas? The day the main character is released from prison should be a sunny day, with a clear blue sky and a road full of flowers for a new journey to start over.
But it's not like this, Trinh Anh Tu, although he doesn't see himself as the main character, feels that God is really unfair to him.
"God is really unfair! Why did you let it rain so darkly on the day I was released?! What is this omen?!".
He pointed at God who was lying on a deck chair drinking coconut water and looking down at the living beings on earth, God saw that this brat was really rude so he let thunder and lightning strike to scare him.
Lightning struck across the sky several times like a gunshot, making him jump. Immediately after that, God mercilessly curled his lips and poured down a heavy rainstorm, turning him into a mouse that was caught in the rain.
Oh! What bad luck!
The guard at the gate saw that he was both stupid and pitiful, so he gave him an umbrella: "Take this, remember to live a good life in the future, don't do bad things again. Don't come back here again, I won't give you an umbrella a second time."
Trinh Anh Tu took it, not forgetting to sincerely thank him. At least there was someone who treated him well even though they were just strangers.
Looking left and right for his best friend, Anh Tu had said that when his prison term ended, Tran Hoai An would come pick him up, but looking out into the empty rain street, he couldn't see his figure anywhere. He had no choice but to walk home by himself.
Trinh Anh Tu thought about how to deal with his soulmate who left him hanging, he would probably lock him outside tonight and not let him in the house. Only by letting him get caught in the rain like him would he feel better.
Looking at the raindrops hitting the road, splashing and forming circles in the water, Trinh Anh Tu felt guilty as he walked.
In the past two years of being arrested, he lied to his parents in the countryside that his business was not going well, so he could not return home to visit his family during the two Tet holidays.
Anh Tu and Hoai An had planned to perform a play to fool their parents, he was very afraid of seeing their faces full of disappointment when they found out that his son was in prison. He did not want to see his mother fall ill again because of him when she had worked so hard for so many years to get healthy, and he did not want his father to be even more heartbroken.
But being in prison was not his fault, thinking back made him so angry he wanted to go crazy. Trinh Anh Tu clenched his umbrella and gritted his teeth.
Two years ago, it was also a rainy summer day in June like this. It was Sunday night, Hoai An and his girlfriend went out and said they would stay overnight so they wouldn't come home, telling him to stay home and watch the house, or to lock the doors carefully wherever he went.
He worried about him like a real brother, because the two of them had grown up together and worked hard together. The two of them came from the countryside to Binh Duong to work for a factory specializing in manufacturing high-end domestic and foreign household appliances.
With a stable salary, they rented a small house in a deserted alley. Because the price was cheap, the two of them had enough. Living in this alley at night was very dangerous, luckily they were both men so they weren't afraid of being stopped by thugs when they returned home late at night to do bad things.
Men are not afraid of losing anything, but they are still worried about being robbed. The house doesn't look neat and there are no valuables to be stolen, but safety is still the top priority.
After seeing Hoai An off, he looked at his watch, bored with his lonesomeness. It was only seven o'clock in the evening, but he had closed the door and gone to sleep while everyone else was out playing. Anh Tu couldn't bear to be alone in this corner all day after work, so he went to change his clothes. Without a lover to play with, he had to take the dog for a walk.
The prairie dog at his feet wagged its tail happily, waiting for its owner to take it out, barking, and even biting his pants.
"Okay, okay, wait for me."
His wardrobe didn't have any decent bright-colored clothes, it's true that country boys have shabby wardrobes. But the kid Hoai An found some nice-looking clothes to go out with girls. Youngest children are usually that lucky, because they can keep a lot of the money they earn for themselves to spend and have fun.
Finally, he found a pretty decent outfit, all black. Wearing a black hat and a black mask, no matter how you look at it, he looks like a suspicious guy about to do something bad.
"De Lo, let's go."
De Lo understood his master's intention and immediately bit the string and brought it to him.
Just opened the door, before he could step out of the doorway, a guy rushed in from somewhere. He was wearing the exact same outfit as him, except he was much smaller than him. In his hand was a red wooden box, before he could look closely, he buried the box in his hand. He quickly pushed him away and ran like crazy into the bathroom.
While still confused and not understanding what was going on, he was about to turn around and grab the crazy guy by the neck when suddenly a few policemen rushed in from outside. They immediately handcuffed him, Trinh Anh Tu was shocked and struggled: "What the hell are you guys doing?! Let me go!".
A young man walked over and gave him a painful slap on the cheek, he grabbed the red box and glared at him with murderous eyes: "Dare to steal things from the Royal Family, are you tired of living, you bastard?! Boss Hoang will not forgive you! You guys quickly take him away!".
Without interrogation or investigation, Trinh Anh Tu had no chance to argue and was sentenced to two years in prison in a ridiculous way.
"Those policemen are really blind! The thief and I are clearly worlds apart, that guy is small and has white hair. While I am bigger and more handsome than him! Ah! So angry! I was wronged!".
Anh Tu angrily kicked the nearby street lamp post, not only could he not vent his anger, but instead he used the stick to hit his own back: "Ah! It hurts so much, Mom!".
Jumping up like a crazy person doing crazy things in the rain.
The alley leading to the house was right in front of him, he was about to enter the house to grab the kid Hoai An and throw him out into the rain, but before he could enter the alley, his confidant ran out in the rain and pulled him into a corner with a pale face.
