The Duck Egg and Destiny: A Song of Found Love

Amidst the poor district market, where the clear calls of street vendors mingled with the pungent smell of fermented shrimp paste and the fresh scent of vegetables, Hoang Minh, the CEO of a major corporation, stood motionless. His expensive shirt was conspicuously out of place among the common laborers. He came not for luxury, but to search for one thing: duck eggs.

His eyes rested on a duck egg stall at the end of the row, and his heart seemed to stop. The woman, with her simple high bun, a few wisps of hair around her temples, a faded traditional blouse, and hands deftly selecting eggs, was none other than Lan Chi—his ex-wife who had vanished from his life for five long years.

Five years! Five years of searching for a ghost, he thought she had dissolved into nothingness, yet here she was, in this poor market, selling duck eggs.

“Mommy, I’m thirsty!”

A tender, sweet voice broke his thoughts. At the foot of the stall, a plump little girl with round, black eyes, the spitting image of him, was tugging on Lan Chi’s trousers. Beside her, another boy, with the same chubby face, was meticulously stacking eggshells.

Two children. Hoang Minh took a deep breath, his chest constricted.

Lan Chi quickly poured water from a small thermos: “An Nhien, be good! Khoi Nguyen, don’t play with the eggshells. They’re dirty.”

An Nhien, Khoi Nguyen. The names of the children. A current of electricity ran down his spine; there was no mistaking it. Those eyes, that mouth—they were his. She had hidden such a shocking secret from him!

Hoang Minh walked heavily towards the egg stall, each step a hammer blow to his heart, which was bleeding from the betrayal.

“Lan Chi!” His voice was hoarse and rough, cutting through the market’s noisy atmosphere.

Lan Chi jumped, the egg in her hand nearly dropping. She looked up, her eyes wide, revealing extreme panic as she saw him. Her face went pale, drained of all color.

“Anh… anh Minh…” she stammered, her voice trembling.

Hoang Minh stood facing her, his gaze sharp as a dagger. “You remember me? I thought you’d forgotten everything.” He glanced at the two children staring up at him innocently. “Who are these children?“

Lan Chi quickly shielded the children like a mother bird. “They have nothing to do with you! Just go.”

Hoang Minh sneered, a storm brewing inside him. “You think I’m blind? You think I wouldn’t recognize them?” He bent down, looking straight at An Nhien and Khoi Nguyen. “Children, what are your names?”

Khoi Nguyen was a bit bolder, looking up: “I’m Khoi Nguyen, and this is my sister An Nhien. Who are you, sir?”

Hearing the word “sir” from his own son’s mouth tore Hoang Minh’s heart apart. He turned to Lan Chi, his eyes full of rage. “Sir? You taught my son to call me sir?!”

Lan Chi gripped her hands tightly, nails digging into her palm. “Anh Minh, please leave. Don’t make a scene here.”

“Make a scene?” He gritted his teeth. “You’re the one who ruined my life! You left without a word, leaving me in chaos. Now you show up with two children who are my exact image. What do you want me to do? Pretend nothing happened?”

Whispers started among nearby vendors. Lan Chi was increasingly distraught. “Mommy, he’s so handsome,” An Nhien said innocently.

The little girl’s pure words were like an arrow piercing Hoang Minh’s cold exterior. “Handsome? Tell me what’s going on! Five years ago you said you couldn’t…” He didn’t want to bring up the bitter words his aunt and grand-mother had said about her inability to have children.

Lan Chi bowed her head, tears welling up. “You don’t need to know! Just go. My life, my children’s lives, have nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing to do with me?” Hoang Minh chuckled coldly. “You think everything will be fine just by hiding? You think I’ll accept you taking my children away for five years without an explanation?”

Khoi Nguyen grabbed his mother’s hand: “Mommy, don’t be sad, don’t cry. I don’t like this sir.”

His son’s words were excruciating for Hoang Minh. He turned to her: “Tell me, Lan Chi. These two children are mine, aren’t they?”

