Actor Ta Hien passed away at the age of 89. After Ta Dinh Phong's son posted the obituary, his girlfriend Vuong Phi did not speak up, while his ex-wife Truong Ba Chi quietly changed her profile picture on Weibo, Instagram and Xiaohongshu to black.
Truong Ba Chi did not write a word, but everyone understands that she is commemorating her ex-father-in-law - Ta Hien.
When he was alive, Ta Hien had repeatedly said that he felt guilty towards Truong Ba Chi and her 2 grandchildren.
According to media reports, Ta Hien always feels guilty towards her ex-daughter because of the things that Truong Ba Chi has done for the past 14 years.
When Nicholas Tse and Cecilia Cheung divorced in 2011, their eldest son Lucas was only 4 years old, and Quintus was less than 2 years old. Since then, everything from eating, living, taking children to school to taking care of them when they are sick has been taken on by Cecilia Cheung alone.
Many netizens also shared photos of the actress being caught by chance for many years at airports, supermarkets, amusement parks or on the streets. The scenery is almost always the same: she is bare-faced, one hand holding a small child, one hand leading an older child, carrying a mother's bag on her shoulder, next to which are suitcases.
Many parents around thought she was just an ordinary mother busy taking care of her children, not recognizing that person who was once a famous female star throughout Asia.
In 2024, when appearing at Universal Studios Singapore, Cecilia Cheung wore camouflage pants, flat shoes, and dressed discreetly. At that time, Quintus was half a head taller than his mother. The two mothers and daughters clasped their arms and chatted like friends.
In the program "Mamma Mia", Truong Ba Chi once shared: "I am a single mother but I don't feel too tired. In normal families, parents will take turns playing strict and gentle roles. And I am a single mother, so both roles are taken by me.
She said that she visited Lucas at school every day. Because the media was always present in front of the school gate, she had to stand in many different positions.
Sometimes I just need to let my son see me once, so that he knows that his mother is always by his side," Truong Ba Chi confided. To avoid her son being surrounded by the press, she accepted to stand elsewhere, just hoping that her son would see her for a moment and feel her presence.
Truong Ba Chi also refused many film invitations that required her to work long days elsewhere, instead only accepting small-scale projects that could finish work on time. Cooking, tutoring children in school or taking children to the hospital at midnight when children have a fever are all taken care of by herself.
The wall of Truong Ba Chi's living room does not hang cups or red carpet photos, but is covered with photos of her children: the moment the eldest son lies on his back with a cream cake, the second son covered in mud after stepping into a puddle, or the youngest son with a face full of rice...
When asked about her past, she just waved her hand and said: "The thing I fear most now is not the camera, but forgetting to sign my child's homework.
For more than 10 years, Truong Ba Chi has never complained about the hardship of being a mother. In the photos recorded, her eyes seem to be only directed at her children.
After the divorce, many people once thought that she would cut off relations with the Ta family. But in reality it is not so. She still often takes her 2 children to visit Ta Hien's grandfather, sending wishes every Tet holiday. At Ta Hien's 80th birthday party, although she did not directly attend, she still let her 2 children come to wish her longevity.
Since the divorce, Truong Ba Chi has never badmouthed the Ta family, she does not complain, does not complain about herself or take advantage of marriage stories to attract attention.
Ta Hien once commented: "Ba Chi knows how to take care of her family, and Vuong Phi is talented". These words reflect how he views two women - one is his ex-wife, one is Ta Dinh Phong's current girlfriend.
