Beside the hustle and bustle of the street, with cars moving back and forth like a dance, couples holding each other closely, fruit vendors and vendors shouting, An walked quietly and slowly, looking at the night scene of the city amidst the discomfort of the air and dust.

Phuong lightly nudged An shoulder:

- "Hey, if you hit the jackpot and won a billion dollars, what would you do with all that money?"

An laughed:

- "Why do you always dream like that?"

But her own eyes lit up, her face became serious, as if she really felt that she had a billion dollars in her pocket, she carefully considered:

- "First, I would fix my mother's house so she would have a warm place to live in her old age, then I would buy her a TV. She loves opera so much; she can watch it all day long. And then I would buy myself a pair of earrings, my mother said that earrings bring good luck to girls, and some really nice clothes. I wonder if I would look less ugly if I wore a luxurious outfit?"

Phuong shrugged, pouted, and drew out her words:

- "Well, you know what? No matter how much you dress up, you're still just half a person."

An playfully punched her friend's back, laughter erupted, blending into the wind and disappearing into the night.

Beside the hustle and bustle of the street, the two shadows quietly walked, sometimes their shoulders bumped into each other, they could clearly hear the sound of their shoes on the pavement, they could hear each other's breaths, and... they walked.

An was ecstatic to the point of madness. Oh, why did she feel so strange today? So beautiful? With the pearl necklace around her neck and the expensive dress, she felt like she was Chun Song Yi in a different skin. Yesterday, she thought life was a dirty mud puddle, but today she thought nothing was better than being judged by the King of Hades to be reborn as a human. No one invited her to a party, she didn't have to go to an office or anyone's house (except for Phuong, who else was her friend?)

Earlier in the day, when she was trying to mend some donated clothes, she suddenly raised her voice:

- "I'm nineteen years old, and I've never worn anything beautiful except these charity clothes. Can you believe it?"

- "It's easy, just make a lot of money and then you can buy whatever you want!"

- "No! Tomorrow, I'll wear something beautiful."

- "Where would you find it?"

- "Just nearby, that run-down hair salon on the street, don't underestimate it, there's even a wardrobe full of beautiful clothes, you won't be able to take your eyes off them".

- "Oh my god! Would someone give them to you?"

- "No! I rented them. Just for one day, paid upfront."

- "But where do you need them for? You have to pay for them. You and I have to work for a whole month just to afford you dressing nicely for one day, damn it!"

- "That's not your concern. I don't have anywhere to go. Then he drifted off, "I'll leave from here, go through these alleys, to that 'Rose' bar, where there are many men. I just need to go there and come back... " 

And now, it is enjoying the leisurely pace, moving gracefully, taking slow steps, sometimes pretending to make a soft sound, then waving the purse, turning it around, sometimes swaying the hip gently, pushing forward the flat chest, grinning - a smile that it's infatuated with, and trying to imitate that of a Korean actor - in the realm of consciousness or unconsciousness? It stumbled, crouched, then looked around. 

Unconsciously, it was afraid. Oh my god! if a man appears now, two men, then three men... what will it do? It hugged the bag tightly against the body - the empty bag still scared it. It straightened its face coldly, with the harsh look of a teacher at a private school (whom it often encounters on this little alley). It took firm, steady steps, majestic... and, poor thing, is any man looking at it? It is trying to stuff its body with countless nails to defend a fortress that no one cares to attack. Then, it secretly glanced around, sighed lightly, with a sunken face, fiddling with the lipstick (the first time in its life it put on lipstick), but it couldn't conceal the acne and dark circles under its eyes, with tiny, blurry eyes... it moved slowly with short, leisurely steps, trying to let out a sound when passing through the crowd, and pulling up the short, shabby skirt... for the slender, dark legs to be exposed, to be seductive. 

- "Hey, you have to marry me with a diamond ring, remember?"

- "My child doesn't let me get married anymore" - the man replied with both joy and exhaustion - "He says I have to take care of my grandchild every time he is away."

- "Oh my God! When we get together, I'll take care of the baby with you. I won't let him fall, my dear, is that okay?"

- "Oh! Is he really cute? He may even be younger than you. My son is afraid that he will become spoiled if he plays too much."

- "As a well-known official like you, even if you are retired, you still have a say in your children's decisions. If you want to get married, your child won't reject you."

- "He rejected so much, even his wife did. Previously, I planned to marry a girl, they made a big fuss about it."

- "So, you won't get married then? You won't take any responsibility?"

- "Well, I'll compensate, a genuine diamond ring, okay?"

An held up the high ring and looked at it, turning it back and forth, smiling satisfied. Yes, at least she had done a big thing, she had won, he was very pleased. She hadn't even stepped into the Goldsmith's Shop yet, but in her head, she could see the small, beautiful walled house with paper flowers in front of the gate, her mother sitting leisurely in front of the TV, chewing betel nuts and enjoying the sweet sounds of Ca Tru (instead of sitting in front of a hot stove boiling peanuts).

Oh! Life is really wonderful. Suddenly, like a slow-motion movie, An remembered her childhood days...the months her family lived in happiness. Her father was a state official, her mother was the daughter of one of the biggest fabric store owners in the city. Then, in the same week, everything went wrong. The store was robbed, her grandparents and two workers were killed, but because her mother went to pick him up from school, they escaped. After five days of this terrible tragedy, An's father had a traffic accident on his way home from work, her motorcycle was crushed by a car. When her mother rushed to the hospital, her father had already been taken to the morgue. Her mother collapsed from that moment on. And then, from that moment on, An couldn't go to school anymore. For An, for her mother...that nightmare seemed like just yesterday.

And oh! How shocking, how outrageous, how Life. It frowned, grumbled, its face turned pale, and it hurriedly walked with its head down. The sound of the brakes hit its feet, An startled and looked up, receiving a verbal assault of vulgar curses from the driver, it lowered its head and walked. It entered a luxurious house, unable to restrain itself, it rushed forward and knocked down the toddler, then slapped the old man in the face... An angrily threw everything within reach at the old man, even the genuine diamond ring, throwing and cursing until exhausted, it sat down on the floor, laughing hysterically... Meanwhile, its toddler clumsily stood up, tremblingly looking for the way out, trying to straighten its expensive silk shirt.