Lan Chi looked up, her eyes red but firm. “Yes, they are yours!” Her voice choked. “But they don’t need a father like you. Go, we don’t need your pity.“

“Pity?” He was furious. “I am their father! I have the right to know! Why did you hide me? Why did you leave without a word?”

“You want to know?” Lan Chi suddenly laughed, a bitter, painful laugh. “Do you remember what your family said to me? Do you remember how much you believed their words? Who was I in their eyes? A poor country girl, not a good match, and unable to conceive! What did you want me to do? Stay and hear them call me your burden? Stay and watch you face pressure from your family day and night?”

Hoang Minh froze. The words from years ago, the pressure from his uncle and grandmother, all rushed back. He tried to protect her, but it seemed it was never enough. And then she vanished. He had believed she left him because she couldn’t endure the difficult life, because he couldn’t give her a complete family.

“You think I wanted to leave?” Lan Chi continued, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Do you know what I had to endure? I once thought I could never be a mother. So, when I found out I was pregnant, how happy I was. But I also knew I couldn’t stay. I couldn’t let my children be born into a family their grandmother wouldn’t accept. I couldn’t let you choose between your family and me again!”

“So you decided everything yourself? You hid me, hid my children?” Hoang Minh was stunned, in pain.

“Mommy, the sir is making you cry.” An Nhien started whimpering. Khoi Nguyen also hugged his mother’s legs, looking at Hoang Minh cautiously. “Sir, go away, don’t make Mommy cry.”

Hoang Minh looked at the two children, seeing his own eyes brimming with tears. He was their father, yet he was the one making them hate him.

“Anh Minh, please let me and my children live in peace,” Lan Chi said, her voice filled with despair and resolve. “We are used to this life now. We don’t need anything.”

“Don’t need anything?” Hoang Minh looked around the poor market, at the simple egg stall, at the worn sandals on her feet. “Do you think this is the life I want for my children? Is this all I can give them?”

“I have no regrets. I never regretted bringing them into this world,” Lan Chi answered frankly.

Hoang Minh looked at her, at the two children. A painful truth was before his eyes: Lan Chi had raised his children alone through immense hardship, while he lived in luxury, believing lies.

“I’m not going anywhere!” Hoang Minh declared, his voice firm. “I won’t let you hide my children for another second. I’m taking the children home!“

Lan Chi stared at him, her eyes wide. “What are you saying? You have no right!”

“I am their father!” Hoang Minh retorted, determined. “And I won’t let my children live this kind of life. I will never let go of my children, Lan Chi!”

After some argument, Lan Chi agreed to let him follow her home to talk. It was a small, corrugated iron house in an alley, old but tidy. When the children went to play, Lan Chi and Hoang Minh faced each other.

“You suffered?” Lan Chi asked, her gaze challenging. “You think you’re the only one who suffered? Do you know what kind of harsh words I had to endure? People called me a gold-digger, trying to climb the social ladder. Then, when I couldn’t conceive, they called me useless, unworthy of you!”

“No, you’re not a burden!” Hoang Minh stood up. “I loved you, Lan! I tried my best to protect you. But you left without a word. You left me in torment for five years!”

“But you took away their father’s love!” Hoang Minh cried out in pain. “You stole five years of my life, five years of being their father!”

While they were slowly untangling the knot of misunderstanding and hurt, Hoang Minh’s phone rang. It was his aunt, Mrs. Thuy.

“Minh, where are you? I heard you’ve been playing with two cute kids. Are you planning to adopt?”

Hoang Minh tried to stay calm: “No, Aunt. It’s my private matter, I’ll tell you later.”

But before he could say more, a sharp voice sounded from the doorway: “Protecting whom, Hoang Minh?“

Mrs. Thuy and Mr. Bay, his uncle and aunt, had appeared. Lan Chi’s whole body stiffened, the old fear rushing back.

“Lan Chi, you dare show your face here? Do you remember why you left my house?” Mrs. Thuy looked at the two children with a scrutinizing, slightly contemptuous gaze.

“Aunt Thuy, Uncle Bay!” Hoang Minh stepped out to shield Lan Chi. “This is Lan Chi, and these are my children!”

