Chapter 7: The ideal lover model

At five o'clock in the morning, Thi San woke up and started working.

After she finished brushing her teeth and washing her face, she quickly carried her basket to buy food.

The early morning road between the villas was quite deserted because the houses were still closed. Thi San followed the signs of the shops and she easily reached the market.

Pity for her. Yesterday, she and Mai Hoang came here at six o'clock in the morning and the umbrellas used to block the sun had already been moved, so the junction was empty, but now there are many umbrellas, so the strange sight made her bewildered. She didn't know the location of the beef seller.

Thi San walked back and forth for a while, then asked the chicken saleswoman to show her the way to the beef stall.

Fortunately for Thi San, the chicken saleswoman was very enthusiastic. She immediately asked her husband to look after the stall and then she took the country girl to the place.

- This is where your mother-in-law usually buys. - The chicken saleswoman laughed and said.

- Which mother-in-law? An acquaintance? - The beef seller picked up a sharp knife and asked.

- This is the future daughter-in-law of Mrs. Mai Hoang. Okay, you sell her beef.

After the chicken saleswoman finished speaking, she turned and walked straight back to her stall.

The butcher took the piece of meat that Thi San chose and threw it on the scale and charged the bill. His hand quickly put the meat in a plastic bag and gave it to her. His face brightened up.

- You are the luckiest person when you become the daughter-in-law of that family. Both of them are good people. When Thang Vu was a child, he used to follow his mother to the market, but when he grew up, he was busy studying, so I couldn't see him. Now he has become a world-famous artist.

He talked continuously, so Thi San didn't have time to explain this misunderstanding.

Mai Hoang said it was not clear, so the chicken saleswoman thought Thi San was the daughter-in-law of the Truong family and spread rumors.

The story had become this bad, so Thi San also ignored it. After all, she wasn't hurt by that information.

After Thi San went to a few stalls to buy vegetables and spices, she returned with a full basket.

When she passed a small glass cabinet displaying cakes, she stopped and bought two cakes for breakfast.

Mai Hoang did not give Thi San money to go to the market every day, but she gave it for an entire month. Mai Hoang said that if the maid is good at calculating, she will get the change.

Thi San got home and passed through the living room, she glanced at the clock on the wall and realized that she had left for fifty minutes. She thought to herself that if she knew the way, she would go faster in the future because she didn't remember this morning and took too long.

After she put down the basket, she turned to open the gate for Mai Hoang to drive to the company.

- You ask Thang Vu if he has lunch at home so you know and cook more food for him. Maybe after the interview, he will go out to eat with his friends.

Mai Hoang stopped the car and lowered the window of the car to tell Thi San a few words, then she pressed the accelerator and drove away, not having time to see or hear Thi San answer.

Because Thi San knew that Thang Vu would be out soon, she just pushed the door closed and returned to the house, but she didn't lock it.

She also hoped he would go out to eat. If he returned home, she would have to eat with him. The dinner with three people made Thi San feel more comfortable, but if it was only Thang Vu, she would be very shy.

From outside the main door, she looked up the stairs and saw him coming down.

His outfit was just black trousers and a white shirt, simple but very attractive. To be honest, she loved to see men in white shirts.

- Do you have lunch at home this afternoon or...

- I eat at home.

- Ah.

His answer interrupted her question that had not yet put a question mark, which made her extremely disappointed, but she still nodded slightly.

Her expectations were gone, he would return and her limbs would be unnatural when she was at the table with him. That was the feeling of a young girl. It was like the day she bumped into a man at the bus station with a handsome face like him and it made her heart stop beating.

While Thi San was waiting for Thang Vu to move for her to follow to open the gate for him, her heart suddenly pounded because the opposite toe was getting closer and closer.

Her eyes widened and looked up at him, then narrowed slowly as his hand reached over her head.

Did he want to pat her on the head like a baby?

She did not need him to do that.

- You carried the leaf a long way, but it didn't fall. That is great.

Thang Vu's warm voice mixed with humor made Thi San understand that all her thoughts were just misunderstandings. That's right, she was overconfident herself.

Who was he that she dared imagine him patting her on the head?

If she wanted to blame, she should only blame the man selling vegetables. She remembered that when she had finished buying the vegetables and turned to leave; he took an enormous bunch of vegetables and shook them dry. She didn't know how he could make the leaves of the vegetable fly over her head.

- Thanks... thank you.

Thi San felt embarrassed and raised her head to look at him, then she quickly lowered her head. She wished the earth would open up so she could step inside. Although Thang Vu could not possibly have known what she had imagined, she still felt ashamed of herself.