"Tu, don't come into the house!".
Anh Tu pushed him away: "Hey, I haven't planned on telling you about the story of you leaving me hanging in the rain yet, and you still want to kick me out of the house?!".
Hoai An: "No! Your parents are in the house!".
Trinh Anh Tu panicked: "What?! Why are my parents here?! What did you say to them?!".
Hoai An: "My uncle and aunt have been here for three days now, they said they went to see how we were doing up here. When they asked me if I could find you, I made up a story and said you had gone on a trip with your girlfriend for a few days and hadn't come back yet."
Trinh Anh Tu: "This guy, how the hell do I have a girlfriend?!".
Tran Hoai An took out his phone and opened a picture of Anh Tu standing with a beautiful girl at the bus station: "I showed my uncle and aunt the photo I photoshopped, and they believed me right away. Did they see my photo editing skills? It's great, right?".
Staring in amazement at himself hugging the waist of the beautiful woman in the photo, Anh Tu truly admired his best friend's photo editing skills: "Oh, who is this beautiful woman? Did you edit my photo with a famous person?".
Hoai An smiled brightly and without any pretense, pointing at himself: "Me."
"Fuck!". He immediately turned off the screen: "I'm not gay, delete it now!".
"Humph! If I were a real girl, you would be crazy about me, you're just showing off your manly pride." He tiptoed up and pressed his face against Anh Tu like a pervert who wanted to kiss him.
Trinh Anh Tu felt nauseous and pushed his face away: "Disgusting, go away."
He left his best friend behind and walked into the alley, Hoai An kept holding him: "Wait! I told you not to go in!".
"You devil, I'm going to visit my parents! I haven't been home for two years, I miss them so much!".
Finally, Hoai An gave up: "If the story about you going to jail is revealed, I won't know anything."
Trinh Anh Tu suddenly stopped.
Hoai An was right, he was afraid that if this story was revealed, how could he dare to look at his old parents again. The unfilial son went to jail for two years without contacting home, borrowing money from his best friend to send back home every month to cover up the truth.
Since leaving his hometown, he had never told his parents the truth. He clearly wanted to bring joy and happiness back to them. He just wanted to see the satisfied smiles on his parents' sweaty faces.
He lied that he and Hoai An went to the city to start a business so that his parents could rest assured at home, but in fact, the two of them went to Binh Duong to work as factory workers.
But because Anh Tu spent little, he always had a lot of money left over. Besides the expenses for rent, electricity, water, and food, he himself did not take much care of it. The rest of the money he earned was sent back to his hometown, and the little he saved. As long as his parents did not have to work hard every day, he was at ease, and it was okay if he was in need.
Thinking for a long time, not knowing when he had lifted his feet, he had just arrived in front of the house. Trinh Anh Tu kept his head down, looking at the raindrops falling on the flower pots in front of the house. He felt like a raindrop, falling to the ground, soaking into the brick floor, then drying up, then pouring rain back down to the ground. A vicious cycle of life of a raindrop that is not free.
"Woof woof!".
De Lo barked loudly at him, after two years of meeting again, it was almost unable to recognize its owner anymore. Trinh Anh Tu kept his head down, his whole body was stunned as if he had lost his soul.
"Tu!".
The call brought him back to his senses and he raised his head, his sad eyes suddenly lit up. Tears flashed, his eyes were red: "Mom and Dad!".
Luckily, their faces were still bright, their eyes were clear as they saw their son. Anh Tu was about to cry, he put down the umbrella and ran to hug them. Holding back his tears from falling: "Mom and Dad, I miss you two so much".
Mom hugged him, Dad patted his head: "You're this big and you're still whining to Mom and Dad? I heard you went out with your girlfriend, why don't you bring her home for dinner?".
Anh Tu shook his head, not wanting to be exposed, he could only act deeply: "She said she had work to do at home, next time she will eat with us".
Hoai An echoed: "Tu, when Tet comes, bring her back to your hometown to meet your parents".
Hearing that, the parents were happy and came up with an idea: "Mom thinks An is right, you are already twenty-five or twenty-six, hurry up and get married and give the two of us a grandchild to take care of".
Trinh Anh Tu secretly scolded the brat Tran Hoai An for overacting and talking nonsense. How the hell did he have a girlfriend to bring home to meet his parents? He really wanted to chop up his soulmate who had been by his side for the past twenty years and throw her into the river for the ugly fish to eat.
Could he have this guy disguise himself as a beautiful woman like in the photo and go back to his hometown to ask for her hand in marriage? Just thinking about it made my hair stand on end.
How could a rough and tough guy become a girl? Even if Hoai An turned into a girl, he absolutely would not touch her.
Looking over, he saw Tran Hoai An secretly covering his mouth and giggling, so he turned around and gave him a big smack on the head like a baked potato.
"Ouch! It hurts!". Hoai An hugged his head and jumped up.
Anh Tu turned back and smiled as if nothing had happened: "Mom and Dad, let's go inside and eat, I'm hungry."
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[Author's note]
Tet holiday: is the traditional New Year celebration of Vietnam.
In Vietnam, we highly value filial piety. Trinh Anh Tu was built based on a son who respected his parents. So he felt very guilty when he had to go to prison. Afraid of making his parents suffer.