It had been a very difficult seven months since Tuyet’s conscription. After her niece had returned home injured and pregnant, Coi had been running the entire household, including the shop they had decided to operate and the orchard, by herself. Tuyet had been bedridden the first month, broken in body and spirit. She had barely eaten and had spoken little. She had told Takeshi that she had been beaten and raped at the garrison, but she had refused to talk about it.