- Open the gate for me, you are alone at home, remember to lock the door carefully. - Thang Vu spoke up.

-Yes.

She replied and hurried out into the yard.

This had been a temporary opportunity to help ease her shame.

He cared about her too much, and it made her feel awkward. She was still a young girl and if he continued to treat her like this, she would get scared and die of heart disease.

She wished time would pass quickly so that the holiday would end and Thang Vu could go back to school.

Mai Hoang once said that when he went to school, he would have lunch outside, then attend courses and social activities and return home in the evening.

Thi San's confused appearance and face as red as a ripe tomato made Thang Vu realize he had scared her.

The girls who studied with him were all bold girls, not shy like her. Coincidentally, she was very similar to the type of person he liked.

When the car just ran to the edge of the road, Thang Vu looked in the rearview mirror and he saw Thi San also standing outside and locking the gate. Because he was surprised, he quickly braked the car and put his head outside, and called her name.

- Did you just call my name? - Thi San quickly ran up to him and asked.

- Where do you intend to go? You are not familiar with the road. - Thang Vu asked and his eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

- Ah. I intend to go to the market to buy some green onions. In the morning because I was in a hurry, I forgot. - She smiled and replied.

- When I come back, I will buy it for you. Please go back inside the house.

He said, then nodded slightly to signal Thi San to quickly return to the house.

The pianist's hair that was gently blowing in the wind made her almost immobile.

He was an elf, not a human. Her little heart could not contain this haunting figure.

- Yes.

She replied, then bowed her head and ran towards the gate.

If she could live without eating, she wouldn't have lunch with him today. If she said she wasn't hungry and suddenly, she went down to rummage in the pot at two or three o'clock in the afternoon and she was discovered by him, she would be ashamed to die. She didn't know if he would go out or if he would stay home all afternoon.

Thang Vu waited until Thi San finished entering the house before he drove straight to the main road.

The cafe that the reporter chose was near the Academy where Thang Vu was studying, so he chose a time frame where all the students were already in class because if they remained outside, he would be surrounded by them.

- Hello Mr. Thang Vu, I am honored that you have agreed to appear in our newspaper.

The male reporter excitedly stood up, shook hands, and then invited the main character to sit on a chair.

The exclusive interview with the pianist who had just won the grand prize would be news that many people would be interested in and it would help the newsroom earn huge profits, so Tan Vinh was very excited.

Last night, he lay in bed and opened his eyes wide to wait for morning.

The feeling of waiting was very stressful, but when Thang Vu appeared, everything in Tan Vinh's heart was immediately completely relieved.

Thang Vu arrived on time, not early, not late. His clothes were simple, his face was bright, his figure was tall and thin, and especially his friendly smile helped the two of them shorten the distance.

Because Tan Vinh had previously collected information about Thang Vu, he knew that the male pianist was the future heir of Thang Minh Joint Stock Company. He sucked on the golden spoon since he was a child.

To be more precise, Thang Vu was born from the finish line. He was not like Tan Vinh, who had to work hard to pay for school fees and his life was always messed up.

Tan Vinh was a few years older than Thang Vu, but because of basic politeness, he had to use honorifics because the man opposite him was not a child and his influence in the music world was not small either.

Thang Vu gently sat down and gestured with his hand to order a cup of hot coffee with milk.

He was a regular customer here, so as soon as the staff saw him, they would immediately know it was hot milk coffee in the morning, orange juice at noon, and hot royal tea in the evening. Never change.

- What's your name? I asked to make it easier for the two of us to address each other. - Thang Vu asked.

- Oh. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Tan Vinh Dinh. I called you yesterday. - Tan Vinh said. His face showed urgency.

- Okay, Mr. Tan Vinh, let's start. I'll let you record this conversation.

- Thank you.

Thang Vu's professionalism made Tan Vinh extremely admire the talent and bravery of the guy who had not stepped out of the gate of this university.

If Tan Vinh remembered correctly, Thang Vu also appeared in newspapers when he won major awards in the country, but he only answered a few questions and expressed his feelings about the contest.

Tan Vinh hastily adjusted his style and quickly got to work.

He turned on the tiny tape recorder and set it down on the table, then took a pen and notebook with questions already written on it and placed it on his feet for easy visibility.

The place where the two of them were sitting had soundproof glass separating the noisy outside space, so they didn't have to worry about other people's sounds coming in.

While the man opposite Thang Vu was busy preparing, he gently lifted the steaming cup of coffee and took a sip.

This sweet taste with a bit of bitterness reminded him of Thi San. In the past, when he enjoyed this drink, it didn't remind him of any memories with anyone.