Chapter Six

Guest Star: Nguyen Cao Ky Duyen

Minh Tuyet was walking through the outdoor hallways alone when she saw Luong Tung Quang walking towards her. Although she didn’t really like Luong Tung Quang, she knew she had to apologize for ruining his dinner with her personal family matters. She continued striding in the direction of Luong Tung Quang.
“Hello, madame,” Luong Tung Quang said as he bowed down with his hand on his stomach.
“Good morning, sir Luong Tung Quang,” Minh Tuyet said with a soft voice as she made a curtsy.
Both were looking at the flowers in the garden and the sky, not knowing what to say.
“What are you doing here so early?” Minh Tuyet asked.
“Your father invited me over for an attempt of a successful meal again,” Luong Tung Quang smiled.
“Oh, hehe, yeah. Listen I just wanna apologize for what happened.”
“Are you apologizing because I now know you’re a murderer?” Luong Tung Quang chuckled at his own joke and looked away. But Minh Tuyet pulled him by the arm and slapped him. Luong Tung Quang felt a sharp pain on his cheek and quickly touched his cheek with his hand; he looked angrily at Minh Tuyet.
“What are you doing? I was just joking,” Luong Tung Quang yelled.
“How can you joke like that? I actually thought you were different from how I thought you were,” Minh Tuyet said with pain in her voice and tears in her eyes. She stomped away with a rage of fire inside her.
“You were actually gonna give me a chance?” Luong Tung Quang yelled behind her, but with his back towards her.
“Aren’t you afraid I’m gonna kill you?” Minh Tuyet replied without turning around and kept walking.


Tuan Ngoc, Minh Tuyet, Tu Quyen and Luong Tung Quang once again were sitting at the dining table in their same seats. This time, everyone ate in silence. Neither Luong Tung Quang nor Tuan Ngoc tried to whip up a conversation because both were afraid that it would just result into another argument.
“I need all of you to hear this,” Tuan Ngoc said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. All three them looked over to Tuan Ngoc and listened attentively.
“Minh Tuyet and Tu Quyen’s aunt is visiting today,”
“That’s it?” Tu Quyen asked.
“No…she wrote me a letter in advance telling me about her visit today. Ky Duyen said that Minh Tuyet is now twenty-one, which means should she at least be in a serious relationship by now. She told me that …, uh…um” Tuan Ngoc paused.
“Said what, father?” Minh Tuyet asked anxiously.
“She said that if you’re not in a relationship, then she would find you a husband, whom you would have to marry,” Tuan Ngoc finished.
“What?” Both Luong Tung Quang and Minh Tuyet yelled at the same time, and then they looked at each other.
“Now, I don’t really agree to this because you never know what kind of men Ky Duyen brings to the table…so I need to ask you and Luong Tung Quang a favor,” Tuan Ngoc said to Minh Tuyet, “I need you to pretend to be in love with each other…”
“No.” Minh Tuyet replied right away.
“Tuyet, would you rather to pretend to be in love with someone you hate but you know, or would you rather marry a man who you hate and don’t know him, AND he’s probably older…a lot older,” Tu Quyen spoke up. Tuan Ngoc nodded his head in agreement. Minh Tuyet reluctantly nodded her head, agreeing to the plan.

“Darlings! You two have grown into two gorgeous ladies!” Ky Duyen said, hugging Minh Tuyet and Tu Quyen in her arms with Tuan Ngoc and Luong Tung standing to the side in the family room. Ky Duyen turned to Luong Tung Quang and observed him.
“And who is this fine gentleman?” she asked.
Tu Quyen nudged Minh Tuyet’s arm, who suddenly said,
“Oh, he’s um…my…fiancé?”
“You don’t sound too sure? But how can you not be? Look at him.”
Luong Tung Quang smiled and said,
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“Now, when is the date?” Ky Duyen questioned Minh Tuyet.
“For what?”
“Well, you say he’s your fiancé, what’s the date of the wedding?”
“OH! Um…we’re not sure. We haven’t established that yet, you see.”
“Ha! You better hurry up, a guy with looks like him shouldn’t stay single that long,” Ky Duyen said and winked at Minh Tuyet.
“Don’t worry…auntie. I will always stay loyal to this beautiful lady,” Luong Tung Quang said and pulled Minh Tuyet to his side, who had a hard time smiling the entire time she was standing there.
“That is so sweet! Such young love! Look at them, brother,” Ky Duyen said to Tuan Ngoc who smiled at the fake couple. Luong Tung Quang had a huge grin on his face with his arms around Minh Tuyet. There was a knock on the door and Phi Nhung stepped in.
“Dinner is ready, sirs and madams,” she said.
All five of them stood up and headed for the dining room. Luong Tung Quang and Minh Tuyet left the room hand in hand, while Tu Quyen and Phi Nhung were giggling right behind them.

“So I’ve been thinking, we should set the wedding date! I can only stay for a couple of weeks,” Ky Duyen said during lunch.
“What?” Minh Tuyet asked, choking on her soup.
“I’m saying that we should set the date of the wedding soon. I wanna be there to witness this wonderful event!”
“No, no, no, no, no, no, auntie! Um…you should go home. Uncle Trinh Hoi would miss you a lot! You should go!”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re kicking me out, Minh Tuyet.”
“No, no, no. I didn’t mean that…I was…uh…just saying that…”
“What’s going on?” Ky Duyen put down her bowl.
“You always stammer when you’re nervous. What is going on?”
“We have to be honest with her, Tuyet,” Luong Tung Quang joined in. Minh Tuyet looked over to him with an upside-down smile.
“What are you doing?” she said through her clenched teeth.
“Miss Duyen, we’re not… OW!” Luong Tung Quang suddenly bellowed across the room, Minh Tuyet had stomped on his foot.
“You’re not what…?” Ky Duyen asked.
“We’re not really engaged,” Luong Tung Quang continued with pain in his voice.
“What?”
“We were afraid that if we told you the truth, you would take Minh Tuyet away from me and
find her another husband. And I love her too much, so I decided to make up a little white lie. I’m sorry.”
Minh Tuyet looked over to Luong Tung Quang, she was completely dumbfounded.
“Why aren’t you two engaged yet?” Ky Duyen questioned.
Before Minh Tuyet can answer by stammering again, Luong Tung Quang jumped in.
“Because Tuyet isn’t ready for marriage yet, even though we’ve been together for a long time, she feels as though she needs to get to know me more before we become betrothed.”
“That’s very smart of you, Tuyet. I’m glad to hear this; it proves you have grown more mature.”
Minh Tuyet smiled her sweet smile. They continued eating; Tuan Ngoc and Tu Quyen sat there listening into the three’s conversation in shock; the maids on the side were surprised that Luong Tung Quang didn’t receive a black eye from Minh Tuyet yet. After all were finished with dinner, they walked out the main gates and said good bye to Luong Tung Quang as he stepped into his carriage. Minh Tuyet and Tu Quyen were admiring the bright stars in the sky as Tuan Ngoc and Ky Duyen waved good bye to Luong Tung Quang. As they turned around and walked back inside, Bang Kieu passed by soon enough to catch a glimpse of Minh Tuyet’s beautiful face.