His declaration was like a bomb. “Your children?” Mrs. Thuy glared at Hoang Minh. “With the woman who said she couldn’t have children? The one who left without a word?”

“Mommy, who is she? Why is she scolding you?” An Nhien clung to her mother.

“I don’t like her, she’s making Mommy sad!” Khoi Nguyen said.

“They are not my grandchildren!” Mrs. Thuy yelled. “They are children with no father, no clear lineage! I do not accept them!”

“No father?” An Nhien looked up with wide eyes. “I do have a father! My father is Anh Hoang Minh, he’s very handsome! He loves my mommy!“

The innocent words of the children stunned Mrs. Thuy and Mr. Bay. But Lan Chi was exhausted. She hugged her children tightly: “I’m leaving with the children! I won’t let them endure these words any longer!”

And she turned her back and walked away, pulling the two small children with her. Hoang Minh was paralyzed. He had let her go a second time.

Hoang Minh was frantic. He mobilized all his connections to search for Lan Chi and the children. He knew he was wrong, too complacent. This time, he had lost not only her but also his children.

Finally, he found them in a small, remote corrugated iron house, guided by Lan Chi’s distant relative.

“Lan Chi!” His voice was filled with weariness and deep longing.

“How… how did you find me here?” She was startled, instinctively shielding the children.

Hoang Minh knelt down to their level. “Are you children well?” He took An Nhien’s small hand. “I’m not scolding your mother. I’m apologizing to her. I made your mother sad.”

He looked up at Lan Chi, his eyes full of pleading. “Lan Chi, I beg you, give me a chance to make amends. Give the children a home with both a father and a mother.”

“Your family won’t accept the children,” she said, her voice choked.

“No! I won’t let anyone hurt them. I’ve made it clear to my aunt and uncle. If they don’t accept them, I will build a new family myself, a home just for us! I will never let you endure this alone again.”

“Mommy, the handsome sir is right, I want a daddy,” Khoi Nguyen said innocently. “Daddy will take me out to play, Daddy will buy me ice cream.”

The children’s words melted the last layer of ice in Lan Chi’s heart. She knew she still loved him, and the children deserved a father. She nodded.

“Don’t be afraid, Lan Chi. Trust me. I won’t disappoint you and the children.” Hoang Minh squeezed her hand.

He brought her and the children back home to face Mrs. Thuy and Mr. Bay.

“Aunt Thuy, Uncle Bay,” Hoang Minh stated firmly. “I’ve had a DNA test. They are my children. I will never let go of Lan Chi and the children. Whether you accept them or not, we are a family.“

Faced with Hoang Minh’s sincere love and determination, and the children’s innocence, the wall of prejudice in Mrs. Thuy and Mr. Bay’s hearts finally crumbled. Mr. Bay sighed: “Minh, are you sure? Do you truly love this girl so much?”

“Absolutely, Uncle Bay. I love Lan Chi, and I love our children.”

Lan Chi knelt at Mrs. Thuy’s feet, tears streaming: “I beg for your forgiveness for the misunderstandings of the past. I only hope you can accept me and the children. I will try my best to fulfill my duties as a daughter-in-law.”

“That’s enough, that’s enough,” Mrs. Thuy helped Lan Chi up, her own tears flowing. “Get up, my child, get up. Your aunt and uncle were wrong, we were too stubborn.”

Finally, their family was complete. Hoang Minh organized a special ceremony right at the old market, where they reunited, declaring their love and family’s acceptance in front of everyone. He knelt and proposed to Lan Chi again.

“Lan Chi, will you marry me one more time? This time, I will never let you leave me again. I will protect you and the children with my life.”

“I do,” she whispered.

They lived happily, not just because of their love, but because of the forgiveness and acceptance from the family. Hoang Minh and Lan Chi developed her duck egg business, turning the small stall into a beautiful memory, a testament to enduring love that overcame all prejudice. They found their peace, where family was everything.

---

Would you like me to focus on any specific part of the story, or perhaps provide more detail on the children’s perspectives?